The family meeting has everybody assembling in the living room as soon as Imlie is taken away by Rupi for an errand after being briefed by Aparna. Once all of them excluding Adi since he was on an assignment assembled, Aparna gets to recalling the conversation with Imlie and her resolve to make the child feel accepted more than the moniker of a servant. The family wholeheartedly agrees. Not one of them saw Imlie as a servant and it was time she realised it too.
The first step towards this was by setting up the spare room for her. Not just setting up but personalising it for her. Hence began the discussion as all of them put forth their own ideas of how to make this possible for the child who had brought happiness and peace in this house.
_
The room was first cleared of all the boxes and the stuff that had been haphazardly placed. Aparna and Nidhi then get to scrubbing the place clean while Radha tasks Harish and Pankaj with getting the needed things from the market. Malini is tasked with getting Imlie's things ready and also cataloguing as she does, what their child might need later on as they all know, she will never ask for it.
As Nidhi and Aparna sweep and mop the place, Malini enters the saree corner, a fond smile on her face at the ingenuity of the saree door, something she hasn't taken the time to observe or appreciate yet. Her eyes scan the small space Imlie has made her own - her potli neatly packed and kept aside, her mattress clean with the bedsheet tucked in and the creases removed, an idol of whom she can only assume as Devi Sita as that is who Imlie reveres is placed on the shelf, a red chunri over it and a diya lit in front of it. There are few trinkets on the lower shelf, stuff she does not know the significance of but that makes her feel fond anyways as she can sense Imlie's essence even in this small set up of things.
She gathers her potli and the few loose items and keeps it near the room which will soon be hers. Another two trips later, all Imlie's stuff is by the door of the room, waiting to be taken in and arranged.
_
The room is clean and sparkling by the time Harish and Pankaj return with the items. The women then get to decorating the room with new white curtains and fairy lights. The theme they decided on is a beach and they work to make the same. The walls are decorated with wallpapers of sand while Nidhi and Malini get to paint the ocean waves and sea shells, adding more details as they allow their imagination to take wings.
Pankaj and Harish get to setting up the hammock and the cozy tent themed mattress set-up to go with the theme. The hammock is plain white, attacked using hooks hammered on two walls, right beside the window diagonally. The tent-themed mattress set-up is set up towards the other end, factoring in the vastu of the place. The roof of it is a cascading sheer white material with embroidered stars and sea shells. The bedsheet and pillow cover set they put for the mattress compliments it with its light blue and white combination.
On the mantle close to the shelf is where Devi Sita's idol is kept. At the farther end, is a stand where bags and miscellaneous things can be hung. The cupboard is an inbuilt one and her potli is placed inside without opening it as they did not wish to intrude on her privacy.
Aparna and Radha add stars to the ceiling to resemble a night sky, joy lighting up their features. It felt like they were young again, a house full of kids they were left wracking their brain for, to enthrall them with out of the box ideas.
The dressing table was a pale blue color and they furnished it with basic cosmetics like talcum powder, face cream, kajal, deodrant and perfume. Resolved to buy her more specific products once she tries the ones they have given her because they don't know what suits her yet, they stock the storage cabinet of the same with bath soaps, shampoo and body lotions.
The drawer has rubber bands of different colors along with hairpins and a container to keep bindi packets. Nidhi also places a few lipsticks and nail polish.
They then place some simple ornaments from their collection like chain and earrings as well as a pair of anklets in a neat container.
"We can buy her bangles based on what color and what she likes. I have only seen her wear two silver bangles but she did love the glass bangles I gave her to wear during one of the wedding festivities" Aparna says with a smile to which all of them agree.
The last touches to the room are the carpet in shades of blue put in the center of the room and a foot rug just outside the door.
Once done, the family looks upon their handiwork with joy and pride. The basic set up had been done and now all they needed was to take Imlie shopping to add the needed things to fully stock the room.
_
Imlie really did not understand the need to have been dragged for this random task that did not even require her assistance. Not that she minds accompanying Rupi mind you. She is just a little bored from staring at the wall while her Rupi Di wraps up some printing errands. When mentally counting forwards and backwards did not help, she begins cataloguing her surroundings and judging everything right from the color patterns to the people around, savage commentary playing in her mind. It is indeed a fun experience but there is only so long that it can last. A restlessness begins to bloom in her and looks outside, her legs tapping rhythmically on the ground.
This is when her eyes catch the sight of a balloon man right outside, loudly calling in to buy balloons. While the idea of balloons does have her excited like a small child, it is the blue and silver balloons that have her intrigued because those are not the usual colors of balloons sold on the street. She has seen only red and pink ones whenever a balloon man wandered past their village or whenever tourists visiting their mela left behind the balloons they had procured enroute, their children finding more colourful things to play with.
Eyes lit up, she makes her way to the balloon man.
"Kitne ka hain bhaiyya?"
("What is the cost for this brother?")
""Das rupaye ke hain behen"
("These are for 10 rupees sister ")
"Oh great! Do dijiye, ek blue and ek silver "
("Oh great! Give me two, one blue and one silver")
He nods his head and pulls out the two balloons while she removes a twenty rupees note from inside her churidar pocket, a small stash for a rare indulgence. She hands him over the note, thanking him and moves back to where she came from only to come face to face with a worried Rupali.
"Arey where had you gone off without telling me? I was getting so worried" she says and her concern makes Imlie feel touched alongside the pang of guilt at making her worry.
"I had just gone to get this balloon. I'm so sorry Di, I couldn't stop myself. I didn't intend to make you worry" she says.
"Arey pagal, you don't have to apologise or feel bad for buying yourself a balloon! Next time, just tell me you are headed out. You're new to the city Imlie and while I know you are capable of taking care of yourself, it's always better to stick close. You never know what danger awaits you, especially as a woman!" Rupali explains, caressing Imlie's head with affection.
"I understand Di. I'll let you know before I go anywhere" Imlie replies and Rupi pulls her into a hug.
"So ghar chale?"
("So can we go home?")
"Chalo!!" she says joyously and the two giggle together as they make their way towards where Rupi's scooter is parked.
("Come!")
*Not proofread*
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...
