Achchan!(Father in Malayalam language)Tell me yours and Amma's( Amma means mother in Kannada and Malayalam language)love story. Please" 16 year old daughter Akshara asked her father Akash. Riya who was in the kitchen doing her daily chores gave a serious sight to Akash. Though Akash listened to Akshara's words, he pretended reading the newspaper.

" Amma, Achchan, tell me your love story " Akahara looked at Riya and requested but Riya angrily walked towards her room upstairs along with her son Aaresh.

Unable to find any response from both her mother and father Akshara frowned and went inside her room and angrily slammed the door.

Akash was covering his face from newspaper and was pretending to read it . The words that came out of daughter's mouth took him back to past memories. He walked to his room , took a letter from his cupboard and slowly walked towards Akshara's room.

     Akshara was sitting angrily when Akash slowly knocked the door of her room .

" Akshara " , Akash called his daughter lovingly.

Hearing her father Akshara's face frowned and her eyes became as big as saucers. She stared at her father angrily widening her eyes. Akash was stunned for a moment looking at Akshara. The teen girl was doppelganger of her mother. Her eyes were carbon copy of her mother's eyes.

" Achchan, you didn't tell me your love story " Akshara's voice was raised.

" Ask with your mother tomorrow, if she doesn't tell you I myself will narrate you our love story." Akash smiled and secretly pushed the letter in his hand under Akshara's pillow.

" I don't know all that , tell me your love story now itself . Please Achchan , I'm curious to know" Akshara pleaded her father.

" Go to bed my dear, it's already late night" Akash said slowly and offed the lights and left her room.

Akshara leaned to her bed. She removed the pillow and wore it over her head. Suddenly she was surprised to see a letter lying below the pillow. She took the letter and was once again surprised to see her father's handwriting over it.

" Aah!! This is Achchan's handwriting " she said and started reading the letter. It was written in the letter as follows,

" Dear Akshara, I was 17 then. My college was in Udupi . I had completed my schooling in same institution and was compelled by my parents to continue my pre university education there. During that time your mother had joined the college. She was first in S.S.L.C in the entire batch.

I was very naughty . I was notorious in college by my mischievous activities and was always  scolded upon by principal and lecturers. My academic performance was also below average. However we all enjoyed in that strict college but your mother was always busy studying.

        I was jovial. I spoke to everyone and made friends but I was unable to make friendship with your mother.She looked like a small teddy bear. Plumpy! She neither spoke to any boys nor looked at them. From the college route till reaching inside the class , her eyes only stared the ground. After getting into class she used to pick a book from her bag and start studying.

During language hours if lecturer was absent we were shown movies in audio visual room but your mother never came to the room with us instead she kept studying in the class room. When the bell rung used to run to the classroom and was always surprised to see your mother studying deeply. We used to comment at her saying she was a bookworm.  Her hair was shortly cut . She had recovered from cancer lately and had joined the college. For the purpose of treatment she had lost her one year and she had done her S.S.L.C with her juniors. That is the reason why your mother is an year older to me . Oops!! Sorry . She is 6 months 20 days older to me .

Your mother always studied and came second in class. A girl named Swathi always came first in class. Your mother studied even harder to come first . She was such a studious girl yet she fell in love with me next year which I never imagined would ever happen.

To be continued.....

Sometimes she used to weirdly stare at me continuously. When I stared her back she used to turn aside. That year surprisingly her marks got reduced. But I never thought in my wildest dreams that I was the reason for that. I had become first crush to your mother's heart. No no! First love!! Your mother was so innocent that she was ignorant about what the word "crush" meant. I discovered that she was in love with me in second year degree. On March 20th your mother proposed me. Since she was plump and accordingly less attractive I had rejected her but the main reason why I rejected her was her weird nature. She was a very reserved girl. She neither spoke to boys nor looked at them. I never liked this type of girls instead I liked the modern typical ones who were open minded. I didn't like girls who behaved like Sati Saavitri(word used to describe a traditional Indian woman).  So I had rejected her but on my rejection she started pleading me for my friendship but  I was cautious if it could be a problem for me later. So I had blocked her. I had even advised her  and sent her back . I thought she would be behind me for hardly few days and then forget me and move on but I was wrong. She was continuously behind me. From that day Saturn's trouble started in my life.

Your mother was multi talented. She sung. She drew and after falling in love with me she had become a romantic poetess. She came first in everything but only in love I pushed her to the last." Akshara became serious for a moment reading the letter.

On another side Akash was walking towards Aaresh's room. 10 year old son Aaresh was sleeping. Akash put a blanket over him and walked towards his room. Riya was sleeping too. He put the blanket over her too and he lied on the bed but he couldn't fall asleep. He started thinking how life makes everyone lonely at one phase in spite of having everything.

Akshara continued reading the letter. It was written further.

" Your mother's crush for me, the butterflies she felt in her stomach by that crush, the excitement her eyes always had to see me, my smile that stole her sleep , she was eager to tell all these feelings to me . She was also eager to be my only friend. The feelings for me she had ,had filled her heart and she wanted to put it out.  But I had blocked her. But still one day she texted me all her feelings through hike account. The texts were so long that I bet anybody could ever write so much. For a moment I was stunned and I thought " Which planet do this girl belong? Do girls send such long texts to boys?"

