Sameera nodded her head in agreement. “Ok ma, I will do as you say” she smiled through her tears which she was trying to hide from her mother-in-law who was on a video call with her. Jyoti, the MIL, too had tears in her eyes and a lump in her throat as she ended the call abruptly to hide her grief from Sameera.
“Don’t worry about me mummy, I have talked to Ronak. I will leave for my mom’s house with Anujbhaiya who will be here to pick me up anytime tomorrow and will return only after bhaiyadooj when Ronak comes to bring me back.” Sameera’s international call with Samata, her mother-in-law, ended after a brief conversation about the wedding they were attending in the US.
Jyoti and Samata, Ma and mummy to Sameera, were both her MILs. Sameera was engaged to Jyoti’s son Nakul. They were to be married soon after Diwali. He had gone to pick up Sameera for a Diwali pooja at his house but had neither reached her place, nor his own. A phone call had ended it all. The truck driver fled while Nakul bled, to an untimely death.
It took a few years for both the families to accept what had happened. Kapil and Surabhi, Sameera’s parents, failed to bring their daughter out of the shock. It was Nakul’s dad Abhay who jolted Jyoti back to reality. “We are not going to be around always. We have lost someone precious, but so has Sameera. She has lost her entire future. We cannot allow her to mourn Nakul forever. It is high time you pull yourself together and gradually persuade Sameera to move on with her life.” Jyoti had really worked hard to bring Sameera back to normal, almost normal...it had taken a long time, but eventually had succeeded in convincing Sameera to get married. When Sameera met Ronak and his family through her distant cousin, she had no reason to turn down the alliance and they were married soon thereafter.
Sameera dreaded her first Diwali in her marital house. Diwali party at Ronak’s house was the talk of the town. Preparations were made in advance every year and celebrations went on for days, she had heard. But this year, the year after her marriage, seemed to be different. Though it was her first Diwali in the house, there were no preparations this year. Everything was quiet. She asked Samata about it who just smiled at her and left. A few days later she was handed over a ticket to Dubai. “Belated honeymoon” Samata had smiled but it was now that Sameera could understand why they had discouraged Ronak to take leave for honeymoon from office immediately after their wedding. They wanted them to be away during the festival. To keep Sameera away from reliving the memory of that dreadful Diwali. It was a gesture Sameera understood and appreciated.
Every Diwali after that, Samata would hand over the tickets for various exotic destinations to her. Diwali celebrations in the house had ceased even though she would be away. They did a small Pooja but the festivities had stopped altogether.
Jyoti had kept in touch with Sameera. They visited each other often. The two families had grown close. Jyoti and Abhay treated Sameera as their daughter and Ronak had become more of a son than a son-in-law.
Sameera’s life was getting back on track and she thanked her stars for the considerate family she had married into. They understood her mood swings, her concern for Jyoti and Abhay and also occasional random tears that she shed in memory of Nakul..Jyoti and Abhay had also come to appreciate how the whole of Sameera’s marital family treated them as if an extension of their own, and made sure they did or said nothing, even by mistake, that would hurt them in any way. Initially they had just appreciated their behaviour but now they had decided that Sameera should get over her past and get involved in all the customs and celebrations her family was accustomed to, and had given all that up only because of their love for their daughter-in-law.
Jyoti never interfered in Sameera’s new life but this time she had decided to. To bring the cheer back into her life, in her family’s life. It had taken a few sessions, but eventually Sameera had understood Jyoti’s point of view and also her concern for her and her new family.
Sameera had left for her mother’s home with her brother Anuj but had returned a few days before Diwali, though she was to return only after bhaiyadooj when Ronak went to pick her up. Ronak was to return from his deputation and his parents from the wedding just before Diwali. Ronak had not been able to take her anywhere due to his work demands, so had planned to send her away at her mother’s. Samata was in a hurry to reach home, she did not want the house to be immersed in darkness on the day of chhoti Diwali. She had given up a lot of things related to the festival as she did not want the younger daughter-in-law of the house to be reminded of that fateful day, but she could not let the house remain in darkness on this major Festival of Lights, especially when her elder daughter-in-law Karuna had broken the news of her first pregnancy after so many years of marriage. It was time to thank almighty for the blessings that had been showered on the family after a long wait.
But the scene at home was totally different from what the family had anticipated. The house was illuminated, every part of it, from the gate to the door, to the roof. There were series of lights to illuminate the dark night and earthen diyas to lend the ethereal glow. The house wore a new paint and it was sparkling. An intricate rangoli adorned the threshold and the fragrant flowers competed with aroma emanating from the kitchen of various delicacies being cooked. Sameera stood at the entrance, to welcome them all, with a smile so bright, it put all the illumination to shame.
Samata, and the whole family was surprised to witness the change that had come over Sameera. Dressed in a shimmering silk, she was glowing like a new bride. She involved herself in all the rituals, feasting and fun activities related to the festival. She performed the Pooja rituals with so much ease, it was as if she had been doing it year after year. She played an ideal bahu and a perfect hostess at the Diwali party they had thrown after a long gap. It was the best Diwali the family had celebrated in years.
“What came over you Sameera?” Samata couldn’t help asking as she pulled her into a quiet corner, unable to fathom what was happening around her.
“Jyotiaunty helped me with the preparations ma.” Jyoti had instructed her to not reveal that she had convinced Sameera to be a part of her new family instead of clinging on to her old memories. “ But why are they not at the party? You had kept this party a secret or else I would have invited them.”
“They wouldn’t have come, they go away to their vacation home during Diwali to keep away from the festivities.”
“No, they would have definitely come had you invited them, and they came even though you did not, because parents don’t need an invitation to visit their children” voice from behind made her jump with joy. “Abhayuncle, Jyotiaunty?” She shrieked with delight. “yes, We did not go anywhere, we wanted to be a part of the celebrations at your home, we wanted to see the happiness on your face, and that of your family members who have been deprived of it for so long.”
Samata hugged Jyoti warmly. “Thanks for coming, the party wouldn’t have been complete without your presence, Sameera would have missed you every single moment” “Yes, that is why we decided to put our grief aside and bring joy and cheer to her life” “I am sure even Nakul would have wanted this!”
Jyoti could see the relaxed faces of the family every time she attended family functions or festivities at Sameera’s place.. She had really done a good thing by convincing Sameera to get over her past and now had become an integral part of the family. All the festivals that followed were celebrated with equal gusto, with Abhay and Jyoti as an extended part of the family. Their grief was their own, and they would shed silent tears for their son, but it was not right to subject so many people to grieve for someone they did not even know.
The trio would be left alone after the whole family saw them off to the gate. They could not see the tears glistening in the 3 pairs of eyes, but they could feel the pain they shared. The pain that brought them together, the pain that made Nakul’s parents embrace their daughter-in-law’s new family as their own, the pain that made them laugh with her and cry with her. The pain that made their Diwali a festival to celebrate, for the happiness of the one his son had left behind to look after.
