Pawan Verma
It was undoubtedly love at first sight. I fell for her at the very first glimpse. Draped in crimson red with a black top, she looked to be a thing of beauty, graceful enough to stir neighbors’ envy and owner’s pride. For a moment she made me intensely feel that she and I were made for each other.
And so there she was, at the very day at my house ending my six month search for her in the tiny little foreign island.
My neighbors lived up to their reputation. For, they would not approve of her. They said I had gone more for looks rather than for intrinsic worth. But as days rolled into months my love for her grew in exact proportion to my neighbors’ disapproval. She would faithfully accompany me to the office every day, would reduce my boredom on the 25-km stretch by singing melodious old hits. Off and on she would also tell me the weather forecast and read out the morning news. In the evenings she would accompany me to the innumerable cocktails and dinners till late in the night.
She made good friends with my wife Neelima as well, who learnt and perfected her driving in her company. My wife often remembers the afternoon when, on a driving lesson both of them chased a solitary middle-aged man on his moped, who, finding both of them uncontrollably behind him, plunged into the nearby field , got up and without looking back for a second, drove away in the reverse direction.
She was equally friendly with my two children, Shweta and Harsh. With her arrival their visits to the beach had increased as also trips to the ice-cream parlors. On the bumpy curvy road to the beach, while I would concentrate on the steering wheel, she would sing in chorus with my children.
But as months changed into years, age finally started telling upon her health. She could no longer take the strenuous routine of accompanying me to the office. So she would stay home and accompany my wife on smaller trips to beauty parlors etc. But, in spite of her failing health we loved her.
Finally came the time to part company. My three-year tenure on the beautiful island of Mauritius came to an end. Local laws would not permit me to stay there while Indian customs would not allow her to come to India. I spoke to my friends and neighbors, but they were unhelpful. However, with my wife’s tactful planning she got a place at another house.
Before parting, she gave me a beautiful gift. A tape deck-cum-tuner which now decorates my new car back home in India. But whenever I listen to its music, I travel down the memory lane, fondly remembering my first car – the lovely little Austin Allegro. Naturally so, she was my first love outside my marriage.
(First published in Times of India, Edit Page dated 08.03.1995)