But I was mesmerised reading the texts. She had written her feelings for me right from the beginning i.e from second p u till then. My eyes , my smile, my walking style , my serious face and the way I combed my hair was very dear to her ,she had written in those text messages. She had made me a hunk by her words. I never got any such feelings from any other girl ever. I was shy reading her texts. At the end she even said " There was still more to say I am not sending you fearing if it would annoy you" .

I was shocked. I wondered " Really! You have even more to say " . I laughed. But to accept her proposal my heart had already fallen in love with another girl who had rejected my love for her but still she had accepted my friendship. So I was close to her as a  friend. So I blocked your mother once again. Your mother reduced weight for me and became more beautiful than the girl I loved. During that time she was the dream girl of many boys in our college. But even after falling so much behind my back I didn't give heed to her feelings. I was sitting near the door that had closed for me. If your mother wished she could have loved anyone but she wanted me only. The girl whom many boys searched and stared everyday , her beautiful eyes always searched for me.

" You are my first crush, my first love, I am unable to love someone else " she used to tell me everyday. She went to depression for being rejected and ignored by me. It was difficult for her to see me with the girl I loved . She had fought with her. Even though she pleaded so much I didn't even accept her friendship because when I thought of accepting her I realised her insecure nature. I never believed in love. I believed in friendship. I wanted a girl who was open minded and friendly to other boys. I never wanted an over romantic girl who loved only me in an impractical manner. So I was irritated by her nature . Angrily I had scolded her and sent her back. But even then she made new numbers and begged me to love her. She didn't realise the difference between love and infatuation. She never crushed on  other guys. She was not even friendly to other guys. According to her this was all wrong . She said she didn't flirt with boys in the name of friendship indirectly meaning that other girls flirted with boys in the name of friendship. I was annoyed . She was outdated. She pleaded me again and again . She didn't realise what was love. She just needed a boy's company and she wanted that boy to be only me. Her extreme perfectionist nature made her impractical and made her lose in life. But still she didn't stop forcing me to love her. She pleaded me everyday. Irritated by her I left to Kerala.

To be continued.....

When I went back to Karnataka I was 25 years old . I thought that she might be happy with any other guy but as soon as I met her she hugged me tightly saying my name with full of tears in her eyes. Once again she pleaded me to love her. She had waited all the way long till there only for me.

She is an artist who is able to sketch anybody's picture accurately. But still she used to draw cartoon pictures of me and her  during degree days. Those pictures are there in the cover of the letter."

Akshara observed the pictures keenly that she had already removed from the cover. In the first picture her mother was in college uniform and was holding her father's hand smilingly.

Seeing the second picture Akshara laughed loudly. In that picture her mother was holding her father in her arms and heart symbol was on her both eyes and there was a broad smile on her face that touched both her eyes.

" Oh Amma!! You loved Achchan so crazily. Now I realise why you didn't tell me your love story" Akshara laughed loudly.

In the third picture Akshara could see two cartoons holding each other's hands but she noticed that in all the pictures her mother was smiling at her father but her father looked angry. In another picture her mother was kneeling down giving a flower to her father but on the other side of the paper there was a picture of her father throwing the flower angrily to which her mother was weeping. Akshara was surprised. She said " Then how did you both get together ?!" . Again she continued reading the letter.

" When she sketched those pictures she was of the age 20 , 21. Some other pictures were sketched by her when she got married to me that is when she was 27 years of age. When she was in degree she sketched a lot of pictures like this and sent me and also uploaded them in the social media. All my friends got to know it was me who was in the pictures and they used to tease me. Everybody thought that we were a couple. I was always annoyed at her childish behaviour. At times I & my friends wondered if she was mentally abnormal.

She was in a dream world where I too was in love with her. But in that world I was a boy with attitude like she wished but in real I was a practical boy which she was ignorant about. She had drowned in her world of dreams. She didn't wanted to realise that I was not like what she dreamt about me everyday. She had given me even more poems, Valentine gifts, my portraits which are under your cot in a big box. She had given me countless gifts.

Even after returning from Kerala after so many years her love for me hadn't reduced. Until then I was in relationship with lot of girls but she was only waiting for me. I felt pity for her and I wondered if she would spoil her life waiting for me. So I decided to marry her. The girl I loved was also married in the same year. Perhaps my heart came to her in quench of love? I don't know.

Our marriage took place lavishly in the collaboration of Kannada and Malayalam ceremony. In the entire ceremony your mother's face had bloomed like a flower. She was extremely happy. Like a traditional Malayalam bride your mother looked like an angel. I used to secretly stare at her when she was in college but that day I couldn't help noticing her in the presence of everyone. Seeing infatuation in my eyes for her beauty she was very happy. I wish I accepted her in her teens so that in that age she received all love that she needed. But I destroyed her that phase of life.

To be continued.......