"Chill!", Sarla said, offering a glass of water to Nisha. "Of course, I have seen her. You just showed her photo, right?", she reassured, as Nisha gulped water. Sarla escorted Nisha to sit back on the couch. She patted her shoulder. "Madam, it's the first time I am seeing that lady that too, on your mobile screen. Who is she?", she clarified, chuckling along. Nisha sighed. She smiled and nodded at Sarla.
"See, you look like a strict boss firing an annoying worker when you get tensed." Sarla touched Nisha's cheeks, complimenting, "Your smile is so cute." Nisha blushed at which Sarla chuckled. She looked around, enquiring, "Also, where are others? I mean Dr.Alok's family...his elderly parents?..."
"None stay here except Saahab", informed Sarla. Nisha shrugged, raising her next query, "I think they visit him occasionally. Is it?..." She held Sarla's hands firmly in hers. She continued, "For instance, the recent Ganesh Chaturthi...did they visit him? At least a flying visit? Do they at least call him at times?..."
Sarla shook her head readily. She added, "It has been around six months since Sahab shifted to Delhi. Ever since then, there have been none here..." She dashed Nisha's shoulder, highlighting, "None of your in-laws...your father-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, or mother-in-law! You're lucky. My in-laws Arey they sit on my head...."
"That's sad, saar. Have you really been living all alone?", thought Nisha, as Sarla continued. Nisha recollected Alok announcing Payal's real face during the tech summit. "Payal separated me from my parents, and my brother, and made me an orphan. Her cunning wits made my hands too a sinner by making me abandon my own little son...", Alok's words, pricked her heart as an invisible bullet shot secretly. Nisha closed her mouth with her left hand, realizing, "What! Oh lord!" She rested her hand on the neck, doubting, "So, does it mean that he has been living alone for the past eighteen years after Payal left him?"
May it be a second, a minute, an hour, a day, a week, a month, a year, a couple of years, or even throughout one's life, relishing the most beautiful feeling on Earth-the love, it still matters.
While most couples are almost near the silver jubilee of their wedding anniversary, Alok and Nisha are just about to begin their love life!
Love at any age is love. Why not a middle-aged love story?!
No sooner did a drop of tear roll down her cheeks than Sarla raised her voice. "But, over the phone...", dragged Sarla. Nisha faced her at once. She smiled, swallowing her tears. She giggled, sharing, "I knew it. No energy is sufficient to break strong materials." Sarla looked up and itched her head a bit. She chuckled back. "I didn't understand what you told. But, I wanted to tell you that Saahab calls his mother every day..."
"Got it!", interrupted Nisha, chuckling and getting up from the couch. She went behind the sofa. She began walking towards the dancing curtains, rubbing her palms alongside. "Alok saar loves his mom loads." She caught the curtains and turned back at Sarla, emphasizing, with a louder pitch, "Back during our college, when he shared that his mom fed him lunch, I was so damn impressed."
She blushed, completing, "His nature, I think, began disturbing my usual lifestyle from that moment. But, it was perhaps just the beginning...I fell for him much later over the passage of time. The way I fell for him was a process...He slowly started sitting in my heart and much later, did I feel it!"
"Aww!", cheered Sarla, walking towards her. "Your love is so true. It's the one and only you who deserves him. Nobody else, definitely!", stressed she. Nisha blushed. "But, I wanted to share that...his mother never answers the call. She cuts his call in almost the second ring. When he calls back, he can only hear the power-off tone. I'm sorry but as you asked about his family, I wanted to share what I knew.", Sarla concluded.
"Pity my dear Alok saar!How come his lovely family ditched him for a petty issue? I can't believe my ears that his house partitioned", said Nisha, with her larynx generating tears alongside her anxious bossy voice. She sobbed bitterly. Sarla massaged her shoulders as tears accumulated in her eyes too. Nisha's eyes happened to hover over the family photo on the adjacent wall. She shrank her eyes at the lady in a brown sari sitting on the couch behind which her two sons stood; the only lady in the picture.
Her eyes rolled hither and thither. She closed her eyes and held her breath for a second. "Do I know Alok saar's mom before?... I think I recognize her...", thought Nisha. The scene of herself spraying a small bottle of painkiller on Sandhya's legs flashed in her mind. Nisha was in a violet gown that night. She firmly pressed the femur of Sandhya's right leg and released it after a minute. Sandhya patted Nisha's head. The two ladies smiled at each other. "So sweet of you, Nishoo!", thanked she, at which her daughter shrank her eyes and chuckled.
"Come on, mom! It's my duty. You are my responsibility of love and affection", declared Nisha, as she helped her mother rest her head on the pillow behind her. "Mamma! Then who will look after me?", asked Alok beta, jumping on the bed. He lay beside his granny. As he raised his eyebrows at Nisha, the latter folded her hands and shrugged at him. "Beta, is this what I taught you? What's the door for?"
