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| Sunday, 9 October 2005 |
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Short story -
The Rock Star by Sunalie Ratnayake Little did Aadhithya know that the rock concert which was to be held in the evening would entirely change her destiny. Pankaja Amunugama, a famous rock star, in the island was to perform in a live concert, along with his band that evening.
The next instant... "four eyes met." Pankaja who was on stage, was extremely handsome, Aadhithya thought. Even though she had seen him on T.V. on many occasions during the past, it never occurred to her that this man happened to be so attractive. Aadhithya was not a fan of his either. She just watched him on TV, whenever she saw him and that was all. But, tonight she felt completely different. His eyes with long lashes, mesmerised her. The smile on his face, spoke to her heart, or at least she thought so. Exchanging glances Pankaja broke the silence with his first song, a love song which was an old hit by Ricky Nelson. "Every single day my love for you... keeps growing more and more..." Aadhithya felt as if he was looking into her eyes, during each chorus, as he sang. To clear her doubt, she looked both ways and behind, to see if there was any other person, who owned Pankaja's glances but, to her amazement, she was the only female seated there and her girl friends who were behind her before, were not to be seen. Pankaja continued to glance at Aadhithya and when doing so, he smiled at her. Exchanging Numbers During the intermission, Aadhithya's mobile started to ring and that was her parents, insisting her to return home, as it was getting late. The show was supposed to go on until early next morning. She certainly was not permitted to be out, until so late. So, Aadhithya thought of contacting her friends to inform that she was leaving. As she searched for a quieter area to dial the number of a friend, she noticed that signals were low inside the hall. Thinking to step outside, she walked down a narrow staircase which led towards outdoors, from the right side of the hall. The stairway was rather dark and a small beam of light that came through a hole on the wall, from a spotlight on stage, happened to light the way. To her greatest amazement, Pankaja was climbing the stairs and they met face-to-face. Yet, she ignored him and tried to hide the fact that she was surprised. He had gone down to wash his sweating face. Somehow, he got her to talk and they exchanged numbers. Pankaja was sad that she was to leave, before the show was over but, he understood the situation. They departed saying goodbye. The phone call Aadhithya's body started to freeze as she was surprised to receive a phone call on her mobile, three months after the rock concert. It was none other than Pankaja. Famous people didn't call infamous ones, specially when it was the first time. The first phone call prevailed for only a couple of minutes and Pankaja kept on asking whether he had disturbed Aadhithya. She continued to say that there was no disturbance at all but, that she never expected him to call. The conversation ended in no time and Aadhithya was told that Pankaja had been extremely busy. Frequent calls After a couple of weeks after the initial call, Aadhithya started receiving frequent calls Ultimately they became so close, over the phone. They shared their ideas and thoughts. They both had a passion for music and loved to read. They talked about movies and did so, as if they were critics. Many ideas were exchanged, many words were spoken. They even shared the same religious beliefs. Pankaja revealed many details about his life and Aadhithya listened patiently. They both felt a happiness, since their first encounter. Knowing each other better, happened to lighten their hearts. Speaking to Aadhithya relieved Pankaja's stress, due to being an extremely busy, much talked about singer in the country. Aadhithya felt as if her life had a new meaning. Yet, they never talked about love. The feeling was strong but was it love... even they hardly knew. Unofficial date As time passed by, Aadhithya agreed to meet Pankaja as they both longed to see each other. If not Pankaja's busy schedule, the meeting would have occurred at an earlier date. They met at a pub, a famous and prestigious venue in town. Both settled for snacks and soft drinks as both were teetotalers. After engaging in casual conversation for a couple of hours, time arrived for departing. They departed with only a hand shake. In fact, it was not a romantic date, even though it appeared to be so. It was Pankaja who happened to talk more and Aadhithya mostly seemed to answer his questions. Though strong minded, Aadhithya had a shy, tender, feminine manner. At one time she was childlike, at another she was mature. Despite the different qualities that appeared through her, she knew one thing for certain. She knew she was heading for something. After departing that afternoon, Aadhithya sang to herself, on her way home, "Something tells me I'm into something good..." She