Another story by a writer very talented named
pinuram.
This story was just there on my HDD so sharing for someone who might want to read romance.
True Love finds a way
The dark monsoon clouds were jostling and rumbling overhead. The sky was gloom since morning. Cold moist winds were whistling all around. The weather was heavy with each passing second. The shower was eminent but probably waiting for some beckon for the torrential downpour.
It was last period and Ambalika sat absent minded in the class. She was chewing the back of the pen between her pearl studded rows and was looking blankly outside the window. Few crows sat on the shade of an old building nearby. Professor was teaching inorganic chemistry but not a single word entered her in her brain. The humid air beckoned her with open arms. She should be happy but she was lost somewhere. The dark clouds reminded her beloved mother who left for heavenly abode few years back.
“Amba, what happened?” Piyali, her bosom friend, nudged her and asked.
Ambalika wiped the corner of her eye looked vaguely at Piyali. She gave a painful smile. Piyali fathomed the pains of Ambalika. She was there on that day, when she lost her mother. She fathomed the disturbance of her soul.
“Nothing.” answered Ambalika with a sleek smile, “I am doing fine.”
Piyali knew that her friend was not fine. Few years after Ambalika mother passed away, her father married a much younger lady. She bore the thought that her stepmother took away her father. With each passing day, Ambalika wandered away from her father. Gradually a huge wall came between father and daughter. Her father was a renowned cardiologist. He wanted his daughter to be a doctor. Nevertheless, Ambalika was furious when her father remarried. Submerged in angst and pain, intentionally she did not clear the medical entrance exams. She took chemistry honours. Her father was furious but her stepmother persuaded her father. That day, for a moment she expressed her gratitude to her stepmother. She felt all alone in that huge palatial building. He father was always busy in his profession and she could not stand her stepmother. One day she tried to commit suicide but a faint babble restrained her from committing that sin. The babble of a new sapling; her toddler brother. She embraced that cub with all her might and solace returned in her bereaved heart.
“Today is your brother’s birthday. Cheer up and smile.” Piyali nudged Ambalika by her shoulder.
Ambalika sported a sleek smile, “Yes and dad has asked to bring Niladri.”
“Really!” Piyali exclaimed, “Then you should be happy. Why are you looking so gloom then?”
“I wish my mom was there today.” She said in a calm voice. She looked outside the window and murmured, “I wish my mom took me along with her.”
Piyali understood that the conversation was growing heavier and thought not to stretch more. The weather was getting heavy with each passing second. It started drizzling outside and Ambalika wandered in the barren caverns of her heart.
Piyali pinched Ambalika and asked, “Is Niladri coming today?”
She bit her lower lips and nodded her head. She knew that Niladri would be waiting for her after college. Probably he was standing at the college gate. The mere thought that Niladri was waiting for her, quickened her heartbeat. A bashful smile floated on her lips.
Her father did not object much about the relation between hers and Niladri. Niladri was an architect and was employed in a renowned architect firm. They both knew that their future was smooth. They planned to get married after few years. Ambalika was very head strong and independent girl. She wanted to complete her masters and pursue her career as a teacher. Whenever she was with Niladri, she felt autumn breeze in her bereaved soul. She counted minutes in her wristwatch. The second hand seemed to scroll at a snail’s pace.
Just then, the peon of the college came to the lecture hall and asked for Ambalika. Professor listened to the peon and looked at Ambalika. Everyone in the class looked at Ambalika. Ambalika stood up. No one knew as what happened, why the principal summoned her. Her heart was thumping loudly in anticipation. Although she was a good student, she could not find the reason. She asked the peon but the peon kept quiet. As she entered the principal’s room, she found a police officer there. She was astonished and stood there. Principal asked Ambalika to take a seat. The police officer told her that she has to accompany with them to the hospital. She asked the reason. The police officer kept quiet for some time and informed about an accident. A truck rammed into the car in which her father was travelling along with her stepmother and stepbrother. He did not divulge much only asked her to accompany. She felt a turbulent wave crushing on her. The whole world around her began to rotate. She gave a bereaved look to the principal and the police officer. She was about to fall down, just then Piyali came inside the office and held her in her arms. Everyone of her class gathered around the principal’s room. Ambalika regained herself and gave a glassy look to everyone. She forgot to wail, she lost her voice. Her world was once more shattered.
Ambalika came out of the college building accompanied by Piyali. Niladri was waiting for her at the college gate. Their eyes met, but Ambalika could not utter a single word, only her lips twitched in pain. He came running towards her. She stood like a stone effigy. Niladri asked the police officer and came to know about the accident. He took her in his arms and tried to console but she was then nothing more than a cold stone effigy. Piyali stood nearby watching them with tearful eyes.
All three of them accompanied with the police officer reached the hospital. On reaching hospital, she came to know that a truck hit their car from side and the car rolled into a ditch after hitting a tree. The steering wheel stuck inside her father chest and he lost his breadth immediately. Her stepmother’s head hit the windshield and her head was smashed in pieces. Upon hearing, the news as her heart was anticipating her eyes welled with tears. The police officer then asked Ambalika to identify the bodies. She identified the bodies of her father and stepmother.
She gathered herself and came out of the morgue without shedding a drop of tear. She stood silent for few moments and then asked, “Where is my kid brother, my darling Rishu?”
