समय

Ek Mulakat

Few days passed by, Malik mansion was again filled with people who went missing suddenly for ages. Of course the grieve of losing the most important individual of the family was still there. But Noor was somewhere relived from the pain by seeing her grand daughter and daughter living with her under the same roof after so many years.

When her husband was alive, It was their daily banter about how they can convince Haseena to come back to their mansion and live there again like her old version. The aura of old Haseena Malik was indeed something deep and intense that went missing suddenly and made the whole mansion drawn towards unusal darkness afterwards.

As Noor was explaining everything to her daughter, tears welled up in her eyes. She said,

"Ham jante hai beta, aap yaha nahi rehna chahti.. aur wajah ham ya aapke abbu nahi hai yai bhi jante hai.. lekin ek bat jarur kahenge isse pehele aap jane ki bat kare...

Noor stood up from her place standing near the window looking at the beautiful setting sun. She continued,

"Akhari sans tak aapke abbu ne umeed nahi chori thi ki aap yaha aayenge, unki Don Malik banke aap ek din phirse aayengi.. Aur yai haweli phirse khushi yon se khil khila uthegii... Bas janese pehele apne Abbu ki akhari khwaish hi samajh lijiyega...".

Noor wiped her tears looking back towards her daughter. Haseena had no words to express her inner storm at the moment. The guilt of not being able to see her father in his last moments had been already killing her and now that His last wish too belonged to her was making her restless.

Haseena started feeling suffocating due to so many thoughts running around in her mind. She couldn't answer her mother nor She knew what to do. Her mind, her words nothing was really supporting her. She decided to leave the room.

"Ham abhi aye Ammi...", She said and left the room with a speed of light going towards the rooftop.

As soon as She reached the rooftop, She drastically inhaled all the air She needed that moment. She was panting heavily, as if a lump blocking the oxygen support to her body. She tried her best to normalize herself while finding a place to sit nearby.

"Ammi? Aap thik hai?", Rukhmani followed her mother and asked right away coming infront of her.

Haseena wasn't in state to speak anything as She just held her daughter closer pulling her into a tight hug. She started crying.

Rukhmani was indeed shocked and a bit clueless on how to handle the situation but instead asking anything, or disturbing her mother with her curiosity She just stayed there hugging back her mother tightly.

"Sshhhhhh its okay Ammi... everything's going to be fine... Rukhmani aapki itni achhi beti aapke sath haina.. phie aapko kisi bat ki fikar karne ki jarurt nahi hai... Ammi aur Rukhmani sab sambhal lenge... Shant ho jaiye...", She whispered while patting her mother's back softly.

After a while, both of them settled down on the chairs on the roof, Rukhmani was patiently waiting for her mother to be calm first. She brought some water for her mother saying,

"Lijiye aap thoda pani pi lijiye...". Haseena took a sip of water from the glass and looked towards her curious kid. She put away the glass and grab the little one closer making her sit on her lap and said, "I am sorry princess, Hamari zid ki wajahse aap aapke Nanu ke sath jyada wqt nahi bita payi... Aur ab jab wqt chala gaya hai ham aapke wo din wapis nahi la pa rahe hai".

"Ammi, lekin ham toh nanu se kafi close hai. Aur hamesha rahenge isme aapki galati kaise hue. Aap toh hamare liye jo achha hai wahi karte ho and I know Ms Haseena Malik can never be wrong!!", Rukhmani answered with a quick peck on Haseena's cheek.