An interesting SS.
really wonderful beatifully written
u brought us what we want in the mm thats nice
and i like this dialouge "mummy ko sataya"😆
As promised - here is Part 2. It's interesting how all of you seem to think that the cackle belonged to Urmila.
Let's find out who the cackle belonged to, shall we?
Oh, and since all of you liked little Krishna - this part has more of him! :)
Hope you enjoy!
Part 2
There were very few things in the world that Kokila Modi could tolerate. The proud face of her neighbor standing at her door past 9 PM along with her family was NOT one amongst those things. Kokila failed to understand what joy Savita ben got by trying to insult the Modis and challenging them at every single opportunity.
And she lost every single time.
So you would think any other person would stop humiliating themselves, wouldn't you. Apparently, her neighbor or arch nemesis, she didn't know which was more apt, probably the latter, didn't mind losing.
With a sigh, Kokila adjusted her pallu, and got straight down to business, the sooner they got done with this the better " Kaise aana hua, Savita ben, it's beyond meet and greet time"
Savita ben flashed her a false smile that didn't fool her for a second, " today is my grandson's 4th birthday" she said, stressing on the word, 4th. Kokila rolled her eyes.
" Toh?" she asked un-interestedly, shooting a look towards the little boy standing between his parents.
Savita ben thrust a single piece of cake towards her face, " You and your family didn't come to the party. So we thought we'd come and see you ourselves"
"Really?" Kokila asked, eying the cake and the person with the cake contemptuously. She shook her head in disbelief, " You came to my house, and tugged your family along to give us a single piece of cake, Savita Ben?"
Another stupid false smile.
It took all of Kokila's resolve to not slam the door on her face. At that exact moment, the boy made a jump for Savita ben's hand. Surprised by the sudden movement Savita ben shrieked, and the plate in her hand fell down with a loud clang.
All right, that was it.
Kokila had a 2 year old grandson, and a 85 year old mother-in-law in the house. They didn't need this rubbish.
She clenched her teeth and stepped forward, fully intending to throw them out of her house when the boy dashed across her, seized the cake strewn on the floor and ran across the room.
" Savita bennn!" Kokila hissed, only to be drowned out by Savita ben's loud pitched shriek for her grandson, " JATTIIINNN"
The lights in the house went on.
"Hey krishna Bhagavan" Kokila groaned, whirling around to look at Savita Ben, her son Jignesh and daughter-in-law Nisha all huddled around a now wailing boy.
" Is everything okay, mom?" Kokila looked up to see her son come down the stairway, an irritated look on his face.
She opened her mouth to answer, but her attention was diverted to - " Gopi Vau!" she said, looking behind Aham, " Su Che?" she asked, looking at her sleeping grandson in Gopi's arms, "why did you bring Krishna now? He should be sleeping"
Gopi opened her mouth to answer, but her eyes fell on the wailing boy beside the sofa.
Like the kindred soul she was, she immediately rushed to help Jatin before Kokila or Aham could stop her.
"Maaji" she said, handing Krish to his mother.
"Gopi Vau, Ruko - " his mother started warning Gopi, when Krish stirred in his sleep from all the movembent, "Mummy" he muttered softly.
Kokila patted his back soothingly, and walked away from the room with him, but not before shooting Aham a look which said - throw them out of the house as soon as you can.
Aham's protective instincts kicked in, and he trailed behind Gopi, as she took a small step towards Jatin.
To Aham's horror, Nisha scooped her son out of Gopi's reach and stepped as far away from Gopi as she could.
" Nisha Ben, he's hurt" Gopi said, pointing to the slight bump in Jatin's head where he must have banged against the sofa, " come with me to kitchen, we have ice packs"
Savita ben stepped in front of her daughter-in-law and grandson, facing Gopi, " stay away from my grandson" she said nastily.
Gopi shook her head, hints of tears forming in her eyes, " Savita aunty - Jatin is - " she muttered.
Oh No. He recognized this right away. Savita aunty never missed a chance to smear mud on his family. And today it was Gopi. Her scapegoat.
No bloody way.
Deciding to take charged, he stepped in front of Gopi and took her hand in his, "Gopi" he said softly, "I'll talk to them".
She seemed hesitant, and opened her mouth to argue, but nodded and kept silent seeing the look on his face.
He passed a re-assuring smile to her, and turned to their unwanted guests, not bothering to hide his anger, " It's very late. And your grandson is hurt. If you don't want our help, then you should tend to him. In your own house" he said firmly.
Not even waiting to hear their answer or see their faces, he turned to his wife, " you go up and take Krish. He must be needing you. I will -"
" We are going" Savita ben bit out, cutting him off, "I don't want our grandson near her" she said icily, wagging a finger at Gopi, before Aham could stop her, she snapped, "why would I? she cannot take care of her own kid and - "
"Enough!" he barked.
Now she had gone too far. He clenched his teeth as anger surged through him. It took all of his self control to not physically throw her out of his house. But his mother had taught him never to hurt a woman.
He heard Gopi's soft gasp. He knew that her eyes were pooling up. She didn't need to take this crap.
He would deal with them later. Keeping his anger at bay for her, he turned to her, " Gopi. Go" he said firmly. She didn't need telling twice. She nodded, rubbed at her face, whirled around and disappeared upstairs.
He watched till he was out of sight and turned to them again.
The minute his eyes landed on their faces, his anger snapped, and he stepped forward, "Leave.My.Wife.And.Son.Out.Of.This" he bit out in a menacing, low voice.
He turned his attention to Jignesh now, "You" he growled, "take your mother, wife and child, and get the hell out of my house" he barked, jabbing a finger at the direction of the door.
