I remember, I had left my apartment door ajar and had rushed towards the hospital. A small crowd had already gathered which eased me a bit. We human beings find solace in a crowd and maybe that is why we have learnt to live together. Stony expressions greeted me even as the assembled students surrounded me. I felt their warmth and it was reassuring. After a few hours of deliberations among ourselves and the advice of the doctor, we all returned.
My life had changed. It had never been so deppressing. I took a few days leave and started spending my time at the hospital. If I am not wrong, I think it was one week. On the third day, Shalini regained consciousness and on the fourth she was able to talk. The first thing she asked was wheather we had informed her mother or not. I told her that the school authorities had informed her mother and that she was expected soon. I knew nothing about the steps the school authorities had taken but to reassure her I had taken the positive stance.
After a few minutes, I could see that she was straining herself to bring outthose feeble words. It did not appeal to me that such a beautiful girl should undergo this agony just to oblige my presence. I remember, I had then advised her and after promising to be back in the evening, bade her farewell.
As promised I met her in the evening. You would not believe me but I am bound by the responsibilities of a true narrator to inform you of each and every trait of my protagonist. As soon as she saw me, she adjusted her pillow and sat upright. The saem girl who had earlier struggled to bring out wordswas shifting position as a mark of respect. You may find it difficult or rather impossible, but its true.
I pulled a three-legged stool towards her and sat down comfortably. The blood stained bandages made me stir uneasily and to hide my nervousness I asked her wheather anybody else had dropped in. Her eyes were crying for help as they drowned in a sea of tears as she looked up to answer. After a long pause she broke the silence. Soon after I had left, the principal of our school had visited her. Later he had met the doctor and both of them had had a long discussion in the corridor. I know that this part seems like fiction but its true that she overheard them and came to know of her medical status. The doctor, a highly acclaimed and respected person in his circle had said that she would not see the next Sunday.
Initially, I thought she was making a fool of me�actually this girl was capable of doing it..but my brain did not betray my heart. Now the dark circles under her eyes, the blood stained bandages and the subtle expression on her face meant something to me. I remember caressing her hair, not out of sympathy but out of love. She was too young to bear the pain God was inflicting on her, but then love in tjose days was always better than sympathy.
I knew somethinmg had happned to me. Something different � for I was ready to do anything for this girl. I would not like to give ostentsible reasons for thsia ffection of mine. Being a chaste man I would accept that I wa in love with her..in fact it is easier to accept after 18 years of silence. By this time she had dozed off and I remmember being startled by the doctors arrival.
How can I forget the cripsness of the 100 rs note that I gave the doctor to ensure good nursing for my shalini. This was sort o a bribe, for in those days a hundred was no less than a jackpot. I am not sure..but I think I went back to the school; though I could not do justice to my profession. By five in the evening, I would be at the hospital caressing through her hair or talking to the doctor about her recovery. But as fate would have it, one day when I was teaching the Theory of relativity to grade 12 students, the attender barged in, apologetically.
