Part 3
Gopi sat on the bed, her hands mechanically turning the
pages of the old photo album. She wasn't looking at it. She didn't need to. She
knew the pictures by heart. She knew every single picture there, and she
remembered what had happened before and after the photos were clicked like it
had been yesterday.
And every time she sat with the album, her mind relayed the
incidents, every single one of them, in vivid memory before her eyes, as she
turned the pages, staring blankly ahead. She was transported back in time, and
she always realized that it was all done when she felt tears on her hands. She
would look down dazedly and find that she had closed the album shut.
Feeling empty, and dying with the pain that coursed through
every single cell of her, she would put away the album inside the chest that contained
all the dolls, dresses, other memories and walk away from the room.
And she was doing this again today. By now, it was routine,
and no one disturbed her when she did this. A tear splotched down on her hand,
when she felt a soft tug. She jerked away from her memories and looked down.
Aham ji was tugging the album away from her.
Frantic, she gripped the album tighter and looked up at
him, "No, Aham Ji. I am not ready yet" she said, her voice shaking, "don't take
this away from me"
Her plea was a hammer to his heart.
He couldn't bear the sadness in her voice. He wanted to take
her in his arms and assure her that no one could take the memories away from
her; he wanted to tell her that the memories would always be a part of
her. But he had to do this right. If he did, she would start healing
today. He knew that the pain would always be there, but the guilt had to go.
His resolve strengthened even more then - he was going to
put an end to this today. All her suffering, her pain, her guilt. They were ending
today.
He knew it wouldn't happen like a switch going off - but he
would make sure it would be a start.
Today, right now, was the beginning of the end.
"I would NEVER do
that, Gopi". She looked up at him with such gratitude that he nearly made him
want to nod and walk away from the room. Leaving her to the album and her memories.
And guilt.
NO
He closed his eyes and swallowed hard.
When he opened his eyes again, Gopi had gone back to looking
at the album.
He took a deep breath. Laying an arm on her shoulder, he
said, "But I would like to share it with you". She looked at him again,
made a feeble attempt at a smile and nodded. Scooting to the right, she made
space for him. He sat down next to her, draped an arm over her shoulders, and
pulled the album towards him.
He gently removed Gopi's hand from the album, as it lay
sprawled on both their laps. He looked down at the photo.
His photo self was gaping at Gopi, his eyes wide, and his
mouth wide open. His mother stood behind him with an amused expression in her
face, and was beaming at him, while Gopi grinned up at him, a twinkle shining
in her eyes.
What a horrid day!
Aham thought with
irritation, as he walked into Modi Bhavan. First he had been late to a meeting,
something that had never happened in his career. Then, his team has goofed up
an important presentation, he had spent the first half of the day putting up a
presentation and convincing the clients. The afternoon got worse, as he found
himself in a meeting, trying to sort out the differences between the production
managers who were at loggerheads.
And when he had
started early from work, wanting nothing more than to stretch back and relax in
his bed, sipping on the delicious tea Gopi made for him, his car had run a
flat! He had just returned from spending the last 45 minutes at the mechanic
shop.
Yep, bad bad day!
"Gopi" he muttered,
surprised that she was seated on the couch, with her feet stretched out .She
never did that. But he was too exhausted to even ask her why, so he just
nodded weakly in return to the bright smile she gave him and plopped down next
to her. Rubbing his forehead tiredly, he closed his eyes and mumbled, "tea
please"
"Aham!!"
His eyes flew open,
why was his mother angry? "Mom? Kya hua?" he asked, turning to look at his
mother.
She came out from the
kitchen, glaring at him. "You forgot, didn't you? Aham, I did not expect this
from you, ever." She said disapprovingly, shaking her head at him. Aham blinked
- what had he done, or not done?
"You had to take Gopi
for her ultrasound today, and you forgot"
Damn! How had he
forgotten?
"Mom, woh - I'm" he
muttered lamely.
"Aham" his mother
sternly, narrowing her eyes at him. He gulped
and turned to Gopi, "I'm really sorry, Gopi" he said, taking her hands in his.
She nodded, "Koi baat
nahi, Aham ji, actually we - "
She was going to say
we can go tomorrow. And that angered him. How could he have forgotten?
Great husband he was.
Mad at himself, he
clenched his jaw and shot up from the couch, pulling her with him. She squealed
at the sudden movement, while his mother said sternly, "Aham!! What are you
doing?"
He shook his head and
half dragged Gopi to the door, "Taking my wife to the doctor, mom, like I
should have done earlier"
"Aham ji, listen to
me" Gopi said from behind him, gently freeing her hand from his. He paid no
heed, "No Gopi. Later. Come on, now"
"Aham" his mother
tried.