Jignesh looked as if he was about to argue, but his mother told him to ignore Aham, and he decided to listen to her.
Good for you, Aham thought, snidely, watching gladly as they left.
Jignesh stopped,turned and dished out a last insult before the door was shut in his face, " it's good that your son is not taking part in the children's day completion. He is too young to bear the pain of loss"
Aham clenched his teeth, " but - it would have been fun to see Jatin lash your son out of the contest" Jignesh finished with a sneer.
Aham slammed the door more harshly than he had intended. Unfortunately, all the force didn't break a bone or two in Jignesh's sorry face.
What a jerk!
***
Aham took a deep, calming breath. This was going to be long night. He knew his wife would be a wreck upstairs. But before going to her, he decided to check on Baa, his mother and son first. Thankfully, Kaka, Kaki, Jigar, Rashi were in Delhi attending Kaki's sister's daughter's wedding and his father was at a national poet convention in Delhi.
Thankfully, they were not a part of this mess.
He gently knocked on Baa's door," aao" at the sound of baa's feeble voice, he pushed open the door and walked inside. His grandmother smiled at the sight of him and beckoned him over, he went and sat next to her, " Baa. Why are you awake?" he said in mock sternness
" Dikra, my hearing may be weak, but I've not gone deaf yet" she said, shaking her head.
Aham chuckled, " Haan Baa, she can wake up even a deaf ear" he commented dryly.
"Is everything okay, Aham?" she asked, her voice laden with concern and love. He smiled and placed a hand on her withering shoulder, " Haan, Baa. Everything is okay. You should sleep now. Good night" he said.
She nodded and closed her eyes. He stood up, walked to the door, and turned, " Jai Shree Krishna, Baa" he said softly.
"Jai Shree Krishna, Aham dikra"
He closed the door behind him and walked to his mother's room. He heard muffled sobs from across the hallway.
Screw it all.
His mother and son would be fine. Mom was more than capable to handle a two year old. His wife needed him now.
He whirled around and took two steps, before he stopped. No, Krish was already crying for Gopi when mom took him with her. And if he knew his wife even a wee bit, she would not have gone to Krish when she'd left the room ' and he knew only too well why.
He needed to ensure Krish was okay, and he needed to take Krish to Gopi. Only the sight of their child would soothe Gopi's tears.
He dragged himself to his mother's room when every part of him ached to go to his room and take his wife in his arms.
His mother was seated in the rocking chair, holding a crying Krish to her chest, and gently rocking him. It dug at his heart to see his son like this. His son was usually a perky, chirpy, happy child who liked to talk a dime a dozen, and who's favorite activity was mummy ko satao, and if he got lucky, dadi ko satao. And Aham had to admit, his son was too good at it, managing to make mom run behind him quite often now.
His mother often said that Krish was so much like Aham, that the resemblance got scary after a point!
He smiled at his mother, and ran a hand over Krish's thick black curls. At this father's touch, the child jerked awake.
"Papa" he cried, slightly jumping up, lifting his chubby hands at him. Aham smiled at his son, and picked him up. Krish relaxed in his embrace, and put his head on Aham's shoulder, " sleepy?" Aham asked softly, smoothing out Krish's hair. Krish blinked forcefully - it was evident that he was fighting sleep. " Mummy chaye" he pouted, putting a thumb inside his mouth and sucking on it resolutely.
Aham gently removed his son's thumb from his mouth, and held to the tiny hand. Krish didn't try to put it back in, " Ma" he said, this time more firmly, and kicked his feet. "Ow" Aham winced as his son's foot collided with his stomach.
" Krishna" he said sternly, shaking his head.
Krish stopped pouting, looked down at his stomach and up again at Aham, "Sowy" he muttered, eyes downcast. Then deciding that his sorry was not sufficient, he leaned in and stroked Aham's cheek with his baby hand, "Sowy papa" he said earnestly, placing a butterfly kiss on Aham's cheek.
Now, who wouldn't melt at that? Not him. He promptly melted, and cuddled Krish closer to him.
"come on, we're going to go find your mummy", he said, his voice thick with emotion. That instantly perked up Krish's vibrant eyes and he flashed Aham one of his brightest smiles ever.
What wouldn't he do for that smile from his son. Nothing.
Heart swelling, Aham looked back at his mother. She nodded and smiled at him. He nodded back.
***
With his son in his arms, Aham walked to his wife, thinking of her and her pain. Feeling the pain course through him. But he needed to be strong - for Gopi and for Krishna.
Krish, who had been babbling non-stop, suddenly stopped speaking when he saw his mother shaking silently.
Not understanding, he turned to his father, his little face questioning. Aham sighed, and jerked his head towards Gopi, Krish seemed to have understood. He nodded, and outstretched his hand, softly calling , " Mummy"
At her son's voice, Gopi's head jerked up. Yes, he had been right - she was crying over the photo album again.
Springing from the bed, Gopi ran into his arms. He engulfed her in his arms, and they stood like that for a long time - Gopi, Krishna and him, all huddled together, as all of them cried silently.
Gopi shook with tears now and then, Aham felt her pain himself, and his eyes misted up. Krishna looked from his father to mother, and back again, and teared up - not understanding why mummy or papa were crying.
Krish muttered "ma" or "mummy" repeatedly, his little face etched with worry, lips twisting in sorrow and tears trailing down his face. Aham brushed off the tears with his free hand, while Krish did the same to his mother.
Gopi caught Krish's hands and kissed it tenderly. When she looked up at him, her eyes were pools of sorrow.
Aham's heart plummeted, "Gopi" he muttered hoarsely, "we need to talk"
***
Phew, Kinda emotionally draining last part!
So, lots of questions for you people to ponder over before I post in the next chapter.