Chapter 11 – Wonder year 2

Life is happier when you spread the wings of love. Mano and Nancy realized it in their second year of relationship. The second year of their relationship was probably one of their best years even bettering the first year.

She visited her Brother’s home twice during that year and stayed the complete weekend on both the times. It was a fun filled occasion for Mano and his family, that now included Nancy. Nancy had become close to each one in the family. She usually ganged up with Priya to pull his leg. Mano, in his customary style, acts helpless and sad but received little sympathy from the other two. But when none of his tricks worked, he always leaned on Madhu, his little daughter, who would support him blindly on any given occasion.

They also met thrice in Mumbai when Mano visited Mumbai on work. By then, she had moved to a working woman’s hostel. She was lot more comfortable in her new place of stay and she had lot more free time. Their meeting usually lasted a couple of hours and their favourite meeting spot was Juhu beach. It allowed them the space to feel one with nature in  right company. They usually had dinner in the small joints irrespective of how the food tasted.

During one of his trips to Mumbai, Mano volunteered to drop Nancy in her hostel as it was little late in the night. When she was about to enter hostel, the hostel receptionist was coming out and met both of them. Nancy introduced him as her brother (how proud he was). The receptionist asked her “which college is he studying?” (now his pride shot through the roof). Nancy protested and told her that her brother had finished college ten years back. After reaching his hotel room, Mano did not forget to call her and tell her “see Nancy. Never introduce me as just a brother to anyone. Anyone would think that I am your younger brother seeing the way we both look. It is better that you introduce me always as your anna or big brother”. She said “our receptionist has a serious eye sight problem. What can I do if she was not wearing her glasses?”. But Mano told this story one hundred times later to his wife, Nancy’s mother and Nancy herself. Everytime Nancy would dismiss this happily and she would not forget to admire the kid in her brother.

There was a time when Mano and Nancy tried cracking Hindu crossword over SMS. He would send the words he could not crack and she would offer her help. They came close to cracking it in full but fell short of three words. Nevertheless, they enjoyed the experience.

They were also in constant touch through SMS, mails and calls. Whenever Mano sensed a bit of dullness in her voice, it would always end up as the same reason. Her father would be involved with a new woman and she would have no clue about how to help her mother.

Nancy’s health suffered a lot in this period. She had a serious hormonal imbalance that had led to lots of problems during her periods. The medication she took has serious side effects and she had to stop it. Finally she told her mom firmly that she would not continue her medication. This could possibly mean that her chances of conception post marriage were slim. She also used her hormonal problems as an additional reason to avoid marriage. She was anyhow convinced that she would never marry for the kind of men she had to deal with in her life. It was not just her father but other men in her family had other negative traits. Finally she came to the conclusion that a life without a man in her life would be lot more peaceful. Her mom tried to convince her otherwise but could not succeed. Mano too tried speaking to her about marriage once or twice but without any luck. Once she told him that the only reason she entertained such discussions was because of seeing a happy couple in her anna and anni. This gave Mano some hope that he could change her stance some time later.

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Nancy gifted Mano an old time classic book “Atlas shrugged” a book he would not have considered reading on his own.

Mano found the book very absorbing and interesting. It was a bit philosophical with very advanced and modern views on creating wealth, love and life. Mano and Nancy used to discuss about each and every character in the book as if they were friends to them.

She also recommended Da Vinci Code, a book that was beginning to capture the imagination of the world. They both loved the book very much and discussed at length the issues discussed in this book as well.

Mano was an agnostic. Nancy was a firm believer. Her belief in God was not confined to the boundaries of any religion. One could call her spiritual and not exactly religious. They discussed about God at length. Mano tried understanding what her understanding of God was. But he never could. Nancy used to tell him “you need to feel God. You need to feel God within yourself. Noone can show you what or where God is”. Mano made several attempts to understand what she said but never could. Nevertheless, they both enjoyed the discussions immensely.

On Jan 22nd of 2005, Nancy had sent a long & sweet mail to Mano on the completion of second year of their relationship. Mano had replied with an equally sweet mail. They both chatted for half an hour or so in the evening over phone.

It appeared that this brother and sister would be happy for ever.

________to be continued _________________

Chapter 12 – Wonder year 3

This year had seen the further strengthening of bond between Mano and Nancy. Nancy made her visits to Mano’s house thrice that year and Mano had met her in Mumbai equal number of times when he visited Mumbai on work. Mano always flooded Nancy with many little gifts whether they met in Chennai or in Mumbai. Mano would keep telling his sister to be demanding with her brother. But she would never seek anything from her brother but would gladly accept whatever brother gave. Only once, she specifically asked her to get newspaper cuttings of Hindu Crossword. When Mano actually handed over twenty such paper cuttings to her in Mumbai, she was overjoyed as if her brother had got the moon for her. Nancy also flooded gifts to Mano’s entire family – Madhu & Hari, Priya anni and her brother, Mano, everytime she visited his house.

By this time, Nancy had moved to a rented apartment and had the pleasure of hosting a dinner for Mano during his second visit to Mumbai that year. Mano noted with pride that her culinary skills were excellent and her house was too orderly and neat for a person who worked long hours and found little time to spend at home.

Nancy’s health stayed as it was in the previous year. She certainly got used to her hormonal problems and learnt to cope up with the pain she had to undergo. Her mother had started pestering her for marriage and she would flatly refuse everytime the subject came up. When Mano tried too, the response was negative. Not the one to give up so easily, he kept talking to Nancy about the positive side of marriage. Even after his long, untiring efforts, she finally told him one day “anna. I told you about so many bad men that I had seen in my life. After seeing all this, I don’t want to get married. Why don’t you understand?”. Mano replied “Do you mean to say all women are good? Or do we conclude all women are bad just because few women are bad? The same way, we have good men and bad men. You have met bad men but you had also met a not-so-bad man who went on to become your anna. I can assure you that your anna is hardly the best man you would find in this world. There are lots of men who are better than your anna and I have met so many of them. I am sure you can and will find one of those as your life partner and lead a very happy life. It is upto you to decide”. The discussion ended there.

A week later, when Mano called up Nancy’s mother (who continued to work in TN) over phone, she told him that his sister had finally agreed for marriage. Immediately Mano and Priya called up Nancy to express their happiness. Nancy was not as excited but she admitted that she had become open to marriage though she was initially dead against marriage. She also thanked Mano for making her look at men and marriage in a different light.

Things cannot always remain the same way for ever. Change is a part of life but none of us are prepared to accept change. Mano too refused to accept change when he faced two big challenges towards the end of 2005. One was professional. He had received some very unfair treatment from his boss despite his good performance in the previous year. This affected him badly. Two, Mano had a personal problem that affected him & his family badly too.

Mano broke this news to Nancy in person in her new Mumbai apartment in December of 2005. Before he could finish, he was in tears. She held his hands and tried comforting him. For once, none of this care and affection seemed to be enough for Mano as he was deeply wounded. Much later after he left, he told himself that he was atleast blessed with well wishers like Nancy for emotional support.

On Jan 22, 2006, Mano and Nancy spoke at length over phone and Priya too joined their long conversation. Priya was becoming too stressed because of the problems at home and she felt relieved talking to Nancy.

The wonder year 3 was as good as the previous years for the brother and sister bond. But they were also getting exposed to certain harsh and inescapable realities of life.

________to be continued_________________________