Marriages Are Made In India by Lakshmi Raj Sharma

Author:Lakshmi Raj Sharma
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: BookBaby
Published: 2012-12-15T00:00:00+00:00

Speech is Silver

“You know,” said Lalit to his wife, “The problem with Vinayak is not that he doesn’t want to get married. It’s just that he can never manage it on his own.”

“You and your awkward friends,” replied Mohini, “Haven’t you even one friend who could behave normally? Next you’ll tell me of another who’s hungry and can’t eat his food because he’s shy.”

“My dear Mohini, you’re the most wonderful woman in the world! I can’t think of anyone, man or woman, who’s a patch on you. Think of what I’d be if you were not with me. Either I’d be a loner envying what others had or I’d be stuffing myself with pride and importance to a point that would not be good for my health.”

Mohini smiled her usual smile and allowed Lalit to have his way. After all, what did it cost to let him have the company of a few odd or neurotic friends? These awkward people were not really harmful. Besides, her own excellent normality stood out in contrast when they lurked around.

“What worries me is that Vinayak is thirty-five and hasn’t even looked at a girl yet. He doesn’t even …”

Lalit went on as Mohini’s mind left her far behind. It didn’t matter what her husband was saying. As far as Lalit was concerned, it was enough that he had unburdened his mind. Whether she paid attention to him or not was scarcely relevant. The necessary thing was to lighten his heart before this mighty presence. He just wanted to go on saying something and she had to listen till her patience was exhausted and she indicated with gestures of uneasiness.

Mohini did not dislike her husband, and would ultimately be with him. But only ultimately. Of late he had begun to be too reflective and mostly when he imagined that he was talking to her, he was in fact talking to himself. She often reminded him that he was telling her something for the fourth or fifth time. This was not a very pleasant experience for Lalit. He tried to complete his stories even by changing them to be able to keep up his narratives. Mohini ultimately allowed him to complete these stories without really listening to them. She had seen how miserable her poor husband had been when he could not complete a narration.

“I bet you haven’t heard half of what I told you about Vinayak.”

“All right, go on.”

“You know, I feel a strange responsibility towards him. He has always lagged behind. In school he never managed to keep up with the rest of us. In a race he was always last; in class, the one who never said a word. When Vinayak spoke, others teased him so much that he didn’t open his mouth for the rest of the week. Even then I’d feel sorry for him. God knows why I’ve always wanted him to be relaxed and at peace with himself. Imagine, twenty-five years have passed since I first met Vinayak. He visited me sometimes until I got married.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.