Subdued Beginning
Roopa, with a hangover, woke up to Yadamma’s buzzer, at seven the next morning, only to realize that Sathyam was still in bed. At that, as she began to brush her teeth, Yadamma set out to wash the staircase. Soon, as Roopa was at preparing coffee decoction for them and Sathyam, for he started having bed coffee for sometime then, Yadamma began sweeping the hall. At length, while Roopa in the kitchen was keeping watch over the boiling milk Yadamma went into the bedroom. Shortly thereafter as Yadamma, taking ayya to be dead, raised an alarm, Roopa spilt the strong coffee she was preparing for Sathyam on herself. Then, rushing to him in pain, she felt his pulse, and finding it still, she fell unconscious over him. At that, fearing the worst, Yadamma rushed with the news to the Raja Raos in bed.
Reaching her home post-haste, the nonplussed couple found their benumbed lover lay on her husband’s body. However, readily realizing that Roopa was breathing still, Raja Rao hurried Sandhya to fetch some water to splash her into senses. In time, as Roopa opened her eyes, Sandhya took her mate endearingly into her lap, even as Raja Rao caressed the bereaved in assurance. Even in her state of shock, Roopa found their touch reassuring and began to feel solaced by that. There could be moments in life when a mere touch of a dear one conveys more empathy than a score of sympathetic words.
‘What’s this tragedy?’ sobbed Sandhya, inducing a flood of tears from Roopa’s eyes.
‘He was upset the whole of yesterday, and went on drinking till midnight,’ cried Roopa inconsolably. ‘And he was no more by the morning. Oh, I can’t believe it.’
‘Maybe, he died of excessive drinking,’ said Raja Rao gravely, looking at the two empty bottles of Chivas Regal lying near the cot. ‘But why didn’t you stop him at some point?’
‘What do you mean?’ Roopa said, perplexed, ‘Why, was he not dead drunk so often? Can one die of drink, really?’
‘As it appears,’ said Raja Rao, staring at Sathyam’s body, ‘sadly, he drank himself to death.’
‘But why didn’t you send for us all day?’ said Sandhya.
‘You were not at home when I came in the evening,’ said Roopa ruefully. ‘And in the end, unable to bear the tension, I myself had a couple of drinks, and slept off. Oh, if only I knew, wouldn’t I have stopped him in time.’
‘How I wish you did,’ said Sandhya bogged down with tears. ‘And that would have saved a fine soul for us. But as they say, God won’t keep Himself away from good souls for long. Wonder why it doesn’t occur to Him that the world needs such, even more!’