A ray of hope
Arya's family rebuked her for tonsuring her hair. Her in-Laws passed sarcastic remarks on her action. People made fun off her, but she stood hard as a rock. Her husband was clueless about her action.He stood like a statue, watching all that was going around . Arya never expected any support from him, because she had taken this decision wholeheartedly.
Last year, on 15th December, Aditi, Arya's and Pranav's only daughter lost her life towards blood cancer. Aditi was 5years old, when she was diagnosed with this deadly disease. Her parents sold whatever they could to get rid of it. They even approached a charitable trust which helped them with a few lacs. But money was never enough to meet her treatment.
Many shunned them away saying, they were fighting a lost battle. But they never let anything diminish their hope in Aditi. Arya spend most of her days in hospital playing and reading stories. Pranav couldn't afford to be with her except on Sunday's, since he would end up getting lesser pays for a days off.
Aditi played chess and other boardgames with kids within her ward.Once all of them got together they forgot their aches and pains, talked and giggled like there was no tomorrow. Seeing them cherishing this moment, bought smile to many sad faces. Many kids had their school friends dropping in so did Aditi. After a month long stay, the no. of visitors kept declining to zero.They were facing a huge cash crunch and were forced to take Aditi back home, but couldn't meet up to her requirements. The expensive medicines had to be skipped at times deteriorating her condition further.
During her last visit the doctor raised his hands up, with a countdown of 2weeks.They never let Aditi know about it.
Pranav took leave and sat beside her to make every single day memorable. Each day was planned with some activities. They celebrated her birthday in advance with close friends, a ride to her favorite spots across the city, visited few close relatives, and so on. Aditi had never been so happy in her life before. She requested her father to take her round the Ganpathi pandals of their area. The three of them booked a cab and went hopping from one pandal to the next. Suddenly , after her 4th visit, Aditi started feeling breathlessness and bid goodbye to the world. Their journey came to a halt.
Exactly after a year, on her death anniversary, her mother donated her lush black long hair to the cancer patients. Lack of money had snatched away their happiness from life. Arya wanted to do her bit for those who needed the most. Anyways, hair doesn't describe a person's beauty.
