Tum Kaafi Ho ✓

t w e n t y n i n e. mothers and daughters and choices

t w e n t y  n i n e. mothers and daughters and choices

Jugnu had always dreamed of a life where her mother was a main character. 

She prayed for a day where her mom was happy, living her life, doing what she wanted and never worrying about anything. All she had seen her mother do was work and slave for money and a roof over their head. Even when she was a little kid, all her memories of her mother was she tirelessly working and coming home with a smile.

A tiring smile, yet a smile nonetheless.

Jugnu liked that smile, but ever since she saw the photograph of her mother laughing like she was the King of the world, Jugnu wanted more. She wanted her mother to be happy, even more than the old videos and photographs, the tales and the memories.

Coming to Delhi was a decision she made solely because she wanted her mother to be herself, even if it was just for ten days. At first, it seemed impossible for her to get her mother out of her shell. But, one man had made it seemingly possible and even effortlessly work his way through her mother's stony exterior.

RK aka Reyansh Khurana, was the man who held the key to her mother's happiness. 

She did not know what happened between them, but she knew they once loved each other. Why else was she be on Earth if it wasn't for their love? But, then, she also knows that her father abandoned them, if not, why was he missing since the last eight years of their lives? 

Jugnu did not know the specifics, but she knew that Reyansh had left with Pranati's happiness.

And if Reyansh was the way to get her mother to be happy again, then should she not try to get them together? Even if it meant to be with a man who left her before she was born, who left her mother to struggle to eat two meals, who ran away from them and to them.

Jugnu smiled as she waved at her mother who was looking elegantly prettier with the intricate henna on her palms. And then she looked over at her supposed father, who was helping the family men to serve the drinks and the snacks. She witnessed Reyansh help Pranati drink water, his hand on her shoulder and his eyes constantly pasted on the pretty woman. 

SherKhan. 

He was not half as bad as she thought. Yes, he was a child in many ways, but he was exactly how she was. And she liked him, why wouldn't she? He was funny, witty and had a way with his charm. But more than that, he understood her and her mother, in ways they never did. And he had one thing Jugnu craved her entire life.

A family.

They looked picture perfect. She had proof of it when she clicked a few pictures of them and sighed, eyeing the screen. 

And a thought crossed her mind, what if Reyansh had always been there for them. What if she never had to witness her mother struggling? And what would it be to stay and grow in a loving, happy family with parents who loved each other? And not be miserably poor growing up, struggling for everything.

Her heartbeats dropped when another thought crossed her mind, a darker, bitter thought.

What if she was never born? 

Jugnu hated that question. Why was she thinking any of this? She did not like how sad it made her feel and how crazy she felt for thinking about being non-existence. 

"Jugz!" Reyansh called out to the girl who was lost in her thoughts, "come here, show your mother how pretty henna will look on your tiny hands!" 

Jugnu absentmindedly walked towards her parents who made her sit in between them, Jugnu looked at her mother who was smiling so fondly at her and then at her father who had asked for a henna tube and was now drawing on her hand. She hated the smell of henna, but she loved the warmth she was wrapped in at the moment.