Deepa's Decline

** Any resemblance to any characters in this story and real persons is purely incidently. ** ** This is a work of fiction **

***** Chapter 1 Our story starts with Deepa, a modern 40 year old MILF living in Mumbai. Of course 'MILF' isn't a term Deepa is familiar with nor has ever encountered.

Indeed, as modern as Deepa likes to think of herself, she's actually lived a rather traditional life by most standards. She married at 19 to Anup, the wealthy son of an Industrialist. She spent the next 3 years as a loving and traditional wife with her loving and traditional husband. She attended the usual high class social events and rubbed shoulders with the Indian elite but her life was mostly at home, attending to the domestic issues – many of which were undertaken by the several staff in her and her husbands employ.

At 21, bored of life at home watching far too many 'stories' on satellite TV Deepa took on the job of teaching at the nearby grammar school, mostly after encouragement from Anup. Deepa's teaching career didn't last long however as only 6 months into her tenure she found herself receiving the news from her doctor that her extensive bouts of sickness were because she was pregnant. Subsequent scans showed an overjoyed Anup and Deepa that they were to expect a son.

Indeed several months later she gave birth to a healthy baby boy whom they named Kiran after Anup's grandfather. It was of course a very joyous occasion for all the family who would visit regularly and shower both Deepa and her son with affection.

Deepa spent the next 5 years in marital and domestic bliss. Playing the loving and caring wife to her husband and the loving and caring mother to her son. Deepa was thankful for the blessed life she had received. Unfortunately, Deepa's world was soon to turn upside down as on one fateful day she was called to the hospital to identify a the body of her husband. Unbeknownst to Deepa, Anup had become embroiled in shady deals with Mumbai's criminal underworld and had paid the price for double crossing a rather vengeful and vindictive gangster.

Deepa and her son Kiran were quickly taken into protective custody. With the help of her family's extensive connections she was re-homed in a new downtown apartment and her old identity scrubbed from existence. From now on, she and her son would adopt new names and live a new life, limiting contact as much as possible to family and friends.

Deepa spent the first few months in a depressive rut. Servants took care of the domestic duties leaving her nothing to do but mope around the house thinking about Anup. Kiran was taken away to boarding school after her mother-in-law accused her of being overprotective.

It was only when Kiran turned 16 that Kiran was to return to his mother. By this time Deepa had become a weak shadow of her former self. Forced to rebuild her life from the ground up, she was no longer the vibrant youthful woman she used to be.

Deepa and Kiran spent the next 2 years sharing their lives with each other, reaffirming their bonds. It was wonderful for Deepa to finally have a son back home with her. She regretted not being able to watch him grow, feeling like only a spectator who would visit him at specific times during the academic calendar. Now he was a young man at home whom she enjoyed attending to.

Eventually, it was time for Kiran to attend college, Deepa knew this meant that he was to be leaving her again. She put on a brave face for her son and tried her best to be enthusiastic for this new part of his life but inside she was broken.

Thankfully, this time around She and Kiran would be able to stay in contact better through emails, letters, and phone calls. The last of which they did almost daily even if just to say hello.

Deepa, found a renewed enthusiasm in her work as an auditor. She was praised highly by her bosses and commanded a lot of respect from her fellow employees. As the only woman in a male dominated office this gave her confidence a tremendous boost to have succeeded despite the social limitations imposed on her gender.

Moreso, she was especially pleased that her career success was not due to anything but her will, ambition, dedication and skill. She had seen many other young Indian girls join the company and progress fast in the hierarchy only to hear on the grapevine that this was only by submitting to the lewd demands of some of the male bosses.

Deepa had also received her share of suggestions, some more explicit than others. But she had always refused point blank, unwilling to devalue herself in such a way regardless of the consequences.

At 40 now, she would never attract the kind of attention some of the younger women did, neither did she want it. Yet still she would catch the interested smile from her male co-workers, some as much as half her age.

Deepa simply was not interested in that kind of attention anymore. As far as she was concerned Anup was the only man she had ever loved, nobody could ever replace him. She satisfied herself with the thought of devoting the rest of her life to taking care of Kiran and looked forward longingly to when he would return back home.

