Aunty, Uncle, A Break-up Love story

Finding the favourites at Super Market

Usha dressed her conservative best before stepping out for her morning vegetable purchase. It had to do with being single in the forties and looking like a twenty-five-year-old. The problems in society multiply when there is no manly figure. So much so that even the teenage boys on the street want to help Usha in various ways. A few weeks before that day, she wore a saree. The unemployed graduate son of the owner wanted to know if Usha needed a bodyguard. His exact words were, “Aunty, don’t all that golden skin need a bodyguard”. She learned to ignore those stupid catcalls. But that day and the week was different. Her mother passed away after a long illness and Usha was not yet strong enough for that.

Usha reached the supermarket and started her shopping. She saw women wearing various attire. A young newly married girl wearing shorts and a t-shirt with mehndi and bangles covering her hand. An older woman wearing a salwar with skin-coloured leggings. If Usha wore the same leggings and walked through her street, she would have heard, “Aunty, nice thighs”. She cleared her mind of stupid thoughts and started her shopping. She picked up a few vegetables weighed them up and dropped them into her shopping cart. With the vegetable purchase, she was almost done with her shopping. She was in no mood to cook. She ordered food for the last week. It is not that she doesn’t want to cook. The kitchen reminded her of her mother. All these years her mom used to have a running commentary of what to do and what not when Usha was in the kitchen. Not that Usha needed it. But the moment Usha switched on the stove and did not hear her mother’s voice her tears became a hurdle.

Even after the shopping was done, she was not ready to leave. She wandered the big supermarket aimlessly. As she reached the protein shake counter, she saw some familiar bottles of powder that she used to consume. She stopped buying it to support her mother’s medical bills. The container was stacked on the higher rack. She looked around for help and did not find any. She searched for a ladder or a stool to reach the container. But there was none. She checked on all sides and there was no one around. So, she jumped a little trying to catch the container. Still no luck. As she was ready to give up and leave, she heard a voice. A familiar one, “Aunty, do you need help?”. Usha started to tear up.

Usha quickly wiped off her tears. The man’s voice came further close to Usha and asked again, “Aunty, do you need help?”. She looked at the face and yes it was him. It was Praveen. She could identify his face even in the dark of the night. He left such an unforgettable mark on her life. She gathered herself and asked, “Do you work here?”.

“No”, Praveen replied with a smile on his face.

“Then why do you want to help me? You look ten years older than me, and you call me Aunty, you stupid Uncle”, said Usha.

“Oh, I just want to help. Why bite my head off? You might look younger than me, but you still look like Aunty”, said Praveen.

“Shut up”, said Usha giving a warning gesture of hitting him with the drumstick in her basket.

The gossip

Usha finished paying for the groceries and was ready to leave. As she walked out of the supermarket, her eyes were wandering in all directions in search of something. Praveen walked behind Usha and in a low voice asked, “Are you looking for me?”. Usha's heartbeat jumped up. Gathering herself she replied, "No, I am looking for my bodyguard” and gave Praveen a smile with her broad eyes and started to walk away. Like all the clueless men out there, Praveen did not follow her. She made a few steps and looked back that was when he realized what she meant.

Usha teasingly asked, “Why are you following me?”. Praveen lost touch with this side of him and kept staring at Usha without any response.

“Mister, I am asking you, why are you following me?”, in a slightly demanding tone, the tone Praveen was very familiar with.

“Do you want me to follow you?”, asked Praveen in reply, acting clueless.

“No one wants uncles like you to follow her”, Usha replied.

“Come on, I don’t look an uncle. I keep fit. There are a few white hairs, but I covered them well with my darker ones”, Praveen replied adjusting his hair.

Usha had a hearty laugh seeing how Praveen was panicking. She continued to pull Praveen’s legs. “You look ten years older than me. When I am called an Aunty, you should be called a grandpa, in actuality”, said Usha and started to laugh heartfully. At that moment she noticed something about herself, she never laughed like this in ages. The other thing she noted was he did not age from the twenty-five-year-old who met her many years ago for the first time.

