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{ F O R T Y - F I V E }
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Arjun saw Aarushi walking out of the girl's hostel. She signed the register, entering her name. When she turned around, her face was ashen, lips almost blue, worn out of any colour. Her limbs moved as if some inexperienced person was controlling them remotely and her eyes were wide, looking right at him, but not really.
"You sure you don't want me to come?" He asked as she now stood in front of him. He could see her eyes swollen red. She looked a lot weaker, unlike the ever chirping strong women, he knew. She moved her head in denial, unable to speak. Nodding his head, he sat on his bike, waiting for her to sit back.
In less than fifteen minutes they both were standing outside the same cafè, mentioned in the address. Aarushi got down the bike and without a word walked inside the cafè. Arjun on the other hand, instead of heading back, parked his bike at a corner, a place from where he could see Aarushi sitting on a table near the wide window.
Aarushi composed herself on a table, nearby window. The coffee table was a round tin tray on legs. The surface was brightly painted, doubtless once perfect. Upon it was the image of a robin in snow, a symbol of life amid the cold. The table legs were iron rods curled at the base, rising upward, somewhat organically. She traced her fingers around them, imagining them to be vines reaching for wintry sunshine.
She was never a coffee person, the reason why she always wanted to drink it as a kid, was only because her father would. She smiled as the memory flashed in front of her, when she had accidentally put a spoonful of coffee powder in her mouth. As a seven year old child, she had been shocked at first of how different it tasted from the coffee her baba made. " It doesn't taste sweet baba!" She had said scrunching her face. More memories came one after the other, the ambiance of the cafe, its homey aroma, drawing Aarushi's soul into its cocoon for a few blessed moments.
Until, she saw a familiar yet unfamiliar women pushing the cafè door and walking inside, which made her smile disappear. Dressed in peach coloured kurta with a plazo that ended at at her ankles, the lady seemed to be in her early thirties. A designer handbag dangled from her skinny arm, perfect cerise stitching over the finest creamy hued italian leather. The cotton trims matched both the thread and the exact shade the lipstick she wore, her mouth resting in a natural pout. A moment later her lips drewn into a pensive scowl under increasingly arched eyebrows, as she searched around the cafè.
Until, her eyes met with Aarushi and her lips turned upwards into a warm smile. But unlike the lady, Aarushi welcomed her with a small smile. Walking upto her, the women stood across the table, extending her arm. "Hi, Mihika Goganio."
"Aarushi." She folded her hand, as a gesture of respect, before sitting down.
"It's so good to finally meet you Aarushi." Mihika said. The tone of her voice said the opposite. She turned to sit, feeling the slight give in the wood, any creak being lost beneath the sound of the chattering in the surrounding.
"Can't say the same." Aarushi sighed, she shook her head, when a boy came to take the order. "How did you got my number?"
" From Shrabona, your cousin's fiancèe. We live in the same building. " She replied with a smile. Her smile faded when Aarushi simply nodded. " I know Aarushi, that our family has unknowingly given you a lot of pain. And I'm really sorry about that-"
" Whole family can't be blamed for the deeds of a single man. Specially when that person didn't even bother to show up himself." Aarushi dared to not look at the lady across her. Not that she was scared, but she was afraid of her emotions turning into her actions.
" He even can't. Dad passed away last week. " The words made Aarushi snap her head up to see a women, unfamiliar yet familiar.
" Last year, he got diagnosed of kidney failure. Was on dialysis, but things started getting worse, this month. " Mihika continued, her voice, now turning into sadness and guilt. " I met Shrabona in a kitty party, and we were just talking when she started showing me pictures of her engagement. It took place in your ancestral home right?"
Seeing Aarushi nod, she continued, " When I first saw the house, I couldn't believe... This was the same house, I had accompanied with my father twelve years back. The same house that we had gone to visit with a lot of hopes but returned with only disappointment and guilt."
" You had come to meet us?" Aarushi couldn't remember any such incident as such.
"Yes, I was about your age back then. I know, instead of running away, Dad should have stopped his car and come out to help your parents. He would always tell me how bad he felt towards him for not having checked the girl who lay unconscious, stuck inside the upside down car." Mihika stopped to let a lone tear roll down her cheek. " But you see, he was too scared. He was scared of the fact that what if he got jailed, that ofcourse he would have, But then it would have ruined his family's life."