***** Chapter 2 The phone rang and Deepa picked up knowing it would be her beloved son Kiran. He called usually around this time and today was no different.

"Hi mom". Kiran sounded happy as ever Deepa's spirits were always uplifted as soon as she would hear his voice. "Haloo beta, how are you". Deepa's soft warm accented English floated along the line to greet her son.

They talked in a mixture of English and Hindi as was now common in the Indian middle classes. Choosing to talk English when discussing anything other than every day domesticity and commonality.

"i got a present for you mom" Kiran said, his excitement palpable on the phone line.

"what is it?" she asked, curious.

Kiran told her about the web cam he'd bought her and enthusiastically talked about how it would be great now because they could chat on the computer and see each other at the same time. Deepa could not help but get carried away in her sons excitement. What a wonderful thought. Currently the only time she saw anything of him was when he'd send pictures over email. Kiran had already posted the web cam to her but it would be a few days before she'd receive it – they'd have to be content with phone until then.

After an anxious couple of days, Deepa was beaming when the package eventually arrived. She called Kiran straight away and practically begged him to explain how to connect it and use it. Unfortunately Kiran was just on his way to lectures but he promised he would return to his dorm room straight after and talk her through it.

Deepa excitedly agreed and did her best to pass the time. Out of curiosity she considered connecting up the equipment herself and found that it wasn't difficult at all. Deepa was no technology whiz, but anyone living the in modern times and using computers on a daily basis eventually learned how to plug in a USB device and install software.

The camera worked first time and Deepa was pleased when a picture of herself appeared in a small window on her desktop. With a little playing with the settings she managed to make the screen bigger, correct the brightness and record a few funny clips of her making faces at the camera.

Connecting to Kiran's computer however was something she had no idea about and contented herself with at least getting this far. She would proudly tell Kiran how his mother was now a dab hand at 'compootars'

It wasn't long till Kiran did call back and listened to his mother proudly exhort her computer skills. He laughed along with his mother's childishness as he began to get the software setup for their computers to communicate.

The first few attempts failed miserably and after around half an our Deepa could sense her son's frustration at not getting the thing to work. As luck would have it, it was actually Deepa who finally made a few changes to an interesting looking 'network configuration' panel of settings that the images of each of them appeared on the other's screen.

Deepa clapped in excitement and giggled as she told her son she could see him. Her heart fluttered as she could actually see a moving image of her handsome son and no longer static attachments to his emails.

They satisfied themselves with talking on the phone for now as they sound function still wasn't working on the web cams. It was only after a few more attempts over the next few days that they finally managed to get the sound working as well.

Finally mother and son could sit at their computer terminals and talk endlessly and see the nuances of each others facial expressions.

It was in one of these conversations where Deepa conveyed her disappointment at her Son's appearance.

"You could have made an effort betah, you look so scruffy" she joked.

"what? Comon mom it's just you"

"huh? Just me??" Deepa was taken aback and mocked offense at her son.

"sorry, sorry mom, I mean.. its just that I'm just at home, its not like I'm going out anywhere" Kiran tried to recover from his gaffe. He knew is mother wasn't really bothered by his comment but she could still be a little oversensitive at times.

"Still betah, a little effort wouldn't go amiss. Perhaps comb your hair? Put a little effort into your appearance? Not for me betah, for yourself. You look so scruffy!" Deepa wasn't angry at all and smiled as she nagged him in her motherly tone.

Kiran scratched his head. "the messy look is IN now mom. You're so 20th century you wouldn't know style if it knocked over your morning coffee"

This comment did annoy Deepa and if it had been anyone other than her son she'd have been more than a little upset.

"I'll have you know I'm completely clued up on what the style is now young man. You're not so 'modarn' that you can fool your mother that easily.." though she smiled as she spoke, Kiran could sense her annoyance.

Even when Deepa was mad she found it very hard to show it to Kiran.

"I've annoyed you haven't I mom?"

"It's OK betah, you haven't annoyed me." Deepa thought for a moment. ".. but I DO know what the fashion is right now, I see it in Mumbai every morning I go to work!" she added.

