Ratneshwari

Chapter 20

Ratneshwari woke up early. She took a bath and went to the kitchen. Her brother came to the kitchen. He greeted her. She handed him a mug of coffee. They sat down and had breakfast together.

After sometime, Krishna came to Ratneshwari again. He said, "Now allow to take leave, my dear sister." Ratneshwari was shocked. She said, "Now? Why do you want to leave so early, Anna?" Krishna smiled at her and said, "I need to go. I have some important work." He hugged her and bid her good bye.

Ratneshwari was cleaning the house when she found something. It was a cricket ball. She took in in her hand and remembered that it belonged to Shivan. He used to play with it when he was young. She remembered his smiling face and the moment when he had happily narrated the story of that ball to her. Those memories brought a smile on her face. She kept the ball in its place. Then, she entered her room. She saw that the door of the closet was slightly open. She decided to close it. She did not know what made her sit down and look what was kept in the lowest shelf. There was a box. It did not have a lock. She opened it and found some photos. They were Shivan's photos. They had been clicked when he was studying in the college. At that time, he did not have a moustache. That same moustache which Ratneshwari liked so much. Ratneshwari laughed a little. While she was having a look at all the photos, a small photo album caught her attention. She decided to have a look at that too. The album contained photos of those happy moments which Shivan and Sheetal had spent together. They looked really adorable. Shivan was smiling broadly in all the pictures and looking at Sheetal lovingly in some of them. Then she remembered her wedding photos. He did not smile for even one photo. She saw a photo in which Shivan was holding Sheetal's hand. How happy he looked! Why did she never get to see this happiness when she was beside him? Did she really lack something? Tears started escaping her eyes. She hurriedly kept all the photos in the box and kept the box on the shelf. She closed the door of the closet and resumed her work.

She wanted to concentrate on her work but the photos flashed in front of her eyes again and again. Out of frustration, she threw everything on the ground and started wailing. She fell asleep on the floor as she was exhausted. She woke up after two hours. She looked around herself and saw that the entire place was in a mess. She cleaned up everything. Then, she went to her room and decided to lie on the bed.

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Shivan had completed his work. He was on his way home. He was waiting at the railway station for his train.

He saw a woman selling flowers. She came to him and said, "Thambi, will you buy these fragrant flowers." Shivan smiled at her slightly and said, "No". The woman was disheartened. She walked away. Another man was standing near Shivan. He said to the woman, "Malarvizhi, so you are here again. How is your son? Did he return?" The woman's face became dull. She looked at him with teary eyes and said, "No Anna, he hasn't returned. I don't know where he is." Then, she wiped her tears and started approaching other people in the station and asking them to buy her flowers. The man smiled at Shivan and sat down beside him. He asked Shivan, "Where are you going?" Shivan said, "I'm going to Chennai." The man nodded his head and did not say anything after that.

After sometime, Shivan said to him, "Do you know that lady who was selling flowers?" The man looked at him and said, "Yes, I know her. I live in Chennai but I work in Pondicherry. So, I meet her very often. She has been selling flowers for many years. Poor lady! Her husband left her a few months after her marriage and married another woman. He threw her out of his house. She was pregnant at that time. She started selling flowers to earn a livelihood. She gave birth to a boy. She loved her son and worked hard to provide for him. Everything was going on quite smoothly but destiny had some other plans for her. The boy was fatherless despite having a father. His peers used to make fun of him. They used to call him a 'bastard'. He grew up to become a teenager. These insults just increased. One day, in a fit of rage, the boy took a brick and hit one of those bullies on his head. The injured boy's father was a goon. He beat Malarvizhi's son black and blue. His mother nursed him. But the next morning, he was nowhere to be seen. He ran away. He has not returned till now."

Just then, the train arrived. He hurriedly boarded the train and sat on a seat near the window. He looked outside and saw the flower lady once again. He felt sorry for her.

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Ratneshwari started cooking food for Shivan. He liked chicken curry a lot. So, she decided to cook it for him. She cooked the chicken with utmost care. When she had finished cooking food, she heard the bell ringing. She ran to the door and opened it. Shivan had arrived. She smiled at him. He smiled at her too. She said, "Go and freshen up fast. Food is ready."

Shivan came to the dining table. Ratneshwari served him and sat down beside him to eat food. Shivan looked at the dish that was served to him. It was something which he liked a lot. He felt happy. He took a bite. It tasted very good. He had stayed in Pondicherry for two days. He used to miss the taste of the food cooked by her. Why? Had he grown so fond of her that he wanted to eat only what was cooked by her? He did not know. He ate the food silently.