Captain Pravin Raghuvanshi, NM
(Captain Pravin Raghuvanshi —an ex Naval Officer, possesses a multifaceted personality. He served as a Senior Advisor in prestigious Supercomputer organisation C-DAC, Pune. He was involved in various Artificial Intelligence and High-Performance Computing projects of national and international repute. He has got a long experience in the field of ‘Natural Language Processing’, especially, in the domain of Machine Translation. He has taken the mantle of translating the timeless beauties of Indian literature upon himself so that it reaches across the globe. He has also undertaken translation work for Shri Narendra Modi, the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India, which was highly appreciated by him. He is also a member of ‘Bombay Film Writer Association’.
We present an English Version of Shri Sanjay Bhardwaj’s Hindi Short Stories “चाय”. We extend our heartiest thanks to the learned author Captain Pravin Raghuvanshi Ji (who is very well conversant with Hindi, Sanskrit, English and Urdu languages) for this beautiful translation and his artwork.)
English Version by – Captain Pravin Raghuvanshi
~ The rituals of life go on, but the companion is gone... ~
☆
Diehard Tea Drinker…
“Papa ji,” the daughter-in-law said with soft firmness, “four cups of tea a day is not good for your health. I can’t imagine how Mom ever let this habit continue. From tomorrow, only one in the morning and one in the evening. Agreed?”
“Yes, beta… agreed,” Manohar ji replied. His words were steady, but his gaze drifted to the photograph on the bedside table—Gayatri, smiling faintly from behind the glass frame.
She, too, had never approved of his endless cups of tea. She needed no words to know when the craving stirred in him; a flicker in his eyes, the twitch of his fingers, was enough. With mock sternness she would chide,
“Too much tea will harm you. When I’m gone, you will find it hard to manage. Drink today if you must, but from tomorrow—never more than two cups.”
But that tomorrow had never arrived in their forty-five years of togetherness.
And now, it had been barely forty-five days since she had gone, and yet…
“You were right, Gayatri,” Manohar whispered, his voice breaking into silence. “What you could never make me do, your daughter-in-law has done—in a moment.”
He lifted the frame gently, as though it might shatter at the touch. And in that fragile stillness, he felt the glass turn moist beneath his fingers—
as if she communicated herself through the language of tears!
~ Pravin Raghuvanshi
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
श्री संजय भारद्वाज जी की मूल रचना
संजय दृष्टि – लघुकथा – चाय
…पापा जी, ये चार-चार बार चाय पीना सेहत के लिए ठीक नहीं है। पता नहीं मम्मी ने कैसे आपकी यह आदत चलने दी? कल से एक बार सुबह और एक बार शाम को चाय मिलेगी। ठीक है..?
..हाँ बेटा ठीक है.., कहते-कहते मनोहर जी बेडसाइड टेबल पर फ्रेम में सजी गायत्री को निहारने लगे। गायत्री को भी उनका यों चार-पाँच बार चाय पीना कभी अच्छा नहीं लगता था। जब कभी उन्हें चाय की तलब उठती, उनके हाव-भाव और चेहरे से गायत्री समझ जाती। टोकती, ..इतनी चाय मत पिया करो। मैं नहीं रहूँगी तो बहुत मुश्किल होगी। आज पी लो लेकिन कल से नहीं बनेगी दो से ज़्यादा बार चाय।
….पैंतालीस साल के साथ में कल कभी नहीं आया पर गायत्री को गये अभी पैंतालीस दिन भी नहीं हुए थे कि..! …तुम सच कहती थी गायत्री, देखो जो तुम नहीं कर सकी, तुम्हारी बहू ने कर दिखाया.., कहते-कहते मनोहर जी का गला भर आया। जाने क्यों उन्हें हाथ में थामी फ्रेम भी भीगी-भीगी सी लगी।
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
© संजय भारद्वाज
मोबाइल– 9890122603, संजयउवाच@डाटामेल.भारत, writersanjay@gmail.com
☆☆☆☆☆
© Captain Pravin Raghuvanshi, NM
Pune
≈ Editor – Shri Hemant Bawankar/Editor (English) – Captain Pravin Raghuvanshi, NM ≈
