Second Innings

Chapter 2

Chaitanya had a busy day at his new research lab. It was his first day and he had taken his own sweet time to get acquainted with his colleagues today. He had to shift to Mussoorie in the coming week and he was pretty excited for his journey. As a child, he had always dreamt of exploring the wildlife in the woods of the Himalayas and he was glad that finally he was getting a chance to fulfil his dream.

He was looking forward to an eventful evening, after all, he was meeting his best friend, Mayank today. It had been ten years, he had not met his bestie and he missed the time he had spent with him. Ironically, he had been terribly busy four years ago when his best friend was getting married. Today, he was excited to meet Mayank and his wife.

As soon as he ignited the engine of his car, his phone rang. He sighed, looking at the caller-ID. It was his sister, Sneha calling him.

"Bhai, you will be coming home, right?", chirped Sneha from the other end.

Taking a deep breath, he replied, "I am busy, Sneha". His family stayed in Delhi, but he had never visited them since last ten years. He missed them each day but he could never forget that his own family had scarred him for lifetime. The pain he had got was indeed, unbearable.

Sneha missed her brother after all, he had not attended her wedding too. "Bhai, Ma and Pa wants to meet you", she pleaded.

"Why don't you bring them at Leela's? Let's have a dinner tomorrow." He spoke nonchalantly as he drove his car out of the parking lot. He had visited India a lot many times but he had always avoided to meet his family using the same dialogue.

"Aren't you busy for the dinner?", his sister scorned.

"As you wish". Chaitanya drove towards Mayank's apartment while he mind wandered in the lanes of nostalgia, missing the lovely moments he had spent with his family, years ago.

"Come home for once, bhai", Sneha pleaded and incredulously, he muttered, "I don't want to talk about this, Sneha".

"Everyone wants to see you, bhai". The pleading went to deaf ears.

"We have already had a discussion on this, Sneha", Chaitanya replied and continued to drive towards the Barakhambha road where Mayank resided.

"Bhai, please", he heard and got pissed off.

"Bye, Sneha", he muttered.

"Bhai, you need to stop running away". Sneha huffed in anger. She was craving to meet her brother while Chaitanya had his self-respect. She could fathom her brother's pain but at the same time, she could not see her old parents wanting to meet their younger son.

"You don't have to school me", Chaitanya yelled.

"For God's sake, it has been ten years, bhai". She cried in desperation, only to receive an incredulous and heartless, 'I don't care', from Chaitanya.

"But we do, bhai", she spat angrily.

Chaitanya was done with the conversation. Gritting his teeth, he angrily yelled at his sister. "Stop this nonsense. Both you and I know that you guys don't."

"Bhai, can you stop being selfish for a while? For God's sake, Ma and Pa are growing old and they miss you. It has been ten years, bhai." With tears in her eyes, Sneha requested her brother to shun his self-respect and let bygones be bygones. Their parents were growing old each day. Their parents missed Chaitanya and they wanted to redeem their mistakes but their son was not ready to see them yet.

"They have their favorite children and a complete family. Why do they need me?" Chaitanya spat, masking his pain with anger.

Sneha could not take it anymore. Breaking down, she wept, "Bhai, we miss you." Hiccupping, she remembered the good old days, "Pa misses his naughty kid every day who used to pull his cap in the winters every time and Ma cries to sleep every night, craving to see you once."