Kahaaniyan: Moran OS Collection

12- Khichdi: A Tale Of Confusion

KHICHDI: A TALE OF CONFUSION:

"#Hello", Chitra cooed. She knelt down in front of the toddler, holding her hand out in a handshake.

It was the three year reunion of their graduation and the cadets had met after a fairly long time. They had of course, worked as civilians and occasionally, gotten calls from Colonel Batra for missions. Between their jobs and missions, they had barely gotten time to catch up with others.

The toddler stuck her thumb in her mouth, sucking as she smiled adorably. She waved, smiling shyly.

"#Aww", she said. "Aapke Mumma Papa kaun hai?"

She stared back, just smiling as she sucked on her thumb.

"Aap kiske saath aaye ho?"

She pointed to someone, and Chitra looked up, following her finger. Her eyes widened. Monami?

Monami was a mother?

"Kavya", Karan called, and the toddler looked up. He hadn't noticed Chitra talking to her, and he gestured to her to come to him. "Kavya, come here, baccha."

The toddler ran up to him, and Karan picked her up in his arms, leaving Chitra staring with wide eyes.

They hadn't talked a whole lot but Monami and Karan hadn't even told them about their daughter?

---x---x---x---x---x---x---x---x---

Bala paused as he heard the sound of a child crying. He glanced around, before following the noise, looking around and seeing a toddler.

She was sitting on the floor, rubbing her eyes and crying.

"Yeh baccha kiska hai?" He muttered. He walked closer, kneeling down. "Aapke Mummy Papa kahan hai?"

She stared at him, her sobs dying down a little. Bala stared at her expectantly, and she stared right back. She opened her mouth, and let out a scream that made him fall back, clutching his ears.

"Iss ambulance ko koi chup karao warna mujhe ambulance ki zaroorat padh jayegi", he said, as her screams continued.

"Kavya", a voice called, and they quietened down almost immediately.

Sanju appeared and the toddler stood up, running to her and hugging her. Bala's jaw dropped and he stared at the two.

Sanju picked her up, wiping her tears. "Bola tha, na, idhar udhar naa jaana", she scolded lightly. "Chalo."

She rubbed her back comfortingly, as the toddler hiccupped a little from her crying session, failing to notice a shocked Bala.

"Sid Bhai ji ka baccha hai?" He said. "Aur unhone bataaya bhi nahi?"

---x---x---x---x---x---x---

"Pehle, dekhiye, aap aur Koel kitna ladti thi", Prem ji said "Ab dekhiye."

Suman ji smiled. "Ab dekho, Karan Sir ji aur Monami bhi toh ek doosre se kitni nafrat karte the, aur Sanju madam Sid se, par ab unki shaadi ho gayi hai."

"Satyavachan", he said.

A toddler's laughter made them pause, and they both peeked into Koel and Faizi's room, their jaw dropping open. Koel, Faizi and Nikhil were playing with a toddler and she shrieked with laughter as Nikhil chased her around.

"Kavya, main aa raha hoon", he said, wriggling his fingers and running behind her.

"Mumma", she screamed suddenly, laughing.