strangers

He was someone she didn’t know,yet he was messing up each and every second of her life.It was so strange yet seemed so integral,the way he slowly entered her life.Long ago ,one day she was in the coffee shop of the hospital where she worked as the senior most Oncologist that she saw him ,or rather a very good looking stranger staring at her .S he consciously adjusted her coat ,played with her hair and looked down and started sipping her coffee.But she felt strange eyes pursuing her everywhere.On and off those eyes ,that pursued her made her feel irritated.She was in no mood for any relationship,friendship whatsoever!Revathi,a very recent widow ,she had by sheer grit and determination emerged from her loss.Her husband was in the airforce,thiers was a comfortable ,calm, soothing ,and arranged relationship.It was strange how she never was a romantic or emotional woman yet she knew she loved Ranveer.Being a qualified Oncologist she was used to seeing death everyay,and it was this that helped her overcome the loss,Her father was the pillar behind her calm strength.After 19 months of mourning and winding up,when the passing time was a blessing she shifted to another city ,being alone without any friends her sole companionship was her collection of books her potted plants and conversation on the phone with her father.Her father used to say ,Revathi,I have not seen a person who is more selfless ,more dedicated more strong than you are ,Precisely these words made Revathi walk everyday with her head held high..the stranger would come in her view on an off but they never met or talked.Oneday,Revathi came to knowthat he was a doctor too.The campus was huge and she didn’t get to know more about him ,The duties the everyday pressures were too much to indulge in anything else.Again she saw him in the coffeeshop engrossed in a book ,a medical handbook.It was a strange time ,no interest portrayed or expressed from both sides yet ,a desire ,Revathi felt lonely for a while.Today morning Revathi had lost a small girl to luekimea,and somehow that girls eyes were haunting her.She felt utterly depressed all of a sudden and impulsively she stoodup and moved towards the stranger ,the doctor whom she had seen staring at her but now who was sitting so aloof.She was standing near his table quietly,he looked upHello Doctor ,She said quietly,But he remained quite .It irked her that this man who at a point in the past shown interest in her was now so withdrawn.She sat down,next to him ,wanting some kind of a conversation ,some distraction ,to make her forget everything ,everything painful,everything unwanted in her life ,but he was more withdrawn then ever.he looked at her blankly ,”How are you Revathi?he asked .I am ok ,She said “,How are you ?”and smiled.He stared back more blankly,then he said excuse me ,I have a meeting ,He extended his hand which she was about to shake but suddenly he withdrew his hand and walked away.She could just stare at him.He is crazy ! She consoled herself.Months passed and Revathi got involved in many social service activities.In the meantime there was no other member of the oppsite sex that ever kindled an interest in her.Her days and nights passed full of intense work,serving humanity ,cancer patients in different stages of struggles .It often left her so weary that the sheer exhaustion made her lay awake for an hour or two before she popped a sleeping pills in her mouth and dozed away.Often she felt terribly tired ,lonely but each day she started out new and fresh because her goal was to work and work and save lives ,lives ,innocent,struggling lives half dead,people with desires,weaknesses,talents,and strengths,people she saved ,but lost sometimes too.Her post required her to betotally self motivated.The best Cancer doctor in town,people came from far and near,One day ,she was shocked as she came to a bed and glanced down at her new patient.The man ,the crazy man who had stared at her ,She looked open mouthed at him ,Thank god his eyes were closed.abruptly she turned and walked away to her office ,collapsed in her chair and urgently summoned a nurse to get her the medical record of this patient.NameDoctor "Rehman Zia",Diagnosis:Luekimea………….she could read no further.1

Again Revathi adjusted her saree pallo carefully and looked smilingly into the mirror.It felt great to add sindoor in her hair again and listen to the tinkling of glass bangles at her wrist ,if only just four.She turned to look at Rehman sleeping peacefully on the bed ,a wooly cap covering his head ,where he showed bit of his scalp after the intense chemotherapy sessions. Today it was 3 weeks she had been married,how extraordinary!People called her Doctor Revathi Zia,on her request.She had intensely and faithfully nursed Rehman ,treated him and bought him back to life ,but she knew in her heart Rehman was living a life in a bubble.he could collapse any day but Revathi had hopes ,dreams, and love .She had fallen in love with those eyes ,the eyes that talked and made no sound yet her world resounded with the messages in the silent looks.And on a very practical note she and Rehman got married,as soon as he got better,Day after day they both started exploring each others personality,Rehman often slipped into a world of solitude ,then Revathi took hold of his hands and took him for a walk into the sunset.Rehman often got uncontrollably difficult ,then Revathi treated him like a small child .She often had long talks with her father and glowed in the contenment that she ultimately found ,Today Revathi felt the ultimate joy ,as she realized that she was pregnant ,She couldn’t stop grinning and smiling ,soon lying in Rehmans arms and nuzzling his neck and talking in whispers as she felt like a teenager ,she ignored the two tiny tears that came out of Rehmans eyes ,She asked him to smile ,and he did ,and they hugged each other tight,Revathi wished with all her might that god grant a long life to Rehman.2