The police officer answered, “By the grace of God, he is out of danger. No one knows how he survived the fatal accident. He has only few bruises on his cheek and hand. Other than that he is fine.”
Doctor took her to the paediatric ward, where little Ambarish was admitted. Ambalika stepped in the ward and saw that little Rishu was lying on the bed. Little chubby Rishu was unaware as what all was happening around him. When he saw his sister entering the ward, his face beamed with a tranquil smile. He knew he was in safe hands.
He asked his sister in his kiddy voice, “Where were you?”
She bit her lower lips, drank all the tears that welled in her big black eyes and sported a calm smile. She clasped him across her lap and soothed, “I am here to take you home.”
He asked, “Where is mamma? These uncles are not letting me to meet them.”
She lost vocabulary as what to answer. She gathered her composure and smiled, “Mamma and dada has gone to buy more balloons and sweets for your birthday.”
He was inquisitive, “But our car tumbled?”
Ambalika feigned astonishment, “Really? When?”
“Yes, our car tumbled and after then I was brought here. I could not find mamma and dada.” He asked again.
She consoled him, “Dada and mamma has gone to buy a new car for Rishu. So what will be the colour of the new car?”
He jumped they were going to have a new car. His face beamed with joy, “This time red.”
She was able to hear the sound of her broken ribs, yet she did not express those tears and blood to that innocent foal. He was ignorant that his father and mother was no more in the world. She pressed her lips on his forehead and kissed his chubby cheeks, “Ok this time it will be red.”
She took her on her lap. He asked her, “Can we go home now?”
She looked at Niladri and asked him to arrange transportation to take her parent's body home. Although her head was spinning, but she knew that she won't be able to show her tears in front of that kid. She took another cab to reach home along with little Rishu. Both the bodies were kept in the ground floor. She kept her brother in her room, away from all the grieving family members. He sat there on the bed playing with his toys, while everyone was busy discussing about the unforeseen accident.
Rishu asked his sister, "Where is my cake?"
Amba ruffled his silky hair and said, "I will bring your cake in a jiffy and then we will celebrate your birthday."
She came downstairs where everyone was present. She looked at her parents’ body, covered in white sheet, lying on the floor. She called Niladri and asked him to bring a birthday cake for Rishu. Everyone was taken aback by her word. Relatives asked her as what she was doing. However, she was adamant on her word.
She said to them, "It is fate, not in my control that I lost my parents today. However, it is in my control that I can keep my brother smiling. Today is his birthday, I earnestly request you all to behave like that. Please do not speak of any bereavement in front of him. We can cremate only after Rishu falls asleep."
Most of the relatives opposed to her decision however, she stood her ground. Most of the relatives left except few near and dear ones. Niladri stood beside her all the time. A chocolate cake was brought and Rishu's birthday was celebrated. The people present there stared at Ambalika who was smiling constantly and tried everything to make her kid brother happy. She showered so much of affection that the cub did not felt that his parents were missing. She cuddled him close to his heart all the time. After celebrating his birthday, it was time to put him to sleep. Little Rishu asked for his mother then. Ambalika told stories, sang lullaby to put him to sleep. He fell asleep peacefully in her arms. He knew that his sister's lap was the safest place on earth.
After Rishu fell asleep, Ambalika crept away from his side. She had to cremate her parents. In the dead of night, with help of Niladri and her close relatives she cremated her dad and stepmom. The fire burnt her parent’s body to ashes. She had no tears left to wail, she was turned to stone. She was blank unable to think anything about her future. She was all alone in the world. She returned home in the wee hours of morning. The huge mansion gave her a haunted look the walls cowered on her. She sat in her father's practice chamber for a long time. She opened the drawer and found a picture of hers with Rishu on lap. It dawned then that she had to live; she had to bring smile in his brother's lips. She can't divulge to that kid that he lost his parents. She made up her mind to live for Rishu. She wiped her tears and entered her room where Rishu was asleep. She crawled beside the cub, cuddled her brother tightly in her arms and fell asleep.
The next morning brought a new dawn for the brother and sister. She appointed a full time nanny to look after Rishu for the time she was in college. She was altogether a different person then. The jovial girl was lost somewhere. She transformed herself to young Mater Dolorosa, taking care of her brother. Every night she told a new story so that Rishu do not ask about mom and dad.
Few months passed, Ambalika completed her graduation. Every evening, Niladri used to visit their house to meet them. One evening he asked her hand for marriage.
She gave a painful smile and said, "Niladri, I think you should forget me."
He was bewildered by her answer, "Why what happened? I give you my word that I will share every pain of yours. I will be always by your side."
"I can't leave my brother. He is the apple of my eye and he needs my undivided attention."
He pleaded, "Amba, I am not asking you to leave Rishu. He will stay with us."
She answered, "What you are saying is quiet not possible. Have you ever thought what will your parents say? After marriage my responsibilities will increase, I had to look after many things other than Rishu. How he will get my undivided attention then? You have only thought of your side, few months back I also thought only about myself. I dreamt to marry, have a world of my own. I had my mother beside me for ten years and dad was there for twenty years. For my brother, there is no one except me. I have to be his father and mother. Everything has changed, Niladri, please try to understand. Please forget me."
He stood silent; her words pierced his soul like a bunch of arrows. He fathomed the helplessness of her heart he understood her situation. He tried to persuade, "My parents didn't have any objection to have you as their daughter-in-law. Regarding all other matter I will discuss with them and I assure you that they won't oppose."
