A dark brown churidar and towel in her hand, she makes her way to the washroom to finish her morning routine. The overall exhaustion she felt had put her into an undisturbed sleep and had left her feeling physically better. But like ashes in a doused hearth, the lingering embers of her ache remain, reminding her of how fragile she actually is! She has stood tall against all the challenges thrown her way yet this tempest in her life has indented an affliction on her psyche, wrangling the part of her that she has always kept at bay - the part that is so tragically human that it wouldn't have survived if she hadn't, the part that holds her deepest insecurities and the scars of rejection she has time and again faced and known, commencing right from her father's abandonment of her mother. It is the fate of a lotus blooming in mud, forever detested for its origin, forever disdained for its uniqueness despite and forever envied for the purest hue of beauty and color it still manages to imbibe and she is the lotus. She has time and again survived the taunts, the disdain, the pitiful gazes and more than everything, she has survived Nakli Nani. She is the lotus, her color a pulchritudinous shade of pink visible to the world to envy, praise and try to curb while everything precious and delicate lies within, invisible to the eye, something fundamental in her that cannot be purged but can be bruised repeatedly. It is the curse of beauty of any kind, a companion called pain or anguish and this tempest that has shifted the course of her life, has only acquainted her with the worst part of her companion.
So her armor falters against this, her Achilles' heel and all she can do is tie the nail piercing the heel tightly because she cannot remove it nor can she push it further. All she can do, as her fate says, is tie the pain inducing object tighter and walk with it, bearing however deep it cuts in, making what is here to stay a habit because that is the only way she can move ahead! So she takes a deep, fortifying breath and steps under the shower, preparing to face the day!
_
"How could she have been this irresponsible!" Aparna wonders, slapping her forehead. The post wedding rituals were to begin in some time which meant she had arrived in the kitchen to get some milk for the ring finding rasam only to discover they were running short on milk! It wouldn't have been a problem had their nearest store from where they usually procured the milk packets wasn't shut today but considering it is, it is a huge problem! She groans wondering what is wrong with her. The amount of mistakes she has made in this wedding has been more than she has in any other.
Imlie enters the kitchen and sees Aparna standing near the fridge, worry writ on her face. Her own brows furrowing at that expression on her Choti Kaki's face right before the commencement of the post wedding rituals, she asks
"What has happened Choti Kaki? Why do you look so tensed?"
"Oh Imlie, I have become so irresponsible! There is not much milk in the house. How will the ring finding happen now?"
"What does milk have anything to do with ring finding? And wait a minute, what ring finding? Which ring is lost Choti Kaki?" she asks, throughly confused.
"Arey pagal, no ring is lost. I am talking about the ring finding ceremony that is a post marriage ritual. In a vessel full of milk and rose petals, a ring is put. The newly weds have to search for the ring. Whoever gets it first is said to have more love for the other. In some cultures, it is also said to show who is more dominant ie. whose word shall hold more" Aparna explains.
"Oh Accha!"
"Haan! Toh ab doodh kahan se laaye! Paas waali dukaan band hain and last moment pe kahan se...." Aparna begins talking rapidly in tension.
("Yes, so from where should I get milk. The closest store is shut and at the last moment where....")
"Arey Choti Kaki, stop! Why fear when Imlie is here! I'll get milk for you don't worry and it will not take more than half an hour. I'll be right back" she says and runs out of the kitchen.
Though not sure how she will manage, Aparna already feels the tension leaving her. Her heart warms with love and affection for this girl who has been like a godsend, always handling everything so wonderfully. This little angel whose entry into their lives has made things better.
Her smile turns melancholic as another thought comes to her mind. That void can never be filled but a mother's heart is large enough to hold space for more without replacing one. Imlie has already made her heart expand and she now occupies the same space her children do.
_
When she had been at the backseat of Rupi Didi's scooter when they were headed to the Chaturvedi house, her eyes had taken in the view of the city all around -the roads, the footpaths, the traffic, the roadside vendors, small and big shops, the beggars, the vehicles and so much more. She had also spotted cows at the side of road. Fascination and awe had been inadequate to name what she felt then.
Now sitting again behind Rupi Didi, clutching a big, lidded steel vessel, she looks around to spot the place where she had seen a few cows in what looked like a modified cowshed. It takes them 6 minutes and they reach there. She jumps off the scooter and rushes in, understanding the urgency of the situation. Rupali parks the scooter and follows her in. Curiosity and amazement dance on her face when she spots Imlie bending down near a cow, all the while whispering something with a comforting smile on her face. What she proceeds to do next leaves Rupali even more amazed and she too crouches down to see how milking the cow is done. She is also convinced by a lively Imlie to try once herself and it truly is a different experience!
_
They reach back home right in time. Imlie pours the milk into the vessel followed by rose petals even as Rupali describes to everybody just how they had procured the milk. It leaves everyone impressed at the ingenuity of this young girl, even Aditya.
Malini moves towards Imlie and takes her into a warm hug. This girl she has so much affection for, whom she sees as her younger sister has been helping her, saving her, giving her everything!
"Imlie, thank you so much! Thank you for making every ritual so much more memorable and beautiful. Thank you for handling everything. You have given me your everything and I can't express how grateful I am for all of it!" Malini says, happy tears in her eyes.
Imlie smiles and shakes her head in a no even as she says
"You don't have to thank me for something I did out of love for you Malini Didi! And you don't have to be grateful for anything! Infact it's me who should thank you. Thank you for seeing me worthy enough to be your younger sister and thank you for giving me such a beautiful relationship."
Their bond, pure, real and unknown to them blood bound, brings happy smiles on all the faces present there and brings about a realisation in Aditya - that the bond he hadn't wanted forming for valid reasons has become something that transcends superficial bonding. It has become a bond that shall stay forever and he accepts to himself that he does not wish it over now either. Because this bond of theirs, this love of theirs, is so real and unconditional and one which brings them both happiness.
PS: typed in hurry again. Long update. Ignore the errors.
Love,
Pratyusha
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Lakeerein - Ties That Bind Us
Fanfiction------ Can Be Read As General Fiction ------ One night. One event. Lives of two people altered completely. When Aditya Kumar Tripathi, Chief Executive Reporter at Bhaskar times stepped into Pagdandiya and met Imlie, he did not know how his life woul...
