Celebration

Author: Amita Raj

Picture Courtesy: Saumya Dwivedi

Megha opened the cupboard to select an elegant outfit to wear for her friend’s wedding reception. Hanging amidst all her clothes was her favourite red silk sari. She gazed at it with misty eyes. It shone like a sheet of melting ruby, with gold butis glowing over it like the morning sun’s rays. How it lit the whole cupboard like a gem! She loved caressing this soft stream of silk.
Her mother had gifted her with it a couple of years ago. It was meant to be for her wedding ceremony. Somehow the stars didn’t align for Megha’s upcoming marriage since her fiance’ Arun died tragically in a car crash days before that big day. So with a heavy heart, she let it dangle amidst her clothes like an untouched ornament that she could only silently adore.

“I long to drape it around me and feel like a queen. But if I wear it, it’ll only remind me of Arun’s death,” she’d sadly whisper.
So, whenever there were pujas, birthday parties or wedding receptions to go to, Megha would only restrict herself to other saris, not her beloved one. From time to time, she’d look at the photo of her departed fiance’, gazing at his tender expression and wish he were here to celebrate with her all the festive occasions.
They had been childhood playmates years ago. Those memories often rushed to her like an unforgetable daydream. So today with another disappointed sigh, she selected a yellow sari.

That afternoon, she opened a drawer, looking for a pen to fill that wedding greeting card when she spotted an old birthday card that Arun had given her years ago. It lay buried under some papers.

She opened it and read his words. “Happy birthday, my dearest Megha. Remember everyday in life is a celebration to enjoy what you love.”

“Arun, it’s as if you’re speaking to me through your birthday card. How foolish I’ve been repress every occasion to celebrate life!”

That evening with a new dazzling smile, she wore her favourite fiery red sari to the wedding ceremony!

About the Author:

Amita Raj holds an M.A. in English. She’s always loved creating imaginatively rich stories through the melody and colours of language. Her writing talent was sparked off at age eight in a classroom assignment, where she wrote the autobiography of a pen. Since then, she’s been enchanted with writing, also reading and enjoying the works of Rabindranath Tagore, Satyajit Ray, Shakespeare and Edgar Allan Poe. She’s been a contributing writer to Deccan Herald, India Currents, Twist&Twain magazine, and of late regularly to Story Scrapers, ArtoonsInn Poetry Parlour and Beyond The Box. She looks forward to her ongoing lyrical journey, writing and sharing with the world many more of her short stories, poems and novellas.