Love Lasts Forever (4 page)

             
My memory raced back to that night when Joe Singh creamed his butt with toothpaste. The way he screamed in the corridor cavorting all over the place, the way he sobbed, and then didn’t speak to anyone for two days after the punishment was enough evidence to establish he was a girl. It appeared as if he was having PMS those days.

And t
hat’s when we morphed his name to Priyanka.

‘
Since I fell in love with his sister,’ I replied, traversing back to the present.

             
‘Fell in love…His sister…What are you even saying?’ He scrunched up his nose and threw his blanket further away. ‘What is wrong with you? Are you completely out of your mind? Had we not established love and marriage is a disaster and we’ll stay away from them at least till we are thirty? You can’t be falling in love,’ he declared.

             
Again, my memory raced back to that day, few months back, when we were having an innocuous argument with our instructor Shukla
ji
in the mess room. At fifty-five, he was still a bachelor and at the peak of his health. He exhorted us to never get married and live life to the fullest. I still remember his little poem partially that he recited that night. It went something like this:

Seaman life, no wife;

             
New port, new wife.

That night when Joe Singh and I were back in our room, enthused by Shukla
ji’s
words, we made a pact that we won’t get married, or at least till we were thirty. Life was meant to be enjoyed after all.

‘
Yeah, I know dude, I remember.’ I took a deep breath, and again, traversed back to reality. ‘But love…that’s what it does to you; makes you forget everything else and takes you in this world that is wonderfully extra ordinary.’

Joe Singh
tutted, rose to his feet, and headed for the washroom.

‘
I don’t believe it,’ he called out from inside. ‘And what about all that fun we’d planned we’ll have together, you know, all that exploring new countries thing, women of different accents, colours, shapes and sizes; remember, it was all part of the plan.’

I poked my head out the window
adjacent to his bed. From the fifteenth floor, people appeared the size of ants.

‘Now you won’t even reply to me or what?’ I heard his muffled scream from behind the door.

‘I know man, but I’m sorry!’ I roared. ‘I’m so madly in love with her that I can’t even imagine myself with another woman.’

‘
Oh man, you are so gonna regret this in future.’

He came out with a scowl and started for his wardrobe.

‘Are you crazy, love is not meant to be regretted, it is meant to be cherished,’ I protested to his back while he was busy rooting for something. ‘Being in love is the most marvelous thing that can happen to someone. I am so glad it happened to me. All the other plans mean absolutely nothing. All I want is to be engulfed in this beautiful feeling of love for the rest of my life by getting married to her.’

‘Oh really?
’ He turned round and let out a half-suppressed laugh. ‘Men and women are not meant to co-exist with each other. Always remember that!’

‘
Huh!’ I crinkled my nose.

‘
And
Priyanka’s
sister?’ He took a step forward and shook his head distastefully. ‘Are you crazy? I mean what sort of a family has a son like Priyanka? Oh, Ronit buddy, you are gonna regret this in future big time.’

I gnashed my teeth and glared at him.

What sort of a person is he; he doesn’t believe in the magic of love? I mean seriously, what sort of a person is he?

I
candidly dismissed his opinion and views about love and my life, and silently patted my back.

6. Where are we?

25
th
June 2011, Somewhere in Somalia

Why did I not listen to him that day? How could he possibly see the future?

Although
I am trembling with fear and my heart continues to pound hard against my chest at the gory implications of what the pirates can or may do to us, my mind continues to drift in the past. I am terrified, I’m worried, yet I’m also filled with remorse, melancholy…and anger. Certainly I’d never expected my love story of seven years to tailspin to this low.

I fell in love believ
ing it to be the most marvelous thing that could happen to anyone; if anything, it’s the most terrible thing. And marriage, well…from where do I even begin? I firmly believe it’s a curse inflicted upon mankind.

I shake my head
, hating myself for everything that transpired following our marriage. Inhaling a deep breath, I look around. It’s been more than four hours now since these pirates first boarded our ship.

Just then t
he leader of the pirates orders Captain to reduce the speed of the ship. It seems we have almost reached.
But where?
I share startled looks with Captain.

Although
, whatever had to happen has happened, I secretly wish the pirates had boarded after an hour or so.
At least till Captain had completed his story…

I never thought love stories like these exist in the real world. He was telling me earlier this afternoon, when we were having a little talk in his cabin, that he has known his wife all his life. They first met at the tender age of eight, fell madly in love few years later, and then got married as teenagers.

Till here
, I was with him.

But then
later, I lost him as he continued.

W
hat I couldn’t discern is with so much love around how could his wife ask for a divorce with minor hiccups here and there just few months after their marriage? Every relationship has their share of problems; she, of all the people should have understood that. And then Captain signed the divorce papers and threw them at her face.

So
then why now, thirty years later, he is still madly in love with her? And if so much for love, why did he not get back with her? What is the worst part that is still to come, he told me before these pirates boarded?

I
shoot a brief look at Captain. He appears lost in thoughts.
Just tell me why?

My thoughts are interrupted by t
he bridge door slamming open. Our cook hobbles his way in, almost short of breath, and hollers at the top of his voice, ‘Captain! Help Captain! Pirates! Please help us!’

