Exile

4. ANJALI'S BIRTHDAY!!!

"You guide me how to cook. I will cook bhaiyya" Those words came came back to haunt him with vengeance. He didn't even know if his brothers were having food properly. His Akshat used to blow a gasket when he didn't cook a meal. Coming to his ...

He was startled out of his thoughts when Pratyaksha nudged him - Earth to Agastya!!

Agastya blinked back the tears which were threatening to fall and yawned for effect in order to cover up.

Harika came to him and held his hand - Please na bhaiyya. Madat kardo. Mumma ka birthday hai.

Agastya smiled. She made it very difficult for him to forget his past. She always reminded him of his Akshat. His child. He was also just like her. Goofy, running away from studies, chasing troubles, jumping down from stairs...

Harika - Aap karoge na?

Agastya realised he was getting carried away and smiled for her - Ofcourse. Chalo maa ke favourites batao.

Agastya listened to her and then formulated a quick plan. They only had 1 and half hour. And there were 5 people. He doubted if Satya could be of any help but he hoped he wouldn't spoil his mother's birthday. He quickly got on to work and ordered them to clean the kitchen in 5 minutes. He dished out the works to all 4 Sharmas. He was surprised when Raghav Sharma followed his instructions without questioning him. The man always surprised him.

He also made sure to not assign vegetable cutting to any of them. He didn't trust them to not cut their fingers. He felt nostalgic and sad working in the kitchen with people around him. It had been 6 months he cooked anything nice. He didn't feel like cooking for himself, not when he was not sure if his brothers had food. He just survived on boiled vegetables until Anjali offered him to have meals in the house.

Sharmas looked at all the dishes kept on dining table in satisfaction. There were still 5 min remaining for the clock to tick 5. They congratulated themselves even though they know more than 3/4th of the work was done by Agastya.

Harika so badly wanted to lick the caramel pudding which Agastya decided to make as an alternative to cake since their mother was not interested in cakes. It looked so delicious but she controlled herself. She in fact wanted to lick and taste all the dishes. But kept herself in check under her sister's deadly glares.

Sharmas and Agastya waited eagerly for Anjali to walk down. Pudding and the candle was already in Harika's hands.

Anjali flinched and clutched her heart in fear when all of them shouted in unison "Happy Birthday Maa/Mumma/Anjali". She chuckled to herself once she was out of shock and the surprise registered.

Harika chirped - Mumma. Now blow off the candle and cut the pudding.

Anjali smiled and did just that. She cut the pudding and offered the first bite to her darling husband. All this coming from him meant a lot to her. She almost blushed when her children hooted for her.

Agastya stood at a side and looked at the family with a feeble smile. He didn't let himself think about the negativity of his life.

Anjali walked to him at last. She knew for a fact that he was the one who cooked.

Agastya smiled when she offered him a bite but didn't have it. Instead he took it from her and made her eat - Happy Birthday Maa. You are one of the best things that happened to me.

His voice held a lot of sincerity that Anjali couldn't help the tears that pooled in her eyes. She hugged him tightly.

Agastya blinked back the tears. He still didn't know how he got so lucky to have a mother in Anjali. But he feared it the same time. What if his fate repeats itself and he would loose all this as well? He didn't know if he could survive another blow??!! He realised he was considering Sharmas as his family and he didn't know what to do with that kind of realisation.