Chapter 1

Karan Mehta was pacing up and down the corridors of Apollo hospital, Chennai. He checked his watch, 11:30 PM. ‘It’s taking too long’ he thought. His wife, Charisma Mehta, went into the labor room about three hours ago. It was his second child. ‘Hopefully a son’, he thought. It’s not that he didn’t like his daughter Meera, now five years old, but being born as an Indian, it was his inherent tendency to long for a male child.

Karan, 35, was one of the leading businessmen of modern India. Although he started off with nothing much, he soon gained a reputation among the economic class of the country. Mehta group is now one of the major producers and distributors of almost all day-to-day items. Karan’s growth in the industry was phenomenal. Over a span of just ten years, he managed to outrun almost all his competitors. The few which remained knew better to challenge Karan. So they are now his partners, living on a meager percent of his profit. He lived in an estate which is of twenty-five acres. In the middle was a bungalow of seven storeys and twenty bedrooms surrounded by beautiful gardens.

Karan checked his watch again, 11:35 PM. ‘How long is this going to take’ he thought. He looked up at the far end of the corridor. It was empty. He started to feel drowsy. He went and sat on one of the empty chairs. ‘I’ll just close my eyes for ten minutes’ he thought. He once again bent his head towards the labor room to see if anyone was coming. No one came. So he closed his eyes and dozed off.

Karan was woken up by a loud defeaning cry that echoed through the corridors. The big grandpa clock in front of him showed the time to be around half past one. He rushed towards the labor room. The cries had stopped by the time he reached there. He waited patiently outside. After twenty minutes, a nurse came out holding a baby in her arms.

“Mr. Mehta?” she asked.

“Yes”, he said, not taking his eyes of the child.

“Congratulations, it’s a boy”, she said as she handed the child to him.

Karan looked down at his son. He was sleeping, cuddled inside the towel. ‘You are the most beautiful child in the whole world’ he thought.

“How is Charisma?” he asked, as he handed the baby back.

“She is fine”, the nurse said.

“Can I see her?” he asked.

“She is very tired. She is sleeping now. I’ll let you know when she wakes up” the nurse said as she took the baby inside. Five minutes later, the same nurse came with a prescription in her hand.

She said, “Mr. Mehta, get these medicines and these baby items. They are available in the medical shop, ground floor” and walked away without a glance.

Karan couldn’t sleep that night, or at-least what was left of the night. Another hour later, the doctor came out. Karan rushed to see him.

“Doctor…” he started.

“Ah! Karan, I believe congratulations are in order”, the doctor said in a very cool voice.

“How is the condition, sir?” Karan asked, unable to mask his anxiety.

“No need to worry, they are fine. We had some complications during delivery but they are fine now. We will keep them under observation for the next few days and they are all yours” the doctor said. “Please excuse me, I have to hurry”, the doctor said as he turned to walk. “Oh, you can see your now wife, Karan. She is awake. She is moved to Room No.307, third floor”, he added before walking away.

“Thank you, doctor. Thank you for everything”, Karan said.

As Karan entered into Room No. 307, he was the happiest man on earth. He saw his wife, lying down on the bed and his son in a cradle next to her. He rushed towards the cradle to enjoy the full beauty of his new child. He gently took him in his arms. The boy slightly stirred but went off to sleep once again.

“He has your eyes”, Charisma said.

“What do we call him?” Karan asked after a few moments.

“How about ‘Arjun’?” Charisma said.

“You read my mind”, Karan said with a smile on his face. He turned to his son, “Arjun Mehta, my most treasured possession”.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

Arjun Mehta couldn’t help the smile on his face as he was going through his father’s diaries. This was that of the day he was born. Even after twenty-two years, the paper was crisp and felt good to touch. He moved on through the years, through the accounts of his first steps, his first words, and his first day at school, his first crush. His father’s diary had everything. As he went through the pages he stopped at 3rd June 2007.

‘Today was a very special day. Because today Meera got engaged to Jai. She was talking about him for a few months now. I think they met at college. You should’ve seen the look on her face when I said yes.He is a good boy; good family, good reputation. I talked to his parents about the matter a few weeks ago. They said they were okay with the proposal. But the good thing is that Meera got the life she wanted. It is amazing how fast children grow up. It feels like yesterday that I held her tiny arms when she started walking. Now she is ready to let go of that arm to walk on her own. The wedding is due in a month’s time. Good night.’

The day-to-day accounts became larger and larger as Arjun moved on. The description contained the purchases, the invitations and all the wedding preparations; word to word, second to second. Then he reached 29th June 2007. He remembered that day too well. He went on to read his father’s account of it.

‘Charisma will come back today. She has gone to Thailand to check the final preparations for the wedding. I think they planned the honeymoon in Australia. But Meera wouldn’t tell me though; still so childish. She said she wanted it to be a surprise. I don’t know how I am going to live without her in this house. I hope…’

The writing stopped mid- sentence, but Arjun knew what happened next. His father’s phone rang. The message that came through it was short and simple, but devastating.‘Sir, there is bad news. The private jet which had madam Charisma crashed mid-way into the ocean’. There was a long pause. ‘I’m sorry sir, but I don’t think there is much hope for her. The coast guard will contact you shortly’. Karan stood still the whole time, eyes gazing into the emptiness. It was as if his soul was ripped out of his body. The whole world seemed to slow down. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t take in the message. His grip on the phone slowly loosened. He couldn’t hear anything, he couldn’t see anything;his mind was blocked; blocked by Charisma, his first true love. He wanted to see her, to hold her close. But now she is gone. The whole world suddenly seemed empty, the lights dimmed out. His eyes began to shut slowly as he began to lose control of his feet. A stinging pain came from his chest straight to his brain. His whole body felt numb. With a final surge of strength, he opened his eyes. That’s when he realized he was falling. He opened his mouth to scream but no words came out. He fell to the ground clutching his chest. That night, on the hospital corridor, all the doctor had for Arjun was a disappointed face and tragic news. Karan Mehta died of heart failure that night, a few days before his daughter’s wedding.

Everything changed after that. The wedding was cancelled. Jai went America to continue his studies. The twenty-five acre estate turned into a graveyard of memories. The stock

Impressum

Verlag: BookRix GmbH & Co. KG

Tag der Veröffentlichung: 08.08.2014
ISBN: 978-3-7368-3093-6

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To Those who fall in love, not for its pleasures, but for the pain...