FOR THE FIRST PART, CLICK HERE – SALSA: DIVINE RHYTHM
“When you have someone who walks with you through all the phases of life, even the slight stumble in your walk resembles a great dance of love.” ~Sitaramasastri
“You have to let go of her. You barely have any money left and you heard what the doctor said! There’s less than 10% probability for the operation to be a success and even if it does, it would recur in less than an year.”
“An year? I would spend everything even if gives me just one one more day with her. You are talking about a whole year!”
“Dad! Trust me. I love her more than you do and I would miss her more than you ever did. But there’s a limit to everything. You have already put all your savings into the medical expenses and now you want to auction your awards and mementos? Isn’t that stepping over the line?”
After struggling a bit with my half working left hand, I finally wheeled my wheelchair towards the wall where all the photo frames were hung.
“You think you love her more than I do?” I asked with a smile, “Then you have no idea of what she means to me and of the extent I would go to save her.”
“Whatever! If you don’t value your memories and are determined to sell your mementos, I have got nothing more to say to you. You just are out of your mind. Mom would hate you for this. She would’ve wanted you to keep the mementos.”
My Shalini! Hating me! How silly does it sound. Our beautiful memories are our shadows, preserved safely in the depths of mementos. But Shalini is my soul. I don’t mind losing my shadow to breathe life into my soul. I knew that Shalini would understand me.
“Son, I have made my decision. Your arguments would only prolong the waiting time but definitely would not affect my decisions.”
“Then you are for yourself dad. Don’t expect me to take this insane step with you. Good bye.”
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I appreciated the really good work my old heart did in holding strong in the moments of high stress and tension. I had sold all my mementos and got just enough money to pay for the surgery. Those 4 hours of the surgery were the most painful and heartbreaking moments for me. After almost two hours, I saw someone standing at the corner down the hallway and tried to figure out who it was and started moving towards that direction.
“Abhi?” I was shocked to see him standing there and watching the doors of operation theatre like some stalker.
“I’m sorry dad. I behaved too rudely with you. You know me, I can’t control my emotions!”
“It’s okay Abhi.”
“If you don’t want me here, I understand. I can leave.”
“I dont know what I want Abhi. But, I need you! I can’t handle this alone.”
“You don’t have to, dad. I’m here with you. I won’t leave you ever.”
Abhi helped me shift to the chair in front of operation theatre and he took a seat beside me. There was an awkward silence between us for five whole minutes and then he spoke, “Dad, please tell me your love story.”
“Mom had told you that, at least a hundred times.”
“And I want to listen to it one more time. It’s just the best! And this time, for a change, you would be telling the story. So, it is special.”
“I’m not in a mood Abhi. I can’t” I said sternly.
“Hmm, do you think that I love mom more than you do?”
“Not a chance!”
“How can you be so confident. You don’t know how much I love her”
“And you know how much I love her!”
“But you proposed within one month of meeting her! How did you decide that she’s your soul mate, after such a short time!”
“And I love you from the moment I first took you into my hands. How is that not a surprise? Besides, I did not decide that she’s my soul-mate. I felt it. Same with your case”
“Felt it? That happens only in fairy tales. I believe our life is built up on the decisions we make, not the feelings we trust.”
“You’ll not understand now Abhi. It might take you years to understand it. Actually, it might have taken years for me to understand my feelings towards her. But I was lucky! Actually, you don’t need years of trust to love someone. All you need is one single moment where you close your eyes, look into your soul and feel the need to mark your life with the footprints of her thoughts!”
“Hold on dad! This talk is getting too filmy for me to handle. When mom wakes up and gives you a good scolding for selling her favorite mementos, you’ll understand.”
That was the moment we realized that we forgot about Shalini’s operation. Snapping out from the conversation mode, Abhi raced towards the door to ask the doctor about the proceedings. He came back and hugged me with tears of happiness flowing through his eyes.
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FEW DAYS LATER:
It was fifth stroll in four days. She was assisting the wheelchair and was helping me to help her take a stroll as the doctor suggested. We almost completed three fourths of the walk when the dark clouds started conquering the otherwise pleasant skies. Soon, it started raining heavily and we took cover under an abandoned bus shelter. Three hours passed by and still there were no signs of a clear sky.
“So, you would still not talk to me?” I finally broke the silence for the day.
She looked away, uninterested in my words.
I couldn’t hold it any longer. “Do you hate me?” I said as my voice trembled and tears filled my eyes.
She held my hand, wiped my tears and finally said, “I didn’t ever want to see tears in your eyes. Every day in the hospital, I dreamt of you being happy looking at the mementos we earned. You lost your leg in the path of earning those. How could you sell those?”
“Because if I hadn’t, I knew I would lose my soul. Losing my leg has caused me enough pain and I couldn’t afford losing my soul! It would have shattered me.”
“But what about the promise you made? You said you would always keep the memories of our last dance with you! How could you break that promise?”
“I remember the promise Shalini. And I did not break it.”
She looked at me, confused.
“How would I break my promise if there is no last dance?”
“What, no!” she exclaimed, reading my intentions.
I tightened my grip on her hands and dragged her into the rain. She knew there’s no stopping me. For the people looking at us, we were just some insane old couple, holding hands and swaying around in rain. But for us, it was the salsa! Once again, we danced. This time, to the music of nature.
euphoricwrites 