It’s Too Late Now
Time flies so fast that sometimes it leaves us
breathless. Fourteen months of Karan’s life have passed and he is so much
drowned in his work, he doesn’t notice what’s happening around him.
One day he receives Indu’s phone.
Karan says “Hello aunty, how are you and how is my little
sister Palak?”
Indu says smiling “I am fine but your “little” sister is
not little anymore. She is getting married.”
Karan is delighted to hear this; he says “That’s great
news. When is the wedding?”
Indu says “On the 15th of the next month, she
is here, talk to her.”
Palak says “Brother, you will have to come to bless me;
otherwise I will never talk to you”
Karan says “Don’t be silly Palak. Is it possible that I
will not attend the marriage of my only sister? Of course I will come, however
busy I may be. I’ll come on the 14th and will leave on the same
night by flight.”
On the 14th of November, Karan reaches Indu’s
residence late in night as his train is late. The whole building is illuminated
with various colours of led bulbs. The house is beautifully decorated. Indu and
Palak are delighted to welcome Karan. Ajay also greets him
Karan looks at the decoration and says “Aunty, the
decoration is excellent. It seems like all the stars of the heaven have come
down to earth to make my sister’s life bright”
Palak says “Brother, the brightest star is only one and
that’s you”
All of them laugh. After chatting for a while, Karan says
“Aunty, I am very tired, I want to rest.”
Indu says “Ok, Ajay will take you to the community hall,
where I’ve made all the necessary arrangements for the guests.”
Ajay says “Come, Karan, let’s go”
They come to the community hall which is near Indu’s
place. The ground floor of the community hall is reserved for gents and the
first floor is reserved for ladies. Karan keeps his luggage at the ground floor
and goes to sleep.
Next morning Ajay comes and takes Karan to Indu’s place
with him, where celebrations of Palak’s wedding are in full swing. The DJ sound
system is blaring latest film songs. Indu is dancing with other guests. The
whole atmosphere is alive with fun and merriment.
Karan asks Indu “Aunty, where is Ramola?”
Indu replies “She is with Palak, come I’ll take you to
her.”
Indu and Karan comes to Palak’s room, where she is
sitting surrounded by her friends, among them, a pretty girl, Ramola, is also
present. After exchanging greetings with Palak, Karan asks Ramola, “Hi Ramola,
did you sleep well? I hope my sister has taken good care of you”
Ramola says smiling, “Of course. She is such a sweet
girl. We have become fast friends overnight.”
Palak says “Don’t worry brother; Ramola is a special
guest for me, that’s why I have paid special attention to her.”
Karan chats with them for a while then leaves.
At 4 Pm all of them leave for the wedding avenue. The
marriage ceremony is scheduled to be held in the hall and the reception and
dinner at the ground adjacent to it.
At 5.pm, the melodious sound of a band is heard outside,
announcing the arrival of the Groom along with the “Baraat”.
Indu and her relatives welcome the Groom and his friends
and relatives. Karan is happy to notice that the Groom is a smart, handsome
young man. He also sees Aqeel among the friends of the Groom. He approaches Aqeel
and says “Hi, remember me?”
Aqeel says “Of course I remember you Karan; you are a man
who cannot be forgotten easily. Have you come to the city in search of a
bride?”
Karan says “No, I am fed up of searching. I’ve come to
attend my sister’s wedding. Besides I am also here to take the pizza treat from
you. You lost the bet remember?”
Aqeel says laughing, “Of course I remember I owe you a
pizza treat.”
Then Karan asks Aqeel “Are you related to the Groom?”
Aqeel replies “No, but he is the younger brother of my
best friend”
As they are talking, Ajay comes and joins them and asks Aqeel
where his wife is. Aqeel says she will be joining for dinner soon.
As luck would have it, Roma is also present at the
wedding, not as a guest but as one of the waiters and waitress, serving snacks
and cold drinks to the guests. She is delighted to see Karan initially but soon
her happiness turns into dismay as Karan is surrounded by other guests and she
feels inferior in her waitress’s uniform and just cannot approach Karan
directly.
