Short Story

A tale of two hearts

by Somasiri Attanayake

The train I was travelling by, reached Ragama railway station. The moment the train stopped at the station, a mob of commuters rushed into our carriage as the earlier train had been cancelled and the two train loads of travellers got into our train.

A girl clad in a skirt and blouse was pushed towards me by the struggling crowd. She had some parcels in both her hands and I noticed that she found it difficult to travel standing on the fast moving train. Realising her difficulty, I offered my seat to her. Later, I saw her looking at me several times and when the train stopped at Fort railway station I alighted from the train and went to office as usual.

The following day she got into the same carriage at Ragama and smiled at me faintly. She was a comely young girl who dressed neatly and looked elegant. Then for a whole week I did not see her and the next Monday I saw her get into another railway carriage. At the next station I changed into the bogie the girl had entered and stood close to her. She was with a group of girls.

Proportionate

I liked her outward appearance with her proportionate trim figure, curly black hair and her clear cut features.

If she did not get into the carriage I was in, I changed into the carriage she got into, at the next station.

Whenever I looked at her full into her face, I noticed that she moved emotionally and her cheeks turned pink. I thought of speaking with her a few words and I was waiting for a suitable opportunity.

I knew that she travelled from Ragama to Colombo Fort. One day, I thought of following her when she got off the train at Fort railway station. I saw her get off the train and in no time, she merged into the multitude of commuters and disappeared. I came out of the station and looked around and saw her walking down the Olcott Mawatha briskly. I ran after her and caught up with her. Hearing my footfalls she looked back and saw me. She smiled lavishly as if she had expected such a thing to happen.

“Where do you work?”
Whilst walking abreast with her, I broke the ice.
“In a private sector company.”
“Could you name it?”
Without much ado, she named the company.

“Your office is in York Street, why are you walking along Olcott Mawatha?”
“I am going to church to attend the morning service. After attending the service I go to office.”
“Shall I also come with you to Church?”
“Yes, come”
Again she smiled.

She went with me to the church along Olcott Mawatha. By the time we arrived at the church the morning service had already started. She requested me to wait till the service was over, at a place in the church premises and she went into the church. When the service was over she came back and joined me.

Travelling

Since then we had been travelling together in the train from Ragama to Colombo Fort. In the evenings we travelled separately as I left my work place early and she left half an hour later.

Days turned to weeks, weeks into months and months into year. During this period of twelve months, our relationship grew into a full-fledged love affair. We found that we were an agreeable young man and a young woman. There were no disputes or disagreements whatsoever between us that we practised two different religions. At this stage of our courtship, we could not take the next step because of her very firm belief in her religion, Christianity. I wanted her to convert herself to be a Buddhist. She kept mum with a very serious expression on her face toying with the tiny crucifix she wore on a thin gold chain around her neck.

“We will go on an outing.”
“When?”
“Your birthday is falling next Monday. On that day we will go”
“I can’t take leave on Mondays.”
“Ok... definitely next Tuesday”

Smile

Next Tuesday, I waited at the Ragama railway station for her. I saw her coming towards me with a pleasant smile on her face and she was in a very happy mood. She was wearing one piece, light pink frock with bell-shaped short sleeves which fell about six inches below the knees and the gown brought her graceful, proportionate trim figure into prominence.

Her feet were in flat soled black shoes. She looked elegant and beautiful in her deportment.
“You are very beautiful today. I feel like giving you a big hug!”
She got closer to me and whispered into my ear. I smelt the fragrance of her perfume.
Afterwards, we arrived at the Pettah main bus stand.
“Where are we going?”
“There is a very nice place. We will take Avissawella bus and reach there.”

Our bus passed Maharagama, Homagama and after passing Panagoda, I recognised the place and at the next bus halt we got down and walked back. Before entering the premises, we looked over the place standing on the road. The restaurant was in the middle of a large plot of land, about two acres in extent. The fence at the front of the restaurant was fully covered with morning glory creepers with bluish green, palmated leaves and lots of trumpet-shaped purple flowers all over the fence appeared like an artificial decoration.

We went into the restaurant and had some sweets and fruit juice. Only a few customers were there. Two cars were parked at a corner of the car park and some small children were frolicking in the open; they ran aimlessly all over the place enjoying themselves.

It seemed that they had fallen in love with the grassy, spacious ground and the golden sunshine that embraced everything.

We ambled in the well maintained garden with big boulders in different shapes and sizes were placed at several places to give it a natural look. Here and there, stood big shady trees. Monika wanted to sit and walk in the arbour onto which bougainvillea shrubs were trained and the long stems with deep pink floral bracts drooped down the structure on all sides.

Cheerful

“As you said, this place is very nice and I like it very much”, she said in admiration of the place. She was in a very happy and cheerful mood.

We walked round the entire garden admiring the lovely place and returned to the arbour and sat on the concrete bench.

“I smell a sweet fragrance.”
Monika said smiling.
“That’s the sweet fragrance of love between you and me!”

She looked at me meltingly and burst into a loud laugh and abandoned herself to her music-like cachinnation like a small child.

“This is the ideal time for us to sort out our problem once and for all.”
“Problem....?”
“My dear girl, you know very well, it needs a solution acceptable to both of us.”

A serious expression came onto Monika’s face. Her fingers gripped her crucifix she wore on the gold chain around the neck and she kept on changing it from one hand to the other.

After a long pause, Monika spoke,

“By birth I have been a Christian, you are a Buddhist; you can practise your religion, I will continue to practise mine.”

“I am afraid, I cannot accept your arrangement. What about the next generation? Which religion will our children practise?”

Monika did not reply.

“Only thing we can do is either I have to give up Buddhism or you have to convert to my religion. What shall we do”?

Another round of silence separated us for a long time.

“This is a very bitter and grave situation we are facing now. In the interest of both, we have to make the correct decision. If one of us change mind, we can meet, otherwise we will never meet again.”

Precious

The moment I uttered these words I felt that my life was like a kite that had got detached from its guiding string and floating in the sky. What a painful experience it was! I was marooned in the middle of a desert. Monika loved me with her heart and soul. My love for her is deeper because I had not loved anybody, nobody had loved me either. I had not been grown up in the bosom of a family comprising parents, brothers and sisters.

How precious is Monika to me. I like her clear soft voice. I like her bright beautiful eyes. I like her serene winsome smile. In her voice I feel love. During the period of our love affair I was happier and emotionally balanced.

Now I feel my life is empty and purposeless. I had lots of dreams and plans; at present, I am a disappointed, depressed person who has lost interest in everything.

Sometimes, I feel I have committed a very grave crime and I am guilty conscious of forcing her to give up her religion.

Her love for her faith and her love for me is equally strong, as I understand. She does not like to get away from both attachments and she requests me to practise my religion and seeks my permission to practise hers. If I cannot give up my religion, how can she give up hers?

You can throw away a garment when it is no longer needed. But a person whom you love ardently and who loves you in return in the same manner cannot be forgotten or got rid of easily.

I cannot resist the urge in me to see her again, to listen to her voice, to experience the aura of love hovering around her. Love is a very strong and complex emotion that gives wings to the young to overcome all barriers to achieve their object of love.

To meet her, I am eagerly waiting till tomorrow.