Sapno Ka Shaher

Opening Up!

Sameer had already gone into an alert mode seeing her coming close. "Naina... tumse... mujhe tumse kuchh...", he gathered courage to speak, but before he could complete, they were disturbed by the cordless ring in the living room and Sameer closed his eyes in annoyance.

Sameer received the call in displeasure, but he heard a soft voice from the other end.

"Sameer..."

"Mummy... aap..." Sameer's voice turned cheerful.

"Kaisa hai beta?" Vishakha asked softly.

"Mai thik hu Mummy, aap kaise ho?" Sameer went on to sit on the sofa chair.

"Mai... bass.... Thik hu..." Vishakha replied hesitantly.

"Kahiye? Aaj subah-subah bete ki yaad kaise aayi?" He teased her.

Vishakha answered, "woh... aaj na... purane photo albums dekh rahi thi... toh teri yaad aa gayi ek photo dekhkar... yaad hai, mai tere summer holidays ke time Ahmedabad aayi thi aur tujhe skates lakar diye the... aur tu kaise gir gaya tha... Dhadaaammmm!!!" She laughed while sharing the sweet incident.

Sameer too laughed remembering the tale his mother was over-dramatically narrating. It was the time when his mother would visit him sometimes during his holidays. Those would be the best days for him, as both Nanu and his mother were around him. It was the 7th grade Summer holidays, when Vishakha had gifted him the roller skates for the first time, and he had fallen badly.

Vishakha continued, "uske baad tune darr ki wajah se 10din tak haath bhi nahi lagaya tha skates ko." Her voice lowered and turned gentle, "lekin phir tune Papa se baat ki aur unhone tujhe samjhaya ki darr par jeet hasil karni chahiye. Aur uske baad, tune jo skates chalaye hai..." She tried to laugh again at the fond memories.

Sameer was carefully listening to his mother, just smiling in between. First he thought she was just casually apprising about his childhood days, but then the earnestness with which she was talking about Nanu, he felt it was beyond just the photo album and the memory behind it.

"Mummy... kuchh hua hai kya? Kya baat hai? Sach sach bataiye," Sameer became worried.

Vishakha fumbled to have gotten caught by her son, but she revealed with a sigh, "Sameer.... Woh... 4-5 din pehle ek bura sapna dekha maine... tu kahi andhere me akela chale jaa raha tha... aur tabse bass jee ghabra raha hai mera," she paused for a moment and said, "Sameer, tu thik hai na beta... pata nahi aisa kyu lag raha hai ki tu pareshan hai..."

Sameer heard his mother's concerned voice for him and looked at the Lord Krishna idol in the room.

How was his bond with these two women in his life, Naina and Mummy, so strong and deep with him?

Naina, who he has his soul-connection with, who was the purpose of his living, wasn't ready to let him leave for that meeting. He had seen it in her eyes. And Vishakha, who had given birth to him, who was the reason behind him living a life, had seen a nightmare about him, probably only during those days.

"Sameer, kya hua beta? Sab thik hai na?" Not getting a reply, Vishakha asked again as she started to panic. "Mai na Sunday ko hi phone karne wali thi, lekin mai khud hi busy thi uss din... Sameer... sab..."

"Mummy... mummy..." Sameer tried to pacify her and gently smiled, "mai bilkul thik hu. Aap tension mat lo."

"Haan haan jaanti hu... tu bahot bada ho gaya hai na..." Vishakha felt a bit better listening to his assurance.

Sameer just laughed, feeling good to have heard the same dialogue from his mother in all these years.

"Mujhe saari baatein na batayi toh bhi chalega, Sameer. Woh shayad meri kismat me hi nahi tha. Ki apne bete ke saamne baithkar uski saari baatein sunu." Vishakha paused for a moment and sighed, "lekin Naina se sab kuchh share karna beta... woh tumhari life-partner hai, kam se kam usse baatein mat chhuapana..."