ABOUT
THE AUTHOR
1977 born, Amit Gupta is sub-editor of Dainik Bhaskar, Chandigarh. He has written five books including three of them on childern and a novel in Hindi "Apna Apna Akash" and a play "Tottee Kariya". He has written hundreds of articles that have appeared in many newspapers and websites. [October 2001]
AUTHOR'S OTHER TITLES (4) Blank Canvas (Short Stories) A short story. [2,069 words] Duty And Dedication (Children) A children story. [499 words] Gay Agony In India (Essays) An essay. [620 words] The Wound (Short Stories) A short story. [815 words]
The Truth Amit Gupta
Walking. Just walking. She didn't know where she was going so she couldn't fantasize about her arrival, or about others' reaction, or about her own feelings. All she could think about was the journey itself.
Her name was Triyama. She was working in a multinational firm. Her husband Varid was manager in a bank. Varid loved her and she knew it. But why had she left her home and started wandering on the road, she didn't know. She was puzzled. She recalled her golden days when she met Varid in the college canteen. It was love at first sight. They started meeting every day in the college canteen. One day Triyama told Varid that she was in love with him. Varid became dump all of a sudden. There was a half-amused expression in his face as he said,
" Triyama, we are just friends and nothing. I don't know anything about you. How can you say that you are in love with me? What do you know about me?"
Triyama felt as if her whole body was frozen. Her head hammered inside her and her heart was in her mouth. She became dumb all of a sudden and she started sobbing.
" I think that you are right." Triyama said in a tired voice.
" I was just joking. I also love you."
Varid roared with laughter.
Triyama remembered her last bad night. Her first night that is. It was the day after they got married. At night Varid told her that he had affair with another girl.
"It doesn't matter.I had an affair too." She smiled sheepishly.
Varid started telling his story-
" When I was a paying guest in Shimla, I got attracted towards Kantar. She had a swarthy complexion, broad nostrils, and thick chocolate lips. She was a hill girl with animosity and passion in his eyes. I felt her long arms, mouth, neck and moist breast and hips, smooth and shiny like oiled mirrors... her breath covering me with sweet warmth as we dissolved into each other. Now she is in this city. She called me in the morning and congratulated me on my wedding. Can I meet her? I'm asking you because now you are my life partner and I have to live with you."
Triyama looked at him dumb founded and said,
" Yes why not? You can meet her, but before you go to meet her, you have to listen to my story too. Once I was also attracted to my classmate. He was my best friend. He wanted to marry me, but his parents didn't allow him. So we parted. We had also enjoyed sex. Now, he is also in this city. I want to meet him. I need your permission. We are now married and I have to live with you. Can I go?"
Silence descended between them.
Varid's anger erupted like a fuming volcano and he said,
" Tell me that you are lying. I was joking. I just wanted to know about your past." Varid could hardly control his fury.
Triyama gulped a cool glass of water and tried to control her temper and said,
" You are lying. But I'm not. This is the truth. Many times I had sex with my boyfriend. I enjoyed and you also enjoyed your life with Kantar. Why you are lying? The truth is that we both enjoyed our life, then why are you angry?"
" I was joking. I'm still a virgin. I want to know that you are a virgin or not?" He looked at Triyama with questioning eyes.
" Why? You are not virgin then how can you accept a virgin wife? You had sex with Kantar." Triyama said in a high-pitched voice.
" How do you know?" Varid said defensively.
" Because Kantar is my cousin and she told me that the person I'm going to marry was her sex partner."
Varid started melting. He withdrew into a shell of his own.
All night they both tossed and turned, got up, then got back into bed. Sat, unable to sleep, knees tucked under their chins just staring at the wall, feeling empty with tiredness. Occasionally he would try to hold her hand or put his head closer to her, but she would flinch away from him. In the morning, with neither comfort nor relief, they tried to look into each other�s eyes but could not. Triyama got up first; and went in for a shower. She felt as though the water was stripping her of the night dirt. Varid stayed still in bed, fighting the heavy, depressed sleep he had the night before. He thought that if he moved he might crack, fall apart at the side of the bed. She would have to find him and to pick him up. His lips dragged making his face look tired. He could hear her brushing her teeth now. He closed his eyes and could see her standing in the bathroom with just a towel wrapped around her torso, tucked in between her breasts. Another in a twisted turban to dry her hair. He thought how sharp his senses were that morning, could see and hear clearly without actually watching her.
Varid held Triyama's hand in his hand and said,
" Can we start a new life even we know that we both had an affair?"
Triyama didn't answer and went outside.
The horn of the car brought her to the present. It was Kantar, who was in the car. They went home. Kantar told Varid,
" Triyama is still a virgin and she loves you. Forget what happened in the past and start a new life."
" I'm sorry Triyama. I'm feeling guilty for what I did in the past, but I will be glad to have you as my present." Varid's heart was full.
Triyama went to the bathroom to wash her face. She was shaking by the sink and trying to catch her own eye in the steamy mirror. For a moment she wondered which girl was avoiding the gaze, the girl in the mirror or the one that she could pinch. Then she thought she was being crazy, and tried to be light hearted and sane. On an impulse, she wrote on the misty mirror I LOVE YOU and drew a childish heart, then laughed quietly to herself.
READER'S REVIEWS (2) DISCLAIMER: STORYMANIA DOES NOT PROVIDE AND IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR REVIEWS. ALL REVIEWS ARE PROVIDED BY NON-ASSOCIATED VISITORS, REGARDLESS OF THE WAY THEY CALL THEMSELVES.
"Nice story. You are a good writer. Love from me. Mack well, CA" -- mack.
"I like the story very much. But I also think the story is more for South Asian readers due to the culture and thoughts invovled in it, it would have be much easier to grasp if the writer had explained a bit about the culture/society along with this nice story. " -- Diya, Toronto, Ontario.
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