Did You Ever Love Me? by Rithvik Singh is a tender contemporary poetry collection about love, heartbreak, longing, self worth and learning to let go. Its greatest strength is emotional accessibility: Singh writes directly to readers who feel intensely and care deeply. The collection offers comfort without pretending heartbreak is simple, though its simplicity may occasionally feel familiar to seasoned poetry readers. Did you Ever Love Me? Have you ever loved someone so completely that, after they left, you were left wondering whether they had ever understood what they had been given? Not merely whether they loved you, but whether they ever noticed how much you loved them, how much patience you offered, how many small things you remembered, or how often you chose to stay when leaving might have been easier. There is a particular loneliness in that question because it rarely arrives at a dramatic moment. More often, it finds you while you are doing something completely ordinary. Yo...
Continued from Chapter 5 which can be read here
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“May I come in Ma’am?”
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“May I come in Ma’am?”
“Yes, come in, you are Roohi, right? Come sit”.
The school counselor looked over at the chubby kid with hair tied into neat pony tails. Her uniform was clean and ironed. The way her innocent face looked up, it seemed that her eyes were asking millions of questions.
“So your class teacher asked me to talk to you.”
Roohi fiddled with her thumbs, lowered her head, expecting a rebuke or punishment for being naughty in class.
“Hey, look up child. Whatever we talk about here is going to be a secret. I will not tell anyone anything that you tell me. OK?”
The head perked up, “You promise?”
“Yes, I promise. Now tell me something about yourself.”
“My name is Roohi Dutta. I study in class 4- D. My father’s name is Shekhar Dutta and my mother’s name is Tara Dutta. My father is a writer and mother works for a media company.”
“OK. So you are the only child. How is it, being an only child? You must be pampered a lot by your parents?”
“It’s kinda OK. I am my dad’s princess and he never scolds me. He always buys me whatever I want.”
“And your mom? How is she like?”
“She is always busy. We get little time to hang out with. But we do spend time together during weekends, sometimes.”
“That’s nice. How about your friends? Who is your best friend?”
“Hema is my best friend. She lives near my house and we share the same auto to school.”
“So tell me, how is school? You enjoy your classes?”
“Well, it’s kinda OK. I mean, there is just too much homework and classes. And our class teacher would not even like us to make jokes in class” she smiled.
“Who are you more close to, your mom or dad?”
“Dad of course. He stays at home all day and helps me sometimes in my homework. Mum is too busy with her work always.”
“That’s nice. So you would like your mother to cut off on her work and spend more time at home.”
“Sort of yes. Then we can go to movies and all together. And they would fight less.”
“You don’t like your parents fighting,” she let the question hang in the air.
“Of course not. They always think I can’t hear them or something, but I do know every time they are fighting. Mostly it’s about mom’s work.”
“How is it to have a stay at home dad?” she changed the track, seeing the child’s discomfort in talking about her parents.
“Oh, it is great. But then other students of class have opposite thing. Dad’s working day and night in offices and mom’s doing part time work, jobs with less time outside, or housewives. It can be weird sometimes.”
“Weird? How?”
“You know, like last month, we were working on a team activity our teacher gave us. So after school, I, Neeraj, Hema, Dhruv, Lata, and this guy Amit gathered up at my house to complete the work. My dad came in from his room and greeted us all and asked us for coffee and whether to order pizza or not. Now Amit’s dad you know is super rich and hence super busy. Dhruv once told me, Amit had once not seen his father for twenty days altogether as he was busy with some project somewhere. So Amit is shocked, seeing my father asking children for food. And you know, its little embarrassing for me too. I mean, Hema’s dad is a stock broker, Lata’s father is in government, and everyone’s fathers have offices to go to.”
“So does that worry you much? You are lucky to have your father around”
“Well, at times it is worrying. You know at times mothers of my classmates get together or discuss our work etc. my mother cannot be part of all of it. To as your father to join in the all mommies club is funnier than you can ever imagine. I wish we could be a normal family.”
The counselor sensed a tinge of sadness in the eyes of the little girl sitting in front of her. Perhaps she should end the session now.
“OK, Roohi, we will continue this conversation further on Friday. Remember, you can talk to me anything you have in your mind.”
As she shuffled out of the room, Roohi thought up that last line that the counselor had said. Could she really share everything with her? Could she discuss with her that her mom was the person whom she hates the most? Could she tell her that the maid scolds and threatens her whenever she found the maid using her mom's stuffs? Could she tell her that her dad cries at times?
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The story continues here
Read the earlier 5 parts of Entangled Lives here
Chapter EL-1 http://thesolutionbaba.wordpress.com/2014/09/11/entangled-lives/
Chapter EL-2 http://www.niravthakker.com/2014/09/entangled-lives.html
Chapter EL-3 http://d-review.blogspot.in/2014/09/entangled-lives-3.html
Chapter EL- 4 http://livelaughlovewithsharu.wordpress.com/2014/09/13/entangled-lives/
Chapter - 5 http://altruisticgirl.wordpress.com/2014/09/14/entangled-lives/
Chapter - 8 http://shoooonya.blogspot.in/2014/09/entangled-lives-chapter-8-gameofblogs.html
Chapter - 9 http://iamstri.wordpress.com/2014/09/16/entangled-lives-chapter-9-celebrateblogging-gameofblogs-blogadda/
Read the next part here -http://snehabhattacharjee.blogspot.in/2014/09/game-of-blogs-entangled-lives-chapter-7.html
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