It's been a long journey till now, since the day I remember, I saw you for the first time, Adeha Sharma.
Summer of 1987, board exams were going on. Adeha's roll number was just ahead of me. Pardon me, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Dominique Rodriguez. Adeha & I were exam-mates in our board exams.
Those were the most pleasing days of my life. Adeha & I were two different kinds of personas all together. She was optimistic about everything that came across her, & I was the one complaining about everything, & till now I haven’t changed a bit.
Dad always pointed out to me,” Dom, you should learn to compromise, or else you will be left alone”. You were right Dad, I’m left alone. On this bed, in this hospital’s room, I’m left alone.
All this time in the hospital, I’m just recollecting all memories which Adeha & I lived together. Like every adventure, every tour, every discovery, everything all together, whatever I've accomplished till now stands for nothing compared to that relation, that bond I had with her.
Adeha was my first love. Yes, we dated for a long four & a half years, it may sound impossible, but opposites do attract.
We both came from different parts of the background, she had a whole bunch of family members, whom she used to share stories of like there was a little cousin of hers who used to address her as grandmother to tease her cause her eyes matched with her grandmother. And there was an uncle from her maternal side, who used to make sweets from bamboo trees on every auspicious event. These all stories were irrelevant for me, cause I didn’t have a family like that. Mom died from pancreatic cancer after seven years of my birth. Mom & Dad had eloped to marry each other, so grandparents were never a thing for me. And Dad didn’t find any reason to get marry again. After Dad’s demise, I’m the one & only Rodriguez left for myself.
I wanted to marry Adeha, but she couldn’t go against her family’s will. Her family was one of those conservative ones, I couldn't have gone along with. So Adeha & I parted ways, to never come across each other.
It’s not easy to certainly stop loving someone, whom you have loved for a long time. Whatever the issues maybe, she was the one with whom I had the first kiss of my life, first embrace & a beautiful four & a half years relation. That bond which I share with her, can’t be compared or substitutable with anyone else.
In my life, I’ve traveled across the world, but haven’t found a girl like her. I remember Dad used to say,” Dom, your mother & I were best friends first, then husband & wife. We were completed when you arrived in our lives. Your mother was my soulmate, we fought with our families to be together. Even after she’s gone, I feel her presence in me. Her memories keep me alive”.
I used to feel so melodramatic after hearing such cinema influenced thoughts from my dad, I wondered how can someone love someone so deeply, so passionately that even when you lose him, you feel the other one's presence inside you.
I understand now what Dad meant to say. Adeha meant so much to me, that whoever I tried to date next, was just a rebound for me. I never tried to start a family & after so many years of rush, I ended up here in this hospital’s bed, with no one besides me, willing for my recovery. It feels repentant that life could have been different if I had pushed a little far, for Adeha & I to be together. Could have suppressed my ego & had vouched for her family, then might be the ending of my tale could be a little different from what it is now. And these feelings are the only ones, left with me till my demise. Nothing can be changed now like God will listen to my distress and grant me a second chance to relive my life by pressing “Ctrl+Z” & I’ll be back in time where I left things broken, I wish that could have happened & what if it could have been like that, but it's just me & my regrets left for now.