Seeing her laugh, Praveen, understood what was going on. “I should have not walked with you. I should have followed you. At least the view was good from there”, said Praveen and tried to squint his right eye unsuccessfully.

Usha suddenly felt something happening to her. She hated herself and every man in her street for keeping her conservatively dressed that day. But she checked herself still and adjusted her dress. She may not be dressed the best to her beauty. Still, she had good coordination of colours on the top and churidar.

After she felt confident of her dress, Usha said, “No hope for you. After so many years, you still are the same roadside Romeo”.

“Well, it is not always that Juliet walks between the normal population let alone buy her groceries. We Romeos’ have to take our chances, don’t we”, Praveen replied.

“Is that all you can come up with”, said Usha to Praveen. But she felt happy with the banter and the point that he called her Juliet.

“I can do more. But, for that to happen, I need some inspiration," Praveen replied, slowing down a little. Usha did not need a second look behind to know where Praveen was getting his inspiration. She felt a tinge of shyness and a smile taking her lips over. She slowed down held the hand of Praveen and pulled him ahead. Praveen had a rush of a million feelings as their hands entangled and he went mute and his expression blank. Usha needed a second to notice the effect of her actions. The initial push of her action was meant for a completely different reason. A few seconds and the impact of her actions was fully understood by Usha. The lips went dry, the heartbeat a few beats too fast, and the palms started to sweat in the middle of the winter. Usha held Praveen’s hand tighter so as not to lose grip cos of sweat. What Usha forgot was that they had already reached her home and the whole neighbourhood started gossiping after seeing them together.

“It was not even a week that the mother had passed. This girl started.”, loudly commented a woman in the neighbourhood gossiping aunties group.

Usha did not flinch. She went closer to Praveen placed her arm under his arm and held his hand tight with hers and walked towards her house. A little sceptical of what people might think Usha started to think what caused her to do that. Her mind asked her hundreds of questions about what she was doing, and what any of her actions meant. She did not have time to think about Praveen or what was going on with him. Pretty soon they reached the door to her home.

“Aunty had found some uncle. Why not me?”, Usha heard, a kid shouting in disappointment distantly behind her. That brought her back to this world. She opened her purse and opened the lock to her home and was about to get in. Praveen did not move, he stayed behind the door. Usha entered her house and turned back and all that took place years ago came back flashing.

“Do you want to come in?”, Usha asked.

“Do you still believe in the gossip?”, Praveen asked in reply.

The question dragged Usha back, ten years in the past.

Agnipariksha

Praveen’s mother was waiting angrily for Usha to come home. As she was about to say something to Praveen, an auto came to a halt and Usha got down from it. Usha paid the auto and turned around to get into the house, Praveen noticed that Usha’s face was all red from all the crying. After all, no girl can see her father pass away how old or how sick he may be. Usha walked in and went and sat down on the sofa and was trying to gather herself. In all her grief she did not notice her mother-in-law being all angry. Praveen noticed his mother about to say something to Usha. Before she could say anything, he intervened.

“Usha, go out. Take a bath and come into the house”, said Praveen.

Usha could not believe her ears. But gently she replied, “Give me a minute”.

“No. Get up and go out now. Don’t you listen to anything I have to say”, asked Praveen.

Usha replied to Praveen in a stern voice, “I said give me a minute”.

Praveen realized that he crossed a line. But he continued, “You did the same thing the other day. I asked you to come home with me. My mom gave exact directions on how long you should stay. Can’t you follow it? Why do you have to stay longer at your mother's? There are rituals, rules for a reason.”

Usha came home that day to inform Praveen that she was going back to her mother for a while. She did not expect this from him. The words from Praveen hurt her very badly. “I know why there are rituals, why there are rules. We also have substitutes occasionally too. Because we are humans. That day you came forward to do the last rites for my father. That is not a normal thing, but you did it anyway.”