She was madly in love with Niladri. She knew that he would be able to convince his parents. Nevertheless, she was sceptical about future, a time no one has seen. Her closeness with her brother might not go well with her conjugal life or her married life could cause hindrance in the affection she had to give to Rishu. She asked Niladri to give her some time to think. Niladri went away that day saying that he would return with a positive note.
Ambalika made up her mind to leave the city, go somewhere else where the reminiscences of her parents or her love would not haunt her anymore. She divulged nothing even to her best friend Piyali, as she knew that Niladri would somehow come to know about her plan. She arranged to sell the property with all assets. She collected all the money, invested wisely in gold and deposited a good amount in fixed deposit. That sudden impulse made that jovial girl to an intelligent woman. She only took three pictures of her parents, except that she sold everything.
Little Rishu asked his sister, "Didibhai, where are we going?"
She answered, "We will go to a new place. There you will be with me always. No one will come between us."
Then one night, she packed her bags and left the city along with her brother. Before handing the key to the new owner, she took a last look at the huge mansion where she spent her childhood and her youth, the place where Rishu was born. The house bears several memoirs. Not even, she told to any of her relatives as where she was going. She boarded the train and left the city forever. There was a little bead of tear as the train chug out of the station but she had to leave.
A new town a new life for Ambalika and Ambarish. For first few days, she stayed in a hotel and searched for accommodation but all went vain. It was hard to find accommodation and a respectable job for a single girl with a kid on lap. She tried in vain to convince people that he was her brother. Everyone assumed him to be her kid and everyone assumed her to be a fallen girl. Fortunately, she bumped into an old friend of her dad. That person helped her to find accommodation.
In that new place, in a new house they started a new life. Ambarish was still a kid then, so Amba could not go for any job. She started teaching kids in her rented apartment and over a period of time she opened a Montessori school in her apartment. Thus, she was able to keep an eye on him and earn livelihood. She knew she had money but she saved all those for rainy day. Every night Rishu slept peacefully in his sister’s lap. She weaved a lie, a tale that their parents had gone to a far away land in search for medicine. They would return when little Rishu would grow up.
All that Rishu knew that his sister was his world. Ambalika admitted Rishu to a nearby school. On the first day at his school, she stayed for the whole four hours in front of the school. She took a picture of Rishu in his first school dress and kept that picture close to her bosom. That night when Rishu went to sleep, she took out three photos of her parents and showed them the picture of Rishu. She promised to her parents in a hushed tone that one day she would make him a doctor just as her father dreamt of her. Years passed, Rishu was a good student. On every festival or occasion, she flooded him with gifts and present. She filled his life with all love and affection. He stopped asking about his parents, he forgot them as he grew up. She was happy to have her brother close to her. It was pleasure for her to watch her kid brother to grow up. She cherished all the naughty deeds of her brother. The first prize when he came first in class, the first kiss to a kid girl in is class, the first lie that he told, the first story that he made up. She gave her wholehearted attention to all those little things of life. Her eyes used to get filled up with joy and every night she took out her stepmom's picture and used to narrate those to her. Every day he came from school with some new act up his sleeve, covered in dust and sometimes had leaves or some insects in his pocket. He never finished the whole lunch and it was a routine to thrash him every day. He was fussy about bathing during winter and she used to lure him with chocolates to take him to bath.
Ambalika never celebrated her birthday but she never forgot to celebrate Rishu's birthday. She was in the kitchen preparing food for kids she invited on that evening. She decorated the drawing room of that rented apartment with papers, balloons and ribbons. Rishu returned from school with dust in head and hands. He knew that he would get a good thrashing from his sister for tearing the shoes. That was the second pair of shoe she bought for him that month. He ran inside and hugged his sister from back.
The touch of that puerile foal melted her soul, "How is my birthday boy today? Did you distribute the sweets among your friends?"
"Yes Didibhai. There is good news also; I came first in the essay competition." He showed her the plaque that he received.
She hugged him close to her bosom and kissed his chubby cheeks, "That's my boy, so you want a special present this time?"
He threw his arms around her neck and hid his face in her bosom, "Abhishek tore my shoe."
She patted his cheek and softly scolded, "I warned you not to fight with others. If you don't obey to what I say then you will not get any present."
He rubbed his little nose on her cheek, "Didibhai, they started calling me names so I hit Abhishek with my shoe."
She got furious on hearing that, "I warned you several times that hitting someone with shoe is bad habit. Never ever, hit anyone with shoes. If you have anything to complain, tell your teacher. This is the last warning, Rishu."
He held his ears and said, "Sorry, Didibhai."
She ruffled his hair and said, "Now run to bathroom and clean yourself. In no time, your friends and other guest will arrive. I have brought a new dress for you do wear that."
He wore the new dress after coming out of the bathroom. On every birthday, he received a bunch of picture postcards from different parts of the world. Sometime the leaning tower of Pisa or green Congo basin or Eiffel tower of Paris or Paneantheon of Rome. Ambalika secretly wrote all those and told Rishu that mom and dad still remembers him. He kept those letters away never asked about parents. Few hours later all of his friends arrived and his birthday was celebrated with much joy and pomp.
