Fanaa - Destroyed in Love - A Swasan FF

4 # The Shopping Trip

"One can be the master of what one does, but never of what one feels." -   

                                                                                                                              Gustave Flaubert                                                                                                                                       

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The afternoon sun beat down on the Eon as Sanskaar drove away from Little Flowers. He turned the AC up as he swung out onto the main road.

He had dropped in for a visit after a half-day session at his office and business over lunch. It was good, the timing of his visit. He'd just gone over the finances with Father Benedict. Little Flowers needed his help, and about time too. The building where the kids were housed was way overdue for repairs. He decided to get a structural audit done. And made another decision that Maheswari Inc wouldn't foot the bill, he would.

He liked the idea that he could do something for those children, that they needed his help in some way. He smiled as he thought of them. They came in varying degrees of mischief...sweet little devils. Every single one that he ran into today wanted to know if his shoulder was alright now, and one poked him just to make sure, equal parts glee and concern. 

And the recent addition to their family, an angel baby girl. Whom Father Benedict had named Angel, aptly. He'd seen her once in one of the nuns' arms when stopped for a quick hello. She had looked right at him and smiled. The world lit up with that smile, and he knew he was being dazzled... When the nun tickled her chin, her laughter gurgled through the church, and some of the other kids ran up to play with the baby. Their excitement was catching, and they made him shake hands with the tiny form. He remembered the feeling of absolute delight when she smiled at him again, the kids delight in his, and the knowledge that they had accepted him into their little world...

He shook his head in wonder as he turned a corner. That was an orphanage he'd just been too. And there was unconditional acceptance, boundless joy and laughter there. No matter where they lived and in what circumstances, children had so much capacity for love and joy, and were unfailingly generous in the giving of it...

Then he remembered the one person he didn't meet that afternoon. Their cricketer Didi with chocolate brown eyes: Swara...

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He caught himself thinking of her again, as he had so many times the past two weeks. Once for every twinge. In remembrance, he flexed his left shoulder. He had to miss the gym for a few days, but it was fine now. Funny little thing, he thought as he remembered her profuse apologies and big doe eyes and child-like innocence. And so many smiles. He smiled again.

Just then his phone rang. He switched on the handsfree. "Yes mom," he turned the radio down. "Ha ma, aa jaunga dinner pe time ko." He shook his head in loving exasperation. Typical of mom... And then she made his day, all over again. "Uttara?!"

He parked on the curb, took his shades off. "Wow, that's great news Ma...kab aa rahi hai wo? Kal? Of course Ma, me khud jaunga usse lene...Ha dhyan se drive karunga. OK, Ma, see you soon. Love you," he clicked off, then started the car again.

Uttara, D/o ram Prasad and Sujata, his chacha and chachi. He hadn't seen her in two years...he missed her. He missed pulling her pigtails, he missed having her nag him for small favours, their little fights and her complaints to Bade Papa. And how he used to pacify her with chocolates...He started the car back up, smiling widely. His little sister was coming home. And if she thought he didn't get her anything when she came home after so long - he grinned, thinking of the pouts she'd give him and the razzing he'd give her. Good, he took the rest of the day off, he thought. He would have time to pick some gifts for her. And his new Eon was camouflage enough for the impromptu shopping, just like it was for his trips to little flowers. The Eon's engine didn't have the robust purr of the sports cars he was used to, but it did well enough for his errands. And it was inconspicuous. No one would imagine Sanskaar Maheswari driving around in a little Eon, he thought, just a little smug. Now, what would he get her...?