Without speaking a word, Aishani quickly bend down to touch Shilpi's feet when she was stopped midway.
"What are you doing Aishani? Stop right there." She exclaimed completely perplexed by the younger one's actions.
"Why Didi? Can I not pay you some respect? Do you not consider me family?" She asked almost tearing up.
"Hey hey when did I say that? You are my younger brother's wife. The Lakshmi of this house. How can I not consider you family? But you don't need to touch my feet everytime we meet. You already did that when Bhai and you came to meet me earlier." Shilpi explained cupping Aishani's cheeks as Aishani smiled between her light sniffles.
"Anyways what brings you here now?" Shilpi enquired putting her hand on Aishani's shoulder.
"Didi, actually.." Aishani fumbled as she looked around everywhere anxiously swaying from one feet to the other.
"What happened dear?" Shilpi asked again but with an endearment trying tk calm Aishani down.
"Didi can we talk?" She spoke finally giving in.
"Ofcourse, come inside." Shilpi acknowledged, smiling at the cute antics of her sister in law.
"Sit here." Shilpi made Aishani sit on the small wooden bunk in her room while she settled herself on her mat.
"Didi, Why are you sitting on the floor? Please come sit with me." Aishani got up concerned.
"Aishani. I'm a widow now, Widows don't sit or sleep on beds. I'm comfortable here don't worry." Shilpi assured her.
"Ok then I'll also sit on the ground." Aishani replied settling herself on the mat.
"But you're Saree will be soiled. It seems new."
"Didi.." Aishani whined glaring at Shilpi.
"Okay okay. Sit babah(an endearment)." Shilpi said giving in as she chuckled at Aishani's pouted face.
Just as their banter ended, Aishani held Shilpi's hands and squeezed them softly looking at her emphatically. Shilpi's hair were dishevelled while her eyes looked bloodshot.
"Didi. I've heard a lot about since the day I stepped into this household. Your brother missed you everyday and told me so many stories about you. Maa told me how much you'd sacrificed for this little family. Baba used to silently cry everyday remembering you. There was a not a single day where these people didn't miss you. Although I never saw you, the things I heard about you were enough for me to admire you, Didi." She said looking directly into her eyes with pure admiration and respect.
Shilpi smiled painfully, not sure how to feel. Her inner turmoil didn't let her express or feel any emotion at that time.
"Thank you for letting me know about these Aishani, you know I missed them too. Everyday every night every second, their memory was the only reason of my survival. Otherwise.." She trailed gazing away.
"Didi did you want to be a Sati?" Aishani asked in a low and hesitant voice, uncertain of how the elder woman might feel. Shilpi looked back at her with a stoic and cold expression. Not being able to decipher the meaning behind it Aishani started apologizing for asking that question.
"I'm so sorry Didi, it was very insensitive of me to ask you that. Please forgive me."
"Don't apologise Aishani. You indeed asked a very important question. But unfortunately I'm yet to decipher it's answer. You know, since my childhood days, one thing that I feared the most was Death. The fear was so intense that I'd used to ask out for ways to be immortal to my elders. Once one a girl a few years older than me tricked me into drinking a whole glass of neem juice because of my very irrational and childish beliefs and thoughts..." Shilpi chuckled softly remeniscing the old memory as she continued.
"But as I grew older, I knew it was indeed an unachievable task. So in my teenage years I just wished to not die a young death. But then, I got married. The initial few days of marriage were enough for me to quit that belief and just manifest for my death to arrive as soon as possible. But you know, though I felt the child Shilpi in me had faded away long back, astonishingly I still possessed bits and pieces of my younger self which was madly scared of Death. So I started surviving trusting on that little will and hope inside me."
"On the day I was being Sati. I tried to fight back those people with my last bone but my rational mind had already accepted the fate while the inner child kept rebelling. Not sure who won but I guess God definitely favored the young Shilpi a little more than older Shilpi, maybe for which I'm surving now." Shilpi finished with a sigh.
"Wow Didi. Spellbound would be a rather understating word to describe how speechless I'm right now. The words you spoke right now felt like it floated directly from the philosophical tragedies of maybe one of the greatest authors. Every word that left your mouth made one goosebump rise on my body. Didi I don't think I can console you or rather I feel I'm indeed a very ordinary person to comfort you but I just want to assure you that no matter what you feel, please never hesitate to share it to any of us. Personally, I'd be honoured to be that person." Aishani said softly, her eyes almost pooling up from tears, hinting at how deeply she felt Shilpi's words.
"You young lady, impress me so much. What are you? Sixteen? And yet you are so much aware of everything around you and handle every situation so well. My brother is definitely one lucky guy. Believe me or not, I cannot even imagine speaking so maturely at your age. Therefore, life had a thunderously hard way of making me grow up at one shot." Shilpi said while patting the younger one's shoulder.
Softly caressing her head, Shilpi finally pulled her into a warm comfortable embrace as Aishani reciprocated it back before curling her lips into a contented smile.
"Since, you're so grown up. Can I ask you a question?" Shilpi asked maintaining the embrace, a glimpse of mischief lacing her tone.
"What question Didi? I'm all ears." Aishani replied looking at her sister in law.
"Do you like my brother? How does he treat you?" Shilpi whispered in a teasing voice.
Aishani immediately straightened up, getting all worked up as her cheeks flushed while her fingers figdeted with the cloth of her saree.
"What are you trying to say Didi?" She asked flustered.
"You know like, is my baby brother being a good husband?" Shilpi asked.
"Ye-ah. He tel-ls me I'm very pret-ty an-d ho-olds my ha-ands sometimes. He als-o gives me a lot of books to read. H-e teaches me all the new words I see in those books. He-e is-s very go-od." Aishani managed to speak while fumbling and looking everywhere around her from time to time.
Shilpi chuckled loudly as she embraced Aishani yet again.
"You know little one. This is the first time in three years I laughed from the bottom of my heart. Thank you so much Aishani, I really needed this." Shilpi conveyed to her as Aishani flashed her a tooth grin.
YOU ARE READING
Butterflies
Romance"Go away. There was nothing between us." Tears brimming her eyes as her lips quivered in anguish and fear. Fear of losing someone whom she had been trying to hold onto. Tragedy was slowly creeping in her life yet again. He stood there silently, a...