After the birthday party was over, Rishu was busy in opening the gifts and Ambalika was busy in cleaning the house. Just then, the doorbell rang. Ambalika requested Rishu to open the door. She asked from the kitchen as who was there at the door. Rishu could not recognise the person, but ushered him inside. The person ruffled his silky hair and handed a big present in his hand.
The person knelt down in front of him and asked, “How are you?”
He looked at his face and called for his sister, “Didibhai some has come with a big present.”
Ambalika entered the drawing room and her feet got riveted on the floor as she saw the person. Her strong frame stiffened with the sight of him, she forgot to speak. A huge tempest hit her heart. She thought she was able to evade her love, Niladri, however she was wrong.
Niladri asked her, "How are you, Amba?"
She stood dumbfounded to hear her pet name after seven long years. She asked him, "What are you doing here?"
He smiled and joked, "I was passing by and saw that there is a birthday party. So I came to wish the birthday boy."
Her eyes welled up; she bit her lips to control her overflowing emotion, "How you found us?"
He took Rishu in his lap and walked toward Ambalika. Her heart thumped hard inside her chest. He whispered in her ears, "How can I forget you, Amba. You left Kolkata without a trace. I asked Piyali and your relatives to know your whereabouts but you left everyone in dark."
She shook as if a twig caught in tempest. The reminiscence of the old days flooded her mind. She gathered herself and asked him, "So you have come to see as how we are? You must be married by now. How is your wife?”
Niladri gave a pale smile, “I don’t know how she is because she has not answered my question yet.”
She understood that he waited for her for seven long years, “I left so that you have a life of your own. Why didn’t you marry?”
Rishu was looking at Niladri’s face and his sister face with bewilderment. He could not understand anything as what they were talking.
Niladri held Rishu close and said, “I have come to take you home.”
She called her brother toward her, "This is my home now, Niladri."
Rishu gave a bewildered look at Niladri and asked, "Who are you?"
Ambalika answered instead, "Rishu, he is a friend of mine."
He asked his sister, “Are we going somewhere?”
She looked at Niladri who gave her a pleading look. She said to Rishu, "I don’t know dear."
Niladri persuaded Ambalika to return to Kolkata, her hometown she left seven years ago. She said that she had no place to live in Kolkata. He kept a constant smile on his face without divulging much to her. After much persuasion, she agreed to go to Kolkata with him. That night they did not sleep, they kept on talking, recalling their courtship days, the moments they spent together under the bright sun and twinkling stars, walked hand in hand beside the river Ganges, sat quietly under trees in Botanical Garden. He asked her about the life after she left Kolkata. She told him that she was happy to see Rishu grow up. She felt light hearted after long time to find her old life once again.
They returned to Kolkata after few days. Instead of going to Niladri’s house, he took her to her old house that she sold away. Ambalika was astonished when she stood in front of her house. The walls were freshly painted; the garden was trimmed and full of flowers just like before. She opened the door and stepped inside. The ground floor was empty. That was her father’s chamber where he used to practice. The table and chair and the apparatus were missing but she felt his presence all over. Rishu was bewildered, as he remembers nothing of that house where he was born. She climbed the stairs and was astonished to find the first floor to be same. Her eyes welled, a drop of tear trickled down her cheek. She entered her room and was astonished to find the same type of bed but a new one, the same type of furniture she had in her room. She sat on the bed and touched the walls and curtains. Rishu asked his sister as why she was crying. She hugged him and told him everything. It was the house where they were born; that was the floor on which he crawled; with the help of those walls and her hand he took his first step there and his juvenile babble brought back her life. She could not understand as how Niladri made all that possible, she gave a bewildered look at him. He stood behind her watching them. She asked him how he did that.
Niladri’s vision was also dampened; he wiped the corner of his eye and came near her, “Are you happy?”
Her heart was filled with dilemma, “I don’t know whether I should be happy or sad. I left all these for our better future. Why you came back to my life to haunt me?”
He took her palm in his hand and knelt at her feet, “Amba, you are my shadow and I am your reflection. What made you think that I will leave you in lurch to dwell in this world alone? If Rishu is the apple of your eye then he is a part of me also. I know you were in dilemma as our conjugal life may come as a hindrance between you and your brother. I am not asking for any extra attention from you just let me stand beside you in a gloomy day. This time please don’t say no.”
She smiled nodded to accept his proposal. She asked him, “But first you have to tell me how you found me.”
Niladri answered, “I asked you to wait for my answer but you did not. I persuaded my parents and they understood our situation. Rishu was an important part of our lives. I understood the reason why you left. You wanted to give a better life to Rishu and wanted me to marry with someone else. However, I loved you and could not forget you. The day you left was a black letter day for me. I went to Piyali, hoping that she knows where you have gone. However, you did not divulge your plan to anyone. I came here only to find that the house was sold off to some builder and they were going to tear down and build an apartment. I could not stand that a palace like this that bears so many memoirs, should be brought down; so I took some loan and bought the house. I bought all these furniture that were present in your house and slowly remade the house to its lost glory. However, the palace walls lamented as the prince and princess was not there. I began searching for you. I asked your relatives but they were in dark about your whereabouts. With each passing day, my search went in vain. I did not lost the hope so I even went to relatives of your mother. Every day the old memoirs haunted me.”
