What is love?-Part 4

                                                          Not being able to trace Sujatha was always worrying Karthik.
Though he knew it was not agreed upon to support her or her child,he could never forgive himself.


Everything else around him seemed to be going on fine oblivious of his worries when suddenly,
Karthik met with an accident.

It was said that he was hit by a car smaller in size to his.the driver was later found to have drowned himself in liquor before driving.

There was so much buzzle around him.

As for Karthik,he lay on the road with an open gash on his leg.
Time was passing away fast but, no-one came forward to help him - except for one young man.

Now, to tell you about this young man.
He was six feet in height and well-built.But, he was still very young.
He must have been about two decades old.But, he had a strength of character that shown through him.

He picked up Karthik and drove him to the hospital in his car. He informed Karthik's family members with the information on Karthik's licence card.Then,he left.

                                                                                      Once karthik felt better and was sent home,the first thing he did was to trace this young man.

lkygi`]\\

He went to the boy's house but, he was not there.
His neighbors informed Karthik that the young man had lost his mother only a few weeks ago.

He came to know that the boy had gone to the riverside to perform a few last ceremonies for his mother's soul to rest in peace.

Karthik thought he should meet him immediately.He wasted no time.

At the riverside:

By the time Karthik reached the riverside, the rituals were over and Karan was sitting alone.

As soon as he saw Karthik,he broke down.

Karthik felt sorry for him.He asked,"What is your name?"

"My name is Karan sir."

The boy continued,"if someone would have saved my mother like I saved you,she would have lived today.she was my only relationship with this world.I loved her so much and so did she.I was her world. She always thought for me."Then he broke into a tears again.

"What about your father?Is he no more?"

The boy suddenly fell silent.

After about a time ,which seemed like ages,he began to talk again.

"My father left us even before I was born."

"Then he must have been a very selfish man.Am I right?"Karthik asked.

"No sir.Don't say that.
My mother loved him till the last and she has always told me well about him.

Please don't ask me anything more.

Saying so, they walked till their cars.

Karthik wanted to thank the boy immensely but, just the word would not suffice, he thought.I should help him now. So,Karthik invited him home to wade his loneliness.

The boy accepted.He felt very comfortable with Karthik.
It gave him a queer but, happy feeling.

At Karthik's home:

Lakshmi and Krithika were very accommodative to Karan.The comfort they gave him brought back a smile on his face.He felt much better.

                              After an elaborate lunch Karthik and Karan sat down for a chat.

In the course of the talk,Karthik came to know that the boy had been in America doing his masters ,when the unexpected happened to his mother.He had even refused to go to America earlier but, his mother had forced him to accept it for his betterment.

Later that night,the boy started to talk about his mother and he showed Kathik her photo.

karthik was dumbfounded.He could not believe what he saw.

It was Sujatha.

Now he realised that this boy Karan is his own.

But he did not seem to know his father by face .

Sujatha had kept up her promise and his own dignity till the last,against many odds.He felt thankful sorry for her at the same time.

Suddenly, the thought that Karan was his son gave Karthik so much to talk to him.He had lost out all 20 years with his son and he wanted to make-up for it altogether.But, there were other thoughts also running in his mind.

He thought that being impulsive will not help.First things first.

So,Karthik convinced Karan to stay back for another week .
Karthik had a plan for the boy.

Karan was hesitant initially, but eventually agreed.

So, what next?

                                                                                    to be continued...............

Behold!the beauty

What is love?-Part 3

Sujatha met Karthik at his office and placed a request in front of him.She made him feel guilty for not having understood her love for him in college.

Her request pushed him into dilemma.Sujatha's plan hit the bull's eye.


Karthik was totally confused.
He wanted to make up for his fault but, how could he spoil his family life?

With these thoughts he goes back home ruminating.


Back at Karthik's home:
Karthik went back home lost in thoughts about this proposal.

Lakshmi sensed that something was not alright in him.

He reluctantly told his wife what had happened and waited for a firy response.

He expected that she would be very angry with him to not have slapped Sujatha right away for such a proposal.

But, the reaction he got was startling.

She said,"Sujatha had been straight-forward in her love for you.She had proposed to you and you were the one who had ignored it playfully.

Her love had been true so, she is not able to forget you.

You say she has lost her parents.So, she is all alone now.

We can never repay her in money for the help she has done by saving our child.

So, we have to give her back in the way that will make her happy.                     

This time too she has been plain about her wish and I respect her for that.

I think ,atleast this time you should honour her feelings.

What do you say?"

Karthik was stunned and speechless.
He could not make out how he felt at that moment.
But,he went to bed as a relieved man.

The next day, the first thing he did when he went to office was to ring up to Sujatha and tell her the decision.

He had accepted her request.
The details were discussed and decided.

At a resort:

After about a week,
Karthik and Sujatha selected a good resort and spent a couple of days together.

They shared everything that was to be shared between them and they parted their ways.

While they were to leaving, Karthik asked,"where will you go now?"

Sujatha just gave him a smile and left the place.

After that incident Karthik had tried to find her whereabouts many times but, all in vain.
Some said she had left the city while some said she had left to a different country.
But, Karthik could not find her even after lot of efforts.

Krithika

                     Years rolled by and the little girl Krithika grew up to me a beautiful damsel.

20 years had passed.

But, Karthik had never once heard from Sujatha after that incident.

If Sujatha had wanted she could have easily traced him for he was so famous now.
But, she did not.

What is love?-Part 2

We saw that Sujatha and the neighbors informed baby Krithika's parents and so, they rushed to the hospital immediately.

The only thing that was in their minds then was to save the kid.They were ready to do anything for that.

Beyond that ,what happened?