Aarushi wanted to shout, how that accident had ruined her life. But she stopped herself from voicing out her emotions. She watched as the lady in front of her broke into tears. Her body shaking badly. In that shiver was a moment of truth, a story of the emotions that no mask could ever hide. She couldn't understand why, but she felt an emotion that was far different from hatred, she had always felt towards her parent's murders.
"We went to your house, but realised that we were too late. You had shifted and your neighbours didn't knew the where. No matter how much Dad tried, he couldn't find you. Since that day, he stopped driving, started drinking, just to sink down his guilt and remorse. The guilt of helplessness, of not being able to apologise, killed him everyday and maybe they say na karma comes back to you. It did, even on deathbed, he couldn't meet you. He couldn't apologise to you."
There is a way people look when they are well, truly well, and then there is the look and appearance of masking struggle, of putting on the brave face. Both the women sitting on that particular table had become the former. While Mihika drank the coffee silently, Aarushi looked out of the window, only to see her own reflection. Those angry eyes, were her pain untold, and she wished she could tell it. Her face on the other hand, looked warn out of any emotions. It was the ice on her new wound, that's all.
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Walking out if the cafè Aarushi felt the hot breeze flatter her face. She stepped down the steps, when her eyes fell on a bike very familiar. She found the owner, standing at a nearby tea stall.
" Tum gaye nahi?" She realised she had spoked out too loud for Arjun almost dropped the lays packet. "You shift starts from 11 right?"
" Have already informed HR that I'll be late. " He replied, offering her the packet. "Just thought that you might need a ride."
Aarushi looked back at the royal Enfield, " you'll have to sit back."
Soon the sound of the silencer, filled Aarushi's ears. Usually people hate the loud sound, but for her, it was soothing to ears. That feeling of motion, the speed and the rise and fall of the path, the chance to go over grass, mud or road... It was a freedom she always craved. Stopping the bike outside a church, she got down and walked inside.
Build with white marble, the church was situated among the green. Tall deodar tees fenced the white building. The church had that ancient look with stained glass windows, captivating every visitor. The place almost drew her back to Kolkata.
For the most part, the forest had been Aarushi's church, for she needed to be able to see the heavens, feel the openness, experience the sunlight and let the birdsong be a salve to her mind. It was then her mind was free, then that she felt she was enough. She was one animal walking among many, all of different yet connected. It felt homely in a way that felt right, she quietly giving of her affections and nature giving back, nurturing a part that those stone walls left cold. As she grew older, she softened in her feelings toward those steeple spires, toward those bells and windows of many hues. For just as a house needs love to be a home, those walls of rock needed love to be a church. The day she felt that love, the day it flowed as easily as a natural breeze and the light of the sun came from the eyes around, it felt right too.
And today, she felt the same. She felt her wounded soul healing, her pain turning into relief.
She took candle, lighting up, she placed it with other candles lighted up on a table nearby. Prayers. When we learn how to answer the prayers of others with a deep and soulful love, our own prayers and dreams start to come true. She could hear her mother's words. Closing her eyes, she held her hands in one other and prayed. For her parents' soul. For Mr.Bose's soul to rest in peace.
Forgiveness is essential more to the aggrieved than the aggressor, for it brings inner healing; forgetting is foolish if it leads one vulnerable to further harm. Hence she forgave, the man who killed her parents', who ruined her life, her childhood. She forgave the memories that haunted her. She decided to forgive and move on, forgive yet make a new life, forgive yet cut the one whom harmed her from her past and present. She opened her eyes, a smile spreading on her lips. Her soul was much cleaner now, her mind, echoing peace, her eyes, looking forward to her future.
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Hey guys!!
So yesterday I finished watching Kota Factory Season 1. And I'm like damn why didn't I watch it earlier?? Also watching the three boy's bond reminded me of our 'pehli mohabbat'character's bond. How similar they are?? That line '...parent's ki intentions kabhi galat nahi hoti' was legit like deja vu xD and that dahi-cheeni wala scene! (I say it again, maine isse pehle Kota Factory nahi dekhi thhi xD)
So if you have watched season 1, who was your fav character?
I think everybody should have a friend like Meena :)
Ps: I don't know why this para is aligned in centre??
Hope you all liked the chapter. Thank you so much for reading.
Spread love !