“Day after day my hope went dim; my parents pestered me to forget you. They started searching for a bride for me, but I managed to evade them. A year after you left, Piyali got married and she moved to another city. After that, we lost contact. She was very hurt and broken on her wedding day. She dreamt that both of us would be beside her on her wedding. Without you, I could not attend her wedding. Then I went to the hospital where uncle worked. I thought that you might take help of any of your father’s old friend. From there I contacted all of his friends still no one knew about your location. At last, I gave advertisement in newspaper, hoping someday someone will respond. I moved to nearby cities and advertise in those local newspapers however my search hit wall every time. Every night I prayed to God to give me one chance to see you. Hope was not lost after all. I came to Ranchi for a business assignment and almighty heard my prayers. That day morning I was going to the site when I saw Rishu going to school. I recognised him from his chubby cheek and his eyes. You and Rishu have the same eyes. I forgot my work and waited in front of his school for the whole day. I did not want to lose a single chance. When his school was over, I followed him here. I recollected that it was his birthday so I went back and bought a present. I waited outside your house till all the guests were gone and thus how I found my heartbeat back.”
Ambalika's eyes were filled with tears, "You are insane."
He took her face between his palms and wiped the teardrops from her soft cheek, "You made me, Dear."
She cooed in his ears, “You are naughty boy. What about uncle and aunt?”
“I told you that I will solve every problem. After marriage, you do not have to go anywhere; we all will be staying in this house. You can open your school in the ground floor.”
“But you have a huge loan, what about that?”
He pressed her palms gently, “Don’t worry until you are by my side. Slowly we will repay the loan.”
She said, “We will sell the gold that I bought from this money and repay the loan. I want to keep the fixed deposits for Rishu’s further education. I want him to be a doctor that my father dreamt of me.”
“I will not come between you and Rishu. You are his mother and father so you are the best judge.”
Niladri kissed Ambalika's fingers; the touch of wet lips stiffened her soft frame. She threw her arms around his neck and pulled close to her heart. His lips traced the eyelids, the nose tips to the rosy soft lips. She closed her eyes, submerged herself into the amorous bliss. She went weak and Niladri’s fingers traced every nook and corner of her beautiful frame. She started to melt in his arms as every pores of her curvaceous figure yearned for mingle. After ages of separation, the lovelorn birds melted away.
Wedding bells started to ring all over the place. After long time, Ambalika found her composure back as a lover and a dotted sister. Rishu was little offended that Niladri was taking away his sister away from him. However, he was happy to see his sister’s new form. The wedding was a quiet closed one with only close relatives. During the wedding ceremony, Rishu sat beside his sister all the time. Niladri joked that he was marrying two persons at a time. That sentence offended Rishu and to pacify him, during the steps around the sacrament pyre, Niladri held Rishu’s hand and walked along with him and Ambalika. After their marriage, they never went for honeymoon because they did not want Rishu to be left alone. Rishu adored Niladri very much and they came closer with passing time. Niladri looked Rishu as his elder son.
Years passed, Ambalika opened a Montessori school in the ground floor. The gold that Ambalika bought; was sold off to repay the home loan and with the rest money, Niladri started his own architect firm. Ambarish was admitted to a new school and made new friends. Three years after Ambalika’s marriage, she gave birth to her first child, a daughter. Rishu named her Dipanwita and everyone called her Diya. Until then Rishu was youngest in the house, then he had a doll to play with, his niece. With the passing years, he excelled in studies. The bond between brother and sister never waned and Niladri kept his word not to intervene.
Rishu scored flying colours in his school final exams. That was the best day in Ambalika's life. He appeared in medical entrance exams and cleared that. He got admission in a prestigious medical college, AIIMS. The night the result of the entrance was declared, everyone in the house was happy. After everyone went to sleep, Ambalika tiptoed downstairs to her father's chamber which was then her office. She took out the old picture which her father kept, smiling Ambalika cuddling little Ambarish close to her bosom. Her eyes were soaked; she took out all three pictures of her parents.
She showed the result sheet to her stepmom and whispered in hushed tone, "I have kept your dream, mom. I never let him down. You should have been here; your little Rishu is going to be a doctor, mom."
She sat there with tears of joy in her eyes and suddenly she felt a pair of hand on her shoulder. She shook and looked back, to her horror Rishu stood behind her. Suddenly she lost her words with all three pictures in her hand.
Rishu took those picture from her and asked, "Who are they?" she lost her voice, her frame was shaking as she was caught red handed. For fourteen years, she told a tale that their parents were alive. However, Rishu was old enough to understand the reason why his sister had tears in her eyes when everyone was asleep. He fathomed the pain his sister endured all these years bringing him up.
He sat beside her and wiped her tears, "Didibhai, I don't remember my father and mother and I do not want to know them. It was fate or Almighty’s wish that they left for heavenly abode. Since my conscious memory goes, it was your lap that gave me warmth in cold night, it was your shadow that saved me from hot summer sun and it is your affection and love that flow in my veins. All that I want to be my Didibhai's kid brother."
She hugged him close to her heart and for the first time in fourteen years, she wept incessantly, “Yes you are Rishu, you are my kid.” There were no words between them, both of them wept for long and those were tears of joy.
That was the first time Rishu was going to step in a world where his sister would not be on his side. She was busy packing his bags from the morning. Rishu was busy in playing with his niece, Diya. Since his result came out he never left that chubby girls side. Niladri looked at them and the sight reminded him of the day when Rishu’s parents met accident and Amba clasped little Rishu closed to her heart. Their flight was in the afternoon. All four were going to Delhi to admit Rishu in AIIMS. Her ribs were breaking, she was very much disturbed by the mere thought that Rishu, her kid brother grew up too quickly.
