Posted:
Part 4:
Back at Rupantar mansion.
Dr Dayal- " So why exactly did she leave the car and run?"
Arjun hesitated for a while and then said- "I told her to keep quiet".
Dr Dayal " Look officer,this is a very sensitive kid"
"I was not informed about her stamina"
"She did not faint because of the running,she fainted because of the gun shot. Maybe Mr Roy should have informed you about this..."
"About what?"
"That she was four when she witnessed her mother shot by masked gun men. She could not testify against them,but she remembered just those memories of the gun fire. She has been put on sedatives for long to calm her down. Today the memories were triggered again. Please be careful in the future".
Arjun was surprised when he found himself to be feeling a emotion he thought had been long buried-compassion. That there was someone else in this world suffering made no difference to his suffering,but it just helped him reach out to her. For this man was not any less sensitive-he just had masked his real self. But he knew that they were coming off and there was nothing he could do about it.
It was almost 12 in the night. He walked up to Kiara's room. He was surprised to find her awake. She greeted him with a question-"Did Papa call?"
He saw her expectant eyes and did not want to disappoint her-"He is busy with his ralley..."
She turned her face away. Arjun could not stop inching closer to the neglected child. He sat beside her bed.
She mumbled a "sorry for today".
He chose to move past it and said " Go to sleep"
"I don't want to close my eyes"
"Why?"
"They will come back"
"No one will come...you try.."
"You won't understand. Adults do not have nightmares"
Arjun was silent for a while. And then he very softly said-"What if I have?"
Kiara turned towards him-"How do you make them go away?"
"I fight."
"Do you win?"
"Sometimes".
"But I cannot fight them. They are too strong. They took away my mother"
"No,they are weak. That is why they come only in your sleep"
Kiara slightly smiled." You think I can win tonight?"
"If you believe so"
"Will you be there..?"
"For?"
"We can fight it together?"
Arjun felt a lump in his throat. He had no clue how he managed to say the things he just did. But the lines had been crossed. The intruder was already way in.
"Go to sleep. I am here".
He saw her hug her teddy and confidently go to sleep. He wanted to leave after a while,but somehow could not manage. He tenderly patted her as he saw her occasionally flinch in fear in her sleep. He had no strength left,yet was ready to share it with her.
Because tonight they both were fighting the same battle.
Back at Rupantar mansion.
Dr Dayal- " So why exactly did she leave the car and run?"
Arjun hesitated for a while and then said- "I told her to keep quiet".
Dr Dayal " Look officer,this is a very sensitive kid"
"I was not informed about her stamina"
"She did not faint because of the running,she fainted because of the gun shot. Maybe Mr Roy should have informed you about this..."
"About what?"
"That she was four when she witnessed her mother shot by masked gun men. She could not testify against them,but she remembered just those memories of the gun fire. She has been put on sedatives for long to calm her down. Today the memories were triggered again. Please be careful in the future".
Arjun was surprised when he found himself to be feeling a emotion he thought had been long buried-compassion. That there was someone else in this world suffering made no difference to his suffering,but it just helped him reach out to her. For this man was not any less sensitive-he just had masked his real self. But he knew that they were coming off and there was nothing he could do about it.
It was almost 12 in the night. He walked up to Kiara's room. He was surprised to find her awake. She greeted him with a question-"Did Papa call?"
He saw her expectant eyes and did not want to disappoint her-"He is busy with his ralley..."
She turned her face away. Arjun could not stop inching closer to the neglected child. He sat beside her bed.
She mumbled a "sorry for today".
He chose to move past it and said " Go to sleep"
"I don't want to close my eyes"
"Why?"
"They will come back"
"No one will come...you try.."
"You won't understand. Adults do not have nightmares"
Arjun was silent for a while. And then he very softly said-"What if I have?"
Kiara turned towards him-"How do you make them go away?"
"I fight."
"Do you win?"
"Sometimes".
"But I cannot fight them. They are too strong. They took away my mother"
"No,they are weak. That is why they come only in your sleep"
Kiara slightly smiled." You think I can win tonight?"
"If you believe so"
"Will you be there..?"
"For?"
"We can fight it together?"
Arjun felt a lump in his throat. He had no clue how he managed to say the things he just did. But the lines had been crossed. The intruder was already way in.
"Go to sleep. I am here".
He saw her hug her teddy and confidently go to sleep. He wanted to leave after a while,but somehow could not manage. He tenderly patted her as he saw her occasionally flinch in fear in her sleep. He had no strength left,yet was ready to share it with her.
Because tonight they both were fighting the same battle.
Kumkum Bhagya
Anupamaa
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