He turned briefly to
look at her, " Sorry mom, later. Gopi, aao" he said, stepping out.
" Aham Ji!" Gopi half yelled.
He whirled around in
surprise. She smiled sheepishly. Walking to him, she took his hands in hers,
and said gently, "please listen to me for two seconds"
"Gopi I will listen to
you all my life" he said, cupping
her face in his hand. He noticed his mother smiling and looking away, "but not now". Encircling his fingers
over her wrist, he pulled her with him outside.
"Maaji and I have
already gone to the doctor!"
He didn't even turn
around, he nodded distractedly, "well that's great, now come on"
He heard a loud
exasperated sigh from Gopi.
Aham shook his head.
He didn't understand why Gopi was giving him a hard time about going to the
doctor. Yes, it was his mistake that he had forgotten, and yes he had made it
amply clear when he came in today evening that he was dead tired.
But that would never stop him from taking her
to the doctor. And she needn't be so nice and sweet and so damn stubborn about
going tomorrow.
"The babies are fine!"
All he wanted was the
doctor to confirm that his babies -
Whirling around, he looked from Gopi to his
mother and back wordlessly. Both the women were
looking at him bemusedly.
"Did you say babies?"
he asked Gopi. Not waiting for her answer, he turned to his mother, "mom, did
she say - " he paused, "babies?"
His mother beamed at
him, while Gopi gripped his hands tightly, "haan, Aham ji"
What?! His jaw dropped
and he stared at Gopi. Not blinking.
Babies. Two little lives. Not one. Not a baby. Babies!
"Great face, Bhai!"
He closed his mouth shut hurriedly and only now noticed Jigar who had joined them with a camera and big goofy grin.
One day he had been a
complete idiot and it was caught on camera forever!
Wordlessly he looked
up at Jigar again. Jigar snorted, shaking his head in amusement.
Ignoring his brother, he placed both his arms
on Gopi's shoulders, mostly for support, he admitted to himself, "We're having
twins?"
Was that his voice?!
Jigar answered for
him, "Well, you see Aham Bhai" he drawled, "generally babies mean more than one
child. Twins. Triplets. Quadruplets."
Triplets?! Quadruplets??!!!
Oh dear -
Only when his mother
said, "Jigar" in a tone he assumed to be strict (assumed because his mother's
voice was laden with amusement, and she was half laughing), did he realize that
his brother was pulling his leg.
Scowling at Jigar, he
turned to Gopi.
Hints of tears shone
in her eyes as they twinkled up at him. She was smiling widely, and her face
was glowing. There was no mistaking the happiness that radiated from her.
It bounced on him, and
soaked him completely.
"Twins" he muttered in amazement.
Ever since he had known about Gopi's pregnancy
his life pretty much revolved around the baby. Now it would revolve around the
babies.
Two little lives that
they had created together.
Wow!
"Twins" he repeated,
laughing this time, as he lifted Gopi off her feet. Hoisting her up in the air,
he twirled her around, not caring for the audience they had.
Gopi laughed with him
- the sound of her laughter tinkled in the air, ricocheted off the walls and filled
the house with happiness.
Happiness that was soon to be shattered.
The melancholy of what was to follow quickly replaced the
joy of that memory. He clenched his jaw.
Remember why you're
doing this he told himself sternly.
Pushing the pain aside, he turned the picture. And
immediately smiled.
It was one of his favorite pictures - taken on Gopi's
godhbharai.
Gopi was sitting on the floor with her legs crossed. Her
hands lay on her bulging stomach, and even the haldi smeared across her cheeks
couldn't hide the pink glow on her face. She was looking up at his mom,
boundless joy shining in her eyes. His mom had her hand on Gopi's head in
blessing, and was smiling down at her fondly.
As he had clicked the picture that day, he had thought
happily that the beautiful bond between Gopi and mom couldn't be more obvious.
And he had also fallen in love with Gopi all over again that day - watching her
waddle across the room, in a dark green sari, her face aglow with happiness,
and her stomach bulging with precious little lives.
Beautiful!
Aham smiled at the memory and turned to Gopi. Gopi was
gazing into space, a lost expression in her face. That wiped his smile right
off his face. He closed his eyes and sighed. Gopi needed to enjoy all these
memories again, without the guilt and pain. And he had to be the one to teach
her to do that.
His resolve firmer, he looked down at the photo again and
chuckled, "would you look at you?" he teased, nudging Gopi's shoulder with his.
Out of the corner of his eye he noted that she jerked and looked down
reluctantly.
He watched her closely as she lightly placed her arm over
her photo. She nodded slightly, not saying anything.
