“Your mom called me the day you went missing. She was crying a lot; she told me everything about you and Roshni.” She took a pause in between, may be to clear the lump in her throat and to control her emotion. “I was truly moved to hear all that. I really wanted to meet Roshni. Your mom told me that you are in Ahmedabad, so I took the next train and reached here.” She took another pause but it was to show her cute smile to me and induce the same on my lips. “When can I meet her? I want to talk to her.”
I opened my mouth to say something when the doctor arrived and allowed Roshni’s family members to meet her. Everyone rushed inside with presents, cards, flowers etc. Only Myra and I were left outside.
“Thank you for coming.” I could only manage to say that. I was totally broken before but now I could see some light in this dark cave.
I woke up hearing a strange knock on the door. I left the bed and checked; there was no one at the door. But I had heard a knock. Maybe it had been a dream. I looked at the wall clock; it showed 6 o ’clock in the morning; not a good time to go back to bed. ‘Okay then, let’s get ready for work ’, I decided. I took my towel and proceeded towards the bathroom. I pushed the door wide open and went inside when my eyes fell on him. He shouted like crazy. I joined him.
“Isn’t there any privacy for adult boys like me in this house?” It was Rishi, taking a bath, fully nude in my bathroom. “Can’t you wait outside? Why are you always in a hurry?” He was hiding his private area with both his hands. I closed the door and came out.
A few minutes later, I called his name.
“Rishi? Are you done?” No response. “Rishi.... ”........ “Rishi?” I opened the door slowly and saw nobody inside. I searched for him everywhere but he couldn’t be found.
“Rishi?......... RISHI!!!!!”
“Rishi.” I woke up suddenly. I looked everywhere, no one was there. I was still lying on the bench in the lobby of the hospital. Everyone around me was asleep. Rishi? Roshni!
I went to the glass window of the door and tried to sneak a peek inside. Roshni was deep asleep. I looked at the wrist watch; it was 5 in the morning. I came back to the bench. I searched for Myra, she was nowhere. I looked around and then found her coming from the main gate with some medicines in her hand. She went directly inside the doctor’s cabin and then after 2 minutes she came out and sat next to me.
“The doctor asked for some medicines for Roshni. Everyone was sleeping so I ” She smiled and then fell asleep. Why was she doing that when she knew everything?
I saw the nurse coming out of Roshni’s room, she asked for a female family member to go inside and help with a bath and clothes for Roshni. Roshni was still not strong enough to do the same on her own.
Roshni’s mother was the only one available at that time, so she took the clothes and was about to enter when Myra asked her, “Aunty, can I help?” Her mother thought for some time but then allowed her to come in. Myra’s smile was such a powerful magnet that it only attracted the positivity in people. No one could say no to her.
Myra took no time to gel with Roshni’s family. A strange positivity had filled the atmosphere in the lobby of the hospital after Myra’s arrival. She was a great listener, when aged people tried to reveal their life experiences; she was full of life when she met anyone of her own age group; she was a great story teller for children who were getting bored to see the hospital functioning.
She even tried to drag me into getting to know Roshni’s family but I had some limits; I couldn’t cross them.
“When are you leaving?” I asked, while we were having food in the canteen.
“Why? When is Roshni getting discharged?” Myra said with mouthful of rice and curry.
“I mean, you have a job, your studies back in Delhi and why are you just wasting your time here, I’ll keep you informed over the phone about what’s happening here. I think you should be leaving today itself.” I took my spoon near my mouth and tried to convince her.
“No, it can all be done afterwards. I am not leaving you here alone.” There were no changes in her.
I got furious. I threw the spoon back in the plate and shouted at her. “Why are you behaving like this, huh? Don’t you know what’s coming? Don’t you know what’s going to happen in our relationship? Why are you making everything so difficult? I don’t need you. Please leave.... Please!!!” We both had tears in our eyes.
“I am not leaving. I know you need me.” She took a pause and held my hand. “I know you need a friend standing next to you. I am not going anywhere, till Roshni comes out of this hospital.” She said and left the table. She wanted to cry but not in front of me.
I kept on looking at the empty chair in front of me on which, a few moments ago, a girl was sitting. I just couldn’t understand how she could be so strong within. She knew everything, yet never complained. She had made no mistake, and yet she was the only one losing. She just loved, loved a man more than her life and this was what she got in return.
A pair of eyes were watching me from somewhere in the canteen, they were crying to see me like this. But those eyes knew that now, nothing could be changed, or maybe there was an escape? No, I am not doing that....’
“How are you feeling now?” I asked her while holding her hand; sitting next to her bed. We were alone in the room. She wanted to tell me something.
