Chapter 4

shree

@qwerty.shivi123

[NOCOPY]

PART-3

Two days later, at Raavi’s home.

The phone has rung three times now, and each time the phone flashed the name ‘Mera Bhoothnath’ on the screen. Raavi cuts the call each time, fearing bad news. 

The phone rings again, barely managing two rings before she cuts it again.

‘Abe chipkali,phone utha!’Shiva thought urgently, on the other end.

When she cuts his call the sixth time, he calls Prafulla instead. 

‘Hello?’ she picks up blearily, sounding as though she had just woken up. ‘Kon hai jo itni raat ko phone kar raha hai?’

“Hello, maami teri neend karab karne ki maafi mein nahi mangunga. Pehle us chipkali ko phone do. Kya baar baar phone kaat rahi hai woh? Usko phone do abhi ke abhi.” he nearly shouted into the phone.

Hearing her damad’s voice, whom she once hated, made her burst into tears. 

‘Arre Siva! Tu theek toh hein,bhai? Yahaan news mein patha nahi kya kya dikha rahe the.

Kahan hai thu?Pehle bata tu teekh hai ki nahi?’ she rushed out, concern dripping from every word. 

“Maami, maami, I am ok...where is Raavi? Is she ok? And what about the baby? Is the baby okay? I need to speak with her but she keeps cutting the call, gadhedi.” 

Prafulla lets out something that's half a laugh and half sob.

‘Woh tho teekh hai, par do dino se usne teekh se na khaaya hai, na kuch piya hai. Baby bhi teekh hein, woh bas apni maa ko miss kar raha hein.’

“Raha hein? It’s a boy?”

‘Oh ha na, you don’t know. It's a beautiful baby boy, and he weighs two and a half kgs. Congratulations, Shiva.’ Prafulla smiles into her phone.

“...I have a son?”

‘Haan.’ she chuckled.

‘Waise thu bata raha tha—’

“Where is Raavi? Is she not with him?”

‘No. As of now ,she doesn’t even want to look at him. She gave him to me and asked me to take care of him for a while.’

“What about Riya?”

‘She is with Anitha,sleeping in the other room.’

“Hmm,” he hums. 

“Tell me one thing- why isn't Raavi with our son?”

Prafulla doesn't answer at first. 

“Maami, mei kuch puch raha hoon, na?  Answer me.”

‘She says everytime she looks at him…’ she trails off.

“Looks at him…?Maami, zor se bolo na, kya phus phus kar rahi ho?

‘She said that the day he was born, you died. She said that her sorrow for your death is more than her joy for her son’s birth right now. She said that she will take care of he rson once she is done mourning you.’ she finished, stiffly.

“Kya bakwas kar rahi hai woh. pehle usko phone do”

‘Haan, ruk ek min, I am going to her room.’

“Raavi beta,” Prafulla knocked on the door. 

No response.

“Raavi beta,” she called again.

“Maasi, I’m not hungry. I’ll eat later, when I feel like it.” came her feeble voice from inside. 

“Lagta hai I only have to do something. This old budhiya will be the death of me.” Shiva thinks.

Shiva calls out, ‘Ae chipkali bahar ah!’ as loud as he could.

Hearing his voice ,she jumps out of bed and runs towards the door, ignoring the sharp pain in her stomach, her body warning her to take small steps.

Without so much as a glance at Prafulla, she grabs the phone from her and holds it tightly to her ear.

“Hello!?”

‘Kaisi hai, meri chipkali?’came Shiva’s cheerful reply. 

The moment she heard his voice, she fell down to her knees, sobbing uncontrollably into the phone. Shiva tries to get her to stop by saying comforting words, but she just sat there in the middle of the hallway, crying her heart out.

Prafulla tries her best to calm her daughter down but, waaah! came another set of lungs, screaming for attention in the other room.

She snatches the phone from her crying daughter’s claws and tells Shiva, “Thu isko sambhall, mei abhi aai. Tera beta bula raha hein.”

‘Haan, mei isko dekhunga. tu usko dekh.’ came his reply.

She hands the phone back to a still-crying Raavi and runs to the next room.

Several moments pass by. Her crying has visibly reduced to a constant stream of tears with the occasional snuffles.

“Thu video call pe ah.” she finally says, voice thick from all the crying.

She cuts the call and waits for him to call her back.

When his name flashes on her screen this time, she immediately picks up, heart beating fast, afraid of his appearance.

The sight in front of her made her realize that her worst nightmare had come true. 

Shiva was lying in a hospital bed with machines still hooked to him. His cheeks were bruised, there were bandages around his forehead, and his face was littered with more scratches than she wanted to count. 

She let out a few more sobs and a lone tear fell from his eyes.

She didn’t look much better, either. Her hair was dishevelled, her eyes were red-rimmed and her face was ashy. He sighed and wiped his tear away.

‘Control Shiva. If you cry too, how will you be strong for her?’

Out loud he said,“Chipkali, rona band kar. Mere kaan se khoon nikal raha hein, yaar.” he tried meekly, only to earn a glare from her.

