HER LAST WISH

Part 40

I shifted back to Noida with my parents after a few days. Life was not the same.Everything had changed. Only one person made us alive – Aprajita. My mother
was taking care of her. We often had lunch together. Astha had left, but had united my family. Now Astha had done her part, next was Aprajita. My father
resigned from the temporary security job. He got his retirement back, but the inner peace was missing.
One evening, I was sitting on the sofa.
“Vijay,” he said touching my shoulder. “Why don’t you write a book?”
“What shall I write about?”
“Write about your Astha.”
“I have never even written a poem, how can I write a book? And who will read the story of a loser?”
“You are not a loser, Vijay. What happened to those wishes which you were trying to accomplish?”
“Nothing much. I am happy that I tried.” I heaved a sigh of relief, pulled the paper, and read: Seven impossible wishes before I die:
1. Become a good mother
2. Sorry to Daniel
3. Marry a hero or celebrity.
4. A very grand birthday.
5. Having one or half-a-crore in my account.
6. Photo on front page of a gossip magazine
7. BB on me .
“Congratulations Papa! Your son’s score is five out of seven.”
“You score is six, not five.”
I frowned. He brought Astha’s last letter. He encircled a line and gave back tome.
“I have read this many times.”
“Just read this line.”
The encircled line: ‘You are the hero of my life’.
That was really weird. I held the paper and my mind guessed the situation in which she might have written that letter. I started assuming the conversation between Astha and Sargam. Why had Astha specifically mentioned this line. My father prodded.
“Vijay, what are you thinking?”
“Papa, Astha was aware that I was trying to fulfil her wishes. Astha has written this letter in order to give me an extra score.”
“How can you say that?”
“Read this line: ‘A dying person never tells a lie.’”
“What is so special in it?”
“Papa, Astha need not explain that she is not lying to me. It means she had deliberately written this. She was lying.”
My father was dumbstruck at my guess because I was right. A right guess always makes the wrong stupefied.
“Even if she had written it deliberately, you should understand her love for
you.”
If it was right, it was hard to believe. She was indeed a rare personality.
“Vijay, she wanted you to be a winner. She wanted you to accomplish her wishes. Anyway, you were chasing those wishes for your own self.”
“But what about her last wish ‘BB’. I am sure she knew about her last wish too.” I stood up to go and make a call to Sargam. My father held my hand .
“Vijay, I know what her last wish was.”
I suddenly understood everything; how Astha had known about everything and
who had plotted behind my back. I felt cheated but he was a father, a loving one at that.
“Papa, so you are the one who leaked things to her.”
“Her last wish is,” he ignored my question and said, “a Bestseller Book.”
I thought for a few seconds and talked internally to my Astha. You are really aweird wife.
“What happened Vijay? Why are you so silent?”
“Papa, I have never written anything before.”
“We will support you. Whoever loves Astha will give their version of the story, Vijay. You try, it hardly matters whether it will be a bestseller or not. Just
go ahead, my son, and achieve seven out of seven.”
I smiled at my father’s efforts. Meanwhile, my mother handed the most beautiful gift to me.
I was holding a three-day-old baby. I was not in a position to guess whether she resembled me or Astha. The baby was looking like a cute gift from Astha.
She was sleeping peacefully, giving me the same peace that was given by her mother. I wanted to see her with her eyes open. I stroked her face with my
finger. It was really an awesome feeling to hold your own baby. That reminded me of something. I passed a weird smile.
“Why are you smiling like that?” my father prodded.
“I am trying to learn how to be ‘happy’.”
My father looked surprised. It was out of context. He must have been hoping to hear something about her last wish. With a weird smile I said, “Don’t worry
Papa. I will write a book. I will fulfil her last wish…”