Vandana

Who is Vandana to me? Nobody. But she is one of my best friends in the world.

I met her when I went to her home for meeting her to form a marriage alliance. We were briefly engaged as well. Then she chose to follow her heart than her dying father's wish. Her father was diagnosed with both kidney failure and living on daily dialysis.

She is happier than most girls I have met. She has a daughter and love of her life as a husband. They don't have much money. But her life is happy. They live for today. One hospital emergency will destroy their financial planning. But that's okay.

Today, I think about her because she is recovering from a throat operation. She is a singer. She sings the most beautiful songs. While we were engaged, she used to sing me songs through the phone. After she broke the engagement and fled with Jinu, she tried to stay in touch with me. I was happy that she was happy. But my wife saw her as a rival due to some reason. She had me severe all connections with her. Vandana used to make fake Facebook accounts and befriend me, just to keep in touch with what I am doing. I often wonder of the people who professes to love me and still can't wait to leave me in pursuit of happier life or financial stability.

After my married life went to hell, I restored contacts with her. She was happy that finally, I messaged her in WhatsApp. From then onwards she will message me randomly at odd times. But her timings were impeccable. She messaged me multiple times when I lost all will to live. Two of them were at 2 AM in the morning. It was like she knew that I was in distress. She became my guardian angel multiple times. She knew exactly how to lift my spirits, every single time. 

This is one of such instance. I doubt she knows that it's about her. Her English was bad then, is bad now. She liked it anyway. 😍😘

And she will message me when she will be feeling down as well. I will support her and cheer her up. She is one person in India, who was not particularly upset that I broke up with my wife. Her husband is also very understanding of the bond between us.

One day, I told her about my dad and his cancer treatment. She was crying on the news and later she offered me her jewellery for the treatment expenses. She was the only person ever offered me help. She knows that most of her jewellery has already been sold by her husband. But she had some bangles with her which she saved for some special occasion. She offered those bangles for me to sell for my dad's treatment. I couldn't accept the offer since I knew of her financial situation. But the gesture matters. My in-laws even refused to return the money they have borrowed from me, for dad's treatment. In the midst of such people, this girl is gold. She may not be rich, but in her heart, she is the richest person ever.

Now, she is earning some money by dubbing for teleserials in Malayalam. Not much, occasional 1000 or 2000. But she is so happy to earn that. And she spends that with pride. That income also temporarily stopped due to the operation.

She is who taught me to be content with what you have. I don't need a government job to feel safe. Even if I lose the job with TCS, I am not going to kill myself. Every job counts. I will cultivate crops in my land in Kerala if I have to. But, I won't let life beat me or let it ruin my happiness for the sake of safety in life.

To living life.