Every minute passed, she kept telling Rishu, "Now you will be going away to Delhi. Do not mingle with nonsense people. You need to keep your eyes and ears open all the time. You need to understand what is right and what is wrong. Just study well."
Niladri came to her and tried to pacify, "Don't worry Amba, he is not a kid anymore, he knows what is right and what is wrong."
Rishu looked at her sister who had a gloom face and said, “Didibhai, I will not goto Delhi. It is better that I stay in Kolkata and do my graduation here.”
She softly scolded him, “Every bird has its wings, Rishu and when time comes they fly away from nest.”
“I am not a bird, Didibhai I am...” he did not complete the sentence. He knew that his words would bring tears in her eyes so he kept quiet.
Niladri asked, “If everything is packed then can we sit down for some time.” She looked at Ambalika, “He has grown up and by the way every month we can visit him. I have got some projects in Noida and Gurgaon so don’t worry about that.”
Ambarish got admission in AIIMS. It was a tearful departure for both brother and sister. He was in tears when the flight took off from Delhi. That night he could not sleep well and called Ambalika about hundred times. His sister on the other end sat in his room for the whole night. He was more than a brother to her; he was her flesh and blood, a son she did not bore from her womb but from her heart. He was studious student and topped in every semester. It was a routine for him to call his sister every day. There was no fixed times, whenever he got time he used to ring his sister. He was overjoyed when his sister gave birth to a nephew. Due to his first semester exam, he was unable to present there. As soon as his exams were finished, he flew off beside her sister to welcome the new sapling. The old mansion was again echoing with toddlers babble. He named his nephew, Dwaipayan. Diya was very happy to have a kid brother.
Ambarish passed out from AIIMS with high marks and appeared for the specialisation in orthopaedics. During his convocation ceremony, Ambalika and Niladri were very happy. After years of hard work and unconditional affection, little Ambarish was a doctor. He completed MD in orthopaedic also from AIIMS with high marks. Ambalika shed tears of joy when he got job as resident doctor in AIIMS. He pestered to come back to Kolkata but his sister insisted that AIIMS was a better place to practice during the initial years of his career. Since there was no hostel for doctors in the AIIMS campus, he had to rent a flat. Niladri had contacts in Delhi since he knew people there. Ambalika and Niladri searched for a flat in a Bengali locality, CR Park.
Back in Kolkata, Dipanwita (Diya) and Dwaipayan (Deep) used to boast to their friends that their uncle was a doctor of a prestigious medical college of India. Diya and Deep was Rishu’s both eye. Whether it was a vacation or holiday, the two kids visited Rishu very often. The life came to a full circle for Ambalika and her close knitted loving family. However, life had some other plans in store for Dr. Ambarish Sanyal.
It was late autumn and the festive season passed away, yet the cold breeze contained the aroma of festivity. The soft winter sun was nearing the horizon, before going down the far curvature it painted the sky with bright orange paint. A flock of chirping birds were returning to their nests after another hard day of finding food. The leaves of a nearby tree whistled in the cold breeze.
Sanghamitra was on the roof, talking to her fiancée, Sitavro, over the phone. They were going to tie the knot within a fortnight. It was hard for Sanghamitra to persuade her parents but she succeeded to win. Both the families agreed to unite their children in holy matrimony. She was chirping like a lovelorn parakeet over the phone, recounting their old days of courtship. Her big black eyes twinkled like star as they spoke; her long lock flowed down her narrow waist. Her beautiful oval face was crimson, covered in a bashful smile as her fiancée was speaking naughty tit-bits over the phone. She had goose bumps all over her tender curvaceous frame. Orange rays of the setting sun glistened on her smooth creamy skin. She looked like a siren soaked in molten gold.
Sitavro teased her over phone, “I am going to bring a big packet of dotted flavoured condom.”
She slapped coyly on the phone, “I will not let you touch me on the reception day.”
Sitavro teased her more, “I am going to pull out your saree as Duryodhan pulled from Draupadi.”
Her ears turned red, “I will scream then.”
“Everyone outside the room will be laughing. I am going to bang your brain till you faint in exhaustion.”
She enjoyed the naughty tease yet she feigned arrogance, “If you are going to talk like this then I am going downstairs.”
“Oh! Honey this is just a trailer.”
She softly scolded, “Trailer for what?”
“You are going to have a sleepless night tonight so I was trying to make you wet. I will come in your dreams and would play with your beautiful figure until you scream and ask me to hammer you.”
She scolded playfully to him, “You scoundrel, stop that. I am already feeling something creeping all over my body. By the way, before honeymoon you are not going to touch me.”
“Ok darling. By the way next week I am having a party, please sneak out on some pretext and we will enjoy.”
“Ok I will try to sneak out somehow.”
Just then, Sanghamitra’s mother, Piyali called her, “Jhinuk come down, your choto mama (younger maternal uncle) has come.”
She kissed the receiver, “Ummm... Bye for now, Ma is calling me down.” She hurried downstairs to meet her relative.
Her younger sister Sarmistha teased her, “Didi you are blushing like an apple I am sure Sitavro da was teasing you again.”
