Thus amidst song and laughter and fun and games, four years passed by in a hurry. Saurav became 18 and Smita 16. Time was ripe for Rana to fold up his camp office in Buenos Aires and move back to Miami lock, stock and barrel. The debt situation in his assigned area was brought under reasonable order. Now he could manage it by remote control from Miami. His boss called him from New York to say that as a reward for his extra-ordinary work he was promoted as the Regional Manager of the entire South American Operations with his office based in Miami. So at work things were moving to the right direction, but at home he encountered a mixed reaction.
Saurav became very happy with the prospect of moving back to USA. However, Smita became jittery, for by then she had a boyfriend in Buenos Aires named Carlos Santana. Carlos was a senior student, three years older to Smita. He was handsome, well-mannered and soft spoken. He came from a well-known business family in Mendoza at the west of the country on the Andes, kind of Napa Valley of Argentina. In the tradition of the family, his father Christian Santana had huge holdings of vineyards stretching a few thousand acres and several large wineries in Mendoza. Besides catering to the domestic market, he was also a leading wine exporter of the country. Buenos Aires being the commercial hub and capital of the country, all the Federal Government Departments were located in that metropolis. So Santana family used to spend a considerable amount of time in Buenos Aires processing their exports. As such, the family owned a mansion at Martinez, a beautiful town at the suburbs of Buenos Aires, not far from Rana’s residence. As an important customer of his bank, Christian Sanatna was pretty well-known to Rana. Be that as it may, one day after the school, Carlos took Smita to their house and introduced her with his parents and they liked her very much. Subsequently, Carlos took her home many more times. His mother Leticia became very fond of Smita. Especially, learning that she never saw her mother, Leticia developed a soft corner for her.
On the other hand, knowing about her friendship with Carlos from Saurav, Rana asked Smita to bring him home one evening for dinner. Rana actually took a liking for Carlos. During his conversation with Carlos, Rana found out that he was the son of Christian Santana. Carlos went home and told his parents about Rana. Christian called Rana, learning that he was Smita’s father. Rana invited them for dinner at his house. They returned the favor and the exchange of visits continued. Thus a solid relationship was established between the two families. However, they did not discuss anything about the marriage between their offspring yet, because Smita and Carlos were too young. However, it remained understood.
All was well till Rana’s physical move to Miami was announced. Smita was reluctant to move. She began shedding tears intermittently; she would not eat and she could not sleep. Under the circumstances, Rana again met Christian and Leticia. They all agreed that Carlos and Smita were too young to be married immediately; that they should carry on with their studies and marriage would take place in due course. The three parents sat down with Carlos and Smita and explained to them that they had their parents’ blessings and their marriage would be solemnized when they complete their studies. They even promised that meanwhile, they would periodically visit with each other in Miami and Buenos Aires along with their parents whenever it was convenient. Willy-nilly a sullen Smita accepted the move back to Miami as the ‘fait accompli.’ But a fear continued to grip her mind that once she was out of Carlos’ sight, she would be out of his mind also. It was crystal clear to Rana that she felt uprooted. Nevertheless, there was no other alternative; he had to follow the dictates of his employer, no matter what.
On arrival at Miami the siblings were admitted to a private school at the Grove. To start with, all was fine except that the international telephone bill kept increasing month after month. Obviously, these were Smita’s calls to Carlos without any regard for frequency and duration of each call. He counseled Smita and she relented grudgingly. In the first year both the siblings did reasonably well in their exams. Meanwhile, Smita found out from her classmates that in USA children are lawfully out of parental control once they reach eighteen years of age. So she began biding her time. Telephone bills kept rising again. Rana counseled her against it. Instead of reversal of the situation, it deteriorated further. One month he received an astronomical telephone bill running well over a thousand dollars. He discontinued his international connection.
Nevertheless, to his surprise, in a few weeks he received a report from her school that she was not attending her classes, even though every morning she was going out with her school kit to board the school bus. He went to see her counselor along with her and on enquiry found out that she was missing the school bus deliberately and passing her time at a nearby McDonald’s. Both the counselor and Rana counseled her once again. She restrained herself. However, there was no wonder that she flunked her final exam. In a few weeks, she turned eighteen.
Shortly, Rana found cash disappearing from his wallet. On the first occasion he thought it was his mistake. The second time and subsequently thereafter, the shortages were too glaring not to raise his concern. Consternation streaked through his mind that his lovely little Smita had been taking money from his wallet to pay for international calls made to Argentina from the near by post office. He sat down with her to talk over the matter. She readily admitted to have taken money from his wallet for calls made to Carlos. She dropped out of school and said she was looking for a job to pay for her airfare to Buenos Aires. In a few more days she reported to have landed a job in Coco-Walk at the Coconut Grove. Rana realized that his little Smita was completely out of control and nothing would deter her anymore.
