The Cup

He was probably absorbed in reading some book when suddenly a sharp noise of glass falling on ground brought him back to his immediate surroundings. He sprang up from his seat and walked into the next room. Suhasini, their one and half year daughter was standing by the sill and crying and the broken cup lay on the ground between them. No word could escape his lips. Yes it was no ordinary cup, but a treasure trove of memories for him. Sudha too rushed from outside and was sitting beside her and trying to console the poor baby. On seeing the broken cup she understood his reactions but just smiled. And her smile brought back a flooding wave of memories of days gone by.

Yes, if his memory served him right the day was a Friday because it was supposed to be a holiday the next day. Sudha had promised to see him after the evening lecture. He had been waiting for her for an entire hour and when she finally came he did not know how to start a conversation. He was stammering like a kid who had forgotten to bring his homework to the class. Sudha also did not help matters much by remaining silent on her part. It took some time before they opened up to each other. And then they did not seem to stop and their chit chat continued for almost two hours and they almost gulped down about ten cups of tea between them. And now it was time for the small restaurant to close down.

When they were leaving the restaurant after paying the bill, suddenly a very crazy idea gripped him in no small measure. He wanted to keep that cup forever with himself and remember their first meeting for all times to come. It was a perfectly irrational idea but he rationalized it in no time and asked the owner if he could sell the cup. The owner agreed and he bought the cup. And the cup had remained with him since then and he had developed a strong sense of attachment with the cup.

The cup had become a metaphor for everything nice and beautiful in his life. And now it was lying on the floor broken into pieces. Seeing him flush with emotions, Sudha brought Suhasini closer and planted a sweet kiss on her left cheek and signaled him to come closer to her. He planted a kiss on Suhasini’s right cheek. The cup was gone but Suhasini was there. She was their labour of love. She was their bundle of joy. Then Sudha put her quivering lips on his lips and kissed him. He kissed her back passionately yet tenderly. All three lay in a state of perfect embrace suffused with joy and tranquility. The setting sun and the rising moon in the western sky provided a perfect backdrop to their journey in the ocean of love in this particular act of a long and at times seemingly disingenuous play called life.