She gave soft scolding to her sister, “Shut up Jhilik.” She asked her mother, “Why have you called me? What happened?”
Piyali looked at her elder daughter’s crimson cheeks and softly scolded, “Naughty girl, so impatient. Go and change your dress first, wear something modest. Your choto mama has arrived with some of his friends.”
She was wearing a slacks and a top so she hurried to her room to change to something modest. The house was rumbling with the preparation of her wedding. Piyali was busy in the kitchen monitoring the maids who were preparing food for the guests. Jhilik came inside the kitchen and hugged her mother playfully.
Piyali asked her, “What happened what do you want now?”
Jhilik whispered to her mother, “I have a request.”
“What request?”
“I want to invite my best friend to my sister’s wedding.”
“Yes, you can invite Dipanwita; I see no problem in inviting your friends.”
She pleaded to her mother, “No Ma, I want to invite her family also. Please visit their house and her family also.”
Her mother returned a soft smile as she recollected her bosom friend, “Ok, where do they live?”
Jhilik answered, “Ma, she lives in Dhakuria.”
Upon hearing the name of the place, Piyali turned to her daughter. Suddenly her heart inundated with old memoirs. Once she had a bosom friend who used to live at Dhakuria. Time and tide passed for twenty-six years, she does not know about her whereabouts.
She smiled at her daughter and said, “Tomorrow I will be going out for shopping with your sister so while returning we can go to their house and invite them. Inform your friend in advance that we will be coming tomorrow evening.”
Jhilik hugged her mother tightly and kissed her cheek, “My sweet Ma.”
She handed the tray with teacups and snacks and asked her daughter to give the tray to Jhinuk. In the mean time, Jhinuk changed her dress and came to the kitchen.
Jhinuk asked her sister, “How many of your friends are coming?”
Jhilik answered, “Only one till now.”
Piyali looked at her elder daughter from head to toe and said, “Your wedding is near you should dress modest all the time. Anytime any guests could arrive and you naughty girls don’t change.”
Both the sisters were very close although they had an age difference of seven years but Jhinuk loved her sister more than anything in the world. They used to share everything even their intimate secrets. Both the sisters were carbon copy of each other only difference was their age. Jhinuk was twenty-three and completed her MBA in HR few months back while Jhilik was in her final year in the school.
The next day, Piyali went out for shopping along with her two daughters. Shopping for wedding is a mammoth task and when three ladies goes out then it is a uphill task for the shopkeeper to satisfy them. It took hours to buy few sarees and dress material for her daughters. Jhilik was getting restless, as she was excited to go to her friend's house. Every now and then, she poked her mother as when they would be going.
It was late afternoon when their car reached Dhakuria. As the car entered the locality of her daughter's friend's residence, Piyali got startled. Twenty-six years ago, her bosom friend lived there. She lost her breath and was speechless when their car stopped in front of the residence, the very residence her friend lived. Her heart was thumping like a drum inside her chest. Her vision dampened as she recognised the mansion. Both the girls asked Piyali the reason of welling eyes. She was on the verge of breaking down but she controlled the sudden surge of old memoirs.
She wiped the corner of her eyes and asked Jhilik, "What is the name of your friend's mother?"
Jhilik was unaware of that so she asked in return, "I don't know Ma but why are you asking this?"
She kept quiet for few moments and answered, "I cannot tell you until I meet the person."
They entered the house. Jhilik's friend Diya came running to greet them. Both the girls looked very happy. Piyali looked at Diya; she looked exactly like her father, Niladri. She looked around the drawing room, an old picture of young Ambalika clasping little Ambarish was kept on a mantelpiece. There were few other pictures of Ambalika and her family. She looked at those pictures with a amazement, for the first time she felt that the world is really round. Piyali kissed Diya on her cheek and asked about her mother.
Diya called her mother, who was busy in some house chores. As soon as Ambalika entered the drawing room, her feet got riveted to the floor. The person standing in front of her was none other than her bosom friend, Piyali. Ambalika bit her lips; a sudden surge of emotion flooded her heart. Their eyes were flooded and both the women lost their ability of speech. Ambalika hugged Piyali close to her bosom. She forgot that their children were gazing at them in bewilderment. The children were unable to fathom as why their mothers were crying.
After sometime, Ambalika playfully patted on Piyali's cheek and asked, "How are you?" She wiped her friend's cheek and softly sobbed, "I never thought that I would meet you again."
Piyali's thought raced back to the day her friend left Kolkata. She asked Ambalika, "Why you left me? I was heartbroken on my wedding day, my eyes were sore neither you nor Niladri was by my side."
Amba smiled and took Piyali’s hand in hers, "I am sorry dear but I promise not to leave you again."
Piyali introduced her daughters to Ambalika. Both the girls touched her feet. Piyali said that she had come to invite for her eldest daughter, Sanghamitra's wedding. Jhinuk sat beside her mother; she understood that her had mother found her long lost friend. Ambalika requested them to stay and Piyali kept her request. Diya was very happy that her friend was going to stay for the night. After Niladri returned from office, he was also amazed to see their old friend. There was an ambience of festivity in the house. The children mingled among themselves. Diya was busy showing her room and chirping with Jhilik.
