Tu Hi Yaar Mera

1. The Endless Pool of Memories

It was just one of her another sleepless nights. Tossing and turning in her bed, she rolled towards the darker side of the room. Though the curtains were drawn, but the small gap in between gave way to the light from the street light, a few meters away from their home, making tiny yellow squares on the wall she was now facing. A lingering haze of sleep kept knocking somewhere at the back of her mind but still seemed so far away from her reach.

When it all began, she tried forcing herself to sleep, but now she knew it was all in vain. Taming her mind, that kept floating in the endless pool of memories, had become almost unattainable for her. Lost in those painful memories constricting at the chords of her heart, she kept staring at the wall as those yellow squares slowly faded away, giving way to the white light as the Sun slowly made its presence known.

And then her alarm clock went off!

That was how she always welcomed the mornings. Tying up the loose strands of her hair in a low bun, she went to freshen up before beginning her daily chores, silently praying for the things to take a better turn today.

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Walking briskly across the small hall of their home, she headed straight towards the door to pick up the newspaper, probably lying outside, before making her way towards the kitchen. But a faint clink of utensils stopped her abruptly in her tracks. She knew who that was! Even without looking. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes in a feeble attempt to get a hold of these emotions about to burst her heart.

Why wasn't there even a single hint that things could be better?!

Turning towards her left, she slowly made her way towards the kitchen and finally stood by the doorstep, watching silently the man she loved the most as he effortlessly glided across the kitchen while preparing the breakfast for everyone.

"Sanskaar, I've said it a number of times already and I'm saying it again today. You don't need to do this", she finally said unable to bear the silence anymore.

Sanskaar turned around as he flipped the pancake and said with a smile of acknowledgement, "Good morning, Maa. The breakfast is almost ready."

A smile that had been hauling at her heart callously. A smile that never reached her son's eyes anymore. A smile that only she knew was to bring his parents at ease and his heart had stopped smiling ever since Aarti had left this world. Oh, how she wished to even move the heaven and the hell if that could make her child happy again!

Was she a superwoman? No, just a mother, who loved her child very much the same way every other mother did!

"Sujata, the newspaper?", her husband's voice broke her train of thoughts and she took a deep breath to contain the unshed tear before it could fall.

She brought the newspaper and his pair of glasses to her husband, Ram Prasad Maheshwari, as he sat on his usual wooden rocking chair in the open verandah in front of their house. Located hundreds of kilometers away from Kolkata, their house gave an air of tranquility. Calm and placid. Nothing extravagant, just a modest home where they wished to find solace from all the clamor of their lives.

The moment Aarti left this world, none of them was able to believe. Sanskaar had lost it all, and no matter what, nothing could bring him back. That was when Ram Prasad decided to leave the Kolkata city and together they came to this home with a hope that everything would be fine one day.

Even Sanskaar transferred from one of the most prestigious hospitals of Kolkata to a local hospital of Siliguri, for he couldn't bear the sight of the place where his love breathed her last. All he needed was a peace of mind from those haunting memories.