The Canvas (standard:non fiction, 2129 words)
Author: Amit Gupta	Added: Oct 11 2001	Views/Reads: 3671/2382	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
This story belongs to an artist Vibha. She lost her husband and started painting as a hobby. At the mean time she got famouse.Her assistant Vibhoor loves her. Vibha felt that she was alone in this world. What happend at last. Read the story.

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everyone. Vibhas’s life had been shattered. Shiv’s death had been so 
sudden, so tragic! He had gone for his usual morning walk on a rainy 
day never to come back again. His corpse was recovered near the Bandra 
sea face. He had fallen into the Arabian Sea and drowned, and everyone 
agreed that it was extremely foolhardy on Shiv’s part to go for a walk 
on the unsafe Bandra sea face especially when the tide was high. For 
Vibha. Shiv’s death barely six months after their marriage was totally 
catastrophic. It was like the end of the world. She was oblivious to 
everything around her and had drawn herself into a shell of grief. She 
ate because her mother-in-law told her to do so; she drank because she 
was told to. Sometimes she cried the whole day. At other times she 
stared vacantly into nothingness. It was in such a state of no 
subsistence and vacuity that Vibha met Vibhoor. Had Shiv been alive, 
the prospect of another meeting with Vibhoor would have sent Vibha into 
a flurry of activity-visiting the parlor, shopping for a sari, endless 
discussion with the cook so that the menu was just right. But Shiv was 
dead and it mattered not to Vibha what happened around her.Vibhoor came 
with a bunch of white roses. He gently told Vibha that he was in Delhi 
finalizing a deal when he heard the stunning news... " I have lost my 
best executive," he said softly," but my loss is nothing when compared 
to yours." " May God give you the courage to bear this." Vibha simply 
nodded biting her lower lip as she tried her best to fight back the 
steady stream of tears. " Take care," Vibhoor said as he patted Vibha 
bowed her head with affection. Then he left. Vibhoor became a regular 
visitor at Vibha’s flat. His dignified presence had a soothing effect 
On Vibha. She had even managed a thin smile once. Vibhoor was always 
very considerate, sometimes almost affectionate but he never crossed 
his limits. Whenever he touched her it was with parental concern; even 
though he was nearly five years younger than her. Vibha had also 
developed a filial affection towards him. But much to her horror Vibha 
soon realized that she was attracted to Vibhoor! She found herself 
waiting for him. Vibha knew this was all wrong. Only six months back 
she had lost the man she loved so dearly. And now she found herself in 
love with the same man’s boss! " I must stop seeing him," Vibha vowed. 
She even instructed the maid likewise. But Vibhoor did not turn up that 
day. There was no sign of him the next day or the day after that. Vibha 
kept telling herself that this was a good omen. His absence should help 
her forgot him. But deep inside her she was disappointed. Ten days had 
slowly gone by and still there was no sign of Vibhoor. Vibha became 
desperate. She had once again lost her mind she kept telling her that 
his sudden disappearance had been a blessing in disguise. Her heart 
thought otherwise. At that times she thought to do something so that 
she could forget him. She started painting. She planed an exhibition 
and from there she got famous. When Vibhoor saw this, he congratulate 
her and said that he want to become her junior. He wanted to paint. He 
felt that colours are true in this world. He had lot of money, then why 
was he not living a peaceful life? At-last he joined her and became her 
assistant. " Are you hungry?" Vibhoor's voice brought her into the 
present. Vibhoor served dinner. A burning candle made light for the 
table. " Why you are sad? Anything wrong with you? Let's enjoy!" He 
played a soft music. Vibha was glancing at the food. She felt that she 
was not hungry. She put rice in her plate. Rice was sticking in her 
throat. She was not comfortable. She left the rice and started watching 
out of the window. "What are you watching Vibha?" Vibhoor asked. 
"Stars. They are sweet as you. Bright like you. They are not sad like 
you...But I don't know why I'm sad? I want to paint a picture of 
happiness. But I can't. I think that I had lost my colors and brush. My 
hand is not moving." She cried. Deeply cried. She couldn’t decide what 
to do. She was now in the sea of sorrow. She was helpless. She felt 
that she was going to drown. She wanted to come out of that deadly sea 
of sorrow. She felt that she was alone in the sea cyclone. She wanted 
to escape. She wanted to live. She needed a happy life with colors. 
Bright colors. She badly needs a lighthouse. A big light houses; a 
lighthouse, which could show her the way to live a colorful life. She 
wanted to paint happiness and joy. She sat for a while and then took 
her colors and brush. She went to her studio to paint joy. She was now 
in the front of blank canvas. She was afried of the blank canvas. Vibha 
felt as if she was going to melt on blank canvas or blank canvas would 
kill her. She took her brush to start but her hands were shivering. She 
didn’t know from where to start. She always painted a sad painting then 
how could she paint joy? "Vibha what are you doing?" "Just leave me 
alone. Don't disturbe me. I'm going to paint joy. I want to live." She 
was shivering with excitement. "Do you want a drink or a cigarette?" 
Vibhoor asked gently. "Both. But just leave me alone." Whole night she 
kept on painting. In the morning Vibhoor came to her room. She was 
sleeping on easy chair. She was calm. "Vibha...there is your bed tea. 
Good morning." Vibha arched her fingers and opened her eyes for a 
while. "Good morning..." "Can I see what you had painted last night?" 
He smiled. Vibha got up and went to the canvas. "Yes! This is my best 
painting." She smiled after a long time. "Great...The mountains and the 
clouds...What do you want to express Vibha I couldn't understand." 
Vibhoor said with excitement. "Mountains shows way to people how they 
are strong and high . I'm like a cloud in this world. I don't know 
where to go. I don't know my destination. I'm a lost cloud. But this 
mountain will help me to get out of this world. Mountain shows we way 
that I should be strong and fight against with sadness. I want to live. 
A life full of colors." She sat down on the bed. "Yes you should live a 
colorful life. I'm with you. We will paint the colorful paintings. The 
real one. Painting of joy and happiness." Vibhoor embraced her. "Yes 
you are my Mountain." Vibha’s heart was full. 

AMIT GUPTA, 14-C, RAM NAGAR, AMBALA CANTT, HARYANA-133001, INDIA.
E-mail-  iami4u@yahoo.com 


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