Forever

Mr. Kulkarni : Hey ! How are you?
Mrs. Kulkarni : Hey dear :-)

Mr. Kulkarni smiled. His wife always used all these interesting smileys while chatting. He had somehow never got a hang of them. She had always been a quick learner.

Since College.

Mr. Kulkarni : How was your day?
Mrs. Kulkarni : Busy as usual. But that’s what keeps me going!

Mrs. Kulkarni was a very famous author. She had written a very successful children’s book series. So she had fans all over India. She always travelled all around. Their grandchildren had luckily taught them all about Facebook so they kept in touch all the time. Earlier, Mr. Kulkarni used to travel with her but as he grew older, it grew more and more difficult. Mrs. Kulkarni had no problem. The love of her fans kept her going. She used to go from city to city meeting her readers, conducting reading and autograph-signing sessions and even visiting schools.

Mr. Kulkarni : Did you take your medicines?

Mrs. Kulkarni : I did.
                          Don’t worry :-)

Mr. Kulkarni looked up at the photo of his wife on the wall behind the computer. When she had been diagnosed with cancer, it felt like the world below him had disappeared.

Still they got through it.
Like always.
Even in college, they had always been there for each other.
The cancer inspired her to work even harder. She started an NGO for orphans and worked towards that. Mr. Kulkarni stood by her as always.

Mr. Kulkarni : Come back soon !

Mrs. Kulkarni : I will :-)
Mr. Kulkarni : I doubt. You are too far!
Mrs. Kulkarni : I will. Soon :-)
Mr. Kulkarni : I don’t even remember when I last saw you !
Mrs. Kulkarni : Probably once in the last ten minutes. You must have taken a look at my photo.
Mr. Kulkarni : Right as always, Mrs. Kulkarni !
Mrs. Kulkarni : Just a second. A fan has come up to my hotel room.
                            Be right back !
Mr. Kulkarni : Okay.

Mr. Kulkarni looked to the right of his computer. All her books were there. He had probably read each one of them almost 15 times. She had even got the first few books turned into movies. Unfortunately they had turned out really horrible. Mr. Kulkarni had still seen all of them at least five times.

Mrs. Kulkarni : Hey !

                           I am back!
Mr. Kulkarni : Signing done ?
Mrs. Kulkarni : Yes. This one even loved the movie :-P 
Mr. Kulkarni : I don’t believe this !
Mrs. Kulkarni : I am not surprised.
Mr. Kulkarni : Why?
Mrs. Kulkarni : Well, you still haven’t accepted the fact that I am gone.

Mr. Kulkarni pushed the keyboard in and moved back in his chair.

Tears in his eyes.
He looked back up at the photo. This time his eyes fell on the garland of flowers around it.
Even after a few successful chemotherapy sessions, she had still lost a very tough battle with cancer. It had taken a toll on him too.

He switched tabs and replied from his account.

Mr. Kulkarni : I have.

Then he switched back to the tab where his wife’s account was open and typed.

Mrs. Kulkarni : No you haven’t.

She had been gone 10 years but he had such conversations every single day since then.