"Fuck! I'm sorry, mom. Sorry, naani", apologized Alok beta, in a calm tone, sitting up on the bed. Nisha chuckled. She bent to reach his face only to pat his cheek. Sandhya too chuckled, sharing, "Usha Ji was behaving strangely this evening." While Nisha and her son nodded at Sandhya, the latter narrated, "She was asking me about Dr.Alok out of nowhere. Besides, she felt happy about his success as a renowned researcher and professor. I wondered why she enquired about a random man who saved my daughter last night?"
"Random?", asked Alok beta, pointing at Nisha and revealing, "He isn't random, naani. He is my mother's friend, right?" Sandhya nodded, beating Alok's head amiably and clarifying, "Beta, I meant that he was a random man for Usha. Isn't it?" Alok gestured a thumbs up and nodded at her.
Presently, Nisha concealed her smile of relief. She walked towards the photo as Sarla's mobile rang. She placed both her hands on young Usha's feet. She leaned forward to rest her head on the photo. She closed her eyes. Tears rolled down her cheeks. She looked up and blushed.
"Aunty, the treasure you lost years ago is still longing for you to decorate yourself with its jewels. The love of my life, my Alok saar, is your son!", yelled Nisha, to herself. She wiped her tears, smiling and completing, "I promise our reunion is not over with just our love. It's only Alok's reunion with his entire family that will complete not only him but also me and our love." She, walking backward, nodded, promising silently, "Yes, aunty. I will bring your worlds together again very soon. Both of you were my preliminary reason to explore love."
"I stumbled across your immense affection for your son months ago. Little did I realize who you were back then. But, now, it's an open secret, at least to me.", thought Nisha, nodding at her future mother-in-law. "Whatever it is, you can't stay away from your child any longer. Although I am a foster mother, I too am a mother. As a mother, I can feel your pain. We can't miss our children for long. Why do you want to hide your motherly emotions? Let them flow out. I'm sure our Dr.Alok will construct a dam bigger than the Three Gorges Dam to conquer your love."
As soon as Sarla returned from her call, Nisha requested her keep an eye on the door. "Please check for anyone at the main door. I will meanwhile do what I wanted to. I visited your house for the same." Sarla nodded, faking a smile. She rushed to the doorstep. She looked hither and thither to find a bike or two riding the lonely street as the white clock with yellow needles struck eight.
On the other hand, Nisha barged inside a room upstairs. She threw the doors of the wardrobes open. She let her hands between the shirts and pants neatly arranged in separate rows clinging to each other. She opened the lockers to find a file or two. She flipped the covers of the heavy file having Dr.Alok's educational certificates and achievements.
"Proud of you, saar!", she boasted, massaging her head on the medal peeping out of the drawer. She plucked it out and hugged it. She wore his gold medal having 'University Of Michigan' inscribed in cursive handwriting on it. She stood in front of the tall dressing mirror. She kissed the medal, whispering, "I love you, Alok saar. I love you very much!!!" She shut her eyes slowly as she imagined Dr.Alok, in a white sherwani, putting the garland around her neck. She saw herself in a gorgeous red saree having yellow stones and heavy golden embroidery works on it. She massaged the garland and blushed back at him. She looked at the glaciers all around.
She opened her eyes only to see herself touching the medal's tag. She chuckled and slammed her forehead. She sat on the bed, looking hither and thither. "What a fool of me! I searched your entire house like an income tax officer examining a suspect's house during the raid. I couldn't find anything except for the good things about you which have already occupied almost my entire heart!", wondered she, moving her hands on the rails as her Kurti hit the spindles of the staircase.
"How stupid of me! I shouldn't have suspected you, Alok saar. I have also been following him recently on social media after we met in Delhi. His posts and comments don't express a word about Payal. Why the hell did I doubt him to have been misusing my love? He isn't Payal." She closed her fist as she headed toward the dining table. "Yes, Raftaar warned me, as a friend. But, don't I know about my Alok saar?"
She sighed at the side view of the family photo from the dining table afar. She took a deep breath. "He has already been missing his family. And I add to his pile of sorrows through my suspicion? What have you done, Nisha?", she shook her head to herself. She grabbed a glass of water from the jar.
"I came to catch his true lie which didn't even exist in the first place. And look at what I found!" She smiled, nodding at herself and consoling, "I know something that he doesn't. I came to learn about his ex-wife. Hardly did I find the wedding album but what a surprise! I discovered his sweet mom, Usha aunty!"
"Sahab is back!", screamed Sarla, as Ramlal parked the car illuminated by yellow lights. She began sweating profusely. Her black eyes glanced hither and thither not knowing what to do.
Alas! How will Dr.Alok handle Nisha's distrust?
Dear readers,
Thank you for following my series and reading the episode. Rate it, write your review, give it a heart, and share it in your circle whenever you are free. Your voice matters a lot to me.
