Chapter
3
'Well, I don't know but we better start working before Dr. Rathod realizes that
we are not in our respective cabins,' said Nandini with her nose wrinkled in
distaste as she mentioned the name everyone hated.
Dr. Rathod was a senior doctor so to speak but was more of a spy than a doctor who would tell on any doctor who was not busy with work. The faculty disliked that man a lot and the board members were sick of the number of complaints he took to them. The board members tried to discourage their acts at all costs but ensuring that the couple did not find that out at the same time. The trustees were not so pleased either. They couldn't say anything though because he was one of the trustee's spouses.
Mrs. Rathod was no better than her husband as she loved gossiping and trying to create havoc in the doctor's lives. She hadn't succeeded in doing anything drastic so far due to the unconditional support the doctors gave one another in Sanjivani. That was one of the amazing things about Sanjivani that other hospitals lacked; the unconditional support. The doctors knew how the couple was and tried to stay as far away from them as possible. They were not scared of the Rathod couple but they did not want any more drama in their lives than they already had.
They
went to their cabins and started reviewing all the cases they had. They had a
couple of surgeries that day and it was one of the longest days they had. They
worked from 8am to 11pm non-stop and had early morning shifts the next day.
Nonetheless, they went to have dinner at Pizza Hut and enjoyed their meal. Dev
and Yash were present there too.
'Dev, all I need right now is bed. I am so sleepy! I hope no emergency comes up
tonight. I did not even manage to get three hours sleep last night. I know it's
the same for you but your sleep threshold is greater than mine. Oh God, why did
I become a surgeon? I wish I had a nine-to-five job. Life would be so much
easier!' Yash sat complaining on the round table as their pizzas had not
arrived yet. He looked very dashing at the age of twenty-nine. He still had the
fresh-out-of-college look and had girls around him like he was the honey and
the girls the bees. He was wearing a black sleeveless saying COOL in loud and
bold.
'Yash, you are always complaining. And if we ask you this question when you are
actually doing the surgery, you look at us as if we have gone mad. You are just
weird Yash. Plain weird,' Meera sighed with amusement sparkling in her
eyes.
'Meera is right, Yash. You can get really annoying outside the surgery but
inside the surgery, all you focus is on the person and the injury. No wonder
you're one of the best surgeons in Uttaranchal.' Dev sat there insulting and
giving compliments to his younger brother at the same time. Dev was more
serious than Yash but also as good looking and charming as his younger brother.
He, however, maintained his distance from girls, except for the three special
women in his life; Geet, Nandini and Meera.
'Dev, don't you worry, you brothers are on the same spot when it comes to how
good of a surgeons you are and the most sought-out bachelors in Uttaranchal. Geet,
just the other day I saw two girls following Yash and Dev to their cabins
without them realizing. Actually, when I come to think about it, I'm not too
sure now whether they were unaware of the girls. Who knows what they might have
been doing in their cabins?' Nandini asked and screamed as Yash brought up a
dead spider towards Nandini.
At that the group, with Nandini as an exception, burst into hysterical
laughters. 'You! I'll kill you!' She took her glass of water and was about to
pour it on Yash when accidentally Dev came in the way and the water soaked his
white shirt and black pants. He looked at Nandini bewildered and she stood
there with an expression of pure shock. They heard their friends shriek in
laughter and came out of the trance. Now it was Dev's turn. 'Yash, you're
definitely dead!'
'Hey dude, why you want to kill me when it was Nandini who poured the water on
your back?' asked Yash his mouth in the widest grin imaginable. Dev ran outside
chasing Yash and started pretend-fighting with his beloved brother.
Inside the three girls were just smiling at their foolishness. The huge window
enabled them to see their pretend fighting. At that moment, Geet's eyes turned
distant.
********Flashback********
'I said I'm sorry! Are you going to kill me for that?' asked Geet laughing her
head off. She was playing with the water pipe in the park that was watering the
plants and he came sneaking behind her when she whirled around and splashed
water all over him. His expression was priceless at that moment; the confusion
when it occurred and the mock anger in his eyes after a while.
'Geet, I'm going to get you for that!' he ran behind her and chased her around
the park until he caught her. He held her waist and whirled her around. 'Got
ya!' he playfully nipped her ear and let her go. They walked hand in hand until
they got to her boarding place. She kissed him on his cheek and ran indoors
leaving a smiling man behind.
