The classmate – part 2

Narrated till now …

Jyothika tells Pramod that she got in touch with their classmate after two decades. Pramod is eager to meet Apoorva. He and Jyothika plan to go to Apoorva’s house on Sunday morning.

Narration continues…

“I have arrived” Pramod shouted sitting in his car. Jyothika came out of her house and sat in the car.

“Are you happy that we will be meeting Apoorva in few minutes time?” Jyothika asked.

“I am getting excited. Imagine meeting her after close to two decades. Hope she is more outgoing type now. What about her family? How is her husband and how many kids they have?”

Jyothika smiled and said “Have patience dear. You will come to know very soon”.

Pramod drove for about 15 minutes and as they were passing a supermarket Jyothika said “Please stop the car in the parking area opposite the supermarket. I have to meet a relative of mine. I will take about 15 minutes. Let us both go to their house. It is next to the supermarket”.

Pramod nodded and parked the car in the parking area.

He started walking with Jyothika. As they were entering the house a young lady came out and said “Hello Jyothika please come in”.

Jyothika told her “He is my friend Pramod”.

The lady shook hands with Pramod and escorted both of them to the front hall of the house. Pramod sat down on the chair.

Jyothika said “Give me ten minutes Pramod. I will talk to my relative and then we both shall proceed”. Saying so she walked into a room adjoining the main hall.

The young lady gave water to Pramod. He thanked her and started drinking water. He looked around and it was a simple lower middle class house with less expensive furniture and items in it.

He looked into the room in which Jyothika was sitting. She was talking to a lady and in between looking at Pramod and smiling. 

After about ten minutes she came out of the room and told Pramod “Shall we leave?”

He nodded and walked out of the house towards the car. 

He drove for another ten minutes and Jyothika said “Shall we stop at the coffee shop. I feel like having hot coffee”.

“That’s fine in its place but we are supposed to meet Apoorva. We shall meet her and have coffee” he said. Jyothika requested him and told him that she was having a mild headache and a cup of hot coffee would help her.

He agreed and parked the car in front of the coffee shop.Both of them went inside and ordered coffee.

The coffee was served and they started drinking it.

Pramod observed that Jyothika was silent since the time they entered the coffee shop and was looking down at her knees.

He found it strange and said “Hope we will have no more stops in between and head straight to meet Apoorva”.

At this juncture Jyothika spoke and said “We have already met her”.

He was shocked to hear that and said “Are you kidding?”

Jyothika looked up at Pramod. Her eyes were red and filled with tears. She looked in deep pain. Pramod could not understand and said “What happened dear and why are you crying?”

Jyothika continued “Pramod the house we visited was not my relative’s house and the young lady is not my relative but my colleague. She is relative of Apoorva. The woman with whom I was speaking inside the room was Apoorva”.

He could not comprehend what Jyothika was saying. He sat with a surprised  expression for couple of minutes and said “Please tell me in the way I can understand”.

Jyothika continued “The lady whom I met in the room was Apoorva.I was asking her to come out to meet you. She was looking at me with a blank face at the mention of your name”.

“Why so?” A shocked and confused Pramod asked.

She added “Apoorva has lost her mental stability since couple of years. She is in no position to recollect her past properly.

I thought you would make a difference as she was fond of you. But today I realized that no one can bring back the innocent smile on her face again” saying so she started sobbing profusely. 

Pramod consoled her and asked “How did she get into this position?”

Jyothika replied “Soon after she completed her post graduation she got a placement in a finance company. Before she could join the company her father died and that event plunged the family into series of problems. Within months her mother died and she stayed back in her house along with her two brothers. After a year her elder brother got married and unfortunately his marriage ended in a divorce. Apoorva did not get married and her younger brother tried his best to find a match for her but in vain. She did not pursue her career and went into depression and gradually lost her mental balance and now she is no position to identify us or relate to us”.

Pramod looked at Jyothika and said “I still do not understand why you did not tell me there”.

She continued “Despite me mentioning that you were waiting outside to meet her, she did not show any eagerness to meet you. I did not want you to see her in this state and so I came out of the house with you”.

