Hey Dad! Meet My Mom (21 page)

“How’s she now?” Myra asked. I had no courage left to ask her anything or even maintain decent eye contact with her. She was the most cheated one in our story. I was the only person who was to be blamed.

“She’s doing fine.” I said. Our eyes met for the first time. We both smiled and then withdrew. I was looking at the floor and her eyes were wandering somewhere in the lobby area. She smiled at everyone she could recognize as Roshni’s family but no one greeted her in the same way.

A few minutes passed without any words but then I gathered some courage to start our conversation. “Listen Myra, I am so sorry for what........ ” She put her finger on my lips before I could speak any further. She just flattened her lips in a jolly way and shook her head to indicate that she didn’t want to hear my apology. She smiled. I didn’t want to admit it but at that moment, I fell in love with her..... again.

“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 and 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.