“Pledge the house and raise the money,” she suggested with apparent hope. “I’ll redeem it in time.”
“Be realistic Roopa,” reasoned Ramaiah, “once you get married it would all be different. After all, your earnings would be your husband’s. Moreover, to marry you off as Doctor Roopa, I would have to cough up much more for your dowry.”
“What if I don’t marry at all,” she said with such a conviction that startled Ramaiah. “I want to be a doctor and that’s all.”
“Don’t be silly,” he said, showing her the reality of life. “The essence of life lies in its wholesomeness. You would realize later on, that nothing is worth in life to the exclusion of all the rest that makes it what it is. Besides, marriage is the key that opens life alike for the boys and the girls.”
“It’s my only dream and the sole ambition,” she persisted, hoping against hope.
“Ambition is a double-edged sword,” he turned to philosophy to help her soul. “Possessed by the resourceful, it’s cut out for success and in the hands of the lesser souls it tends to hurt their peace of mind.”
Then he recounted his own disappointment; his inability to become an advocate, and advocated to his daughter to learn to take life as it came, ordained by karma. “If I were an advocate, perhaps, I would have been rich enough to fulfill your ambition. However, it was not to be, and therein lies our fate - yours and mine as well,” he concluded.
Roopa, though reconciled to her situation, resented her fate. As if she were revenging on her helplessness, she shunned the sciences and opted for commerce. However, as per her inclination, Sandhya went in for the humanities.
“Got tired of dissecting frogs and all or what!” said Sandhya in jest as Roopa filled in the admission form.
“Like to have a closer look at the commercial side of life,” said Roopa mystically.
“Jokes apart,” said Sandhya as they got into a rickshaw, “tell me what’s wrong. I know you always wanted to study medicine.”
Roopa just sighed for an answer.
“A friend is one with whom you could think aloud, I read once,” said Sandhya empathically. “You know I think with you, now it’s up to you.”
“Know I love you the most,” said Roopa earnestly, and blurted out. “But somehow I wasn’t frank with you. From now on I’ll think aloud.”
Moved, Sandhya enlaced Roopa, which brought solace to the latter and induced warmth in the former, making both of them feel loved and wanted by the other.