Tears started trickling from Pramod’s eyes and he said “You are such an empathetic lady. You tried your best to bring happiness in her life. You also ensured that I did not get disappointed seeing her in this state.

Life is very strange Jyothika. We do not know what is in store for each one of us and the best we can do is to perform our duties to the best of our capacities and lead a life which can be of use to others”.

Jyothika nodded in agreement and wiped her tears.

The classmate – part 1

“Hello Susan” Jyothika said entering the house and hugged her.

“It is always a pleasure to see you” Susan replied and both of them sat on the sofa and started speaking to one another.

Pramod came in after few minutes and sat on the chair opposite to the sofa set and said “Though we live in the same city it has been more than 10 months since we met Jyothika”.

“Very true” Susan nodded and walking towards the kitchen said “you keep talking and I shall get some coffee”.

Little Bharathi came running out of her room and sat on the lap of Jyothika. She said “Aunty you do not come to our house often”. Jyothika smiled.

Bharathi continued “In which standard were you classmate of my father?”Jyothika replied “We were classmates in our post graduation course”. Bharathi looked confused.

Jyothika laughed and continued “To make it clear for you, we were classmates in 17^th and 18^th standards”.

“Mangalorean coffee is as good as always” Jyothika said sipping the coffee served by Susan.

She continued “Pramod do you remember Apoorva?”

“Of course yes. How can I forget her? She was one of the brightest students in the class but was very shy though. It is close to two decades since we completed our course and I have vivid memories of her” he replied.

“I have good news for you. I could trace her. She lives in our city. I got her address yesterday and met her. I thought I should inform you about this” Jyothika said.

Pramod looked delighted and he looked at his wife Susan and said “Apoorva was the only engineering background student who had fancy for finance subjects in our management class. In fact she stood first in Financial Management”.

“Her father was a Chartered Accountant and she got it from him” Jyothika added.

Susan commented “Pramod keeps telling me about many of his MBA classmates, seniors and juniors but has never spoken about her”.

Jyothika was silent for a while. She said “She was like that. An enigma sort, very beautiful and would dress up in simple Indian dresses without any makeup. We were roommates for two semesters. I used to talk to her about subjects and she would teach me many topics. Whenever I spoke of films, boys or other topics she would become silent and did not encourage me to talk further.

She was reluctant to participate in group discussions as she felt the other participants were arguing more and discussing less. She would shy away from Mock plays also”.

Susan asked “Group discussions and mock plays are very important for any Management course. How could she manage then?”

Pramod replied “I think it was in second semester. Jyothika spoke to me about her and told me that Apoorva was comfortable talking to me and wanted me to help her overcome inhibition during such discussions.

She started sitting next to me in group discussions and I would consciously provide a cover to her whenever the other participants started arguing with her. Within no time she could overcome her reluctance to participate actively and started performing very well.

I remember the evenings when we both used to walk on the beach. The crimson rays of the setting sun and the cool breeze were catalytic for a romantic time to be spent but she was not of that sort. All through the walks she would discuss about the subjects and nothing else.

Couple of times she held my hand while walking but her mind was on the subjects and not on the person walking with her”.

Jyothika interrupted “Tomorrow is Sunday. Shall we go to her house?”

Pramod was ecstatic “Of course yes. In fact am ready to go there right now”.

Susan said “You both go to her house tomorrow morning as we have some shopping to finish today”.

Jyothika got up from the sofa and walking towards the door said “Pramod please come to my house by 10 AM in the morning tomorrow and we shall proceed to her house from there”.

Pramod, Susan and Bharathi waved to her and walked into the living room.

“You liked Apoorva during your management study days?” Susan asked.

Pramod gave a naughty smile and said “Jealously thy name is Susan. I liked only one woman and it was during my engineering study days. I fell in love with her and ultimately married her. Her name is Susan”.

She laughed and said “I did not mean it that way. The way you were telling me about Apoorva and the long walks on the beach you both used to take, made me doubt a bit”.

Pramod replied “There was nothing of that sort between us. She is the only one who is not in our batch Whats App group. A good new addition will be there soon. Let me meet her tomorrow and I will update you in the afternoon”.

To be continued in part 2…