was in a happy mood and she owed Pankaja for same, she thought. Love As time passed by, Pankaja and Aadhithya met more and more. Each time they picked a different rendezvous, as it had to fit into the schedule of a busy man, the most wanted young man in the island, who gained popularity, through each passing minute. Finally, Pankaja expressed his love to Aadhithya one night. They had met the same afternoon over a cup of tea. He managed to gather all the guts, only by the evening and could not wait a minute longer, as he feared, he would lose it. So, he called Aadhithya at 11.45 in the night and after struggling with words for a while, Pankaja released the words... I love you Aadhithya, I really do darling. Aadhithya's eyes glowed with happiness and her heart started to beat faster than ever before. She did not know whether she should laugh or cry. She just kept the phone, uttering "bye-bye." After indulging in thoughts for about an hour, Aadhithya ran to the phone, dialed Pankaja's number and when the phone was picked from the other end, she did not waste a second. Before he could even say "hello", she said "Darling, I love you too." Pankaja responded immediately, "I love you so much darling! I love you so much," he repeated. Baby Before long, their romance blossomed and the result was Aadhithya was expecting a baby. She was afraid because, she and Pankaja had never talked about marriage but, they loved each other. No matter how deeply in love they happened to be, Aadhithya always had an unbearable feeling of sadness, thinking that Pankaja was yet so distant. He was eternally paired through the media, with an upcoming young actress who also seemed to enjoy the company of the young rock star. Aadhithya's affair with him was to be hidden from society. For how long, seemed to yet, be a question. This hurt so much. Still, Aadhithya was ready to even give her life to her lover. She had never loved anyone so much. As Pankaja was in the peak of his career, as a young musician, he was not ready to step into marriage at this time. He was not willing to make a commitment, even in the name of their love. At the same time, Aadhithya was not willing to get rid of her baby or to give the baby up, after giving birth. She was determined to see the face of her baby and to raise the baby, even on her own. A far away land The strong minded Aadhithya decided to face the truth. She had broken the hearts of her parents, yet did not want to run away from reality. She made arrangements to leave the island and settle down in a far away country. She was determined to bring up her baby, the only memory of Pankaja that she wanted to live with. She forced the rest, out of her mind. Through the years, the once hidden strong image of Aadhithya became alive. She brought up a fine young son, who was now in his teens. She could do anything in the world, for her gem of a child, "Vagheesha". She wanted nothing more. Surprise visitor On the eve of Vagheesha's sixteenth birthday a visitor knocked on their door. Vagheesha who answered the door, invited the visitor in and offered him a seat. He didn't want to be rude to the stranger, specially on his birthday. Aadhithya, clad in an elegant carnation-pink sari, stepped down the stairs, her hair tied in a bun with jasmines pinned onto it. She was beautiful as always and she had a perfect dress sense, from her childhood. This special evening, the eve of her son's birthday, she was glowing. Stunned When the image of the 41-year-old man, seated in her house, captured the eyes of Aadhithya, she was shocked to death. The tray of flowers dropped from her hands and scattered all over the stairway. They were getting ready to visit the temple shortly. Now, the flowers were all over... they were all over the stairway. Pankaja had not changed much. When he stood at once, seeing Aadhithya, she could see his tall, dark, well built, handsome figure in front of her. If not for the bits of gray hair besides his ears, Pankaja resembled a mirror-image of Vagheesha, but his eyes expressed something deeper. They looked tired due to a long search. They told the story-everything he had gone through the past sixteen years. Reunited Aadhithya broke the ice and ran towards Pankaja. He held her tight. She did not want him to speak. She valued the silence of that moment. Vagheesha who was standing beside the stairway, gathered the whole scenario. He could see the love, pouring from his parents. They did not want to let go of each other. Nothing needed to be explained to sixteen-year-old Vagheesha. The quiet birthday eve was the happiest eve of their lives. They were together... and this time... it was... forever...!!! Names are fictitious |
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Aadhithya Senanayake, an only child of 25, hailing from an upper-class
family, had also bought tickets to attend the concert, along with her
friends. It would be the best way to spend this evening, she thought. So,
she stepped into the concert hall, surrounded by her friends and her wrist
watch indicated the time as 7.00 p.m. 