He called Christian Santana and apprised him of the development concerning Smita. He suggested if the Santana family had no objection, let the wedding take place at the earliest. Christian spoke to Leticia. She already had a soft corner for Smita because she lost her mother at birth and also grew up mostly without her father. They spoke to Carlos who was waiting for this moment. He began celebrating his wedding even before the engagement was confirmed and the wedding date was set. He had already dropped out of college and joined the family business. Money was not a problem for him. Thus wedding was hastily arranged in about a month in Miami. Smile broke out on Smita’s face again, as the sun breaks through the clouds after a heavy downpour.
However, Rana’s heart was torn apart at this unexpected turn of events. He felt guilty that in absence of her mother Keka, he could not accomplish his duty toward their only daughter. He thought his plan to take Saurav and Smita to Buenos Aires for their own safety and comfort yet providing the best education backfired. It seemed Rana was again playing into his own ego. In the misery of the moment he became oblivious of the fact that in the River of Life he was only a roleplayer not a decision maker. Decision had already been taken on his behalf before he came into it.
Wedding was planned as a very private ceremony. Apart from his colleagues at work and a few friends in Miami, he invited only Paula and Joshua because Paula developed a very special friendship with Smita though she was much older to her. Besides, Paula and Joshua met Carlos during their trips to Buenos Aires and made friends with him also.
Rana did not plan Smita’s wedding that early in her life. So he was not ready for this quicksilver development. Yet Smita was his only daughter, the gem of his adoring eyes. Despite all the unpleasant moments that he had to endure due to her indiscretions, he was not unmindful of her mental fragility arising out of an extra-ordinary vacuum in her life, affecting her psychologically. So he and Saurav took her to the malls of her choice to buy whatever she wanted for her and Carlos. When Paula arrived few days before wedding, she found out that Smita also wanted to buy a few more pieces of jewelry and some more cosmetics but felt shy to tell her dad. Paula accompanied her to the malls to complete all those purchases. She also chose Smita’s wedding gown.
The wedding was scheduled to be solemnized on a Friday afternoon at the oldest Catholic Church at the Grove. On the wedding day, Smita was cheerful right from the morning
. After the breakfast Paula accompanied her to the beauty parlor. On returning home Paula began to dress her up. When all was complete, Smita came to her dad to show him her fully adorned wedding outfit. Rana saw his dear little daughter, who was naturally very pretty, looking stunningly beautiful. In order not to spoil her make up Rana kissed her hair gently and said, “Mummy, you look like an Angel today. Be very happy through the rest of your life.” His eyes became moist, but he composed himself. Time was short. But before leaving for the church Rana took some quick photographs of her as the family treasure.
It was time for the proceedings to begin at the church, where in the presence of a small group of invitees Rana gave his lovely little girl in marriage to Carlos Santana. Wedding reception and dinner had been arranged at the near by Grand View Hotel. During the sumptuous dinner, all the pleasantries and formalities were performed. For Rana and Saurav the saddest part of the ceremony came at the end of the dinner. From there the bridegroom’s party went straight to Hamilton Hotel at the airport. Next evening they would fly back to Buenos Aires. Rana kissed his daughter affectionately, wishing her a very happy and joyful marriage.
Next evening Rana was at the airport along with Saurav, Paula and Joshua. Bridegroom’s party arrived a little late. There was not much time left for the take off of the flight. A beaming Smita came to her dad and held his hand. Looking at his face she knew that her dad was heart-broken for her imminent departure. She said, “Dad, please forgive me for all the pain I have given you. Don’t worry for me. I am very happy. I will stay in touch with you as often as possible.”
Rana said, “Mummy, you have not given me any pain. Have a happy and prosperous married life. Take care of Carlos and your new family.”
He gave his daughter a parting kiss and hugged Carlos and said, “Please take care of each other and be happy.”
Smita then spoke to Saurav affectionately and thanked Paula and Joshua for coming all the way from London to help at her wedding.
The boarding announcement had already been made earlier. So Smita and her new family entered the boarding gate in a hurry. In a few seconds, Smita disappeared from their sight. Rana stood their like a defeated soldier with wounded dreams, bruised and battered in the battle of life. In his mind he told his long departed wife Keka, “My love, you left the heavy baggage for me to carry it alone. I thought I tried my best, but my best was not good enough. Please forgive me.”
It appeared that in his profound sadness Rana allowed his ego to get the better of him. Instead of submitting to God to lift the burden of his sorrow, he acted as if he himself was the master of his own destiny. He should have known that this was how his life and Smita’s were scripted long before they came to this earth. If man has a dream, God has an infinitely greater dream. If man has a plan, God has a vastly superior plan. Man can dream because God has given him the mind and intellect to dream. God’s plan encompasses the entire gamut of the River of Life for the greatest good of all. Man’s plan is fragmented and is often guided by purely selfish motives. It, therefore, follows unmistakably that if man’s dream is in disharmony with that of God, God’s dream will invariably prevail.
