Cup of tea - Part 2

Continued from an earlier post ...

The setting was unusual...a dingy teashop...the characters even more...an old shriveled-up man and me...he had asked me to buy him a cup of tea...and here i was asking what went wrong with his daughter's marriage.

" i simply asked...i mean..about your daughter..since you mentioned it..." i said cautiously, wondering whether i have crossed or offended the old man...of course i have offended, i have absolutely no reason to have prod him for more details...for the price of a tea, i had no rights to intrude into the person's life.

" oh no ..nothing like that...i don't want to burden you with my sad tale..let us just say that i ensured that my Preethi gets everything good in her life...right from her schooling, her clothes, her college, her job interview and at last her marriage..did everything possible to ensure that she is happy.."

"you know, as a child she was very very quiet...very obedient..never once did i have any problems like any other girl of her age does...bringing up a girl without her mom, she turned out good and i was proud as a father...it was me who did the mistake...all because of him, Raju"

i looked at him, jarred by the change in his tone as he spat out the name at the end.

"The alliance came through a mutual family friend...the guy was working in a software company in US...some place called Housten or something like that.."

"Houston...in Texas " i corrected.

" ya ya ..that place only..he had no parents out here and he was settled out there...some distant uncle was here and it was through him that the marriage got fixed...was a grand marriage...i had to empty my bank account completely..but never did i hesitate ...spent everything that i had...and she moved with him to the US"

i stared at my watch, wondering when this diatribe would end...

"two years ago, the problems started....the calls reduced...even the calls became short...and finally they stopped altogether...whenever i called she was busy with some work or the other and cut the call quickly...one day..i remember it was the 3rd of march ...some guy turned up at the house and said that he was from some construction company and that they were there to take measurements ... apparently the house which was in her name had been sold off to them and they were bringing it down to build a multi-storey apartment..i was shocked and thought that there must be some mistake...i tried calling her but wasn't able to reach her...some other voice on the phone kept saying to leave a message...that lady didn't respond to my questions and kept repeating whatever she said over and over again.."

He casually took another cigarette and lighted up. i followed suit, hoping that this would be ending soon.

" finally she called me back and said that she had sold of the house since there was some money problem for her...she didnt even say sorry for having taken this decision without telling me...when i asked what i was supposed to do now, she casually told me to go and live with my brother...i was too shocked to argue and then realized there is no point in arguing. Everything was already done... the house had been sold...i was homeless."

I stifled a yawn and continued to listen to him.

" things got worse after that...i was living in my brother's place but realized that it wasn't working out...the place was too cramped...and he had a big family..his son and daughter-in-law were also living there ...two old men was too much of a burden to them and i could feel the resentment..i had to move out...i checked into a small mansion...she was sending me some cash every month and i managed to live of that, cutting down on my expenses and living frugally..i also got a job as a night watchman in a company..things were not good but they weren't bad either...was getting three meals per day...a roof over my head..until..."

He reached out for another cigarette, pausing to light it up. I followed suit, crushing the empty pack and throwing it to the floor.

(click here for the next part)