********End of flashback********
Chapter
4
Geet smiled at his enthusiasm, leaned forwards and kissed him happy birthday 'Geet,
we'll see you tomorrow alright? We're meeting for dinner at Haveli's so make
sure you're there by 8 o'clock and don't be late like last time!' Meera
warned.
Geet laughed, 'It wasn't my fault! Scold Kunal right here. He changed his shirt
ten times before we actually got there. He's gone on his..' Geet's voice
faltered. She was not about to say that. She was horrified. How could she even
mention him? The man she had promised not to take the name of or even
mention anywhere was right here between them. She groaned internally. What had
she done? Would Kunal realize what she was about to say? Would the others react
to that? This was the first time in ten years that his name was about
to slip from her lips.
Four pairs of eyes were watching her. Although accidentally, she was still
about to mention Kunal's father. They just whispered goodnight and left Geet
and Kunal. Good thing Kunal had not realized what his mother was about to
say.
Geet tucked Kunal in bed and kissed him goodnight. She went to her room and
stood in the balcony with the moonlight streaming on her face. She
smiled.
***********Flashback***********
'What are you doing in my balcony? What if mama sees this? Go! I'll be into
huge trouble! Please don't give me any trouble!'
'Geet, say you love me. I haven't heard that all day. I'm not leaving until you
say that,' he interrupted when she was about to protest.
'OK fine. I love you. Happy?'
'You'll just say it like that? Where's my kiss to accompany that?' Geet
pushed him out and said, 'No kiss today, just leave!'
He cheekily kissed on her cheeks and jumped out from her balcony leaving a
smiling Geet behind.
***********End of Flashback***********
Chapter
5
Geet and Kunal were seated in the kitchen when Rano bustled in. 'Good morning
to both of you. Geet, I see that you have slept till late and I'm extremely
glad for that.' At that, Kunal started giggling. 'Nani, if I ever sleep till
late I get scolded. If mama sleeps till late, you're almost congratulating her.
There's no justice in this house,' Kunal muttered with a smirk.
His favorite ladies burst into laughter and Rano pulled his ear. 'You naughty
boy! You want to sleep in every day and your mother is up and about by
six-thirty every morning. If you ever become a doctor, I'll pat you on the back
for sleeping till late, alright?'
Kunal sighed, 'Seems like I have to be a doctor after all, otherwise I'll be
scolded every morning.' Geet just adored this little guy. He brought so much
life to this house. His innocently naughty gestures always made her feel
special for some reason. She had to be special to deserve such a son. They had
a quick breakfast and packed the picnic basket. They were heading for a nice
walk on the hills of Nainital and have a wonderfully relaxing day.
They caught a taxi to the foot of the hill they wanted to climb since Geet did
not feel like driving. She didn't want to feel responsible for the car. She was
dressed in a simple aqua blue Punjabi choodidar. She didn't like wearing
clothes with a lot of embroidery done. Rano on the other hand wore jeans and a
shirt. Kunal was wearing Spiderman clothes.
They started up the hill with Geet holding the basket. She started thinking
about Maan but stopped herself on time. This was her and her baby's time.
Nobody would come in between their precious moments. Although memories were
really important to continue living, making new ones was equally important. She
gave Kunal her whole attention. They talked about various things as the group
walked uphill. They played Antakshari and sang at the top of their voices. They
played 'I spy' and Kunal talked about his school life.
He wanted his mother to relax for a change since she was always up and about
doing things. He had hardly seen his mother relax. She was happy enough when
she was with him, but she went into despair if she had no work or no Kunal to
bug her. He wanted to know about his father but he never asked his mother about
him. He wanted to know what a father-son relationship was but he never voiced
his thoughts. His mother would have told him anything if she had thought he
needed to know. He completely trusted his mother. She would always make the
right decisions. 'All I want to see is her happy,' he thought when the group
fell in silence. He wanted his mother to be well loved and satisfied with her life.
He knew she had no regrets or any complaints but he felt his mother deserved
better. He had seen how other children's parents were and he wanted his mother
to share that special relationship with someone.
They had a picnic on the top of the hill two hours later. Geet and Rano had
prepared the vegetable sandwiches and got milk. They sat in a trance staring at
the beautiful hills around them. The beauty was too serene to be touched. They
did not want to degrade the beauty by saying anything. They sat in silence
munching on their sandwiches. Their thoughts were all on different people. Rano
was thinking about Geet's father, Geet about Maan and Kunal about his mother's
happiness.
