Three years ago , Joshi house was witnessing a normal day where everyone was sitting in front of T.V. in which news of strange explosive found in Mumbai was telecasting .Manav and Mehar were engrossed in the breaking news along with his father and mother. Something they used to hate about adults when they were younger but now they are adults and they are watching news like most of the adults.
Smita was sitting there just to watch something during cutting of vegetables, stood up after she finished her job and walked toward kitchen but she couldn't cross the threshold because a very familiar name came into her ear .She frozen at the mention of that name and slowly turned toward to face the T.V screen just to make sure that she had heard correct word .And the word was reiterated several times.
She looked at her husband whose back was facing her but still she could see that he was equally shocked and shock of her two siblings were not less .
All of them looked at each other at the same with mixed emotion of shock ,disbelief and fear.In the background The panelist were arguing about the validity of claim of man named DEV JOSHI .
"Ek naam to kitno ka hota hai" Manav spoke breaking the silence and dismissing the unsaid fear. All of them found it easy to agree with him however they lingered in front of the channel for more than enough time .
None of them wanted to go to their work.Need for clarification of the fact was greater than the daily chores. And finally their wait ended .
A familiar figure appears on the screen .The fear of unknown danger started creeping in the room .The need to look at his face intensified.Everyone were convincing himself that he was someone else. But suddenly the camera zoomed on his face.
The same chocolate brown eyes were flashing on the T.V screen that were used to twinkle whenever Smita would made something tasty or Mahesh would plan a family trip or Manav would play chess with him or Mehar would declare their results at end of every term.
The same innocent smile that would appeared without any particular reason.The smile that spoke that the greatest happiness of life is jumping in the small water puddle or solving complex maths problem or eating ice cream for two times a day or winning a cricket .
The image gots blurry due to glistening tears in the eyes of spectators .Smita forwarded her hand toward the T.V screen as if he was himself standing their in front of her .Her son was there .Her Ballu was there.Her finger tip touches his forehead slightly and suddenly everything blackened.
The Joy of looking at her son after ages died and horror of the situation became vague. Her world too became black like T.V screen. The heaviness of her sorrow became too large that her legs refused to hold her weight and she stumble down on the ground with loud cry .
She could feel a hand around herself attempting to hold it but she couldn't register it. Her mind had refused to understanding anything because her heart was bleeding, bleeding by the loss of her son .
So She didn't know that Mahesh had fallen on the ground because his knee too were weak to hold the weight of grief.In fact his whole body had became weak .He had lost his strength ,He had lost his son .He was crying bitterly like a defeated warrior whose whole life had dedicated to protect his castle but then suddenly the castle crumbled down on the ground into dust like it was nothing . Whole life of Mahesh was dedicated toward his family.His wife and his three children.He had tried to gave them protection and happiness. But he had failed. Because His son had died and he was living.What kind of father he is? How could he breath when his son's breath had stopped.Why didn't his heart stop when his son's heart refused to beat. He was wipping bitterly.
Some cracky voice was falling on his ears about handling himself so that he could handle Smita but none of them was making any sense to him.
When two elders of the family had broken ,the two younger members grew up suddenly. Manav and Mehar were fighting from the grief of losing his brother and at the same time were trying to console their parents .Some time Manav sat beside Smita and Mehar with Mahesh , trying to console them with hollow words . Some time they exchanged their place and would say same word to another one with teary eyes and weepy voice and when the weight became too heavy they sat down together weeping in arms of each other as the picture of their brother came in front of their eyes.But they couldn't sit there and keep crying over the loss for the life time because their parents seemed to be weak and hence they had to be strong.
So Manav decided to leave for Mumbai as soon as possible because he wanted to see his brother for the last time. So when Manav was making arrangements for the means of travel,Mehar was packing important goods to take with.
Neither Mahesh nor Smita knew when they reached at the place where their son was sleeping peacefully. They wanted to ran toward the sleeping figure lying on the centre of the ground, surrounded by many people but they couldn't because some uniformed man didn't see them important enough to allow them to meet their son.Manav and Mehar were shouting and crying at the same time at the officers telling them they are family when Mahesh collapsed on the ground but Smita didn't know because all she could think that her son was lying behind the wall of those man .She wanted to run toward him. She had strange feeling that everyone was lying.That her son couldn't die .He just needed her.When she put his head in her lap he would wake up .