As the relief of him being almost okay set in, her despair morphed into rage.

“Gandheda, bandar,bewakoof!” she started hurling abuses at him, adding some not so PG-13 words as well.

“Why did you take so long to call me? Do you have any idea what and all they are saying on the news? Meri toh do din se saansein atak gayi thi. I almost died thinking you were dead, Shiva!” she said, before cursing at him again.

After a few moments of silence, they both start to laugh. 

Raavi says, “Congrats papa, tumko beta hua hai.”

“Congrats to you too, mama.” he says back, softly. 

She brought the phone near and kissed his image, as he did the same on the other end.

“Waise, do you wanna meet him?”

“Haan, of course. But before that I want to say something.”

“Raavi, I am so sorry for not being there when you were giving birth to our son. I know I had promised you and Riya that I would be there but before I could leave, the whole maha kaand happened here,” he said, gesturing at his injuries.

“You are so f*cking strong for going through what you did alone,” he said, trying to wipe at the tears that are freely flowing now.

“I love you so much, chipkali. You are my life. I am not going anywhere anytime soon. Imma naach on your head, till we are like, 120 years old.”

She didn't know if it was his voice, or his lame attempt at a joke, that made her laugh properly for the first time in nearly 6 months.

“I love you too, mera bandhar.”

“Okay, now enough crying. Tumhe tumhare bete se milna hai ki nahi?”

“I am so sorry, chipkali, lekin meri battery khatam hone hi waali hai. I’ll meet him as soon as I can. Abhi ke liye bye meri jaan.”

“Haan, take care of yourself for me. I lov—”

The call disconnected. 

She sighs and walks into maasi ma’s room so that she could get some rest from taking care of Rohan. 

***************

Two weeks later, at Raavi’s home. 

*DING DONG, DING DONG*

“Maasi ma, dekho na kaun aaya hai darwaze pe!” shouts Raavi, trying hard to get Rohan into a new diaper. 

“Mein khana bana rahi hoon. Tujhe hi kolna hoga.” she calls back from the kitchen. 

The bell continues to ring.

“Momo, you wait right here.” she smiles, as he looked at his mother with big curious eyes. “Lemme just see who is ringing the bell from that time.”

With that she adjusted the pillow, so he wouldn't roll over and fall off the bed. 

Raavi rushes to open the door, only to see Shiva on the other side. His bruises have healed well, and he’s grown his beard out. He’s standing with his crunches supported by his friend Lieutenant Aman Gupta, and his left leg has been bandaged all the way up to his hip. 

Almost as soon as she saw him, she closed the door on his face, but not before catching him rolling his eyes and sighing nautanki at her.

But she had to know that it wasn't just her sleep deprived brain hallucinating.

She pinched herself and yelped from the pain. 

“Haan. Ab realise hua?” asked Shiva, who knew what she was doing this for. 

She opened the door to see a smirking Shiva, hand still wrapped around his friend’s shoulder.

She flung hersel fat him and clung to him like the chipkali she was with so much force that Aman had to support both of their weights. 

She immediately started to kiss him everywhere — his lips, cheeks, forehead, eyes and then finally his nose. She laid kisses on every square inch of skin she could get to.

Aman had to avert his eyes from their display and tried not to blush at the noises.

After a good minute of them just laying in their embrace, Raavi pulled back to properly look at him. 

He looked so happy, with his beaming smile and misty eyes. He also looked tired and bruised, but she decided to ignore that for a moment, just happy to have him back. 

“I thought you were coming after 3 months?”

“Now what can I say?i couldn't stay away from you guys any more than I needed to.

So i informed the doctor that i'll continue with the PT with you by my side.

Tho mei bhagtebhagte aa gaya”he laughed.

She thanked God that he didn't wait for 3 months to return home because God knows how difficult it was for her to not chipak to her bandar.

“Riyyaaaa!Riyaaaa!” she called out to her daughter, “Dekho kaun aaye hai!”

“Kon hain mama? Maein tho abhi abhi T.V dekhne beti hoon, and already you’re calling me,” she complained. 

“Are, tum ek minute aao tho sahi!”

Before she could call her again, Shiva signaled to his wife to let him try next. 

“Riya, sweetheart…”.

A gasp from upstairs and then a pair of footsteps thundered down the steps. 

“Papa!”

The last time she saw his face it was clean shaven and slightly fairer. Now, standing before her ,her father looked injured but safe and sound. She couldn't hold back her tears. 

She ran to him and flung herself into his open arms. He lifted her up and bounced in place for a minute before he had to put her down. 

“Ma beti dono ek jaise hi hain,” laughed Aman, earning a glare from all three of them. He threw his hands up in surrender, “Okay, okay.”

“Look at you! Thum kitni badi ho gayi ho! Last time I saw you, you were this much,” he raised his hand in reference. 

“And what happened to your teeth? Yeh kya daath ko London Bridge bana diya?” Riya giggled and hugged him again. 

“Papa, I missed you sooooooo much!” exclaimed Riya, using her hands to show just how much she’d missed him. 

“Me too, my love. Me too,” he nodded, gesturing to Raavi to wipe his tears. 

