A public display of "love" and "affection"

                 Some days back I was standing at the counter of a reputed drug store at Rajmahal Square inquiring about a rarely sold tablet that was prescribed to me by the Capital Hospital Orthopedic doc. I had become a patient then, 3 months after the real incident had occurred. ‘Fact’ is that I had slipped from my Honda (I mean Hero Honda Splendor) that was programmed to reach my cousin’s house at sailashreevihar but the virus attacked the ECU (Electronic Control Unit) near Damana Chowk. My elbow got the first bruise against the highway and everything else followed. I rushed to Care Hospital’s EU (Emergency Unit) that was barely 100mtrs away from the spot. I was taken good care of inside an AC room. After 1hr I was on my own. I drove back to home immediately. Sorry, it was my cousin who drove. I was the damn pillion (something I shall always hate to be) because of my damn elbow. That damn elbow had again started giving its clarion call and so I was there where I ought to be, the med. Store. The rarely sold tab is DEJOX (sounds like it would degenerate something inside me). I had put the computer database to work. The manager was carefully searching for the string “DEJOX”. And the helper was standing on a ladder, his upper half submerged inside the roof storage unit. His fingers were moving from one pile to another.

                 So I had enough time to look around and judge the various categories of diseases were to be quarantined. Besides me, was standing a decent looking gentleman almost in his early 30’s. All decentness receded when his face shifted to ‘dumbo-ness’. I could guess that he had also came for a rarely available medicine.

                Just then a young lady came in the scene breaking my thoughts. She was perhaps 28 or something ++. Good height, decent looks, the saree and the jewellery were proportionately glittering. But I could not ‘scan’ her face (which I usually do when I come across someone of the opposite sex). Her head was completely bend down and she was deeply ailing and whispering something like… “Oh my head, my head… its paining severely…so heavy..I can’t tolerate.” In the meantime she came behind that man, kept her balance and held his arm. Again she repeated those words to him. I concluded that, she is his’ wife whom the doc had ‘just’ diagnosed. Then something happened that put me to think whether I made the right conclusion.

                While she was clutching to him in pain to keep her balance, he didn’t responded, didn’t looked behind and to my utter dismay, didn’t helped her. It then struck me, “Oh I was wrong. This poor lady had mistaken him for her husband..well she could barely open her eyes to locate her husband.”

                But my thoughts vanished soon when some elderly people around me who were watching this asked the man- “Is she with you? Please make her sit somewhere.” To this he replied- “Yes. Okay.” I was relieved for sometime but soon I got disappointed that his words didn’t really show up. He was still the same dumbo, irresponsive and uncaring. He didn’t even glanced at his wife who was about to fall down. Just then, when my anger was at peak, somebody from the elderly folks came and offered a chair to ‘madam’ and made her sit down. Suddenly I thought, she should have married this man instead irrespective of the fact that he must have been 10-15yrs older than she was. My anger fell back. I was at least relaxed that the lady was seated and gaining herself.

                Till then, I was looking at her and I didn’t notice that the manager had called me twice in a row. I recollected myself and he said, “Sorry, the tablet isn’t available with us.” I said, “okay” and was about to leave. Then I looked at the man who hadn’t changed his posture since then and seemed as if he was unaware of anything that had just happened around him in a few minutes.

                I was walking away from the store and occasionally looking back. I saw that the lady was in a more relaxed state than she was just before 5 minutes. Just then the footage of a popular Oriya show on OTV flashed me where couples in ‘love’- teenagers, young couples and the just married ones were mocked at for showcasing love and affection at parks and public places onscreen. But what I had just been through was also a public display of “love” and “affection” that did escaped from being telecasted on that show.

               Now, you guys decide what kind of love and affection should be shown in public??? Would you ever like to treat your wife in this manner? I shall say shame on that man and shame on all those who have been doing this or involved in this kind.