I had been very restless since afternoon.
Apparently, one’s sixth sense warns you when something terrible is about to happen. I couldn’t quite put my finger to it, but I knew, all I had to do was to wait for the Tsunami to unleash its expected destruction.
I haven’t made my introduction yet have I?
I am…Why go into names? I am one of those thousands of brides whose husbands have gone back to the war front to guard the nation or to war-torn nations to earn some much-needed moolah, after impregnating us.
So that I’m not alone in his absence. I have someone to tend to, attend to.
How many tearful and sleepless nights had been spent clutching the cold pillow for comfort?
How many festivals went by praying for his safety, while every inch of my core pined for his smile, the twirl of his moustache whenever he saw me eyeing his broad back surreptitiously?
One fateful day, he became a mere statistic for the government. They declared him, ‘missing in action’.
And my reality came crashing down and an ambivalent paradise became my escape.
The rest of the world got on with its business while I oscillated between prayers and pathos!
Was he there or not? Am I a wife or a widow? With every turn of the calendar, our memories together started getting hazier. A vigil was all I had. I barely remembered the timber of his baritone. He even smelt and looked different in my dreams.
I was angry with myself. I wasn’t even loyal or devoted to the idea of my missing-for-long-husband.
What had I become?
The mounting debts, growing kids, whining elders and reducing income had robbed me of my softcore.
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And the Tsunami came as silently as possible but with an unforeseen vengeance.
A clinical declaration by the powers-to-be said, my husband had been shot dead. And the body hadn’t been found yet.
But the mourning by all had started almost immediately.
The depressing wailing was soon seeping into the muddy crumbling walls whereas I just wanted to sleep.
A painless sleep. A dreamless sleep. A contented sleep.
I sat with the wailing mob, watching them beat their chests, watching the evening shadows make patterns on the closing-in-walls.
I thought of running away from this morbid courtyard but I still participated in the proceedings wordlessly.
My eyes were totally dry. Why wasn’t I crying?
My aching breaking body gave out a huge sigh of relief.
I realized I didn’t have to tend to his memories anymore.
I could exhale. I could breathe. I could restart from where I had paused my life. I could move on.
Oh, Lord! Why was I turning out to be this monster? Why wasn’t I grieving?
I then understood, because I loved him so, his death shouldn’t be my sentence. He was in a better place and I was too.
I had punished myself enough by vacillating between hope and despair. Now I had a closure.
It was time to let go. It was also the time to cherish him and grieve too.
And I crumpled up and bawled away.
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39 lives!
And so many interconnected dependent lives
Pregnant Dreams and Hopes on pause
Now a mere mirage of 4 years of relentless, restless wait
Cruelly wiped off with a mere declaration.
Will there be closure? Even peace?
When you have a family to come back to You are one of the luckiest on Earth!
/* For those who lost their loved ones in the line of duty. A loss is tough to deal with but the uncertainty is even tougher*/
AkkaAcerbic 