Everything was blur dream for them with many uniformed officers, different camera and reporter capturing things and blabbering something.The hustle bustle of the people and sound with sad faces .Some of them were trying to stop them,some of them were asking different questions,some of them were trying to disperse the crowd and were attending Mahesh. And Suddenly everything had stopped because a someone's very low voice came,somehow that low sound was louder than anyone else .She didn't know what that voice spoke but that was voice of a female. and after her voice she was allowed to move near her son.
She ran toward her son and sit on the floor beside him.She put his head on her lap,she told him that she has come and he would be fine as if he was pretending to lie due to the fear of crowd.Beside her Manav and Mehar were crying bitterly by keeping their head on the body of their brother and Smita scold them to cry like someone had died .No one had . This made them cry more than before. Smita again looked at her son and felt the anger towards the woman who had snatched her son by claiming his mother . How could she allow him to lie here like that? Smita looked in the crowd for the so called mother of her son .Her eyes were moving from rapidly from one person to another and suddenly her eyes stuck at the familiar piece of cloth on someone's body.
Someone was wearing the saree that she had given for the future wife of his son. Her eyes followed up toward her hand covered with red with beautiful design of Mehandi ,her arms full of red bangles, A black thread lying in front of her breast , hanging down from her neck .Her eyes moved upward to look at the red colour filling in her hair line.
She stood up and walked toward her slowly.Her eyes were again and again towards the Mangalsutra and Sindoor to the sarees and bangles. She stood in front of her .She raised her hand slightly towards the arms of that girl.It was difficult to move her hand as if someone had tied heavy weight on it . but she moved her hand and hold the delicate arms of that girl .She lifted her arms slightly and turn it to look at her palm. The word Dev was there written beautifully and was of bright colour. Smita traced her finger to each letter of rhe word and realisation hit her like thunderbolt.Next moment she was embracing that poor girl in her arms .The pain was flowing through her eyes when she found that the girl was clinging to her like she was her lifeline,like she was seeking some kind of solace in her motherly embrace .
Her son had started a new journey of his life but then had left without walking at the path. Suddenly Smita got the reason to be strong .She got the reason to at least try to handle.Family are strange.At time of odds They can be broken individually but still they can find the motivation to remain intact just to make sure that another member of the family would not broke.Like Smita who was gathering her courage for her daughter in law ,for her husband,for her son and for her daughter.Like Manav and Mehar who was trying to gather their courage for their parents and like Mahesh who wanted to sleep with his son but couldn't and hence was trying to gather himself for his wife ,his children and for the new member of his family.
Like Ananya who had gathered courage for Vivan, for Baal Pari,for Veer lok,For The broken family that was standing in front of them, and For Her Dabbu.
Fighting with the grief of the loss ,all of them had started to try to move on in their respective life. After living in Bharat Nagar for some months,Joshi family came Delhi with Ananya.m . They wanted her to live there but she refused clearly and told them that BN was family for Dev and it's each corner was filled with his memory.She couldn't leave that place however she would came with them and would live with them for sometime.
When first time she came,Smita wanted to follow the rituals of welcoming the new daughter in law but she couldn't because her son was not standing beside her near the threshold.She looked at the sad eyes of Ananya .Even if she was wearing bright coloured Long Frock, but the hollowness her eyes , looking at the house longingly,make her look like the young woman wearing white sarees .
The image was too scary for Smita and she quickly shuddered before that figure would make a place in her mind.
In three years Ananya had became a member of family in true sense.She mostly came Delhi and stayed for months .They too stayed at Mumbai for Months and there is no formality of informing before arrival.Ananya has become the window of Dev's youth .She tells them about how he was as a grown up.And For Ananya Joshi family has became window for Dev's childhood . Once she was too shocked to know that Dev knew about the meaning of Valentine's day and Bf or GF .When Mehar asked her that why she was so shocked ,she told them that once Dev had wished her Valentine's day by pretending that he didn't know about it ,She , like a fool ,was explaining that to her .After that all of them laughed for long time at Ananya' s sudden and shocking realisation that he was flirting with her.