“They told me that you died in a car accident but my heart knew that you wouldn’t leave me alone. I knew that someone was playing a prank on me; a very evil prank. They wanted to shock me with some news so that I could come out of another shock; the shock of Rishi’s death. They thought my brain was having some problem and I was having difficulties responding. They wanted me to cry, cry aloud. But why should I cry? For whom should I cry? I had no answer to that.” Her voice was very low, I came closer to her. She continued.
“I knew that they were planning to create a story like that; they never gave up. I was ready to hear everything. And they did what I thought. I knew that was a lie; so without responding, I slept.” She took a break to gather her thoughts and also some air.
“I saw a dream; I saw that I was playing in a garden, a garden where different flowers were aligned in different patterns. It was all bright, brighter than anything else I have ever seen but still soothing to the eyes. I saw that I was playing with my children there. Rishi was also there. He totally resembled you in every manner.” She chuckled while thinking about Rishi. I too joined her.
“After playing for many hours, a thought arose in my mind; a thought of you. I thought why weren’t you there? Where were you? Then I saw at a distance, there was a man like shadow that could be seen. I thought that I had found you, but no. When I came close, I saw myself; I was lying on the bed in the hospital. Doctors were trying their best to wake me up but I didn’t move. I saw myself for days, nothing happened. Then I heard the doctor say that I was in a deep coma.” I was totally amazed to hear her version of the story.
“I kept on wandering around, I saw everyone standing outside; my father, my mother, everyone except you.” Fear stricken eyes were right in front of me. “I thought what if........ What if, what they had said about you was correct? What if you actually di..... Died? That fear gave me a reason to live, reason to stay in a coma for some more time.”
“I started searching for you everywhere. I kept on wandering and finally found you. I was so happy to see you. It felt like I was alive again. I tried to contact you somehow but nothing helped. Then I came to know that you remembered nothing about me. You remembered nothing about our love. That broke me again. I lost all my hopes.” Her pain and sufferings were getting reflected in her eyes. A tear trickled down her eye but I caught it before it landed on her pillow. Those were precious; those were not meant to be wasted.
“Then he came; Rishi, our son. He assured me that he will fix everything and make it all right. Fortunately, he succeeded in making contact with you. We were both very happy and enjoyed a lot while playing with your life. I kept on instructing Rishi a
nd he conveyed my messages to you. Our plan was to slowly try to reproduce Roshni in your memory. How foolish I was!” Her pain and regret was weakening her from inside.
“Then I saw Myra and found a true meaning of this pseudo life. I was not there to drag you back to me but to help you to find your true love; Myra. I started to guide Rishi in such a way that he started to push you towards Myra. And he did. But one day, Rishi realized my plan and from that day, everything changed.”
“I started to have conflicts with Rishi and from that day you started to see me. I was fighting with my own self and that created the fear in your dreams. Those nightmares of yours were nothing but the side effect of our fighting. I started to curse that night when you planted Rishi in me. I started to curse everything around me.”
“Rishi refused to be under my control thereafter. He decided to make sure that his dad meets his mom. That’s why he did all that. I was happy to be in a coma and living my life through the eyes of Rishi and being a part of your life from a distance but Rishi wanted something else. Everything you suffered the last few days was because of me. I am so sorry Puneet, please forgive me.” She started to cry. She continued to say sorry for a few more minutes and then she slept again.
Everything I had heard was far from believing and yet I was not going to discuss it because sometimes, it’s not important what you believe, the important thing is what you feel. Where our mind stops thinking, God takes over and this story was not written by us but by the Almighty.
Chapter 22
“Hey Dad!”
I wasn’t expecting to see him again. He was my own Rishi. I was so happy to see him. I had really wanted to see him again. I wanted to pinch myself to confirm that I wasn’t dreaming at that time. But before I could do that, he pinched me.
“You are not dreaming, dad!” He was back with his lollipop again. He took it out and with that his expressions suddenly changed. “I am sorry dad for what I did. I had to do all that. I....”
I cut him in between and said, “Sorry doesn’t sound good coming out of your mouth.” I said.
“That’s correct. I was thinking exactly the same thing, dad! If I am unable to play with my dad, then who else would?” He put the lollipop again in his mouth and started to jump in the air.
I looked everywhere to see whether someone was around because I wasn’t ready to be a butt of ridicule in the hospital. Luckily no one was around.
“Dad, will you mind if I ask you something? I have a friend who is having a grave trouble in life.” He asked in his ever energized voice.
“Okay, so you have a friend too? What’s his name?” For a moment, I wanted to forget everything and live this moment. I wanted to have a little fun with my son.
