Colors of Life: A Passionate Love Story

By Himanshu Saxena

Colors Of Life is a love story woven around a middle class boy and girl. It captures the complex world of human emotions when technology interface was just knocking. It was a world with no Facebook, No Androids, No Multiplexes but pure, pristine and passionate surroundings. Boys and Girls talked more face to face. Love was accountable and responsible. It was like swans flying togather, romancing togather. The story captures the delicate human relationships and the continuous struggle for accepting love as an essential ingredient in life. In todays world of deceit and counterfeit relationships the story brings a breath of fresh air and exemplifies how simple virtue of trust and companionship helps shape the colors of world. There are several characters in the story who play their part in the overall canvas and ensure that love birds get to their destination. The story aptly captures the complex human relationships which shape an individuals life and responses. Love and passion are the universal eraser of our fears and tribulations. They transcend time, geogrpahies, age and have been with us ever since the dawn of civilization. If there were no love and passion, this world will be devoid of color and memories.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Partridge Publishing India
• Release date: Oct 28, 2013
• ISBN: 9781482814453

Himanshu Saxena

Himanshu, is a Management Graduate who observes life and people from close quarters. He witnessed some of the most inspiring human behaviors and relationships that shaped some good love stories. His passion is to spread the fragrance of human relationships and bring out the emotional upheavals of life in general. His maiden book, “Colors Of Life” is a love story woven around a middle class boy and girl. It captures the complex world of human emotions when technology interface was just knocking. It was a world with no Facebook, No Androids, No Multiplexes but pure, pristine and passionate surroundings. Boys and Girls talked more face to face. Love was accountable and responsible. It was like swans flying togather, romancing togather. The story captures the delicate human relationships and the continuous struggle for accepting love as an essential ingredient in life. In today’s world of deceit and counterfeit relationships the story brings a breadth of fresh air and exemplifies how simple virtue of trust and companionship helps shape the colors of world. There are several characters in the story who play their part in the overall canvas and ensure that love birds get to their destination. The story aptly captures the complex human relationships which shape an individuals life and responses. Love and passion are the universal eraser of our fears and tribulations. They transcend time, geographies, age and have been with us ever since the dawn of civilization. If there were no love and passion, this world will be devoid of color and memories.

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Copyright © 2013 by Himanshu Saxena.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

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Contents

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Acknowledgments

First and foremost I am grateful to my acquaintances and friends who helped in shaping up various fictional characters with fictional names and emotions in this book.

This humble piece of work is dedicated to my elders, who taught me the importance of literature and culture in life.

I also dedicate this book to my colleagues and my extended family members for their immortal patience in listening to my blabbering.

Finally I thank my wife Prachi and kids Sidharth and Shashwat for bringing a meaning and purpose to my life.

1

It was a cold December night when Ravi opened his eyes in this world. All his raw consciousness could hear was the sound of thrill and laughter, a family expresses on the birth of a new child. His eyes could see a world but no he did not know or understood what this is all about. In life most precious moments are the ones where we do not know why they are happening but we share them with our loved ones. My little pumpkin was the first reaction from his father Mr. Randhir Datta.

Randhir was a self made man with humble origins from the city’s underprivileged, who by sheer will power and hard work had come to touch the gates of nobility. Randhir wanted to climb the social ladder and was smitten by Ritu, Ravi’s mother. Randhir wooed Ritu, a girl from the nobility and a prosperous background once upon a time. Some say that royalty dies hard. A King in penury is still a king. So despite Ritu’s family depending on family silver for sustenance, still they were rich and famous.

The seed of coloring the life had been sown. Randhir wanted to convert his black and white world into a colorful one. His ambition had propelled him to seek the hand of Ritu. After much persuasion and reluctance from the family but definitely with Ritu’s persistence on the match going forward, they were married. As ordained, the marriage started with a bomb, Randhir’s father came to the venue and stormed out of the marriage ceremony. The under privileged are always privileged to have their self esteem and respect. The casual behaviors of the nobility are viewed as downright callous hospitability. For them they were the groom’s family and expected the royal treatment as per the custom. The class struggle is not for the intellectuals only; it is real at the society level. Randhir could have taken a decision but he stood still and unmoved. The ceremony went ahead without the blessings of his father and mother. The colors in the wheel of his life were filling but not exactly the way he wanted.