Aham shook his head lightly and looked down at the photo and
Gopi's radiant smile - he missed that so much.
"Do you remember?"
She looked up at Aham Ji - how could she forget?
Gopi sat quietly as
women from the neighborhood applied haldi on her face. She smiled up at them,
and bent to touch their feet. They blessed her and she thanked them.
She noticed Maaji
smiling at her. She smiled back.
Fiddling with the
pallu of her saree, she bit her lip and looked around the room. Two dozen women
were looking at her, smiling and talking.
Gopi shifted uneasily
- she was not used to being the centre of attention, and she didn't like it too
much either.
She turned her head
sideways and her eyes landed on the tray of juices that had not been served to
the guests yet.
Maybe she could dash
off into the kitchen in the pretence of serving the guests.
"We have servants for
that" her husband said in a mock-stern voice, squatting down next to her.
Busted!
Aham ji was getting
quite good at reading her mind these days. Sighing, she turned to him. He was
shaking his head at her, "don't even think about it, Gopi Ji. This is your
evening" he said lightly.
Before she could open
her mouth to argue, Aham Ji straightened his shoulders, clenched his jaw and was
glaring at the opposite direction.
She followed his eyes
to see Savita aunty waltzing into their living room.
Aham ji stood up
immediately, curling up his palm into a fist. Gopi gasped and caught his arm, "
Aham Ji, relax" she said, tugging on his hand.
He shook his head, and
looked down at her briefly "I am not letting her anywhere near you" he said
fiercely before turning his attention to Savita aunty.
Gopi smiled, "She will
get here anyway. I want you to be beside me, then"
He looked down at her
again; she could see that he was melting. She smiled up at him softly, "Please".
Smiling, he sat down beside her and entwined his fingers in hers, "please for
sitting down next to you. You're mad Gopi Aham Modi" he teased.
She giggled in response.
"Who invited her?"
Both of them looked up
to see Maaji glaring at Savita aunty. " Gopi Vau, did you - "
She shook her head,
but Aham Ji answered for her, " Mom, Gopi didn't invite her"
"Then who did?" Gopi
could see that Maaji was extremely irritated.
"I did, Koyeli"
Maaji's eyes widened
and she whirled around, " Maa, you invited her, but why?" she asked
incredulously.
Nani shook her head in
disapproval, "This is wrong Koyeli. You invited all your neighbors and not
Savita. Ahem ki bahu needs all the blessings of her elders" she said, smiling
down at Aham Ji and her.
Gopi could understand
what Nani meant. But she was also equally sure that Maaji would not like this
one bit.
" Par Maa, Savita ben would never bless my Gopi Vau whole heartedly. Don't you remember- "
Before she could
complete her sentence, Savita aunty announced her arrival to them, " Kokila bennn"
she said, in her usual tone, " Jai Shree Krishna"
Eager to stop Savita
aunty insulting her Maaji or her family, Gopi bent down to take her blessings. Savita
aunty placed her hand on her head briefly before turning to Maaji, "when are
you sending your Vau to her peehar"
They had decided this months ago.
"Savita aunty, I am
not going to my peehar" she said gently.
Savita aunty looked surprised, but she quickly
rearranged her features and smiled at her, " Of course. Girls go to their peehar
during their pregnancy to be closer to their family... and mother" she added as an
afterthought stressing on the word, "and you have neither"
She felt Aham Ji's
hand tighten on hers. She turned to him. His jaw was clenched tightly and he was glaring at Savita aunty.
"Savita Ben!" Maaji
spat out, stepping directly in front of her and opposite Savita aunty.
Gopi looked at her
husband who stood beside her, and she looked down at their hands tightly
entwined together. Then she looked up at her mother-in-law who had stepped out in
front of her like a lioness protecting its cub.
"My mother lives here, Savita aunty"
***
PHEW!!! That was one draining part!!!
And I have to say you guys are awesome!!!! I would never have sat up till 3:30 AM to type in a story part otherwise!!
Thank you all!!
Okay, so this was intended to be a full part - the entire story! BUT, I did not expect just 2 memories to run so long. This was 7 pages in MS word, and I really had to break this up into various parts.
Initially planned the entire story about the babies as one part, but seeing as it would run into 18-20 pages easily, I would be breaking it up into 3-4 parts.
Would be posting up recaps before each subsequent part for easy ref.
I hope you people got that the font in Itallics is the memories (flashbacks), and the regular font is the emotions/ happenings/ feelings of the present.
This was a bit difficult to write, as I am trying to tell a story within a story here (through the memories!) - Let me know if it clicked!!
Once again, you guys are Awesome
Mrids
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