The Watch

By V G Sathve

Aarti has this beautiful smile every early morning. The radiance is something else, and oh god

she is late for work. The ponytails, heels , lipstick, a laptop back and a office suit, this is what

you guys imagined but aarti is a little different. She huffs and puffs and reaches her place of

work. Her landline beeps with a voice message, but she is too late already to listen to it and

she rushes ahead.She drives this big vehicle which has saved millions in the world, in

common man's terms , it is an ambulance. Aarti is proud of her job, she may not be the life

saving doctor, but she is doing what she is good at, driving and keeping her calm at all times,

which has literally saved many lives. It is a mixture of pride, love and immense pressure, her

heart has pumped many times but the aderaline rush that comes is worth every soul who has

been saved, big or small. She rushes at full speed to reach on time, there was an emergency

and the ambulance driver has not yet reached, the first time ever she crossed a signal and

zoomed ahead.She reaches the hospital in supersonic speed.

"Why are you late Aarti" - her boss

"Never mind, ping me the location quickly" - Aarti

" There is an even critical case, go right away. I pinged you the location" - her boss.

Aarti zoomed and watched people put this man in the stretcher, it was a head injury, she

helped the man into the stretcher quickly, but the man was trying to tell her something, take

this watch, he kept on telling and finally gave it to her before he passed out. She kept it

beside her and zoomed full speed to the hospital. Hopefully she was in time to save another

life. She continued with her duties with the watch still in her pocket.

In one of the tea sessions which she gets so rarely she realised the presence of the watch.

She realised she had to return it to its owner, the head injury guy.

She went to the reception and asked details about the patient, and head straight outside the

ICU. He was out of danger but they were not able to contact any relatives, since his phone git

broken from the accident.

His name is Avinash and the address was taken from the aadhar cars in his pocket. A search

was made to the address for getting the patients contact but it was futile as the house was

locked. She had a watch of a totally unknown guy who know one has contacted and she is

still wondering what was all that even about.

Avinash was in a coma, not a bad one but it would take him some days to recover.

Exhausted by the days event Aarti went back home to relax her already thumping heart. She

saw some footprints on her doorway and she hurried tense and worried. She searched every

around her house but there was no one to be found.

It became a routine for Aarti to get to know any information about Avinash and his weel being,

he was getting better and that was her only relief. The tick off the watch was as loud as the

thumping of her heart. She noticed its beauty in a long time, it was more than perfect,

beautiful classic old one with studded stones and an A engraved at the back. A for Avinash

Aarti thought, it was truly beautiful but why did he have to leave it to her. She hurried home

hoping to find a solution to all this but found the footprints again. She wondered who is

coming to see her daily but is disappearing in the night.

A cup of hot chocolate and a warm blanket , she needed to spoil herself on this cold evening,

and all the flashbacks ran in her mind. The reason she became an ambulance driver, it had a

story more than her ambition.

Seven-year old innocent aarti had a happy life parents grandparents and everything any kid

that age would ask for. One day her grandmother had a heart attack and an ambulance was

called. Aarti was just crying and hugging her grandmother, she went along in the ambulance.

There was too much traffic and no one cared to leave way for the ambulance, the driver took

charge out his life at stake and drove through the one ways and the signals to save one life

throbbing behind in his vehicle. Her grandmother owed her life to the driver , without whose

risk her seeing the world was not possible. It all dawned to Aarti, someone saved her

grandmother that day, she wanted to save a million grandmother's like that every day, this

attachment grew as her ambition. The teachers at school were shocked at her reply but as

firm aarti would be , she made up her mind and there was no backing off.

Her ambition grew but her relationship with her grandmother only grew apart. Her aunt's and

uncles were fighting over property as every family drama but just that her grandmother sided

along made all the unfair decisions because she knew she couldn't handle her other two

children but aartis mom would understand. The betrayal of her grandmother made her mom

get blood pressure because she was there for her more than anyone who else who really

cared, contact was cut and Aarti has never seen her face since. She wonders how everything

is now, she misses all th affection she would have got her heart ached but the face tries to put

on a brave act.

Cut to present, the ring on her phone bought her to present. It was her mom checking up on

her, after all the updates and advices, she kept her phone down , when the watch feel from

her pocket.

She caressed the watch like an old friend and noticed it carefully, it had stopped. She pulled

the side metal rod to set the watch, but it was longer than she expected. Between the metal

plates where the watch battery resides was a thin chit of paper that fell on to her hands. She

opened it excited and eager and read.

Dear Aarti,

Hope this watch has finally found its way to you. It was the family heirloom you always eyed

on, and now it's only yours.

This just doesn't represent time but all the moments which I owe you and I never gave, all of

them packed inside this watch with pure love.

You may not forgive me, but I know you won't forget me, your heart still aches for my love ,

the way my heart had lost your love.

Yours lovingly,

Keerthi.

Aarti just dazed at the letter teary eyed. Was she the Aarti who was being referred. Was it

really Keerthi who wrote this to her. She wore the watch, wiped her tears and then realised

everything that happened but one piece still missing.

She didn't know who was coming everyday and how Avinash ended up in the hospital. Who

was Avinash? Why did the watch come to her? Who was Keerthi? What actually happened.

Her thoughts were aroused by the beep on her landline. The message she had forgotten to

read that day in a hurry. She listened to it till the end. That was her last clue, she found at

everything she needed to know, and she knew how to end all this. The next day she took a

sick leave and waited at home, waited for the person to come and after three hours she heard

footsteps approaching, she knew who it was but her heart was pounding if it was really whom

she thought that is coming. Weary slow footsteps towards the house, but she would three at a

time instead of two, and she knew she was right. She could watch the shadow sitting, but

didn't gather the guts yet to meet that person.

After lot of contemplating , she went and met that person and only cried tears of joy after a

huge hug. Tears , sorries , love and reunion later they went to hospital together to meet

Avinash. Avinash has doing well and when he saw both of them together his smile grew pretty

wide and the two ladies smiled back at him.

The lady was Keerthi, the person who gave the watch, Aartis long lost grandmother, that is

why three footsteps along with the walking stick. Avinash is Aartis cousin. Avinash and

Keerthi were trying to find out whereabouts of aarti since a very long time, avinash was able

to track her address and landline, so he gave a voice message to her landline (beginning of

the story) , telling that he is her cousin, he is on the way to meet her , grandmom wants to see

her very badly.

Aarti was too much in a hurry to read the message, but Avinash saw her leaving and

followed her. When Aarti jumped the signal, he went after her and met with an accident. On

seeing her, he gave her the watch figuring that she will figure it out and the job of delivering it

is done. Grandmom worried about both Aarti and Avinash and not able to reach both through

phones, visits Aartis house in the morning , that is why the footsteps.

The A in the watch was not Avinash after all. It was Aarti,it has always been Aarti.

Relations who may not be in our arms now, have always been in our hearts, it might ache but

they never go away.

By V G Sathve