Sunday, August 11, 2002		Life Ties

VARSHA was vivacious, and a natural when it came to miming and singing. She loved being on stage and as she grew older her capabilities evolved. She juggled her different roles effortlessly. She was president of the Dramatics Society, House Captain and an topper in academics, too. She was the only student to go on an exchange programme to the USA. When some of her older cousins asked if she had steady boyfriends, she laughed it off saying she had no time to cultivate serious relationships. Her need to dabble in new things and upgrade existing skills was enormous. If she learnt how to play the harmonium, it would be the violin that would be next on the agenda. If one summer she took a trekking camp, the next time she would want to do a course in ceramic pottery.

The only thing she was unsure about was the career to pursue. Her professional goals kept changing and since she was good in many things, it was difficult to zero in on her core competence. She vacillated between wanting to be a disc jockey, working with a corporate house and joining an advertising agency as a marketing person. She wanted to wear many different hats at the same time. This kept her from sticking to a few things and excelling in them. Some of her friends who were far less talented managed to land high-paying jobs in top companies. They moved up the hierarchical ladder systematically whereas she kept switching jobs, losing seniority and compromising on pay packets. In spite of multi dimensional talents, she did not get what she deserved.

Her on – off behaviour gave conflicting signals to her parents. She did not appear ready for marriage and they didn’t push her. By the time she was 29, a despaired kind of restlessness set in. Her mood swings got severe and her parents became paranoid about their spinster daughter. When their neighbours bought a proposal for Varsha, they gave it a serious thought. Their distant nephew was an NRI based in Los Angeles partnering a small but busy law firm. They didn’t know much about him but he seemed responsible and well brought up. He was good looking and keen to have an Indian girl as a bride. He had lost his parents when he was a child and had been bought up by an aunt in the USA. She had passed away recently and the boy practically had no family. There appeared no harm in meeting him once.

Varsha and her family were immediately taken in by Rajan’s suave looks and genteel behaviour. He seemed a fine person. Their heart went out to him as they visualised how he must have struggled through the years. The week flew by and the young couple were madly in love. Strings were pulled and a registered marriage took place. This was followed by a honeymoon to the North East, places Varsha had always wanted to go to. Ten days of love, romance and sensitive caring made her realise what it meant to be in love. How had she missed out on this when all her friends had experienced the emotion not once but many times over. To her fairy tale mindset, it now seemed that it was because she was sub consciously waiting for her Prince Charming who was none other than Rajan.

They returned to Delhi and hectic days followed with Rajan being out for the better part of the day to secure visas. One morning, telling her he was going to Agra for work, he left not to return. Days passed but there was no trace of him. It was as if he had been wiped out from the face of the earth. All links to his existence ended in blind alleys. He had covered his tracks well. The neighbours, through whom the alliance had been fixed, were clueless about his address in LA. They couldn’t recall any other living relatives either. He was a distant nephew and they had only met him a couple of times. Besides, they had not hidden these facts from Varsha and her parents.

When weeks turned into months, they were forced to accept that they had been cheated by a fraud who had played a filthy joke and had gotten away with it. They were numb with shock as they realised how easily they had got fooled. Why had they not checked his credentials? Why had they not tracked down the law firm he said he worked for? Why were they in such a desperate hurry to wed their daughter? Whether it was a master plan hatched in the USA or a reality check on the stupidity, vulnerability and trusting quotients of Indians back home or just a plain and uncomplicated game didn’t matter. What did was the fact that their daughter’s life was ruined. She had suffered deception and breach of faith of the highest degree. Her scars may never heal. There was a possibility of her losing her mind. Not having a steady job compounded the issue. It was impossible to pull her out of her depression and sense of isolation. Seeing a bubbly talented girl wasting herself was painful.

Finally, it was music which came to her rescue. She converted her hobby into a profession and turned into a full-time disc jockey. The pay was good and better still was the quality of work. Her interaction with colleagues and clients was minimal. The anonymity which her announcements offered gave her a sense of freedom. It opened up all the blockades in her mind and heart as she learnt to once again connect with listeners with her unique brand of infectious cheer. Even if the period of happiness lasted only as long as she had earphones on, it still was a release of all her negativity. Her programmes were popular and she gradually built up a fan following which again proved to be cathartic to her wounded ego and self esteem. She kept a studious distance, not allowing the adulation to spoil her. She drew strength from this little world which was her den, escape route and lifeline. Though she didn’t have fancy designations, perks and salary to show for her talents, the fact that she could still get up and go about meeting the demands of her day- to -day existence without complaining and hating everyone around her was enough.