By the time Meera finished her prayer, Prakash asked his son who had just come home,
“So, sir… even after knowing your result, you went roaming around the forest so peacefully. What have you thought about what to do next?”
Confused about what to answer, Chirant replied carelessly,
“I don’t know, dad. I’ll just do whatever you say.”
“Oh really? You’ll do what I say? No need, sir. Do whatever you feel like. I’ll support you if needed,” said Prakash.
“No, dad… whatever I think or whatever I say—you won’t understand anything. So I’ll just stay quiet and do what you say,” said Chirant.
“I’m the one who told you to study well all these days. If you had listened then, I wouldn’t have had to ask you this today,” said Prakash.
“That’s enough, dad. I understand what my mistake is. If possible, try to understand what your mistake is,” said Chirant, a little hurt.
“Oh, so I made a mistake? Is doing all this for you my mistake?” Prakash asked in a pained voice.
“What you did for me isn’t a mistake. But you never even tried to understand why I made that mistake, what caused it, or what I was going through. That is your mistake,” said Chirant sadly.
“Uncle knows very well what’s right and wrong. He doesn’t need to learn that from you. It’s better if you argue less with elders,” Meera said angrily, without even looking at Chirant.
“If I don’t say anything, you won’t understand. If I say something, you say I’m wrong. What should I do? Sorry, dad,” said Chirant and walked away.
“Don’t feel bad, uncle. Listen to what he said,” Meera said.
“It’s not that, dear. My biggest worry now is about his future,” said Prakash, confused.
“You’ve done your part for his future. Leave the rest to God. Whatever is written in his fate will happen,” Meera comforted him.
“Meera, do me one favor. Let’s try one last time. There’s a supplementary exam next month. Please guide him well,” Prakash requested.
“Oh uncle, you don’t even have to ask me that. I’ll definitely do my part. Don’t worry. You go, I’ll talk to Chiru,” said Meera and went to him.
As soon as she came in front of him, she said,
“Thanks, Chiru… finally, you made uncle lose the trust he had in me. And the trust I had in you is also completely gone. Are you satisfied now?”
Meera kept talking, but Chirant didn’t respond. Seeing this, she continued,
“You don’t even have anything to say, right? Everything is over. According to our agreement, I shouldn’t talk to you. But what to do… uncle still believes in you and asked me to help you at least pass the supplementary exam. That’s why I came. I’ll teach you, that’s it. Don’t expect me to talk to you like before.”
Without waiting for his reply, she left.
Until the supplementary exam, Meera spoke to him only a little. When Chirant failed that exam too, she decided not to talk to him at all and completely stopped.
Meanwhile, Meera got a seat in a B.Sc. course at a college in Madikeri. Prakash was hesitant to send her so far, especially because that place held childhood memories for her. But since one of her PUC friends also got a seat in the same college, and Meera agreed to go mainly because of her, Prakash had no choice but to agree.
On the day she left for college, Prakash sent her off with a heavy heart. Chirant tried a lot to talk to her, but Meera stayed silent and left for Madikeri without responding.
Three months passed like this. Even Prakash stopped talking to Chirant lovingly. Though Prakash didn’t speak to him, Chirant continued working in the fields and sometimes wandered alone in the forest.
One day, Prakash came to him and said,
“Chiru, go to Madikeri today, pay Meera’s college fees, talk to her, and give her this money for expenses. I have some work.”
Chirant happily accepted the chance to talk to Meera. Eager to see her, he rushed and boarded a bus to Madikeri.
After sending him, Prakash called Meera. She picked up the call happily,
“Hi uncle, how are you?”
“I’m fine, dear. How are you?” he asked lovingly.
“I’m doing great,” Meera said cheerfully.
“Today is the last day to pay your college fees, right? I couldn’t come, so I sent Chirant,” said Prakash.
The moment she heard Chirant’s name, Meera went silent for a moment. She had hoped never to hear his name again, but now she had to. Still, she said,
“Oh uncle, it would’ve been nice if you had come. I feel like seeing you.”
“Don’t feel bad. I’ll come next week,” Prakash comforted her.
“Okay, uncle,” she said unwillingly and hung up.
As usual, Meera went to college with her friends. Meera, Manya, Nidhi, Nakul, and Pranav were a close group. Meera and Manya studied together in PUC, while Pranav and Nakul were from the same college. Nidhi was the daughter of Tulasi, a doctor in a well-known hospital in Madikeri.
Usually, after lunch, when all five sat together, Meera would be the most talkative. But today, she was unusually quiet, which made everyone curious.
Nakul teased,
“What happened? The firecracker that always makes noise is silent today?”
Pranav added,
“Yeah, maybe the firecracker got wet, that’s why there’s no sound!”
“Enough, stop teasing her. I don’t know what happened, but she’s been like this since her uncle called in the morning,” said Manya.
“What did your uncle say that made you upset?” Nidhi asked.
Even though everyone tried to talk to her, Meera remained silent.
Just then, someone came and said,
“Meera, someone is waiting outside for you.”
She knew it was Chirant, but her self-respect didn’t allow her to go.
“Tell him to come here,” she said.
Even after all this time, her anger hadn’t reduced. But Chirant still hoped she would forget everything and talk to him like before.
He came inside and looked for Meera. The first person he saw was Manya. Meera was sitting with her back towards him.
Manya saw him and got excited,
“Meera, look who’s here!”
“Who? Chirant?” Meera asked casually.
Manya was shocked.
“What’s this, Meera? It’s Chirant!”
“So what if it’s Chirant? Tell him to finish his work and leave. And don’t try to make me talk to him,” she said angrily and walked away.
Seeing her leave angrily, Chirant realized her anger hadn’t faded.
He followed her, came close, and held her hand, saying,
“Meera… just a minute…”
To be continued……
You can also read this story in Kannada.
You can also explore other posts on this page