Randhir took his newly wed wife to his house but was given a cold reception by his family members. For Ritu this was a shock. Love is blind but when it opens its eyes in the real world the mirage disappears and the real image of life emerges. It was not the oasis she dreamt of but a desert where she hoped that one day she will be able to make a small garden of her own. The fabled folklore, they remained happily ever after went up in smoke. Randhir knew that his decision will be rejected by his family. His attempts to fill color in his black and white life will be met with stiff resistance from his family members.

Ritu tried her best to fit herself in the misfit circumstances of her life, it was a long and arduous journey. She had to ensure the pain of cold vibes and a tag of outsider in the family. The colors of life as imagined by Randhir were not shaping as he wanted. He desperately wanted to now break the shackles of his misery that was coming in the way of his continuous struggle for climbing the social ladder. This climb he knew was his own and he was going to save at all cost what he had achieved so far. The struggle for existence is in born and Randhir knew that he will have to carve out his own world.

All hell broke loose when Randhir announced his decision to move out to his own rented accommodation. His father was angry and in despair. He could not tolerate the rebellion from his junior son while the elder son was with him and supporting the family. He understood that Randhir was not interested in the welfare of the joint family and was more interested in coloring his own life. Randhir had decided to gamble while he was not earning enough to sustain this decision. Yet he knew that he wanted to remove the appendage of misfortune from his life and his identity. He was a rebel.

Ritu was a mute spectator and despite her no role was blamed for the break up of the joint family. She was cursed by the family members to unhappiness. The fairy tale had now turned into a struggle for existence and Ritu was completely broken by this experience. She accepted the realty and despite her persuasion with Randhir, the decision did not change and she had to meekly follow the inevitable. Ritu was now in her own house. Surprisingly for her these were the most happy days for her, little did she know!

So Ravi opened his eyes in this complex world of emotions. News of birth of grand child is too big news for the grand parents. Randhir father though angry with his son, could not stop himself to see his grandson. He was happy to see a chubby little image of Randhir in his grand child. Yet he was silent he did not want Randhir to catch him unguarded and yet he was happy to see his family tree grow. He knew he can now die peacefully. His life and the colors therein were all he could accomplish in his lifetime. The wheel had turned full circle. Yet he was pained at his son’s rebellion.

Ritu was now fully engrossed in taking care of Ravi and she had no time for the family squabbles. Ravi was a naughty child, the child with immense curiosity; he could not be left alone. One day while Ritu left Ravi to play on his own, she was aghast to see that Ravi’s fingers were bleeding profusely and yet he was laughing and playing with this toy. He was bitten by a wild big ant and Ritu pulled the ant from Ravi’s finger, the ant broke into two parts but the jaws were still in Ravi’s finger. Ravi was laughing seeing his mother. Ravi’s was laughing at the pain. The color of wheel of his life was shaping up. Children are the product of their genes and the way they react to the circumstance shapes their life.

Randhir though happy with the birth of his son was still trying to find some well paying job so that he could realize his dreams of opulence and abundance. He was offered a job in a faraway town but with a good salary and he decided to take a plunge and leave the city where he grew up, where he studied, where he married. Ritu was not sure of this decision and tried her best to persuade Randhir to change his decision but Randhir would not turn back. For him the most important thing in life was to climb the social ladder. Somewhere in his mind he wanted to avenge the humiliation he endured in his marriage and the label of a low wager. He wanted to fill his life with all the colors he could muster and he now wanted to paint his own canvas.

Ritu took Ravi in her arms and climbed the bus to take her to the new life her husband had decided for them. Ravi thoroughly enjoyed the journey. He was fond of "Coca-Cola and when ever he saw the small glass bottle he would say Koka Koka. When the bus stopped at an obscure small on route town, Ravi saw his favorite Koka" and was greatly excited to want it. Ritu ran to the shopkeeper who was storing the Coca-Cola glass bottles in an earthen pot covered with wet jute cloth to keep the bottle cold.

Ravi immediately sipped the bottle and meanwhile the bus started to proceed ahead. Ritu ran with Ravi and Coca-Cola bottle in her arms! Coca-Cola had reached where electivity had not reached for many years. This was Ravi’s brush with the Red Color of Coca Cola. He had started to recognize the color and the first color was Red. When the bus reached its destination, Ritu and Ravi were received by Randhir and they went straight to their new house. Ravi was thrilled to be driven in a cycle Rickshaw, he giggled all the way to see the cows, goats, buffalos and even donkeys passing by. He enjoyed the ride and