A Love Story For You!

A Love Story For You!

I was sipping hot filter coffee from Visaalam Coffee Shop at Goripalayam, Madurai enjoying the lethargic traffic on a Saturday afternoon. The evening tabloids had just arrived at the nearby shop and they were in the process of displaying the posters. One item of news shocked me: “Popular Tamil writer kills himself.”

I first checked my pulse to ensure that it was not me. Of course I could not hope to come a mile near the qualifier “popular”. I finished off my coffee in a hurry scorching my tongue in the process and rushed to buy the tabloid.

You might have read his writing in Anandha Vikatan. He is known for his soft, youthful romantic love stories. I was his very ardent fan. His serial “Will Flower Only Once” (Oru Murai Than Pookum) can be called his signature story and can be described in a very broad manner as quasi-autobiographical.

The hero of that serial will be saved by a woman and will be under her care. When most writers were chauvinistically describing about hapless women being rescued by a strong hero, this writer turned the wheel a full circle to talk about a woman protecting her man.

Probably he had wanted a woman like that in his life. And he did get it. A good looking, reasonably rich woman by name Hema fell in love with him. She was his dream girl and just like the heroine of his story, she covered him completely in her blanket of love which incidentally gave him the comfortable warmth of financial security as well.

Being under her care he could soon proclaim himself a full-time writer (a luxury which most of us can never dream of affording) and started turning out very good work.

Now I should tell the name of the writer. He is Rammohan. But virtually no one would know him by that name. But if I say that his name is Stella Bruce, then every heart would skip a beat.

Meanwhile Hema’s sister Prema fell ill and there was no one for her. Stella Bruce and Hema took Prema under their loving protection and provided excellent medical care for her. But she succumbed to her illness soon.

God did not bless the couple with children. Stella Bruce treated Prema as a part of their family.

And Hema fell seriously ill. Stella Bruce took care of her in the manner which he only could have done. But Destiny had already decided otherwise. In July 2007, Hema died leaving the soft spoken writer all alone in this cruel world.

The writer tried to live a life having only his past memories for his company. But that did not last long. Once he attempted to kill himself after penning a very touching suicide note:

“The life of Hema-Prema-Rammohan is neither the traditional poetry (marabu kavithai) nor is it an instance of modern poetry, which has no grammar. The love we three shared was simple and direct. We did not leave anything behind. Life ends here.”

His friends saved him and encouraged him to write more. He started writing a letter a day.

“Hema was quite unique. Her profound love, the security she gave me and the friendship she had for me made me live in absolute peace and happiness. Now I have lost my Hema, my peace and my happiness.

“I am standing as an orphan under the harsh sun of loneliness, lost in a frightening valley of emptiness. I can’t see the chance of any door of revival opening for me.”

And finally he wrote:

“The life I lived with Hema was pure, sweet poetry. I know by dying I will hurt my old mother. But I have no choice. I can’t bear being away from Hema. I am now opening the doors of death to go out to Hema. When lonely life becomes a punishment, death is the only freedom.”

And then he killed himself on 1^st March.

Writer Sujatha’s death sort of eclipsed the death of Stella Bruce. When I was in Trivandrum there were many writers who told me that he should not have killed himself.

Whatever may be one’s grief and sorrow, suicide is and can never be a solution. He should have learnt to detach himself from his wife long back, a writer commented philosophically. He should have learnt to live alone, someone strongly advised.

Well, it is easy to say all these things. It is easy to let out some empty words of advice. But it is extremely difficult to place ourselves in the lonely, worn-out shoes of Stella Bruce. Unless one has a wife as loving as Hema, and unless one is as loving as Stella Bruce, it is impossible to pass any comment on the writer’s death.

His life was as beautiful and as romantic as the stories he wrote. And his death as pathetic and as climactic as the endings of his stories.

The death of Stella Bruce is not just a loss for the litrerary world; it’s a much greater loss for the world of love.

Stella Bruce is one-of-his-kind limited edition models created by God. Will there be another? That will be an eternal longing in our minds.

Please stop whatever you are doing and be silent for a minute in the memory of this loving, lovable writer.

Dear Sridhar,

A very tragic end for a loving, loveable writer. As you are aware I just cannot read Tamil and hence do not know much about Stella Bruce.

Personally I feel suicide is not an answer to life's problems and difficulties. We have to face all the hardships more maturedly.

All said & done. He has committed the same. Hence, I will also join with you in prayers and may his soul rest in peace.

Since i am from the other end..even i don't know tamil and hence never read or heard about Stella Bruce.

But as a fellow human i too pray for him. May his sould rest in Peace

Amen.

Dear Sridhar,
I have not known this writer.I did read it in the newspaper and as you rightly said, writer sujata's death kind of shadowed this great writers tragic end.I respect the love he had for his wife,but certainly his suicide was so saddening.

I join you in observing a minute silence as a mark of respect to the departed soul.

So sad to know the death of a relevant writer , i remember reading his stories published in Ananda Vikatan named Maya Nilakal. and worth mentioning the depiction of the story hero ulaganathan .......

I feel so sorry for him and devote him this piece of note. May his soul rest in peace.

Varuvai, Ezhuvai, Tharuvai
Arival avai neraivai, ezhuthaal
ulagai velvai yena irunthuvithadhal...
Marivai, Manipaai yena kadanthu vitayoo Nanbaa.....

Un Ezhuthukkal Ethorilikattum.........


Ramya

And here's his picture along with his wife.
love,

Dear Sridhar,
The following line disturbed me no end!
I know by dying I will hurt my old mother

Well, he has proved that he is "die-hard romantic", by taking an emotional decision.
Does he not owe his life and existence to his old mother too?
Please remember, the depth or intensity of emotions may vary between spouses, understandably it has been very high in Stella Bruce-Hema case.
But being a mother, my heart goes to his old mother whom he has "knowingly" hurt.
Our scriptures emphatically declare that puthra-shokam is the worst punishment for any parent. Is that the gift, he has given his mother?
Well, his decision is more impulsive, I cannot help voicing a totally different opinion.My heart goes to his mother, undeniably.
Love,
Chithra.

Dear Sridhar Sir

A touching story ... It is true that suicide is not an end to all the sorrows or burdens that life throws on us.

“I am standing as an orphan under the harsh sun of loneliness, lost in a frightening valley of emptiness. I can’t see the chance of any door of revival opening for me.”

But what captures one heart here is the bonds of love that has been shared by the writer and his wife. He has very beautifully explained his utter helplessness as a person in the absence of his wife.He has identified himself with his wife to such a great extent that once she had departed from this world his being here has become totally unjustified...

Whatever be the reason behind the act, the person who commits suicide sees it as path towards complete relief from all their agonies. May he rest in peace and may his soul find the peace that the body and mind had longed for...i join u in prayers for the same.

Jay.

"I know by dying I will hurt my old mother"

Ditto Chithra, I too felt miserable after reading the above line. May be I am too pragmatic, I cannot understand that he killed himself leaving an old mother behind. But then, human mind is very complex and I don't know his personal situation...if his mother lived with him or if he has other siblings etc etc.
See, I am only thinking or the mundane details of everyday life. And he lived in his world of prose and fantasy.
Whatever, may his soul rest in peace, which seems to have evaded him in his life time.

L, Kamla

My deep condolence to Stella Bruce's family and may his soul rest in peace.

Though I feel that it is not proper to commit suicide and end one's own life, I can't help marveling at how well written a love story it is.

-Gayathri.