All of a sudden Geet got up and walked behind the tree. She got hold of a dead
spider and walked behind Kunal. 'Kunal,' she said nicely. He looked back and
screamed. The spider was right in front of his face and Kunal hated spiders
whether dead or alive. Was his mom getting crazy? Geet threw it away and burst
into laughter. Rano joined Geet and Kunal thought his two women were out of
their minds. What was so funny about spiders?
He started chasing his mother until he caught her and they both collapsed on
the ground giggling. Kunal started tickling his mother as he knew that was her
greatest weakness. Geet was laughing so hard that tears were running down her
face. He finally took mercy on his mother and stopped tickling. Rano just stood
beside them capturing these moments in her camera. She just loved her daughter
and her grandson.
They walked down the hill chattering and laughing when it suddenly started
pouring. The group seemed not to care about the rain that was drenching them
and started singing rain songs. They all walked hand in hand and the flushes on
their faces seemed to say that these were the happiest moments of their lives.
They all got downhill and sat on the sidewalk in the rain. They were too
exhausted to move and did not care about the number of cars that were there and
the number of people who were staring at them. One of them was Maan.
Maan saw her. After a decade, he finally saw her. She was sitting with her
mother and a boy who was around eleven or twelve years old. They looked worn
out and were laughing their heads off. It hurt. Why was he even looking at her?
Why was he even inviting the pain he had carefully hidden in the depths of his
heart?
There was some song playing in the background. He tried to think of what song
it was. He thought it was familiar for some reason. He remembered. It was
'Khoya Khoya Chand' by Alka Yagnik and Babul Supriyo. The song she was in love
with a decade ago. He saw the boy stand up and offer his hand as if inviting
her for a dance. Maan laughed. The boy had to be shorter than Geet. He couldn't
be too short but short enough. He thought this was one of the tenderest moments
he had ever witnessed.
Geet accepted his hand with love shining in her eyes. Her baby wanted to dance
with her in front of the whole world without even caring what people would call
him; Mama's Boy. Mother and son danced in a waltz and she thought her heart
would burst in pleasure. They danced in perfect unison. She felt a trickle down
her back as if someone was watching her. But of course, everyone had their eyes
on them at this particular moment. But this prickling sensation was familiar.
It was the sensation she felt when Maan looked at her. She panicked at the
thought but then relaxed after a moment. Maan would never come to Nainital. He
had no reason whatsoever to come to this place. He belonged to Mumbai; the city
that never sleeps.
The song was long but that did not stop Kunal from dancing with his mother. He
loved his mother so much that he did not care about anyone else. He loved his
grandmother too but there was something special about his mother. No matter how
exhausted she was when she came back from the hospital; she never hesitated
spending quality time with him.
He twirled her and she laughed with her eyes shining. That sped his heart rate.
She was going to kill him. Even after a decade she was going to kill him. Her
easy laughter had made him want her every night of the decade. He had denied
the fact that he needed her for the first couple of years but then he accepted.
It would always be there. He couldn't fight his yearning anymore.
He drove away with the memory etched in his heart of Geet dancing with a boy.
She had never looked happier. Perhaps she had married somebody. He sure hoped
to God she had married because if she was available he would forget everything
easily. But it would kill him if she had married somebody else.
He went to the cottage he had rented for his mother to arrive. He didn't know
why Savitri Khanna wanted to come to Nainital. She had told him something about
roots and wanted to see her birth city. He couldn't understand that. She would
be arriving after a few days.
He went to the living room which faced the hills with the most wondrous view
ever. He sat on the rocking chair and thought of his last meeting with
her.
***********Flashback***********
He had held Naintara close to him, his face turned away from the door. Any
moment Geet would come in the room and find him in the compromising situation
with Naintara. He wanted to see the look she would give him for that. He wanted
to see the hurt that would appear in her eyes. He wanted her to hurt so bad
that it hurt him.
Then she entered the room with her face flushed with pleasure. The door did not
creak but he did not need to hear her in order to know that she had appeared.
His heart had already told her of her arrival. He saw her expression from the
window and he smirked. The pleasure had drained and all he could see was
sorrow. The thought of giving her pain made him so giddy with happiness that he
almost overlooked the pain he was feeling in his chest.
He had expected Geet to scream or to demand explanations and he was ready with
more weapons to hurt her. What he hadn't expected was to see her vision get
blurred with tears and her walk out of the room calmly. That was the last thing
he had expected from her. Geet had always been melodramatic but this lack of
show of emotions threw him off-balance. It had torn his heart to see that. She
deserved it, he reminded himself. She completely deserved it.
***********End of Flashback***********
Nisha