Hum aur Tum

Part 11: Ruhi

I wake up earlier than Ishima today. She comes downstairs only after I have eaten my breakfast that Sheela didi had prepared for me.

“Good morning Ishima, how come you are not ready yet, you are usually gone by this time, do you have a night shift today?”

“Good morning bacha. Actually no, but I will go a little late today. I will go get ready in some time. I want you to get ready and come with me as well. Sheela didi has to go out later. Okay?”

I nod and rush into the room to get ready and Ishima joins me to get dressed as well.

“But what will I do all alone in your clinic Ishima, you will be so busy, wouldn’t you? Won’t I get bored?”

Ishima does not answer and simply tells me to get in the car quickly.
As Ishima drives, I see her taking a different route than that of her clinic. After a long time her car finally stops outside a huge entrance with a banner that says- “Welcome to the Adventure Park of your dreams!”

I cannot believe my eyes. Is this even real? Ishima has never even taken me out to a restaurant and today she is taking me to an Adventure park. Has she come to meet someone here or is she even my Ishima or someone else? I stare thunderstruck at her only to see her having a wide grin on her face.

We both get out of the car. I am still too shocked to ask her or tell her anything. Ishima excitedly buys two tickets for us and then she asks me, “are you ready to have the most fun adventure of your life Ruhi?”

I get so excited that I simply start shouting and jumping with joy. Some people around me even turn around and grin as they see me turn mad with excitement and happiness.
We first go into the bumper cars, then we ride on trampolines, mini quads, pedal Go-Karts, inflatable bouncers and even go on a huge roller coaster ride. We play mini golf and many other games. We take a lot of pictures with Winnie the pooh, Harry Potter characters and even a frozen Olaf was there. Ishima does not hesitate at all to have a lot of fun with me today. She even jumps into a huge pool of balls faster than me. At last, we end our adventure in the horror room where we laugh more rather than getting scared.

For the first time in my life I have so much fun and also see Ishima laugh and enjoy so much with me. I wonder what made her open up so much today. She feels like a changed woman, a changed Ishima.
The following week Ishima goes to work for only three days. We go to watch a movie, to painting classes and even swimming lessons that Ishima has previously abstained me from attending alone.

My birthday is approaching in a few days and I am very excited by thinking that this time Ishima will definitely plan something big for me. Previously, we only cut a small cake or sometimes Ishima is just busy in her clinic.
Some days before my birthday Ishima tells me, “I am so sorry Ruh, but it will be difficult for me to stay at home on Thursday. I got a lot of appointments lined up that day. What about you come and stay with me in the clinic and I’ll see if I can finish a little earlier and we can go out if I am not too tired.”

I sadly nod. This birthday is going to be so boring as well. A whole day in the clinic, where Ishima stays inside her cabin for most of the time and I can simply read books or magazines sitting there all alone.

…

“Hi Ruhi, good morning bacha. I hope you slept well. Happy Birthday to you my bacha. Ishima loves you so much. Thank you for coming in my life and making it better and so special. I only hope that you get all the happiness, good health and success in the world. May god bless you."

This is the most beautiful wish I ever got from her. She leaves a gentle kiss on my forehead and I hug her tightly. She tells me to freshen up and wear the new green outfit that she has bought for me today. We drive to her clinic and all of her  colleagues start wishing me happy birthday and thankfully they did not let me sit all alone this time. I have a lot of fun with them and Ishima only gets out of her cabin at four after staying inside it for the whole day. She looks exhausted and upon asking I tell her that I want to go home because Ishima definitely needs to take some rest.

After some twenty minutes, we reach into a pitch dark house and when Ishima switches on the light, I hear – “Happy birthday Ruhi!”

I am flabbergasted. All my classmates, all my friends, the neighbors, the aunties are here and I smile the widest when I see Raman Sir approaching me, “Happy Birthday Princess”, he says and leaves a kiss on my forehead, the same way Ishima did in the morning.
How did Ishima manage to do all this by staying at her clinic for so long? Was she actually in her cabin since the morning or was she preparing all this for me here?

Before I can ask her anything, she is already gone in the kitchen with Sheela didi and some other aunties and teachers to help serve us snacks. Even Raman Sir goes to help her. All my friends start wishing me and giving me gifts. Even before cutting the cake, I had gifts piling up in the corner of the room.

I am beyond thrilled to see a huge red velvet cake sitting on the middle of the table. Everyone start singing Happy Birthday while clapping and the cake tastes even more delicious than it looks. It is so yummy.
The gifts keep on increasing and increasing and we take a lot of pictures with everyone.

Finally at 10:30, the hall is almost empty. Only some neighbors and Raman Sir are left. After the neighbors leave even I start to help Ishima quickly clean up. Raman Sir says that he wants to stay here and help with the chores so that Ishima does not have to do every thing alone.