A few years ago.

Abhiram donned a checkered cotton shirt and jeans before emerging from his room. His thin build and boyish good looks were accentuated by his bright smile, beaming with anticipation. Satyanarayanan, his father, was seated on the chaaru-kasera (reclining chair), engrossed in reading the newspaper. A man in his fifties, Satyanarayanan had specks of white in his dark brown hair, a thick mustache, and glasses. He was dressed in a grey shirt and mundu.

"Where are you going?" he gruffly asked Abhiram.

"Acha, my friends are coming over to the nearby town. I am going to take them to the waterfalls nearby. I already asked you; I wanted to take the car," Abhiram replied timidly.

"Oh yeah, I remember. It's because of this business tension that I can't remember it. Fine, go. But don't spend too much money; you know about our financial problems," said Satyanarayanan, returning to his newspaper. Abhiram slipped into the kitchen, where his mother, Bhargavi, was sitting at the dining table, reading the latest issue of Vanitha (a magazine for women).

"Amma," Abhiram called his mother cutely, and she looked up with a smile. She motioned for him to come and sit next to her on the bench and kept the magazine on the table.

"You are going out with your friends?" she asked and took some money out of her purse on the table, handing it to him.

"Thank you, Amma," he said happily and kissed her cheeks.

"Wait a minute. Sit down next to me," Abhiram promptly sat back next to her.

"Rama, you know we are in a dire situation. Your father has spent all his retirement money on the business. It's not yielding good results now. So, spend the money wisely," she said to him.

"Of course, Amma, I know what is going on with Achan's business. Don't worry; I won't spend it all," he replied earnestly.

"When is your entrance result getting declared?" she asked.

"Next week," he replied, his happiness changing into anxiety. "I hope I get the medical seat this time. Achan had said this will be the last time he will let me write, and after this, he will put me in any engineering course that I qualify for."

"Don't worry, you have worked so hard; I have hope," said Bhargavi, cheering him up. "Drive carefully, dear."

Abhiram smiled and ran out through the kitchen to avoid his father. He went to the car shed, opened the car, got in, and started the engine. Months of intense hard work were over; it was time to enjoy, he thought. He drove out of the gate, filled with happiness, anticipating the bright day ahead, when suddenly someone ran directly in front of the car. A sickening thud was heard, and he saw the person flung onto the grass on the side of the road. Abhiram quickly pressed the brake, switched off the engine, and ran to see the girl lying on the ground, covered in blood. She was the girl next door, the daughter of a railway employee. Much younger than him, he had only seen her a few times in the village. What was her name? Varsha?

"Varsha... Varsha..." he shouted in panic, trying to wake the unconscious girl up.

Blood seeped from a wound on her head, trickling over her face. Then he heard a voice behind him, "What happened to Varsha?"

Abhiram turned around and saw a man in his forties, wearing a shirt and pants, with a thick mustache and closely cropped hair. He had an idea that this man was a teacher who tutored in his village.

"She jumped in front of the car," said Abhiram, desperation in his voice.

"Really? You think I would believe that? Why would she do something so stupid?" asked the man.

"I don't know. Please help me take her to the hospital," pleaded Abhiram. By this time, a few villagers had gathered, shouting abuses at Abhiram.

A tall, thin woman came running, crying without any tears, "What did you do to my child?" She screamed at Abhiram. The villagers helped her gather the girl from the ground, and they put her into the car. Abhiram drove as fast as possible to the hospital, but soon the police arrived. By then, Abhiram had called his father to the hospital as well.

Satyanarayana spoke to the woman and the tuition master, and finally, he came to Abhiram, looking angry. "Listen, that woman's name is Prabha. That girl Varsha is her daughter. They are accusing you of deliberately causing the accident and are demanding compensation to withdraw the case."

"Acha, that girl jumped in front of the car," said Abhiram.

"Nobody cares. They just want money, and I have to pay whatever they demand because of your irresponsibility," shouted Satyanarayana.

"How much are they demanding, Acha?" asked Abhiram.

"Ten lakhs," replied his father.

"WHAT!" Abhiram was shocked.

"At this time, when we are trying our best to raise money, you have squandered everything. I will pay for this now, but understand that now I will have to raise money all over again for the business, and I won't be paying for your medical school fees if you get selected. I cannot afford it anymore," he said to Abhiram.

"Acha, please," pleaded Abhiram.

"Don't you dare," warned Satyanarayanan and left the place with Abhiram walking behind him with his head held low. The next day, they paid the 10 lakh rupees, and the case magically disappeared from all the records. The money had come out of the capital for Satyanarayana's business and since then he had to take loans at heavy interest to finance his business.

Few days after they paid the money, Abhiram's results came, and he had qualified, but in a management college. Since his father had refused to pay, he could no longer afford it. However, he already had a seat for Computer Science in a government college far away, so he joined, feeling depressed and miserable that his hopes and dreams were dashed. But he was determined to do his best and did well in his classes. On weekends, he would come home and go searching for the girl who jumped in front of his car. He learned from his neighbors that she had left the village and gone to stay with her brother in Mumbai.

Returning home was torture for him. Every time his father scolded him about the money he had to pay to get rid of the case and the interest he had to pay for the loans, he would be angry and accusing, making Abhiram, at times, hate his father. Only Bhargavi would try to intervene, but even she was helpless in front of Satyanarayana's anger. She was not a very well educated woman and was a housewife who went straight from school to being the wife of Satyanarayanan, so she lacked the strength and command to stop it all. Slowly, Abhiram stopped coming home, deciding to stay in his hostel during weekends and holidays; it was better than listening to his father grumble about the money spent. The sweet cutesy boy was gone and in his place was a jaded man. Slowly, four years went by and he got his B. tech degree; then he went to Delhi and got his master's and then a Ph.D. Even though he never became a medical doctor, he did earn a doctorate. On the proud day of his viva, he had no family members present; they had gone to his brother Sriram's convocation from medical college as an MBBS doctor, which their father had happily financed since his business had taken off. 

Abhiram had felt like an alien since the time of the accident; slowly, the ties that bound him to his family disappeared one by one. The happy times before that had already faded from his memory, leaving only the images of an angry father, a crying mother, and an oblivious younger brother. He neither hated nor was jealous of his younger brother, who had achieved his dream, but seeing him in doctor's garb hurt. The loss of his dream career and his connection to his family devastated him. But he had buried all of it in some dark corner of his mind because it was not his fault, but rather the fault of the money-hungry girl and her mother who staged the accident. That girl took his money and went to Mumbai to enjoy her life while destroying his life. 

The only person in his family to maintain any sort of relation with him was his mother. With her persistent effort, she reached out to him after his post-doctorate in the USA when he came back to work in the college. She hounded him with love and persistence, and he finally let her back into his life. He came to realize that his mother had to make a choice to take care of his younger brother. Once his brother got his degree, she started defying Satyanarayanan and used to come and stay with Abhiram for long periods of time. She felt guilty for not being in his life when he needed her. But her absence severely strained his parents' relationship. His family was in shambles, all because of that girl; Varsha.

************************************

Please vote and share this chapter

************************************