One True Love

She was on top of the world and her heart was soaring. She was going to meet her husband after one whole year. And she remembered how it had all begun.  She was 20 and nothing could stop her cup of joy from brimming over. She was in love. With a real man. A man strong enough to stand by her and care for her. He was worth every bit of all the heated fights and the cold wars she had braved at home for him.

He was a good 13-years-older than her, but he was the one.  She could still remember the lilting melody she had heard when he had taken her in his arms  for the first time. She was dancing and swaying to the hypnotic music for hours it seemed…or was she? And then that cold morning when suddenly the music was replaced by a deafening crash. And then she was hurtling headlong into a dark bottomless pit.

At 5:30 AM, Mumbai was just stirring; the streets bare except for a few early birds.  She was one of them and then something had gone CRASSSSSH…! Everything had come to a standstill. A car had collided head-on with one of  Mumbai’s unmistakable red double-deckers and all one could see was a mangled mess of rubber, steel and blood. The police came; the ambulance came screaming too for the lifeless bodies of the bus driver, his sole passenger, a car driver and Rhea. Rhea was the only survivor,  but at that moment knew nothing of what was happening. She had plunged deep down into a frightening coma.

Rajeev was staring at his beautiful wife’s face and wondering why God was so cruel. What had they done to deserve this? Would Rhea ever come out of the coma, would she survive, would she ever walk on her own again?

Days went by… then months; Rhea was still in a coma. There was no point in keeping her in the hospital, so they moved her home. Her parents came to look after her. The unspoken question in everyone’s mind was, would Rajeev divorce Rhea? After all, what use was this vegetable of a wife to him? Moreover, they had just been married for a year and had not even stayed together for long, as Rajeev had to go away on duty immediately after their wedding. A young man like him had no business staying tied to Rhea; he had a whole life to live and had to move on, or so people thought.

But for Rajeev love was forever. Love was being there for his beloved wife, whether she knew it or not. So he stayed on and cared for Rhea, initially with the help of her parents and later with the help of his parents. One day, 15 months later, without a hint, like the sun emerging from behind a clump of dark clouds; Rhea came out of her coma. And she was happy too to finally see him.  But then Rajeev noticed that something  had changed.

This was not his petite Rhea. In her place, was an overweight girl with a broken back. Someone who could not stand on her own or speak clearly. How could a beautiful young girl age 10 years in just 15 months? If Rajeev thought he had emerged from the acid test of her accident unscathed, he had no clue of what he was in for now. Although Rhea had changed physically, her memory and emotions were still razor sharp and she was using them to gain attention now. From a gentle, soft-spoken girl, Rhea had turned into a raging, screaming, tantrum-throwing monster. Visitors didn’t know what had consumed her and tched tched Rajeev and his parents, wondering why he still put up with her.

This went on unabated for years, but Rajeev bore Rhea’s raving and ranting stoically. He was his old, rock-solid self that nothing could shake. He took care of Rhea, cleaned her, fed her, spoke to her, took her lashings with a smile and read to her. When he was away at work, his parents with their hired help cooked for her and looked after her. Gradually with medicines, time and the loving care of her family, Rhea started showing some improvement. She calmed down a bit, did a few things on her own from her wheelchair and seemed to accept the blow life had dealt her. Or was it that she could not fully comprehend it all as yet? No one really knew what Rhea was thinking.

Rajeev lived life like he would have, had Rhea been her earlier self. He took her everywhere – to the movies, malls, to friends and even on vacations, despite having to undergo a lot of trouble in order to make many prior arrangements for her travel and comfort. Not stopping at that, he adopted a girl child to make their family complete. People were amazed and thought Rajeev had gone mad, adding to his responsibilities by bringing in a child, who would practically remain motherless. But Rajeev remained unfazed. He went along with life, giving all that he could, to his little girl and his  ”big girl,” as he would call Rhea. The three made for a lovely family picture, the baby in a pram, Rhea in her wheelchair and Rajeev taking them both for a stroll in the park.

Eventually, the pram was outgrown and  just a much older Rajeev with a liberal sprinkling of salt in his hair was seen with his much younger wife in the park. The wheelchair was still there of course. But  it remained incidental to   the powerful bond that Rajeev and Rhea had always shared. A bond that demonstrated the fact that Rajeev and Rhea had meant every word when they had vowed “Till death do us part,” 25 years ago.

This  is a true story.

Sonali Karande Brahma is a Strategist, Creative Consultant and a Writer with 12 years of experience in creating powerful stories for advertising, brand building and communication.  She has worked in mainstream advertising for major MNC and Indian brands. She writes on subjects that interest her and teaches Creativity and Writing to young student managers at B-Schools. She can be reached on writersonalibrahmat@gmail.com