“At least you should have considered that and agreed with me when I asked you to come back home. You don’t care for my word at all”, said Praveen.

“I thought you would understand”, Usha said and halted a second and looked intensely into the eyes of Praveen.

Before he could say anything, she continued, “I thought you would understand when I gave company to my mother who had to spend the rest of her life alone in that big house. When a peon in my father’s office was concerned about my mother. I thought you would feel the same. Especially when you knew my mother married my father when she was nine and he was thirteen. Don’t you remember a thing I told you? She had no world but him for the last fifty-five years. They both went to school together, played together, grown-up together. When she lost six babies continuously, he was there to console her. He was her father, her mother. When finally, she had me at thirty-three years of age. When the doctor told him the risks, his first thought was why had he not had an operation during the Sanjay Gandhi time. When she said she was going to have the baby, he turned into a nurse for her. He bathed her, he cleaned after she threw up. After what felt like an eternity I was born. He was not ready to hold me for nine months, because I put his wife through so much pain. After going through all that together, and when she lost him, the only world she knew, I thought you would understand”.

Praveen waited a second and said, “Whatever it is you should have done what I had to say?”

That was when Usha noticed the angry face of mother-in-law for the first time.

She said, “My mother told me this day will come when she saw you with your mother. You proved the gossip right. Momma’s boys are heartless with their wives”.

Praveen angrily shouted, “Shut up and go and take a bath”.

“No. I am not coming in. I am leaving”, Usha replied to Praveen and left the house.

Right, right, and more right

“If the gossip is not true. I wouldn’t have to stay single for the last decade”, Usha commented.

“You are single because you decided so”, Praveen added.

“You pushed me to make that decision”, Praveen replied to Usha.

“What do you mean?”

“Don’t you remember my long-winded speech that day? Don’t you remember your response to it?”, Usha asked.

“I remember very well.”

“Then?”

“Then what? I only wanted to prove to my mother that why your stay with your mother was important. I was expecting her to understand after what you said. She didn’t. So, stop any further inconvenience to you I asked you to go into the home. The shut-up came out without me realizing it. You misunderstood me.”

Usha felt a little guilty. How can I not understand my husband was her first thought. The last decade of hatred towards her husband is just a misunderstanding. She started to question herself. She remembered something and wiped off the tears in her eyes. She thought he was hoping to get something from her, after all, she was alone, and it was easy for him to convince her and take her back as a side piece.

“Get out. Please get out”, said Usha to Praveen.

Praveen didn’t expect that reaction. He thought she was going to accept him. What he did not realize was that he called her a liar. He called all her decisions for the last ten years a flimsy reactive action and not a well-thought-through one.

He tried to stop her from throwing him out of her life once again.

“Please, I didn’t mean to hurt you. I am telling you the truth”, said Praveen.

With tears still rolling, Usha pointed to the door.

Praveen dumbfounded walked to the door. He went out of the door and turned around and tried to say something to Usha. Something got into Usha and the romance from that morning was all lost. She closed the door on him dropped to the floor and started to cry.

Praveen went through a million scenarios for this day to be successful. Nowhere was he out of the door and walking towards the gate to exit Usha’s house.

Usha had a bad start to the day. She thought Praveen was the change that was going to help her. Yeah, he changed her for sure. And then something stirred her. What if he was telling the truth? But how was Usha going to know any of it, after sending him away? She hoped he would come back and explain himself. Her pragmatic sense told her it was not going to happen. That was when she heard a knock on the door. She saw through the peephole who it was. It was Praveen. But she was not ready to open the door.

“Okay, don’t open the door. But listen to me. Before you came home that day my mom was angry. I wanted to make sure she didn’t say anything bad to you that day. So, I intervened. I even tried to wink at you a few times. But after hearing about your mother and father my eyes started to tear. You had no view of any of that. It is not that I am complaining. I got that you are sad. But I had no intention to hurt you”, said Praveen knocking on the door.