"Of course you do mom. It's just that you're outfit says otherwise" Kiran teased his mother.

"chaur! What's wrong with what I'm wearing" Deepa looked at her outfit and back at the screen in confusion. Her son was giggling into his web cam.

"it's just a little 'mumsy'. You know, domesticated..." Kiran replied playfully.

"well I'm your mother so it should be mumsy. And what's wrong with being domesticated?" she replied.

"I'll tell you what mom, I'll put an effort into my appearance as long as you do too."

Deepa was confused. In what way had she not made any effort on her appearance? She'd showered after coming back from work, and changed into one of her every day salwar kameez suits. What else would or should she be wearing if not this? She'd certainly done more than Kiran obviously had – the cheek of the boy!

"You, mister, are still in your chadees and vest, YOU definitely need to sort yourself out. I don't understand why you think I do? What's wrong with what I'm wearing?"

Kiran was not embarrassed at all to be on web cam in nothing but his vest and underpants. And though it was a little embarrassing for Deepa to see him like that at first, she'd become used to his sloppiness and no longer complained. "well perhaps you could wear something a little smarter – not one of your everyday home kaprah. Something you might go out in?"

Deepa though for a moment what he could mean. "But betah, the only time I go out is when I go to work – do you mean log on in my work clothes?"

"Errm, no not work clothes. Don't you have anything else? Just something that looks, you know, nice"

Deepa still had no clue what it is she could wear.

After finishing their conversation Deepa began going through her clothes to find something to wear for tomorrow's chat. It was then that she realized how abysmally poor her wardrobe was. She had plenty of sarees and kameezes but nothing that looked 'nice'. Everything was plain if not dowdy.

Only her work clothes looked presentable. She had a collection of white blouses and long skirts, none of which interested her that much.

She made her mind up to by a nice saree for herself tomorrow before she got home. As much a treat for herself as to keep up her side of the agreement she had made with Kiran.

**** Chapter 3 The next day, Deepa left work early to do some shopping. She treated herself so little it was wonderful to be out and browsing through the fashion stores.

Unfortunately too much of the styles seemed geared to women half her age. Many things were either too revealing or too tight fitting. She tried on a few tops in the changing rooms and felt depressed when she saw her reflection in the mirror. Retail therapy was supposed to excite a woman rather than make her depressed about her appearance. She eventually settled for a saree in one of the boutiques her female coworkers told her about.

Once Deepa got home she realized that her new saree wasn't all that different from her other ones. She resigned herself to wearing it anyway for today's web cam session with her son. Hopefully she wouldn't have to work too hard persuading him it was in fact new and therefore she had in fact made the effort. She wondered to herself whether Kiran, on the other hand, would even remember the agreement and shook her head, smiling to herself.

After Deepa sat down at her computer and fired up the web cam software, Kiran's connection request came through with a big green signal as it usually did. Without hesitation she clicked the accept button.

Deepa burst out laughing when the image of her son appeared on the her desktop. Kiran was wearing a white shirt with black bow tie. His hair was slicked back and he was clean shaven. He grinned at her with bright white teeth.

"Well you certainly made the effort. I actually thought you'd forget" she giggled into her mic.

"yes, well at least one of us did" Kiran relied, arching his brow at the image he was seeing of his mother.

"I knew you'd say that. For your information this is a new saree that I bought just today, just for this occasion."

"hmmnn well, I'll have to take your word for it, mom, you never lie to me. But, you might as well have saved you money and worn one of the ones you already have, I mean it looks no different."

"i know betah. I tried, really. It looked so nice in the shop but when I got home I realized it's just like all the others. Maybe your right, maybe I don't have an eye for fashion at all" she pursed her lips and shrugged at her son.

"to be honest I wasn't expecting you to buy anything. When I said make an effort I was just meaning wearing one of your nice sarees."

"I don't have any nice sarees, that's just the point. In fact I don't really have any nice clothes at all. It would be funny if it wasn't so sad and pathetic!" Deepa smiled unconvincingly "i went through my drawers yesterday and couldn't find anything!"

