People Die But love Remains... A Heart-Rending Story

There was something in her singing that compelled me to stop and listen to it every time I passed by her house.

She lived in flat no 12, the ground floor of our building. We were new occupants to this building. It took just few days to befriend all the other residents of the building. It was the house no.12 that remained a mystery to me.

 All I had noticed about this flat were the occupants, a middle aged women and a young man, probably her son. Sometimes the house was visited by another family which was her elder son, settled abroad. They never mingled with any of the colony members.

Well, a busy man with 8 to 10 hours of work may have a reason to be less socializing but what about the lady of the house. She too never tried to socialize with anyone. My human mind started to reason out why she preferred to remain isolated and more than that about her singing.

The most strange and yet captivating fact about her singing was the kind of songs she sang. Whenever I passed by her house especially in the evenings or night I could hear her singing some sad song, a song of separation, a song of longing for someone.

Melodiously she sang. Her songs were soothing to the ears though at times her pitch was little louder than actually required. Her highly emotive singing was hard to avoid. Every line of the song exhumed pain. The sentiments expressed were touching and poignant.

I always wanted to know about her. I wanted to reason out why she sang tragic songs. I wanted to explore her emotions

.

My desperate and inquisitive mind finally got an answer. I came to meet one of the senior most occupants of our building who came to attend an annual function in the colony. Although she was no more a member of this colony but her years of stay in the same place had earned her many loyal friends.

She became the source of all my unanswered questions. She told me about the real and heart rending story of flat number 12.

Sharda was the name of the lady whose singing always captivated my thoughts. Thirty eight years back she had joined our colony. She was appointed as the caretaker by the real owner of flat no.12, Mr. Desia. She was responsible for the entire household chores and also for nursing  Mr. Desia’s old mother.

Within few days she had mastered her job. This was not all, with her friendly and helpful nature she even won the hearts of the colony members. Everyone loved Sharda for what she was. But, there was someone whom Sharda failed to please and that was Mr.Desia’s mother. Although Sharda  dutifully took care of her, the old lady detested her presence. All dedication and goodness of Sharda could not win the lady’s heart.

The destiny planned something that even Sharda was unaware of. She was contented working as the caretaker. But then Mr. Desai highly impressed by her personality fell for her. He wanted to marry her. It was not easy to convince her especially when the senior lady of the house did not like her. Yet, Mr.Desia had found her woman in Sharda. Although his mother did not give a happy consent to their marriage, the fate had already decided in their favor.

Marriage with Mr.Desia had made her life blissful. She enjoyed every moment she lived. Even the harsh words and rude behavior of mother did not dampen her spirits. She was on cloud nine. She had nothing more to ask from life.

She was blessed with two boys. They had made her life complete and beautiful.

Life was going so well and smoothly that Sharda forgot that life has other side too.

One day Sharda was waiting for her husband. It was a special day, it was their fifteenth anniversary. Like every time, this time too Sharda had some special plans for the day. But little did she know that this day that once filled her life with happiness would take away everything from her.

Mr.Desia had met with a fatal accident. Doctors had given up hope. Sharda was totally broken. She did all that she could manage. She prayed and tried to please all the gods and goddesses, expecting them to save his life. But none of them seemed to accept her prayers.

After struggling for life for few days finally Mr.Desai bid goodbye to life. With him gone, life became difficult for Sharda and more so when Desia’s mother blamed Sharda's misfortune for her son’s demise.

Sharda was struggling hard with her emotions and also with the difficulties of a single parent. She worked harder to ensure her sons accomplished all that they had dreamt together.

She successfully managed to do so. Both the sons soon grew up into responsible men. They got settled with high-profile jobs. One of them settled abroad with his family. While the other stayed back with Sharda.

 Time is said to be the best healer but not in every case. With every passing day Sharda’s pain increased.  She missed her husband. It was on these moments that she sang songs in remembrance of her husband. She expressed her pain and lonliness through her songs.

 She confined herself to her house. She preferred to stay alone.

Slowly with time people say she started losing her mental balance. Hence, her son did not allow her to go out.Singing became the only medium through which she poured out her emotions. Her singing signified a wait, as if waiting to reunite with her soul mate.

Her heart-wrenching story left me disturbed for several days.

Life is mysterious, sometimes it fills your life with unexpected happiness and next moment it takes away the very reason for your living.

Now every time I listen to her singing I feel her pain and wish her pain ends.