Captain
glares at him and purses his lips with a finger. Of course, the cook gets the message, but it’s a tad too late. The ominous looking leader signals to one of his men who barely nods as I stare in disbelief.

Oh my G
od! What is he going to do?

Without further ado, the
hit man
impassively brings his gun close to his chest and pulls the trigger. I squeeze my eyes shut and bring my hands to cover my gaping mouth. My heart hammers loud in my chest as I hear almost half a dozen shots and a loud shriek. All of us freeze in shock and few hairs rise on my arms and the back of my neck. I fail in the attempt to bring my shaking hands to rest, and flash a brief look over the side. The cook is lying dead on the floor with red colour smeared all over the bulkheads of the bridge. I resist the urge to vomit and look at Captain who is resting his forehead in his palms. From the little that I know him, he is cursing himself for the events that have unfolded this evening.

Two pirates come forward
toward the cook’s dead body, bend down, and yank at his arms. They trudge toward the bridge wings leaving a trail of blood stain behind them. Next, we hear a loud splash of water of the cook’s body hitting the Arabian Sea.

‘
Captain! Tell your people to do only what we say and we will not kill anyone else!’

The low and gravelly voice of the leader was almost incomprehensible.

Captain nods slowly.

About an hour later our ship is stopped and we are surrounded by islands with barren mountains all around. In the distance a few ships are made fast and over a hundred armed pirates are guarding them.

             
We have reached our destination.  

7
. Our first goodbye

March 2004
, Mumbai

Little more than a month in our relationship and we had to face the toughest part – separation.

Especially to meet
Aisha, I flew down to Mumbai from Delhi for my final goodbye. I took Joe Singh’s car, picked her up from her house in Bandra, and we sat on the pavement on Marine Drive gazing ahead toward the Arabian Sea.

Aisha
was wearing cream coloured Capri pants and matched it up with a blue top. Her hair was tied in a high ponytail with a matching hair band and round earrings dangled below her ears. Even in her simplicity she had to be the prettiest girl I’d seen in my life.

Ahead
of us the water swished back and forth, lapping against the rocks, and rose in plumes with few drops directed at us every now and then. There was a slight breeze; the intensity of which just perfect that would make one feel that life indeed is wonderful. Behind us, people jogged with headphones over their ears, and further behind cars rattled down the noisy Mumbai streets. Not too far from us toward our left there was a
Bollywood
shooting in progress as people appeared to throng the sets. Above us the birds went about with their evening songs, lost in their world. Everything seemed normal with the world, yet for us, nothing was normal.

I would be leaving
for my first assignment as a cadet tomorrow for six months…

‘Wow!’ Aisha gasped.
‘I can’t believe we met just last month. I’m so much in love with you already Ronit.’

She slipped her arms between mine and rested her head on my shoulders.

I sighed. ‘I know,’ I said, squeezing her petite hands. ‘I’ve just seen you four times and it feels as if I’ve known you for a lifetime already. I love you so much, Aisha.’ 

             
She forced a smile. ‘I’ll miss you Ronit.’

I could hear her voice breaking.
My heart cried at that.

             
Glumly, I looked ahead in the distance. Faraway, near the horizon, a ship was propelling through the water leaving smoke in its wake. I shuddered to think I’d be on one of those by tomorrow, away from land, away from Aisha,
away from my Aisha…

Seriously,
I never thought love could be so hard. Staying close to six months away from her would be like eternity. Just last month I was so excited about my first salary in dollars. And now, all the excitement had vanished in thin air. No amount of money could justify the separation from her.

Few days earlier I had thoughts of quitting navy so I could spend each and every moment of my life with h
er. I’d shared this with Joe Singh to take his point of view earlier this afternoon. I had not seen a more astounded look on his face.

             
‘What? You are gonna forget all the shit we have gone through in the past one year?’ Joe Singh said in a gruffly voice. ‘What is happening to you man, get a control over your life.’ He tutted before resuming. ‘Seriously man love is blind, I mean, one year of struggle and when it’s time to earn the reward, you want to quit, and that too for a girl. And Priyanka’s sister, for
her
.’

He thu
mped his fist on the table and had a look of disgust on his face. ‘I mean seriously for Priyanka’s sister!’ And then he began to snigger. ‘Priyanka’s sister? Ha, ha, really?’

             
‘Thanks for the advice,’ I’d replied with gritted teeth, before stomping out his house. Not before collecting the keys of his car, of course.

F
or a minute I wanted to forget Joe Singh’s advice and leave my job. My life is so perfect and complete when I am around Aisha. She is the best thing that has ever happened to me.

             
‘What are you thinking Ronit?’ she asked, running her fingers playfully over my arms.

             
I let out a deep breath. ‘Nothing much,’ I replied with a smile.

I
fiddled with a stone and then hurled it across the water feeling the emotions surge within me. I glanced over my shoulder and there were couples as far as my eyes could reach. Some of them hid behind rocks and went about their
business while others were content like us to spend a nice, romantic evening in company of the sea.