SAY YOU SAY ME

CHAPTER 16

THE PAST- VI

ELEVEN YEARS AGO.

DELHI, INDIA.

It had been two years Arushi had been at Springdales. She had managed to carve a space for herself within the heart of the school. Not only had she successfully lived up to the expectations of her teacher and attained the 'topper medal', but also managed to win lot of accolades in various fests organised by different schools.

 Arushi had been able to make her parents proud. She couldn't fail to notice the sparkling eyes of her parents when her class teachers praised her for her diligence and consistency in academics, along with her talent in co-curricular activities.

Annual parent teacher meeting was a terror to most of the students. But for Arushi, it was the day she could see her parents' beaming smile, and heads held high with pride. Arushi's dad worked day in and out, and her mom tended to every need of hers throughout the year. They deserved this one day of sheer joy and pride.

 Every year after the parent teacher meeting, Arushi's parents would celebrate her success by dining together at a restaurant. Her dad would also gift her something as a token of appreciation for her sheer hard work. But this year, when she got promoted to the ninth standard, her dad gifted her a cell phone. She was utterly shocked on receiving the gift. She knew that her parents worked really hard to make ends meet, and this gift made her think of all the sacrifices her parents had to make to afford the cell phone. She had reprimanded her dad for bearing this extra expense, but then he had made her realise that she deserved it.

 Ahaan and Amir had been constants in her life throughout these two years, and she had a faith that it would remain so till eternity. Together they had created tonnes of memories that she would cherish for years. From tasting every possible street food stall in Delhi, to stargazing together the three had a whole new world to them. They had their moments of philosophical talks, as well as their moments of absolutely poor jokes.

 Ahaan and Amir had visited her place a lot of times, and had developed a rapport with her parents. Arushi's mom had been relieved knowing that she hadn't fallen under wrong company. She used to adore Ahaan a tad bit more. Arushi's mom had lost her parents too, when she was young, and hence she could resonate with Ahaan's pain.

Arushi had also visited Ahaan and Amir's place. Ahaan used to live in an apartment with his uncle. Ahaan's apartment was a 2-bhk flat, with one room dedicated for Ahaan. Ahaan's room was also pretty bland with whitish and greyish covers, and lot of books. His room was tidy and neat, which was pretty unusual to Arushi. She believed that boys never really could live in a tidy place. Her notion broke on seeing Ahaan's room.

 Ahaan's uncle already knew Amir, but he had been really sweet to Arushi. He had made them samosas and tea, and had also ordered lunch for them. Arushi had also noticed that there wasn't a single photo of Ahaan's parents in the entire apartment. She chose not to talk about it to Ahaan. Arushi never really wanted to ask anything about them to Ahaan. She believed that death was too personal, and she couldn't just barge in there.

 Amir's place was as exciting as Ahaan's. Amir's dad had abandoned his mom before he was born. So he had no real sense of loss of a 'dad'. He used to day this often-"It's good I don't have a dad. It would just mean double the discipline at home"

 But Amir's mom was everything for him. She was his friend, his mother, his father and everything else. Actually Ahaan and Arushi had to agree that Amir's mom was the coolest parent. Ahaan was really close to Amir's mom and he called her Khala. Khala in Urdu meant 'aunt'. Khala and Ahaan had an amazing camaraderie. They could sing and dance to Bollywood numbers, cook dishes together, and crack the lamest jokes and laugh at them all by themselves.

 The day Arushi met Khala, she had instantly fallen in love with her vibe. Khala had this endearing warmth to herself, she could easily make a person feel at place and really special. Khala was really delighted to have Arushi in the group of two boys.

 "Finally, I get to have my girly talks with Aru now."- She had said.

Khala called Arushi as 'Aru' from the first day, and somehow Arushi grew really fond of her. Amir's place was really close to Springdales, and hence they used to visit Khala often. Arushi had become really close to Khala in no time, and Khala could share every thought of hers with Arushi.

Arushi and Ahaan would attend the Eid celebration at Amir's place every year. Khala made a royal biryani on that day, which was too good to be missed. Arushi could bet any day that all the biryani restaurants would fail in front of hers.

 Khala was an exemplar to Arushi. She had been really strong after what had happened to her. She used to work really hard since Amir had been born, and it was only because of her sheer patience that she had been able to admit Amir to Springdales. She had never really told Amir about her struggle some life and neither about his dad and why he left. But with Arushi, she could open her heart out, pour all that she had boxed up. She would sometimes cry remembering her husband, sometimes just laugh while narrating how difficult Amir was as a child. Her story inspired Arushi, and at the same time made her feel grateful to have a father who doesn't shy away from his family duties.

 Ahaan considered Khala as his mother. To Khala he was her second son, a son with whom she could also share her feelings, her worries regarding Amir. She knew Amir was not really diligent at studies, he used to be more interested in architectural stuff that usually wasn't a part of the curriculum. Ahaan never really barred himself under the structure of curriculum, but then he completed his curriculum with utmost dexterity. Amir wasn't interested in academics at all, and this worried Khala.

She knew she could rely on Ahaan with Amir, and Ahaan proved up to it. Ahaan would always see to it that Amir completed her curriculum, before jumping on an architectural spree. Khala also filled Ahaan with the love care and comfort of a mother. She could feel Ahaan's pain, and Ahaan could feel hers. Just similarly, only Khala could get Ahaan's jokes, and only Ahaan Khala's.

Ahaan, Amir and Arushi were really precious to Khala, and Khala to them. Arushi always wanted to the four of them to be together, happy and smiling. They were like a family, a family they had chosen for themselves. And she was pretty sure they would remain so, till eternity.

 But then eternity was never a thing granted by destiny. It was a mirage, and sooner or later, it would be proven in this case as well. ................................................................................................

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