We will see now:

At the hospital:

The child was in a critical condition and so, the doctor admitted krithika into the intensive care unit.
Krithika's parents waited impatiently outside the unit.
After what seemed like ages to them, the doctor came out of the ICU and called for the child's parents.He informed them that there had been a lot of blood loss and so,the child has to be infused with blood immediately.

But, the situation was tricky.

The child's blood group was 'O-'which was the rarest blood group.

Karthik and Lakshmi would do anything to save their child, but they were of different blood groups and so, were helpless.

So, they appealed to the crowd to donate blood.

                                               One lady came forward. She was the one who had rushed the child to the hospital.Now, she was ready to donate her blood.She was of the 'O-'blood group.

She was none other than Karthik's collegemate Sujatha.

Kathik was surprised to see her after so many years but, there was no time for pleasantries.

The doctors collected blood from Sujatha and transfused it to the child.The child was saved and came out of danger.

Krithika's parents searched for Sujatha to thank her but, she had already left.

It took a fortnight for Krithika to be completely cured and once she was alright her parents collected the phone number and address of her saviour and left to home.

The following week, Lakshmi rang up to Sujatha and invited her to their home for lunch.

At Karthik's home:

Women are always the best!

As the couple chatted with Sujatha, Karthik received an urgent phonecall from office and so, he excused himself. The ladies continued doing what they were good at : chatting.

In the course of their chat , Lakshmi came to know that Sujatha had done her college with Karthik and that she had loved him deeply and had proposed to him too.But, Karthik had not taken it seriously.

Lakshmi was unperturbed by this information 'cause she knew her husband well.

After Sujatha left , Lakshmi saw that Sujatha had forgotten to take one of her bags . 

In that bag ,was Sujatha's personal diary.

Sujatha was in the habit of noting every small incident in her life in her personal diary and she had told so to Lakshmi too in the course of her chit-lakshmi heitated to read it but, curiosity took over.sujatha had clearly written down her deepest feelings for karthik .she had also mentioned that she still loved him as much as she loved him in college. this love of her's for karthik had not allowed her to get married to anyone else.

She felt very sorry for sujatha but, she thought there was not much that she could do about that.but, she hid it away from her husband.

But, sujatha was different.

  At Karthik's office:

After a week,Sujatha came to Karthik's office.

Karthik went through a mixture of emotions.He felt happiness,gratitude and fear all at-once when he saw her.

Firstly, Karthik thanked her for having saved his daughter's life.
He said,"i don't know how i will ever be able to repay this help of yours."

To this ,Sujatha was quick to say,"There is a way you can repay."

Karthik was taken aback by this unexpected reply."How?"

"Karthik,I loved you very much in college and I feel the same way towards you even today.

She paused for a while and then,continued,

I lost my parents in a plane crash a couple of years back.They have left me behind their huge properties.I have all the riches that I want.But, i don't have a person to call my own."

Karthik intervened her and said,"I am very sorry that I did not reciprocate your love in college.But, now I have a beautiful family of my own .I will never think of creating any trouble in it."

To this, Sujatha said,"I will never even try to create any problem in your family life.
I love you too much for that."

She paused for a while.

"But, I have a wish."

"What?Don't ask for anything that will spoil my family life."

Sujatha gave a cynical smile and started to talk:

"I will never be able to get married to anyone else.Thoughts of you are engrained in me so deeply.
But, I don't want to disturb your familty too.

So, at best I want to have a child through you.

So that I will have a person whom I can call my own and this child will give me joy by reminding me of you,all my life.

If you fulfill this wish for me,I will go away and never cross your path ever again in my life."

Karthik was totally stunned at this proposal.He was so angry and worried that he did not want to answer her right away.So, he asked for a week's time to get back to her.

She agreed.

                                                                                  to be continued...

What is love ?-Part 1

This story starts in the early 1980s.

It is a love story .So, what do you need for a love story essentially?

A hero and a heroine.

Yes!

Here they are.

Now, get to know our main characters.

Our hero:

Our hero's name is Karthik.

He is a very handsome and smart man.

When he was a college student , all the girls and boys admired him for various reasons.

He was good in his studies as well as in sports.

He was a tea-totaller but, he had one bad habit.He took life very easy and playful.

His parents warmed him against this habit of his, but he did not care.

His days in college were very enjoyable and carefree.

He was everyone's hero.

Such enviable characters in him drew many girls towards him. Many girls proposed to him.

But, he never took any of those proposals seriously.He laughed them  all away.

This was about our hero.

Our heroine:

Now ,to say about our heroine.

Sujatha was no less to Karthik.

She was a delicate beauty.

Needless to say, many boys waited for hours to catch a glimpse of her. But, her heart went all out for Karthik. 

She loved him deeply and truly. 

 She even went out of the norm to propose to Karthik .

But,as of usual, our hero could not care less.

Days moved on and Karthik and Sujatha were selected for different jobs in campus interviews.

They parted their ways.

Karthik's life:

Karthik performed well in his job.He continued to have female admirers in his office but, he continued to be who he was.

Karthik and Lakshmi got wedded.

After a couple of years,

Karthik's parents selected a homely girl named Lakshmi for him and he got married to her.

Due to official reasons, shifted their home from Chennai to Calcutta.

In the coming months,they had a baby daughter and they named her Krithika. 

As months turned to years,this baby grew to be a naughty young child.

She was very pleasant in her demeanor and good in her studies, just as her father was and everyone liked her.

               One day while she was playing with her friends in the park,a car came from nowhere and dashed against her.She fell to the floor and there was profuse blood loss.

A passer-by picked up the child and rushed her to the hospital.A few of the neighbors had accompanied her .So, they rushed to the hospital immediately and informed baby Krithika's parents at the earliest.

                                                                       to be continued............