“Abhi andar bhi bulaoge, yeah waise hi murthi bana kar khadhe rehne ka iradha hein?”

“Chalo, andhar aao.”

Before he takes a step in, she stops him, “Ruk, ruk, meh abhi aayi.”

“Kis machar ko pakadne gayi haein chipkali?” he wondered out loud, while Riya filled him in on the happenings of the last six months.

“Shukhar hai, Anitha di ka roka hogaya. Kitni acchi baat hein.” he said, when she returned holding an aarti ki thali.

She does the aarthi and cracks her knuckles,”Kisi ki nazar na lage.’

“Kya budhiya jaise harkathe kar rahi hein?” he asked, despite going through with it, and kissing her forehead as a thank you.

“Haan! Now, come in.”

“Maasi ma, aap ke liye koi aaya hai!”

‘Kya thab se shore macha raha hein. Kya khand kiya hein thune Riya?” came her voice from the kitchen.

“Maami, kabse intezar kar raha hoon aapke liye.” he teases. 

Shocked at his voice, she comes out, still holding the ladle she was cooking dal with. 

When she sees him, it drops to the floor with a loud sound. 

“Hay, maaro bhogilal! Yeh sach me Siva hi hai na, ya mai sapna dekh rahi hoon?” she asked Raavi. 

She only nodded a ther. 

“Kya maami, gale bhi nahi milogi apne pyaare damad se,” Shiva says, moving forward to hug her.

“Thank you so much for taking care of them while I was away,” he whispers in her ear.

She just pats his back clumsily.

“Kitna patla hogaya,” she says, scanning him up and down, 

“Thu tho bhukkad hei, phir kaise…?” she wondered out loud, earning her a glare from Shiva. 

“Chalo khana lagathi hoon,” says Raavi, before the now embracing mother and son-in-law get into a fight. “Aap bhi aao, Aman ji.”

He moved forward to sit down while Shiva looked around.

'`Mera beta kidha rhai?” he asks Raavi. 

“Hey Bholenaath, mei tho bhool hi gayi! Thu sofe pe bet, me lekhar aathi hu usse.”

As he sat down, she brought her son and placed him in her husband’s arms. 

“Momo, yeh hai tumhare papa…”

Shiva smiles through his tears and bounces the baby up and down. 

“Momo?” he asked, confused.

“Ha, he looks just like a momo, so we named him that.” answered Riya nonchalantly.

“Ha, but his actual name is Rohan, Rohan Shiva Pandya.”Raavi clarified.

“Rohan shiva pandya, i love it.”

“He looks just like you.” he said to Raavi. 

“But he has your eyes.” she replied, smiling at her husband and son. 

“Did you see that? He smiled at me! My son saw me for the first time and smiled!” Shiva exclaimed. 

They laughed at his excitement but he didn’t notice, still looking at Momo. 

“Let's take a picture,” he said, passing his phone to Aman. 

“Say Cheese!”

Raavi smiled, with her arms around her husband and children, feeling at peace. Like she finally got what she wanted all her life  at last. Her own Family.

***************

That night. 

“Nei, mein aaj papa ke saath hi soungi! I don't wanna sleep with you, naani ma. I wanna sleep with my parents.” Riya whined. 

“Listen, beta. Your papa just came home. And he will probably want to spend some time alone with his wife.” She tried to convince her granddaughter.

Riya just shook her head and began to cry loudly, which pulled her father into the room.

“Kya hua maami? Why are you making my daughter cry?”

“She said you don't want to sleep with me and that you don't love me.”

“Haw, jhooti,”said naani ma, looking scandalized, “Esa kuch nahi kaha tha meine.”

“Come baby, let’s sleep in mama-papa’s room.”

She immediately cheered up, blowing raspberries at her grandma as she went with her dad.

Prafulla follows them and asks Raavi for the baby so that she could take care of him.

Raavi hands her son to her aunt, kisses him goodnight and shuts the door behind them.

Riya, tired from the day's events, falls asleep almost immediately in her papa’s arms.

The three of them laid on the bed, breaths synchronized.  

“You know, I missed you guys so much when I was there.” he whispered into the dark. 

“Us too, Shiva.”

“I wanted to runaway every night from the camp so that I could be further away from all the hate and  war and closer to you, but I was bound by duty.”

“I am sorry you had to see so much war and hate. And I am so proud of you for all your achievements, from being the best husband, father, son-in-law, brother and lastly major.”

“Ex-major,” he corrected. 

“What?” Raavi sat up. 

“You heard me.”

“I can't go back to that hellhole. My life is here with you guys. So I quit.”

“God…that must have been really difficult for you. I know how passionate you were about being a soldier.”

“But my duty of being a father and husband felt more important, so mein bhagte bhagte aa gaya.’he shrugged, like it was just that simple. 

“Thank you, bandar.”

“Kisliye?”

“For coming back safe and sound.”

“I am not going anywhere. I told you no, imma dance on your head  till forever.”

“I love you, Shiva.”

“I love you too, Raavi,” he said, before pulling her closer and closing his eyes. 

***************