Friends.. here is the first update. With my limited capacity of expression, I just hope I do enough justice to my thoughts. Please feel free to comment, both positive and negative.. would like to hear honest feedback from all of you.
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Part 1 :
Ram was sitting on the bed completely lost in the midst of clothes and files. This is one thing that he hated the most... packing! His eyes wondered towards the framed photo at his bedside table. Till the time Geeta was there he never ever bothered about packing... she used to take care of everything. Life had been extremely disorganized after she left... ... Ram heaved deep sigh.
Ma... Ma... Ram called out loudly.
Maji toh Pihu baby ke room mein hai ...informed Bansi Kaka.
Ram entered Pihu's room to find Pihu sobbing and Krishanji trying to console her in vain.
Pihu saw Ram and immediately exclaimed in a loud voice : Papa... aap kyun ja rahe ho ? Mujhe bhi jana hai aapke sath..
Ram sat on the bed and took Pihu in his lap : Arey rockstar .. Papa to bas 1 week ke liye ja rahe hai. Tab tak aap dadi ke saath raho.. aur jaldi jaldi thik ho jao. Phir Papa wapas aake aap ke sath khoob khelenge.
Pihu started crying even more loudly : No.. Papa.. mujhe akele nahi rehna.. Aap mat jao...
Ram hugged Pihu tightly and looked helplessly at Krishnaji ...he knew there's only one person who can handle Pihu. He looked at the watch, it was 7.00 pm .. must be around 3 pm there.
Ram reached out for his phone and texted :
Ram : Kaha hai tu ..Busy hai kya?
Reply: University main hoon ...Kyun kya hua?
Ram :Thodi der ke liye aa sakti hai skype pe?
Reply: Abhi?? Arey bola na University mein hoon.. par hua kya hai ?
Ram : Arey mujhe office ke kam se thoda bahar jana padega.. aur idhar Pihu man nahi rahi hai. Actually she is running a temperature is liye thoda cranky ho gayi hai..
Reply : Arey.. yeh bukhar kaise a gaya Pihu ko... Kal tak to thik thi! Uff tu bhi na Ram.. chal aaja skype pe..jaldi..
Ram connected to skype . Pihu jumped with joy on seeing the face of the smiling lady on screen. She was in a white shirt and grey trousers, with a black jacket and an ash scarf round her neck.
Priya aunty ...Pihu exclaimed in joy!
Priya: Hi my princess! Why are you looking sooo sad sad ?
Pihu: Aunty dekho na.. Papa bahar ja rahe hai mujhe chod kar. Main to school bhi nahi ja rahi hoon.. ghar mein akele mujhe achcha nahi lagta..
Priya :Accha .. don't worry beta. Main Papa ko daant dungi aur bol dungi ke woh aapko chodke kahi na jaaye...
These words from Priya brought a huge smile in Pihu's face, and Ram and Krishnaji shared a smiling glance. Pihu and Priya continued their animated conversation, with Pihu giving all her reasons for not leaving her Papa and Priya countering them softly sometimes by logic and sometimes by cooking weird stories. After 15 mins, Pihu was fully convinced that her Papa has been assigned a very tough "homework" by his "teacher", and would need to go to a "school" for 1 week to solve that.. otherwise teacher will scold her Papa.
Ram and Krishnaji could not help laughing at the way Priya convinced her.
Arey yaar.. har bar tu kaise is bachchi ko convince kar leti hai ? Main to ek baar bhi nahi kar pata.. Ram said in a relaxed tone, finding Pihu happy and cheerful once again.
Tu nahi kar pata kyun ke tu ek number ka khadoos aur impatient admi hai.. grumbled Priya. Ab bata Pihu ko bukhar kaise aaya? Zaroor ice cream diya hoga.. ya barish mein...
Arey meri Ma.. aisa kuch bhi nai...ab chod na... Ram tried to avoid the topic.
Priya: Kuch bhi nahi toh kya aise hi bukhar aaya ? Tu bhi na Ram..na khudka thik se khayal rakhta hai aur na Pihu ka..
Ram : Please yaar .. abhi lecture sunne ka bilkul mood nahi hai. Raat ka flight hai aur pura packing baki hai...
Priya: Huh... Par tu ja kaha raha hai?
Ram : Dubai... Ek naya project shuru karna hai...
Priya : Hmm...sun ab chalti hoon... class hai mera
Ram : Arey ek second.. Ma ko baat karni thi tujhse...
Ram made way for Krishnaji .
Krishnaji: Priya beti.. kaisi ho.
Priya : Thik hoon aunty...
Krishnaji : Beta.. us din jo bola tha tumko.. kuch socha..
Priya gave an embarrassed look to Krishnaji .. Woh aunty... abhi class hai.. main baad mein aapse baat karti hoon...
Krishnaji looked slightly dejected .. Dekh Priya baat ko tal maat... aaj agar Shipra zinda hoti toh woh bhi tujhse yahi kehti. Kam waghera toh chalta rahega beta.. par ab sach much tumhe aur Sanjay ko ek bachcha plan karna chahiye...
Priya : Aunty.. main aapse baad mein baat karti hoon .. pakka. Please abhi jati hoon.. class hai mera..
Priya disconnected abruptly.
Ma.. aap hamesha Priya ko kyun yeh sawal puchte rehte ho? Ram said nodding his head... Woh dono bachche nahi hai Ma...
Krishnaji : Mujhe pata hai.. par mere liye Priya toh ab bhi meri bachchi hai na. Ek toh padhai ke chakkar me itna late shaadi kiya...aur ab shaadi ke 2.5 saal ke bad bhi agar nahi sochegi toh..
Ram : Uff Ma.. Soch lenge dono milke.. aap kyun itna chinta karte hai..
Krishnaji : Tu chup kar. Main chinta na karu toh aur kaun karega ..akhir beti hai woh meri. Aur yeh Sanjay..usse toh kab baat kiya mujhe yaad hi nahi. Jab bhi pucho toh business tour pe hai ...
Ram : Haa.. bohot busy hai shayad. Main phone karu to aadhe waqt uthata nahi hai.. aur uthata hai toh bhi thik se baat nahi karta..
Krishnaji : Hmmm.. is bar tu milega na toh acche se baat karna dono se. By the way.. tu Priya ko kyun nahi bola tu Germany aa raha hai ? Dubai kyun bola use?
Arey Ma.. use batana nahi tha ..Ram gave a naughty smile... Bas aise hi jake surprise dunga. Uncle ko bhi bola hai kuch na batane ke liye!
Krishnaji : Uff tum dono na.. kabhi nahi sudhroge. Jao abhi jake pack kar lo... 10 baje nikalna padega nahi toh flight miss hogi...
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Priya looked vacantly at the laptop screen. She had been extremely attached to Pihu..specially from the time she spent 3 months in India at a stretch with her immediately after Geeta's death to take care of the little one. It was almost an everyday affair for her to talk to Pihu, and anything which bothered her little Princess disturbed her a lot. She loved kids...and yet she did not know how to tackle that question from Krishnaji. So many times she had tried to gather the courage to tell the truth, but somehow something or the other had stopped her. But anyways.. everything will end in another 3 -4 months , she thought to herself, and by the time she visits India during Christmas leave, if Papa's health is improved, she would share the truth with them.
Mam.. you are not going for the class?
Priya pulled herself out of her thoughts: Oh yes Petra..she smiled at her associate and slowly walked towards her class.
Edited by aditibalh - 10 years ago