By now Roma has made up her mind to marry Karan and wants
to talk to him desperately about it. She sees Aqeel standing near the stage,
helping his friend in ceremonial functions being performed on the stage.
Roma walks to Aqeel and says “Aqeel, I want to talk to
Karan”
Aqeel says “Then go and talk to him, he is sitting there,
what’s the problem?”
Roma says “The problem is that he is surrounded by guests
and I feel ashamed to talk to him in front of so many people, being in the uniform
of a waitress. Will you be kind enough to ask him to come aside and talk to
me?”
Aqeel says dryly, “Sorry Roma, I don’t have the courage
to ask Karan to talk to you. You have been very unfair to him, rejecting him
for ridiculous reasons. He is really upset with you, he is sure to refuse
talking to you. He may even insult me if I ask him to talk to you. You will
have to do it yourself.”
Roma is very dejected to hear this, she thinks hard as to
find a solution to this problem. The supervisor of the catering services looks
at Roma and comes to her, saying angrily “Roma, what the hell are you doing,
standing here idly, go and serve the guests”
Roma says “Sorry sir” she goes back to her job but her
eyes are on Karan. She is thinking desperately how to talk to him. She has even
tried to call him from her mobile but every time she got the message “The
number you have dialled is out of reach”
Roma thinks Karan must’ve changed his mobile number.
While serving a glass of cold drink to a guest, Roma’s
whole attention is on Karan and the glass slips out of her hand. The drink
spills on the guest, ruining his expensive clothes. The guest screams “What are
you doing, you idiot?”
Roma is in tears, she says “I am sorry sir”
The guest shouts “What sorry, you have spoiled my dress.”
The supervisor hears this, comes running and apologises
to the guest. Roma hurriedly cleans his dress with her handkerchief. The
supervisor grinds his teeth and says “Roma, I warn you for the last time, pay
attention to your work, otherwise I will throw you out”
Wiping her tears, Roma says “Sorry sir, I will be careful
next time.”
Unaware of all this, Karan is chatting cheerfully with
Ramola, Ajay and other friends. Roma looks at Ramola with sheer envy and thinks
“Who is this woman? Never seen her before, how shamelessly she is clinging to
Karan?”
Then Roma notices that the supervisor is glaring at her,
she hurriedly starts serving the guests.
After sometime, Karan excuses himself to his friends and
goes to the washroom. Roma says to herself, “This is my chance” she looks here
and there. Supervisor is not to be seen anywhere. Roma walks quickly after
Karan but near the door of the washroom, Karan meets another friend and they go
inside, talking to each other. Roma is so frustrated she feels like banging her
head against the wall. In sheer desperation, she opens the door of the washroom
and bumps right into the supervisor who is coming out. Roma is horrified as the
supervisor sees her with disbelieving eyes.
The supervisor shouts “Roma! Are you out of your mind?
What the hell are you doing, entering the gent’s washroom?”
Roma stammers “S---ssss---sir—I----I---th---th---- the
thing is sir--------
The supervisor cuts her short “The thing is that you have
gone mad, enough of this nonsense now, I’ll report this matter to the owner of
the catering service.”
Roma says with a crying face. “Please don’t do that sir,
I beg of you. The thing is that I forgot to read the signboard saying “Gent’s
Washroom” I thought it is ladies washroom”
Supervisor says “Get out of my sight” and leaves.
Wiping her tears, Roma comes back and she is disturbed
further, seeing Karan holding Ramola’s hand and talking intimately to her.
As Roma is thinking desperately what to do, she sees an
old couple entering the ground. As soon as Karan and Ramola see the old couple,
they get up and walk up to them and receive them warmly. Roma cannot hear what
they are saying but it is obvious from their attitude that Karan and Ramola are
very close to this old couple.
