Nagavarna

Her name is Nagavarna. My parents had seen her profile in our community’s marriage bureau.  Through her profile I knew she has a father, a mother and a brother in her family. Her grandmother had recently died. Her mentioning of maid in the list of family members, in the profile, indicated that she considered maid also as part of the family. 

She’s from Mangalore. I imagined she would be having a house in front of the beach. But, when I checked the location in the Maps application, I found her house was an apartment. It was not even sea facing. She liked reading a lot. I have never read a single book (apart from my school and college books) in my life. She liked to travel, I liked the comfort of my home. She was a software architect, I was a chemist with a medical shop in front of a hospital. It had incompatibility written all over it. So, I had rejected the profile that time, without even talking to her.

But then now why are me and her sitting in a coffee shop talking?

She had come to my shop on the day of her marriage, in the wedding dress. The scene was like the climax of some movies, where you see the heroine in bridal attire in railway station or airport, so as to stop a dejected hero traveling to a different city or country. That day, some political rally was going on in the street, in front of my shop. They were shouting and bursting crackers. When she entered the shop asking for medicine, her face was calm and serene against the chaotic background of riot going on in the street. It felt as though Goddess entered my shop. 

I knew there was a marriage that day, as my parents were attending that wedding, as we were related to the groom. I hadn’t gone to the wedding because I don’t like wedding functions. The grandness, the lights and a lot of people in dresses with striking colours do not sit well with me. That’s the topic for another day. I didn’t know that Nagavarna was the bride. Considering her attire, I couldn’t resist myself from asking what happened. She told her maid met with an accident in front of the marriage hall, where her wedding was taking place. She had been admitted to the hospital in front of my clinic. 

I said “Oh, yes. I saw an ambulance entering the hospital some time back. Hope she is doing well.” 

I saw a tear drop twinkling in her large eyes, she said, “Ajji is a bit critical and has been admitted to ICU”. 

I remembered how she had considered the maid to be her family. I enquired which doctor is looking into the maid's case. She mentioned a doctor’s name. I knew the doctor to be a good one, so I mentioned, “Oh, your maid is in good hands. He is one of the best. Hope Ajji recovers soon.”. On that she smiled, but her eyes welled-up. 

I gave her the medicines she had asked for. She took the medicines, paid for them and left the shop. For a long time I was stuck looking at the place where she was standing. Her honest eyes. Her serene face. Her affection towards her maid, whom she called Ajji. I felt I missed out on the opportunity to marry a good person But, in a way I felt good that she was getting married to a person who might be a good match for her. 

I went home that evening. My parents were talking about the wedding. Like I mentioned, the parents were talking about that girl’s wedding. They mentioned, the marriage broke off. I was shocked, and felt it had definitely got something to do with the accident. They told, the groom was not ready to postpone the wedding, because a maid was admitted to the hospital. But the girl who had a strong bond with the maid, wanted the wedding to be postponed. Since, the groom and the bride were in disagreement, they called off the marriage. Even with my wildest imagination, I hadn’t thought all these were to happen when I had met her in my shop. 

This made me like her more. Her good heart, her serene face despite all odds. Despite all the differences, I wanted to talk to her, to see where it would lead to. She might not agree to marry but honestly I wanted to try. So, I messaged her, asking her if we could meet. To my surprise she agreed to meet.

And here we are in the coffee shop now.

She started talking first, “Actually, I had seen your profile before. Considering all the differences we had in our tastes, I was about to reject it. But, it got rejected from your end as well, so that was that.” 

I was speechless. She too had thought we were not a match. And still, here we are.

She continued, “But in your shop you asked about the maid, considered her well-being and never asked about what happened to my marriage. That day everyone was talking about why I bothered so much about a maid, why we should spend money for her treatment and all. But, Ajji, as I call her affectionately,  is not just our maid. She was always there for me. Even my own grandmother was ignoring me, not talking to me properly and all. I was getting bogged down by all the negative talks about Ajji that day. You were the only one that day who asked and talked about her well-being.”

I replied, ”Yes, from your profile, I knew she was part of your family, as you had included her in the family list. So, I thought she must mean a lot to you. Hope Ajji has recovered and doing well now.”

She smiled, “Yes, she is doing better now. In another week or so, she will be able to walk without support. You understand her bond with me. That’s why I wanted to talk to you and came here, to see where it goes.” Her eyes expressed happiness.

(Author Notes: This is another story, that was written as part of creative writing workshop entrance test. I edited this story quiet a bit, from it's original form. This story had prompts. So one can see there are specifics about house in front of beach and all. I wanted to make it about good people understanding each other despite all the differences. And, also worked on reducing the cheese in the story as much as possible. Not sure if all that is achieved.)