chapter 15

SerendipityEpisode-15Coming home after 10 o'clock , she was greeted by a terrible silence. She had been deciding what to do after coming home even while sitting in the office...She remembered the time just ten days ago when Aarya was practicing her football kicks on the only plain wall in the living room accompanied by the background music of a dramatic mother-in-law - daughter-in-law fighting scene playing out on Aai's TV serial...Baba was sitting in the balcony listening to Kishore Kumar melodiously singing 'Zindagi Ek Safar Hai Suhana' on a caravan music player.Amidst the cacophony of noises. Aai was loudly asking for everyone's opinion on whether or not to make Pulao and soup for dinner...Having an important conference call , Megha had then screamed in anger .."Aree!! Keep quiet!! It's way too noisy!! My work is getting disturbed" slamming the door and locking herself in the bedroom, with one final glare. Today that same house was quiet just like she had wanted... the pin-drop silence suitable for working as much as her heart desired ... and yet, today, that same engulfing silence felt scary...She remembered Aarya's warm giggles , Aai's customary evening Aarti , her precious 'night chats' with Baba and Radhatai's humorous tussle with the FM Radio in a desperate effort to play her favourite song...She remembered the sounds of people ... the sounds of life that she was now devoid of .... the silence had settled over the entire room sucking all the life out of it, spreading an air of melancholia...Today, somehow, she was disturbed by silence more than she had ever been by chaos .... the silence that she had so desperately wanted now seemed daunting and fearful..Sneaking into Aarya's room, she nearly tripped by a football at her feet. Picking it up, she hugged it tightly as if wanting to extract the last bit of life out of it..Suddenly , her phone vibrated with a new notification brightening up the screen.. a picture taken from the vast garden of Mussoorie resort showcased the sky filled with uncountable stars as if an angel had  sprinkled fairy dust all over the sable black expanse in an attempt to make the night a little brighter...."Mumma , look at this, isn't it just beautiful!! The sky looks so majestic with a million stars adorning it ... and the one that shine the brightest is Polaris" The names of all the important stars , galaxies and the shapes of the constellations had been memorised by Aarya Madam...Suddenly, fragments of Aarya's childhood pieced together in Megha's mind painting an ephemeral composition of disjointed memories ... She was reminded of the curious question that a three-four year old Aarya had asked "Where did Papa go?" ..."He was very dear to Bappa , so Bappa asked Pappa to stay with him" was Megha's fixed response..Then, at night, sitting in the balcony while eating soft food, she used to look the sky trying to find the brightest star ... "Look Mumma...Papa , How are you , Papa??" and the meal would end by chatting with that star...One day, the chapter of 'Astronomy' taught in school changed the name of that twinkling star from 'Papa' to 'Polaris' and Megha realized that her little puppy had grown up..Megha called Baba immediately after seeing the photo and Aarya picked it up with her usual infectious enthusiasm... Then, Aarya Madam got engrossed in describing the day's agenda...Tomorrow, they were going to go to Jim Corbett with the small hope of seeing a tiger... For the next half an hour, Megha felt as if she was walking in Mussoorie herself , listening to Aarya's vivid descriptions about anything and everything..She was talking while standing in the kitchen when she was interrupted by the sharp bell of the microwave ..."Mumma , how come you haven't eaten yet? Why is the food still in the microwave?" Aarya's sharp ears had caught the sound of the bell..."Mumma , you came home at 11 o'clock!! ... why did you sit till late in the office even today ?? There is no one to bother you at home , na?? Shouldn't you come home early and work !" Aarya berated her.Megha wanted to shout ..."I want disturbance ... chaos ... i want you all here... close to me... this silence is deadly" but she swallowed her words with a exceedingly tightening the lump in her throat. Tears cascaded down her reddened cheeks..She remembered the day when she had to carry rice all around the house in order to keep up with Aarya who was busy prancing everywhere and feed her. Yet , today, she herself was getting shouted at for not eating on time...'You have grown so much, Aarya.. I'm so proud of you' The thoguhts echoed in her mind...To be continued....© ®️ Meghna_Yadav 2021Special Thanks to friend Gayatri and my loving daughter, my buddy.Hello Readers,Illuminate the five stars of ratings with your gentle touch. Do let me know your thoughts via comments..Thanks and Regards,Meghana Yadav... Â