PREPARATIONS FOR THE PRINCESS
Mohan woke up hearing the dull drone of vacuum cleaner nearby. He pulled the blanket over his head hoping to cut off the offending sound. When it proved to be unsuccessful, he decided to accept defeat and sat up on the bed. He opened his eyes reluctantly. His mother seemed to be going over the top this time with her cleaning.
"Ma, what are you doing so early? Hope you haven't thrown out any of my papers which were on my desk." Mohan asked worriedly, his voice thick with sleep.
"If you don't want me to throw out your stuff, you'll better make sure that this room is clean before afternoon." His mother issued ultimatum without pausing her work.
"But they are staying downstairs, aren't they?" Mohan enquired, closing his eyes again and leaning back on the headboard.
"Little Devu is only one month old. There shouldn't be a speck of dust anywhere in this home."
"Devu? But they haven't named her yet...." Mohan wondered out aloud.
"They might not have- but this is the name your father and I have chosen to call our little princess." Indu declared with a vicious stab on his carpet with the vacuum cleaner.
"Hmm...the name is good." Mohan said diplomatically, stifling a yawn behind his hand.
But nothing escapes Mrs. Indu Arwind Bhatnagar. She began coercing him out of the bed.
"Get up Monu, it is 10 o' clock already. They may reach early tomorrow morning; there are lots of works to do. Go and buy rice and jaggery from the nearby shop. Jaggery payasam is Mahi's favourite."
"Okay."
Mohan threw back the covers, rubbing sleep out of his eyes and stifling another yawn.
"My sweet Monu!" After ruffling his short hair affectionately, his mother left the room.
Mohan's next yawn was broken in between by the loud ringing of his phone. He got up startled, and began searching his phone on the bed, on the floor, inside the wardrobe and finally found it among the bunch of books and papers on his desk. He grimaced on seeing the name on the screen, but still attended the call.
"Hello, Rashmi."
Rashmi was his batch-mate and his father's friend's daughter. She was pretty and rich and more importantly, a selfish and proud girl, who had no real friends, but just followers.
"Good morning Mohan! I'm throwing a party for all my friends this evening at Le Meridien. Don't be late!"
"Whoa, hold on a minute, will you? I can't come. My brother is coming tomorrow early morning."
"Still another excuse? Don't lie to me, Mohan."
"My Dad would have told your Dad about it. You can ask your Dad and make sure I'm telling truth if you want. Bye!" Mohan retorted as polite as he could and cut the call.
Recently, she had started being too clingy with him, even though they were not even friends. He kept refusing her attempts to get closer politely, but she never understood his lack of interest or acted like she didn't. He was just waiting for a reason to tell her off sternly, once and for all: he wouldn't be controlled by someone like her just because their parents are friends.
"Thank God, this time, the excuse happened to be a real one!" Mohan said to himself with a relieved sigh. "I should cut the contacts with her once I move away from here."
The upstairs calling-bell rang twice, indicating Indu's impatience.
"Coming, Ma!" Mohan bellowed and dropping the phone on his bed, hurried to the bathroom to finish his morning routine: he didn't fancy an encounter with an irritated Indu by becoming more late for his breakfast.
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Prerna's neighbours turned out to be a friendly, young couple travelling home with their infant daughter. They didn't actually need three berths, but the baby's uncle, who booked their tickets, had decided the one month old, tiny thing needed an entire berth for her. They were only happy to accommodate Megha in the extra berth when she requested.
Thanking the little one's uncle in her mind, Megha seated herself near Prerna and began conversing with the couple.
The husband was a quiet man who graced them with a smile and then returned to his laptop.
The wife, on the contrary, was a chatterbox - a pleasant one,mind you! She was only a couple of years older than Megha and Prerna and hence, there was no shortage of topics for their conversation, which went on for hours. It ranged from her recent motherhood experiences to the latest films. They exchanged songs in their mobiles, talked about the present education system, discussed healthy and tasty recipes and even talked about their favorite serials.
The day was more windy than usual. The sun was completely obscured by the grey rain clouds.
"It seems monsoon will reach early this year." Prerna commented.
"It seems so... but it was so hot today morning." Megha replied, gazing out of the window.
"My grandmother says that almost all days during this time of the year which are too hot, end with a rain. I'm going to get some hot coffee and be prepared to welcome the rain. Do any of you need some?"
As everyone refused, Prerna took her wallet and scurried off.
When the train stopped at Srirangam Station, Nidhi got up.
"Would you like to hold the baby till I return from bathroom?" Nidhi asked Megha, seeing her husband was immersed in the laptop.
Megha had wanted to do that from the moment she laid eyes on the cute little thing, but she was not unsure of her baby-holding skills.
"Don't be scared. Here, hold her neck with your left hand and her back with your right." Nidhi replied as if she had just read Megha's thoughts and demonstrated the correct procedure to hold the baby.
"I will be back in a moment. Don't trouble them, okay my tiny princess?" Nidhi instructed her daughter lovingly in sing-song baby voice and handed her over to Megha.
Megha took her in her arms carefully, her beautiful eyes widening in pleasure. She secured the little sleeping beauty in her arms more comfortably and saw that the baby had opened her eyes. She kept staring at Megha for a long time and finally, after gracing her with a wonderful cute smile, yawned and went back to sleep. Megha felt a rush of affection for the sweet little girl, and wished deep down that she will be lucky enough, some day in her life, to hold a child of her own like this.
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*Ma - mother
*Payasam - South Asian rice pudding typically served during a meal or as a dessert.
YOU ARE READING
THE CLOUD'S CHARM
FanfictionMegha, as her name suggests, is a dynamic girl - one who floats in life's flow just like clouds. And Mohan, despite his name, is not much of a charmer in his social circle: he was yet to find someone special and currently, he was concentrating on...
