The first installment of this story can be found here.
Sharada came over to the hotel in the evening and we spent a couple of hours catching up with all that had happened since our bus stop trysts. No, we did not talk about the first kiss.
My story is more or less well known to my readers, but Sharadas needs to be told.
After her passing the school leaving certificate, Sharada studied further for one year in Madras and then her father was transferred out of Madras. She continued her studies in the various towns where her father was posted and got her Masters degree in Economics from Delhi. Two months after her convocation, her father suffered a massive heart attack and died at Delhi.
As it is quite common, the department where her father had worked employed Sharada on compassionate grounds and she had been working with the same department since. Being the only child, she was looking after her mother and despite many suggestions, had decided to remain single to look after her mother and intended doing so for the foreseeable future.
We parted company after dinner and I wished her all the best and that was that.
Fate decided that we had to meet again and this happened a few years ago. I was flying to Bengaluru from Chennai and lo and behold I met Sharada again at the Chennai airport. She could not recognise me but I could recognise her. We updated each other with our stories but no sparks flew nor stars fell. Both of us were able to part in good humour.
Sharada’s mother died some 15 years after our meeting at Kanpur and Sharada took early retirement from her job to move to Bengaluru to be closer to her cousins and family. In Bengaluru she got involved with a nascent Art Of Living movement and was spending most of her time in their activities including teaching kriya yoga to new comers.
To the best of my knowledge, she continues to do that even now. I have had no contact with her since that meeting at the Chennai airport.
I have always wondered if Sharada ever kissed anyone else ever again.
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