Short story

Realisation

Soma sat on the small bench under the Na tree. It was cooling. It gave shelter from the scorching sun. All the inmates were taking a nap.

Nobody would disturb her. Sitting here, she could leisurely think of her dead husband and the only son living abroad with his family. Various incidents that brought tears, tears of happiness as well as sorrow would slowly invade her mind.

Soma was a paying inmate of the elders' home. Her son was never late in sending the money and she had all the comforts she needed. There was nothing to complain about.

"Did I ever think that I would be spending the evening of my life here?" she soliloquised. She heaped a deep sigh and looked up as if her husband who had already gone before her is up there looking at her from above.

Success

"It is my fault that I paid no heed to what you prophesied. You could see far which I lacked," she murmured looking up as if she was talking to her husband who was up there listening to her. "How foolish I was? My son's success made me blind with ....." a shrieking sound of a motor-bike disturbed her train of thoughts. Her eyes followed the bike.

A white beautiful car too was passing through. It was just like the car her son owned. For a moment she thought whether it was he who was driving it. She turned around with a deep sigh. Her thoughts went back to where she stopped earlier.

Karunadasa and Soma lived in a small village away from the busy town. They were not rich.

The small plantation of rubber they owned was their only source of income. Karunadasa had to toil hard and Soma too had to be very careful and frugal with what they earned to live without getting into debt.

Their only son, Piyal who attended the village school got through the Grade Five scholarship examination and joined the town school.

He was a bright student and pursued his studies well. After passing out as an accountant, he became a high officer in a private firm.

He was given an office vehicle too which made the parents proud about their son. However, this was the turning point of their lives too.

Money

"We never had enough money to live in comfort. If Piyal marries from a rich family his life would be better," was the thought that struck Soma's mind.

She forgot that with the consent of his parents Piyal and his cousin Vimala were hoping to get married one day.

There was neither an agreement in black and white nor a strong affair that was unbreakable. It was just an understanding between both parties. Now that Piyal was in a good position why not think of a better marriage?

Soma started going through the marriage proposals in the papers every Sunday.

"Why, is Piyal not interested in Vimala anymore?" inquired her husband.

"No, it's not that. Don't you think our son could marry a better girl with a fat dowry?"

"Well," he started. "A good dowry, no doubt. But a better girl, I hardly agree. She is a teacher. Isn't that education enough?"

"I know that you are for this marriage because she is your niece. She isn't the only good girl in this world."

He was silent.

Sinhala teacher

"Don't you think that Vimala is not educated enough to marry Piyal? She is only a Sinhala teacher. She has no university education. Don't you think Piyal would feel small in front of his highly educated friends with their posh-looking wives if he marries Vimala?"

"Well, it depends on the way you look at it. Whatever you say, I think Vimala would be a very good wife and a very good daughter-in-law," said Karunadasa as he slowly stepped out and went out for his usual walk in the garden.

Finally Soma found a suitable partner and Piyal and his father had nothing else to do other than getting ready to visit the bride. Piyal was worried. His ears still echoed Vimala's last words as he drove away with his parents to see his prospective bride, Nayana.

"Don't worry Piyal Aiya," said Vimala. "No one can change fate.

After all we had no affair as such except the understanding between the two families."

Soon after marriage, Piyal was transferred to Colombo which made him leave his home and reside at Nayana's.

Every week the couple visited Soma and Karunadasa, but soon it was only Piyal who carried on that habit. He too was like an outsider when he visited his parents. He inquired about their health and nothing else. However, they had nothing to complain about as Piyal gave them enough money to live comfortably.

Vacant look

"Money is not everything," realised Soma. Yet, she was too late to realise it. She could see her husband sitting on a chair in the garden looking far away with a vacant look. He seemed to have lost the zest for life and hardly looked after his plantation.

One day when Soma was cleaning the front garden, a cousin of hers who was walking along stopped at the gate to greet her. She was holding the hand of a toddler.

"My grandson," she said as the chubby boy smiled at Soma hiding behind his grandmother.

Soma felt sad as a feeling of loneliness gripped her heart. Although she too had grandchildren, she was never fortunate enough to hold their hands and go for walks like that. Suddenly Karunadasa became feeble.

He had given up looking after his properties. He decided to sell everything except the house they lived in. Piyal too was for it, and thus there was no problem.

"It's a good decision. Put the money in the bank. You can lead a more comfortable life then," he said.

Loneliness

"We have money and comforts," said Karunadasa to his wife on the day he sold the few acres of rubber. "That's all you wanted."

Soma did not answer. How can she? "True," she said to herself. "We have everything. Yet are we happy?"

Soon both were aged before their time. They were happy and lively only on the day Piyal visited with his two small daughters, just four and two. When they returned, their loneliness was even harder than before.

One day Nayana visited her parents-in-law alone, driving her own car. She as usual came in, kissed her mother-in-law affectionately and said, "Piyal has to go abroad."

The parents were happy. They asked when, where, for how long and so on. Then only she came out with her proposal. Soma was aghast. Father did not even turn his head to look at her.

"Don't worry. You will have everything you need," she said as she went back kissing her mother-in-law tenderly. Neither of them said anything or even stood up from their seats as she got into her car and drove away. Their house too was sold. That was how they started their new life at this home.

Karunadasa never reproached Soma for taking the lead in breaking the unregistered affair between Piyal and Vimala. He happily settled himself with the new environment.

Whenever possible he called Soma to join him in worshipping at the shrine room and after worshipping he would stay staring at the statue of The Buddha for a few minutes. He advised Soma too to wish his son's family health and happiness.

Grandparents

Sometimes Piyal sent them their family photos too. In them they could see how happy their grandchildren were with their maternal grandparents who were residing with them. Soma felt jealous and sometimes commented about it. Yet, Karunadasa never said anything.

The most disastrous day in Soma's life was when she realised how much her husband had suffered alone about the son's marriage in secret. That was on the day that Karunadasa died.

He died of a sudden heart attack and the body was taken away. When the room was being cleaned, somebody handed her a small snapshot that Karunadasa had been keeping under his pillow. It was a photo of Piyal and Vimala with Karunadasa and Soma taken in front of their house, on the day they had an alms-giving when Piyal passed out as an accountant.