After dinner was over two friends sat down in the drawing room. Ambalika said that Niladri waited for her for seven years and found her in Ranchi where she went away. They returned to Kolkata and they got married. Piyali asked Ambalika about her eldest son. Everyone was bit astonished to hear her query but Ambalika knew that Piyali was asking about Ambarish. Ambalika told that Little Rishu has grown up and after completing MS in orthopaedics, he was a resident doctor in AIIMS. They visit him very often so he rented a flat in CR Park. She also informed that he was a bachelor. She gave full liberty to all her children to choose their life partner but same time also cautioned them to judge the person before taking any decision.
Piyali said that the day Ambalika left Kolkata she was heartbroken. Her eyes were sore on her wedding day as her best friend was not by her side. Her husband, Somesh is a mining engineer and was posted at Raniganj then. After their marriage, Piyali moved to Raniganj. Somesh got promotion as a senior manager and he was transferred to Kolkata in Coal India five years back. After coming to Kolkata, they bought a flat in Saltlake. Talking about her eldest daughter, Sanghamitra, she said that her daughter completed MBA in HR and chosen her life partner by herself. Jhinuk’s fiancée, Sitavro belongs to a business family and he helps his father in his business. Somesh opposed the alliance at first. He was not much opposed to the love marriage but he opposed to have alliance with a business family, as they tend to weigh the life with money. Her daughter was adamant to marry Sitavro and after much persuasion and war of words, they gave their consent in their marriage. The marriage had to be solemnised quickly as per Jhinuk’s in laws request.
During the discussion regarding marriage preparation, Piyali said that they were unable to find a big place for their ceremony, as they would be having about six hundred to seven hundred guests. Niladri came to the rescue, as he knew several builders and contractors. He took the responsibility to arrange for a banquet. Both the women were very much happy and the reunion was a mushy one.
One evening Diya asked her mother, “Ma, when is Rishu going to get married?”
Both the cubs always addressed their uncle by the name their mother calls him. Since childhood, they heard their mother to call him Rishu and they felt not to change that and Rishu also cherished when those puerile foals addressed him by his name rather than naming a relation. He felt close to his heart every time those foals called him by his name.
She gave a sleek smile to her daughter and said, “Ask him about that.”
Diya gave a sullen look to her mother and said, “Jhinuk Didi is getting married at the age of twenty-three. Rishu is a dumb head; he is thirty and still a bachelor. Why don’t we call Rishu to Jhinuk Didi’s wedding?”
Ambalika softly scolded her daughter, “He came home during Puja vacation he will not get any leave now. By the way give him a call and see whether he has eaten his dinner or not.
Diya answered her mother, “No, he is still sleeping. I called him an hour ago and left sms on his phone. He has got night duty this week.”
Both the children were very close to their beloved uncle. Whenever Rishu used to come home, he used to be with his nephew and niece for whole day. Wherever he used to go, he took them in his tow. If it were possible, he would have carried them always on his shoulder. They would go berserk in presence of Rishu and no one had the ability to touch those foals in his presence. When Deep was a little cub he used to sleep on his stomach and Diya used to sleep on his arms. The children did grow up but when Rishu was at home, then they slept with Rishu. Once Diya fell down from stairs and sprained her ankle. Rishu just returned from hospital after a hard days of work. Diya called her uncle and wept that she sprained her ankle. Rishu boarded the earliest flight available and was beside Diya. He cannot stand the thought that any evil could touch his nephew or niece.
Diya shifted herself to her friend’s home and Ambalika used to visit Piyali’s house every day after her school. Both the families were back again and the arrangement for the wedding took a faster pace. Gradually the house filled with guests and started rumbling. Everyone was busy and most them were busy doing nothing. Children were running up and down, few elders gossiped about the ill effects of love marriage. Whole atmosphere was jubilant.
Jhinuk had Diya and Jhilik beside her every moment. Every now and then Jhilik hugged her sister, she felt a void in her heart. The same happened with Jhinuk, at times she used to get absent minded to leave her parents and fly away from the nest like a bird. Same time Jhinuk was happy that she was getting united with her love.
It was late autumn and the weather was getting chill day by day. The sky was cobalt blue bereft of any dark clouds. Cold winds were blowing from north and the misty mornings had tiny dewdrops on the grass blades. Jhinuk was in a jubilant mood, Sitavro asked her to meet. She had to sneak out, as her parents would not allow her to go out on the eve of wedding. After lunch, she sneaked out of her house on a pretext of going to her friend’s house.
The sun went down the west horizon; the house became jubilant with each passing moment. It was only three days before Jhinuk’s wedding. The final countdown started and Ambalika and Piyali were busy in discussing some important matters of wedding. Diya, Deep and Jhilik were busy among themselves. Everyone was busy in some work but the bride was not present. After sometime Piyali asked her daughter about the whereabouts of Jhinuk. Jhilik knew that her sister went to meet Sitavro however, she lied to her mother that she had gone to her friend’s house. Jhinuk’s father got agitated and started to growl about the insensitivity of his eldest daughter. Both the parents were restless when Jhinuk did not return home after sundown. He called his daughter on her mobile but there was no answer. He spoke to his wife regarding that and Piyali was worried to know that her daughter was not answering. They called Sitavro also, but to their dismay, his phone was also switched off. Everyone of the family was very much worried about her. Piyali started crying and Ambalika tried to pacify. Somesh started growling like a wounded tiger. With each passing minute, dark clouds seem to descend on the jubilant ambience of the house.
