Love letters

This is the story of a little girl. It might be like the story of many little girls you know. That little girl maybe you, for all you know.
So she is in the second grade. And her mother decides to throw her a birthday party.
There is this little boy.
He recieves an invitation to this party.
He gets the little girl a book. For the birthday.
The lost princess.
Later in one of the many notes they exchanged he told her that that was how she looked. The day he saw her.
As with all of us, time gently tugs these two people along. And they go to high school.
A bit about what happens with there lives and families in between. Her Mom is not in a very good relationship and things are not all sugar and cream for this little girl. She is loaded, though.
The little boy comes from a nice happy family, with a lot of love and all that blah.
So these two continue to exchange notes over the years. Our little boy is now a little man. But for reasons best known to me, we will still call him the little boy.
So he studies hard and goes to Law school. Harvard ofcourse.
In the meanwhile our little girl has not been very good.
She keeps skipping and getting thrown out of schools all over the place. Real muddled and confused in the head. Aching all over for something she can't put her finger on.
They continue to write to each other over the years.
Till one day they decide to meet. He gets a reservation at a hotel.
Does not go well. At all.
But they continue to write.
He is now a hot shot lawyer. And she an artist.
She gets married. Has children.
He gets married.
And has them too.
They continue to write.
About life.
Their less than perfect lives.
She is one of those troubled artists now.
He is running for senator.
A meeting happens. And a lot more. Between them.
The press gets to hear.
They try to keep it low.
Her marriage is broken. Loses custody of her daughters. Has a bit of a drinking problem. Is now trying to struggle and snuggle back into her past glory.
And some memories here and there.
So all in all, time goes by and they don't meet too much after that. He does not want to.
Till one day he writes.
No answer.
Writes again.
No answer.
Well.
Finally an answer.
She is not doing well.
At all.
She is infact in a home.
As soon as he gets that note, he says he is coming to meet her.
She tries to stop him.
And tells him " Andy, I will not be here by the time arrive tommorow".
He writes a letter to her mom. Which is how it started all those years ago. Sixty years ago.

Condolences.

And it ends. Before it even started.

And somewhere along the line where the stage goes dark and they play these lines from Simon and Garfunkel:
" I'm on your side...." you gasp a bit and try to stiffle those tears that are now coming real hard and you are trying to look for a tissue and its too dark and you have a feeling that the lady next to you is staring you hard in the face and that you just want to go on stage and take that bottle of scotch and just and sink into the floor. And weep.
Because you have a feeling. That this looks like the story of your life.

Love letters, a play by A. R. Gurney
Starring Rajat Kapoor and Shehnaz Patel
Prithvi theatre, Mumbai
August 2005