invisible string ✓

epilogue

FIFTY YEARS LATER...

"What's that, Mom?" was the first question Mayur Ahuja had asked when he saw his mother Advika Ahuja with a humongous, purple leathered book that looked heavy enough for a seventy-five-year-old to carry.

"Where's Dad?" Advika asked in her wobbly tone, her eyes pregnant with longing and love.

"Inside," replied Ryka Ahuja— Mayur's wife— as she looked back at the room with the door left ajar.

"Did he have his dinner?" Advika shot the question at Ryka, who looked back at her and nodded a yes.

Advika trudged towards the room with all might, her gaze shifting to and fro from the heavy book and the room. Her steps reduced to zero as she entered the room, seeing her husband Ishaan Ahuja seated on the wooden rocking chair near the open window that was cushioned with Ishaan's favourite The Beatles merchandise printed cushion which he received for his birthday ten years ago from Mayur and Advika.

She went near the bed that was opposite to him and sat on it, placing the book next to her. "Ishaan?" She called him out, receiving a warm look from him.

"Hi," he greeted back at her, his heart attempting to pull off a smile in order to not disappoint her.

"Guess what I brought for you!" She exclaimed with a merry smile as she carried the book in her hands. "Ta-da! So, I was cleaning our room this morning and found this book. And, I thought, why not show this to you?" She rambled as she looked down at the first page of the book, which had a picture of a motichoor ladoo stuck on it.

"You remember this?" She looked at his misty eyes and looked back at the picture after receiving no response from him which she anticipated. "Anyhow, you can't, right?" Letting out a bitter-yet-funny chuckle, she continued, "This was the laddoo you made to impress my parents. I still remember that day. It was the day after we reached Lucknow and it was in front of this laddoo that we had that initial conversation of convincing my parents. God, I still remember my dad's reaction after hearing how I met you. My mom, she had the most priceless reaction of the rest of them. She thought you were the human version of God. But, that was not all. One year of fervent attempts to convince my dad. And, finally, we were here!"

She showed him the second page where a picture of young Ishaan and Advika in matching pastel blue wedding dresses, looking at each with eyes that were reassured of love evermore with the pink evening sky as the witness of their love. "This is my favourite pic of us. After convincing our parents into our unconventional wedding since conventional ones are practically impossible, we got married with platinum rings and signing in a bond created by our parents with Aarvi and Aadya essaying the roles of our wedding priests. I was twenty-five and the most afraid one in the entire room, fearing what if the marriage breaks in the worst way. I mean, even people who get married traditionally end their married life for stupid reasons. What was the guarantee that we would survive all of the obstacles? Little did we know that we would be as strong as a rock for fifty years. People should take notes from us, huh!"

Turning to the next page, the corner of her eyes softened as her eyes fell on two pictures: one was the pic they captured at their honeymoon at Kanyakumari— of Ishaan's world— under the sunlight that had exposed itself while the other one was the picture of the couple with the four-year-old Mayur and seven-year-old Ryka, along with her parents Ved and Mehak.

Pointing at the last picture, she spoke up, "This picture was shot during Mayur's first birthday after adopting him from one of the orphanages of your world. You were so afraid that he wouldn't be able to accept us as his parents for all those holy love stories about us. But, he did accept us. He would still tell me that our love story was his favourite bedtime story ever since he heard them for the first time when he was twelve. Look how Ryka's eyes are full of heart. Ved and Mehak were so proud that someone had finally managed to maintain their legacy. We didn't know back then that she would be our daughter-in-law. Also..." Gripping his right hand with hers, she whispered, "Thank you for accepting the responsibility of taking care of Mayur while telling your world that you're single and that you're a guardian."