Joshi family knew about Baalpari's health and they knew that Ananya had found a man named Happy Pandey who looks like Dev and He would help her for regaining Baalpari's health . That's why when they look at that the man standing in front of him,Mehar referred him as Happy. Manav has forced Smile on his face and Mahesh has tried to act like a humble host by welcoming his guest .
But Smita .
She is looking at the Man in front of him without speaking anything.The image of five year old little boy wearing tattered clothes come in front of her eyes. The choclate brown eyes of man are looking from one person to another with kind of overwhelmed emotions .His breathing is uneven as if he is trying to hold his emotions.He opens his mouth when Mehar call him Happy but words didn't come out.He looked at Mahesh with painful eyes when he welcomed him in the house.
"..Tumne humari jo Madat ki Hai uske liye hum sab bahut abhari hai ...." Mahesh is expressing his humble gratitude but with his each word the pain in the eyes of that Man is intensifying.He opens his mouth several times but words didn't come out. Finally Ananya decided to volunteer . So she come forward to give word to his feelings but before She could speak ,Smita spoke.
"Ballu...."Her voice is soft whisper and a lone drop of tear fall from her eyes. As soon as the name escape from her mouth , the Man looks at her immediately with immense relief and love. Attempt to hold his tear failed and his eyes glisten with the tears that are threatening to fall.
"Maa Ye Happy Hai ...Ananya ne bataya tha na" Manav tried to told his mother with embarassing smile.
"Sorry per Tumhari sakal Ballu jaisi hai isliye shayad Maa ko laga...." Mehar tried to explain Smita to her guest but her guest doesn't look at her instead he is looking at her mother who is now walking toward her .
Smita drags herself toward the person standing in front of her.It doesn't matter his face matches with Ballu or not .Only thing that matter is that, she can identify her son even if he came after plastic surgery. She just knew that he is her son.It is the same instinct that raise her middle of night and encouraged her to check the little boy who had just came in the family .She had the feeling that he must be hungry despite the fact that he had eaten more than the any child would eat at that age .And her instinct was not wrong.She found that boy near the table , drinking one glass after another to calm his hungry stomach. She doesn't know why and how but she just felt that he was hungry and he indeed was .
Today too her instinct is not wrong.It can never be wrong. She looks at her son who is now taller than her .She put her hand on her cheek to make sure that he is real.
"Ballu....".She speak again in croaky voice and he nodded slightly keeping his hand over hers .
"M...Ma..Maa...." His voice breaks as he tried to speak .At that moment world has stopped not only for Smita but for rest of family too .
"B.....Ba....Ballu...."This time Mahesh speaks with difficultly and Dev diverts his eyes from his mother and looks toward his father with teary eyes.
"Ha...P...Papa".He speaks and everyone runs toward him.
The earlier tightness of his chest starts melting when her mother touches his head ,his cheek and his hand to make sure that he is real, when his father embraces him in his protective arms in bone crossing hug .Her sister weeps putting her head on his shoulder,Her brother wrapped his arms around him .
None of them care that they had themselves seen his dead body but still he is standing their in front of them .None of them wanted to know the reason.None of them care to hear any logic.They are just satisfied from the knowledge that their brother, their Son is in front of them when they had lost any hope to see him again. Five of them are wrapping their arms each other, their tears are flowing on their cheeks but none of them care . Finally all of their worship and offerings has shown its effects. Their family is complete now.
Wiping tears from the corner of her eyes Ananya pick out her phone and clicked incredible pictures of the family with teary eyes , but with brightest smile of the world.
So how was the chapter?
I was Planning to update this on Mother's day but chapter complete hi nhi hua tha.
But Ek din Maa ke liye bahut kam hota hai . Mother's day can never be belated.
Happy Mother's day to all incredible mothers .The strongest person of our life who makes our life better.