My Beloved

Hi folks,

This is not a new article, but in fact one of my early ones. It was with this write-up that I really kick-started into writing and till now it is the only one of mine which has been published (in our college magazine Srijan). Hope you like it.

BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP!!!!!!
The alarm was ringing its head off in order to accomplish a task which many people had failed to do in their lifetime. The task was waking me up on a cold winter morning But today was different. Instead of its usual time (ie 7:30 am) the alarm was ringing an hour and half earlier. My droopy eyes struggled to open themselves, my body unwilling to leave the warmth of my rug. It was then that it suddenly struck me why I had set the alarm this early. Damn!! I had to get fresh and set off fast. The day was December 13. How could I forget that. It was her birthday and I had been planning to surprise
her early in the morning.

As I was brushing my teeth, my mind walked down the memory lane. I cant remember the first time I met her. Now this could be due to the "wonderful" memory God has gifted me with. Our early meetings still fresh in my mind, I remembered the joy I got walking hand in hand with her in the evenings at the park. Her soft hands and loving grip always made me feel important and wanted. The twinkle in her eyes when she looked at me, even now it makes me forget all my worries just to look into those beautiful eyes. The way she shed tears of happiness when I first told her how much I loved her and the way she hugged me after that.

Ouch!! So lost was I in these memories that the razor cut my cheek. This took me back in time again when I offered her rose on Valentine's day and the thorns tore into my skin in the attempt. Her soft kiss on my fingers was all it needed to vanish all the pain that I was experiencing. Oh!! What I wouldn't have done just to make her happy!!

All cleaned and bathed I opened up my wardrobe and confusion gripped me again as to what I should be wearing. Would I look good in the Tshirts I usually wore or would it be better if I had some formal attire on. In the end I chose a blue shirt she had gifted me last year on my birthday also because I wanted to see if she remembered it. So dressed up in black cotton pants and the blue shirt I looked at myself in the mirror. Yeah!! This was how I looked when she had said that I was the most handsome person she had ever seen and given me a peck on my cheek. The thought itself made my face go crimson.

As I descended down from my apartment I collected the bouquet of her favourite flowers I had ordered the previous day from the florist at the ground floor. The flowers smelled just like her. She had told me once that it was her dream to receive a bunch of flowers of every colour under the sun on an occasion. I took that as a hint and had specifically told the florist to include flowers of all possible colours he could catch hold of. And my good friend had done a tremendous job with it. Placing the bouquet carefully at the passenger seat, I started the car engine.

This reminded me of the first time I had taken her for a ride in the car just after I got my driving license. The terror and nervousness on her face still makes me laugh when I imagine it. Her sweating palms had continuously gripped me throughout the drive. The only time she opened her mouth was when I sped up a bit to overtake a bus in front of me. Her shrill scream rang in my ears for several minutes.

What made her special in my life was the fact that she was always there for me whenever I needed her. Whether be it good times or bad ones. And I always tried reciprocating her love. We shared so many secrets among ourselves. Our telepathic connection was such that many times we left people in a fix as to what we were signalling to each other.

With these thoughts in my head I pulled my car over to the building where she resided now happy in her own bitter sweet world. Taking extreme care so as not to disturb the flower arrangement, I climbed up the stairs that led to her flat on the first floor. Nervous and excited I rang the doorbell waiting for her to open. And as if to mock at my excitement she took her own time to open the door as though she expected me. But when she did open it, I could still see the same twinkling eyes and the smiling face of the woman I loved more than any other... she was my beloved mother!!!!