11. In Search of Love - Sandhya

“I don’t know much about the old story of our parents Pooja. Mom has never spoken to me about it directly but she has told Nikki about that. Once he shared it with me… My father was born and brought up in a town near Selam called Kallur (Town of stones). As the name suggests it’s famous for different type of stones like marbles, granites etc. My father’s family was into this business for a very long time. My parents’ marriage was an arranged one but they both loved each other very much…”

“And they still do! Don’t they? They are like made for each other pair…” interrupted Pooja.

“Yes Pooja! Going back to the story, aunty that is your mom and my mom were friends… bit of close friends… Aunty and Murthy uncle loved each other and eloped from their home…”

“What???”

“Yes, Charu aunty’s family opposed their love and hence they both eloped and came to my parents’ home. My dad allowed them to hide in our house… And he also helped them get married in a registrar office… Your mom’s family was very furious about that… They thought Murthy uncle is not the ideal choice for her. They were correct…”

”mmm…”

“Uncle was working in a private firm in your mom’s town when they both eloped. But now since aunty’s family is furious, he can’t go back to the same job… So they decided to stay back in Kallur. My father helped him to set up a granite shop… He also gave money to your father to build the business… I’m sorry to say this but your father built the reputation of selling duplicate items… He sold low quality stones in our brand name… Though dad didn’t like it, he let it go for my mom. My mom absolutely adored your mom. Though they were friends already, now since they stayed closer, they had become very thick friends…”

“mmm… What about the loan money that Kannan uncle gave to my father?”

“From what I know, that never came back… “

“O! I am sorry Kalai. I will try to give it…”

Kalai didn’t allow Pooja to finish her sentence.

“Come on Pooja! If you are going to interrupt like this I will not tell you the whole story.”

“ok, ok I am sorry… You continue”

“I am not sure who brought up this idea but somehow both of our fathers decided to extend the business beyond India. Someone suggested Africa to them. See, we didn’t have many communication means in those days right?”

“mmm…”

“So they wrote to a company about the stones they sell and interestingly they got a reply from the South African business man named Prince. Uncle and my dad decided to give it a shot and shared more details with him. He invited them to visit his company located at Cape Town. He also told them that he would bear the travel expenses… So our fathers left together leaving us all back…”

“mmm…”

“I don’t know what exactly happened there but only your father returned back. He told mom that dad got lost when they went out in a jungle safari… He said that Mr.Prince is funding the search but he won’t be able to help for a long time. He suggested that mom sends some money to him… But stupidly mom asked your dad to do the required… and then…”

Pooja understood the reason for the change in Kalai’s voice.

“It’s ok Kalai, I can understand…”

“No Pooja, you should know everything… Mom signed in all the papers that your dad showed to her. Ofcourse she didn’t bother to read it as she was so much worried about dad… Few months passed and there was no news about daddy… Uncle kept saying that he is talking to South African officials… Then one day your family shifted to Chennai… It was a big shock for not just my mom but also your mom…”

“Oh!”

“Charu aunty tried to persuade uncle to stay here for some more time but uncle was adamant… Aunty promised mom that she will do everything that’s possible to bring back dad… That was their last meeting.”

“mmm…”

“After your family left, within few days we were in for a big shock… Some men came to our home and asked us to leave the place. Mom was shocked and tried to find the reason and the reason was…”

“My dad has double crossed and has sold everything?”

“hmmm…. Yes… You have heard about it?”

“No not really, I guessed it… Then how did aunt manage?”

“It was very difficult Pooja…” said Kalai as tears started rolling down from her eyes.

“Kalai, it’s ok…”

Kalai started sobbing… Pooja hugged her softly as to console her…

“Our life was like hell… Suddenly we had no home, no food, nothing… Just imagine, my mom was in the late twenties and as you could see she is very beautiful even now…”