THE STORY OF LIFE | A 21ST CENTURY RAMAYANA

BROKEN EMOTIONS

Urmila was convulsed. She sat alone in her room, sobbing with her head between her knees.

Lakshman. How he had told her not to leave him and go, but she had not listened. She was upset, real upset. And then after seeing Siya in that state, her eyes were awaiting a healthy glimpse of her.

At least a glimpse of her, just once more.

She heard voices. Yells and screams and banging of doors. And that too from the next room; Siya's room.

Had she come back?

Urmila was about to call her, but she thought, what if Raghavan listening to her decided to separate them? After all, he didn't know that they were aware of each others presence.

She waited for the noise to settle down. When she felt so after a minute or two, she called out softly,

"Siya Di?"

There was no response. She called out once again.

"Di?"

She heard soft moans and the voice of another lady. Maybe it was Siya's caretaker, or whatever she could be called.

Urmila sat back quietly. She assessed with her quick mind that Siya had come back but she was being kept under a strict watch. Urmila sat with her back against the wall and looked up dryly.

Never in her wildest dreams had she imagined, that this could have happened to her family. That she had to wait and hide and look for an opportunity just to talk to her very own sister.

Yes, it pained her. But she had no option. Whilst she was at this place, she had to calculate every act of hers so that Siya wouldnt be harmed. Fate's game had interwoven them.

She thought about her life back home. Her doting parents who never the shadow of evil touch them. They were loved and pampered and cherished. But she left not even an inch less of that in the Suryavanshi house. Her brother -in- laws and Mothers and Her Late Father in Law, all looked after them so lovingly. And though she had a slight pinch of a bruise at Kraanti, she forgave her afterwards. A mothers heart her was that drove her to such an extent.

And Lakshman. How the two met, who seemed poles apart but actually were the most alike. His teasing, his habit of needing her for everything ... How she missed those moments. His touch on her, his breath, everything.

Her heart broke to think of Siya and Ram. Her Ram Bhaiyya was her ideal, the brother she finally had in her life and was fiercely possessive of. And Siya Di and his heart matched universally.

They were just so, made for each other. Seeing them, the young ones had kept the spirit of love high in them. And now, they were torn miles apart .

Urmila broke out of her trance. She heard voices again in Siya's room. Maybe Siya was talking to someone.

She waited anxiously and counted every second.

Finally, it all fell silent.

She pushed herself ahead more towards the balcony. She cleared her throat and said,

"Siya Di? Are you there?"

Siya Di heard a fumble from the other side and moved there as soon as Trijana left after feeding her.