BENGALURU: I couldn’t concentrate on work. Sayali needn’t have taken Didi’s words to heart. It’s not like I ever said anything to her. Did she think that I had prompted my sister to speak? It’s possible. But then, she should have sought a clarification from me, which she didn’t. That’s carrying self-respect and pride too far. Should I have met her and explained things? The problem would have been solved then and there.
Problem? Didi must have been bothered about these questions. But shouldn’t she have asked me for the explanation? Sayali’s proposal had, in fact, been brought by Didi’s husband, my brother-in-law. I’d liked her the moment I saw her. We began meeting and going out together. Didi, too, had approved of Sayali. But later, when she’d asked around, she came to know about the ‘affair’ from her college days.
‘Didi, shouldn’t you have checked with me before asking her? I knew about it,’ I told my sister. ‘You were besotted by her. Would you have confronted her?’
‘So, you decided?’
‘Yes. I asked her directly if my brother deserved damaged goods!’ I felt as if I had been stabbed in the heart. I could only imagine what poor Sayali must have experienced. If only Didi had told me that she was going to speak with her.
At first, I didn’t even realise that Sayali was avoiding me. She didn’t come to meet me at our usual place. She didn’t take my calls. Worried, I called her manager. That was when I got the news. ‘She says that you guys have broken up.’
Didi phoned to tell me, ‘Forget about her now. I will bring better proposals for you, girls more beautiful than her. Don’t worry.’ Notwithstanding the fact that she was my elder sister, I exploded, ‘Be careful, Didi. You misjudged Sayali. And how much do you actually know me? Do you know about my friendship with Sandra in college? Were you okay with that?
Several times when the two of us were alone, we came pretty close to each other. Despite
suspecting it, why didn’t you stop me?’
‘But, you’re a man ...’
‘Shut up, Didi! If a guy does it, it’s a conquest. But in the case of a girl it’s a scandal? Get this, Didi, I will not marry any girl but Sayali. I will remain a bachelor. And further, from this day on, you will no longer be a part of my life!’ Saying this, I disconnected the call. I had spoken in the heat of the moment, but it had come from my heart. I was furious with my sister.
Five months had gone by since then. I was trying to forget Sayali. But the unrelenting memories,
it seems, were just waiting for an excuse to resurface.
(Excerpted from The Wait by Damodar Mauzo published by Penguin Random House)