Those Happy And Sad Days
A flashback short story
By Vaman Acharya
I was sitting on the balcony, staring into the beautiful park. Its natural beauty captivated me. My husband Keerti was out of station. I began to sing a popular old movie song,'ye rate ye mausam' until I realised that it was nine o'clock in the night and got up hurriedly and my right hand unknowingly pushed to the cover containing old photos kept on the stool. All the photos fell down and spread on the ground. I picked up all the photos. While keeping it back in the cover, my attention was drawn to the few old photos taken during my newly wedded life. I tried to remember the memories of two and half decades ago.
I was working as a lecturer in Pragna degree college at Pavanpur. On Monday as usual, I got up at seven am and was ready to proceed to the college. I was about to start the scooter, and a policeman came and stopped me.
“Madam, don't go outside. It is not safe for you in the town. Curfew has been clamped from dawn to dusk."
I returned back and switched on tv news. The policeman's warning was right. I was very much worried about my husband Keerti, who left home early in the morning. I could not contact him due to network failure. He returned home very late at nine pm.
“Keerti, how are you?"
“Vanaja I am perfectly alright. My short journey is enjoyable and the office is located in a peaceful area. What about you? Are you okay?”
I told him everything.
He was relaxing on the sofa. It was getting too late for dinner. I went to the balcony and looked outside. At the same time, there was a sound at the door.
“Keerti, did you hear the sound at the door?”
“Yes! If somebody is knocking at the door, go and see carefully."
Keerti followed me. When I opened the door nobody was there. It was surprising to see a cute kitten seeking entry inside. I liked the kitten and asked Keerti to breed. He agreed. But our wish was not fulfilled. The owner of the kitten came running and took it. We were disappointed.
One day in the evening we went to the nearby garden for a walk. Suddenly, a black dog ran towards us. We knew it may bite. Keerti lifted me and thought let the dog bite him rather than his lovely wife. The dog stopped in front of us and barked for a while. Keerti put me down expecting thanks from me. The dog ran out of fear. I wanted to create humour and shouted,
"I have seen people throwing stones and sticks at dogs. But I am seeing you are throwing me at a dog."
He too was laughing along with me.
We used to argue about shopping, choosing a good restaurant, weekend trips outside and money management etc.
A fortnight passed.
There was news of unscrupulous persons moving in Pavanpur town in a suspicious manner. A caution was given to the public to take utmost care. In case such persons come into contact, report the matter to the nearest police station. Already the town was under the grip of violence.
At about twelve noon on Sunday, two unknown persons were ringing the doorbell. I opened the door and enquired,
"Who are you?"
“Madam, we want to meet Satya Nath Prabhu. "
“Please go to the next flat no 201.”
They forcibly entered the house by pushing me outside. I was alone. I, being brave, locked the door outside and lodged a complaint with police over the phone and informed Keerti. He rushed towards the flat within three minutes. The police also arrived and told me to open the door. When the door was opened, it was a surprise for us. Nobody was there. Police searched everywhere and saw one young boy was trying to get down from the balcony with the help of rope. Another thief of his age, who was on the ground helping his friend. Police caught the boy upstairs and took him to the police station. I was asked to come to the police station to record the first information report. Before going to the police station, Keerti and myself checked all the rooms and luckily nothing was stolen. By the time we were in the police station, another thief was also arrested.
We returned from there after half an hour.
"Vanaja let us move to another flat."
"Yes! Keerti, we are facing one or the other problems after coming over here."
We decided to vacate the flat at the earliest date. Keerti gave a notice to vacate the flat to the owner. After one month, we moved to a spacious flat. There was other good news after moving to a new apartment. I was appointed as an officer in Mahakaleshwar bank, Pavanpur branch and Keerti got his favourite assignment as a marketing head in a Deepak Food Processing Company.
My mobile was ringing. I came out of the memories and answered the call. The caller was Keerti and waiting at the door. I went to the door to open it.
