Postcards

 Dear  Elena,                                                                                                       10th June, 2005

How are you? I had been thinking about you but never got the time to call you. Things have been hectic. I am in Peru right now and unfortunately stuck in a meeting which is going nowhere. A woman here is wearing an amulet just like yours… Will reach Moscow on the 23rd. lets meet up soon!

David.

  ~~~

Dear Elena                                                                                                          15th February, 2006

I am in South Africa right now and you can’t imagine how much I miss everyone. There is no place like home.

David.

~~~

Dearest Elena,                                                                                                    28th March, 2007

I wish you were here to see the blue of the pacific.

David

 ~~~

Dear ELENA,                                                                                                      17th July, 2007

I finally made perfect pasta and Anya loved it. I did tell you about Anya…didn’t I? She was with me in school and now works for an aeronautical institute. We have so much I common. She loves travelling too. Infact, we are planning a trip to Turkey this fall. Will send you pictures.

David

~~~

 My dear Elena,                                                                                                     2nd June, 2008

Antarctica is too cold a place to be in, even for a few weeks. We stay in tents and go for work in the morning. But there is no morning. There are no sunrises here. Work is fun but nights aren’t. There are no stars, there is no moon and there certainly isn’t “you”.  I wish I had someone to go back home to, instead of a cold tent. Whatz up with you?

David

~~~~~~~~~

There were postcards from all over the world…in all possible seasons. Sometimes about the new cuisines that David had learnt and sometimes about the new friends he had made. Sometimes about his work and sometimes about Anya. Sometimes about his new haircut and sometimes about his friend’s new boat.

~~~~~~~~~

Dear Elena,                                                                                                          5th August, 2009

I am in France right now and it is indeed a very romantic city. I wish I was with somebody special now. BTW, did you know …French women are very stylish and beautiful!!!

David

p.s- There is no match for Russian Vodka though, if you know what I mean  ;-)

~~~

Elena,                                                                                                                 29th November, 2009

I am getting a new convertible…BMW :-D. I’ll send you a picture.

David.

p.s-  Yes, I know it’s German. But atleast I am not buying an American one!

~~~

Dear Elena,                                                                                                         3rd December, 2010

I have made a travel plan for Eurasia. Hopefully Anya will join me this time. You remember Anya…don’t you? Will write a travelogue.

David.

 ~~~

David never really came back to Moscow but the postcards kept coming and Elena thought, well, he remembered her. Till one day she realized that the postcards were infact sent by somebody else!!! Even if they were signed “David”, somebody else was writing and posting them. It was as if David had outsourced his work.  

For a brief moment she felt betrayed. She didn’t expect anything from David, he was not capable of anything but this was a bit too much. Why did he have to send the postcards anyways? If he didn’t remember or didn’t have the time, he should have stopped. It’s normal! What was the need to give the impression that he was thinking about her? What was his motive?  “David was such a farce?”
No calls, no meetings…just some postcards. What was he thinking? She thought to herself and shrugged her shoulders…maybe he just wanted me to remember him. But why? What new selfless motive could that fulfill?

When she shared this with somebody else, he said that there was a possibility that these postcards came from some other David. Possible…afterall, the David she knew hadn’t spoken with her for years. She had been out on quite a few dates. Possible! What a weird occurrence...does this sort of thing happen in others lives too? Oh well, no point thinking about it.

From then on, she no more wondered about the postcards. She didn’t wait, she didn’t think…not because she didn’t want to but it just never occurred to her.

And the last postcard that she got was a day before she moved out of her house. It was from India. Incredible India, with a picture of a Royal Bengal Tiger.

~~~

Dear Elena,                                                                                                           25th May, 2011

I am in India right now, with Anya. She has a friend here and we are really enjoying our stay. I saw a Royal Bengal Tiger today and it is one of the most magnificent creatures I have ever come across. It is a cousin of the Siberian tiger, just brighter and more regal.

How are you?

David

~~~

It suddenly struck her, even if she wanted to answer his question there was no return address. She couldn’t send a reply to any of his postcards.

Indeed, that was the last one. No more postcards.  No more anything…she had moved…out!!!