Day by day Revathi felt time slipping away through her fingers.She watche all signs of detioration in Rehmans body.She bore the pain each second,loving him intensely yet unable to do anything.Her body had started growing on its own pace as her pregnancy advanced.Rehman suddenly started talking so much.Each day his waking hours he would talk and talk and tell Revathi everything about himself Rehmantold Revathi how his parents had suffered during the time of the 1947 Partition of India and Pakistan,How is only two brothers were killed in the riots that had shook the city where he lived>Rehman often woke up in the middle of the nights screaming and it was the strength that can be found only in a woman that made Revathi console him .... Revathi was feeding Rehman tiny bits of ripe yellow mangoes as Rehman looked lovingly into her eyes,I love you so much revathi…I am very sorry I don’t want to leave you and go but…Revathi bends her head down ,,,n slowly she takes rehmans hands and places it on her belly where the babies are kicking .She has been looking forward to the birth of two sons.It was such a beautiful feeling but Revathi each second prayed that all her intense medication ,the blood transfusions and the chemotherapy could get rid of the ugly cancer from Rehmans body .This is not an age to die ..She often argued with her god.She often picked up an English version of The Holy Quran ,which she had purchased and read it to rehman,There was nothing that she didn’t do ,,but as she was nearing her ninth month and hadd become havy and big ,,Rehmans eyes started becoming too vacant ..The nurses visited their house daily ,,,Revathi hummed at these times thinking this is just a passing phase ,,A bout of flue that had entered her life and her house but She dutifully cleans up the mess wihich follows Rehmans terrible sickness. Today he doctors from abroad will also observe Rehmans case ,,but soon a phonecall to dr Revathis residence crashes her hopes…As the sun sets Rehman gasps for breath ,Revathi slowly softly takes his hand sitting close talking to him ,Revathi ,,,Please Please open the windows ..Revathi ,,I didn’t want to do this darling…..Yes I know ,,,she thinks in her heart…….Revathi Rehman Says” I want my sons to become a doctor and an airforce officer each ,,,Revathi ,,,he falls asleeps in her arms…The new dawn suddenly brings a deep pain for the dozing Revathi ,,Her abdomen Contracts painfully ,,She calls her friend and worries how she will leave rehman when she has to go to the hospital..Rehman had wanted terribly to see his two sons but he was not conscious any longerThere were a group of people friends ,n doctors in Revthis house ,,,some taking her to the hospital as she gasped for breath and some looking after Rehman ,,While she was being taken for the surgery she caught a glimpse of her father n smiled ,,,She still had hopes but after a few hours ,,,she took a pair of two adorable tiny babies home ,,,and as she entered the house she was met with very grim faced Dr Anthony ,Her friend Shekhar ,Her father and the nurses ,,She screamed ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,NO3

No Rehman4

No5

Don’t go before looking at your sons…No God……………Please have pity on me ,,,,,,But all she could see from the doorway was sunlight of a dying day caressing a very dry vvery bony very sad face of her beloved husband ,,as he lay peacefully on the bed ,,The bed near the open window ,,,,outside which was the gulmohar tree he loved to watch ,,Revathi ,,,,turned away ,,,no ,,,,,,I wont let u die ,,I wont say goodbye ,,she was totally weak n heartbroken but ,,,how could she let them take him away ,,She rushed towards the bed and hugged him ,,,crying……unconsollably…………It took ages for her to step out of the house ,,,Revathi had help to look after her two sons Rehman And Ranvir ,,but it was two years and she was not able to function properly or follow her profession ,,she was homebound ,,just looking after her sons and sitting near the window looking at the gulmohar tree thinking why Rehman left without saying goodbye to her!!!………… 6