“What’s in the name, dad? Just answer me, would you like to solve the dilemma of my friend?” He had something crazy in his mind; his mischief was in his smile.
“Okay, tell me.”
“Listen! I have a friend who is currently caught up in a turmoil of problems. Actually he loves his mother but also loves his father equally. So one day, his father told him that, ‘Beta, you should obey what your mother says. Never ever disobey her. ’ My friend said, ‘okay’. Another day, his mother repeated the same thing to him. She said, ‘Beta, you should listen to what your father says. Never disobey him ’.”
“So where’s the problem?” I asked.
“Patience, dad! Why are you always in a hurry?” He took a pause, smiled at me and then continued, “So now his father tells him to obey his mother and mother tells him to obey his father. He loves both his parents equally, now whom should he obey? Should he obey his father and start obeying his mother or vice-versa?” So finally his meaningless question was put in front of me.
“I think your ‘friend’ should follow what his father said and start obeying his mother.” I tried to answer the riddle.
“Why the father? Why not his mother?”
“Okay, so tell him to follow his mother’s instructions and obey his father. In both cases, the same thing is happening, right?”
“Think deeper, dad! Show your intellect.”
“Why don’t you tell him to obey both his parents?” I gave up with that.
“You know dad, sometimes in life, we just can’t go for both our options; we have to choose one, either we feel good about it or bad.” He said in a serious voice. Rishi was not playing around with me, he was there to tell me something, and he was there to tell me that the time to choose had come. Either Roshni or Myra; I just couldn’t have the best of both worlds. His question had a deeper meaning to it.
I had nothing to say. We both remained quiet for a while, then he said, “Whom will you choose dad?”
I had no answer to his question now. I kept on looking into his eyes. They were looking like the way to hell to me. I was lost somewhere for a while. I didn’t even notice when Rishi faded away. I didn’t notice that the silence of the lobby was filled with cries. I didn’t notice that Myra was shaking me with all her energy. I didn’t even notice that Roshni had left all of us forever.
It was raining heavily but that had no effect on the fire; it kept doing its work of consuming my Roshni’s body. Every soul standing there was crying but I didn’t. Even the rain drops falling on my face asked me the same question. ‘Why was there nothing to hide on your face? Don’t worry, you can cry, I will wipe away the tears, the moment they will come out of your eyes. ’
I just couldn’t cry because for me, she was not gone yet. I knew she would come back for me. And then, she did come! Behind the fire I saw her smiling at me, for the last time. Then someone held my hand; it was Rishi.
“I got my answer, dad!” He said and smiled. He left my hand and started to walk towards his mom. Rishi and Roshni waved back at me; smiled for the last time and left, forever.
I cried........
EPILOGUE
3 years later.....
I tried to call her on her mobile for the 22nd time but again I got the same response; which was no response. Everyone was worried. Slowly the negative thoughts started to hover around my mind. I tried to block them but with each second, my strength was weakening.
I tried calling her again; but she was again not reachable. I paced, from one point to another. I also sent some of my colleagues to search for her. They informed me that her car had got stuck in traffic; and mobiles weren’t catching the signal properly. We waited for some more time and then finally I saw a car entering the lawn and from it, he descended.
‘What the hell is he doing here?’ was the first thought which came to my mind after seeing him. Behind him was my angel Myra. She was looking stunning in her red lehenga. Yes, it was our wedding day.
“Hey dad!” Rishi came running towards me and pointed his hand towards Myra and said, “Meet my mom!!!”........
“You wanted to know that, right Myra?” I whispered in her ear.
“What?” She was busy smiling at random guests who were approaching us to give us our wedding gifts.
“The thing I had wished from the ‘Laughing Buddha’?”
“Yes?”
“I wished for this moment.” She looked in my eyes and smiled.
One year and 5 months later Myra gave birth to a son and we named him Rishi. So from then on, I had two Rishi’s in my life.
Hey Dad! Meet my mom!!!
Deliberately, I learnt about life,
Partially, attributed towards motherly delights,
I was shattered as debris a number of times,
My mother, she was only there as strength of psyche,
Thwart, love-care-affection,
Hiding me in her arms,
From the premonitions of disasters,
Never let my hopes wither away,
Even to the wicked blows of the selfish world,
Hey Dad! Meet my Mom!!!
Restoring the amicable relations,
Sharing my despair secrets,
Genuinely lifting me as inevitable connections,
&nb
sp; Rising me moreover like lanterns of dreams,
When the sensations were not ample nor bright,
Never allowed me to those anger feelings,
If I might get diverted within,
Being angry negativistic or delinquent,
My mother, she was the only source
of confidence solemn,
Hey Dad! Meet my Mom!!!
Hey Dad! Meet My Mom Page 13