Roma is puzzled. She thinks “Who are these old lady and
the old man? In what way Karan is related to them? And above all how Karan is
related to this beautiful lady?”
By now, all the rituals of the wedding are over. Everyone
is giving gifts to the young couple. Karan, along with the old man and old
woman and the lady go to the stage. They all talk to Indu, who thanks all of
them to come to the reception. Karan says “Aunty I’ll leave immediately after
dinner, as I have a late night flight to catch, I have already packed my luggage.”
Indu says “Please inform me when you leave”
“Of course” says Karan and moves to the buffet area along
with Ramola and the old couple.
Roma is watching him all the time. She is looking for a
chance to talk to Karan but he is surrounded by so many people that it is not
possible to talk to him even for a minute She thinks, “Only 18 months back
Karan did not know anyone in this city, but in this short span of time, he has
made so many friends and these old man and woman along with that lovely lady
are sticking to him like glue, what to do?
Even how to find half a minute to talk to him?” Roma keeps asking
herself but finds no answer.
On the other side, Aqeel says to Karan “Karan, are you
leaving right after dinner?”
Karan says “Yes, I have a flight to catch”
Aqeel says “Why don’t you stay for one day more. I want
to give you the pizza treat.”
Karan says “I’ll take that on my next trip. I must leave
now.”
Aqeel hesitates a little, then says “Karan-------“
Karan turns and asks “Yes Aqeel, you want to say something?”
Actually Aqeel wants to say that Roma wants to talk to
him but he just can’t gather the courage to say so. He just says “Good bye
Karan”
“Good bye, Aqeel” Karan says, goes to Ajay and says
“Ajay, put my luggage in the auto, by the time I’ll just inform Indu aunty that
I am going.”
Aqeel comes to Roma fast and says “Roma, this is your
last chance, Karan is leaving. Go and talk to him.”
Roma runs to the gate, not knowing that Karan has gone to
say goodbye to Indu. She sees Ramola and the old couple waiting near two autos.
On the other side, Karan says goodbye to Indu, who tells
him that she will see off him till the gate. When Karan comes to the gate with
Indu he sees Roma. At the same time Aqeel is also about to leave with his wife
on his bike. When he sees Roma and Karan face to face, he stops the bike to see
what’s happening.
Roma holds Karan’s hand and says “Karan I need to talk to
you”
Karan releases his hand from Roma’s grip and holding
Ramola’s hand, utters only four words. “It’s too late now”
Karan, Ramola and the old couple get into two autos which
turn to the left, Aqeel’s bike turns to the right. In between Roma is standing
alone looking extremely aggrieved. She starts weeping bitterly and goes down on
her knees. Indu watches her sympathetically. She walks up to Roma and puts her
hand on her shoulder. Roma looks up crying and asks Indu “Why was Karan so rude
to me? What did he mean when he said it’s too late? Who was that lady?”
Indu says “She was Ramola, my cousin, whom Karan has
married recently and the old couple were Karan’s Father-in-law and Mother-in-law.”
Roma is stunned to hear this. She thinks bitterly “I have
only myself to blame for my present pathetic condition. From Aqeel to Karan,
I’ve been unjust and cruel to both of them and have lost not one, but two
golden opportunities. I weaved myself into a web of petty excuses, vegetarian
and non-vegetarian, tall and short, fat and slim. I wasted precious moments in
my life saying I need time to think, who will look after my parents, who will
look after my daughter? What a fool I have been? Now both Aqeel and Karan are
happily married and here I am, all alone with no one but bitter memories to
keep me company”
Indu says “Roma, it’s late in the night, you must go
home.” Indu stops a passing auto and helps Roma to get into it. The auto goes
and Indu turns to go in the marriage hall, shaking her head sadly.
Love begins with a smile, grows with a faith,
Ends with a tear.
When you were born, you were crying and
Everyone around you was smiling.
Live your life with Love, Truth, and Faith
So that when you die,
You're the one
smiling and everyone around you is crying.
THE END
