Zameer: No Man's Land

19.

Philodendron is a plant that grows without care, you can keep it at your home and grow it in a small pot with tap water, that I think Vedant is to me. Courage is one thing that I get praised for quite alot but I think I'm mere a rose holding thorns in my stem, that is not courage. Philodendron has courage, those heart shaped leaves are the epitome of strength which I see in this man. As I said before, the guilt started to fade away much easily than I presumed and surprisingly...that doesn't make me a bad person either.

He fought with his father, the priest, for going against his will and believes when he asked Ravi chacha to donate him the painting of Hijaab girl that day in Baaji's Shradhh Kriya. He wanted to have that painting since he knew how much importance it holds in Baaji's as well as my life and that became the initial step for him towards his courageous rebellion. He left his home and enrolled himself in the music academy while doing the part time job as a Sanskrit teacher in a primary school. Vedant is the philodendron who would always make me cherish him even more since I know I need him more than he needs me.

He dropped me home and promised to meet me the next day.
Maaji was waiting for me when he loaded my stuffs out of the taxi. I ran into her and hugged her.

"Kaisa hai mera bachhaa.... We all missed you so much aiza.." my maaji said while patting her soft wrinkled hands on my back. I tightened my grip as if I was to lift her up. Vedant was standing behind us to bid us adieu.
We parted in a moment.

"Thank you beta, for receiving her." Maaji said to him and he respectively half bowed with a bright smile. That made me happier seeing two of my favourite people getting closer.
Suddenly I heard my mother's voice coming from inside "Aiza aa gyi kya...?" And she came running outside but stopped seeing me.
I was already welled up and she suddenly made a crying but angry face. Mothers are most innocent creatures on the earth, mind me, and I have read somewhere that all girls...end up being exactly like their mothers someday.

I hugged her and she pushed me for a while but...as if. We cried with her fist punching my back at first and then hugging me back completely continuously talking gibberish censored profanities to me while crying and all I could say was "I'm so sorry maa".
Its very easy to melt mothers, they have hearts of wax and that's the biggest tragedy of their motherhood life, each melted drop hurts them one way or the other.

It took me three hours with lots and lots of sorry(s) and thank you(s) and sobbing(s) and what not(s) to narrate them the whole story of my survival in Pakistan and the end of momina and kishore. My uncles were still unhappy about the fact that I buried their father's ashes on some Muslim's grave but that was okay, what is a family without any misunderstanding and disagreement. I was way too much contended to deal with all this. Baba wasn't present in anywhere of this gathering. Got to know that Ravi chacha had taken over all the responsibilities and positions of Baaji, be it the house or the clothe factory we have. It was started by baaji and handed almost to baba only but just so maaji won't feel too denied and sidelined, he never signed any legal handover so that Maaji's son, my uncles, could also have their share and rightful ownership. Now after him, I found that Ravi chacha equally shared the factory between him and Chandra Chacha, sidelining my baba altogether. I also heard that Maaji opposed this handover transaction but they didn't pay much heed to it. Amma told me that Baba was really upset but because he never ever said anything to anyone, he didn't say anything this time as well. He was mostly out of the house since he felt pretty much betrayed by my action as well. My family which used to be the best for me earlier, the most amazing grand family I had ever seen, was shattering into bits and pieces just after he died and I felt like I had to reconcile them all somehow for my personal trainer had trained me all my life for these unfinished significant businesses only.