Story written for platform – Beyond The Box – TWO to TANGO story.
Point of View #1 – Raji
What’s it Amma?” Gowri gently tapped my shoulder. “Is it something in the letter?”
“No.” I waved her away. Sensing some tension, she tried to hug me.
“Leave me alone!” I screamed. She left without a word. And I gazed out of the window
listlessly as the letter lay crumpled in my palms.
Gowri is to be married in less than a month, so we mother-daughter duo deep cleaned the
attics, cupboards, and some old dusty trunks. From the heap of tattered envelopes and
invitations, Gowri fished out an airmail addressed to me. The seal was broken; the letter had
been read. The date was more than a decade old.
“I’m writing this to convey my immense gratitude to you, Raji. Karthik tells me how good a
mother you are to my daughter. Though we were married for almost a year, I could never love
Karthik as a husband. I had pledged my life to our people’s liberation and was always in love
and awe of our leader. I left in the dark of the night with him; Karthik must have been so
heartbroken. Yet, when I birthed Gowri out of wedlock in the warzone, and when none of my
relatives took her in, it was only Karthik who accepted her. And you mothered my daughter,
with no bias or judgment whatsoever.
I wouldn’t know when the war will end, or when I could take her with me, but I can’t thank
you enough. -Aarthi.”
So I was duped all along? That Karthik was a widower, that Gowri was his daughter…all
were just big lies?
Karthik had read it and, of course, hidden it from me. But why hadn’t he destroyed it? Maybe
he wished to give it to me someday. Or, he had been in touch with this Aarthi, and they were
still communicating.
Karthik and I had no children of our own, and for all these years, I had silently taken the
blame on myself. “He has a daughter, doesn’t he?” pesky relatives had reasoned.
And Gowri, whom I accepted as my own, as none to me after all!
My world lay crumbled around me, and Gowri walked in again with a cup of coffee.
“Amma, what happened?” She took my hands in hers.
I smiled through my tears and stroked her head. She was kind and innocent, and her love for
me was irreplaceable.
Point of View #2 – Karthik
By Lamiya Basheer
She looked like a Devathai, with all grace, draped in that pink-coloured Madisar. She looked
just like her mother, my first love, Aarthi. Aarthi, whom I had loved, admired, and married,
but was never mine.
The fragrance of jasmine and incense wafted in the air. As Gowri walked elegantly to the
altar, all dressed up in her bridal attire, I couldn’t help but gaze at my daughter. She entered
the Mandap with her friends, her eyes brimming with excitement while looking for me. Raji
followed close behind but with an indifferent, faraway look.
I couldn’t accept that Gowri was getting married today. Raji stood with me through
all the rituals, though distantly, playing the perfect mother. Little did Raji talk to me in the last
few days; I knew she was disturbed.
I was just Gowri’s in charge, but for me, she was still that tiny life, wide-eyed and curious,
wrapped in soft blankets, left with me when she was a few months old. But little did Raji, or
my princess, know that she never belonged to us. Seldom did I acknowledge this fact.
Raji, who came into my life later within a year, was ready to accept Gowri. After all, I had
convinced her that Gowri was my daughter and that Aarthi had passed away. In the fear of
losing my new love, I never dared to reveal the truth.
“Karthi…” Raji was calling from behind.
I wiped my eyes and turned towards Raji.
“Karthi, I’m taking Gowri to the Puja room. Let her seek blessings from her ancestors.”
“Ancestors? Did she mean parents?” I wondered.
I directed Gowri towards the Puja room. As Gowri prayed before many ancestral
photographs, I noticed an old picture of Aarthi’s. Raji had perhaps fished it out; that was kind
of her. I felt guilty that I couldn’t trace down Aarthi to share this happiness with her. The
last time I heard from Aarthi was when Gowri was doing her board exams. She left a letter to
Raji, conveying gratitude and sharing her story of leaving Gowri with me. I never let that
letter reach Raji; what if she abandoned Gowri?
As Gowri drove off with her husband, I pleaded with Raji to forgive me, not leave me.
She sighed, “You could have trusted me. I love you. And Gowri is my child. No, our child.
Yours, mine, and Aarthi’s.”
Glossary:
Devathai- Goddess
Madisar- A style of Sari worn in Tamil tradition
Mandap- Altar
Winning 1st Runner-Up of Two to Tango – Season 4
