Thursday, August 25, 2011

Left behind

And then one day he was gone from her life. Thirty years together gone in a snap and a green unwavering line on a black screen.

No more newspapers left lying around on a Sunday morning. No more loud TV playing in the afternoons. No more subtle requests for pakodas on rainy days. No more. No more. No more.

And she had to live with the dent in the sagging mattress on his side. She'd complained about it each day, nearly wearing down his resistance night by squabbly night. And now, she didn't care to change it any more. She put away one of the two blue mugs and one of the two ceramic dinner plates. She packed away the spectacles. She donated the wrist watch to her nephew. She cancelled the sports channels on their subscription package. And she lived.

And then one day, in her tidy little house for one, with the newspapers neatly piled up and the TV sitting silent and the fry pan lying unused, she opened an old book and a little note fell out: a shopping list from a trip abroad, and on it the last item, neatly crossed out when bought - "earrings for M".

She touched the fading gold of the artificial carved roses on her earlobes. And smiled.

11 comments:

sukanya said...

sigh! please write everyday, Ana

Pragyan said...

So deep...

Spirited seeker said...

Lovely piece...

Warmly, anjali

sukanya said...

Nice as always. although sad, i smiled reading this beautiful piece.

Anonymous said...

Lovely writing. Sad, but lovely.

dipali said...

Beautiful, and sad, and happy!

A Muser said...

This is lovely, Anamika. Just lovely.

xyzandme said...

That is like a cocktail of emotions packed in one post.
My brain was like " Dude.. stick to one man!"

noon said...

Hi TC - lovely pieces. I am reading them now. Looks like you have not blogged in a while. Hope you continue to write...

Thinking Cramps said...

Thanks Noon. Just haven't had the focus to write more - not for lack of thoughts, I can assure you :(

Bhargavi said...

beautiful ! just discovered you blog.. I'll definitely be back for more ..