Observing that both Rana and Saurav were overwhelmed with the pangs of separation from Smita, the sense of propriety of Paula and Joshua rose to the occasion. While Joshua wrapped his arm around Saurav to console him, Paula held the hand of Rana and said, “Uncle, I can understand how you feel, but you cannot breakdown. You have to lead your normal life. Smita is in good hands. She will be happy. Let’s go home now.”
In the voice of Paula, Rana heard the voice of eternal motherhood urging the mankind to march forward with hopes in the heart and dreams in the eyes, for that is what drives the River of Life to its distant destiny, the ever esoteric Eternity.
Speechless in visible distress, they began walking slowly to the parking lot. To calm down the turmoil of his tormented soul, the eloquent insight of the Prophet began resounding in the vast emptiness of his sorrow-stricken heart:
“Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you, yet they belong not to you.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts.
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday…”
(Kahlil Gibran—Prophet)
RIVER OF LIFE UNTWINED
Life was born when God created man in His own image from the dust of the ground and breathed life into him through his nostrils. Man, however, was not clothed and it did not matter to him, for neither did he have the knowledge and acumen of the tasteful standards of behavior and propriety in staying clothed; nor did he have the insight into shame and disgrace attached to remaining unclothed. God made him the caretaker of His Garden of Eden where He planted many trees and plants, some bearing fruits and some pleasing to look at. The Tree of Knowledge and the Tree of Life stood in the middle of the garden. God told man that he could eat the fruits of any tree in the garden except the fruits of the Tree of Knowledge. However, nothing was mentioned about the fruits of the Tree of Life. That might be purely an act of ommission. In any case, man complied with God’s instructions and God was apparently happy with man’s obedience and thought it was not good for man to remain alone. So God wished to give him a “suitable” helper. But it was not easy to think of a suitable helper, for God might have been really looking for someone more like a companion than just any kind of helper. Finally, God put man into deep slumber and cut out a rib from his body, filling in the gap with flesh. From the rib of man God created an exquisite figure that in many ways looked like man, but was in other ways different from man. God asked man to give his helper a name. Man called the helper “woman” probably because she was made out of his body with woe. The woman was also without clothes. It did not make any difference to them for knowledge remained beyond their grasp and they were ignorant and unashamed of their clothelessness.
Then what was yet unthinkable to God, happened. The woman ate the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge and gave some to man also. Their eyes opened up and they were able to distinguish between the positive and negative attributes ascribed to man. That knowledge made them aware of the affliction attached to staying unclothed. The first thing they realized was that they were without clothes and felt ashamed of it. They stitched fig leaves to cover themselves up before God would visit His beloved garden next. Obviously, fig leaves could not cover a whole lot. When God did come to His garden subsequently, they concealed themselves behind the bushes, for they felt ashamed to encounter Him without clothes. God became flabbergasted to find that they ate the fruits of the forbidden tree. He cursed both man and woman separately for their insubordination and deceitfullness and imposed severe punishment on them to remain in effect for all times to come. Moreover, as a matter of abundant precaution, God banished them from the Garden of Eden so that they were not able to lay their hands on the fruits of the Tree of Life also and become immortal, a state of being attributed to Divinity only.
Nevertheless, God is the embodiment of love and compassion. How long could He remain angry and aloof when His own children were afflicted by the feeling of humiliation and disgrace out of shame? His fierce anger soon washed away by the torrents of His love for them. In that loving state of mind God made garments of skin and clothed them to cover their shame. In a flash, the veil that was made to eliminate their shame became the instrument of romantic attraction by the tantalizing disappearance of their distinctive physical features from the sight of each other. By covering themselves up they became adorable to each other; they became loveable to eac
h other; they became the object of desire for each other. Like the touch of the magic wand a process for life was created. Soon the first son of the man and woman was born and God blessed the new comer.
With the arrival of the first son on the earth two important events happened simultaneously: Firstly, a foundation was laid down for the birth and numerical growth of man. Secondly, the Human Component was added to the Invisible Component to form the Hypothetical Phenomenon called, the “River of Life.” In other words, the River of Life was born and began its unremitting journey on the face of the earth. For the sake of abundant clarity, it may be restated that the River of Life is composed of two components, that is, Human Component and Invisible Component. God created man, the Human Component, not only in His own exterior image but also endowed him with the mind and intellect as a minuscule replica of His own mental faculty to make man a genuinely constructive force in the River of Life. The Invisible Component, on the other hand, consists of God’s unmistakable but unseen hands and the influences of the natural and extra-terrestrial forces, which are nothing but a smoke screen for God’s invisible hands, because none other than God created them and set them in motion at the beginning of creation.
A Bend in the River of Life Page 36
