Humsafar : A partner for life

14

I said and he smiled.

“Aap kare toh sahi? Hum karein toh kaisi baatein?”  (If you say the same things then it's right, but when I say it then it's wrong?)

He said and I let out a giggle.

I looked around and I noticed there were candle stands on the wall. The ones from ancient times. I knew this mansion belonged to his ancestors but I did not know that he still loved this and had decided not to renovate this room while almost all the corridors were renovated and were given a modern interior design.

“Do you like it that way?” I asked while pointing towards the candle stands. His eyes followed the place where I was pointing while I was looking at him and he smiled.

“My Dada Sa loved this room a lot. This is why I decided not to renovate it.”

He said and I loved the way he was still connected to his Dada Sa. For me, I never got to meet him, but my Nana-Naani were the best grandparents.

I felt a sudden urge to see his Dada Sa.
I looked around and noticed there were no pictures in the room.

“Reyansh, uh you don't have any pictures?” I said and he smiled.

“Come.” He said and got up from the bed. I followed him through the narrow corridor. As we were getting closer to the wooden door, I felt slightly warm and cosy. He opened the door and offered me to walk in first.

I slowly stepped in the room and it felt like home. It was a library. There was a fireplace just on the opposite side of the door. I looked around and noticed shelves filled with books. Some old, some new. I looked towards the window and I saw a beautiful view. My sight fell on the big table which was placed near the window and the chair which was placed near the table. A few magazines were kept on the table, a paperweight, a pen holder which looked old and a picture.

I walked towards the table and picked up the black and white picture. There were two people in the frame and they were smiling. The man was staring at the lady while the lady was laughing. She was wearing a pair of earrings and a small necklace. A saree was wrapped around her body and it looked as if this photo was clicked without them knowing about it. There was a rose in the lady’s hair and the man was holding another rose in his hand.

“That's Dada Sa and Dadi Sa.” He said and I smiled looking at the frame.

He walked towards me and opened the drawer of the table. He took out a box which looked old and dusty. He opened it and my eyes fell on the dark red gem inscribed into the earrings.

“This belonged to Dadi Sa and Dada Sa wanted me to give it to someone who would love me just like Dadi Sa loved Dada Sa.” He said and he kept the box on the table. I looked at him trying to hold those earrings in his fingers to make me wear it but I stopped his hand.

“I'm still not worthy of this Reyansh.” I said and he looked at me with confusion which was visible in his eyes. I looked around and walked towards the shelves.
I chose a book and gently pulled it out of the shelf.

It had a brown cover and it looked old. The ends of the book were ruined. Looked as if it was very old. I heard Reyansh approaching me and I looked at the book and looked up at him.

“Dadi Sa wrote this book.” He said and a smile made its way on my lips.

“She died at a young age, but she was fond of reading and writing. She loved literature, infact before getting married, she used to teach in one of the British schools. She always loved to write but she never dared to publish more than one copy. She was scared that people wouldn't like her books so she only printed one copy for herself. “