Tiara had always been a great fan
of Suhas Kumar. And why wouldn’t she be? He was the heartthrob of millions of
female fans across the country. Girls would die just to have a glimpse of him,
and Tiara was no exception. And her father, George made sure that she did not
miss out on any of her Idol’s new releases. Any movie featuring him, and George
would ensure that the tickets for the first show were arranged for Tiara.

George never realized when Tiara
grew up to be a teenager and became completely in awe of Suhas Kumar. She
wouldn’t eat for days if she read that Suhas had a new affair. She would feel
excited that Suhas had broken up with his girlfriend as if she now had a
chance. George would often tell his daughter that Suhas was of his age and is
of no match for his pretty daughter and she used to get very angry with him
saying that he is jealous of the film star.

George started greying and
balding in complete contrast to increasing popularity of Suhas Kumar. Tiara
started feeling ashamed of accompanying her father anywhere. And then one day,
George fell sick and had to be hospitalized. Doctors diagnosed that the
pressure of taking care of a family had taken a toll on his health and his
condition was fast deteriorating.

Tiara was alone at home one day,
and while cleaning up the house, and happened to chance upon an old red diary
hidden beneath a heap of books, George’s collection, being an avid reader. She
opened the diary to realize that it was her fathers’. She opened the first
page. It was dated 18 years back, the day of her birth. George had written that
it was the happiest day of his life. He would sacrifice anything in life for
the little angel who has been bestowed to him.

With trembling hands, Tiara
started turning the pages. She started reading about George’s various hobbies
and interests and how he sacrificed all of them just because he wanted to just
concentrate of bringing up his daughter in the best possible way and how he
felt so happy about it.

And then on one page in the middle,
was an old worn out photograph of a very young and dashing man. The photograph
was of someone who was much more debonair and good-looking than Suhas Kumar,
her Idol. She took the photograph in her hand and stared at it for a while
trying to imagine which actor of yesteryear’s he could be. Then she started
reading the next pages of the diary. Her throat choked as she read how George
was being approached by many movie producers to act in their movies and how he
turned down all the offers very firmly just because he thought that the movie
industry was very ruthless and valueless and he didn’t want his darling, his
daughter also to be drawn into it. She tried to see the dates of these accounts
in the diary and realized that she was all of 3 years at that time.

Tiara was speechless. It was not
difficult for her to realize that the photograph she had in her hand was of her
bald and frail father. She could not gather the courage to read any further.
She closed the diary and imagined her father’s face as she had seen all these
years.

As Tiara entered the hospital
room, her father was sleeping peacefully. She stared at her father’s face but
she was unable to recognize him anymore. She was unable to see the forming
wrinkles on his face. She was unable to see his balding head. She could just
see the young and dashing face of George that she had seen in the photograph
that morning.

Andre had never been the
glamorous of the lot during his college days but had always had the penchant of
being found attractive to the womenfolk. The women in the class were attracted
to Andre not because of his looks or his flamboyancy but because of his ability
to be able to be for them, with them, whenever they needed him.

It was natural that when Andre
started getting pulled towards Sonia, a year junior to him college, his other
friends of the opposite sex would start feeling jealous. But Andre saw
something in Sonia which he could never forget. He saw in Sonia, the ability to
understand him, to walk along with him in his path and everything that he would
have dreamed in a life partner.

Setting aside a few ruffled
feathers, it was not a surprise to many in the college when Andre proposed and Sonia
readily accepted. But being mediocre to the core, Andre and Sonia both went
ahead with their commitments only through the blessings of their parents and
well wishers.

Very soon, time flew as it would
and Sonia settled into the household bearing a quarter dozen of angels and Andre
settled into his work. Being a dutiful father and a loving husband that Andre
was, he made sure that his beloved and his princesses never were left wanting
for anything. Necessities and demands kept increasing and in the bargain, Andre
lost track of the loving hand he had promised to keep over Sonia’s shoulders in
his quest to see that Sonia would get whatever she dreamed of.

Instances became numerous when Andre
would come home tired from work feeling really happy that he achieved something
to earn another good night for Sonia and his kids, but in the bargain oblivious
to the fact that what Sonia desired was that he be with her during her time of
solitude.

As Sonia went into seclusion,
never assuming for a while that it was the same Andre who had promised her the
life of bliss till eternity, without realizing that it was for this life that Andre
has been working hard, the isolation of Sonia kept on increasing, which Andre
never noticed in his pursuit of his definition of happiness for his beloved.

This phase of Sonia’s life was
however noticed by Pete, a recent acquaintance, who used to frequent their
home. It was not very long before Sonia realized that she found in Pete the
perfect shoulder to cry on, someone who would be with her when she needed;
someone who Sonia felt understood her needs and interests. Slowly and steadily
as Sonia started getting attracted to Pete, who found in her a perfect ally to
pursue his Casanova ways of life, Andre, who had been her life partner, and who
stood by her through thick and thin started drifting away from her life.

Pete was street smart enough to
pick up Sonia’s hobbies and interests and encash it to her satisfaction and
happiness and Sonia in the bargain totally fell for it. She started believing
that if at all there was anyone in the world, who understood her needs, it was Pete.

Very soon, Andre realized it and
as he started trying to woo Sonia back to him and his angels, it was perhaps
too late. The bonding and the web that Pete had created in the minds of Sonia
had grown so deep that she couldn’t pull herself out of it by her own conscience.

Andre was left lamenting on his
fate. The flamboyancy had faded away, the confidence waded away and the smile had died away. In the midst of the sadness that always filled Andre’s
eyes, one could see a tint of happiness that in this bargain, he had his
angels, his daughters, with him, and the glitter of hope that one day Sonia
would realize, and he would win back his beloved whom he has lost.

To be continued…….