Usha got a little pacified, “Get out, I don’t want to hear anything”.

Praveen doesn’t need a second signal. After all every husband knows the wife shouting at you after the fight means she was ready to talk.

“Please, let me in. I will explain it better”, said Praveen.

“I cannot trust you. You are only here because no one wanted to marry you”.

“What, what do you mean?”, asked Praveen.

“Don’t act innocent. You divorced me long back. Your Dad came and took signatures for mutual divorce long back. I learnt every girl rejected you even after the divorce, so you came crawling here knowing I am vulnerable after my mother’s death”, said Usha.

“Wait, wait a minute. You divorced me. I did not”, Praveen replied.

“No, don’t lie”, shouted Usha.

“My mother brought the divorce papers signed by you to me. She said you wanted the divorce. I never signed it.”, said Praveen.

There was absolute silence from the other side of the door. Usha’s mind went through a million thoughts. It cannot be. How can it be? Praveen must be lying. What if he was not lying? Does that mean all my anger for him was a silly mistake?

 “No, your Dad brought the papers after you signed”, she reiterated.

Praveen asked, “Did you even see my signature?”

That was when she realized that she never saw the signature. Her mind settled down from the anger and sadness. But it needed a little more to go back to the longing romance of the morning. Praveen was continuing to knock from the other side of the door. Usha opened the lock and walked into her room but did not open the door for Praveen.

After a few more knocks, Praveen noticed the door came ajar a little. He smiled to himself. Even after ten years of missing his wife, he knew exactly what to do next.

As Praveen walked into the hall, he saw Usha get into her bedroom and lock it behind her.

“Come on, darling. Please let me in”, begged Praveen.

The darling word sent shock waves in Usha’s heart. But she was not yet ready to open the door.

“Please, darling. Let me in. I have so much to tell you”.

“Answer me from there”, Usha replied.

“What answers do you want?” asked Praveen.

“Why did you decide today is the day to tell all this to me?”

“I tried. I mailed it to your old email. I sent many letters to your address.”

Usha remembered ignoring all of them before.

“I came to that shopping market to see you once a week. All these days you had no eye for me”.

“Are you saying all this is my fault?”, asked Usha. The voice coming out felt like she was holding her mouth while doing so.

Praveen thought she was feeling guilty. He said, “No. All these days you had your hands and mind full of the pain of your mother’s illness and her loneliness. You could not think of yourself or be happy for yourself. That is not your fault at all. I made the mistake of worrying about how my mother felt that day and hurt you. I could have just comforted you that day after you lost your father. I could have even helped you with all this. I could have shared your pain.”

That was when the door opened, Usha walked out in a saree Praveen brought her for the first time. She held his hand and asked him to walk with her. She wanted to tell the world she was not single anymore. Not that it mattered to her that the world accepted. But she wanted everyone around to feel guilty for their stupid comments all these years.

P.S.

“By the way. If you never divorced me, why did you go to see girls for marriage?”, asked Usha.

“So, you have been following my life after all”, Praveen replied.

“So many girls rejected you. I was wondering how I fell for you”, laughingly said Usha.

“I also wonder sometimes. How did I fall for this adamant girl”.

Usha gently hit Praveen on his back.

“I did not see you for ten years. I would get an insight, tell me why the girls rejected you?”, asked Usha.

“There are not many reasons. Only one”, Praveen replied.

“What is it?”, asked Usha.

“Not now”, said Praveen.

“Come on, how can you hide anything from your wife”, asked Usha with a little bit of shyness in her heart for the word wife.

“You. You are the one missing in my life and every girl can see that in me”.

With tears rolling, Usha hugged Praveen tightly. Some kid going that way shouted, “Uncle aunties love story”.