"really? I thought women were supposed to love their clothes? And loved shopping for more of them? I expected you to have stacks and stacks of clothes. Surely there must be something nice in all of that?"

"well, the truth is your dowdy mother has never been all that much bothered with appearances and as such has a very small and manageable wardrobe."

"come on mom, you're not dowdy, though it sounds like you could definitely do with a new wardrobe"

"I'm just so terrible at buying clothes, everything I looked at in the shops just looked like it was made for ladies much younger than me." Deepa paused "fashion isn't for old buddhies like me."

"Mom stop that, you are NOT an old buddhie and I refuse to accept there was nothing you could find."

Deepa didn't mention that she tried on a few clothes but hated the image of herself she saw in the mirror. Her body seemed to bulge in peculiar places and the tops just didn't seem to fit right.

As close as Deepa was to Kiran and as playful as their conversations were with each other, she'd never discussed her body with him, nor had he raised the topic – why would he? It was simply not one of those things a mother talked about with her son.

Kiran thought for a moment "I'll buy you something."

"HAHA YOU?? you've turned up in a black bow tie, I think that qualifies you even less than me in terms of fashion sense, don't you think?" Deepa laughed heartily, Kiran joined her.

"Yes but what you don't know is that under this desk I'm still wearing Chaddees. HAH! So I think that evens this out a little at my end!"

Deepa laughed till her tummy hurt. Her son was always so delightfully amusing and never failed to make the sun shine in her life. For a moment she just gazed lovingly at his image on the screen until Kiran eventually broke her serendipity.

"seriously though mom, I'll buy something nice yeah? You wont regret it."

"betah don't be silly, save your money. I don't know why you're insisting on my dressing up to talk to you anyways."

"Don't worry about money – I don't." Kiran was well aware of his enormous trust fund and inheritance.

"OK, get me something nice. Nothing too expensive OK?" Deepa smiled.

"Nothing too expensive." Kiran repeated back to her. "In fact I think they sell jute sacks in one of the warehouses in town."

"chaur!" Deepa giggled. Chiding him with no real sign of annoyance.

They talked for a while longer before Kiran eventually ended the call saying he had plans to hang out with his friends. Before he signing off he repeated his promise of buying her a nice outfit and said he'd have it sent to her soon.

**** Chapter 4 When a package arrived for Deepa several days later she had all but forgotten what it was. Confused, she opened the carefully wrapped item and found a beautiful yellow chiffon saree inside. With it was a heart warming note reading simply "For my delightful mom." As Deepa read on realized that her son simply couldn't miss an opportunity for a joke as the note then read, " - a jute sack."

Deepa smiled to herself and felt tears well in her eyes. Her son had always showered her with compliments and told her she was beautiful. And at the same time always kept her cheery, even when everything else in her life was so dull and depressing.

She took out the saree and examined its exquisite embroidery. The fabric was light and soft against her skin. It was clearly expensive and she made a mental note of yet again warning her son not to waste is money. But she couldn't deny that receiving something like this made her feel special. She felt like she was the center of someone's universe and felt pride for her son.

She tried the saree on and looked herself up and down in the mirror. Sarees have a way of concealing the body's unsightly bulges – if worn correctly. She felt pretty in the mirror and enjoyed the way the fabric felt against her soft skin. She would never have picked out this saree for herself and had to admit that her son certainly had an eye for good clothing.

Later that day, she beamed proudly at her web cam when her son eventually cam on line.

"Wow mom, that saree looks amazing. Has mine arrived yet?" Kiran asked.

Deepa looked quizzically at her son.

"What? isn't this the one you sent me??"

"No, the one I sent was green" Kiran replied straight faced "But that one's nice too. So who's your secret admirer then? They must have a real hotspot for you to have splashed out so much money on that saree. It looks very expensive!"

The grin on Kiran's face barely concealed his playful deception.

"Silly boy, I know this is the one you sent OK. And I know that because I have NO secret admirers."

Kiran laughed "OK OK, there's no fooling my super sleuth mother. But you're wrong when you say you have no admirers."