Unsteady | ✓

Chapter 14 : Omkara

"Shivaay?"

"Mumma!" Shivaay smiled, and got off the chair to touch his mother-in-law's feet.

"Oh, you dont have to!" Mrs. Talwars said quickly patting his back.

"I hope I didn't keep you waiting for too long." Mrs. Talwar said taking the chair across from the one on which Shivaay had been sitting.

Shivaay sat on his chair a little nervously, "no not at all. What would you like to have?" He asked waving his hand to get a waiter's attention.

"Uh, just a cup of tea will be fine." Mrs. Talwar smiled. "I hope my daughter has not been much trouble."

"No, not at all." Shivaay answered with a smile. 

"That's good. With me she always found ways to trouble."

Shivaay chukled, "She's a sweetheart, really."

Mrs. Talwar looked up with a wide grin, nodding. 

Shivaay smiled feeling awkward. He realized he should have kept his mouth shut.

"Anyway, how is Omkara?" Mrs. Talwar asked looking at him observantly.

"Okay, I guess. He hasn't told me anything yet. Just keeps saying he needs time. But there's something really off. It's like he's zoned out all the time."

"Are you the only one who knows?"

"Yeah," Shivaay answered.

"I hope he's not drinking." Mrs. Talwar stated waiting to see how Shivaay responded tot hat.

"Thankfully, he's been sober int he past two days." 

Mrs. Talwar nodded, "So, he drinks... Shivaay I understand your hesitation. But for a very odd reason I feel that Omkara needs help, he needs to be heard. Something doesn't seem right to me."

The way Shivaay looked at her, Mrs. Talwar knew she was going in the right direction. 

Shivaay sighed and pulled out a few files from his bag which was placed on the other chair. "Omkara, had a difficult childhood. He used to be withdrawn and unresponsive. He didn't talk much. He was always very quiet." 

Shivaay took a deep breath looking around. "I hope you won't let anyone know about this." Shivaay said placing a hand on the file. "It's just that, I am really scared for Omkara and I think you can help him. Anika's told me how you've helped people turn around their lives."

Mrs. Talwar smiled, although fearing what was too come.

"Omkara's birth mother died when he was barely one year old. Bade Paa married Badi maa after that. I obviously learned about this later on. We were in fourth grade I guess, when Rudra was born. Omkara suddenly became very aggressive, angry and would disobey. They put him into some sort of... I don't what to say, maybe therapy. And, Daadi and mom used to take Omkara with them in the evenings. Back then mom used to tell me that it was just tuition that Omkara needed because he was weak at math. I used to very curious."

"Apparently, they took me along for some sessions. As I have been told, Omkara had trouble associating with people, attaching with people. Makes sense why he didn't have friends or chose to sit somewhere in the corner and draw instead of playing with us."

"Oh my God, it just have been so hard."

"Yeah, and it's sort of sad too. Tej uncle was always busy with his business, he'd keep traveling come home late. So he was never really there. And Badi Maa would be busy handling Rudra. No one really understood that it was all impacting Omkara negatively. But when he started showing his irritation mom and Daadi decided to take help from doctors."