On entering the house after 48 hours, Akhilesh was welcomed
by the fresh smell of the passion flower & rose from his balcony. His 1BHK
in Malviya Nagar has been done with utmost love & perfection. He has
handpicked everything: be it the flower pots or the furniture. Each furniture
was of low height and in sync with the wall colours, the best of the lot being
the Japanese dining table placed near the balcony, at a place from where he
could sit and watch the open sky. He had to pay a hefty deposit for this house,
for getting such a place in Delhi was a dream of many. But, not all were
Akhilesh! A smile came on his lips as he recalled the efforts invested behind
this small piece of property. He ran his fingers through his long hair and
scanned through the room. He has painted the walls with utmost care and each
stroke reflected his perfection.
Though he has picked up some chicken tandoori and roti from
the shop downstairs, he had no appetite. Keeping his shoes on the rack, he headed
for the washroom. The last few months have been very hectic and after a long
time, he had an off day tomorrow. Some good whiskey seemed to be a must!
After taking a warm bath, he quickly prepared some green
salad and set the table for himself. The Glenfiddich was gifted to him by his
girlfriend, who was out on a business tour. They often had to travel, and
neither had any issue with it, until this time! It was different! Akhilesh
seemed to miss her more than usual.
Akhilesh & Srini were 25 and well settled in their lives.
She was a booming model and his paintings were reaching new heights of fame.
Life couldn’t have been better. He was just about to take the first sip when
remembering something, he jumped up and stole a glance at the watch. It was nearly
11:00 pm, “Gosh! Ma would kill me” He dialled the number, but none answered. He
called back again, but dud! No answer! He was about to call again when suddenly
his phone beeped. It was a Srini, “Aki, read the letter today. No excuses!”
reality stuck him like a thunderbolt. His Ma’s phone was with Srini as she
didn’t want to part with it. It supposedly had some beautiful messages and
songs which she couldn’t have found anywhere else.
Even after finishing the first drink and a few more, he
remained unmoved. Unlike today’s nuclear family, he had a privileged childhood,
spending all the vacations with his cousins and grandparents. He was the eldest
child among all the cousins and the most loved one. However, in the six months,
he had not spoken a word to any of them. It was only Srini and his paintings
that had clung on to since that dreadful night.
Unlike Akhilesh, Srini had a different upbringing. She had
spent most of her childhood in hostels and shared negligent bonding with her
parents or cousins. It must have been this extreme upbringing that had sparked
the fire between the instantaneously, two years back.
After finishing the third or fourth drink, Akhilesh got up
and switched on the lights. His handsome face had turned burning hot and his
innocent eyes looked murderous. From his steady gait, one might have
misconceived him as crying, but no! Aki never cried. He had not cried on that
fateful night also when his Mani had called him.
“Akhil, where are you?” his bubbly Mani had asked in the most
composed voice.
He mocked as usual, “Mani, I was browsing through the
matrimonial, searching for the right guy for you.”
“Very funny! You can keep the search on for the rest of your
life, but right now, how are you placed?” she scoffed.
He had been taken aback as that was the unlikeliest tone of
his mother’s youngest cousin.
“Come home. We need you. Didi wants to meet you.”
Sensing the urgency, Akhilesh probed, “Is everything ok?”
“Yes! But do you have any problem in coming home now?”
He shoved off his thoughts and dragged the red suitcase to
his table. It had been handed to him during his last visit to Kolkata.
The suitcase was stuffed with diaries, letters, pebbles, torn
pages and a red envelope.
It was his mother’s secret box, which she had wanted to hand
over to him. Unfortunately, she didn’t get the scope to do so. But, being aware
of her intent wish, her sister had done the honour on his behalf.
Srini had read through all the diaries and all the letters;
she had touched each pebble in it, sometimes she had smiled and sometimes she
had found herself drenched in tears. She mostly used to carry out these
ventures in the kitchen, secluded from Akhilesh, and the times when he had
caught her engrossed, he preferred to ignore. But, this red envelope was
untouched. It had her mother’s handwriting. In bold it read, “For My Beloved
Son.”
The steady hands opened it and even before reading a line, he
thought aloud, “My eyes seem to be moist. I must have drunk a lot. I am not
crying!” There were two pieces of paper in it. While the one marked as ‘2’
looked old, the other marked as ‘1’, looked pretty new!
Very slowly he read both. He read them once, then twice and
if only he could have controlled his emotions, he would have kept reading them
all night.
“Dear Akhilesh,
As I was going through my paraphernalia, I found a letter,
which I had never given to you. It was your birthday letter, my boy! But, it
was a busy day and by the time you had sneaked out some moments for us, I was
too elated to share it with you.
Hope you get to read it someday. That day I might not be
there with you. But, remember one thing - you have fulfilled your mom’s dream.
Read the letter and promise to abide by it!
Love you to the moon and back!”
“Dearest Akhilesh,
Happy Birthday! You are 16 today. Till date, I have been the
1st to wish you on your birthday, but today for the first time you are out for
a house party. Your celebration has started without us. Am I sad about it? Yes,
a bit but I am happier for you. You are growing up! With time, I have become so
obsessed with your perfect upbringing that somewhere I had forgotten to say “I
love you” At times, I also hope that once again you would become that small
child whom I used to cuddle so much.
Akhilesh, you are a lovely child and the best gift of God to
us. I have tried to give you the best of what I had but we all are mortals and
we are bound to make mistakes. Forgive me beta for the all the harsh words and
all the thrashings. It was more of my incompetence than your disobedience. I
know you love me, but you also think me to be ineffectual at times! Please
respect my boundaries and try to be a better human being than me.
You have a long way to go Beta and I pray to God that you
will be among one of those very few good human beings which the world lacks.
Just a few more months and you will be alone in some new city. I know you will
be strong.
Wherever you are, always know two people on this earth are
just a call away. Even after we die, if ever you feel lost, just close your
eyes and think of the moments we have spent together and relive our lectures
(that’s what you call them, I know!).
Be successful, be kind to humankind, abide by your
principles, live for your friends and love your girl as if she’s the last
living soul. Be invincible to yourself but never take life for granted. Do good
to people if you want life to be good with you.
Happy birthday once again.
We love you and thank you for being our son.
Love, Ma”
After ages he cried, he cried like the kid. He cried for his
baba and ma; he cried for the times when he was with them and for the times
when he couldn’t be with them. He cried for not being with them during their
last moment!
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