Tanhaiyan | neirohi

16. never found

She looked into the mirror.

A woman in ordinary grey saree with golden borders, stared back at her. Eyes sucken, hair strands turning a shade lighter and lips pursed into a stern line. Her regality and actions stood out; never questioned when right, never questioned wrong.

The wrinkles were more prominent. Her time was about to end.

Immobile was she. Her walking stick of no use. Wrapped in layers of comfy quilts, she was tending to be more forgetful these days. In fact, few days ago a young man (quite handsome as well) had come to meet her. Apparently, he was a doctor and had come to give her a routine check-up. He could be a good choice for a son-in-law, she had mused.

"I have a granddaughter, Keerti. She's well-raised and grounded. Had she not been married off to the Bansals already, I would've given you a shot."

She let out, hinting the obvious. To her dismay, even if the dashing doctor gave her a smile, the young girl standing next to him and her own son Manish, had their eyes bulged out. The girl dragged the doctor outside while her doting son adjusted her pillow and sat by her side, his hand nestled in hers.

When did her son grow so old?

She carrased his hair lightly and whispered, "Manish, hamare Kittu ki shaadi ho rahi hain. He was just a toddler, how did he grow up so fast?"

At that the man in his seventies broke down and Suhasini Goenka busied herself in wiping off those salty tears.

Memories make people; memories break people.

°

Had it not been for the off-tune zindagi sawar doon, she wouldn't have batted an eyelash. However, a cartoon's theme song going around in her bedroom did get her up from her sleep. The young doctor who came back home after a week almost, and that too at six in the morning, had dunked into her familiar bed straightaway. Of course, after a shower. Microbes were uninvited.

And now, just an hour later she was up. Blinking her eyes, she was definitely confused. All of a sudden, it did not seem like her house anymore.

Her home would never have Doremon being played at seven in the morning.

The voice ceased into whistling as the her line of sight fell on the person shoving his laptop into his office-bag. Unamused, she groggily coughed out, "Doremon? Really?" which earned her a very typical chamgadar grin. The one which tells you in an instant, there's something more to it. Silly or not, definitely something more to it.

Rolling her eyes, she set out on her mission to fall asleep again, stuffing her face into the pillow. She could hear his voice across the room again, "Chipkali, get up!" which only made her cover her ears with the pillow she had. Sandwiched between two pillows, she was agitated by the time she heard his third call.

"Let me sleep! I came back just an hour ago!"

"Sleep. After you have your breakfast. No skipping meals."

"Okay Akshu."

"Cruelty to animals has a hefty fine and 5 year jail period. Starvation included, chipkali."

She got rid of her pillows and yawned. It did take her another two minutes to make out what he said. No worries, when she did her first step was to aim for the person's head with the pillow. To hell with non-violence! And yes, she did deserve to be an NBA star. Perfect shot. He was caught by surprise. Poor fellow was sitting on the other side of the bed, pulling up his socks.