Meri nayee zindagi - finale page 39 - Page 25

PART 15

Riya came running out of the playroom shouting "Momma'" when she heard the doorbell. "Kulfi laye aap'" kehte hue she went up to open the door. Apeksha and Krishnaji smiled and waited for her to show off her new found knowledge of unlocking the main door. Riya opened the door with a smile on her face and moved back to allow her mother to enter'but no one did. Apeksha immediately moved to see who it was at the door and was shocked. "Aap'" she said and moved back shielding Riya from whoever it was who was standing at the door.

Vikram entered the room with an apprehensive look which changed slightly when he saw Krishnaji. "Maa' aap kaise ho?" was his first line to the woman whom they had been fervently searching for the past 5 years. Krishnaji's shock at seeing Vikram was palpable in her wide eyes and open mouth. She however gathered herself fast enough and holding Vikram's hand made him sit down on the sofa. She kept looking at him and her thoughts were totally awry wondering what was happening. Just a little while ago she had fervently wished that her family get reunited soon but with Vikram's arrival, a new apprehension took over. If Vikram was here Ram wouldn't be too far behind and if Ram came then'What?!?!

Vikram could feel the tension coming out in waves from the two women in the room. It surprised him as he had expected them to be happy to see him not apprehensive. He looked from Apeksha to Krishnaji and back again and then he saw'her - A small girl in a pink and blue frock standing just behind Apeksha looking at him with big big brown eyes. Eyes that he knew and had looked at every day since he was that girl's age. It was now Vikram's turn to be shocked' speechless. He looked at Apeksha and the question in his eyes was very evident. She however did not answer him but turned to her other and said "Maa' aap baath karo inse. Main andar jaa rahi hoon. Chalo Riya, hum dinner ki tayari karte hain." Riya mutely followed her aunt out of the room but kept turning back to see the man who had made both her dadi and bua very tense. Apeksha entered the kitchen and immediately took out her phone to call Priya and tell her about Vikram's arrival but was, as usual, unable to reach her. Priya, almost always, never took her calls but returned them when she looked at her phone. This habit of hers was going to prove risky to her now, thought Apeksha. Riya was standing waiting for her bua's instructions when they heard the door bell go off again.

Riya ran out of the kitchen and towards the door shouting "Momma'is it you this time?" and opened the door. Krishnaji had also got up to open the door but Riya beat her to it and opened it only to come running back to her aunt saying "Bua 'woh '" and Ram entered the room. Apeksha immediately hugged the child and carried her back to the kitchen where she tried to calm her down. In the drawing room, Krishnaji's heart stopped and she closed her eyes for a second, thinking' "am I dreaming???" and then she rushed forward to touch the son who she missed for every breathing moment for the past 25 years. She had met him just twice in this time and both times had been very harrowing and difficult for both of them. Now she ran her hands all over his face and hair and kept saying "Ram, beta'Ram beta'" She held his face in her hands and watched with tears in her eyes, tears run down his cheeks. He had not aged too much but the hurt of the past five years had left their mark in his eyes... Eyes that used to be open and honest were now haunted with pain and loss. He did not utter a single word for many a heartbeat and when he did it was to say "Maa...aap theek ho?" This one line after 5 years opened the floodgates of tears in Krishnaji and she broke down totally, hugging him and sobbing like there was no tomorrow. Her son held her, just held her and let her cry her grief out. He then slowly led her to the sofa and once she sat down, put his head in her lap and sat with his eyes closed. For almost 5 minutes no one spoke but the emotions were thick enough to run a knife through. Vikram then moved to get some water from the kitchen when he heard the door knob open again with a click.

"Riya, Maa, yeh aap darwaza khule chode hai..." Priya entered the room only to stand still with shock. Hearing her mother's voice, Riya came running into the room only to come to a skidding halt when she saw Ram sitting on the floor with his hands on her grandmother's lap. All the adults had stricken looks and it looked like all the blood had drained from each of their faces. Riya's eyes moved from one adult to the other at a speed which made her eyes cross over and she moved towards her mother pointing to Ram and saying at the same time "Momma...yeh." The words seemed to break into everyone's conscience and instantly the dynamics in the room changed. Priya rushed forward to take Riya into her arms and Ram rose to join Priya in the centre of the room. Krishnaji sat down on the sofa with her hands covering her face and Vikram went to shut the main door that Priya had left open.

The whooshing of the wind was cut with the shutting of the door and again a silence descended upon the room. Ram looked at Priya and in a choked voice said "Priya, tum yahin ho...tumhe kahan kahan nahi doondha aur yeh kaun hai?" His hands came to rest on Priya and Riya and in that instant Priya just stepped into his arms which automatically closed around her and their child...She and her daughter were finally where they belonged.