From the Antiquity

for something you desperately want, you lose something you desperately love

‘You go home and check your Emails. You read the second mail and freeze…’. yes, FREEZE, the apt word to describe me, Aradhya, as I stared at the email from my brother. A wave of emotions raised hell in me as I kept staring on it. A decade.

“you have brought disgrace on us lady. I am ashamed of you. And today I disown you and consider you dead for what you have done. Anyone from the family who is found to be in touch with her will suffer the same fate.” This was the last I  heard from my family, my father, ten years back when I was made to leave home and my town for marrying a muslim man, a man I so loved then and a man who made me happy in every way.

And today the mail from my brother stunned me. It was a while before I gathered my wits to open the email.

Aru,
(the lack of ‘dear’ before my name saddened me)

It has been so long, ten years now since you are gone. In a desperate attempt I am writing this email to you, though I have no idea if you are still using this id or if you are still alive.

(ALIVE, that did hurt. Though it was logical to think so since we had no news of each other for last ten years, but even then never for a second the thought crossed my mind that they could die. I somehow considered they will live forever, and assumed they thought so too. But Alive??)

I know you must have been surprised to hear from me after such a long time. It is worthless to say we have missed you in all these years, always in the back of our hearts. But dad’s words refrained us from getting in touch with you. You have always been father’s favourite. Your marriage to a man from different caste angered him a lot. And then when you decided to leave us, leave him, instead of leaving that man, it broke his heart. Though he never said anything to anyone, but we knew he was suffering, but none of us had the courage to talk to him to forgive you. And now I wish someone should have. The pain of your leaving killed him long back, only now he is officially ready to let go of his life. Yes Aru, he is dying. He had been under many treatments from different doctors but all in vain. They all say same thing. Its not any disease that’s killing him. He has lost every wish to live. He had been giving up on his life gradually since you left. He never smiled. Somedays he would come home with your favourite rabri, shouting your name, with a huge smile on his face. And then suddenly everything would come rushing to him. His smile fading, he would throw everything and would lock himself up in his room for the rest of the day. We should have tried to look for you then, but we were cowards. Aru, you were his princess. You knew him better than we did. You always faced his anger with your feet dug in the grounds. Why did you run away that day? Aru, father needed you then, and he needs you now even more. Please, put everything aside and come back to him. help him live Aru, help him live. Only you can.

Your coward brother
(and waiting father)

This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda