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Part 3
It was a warm June morning, it was only 5:30 am but she couldn't sleep. Today her baby was graduating from High School. It was a big day, she thought of all the hard work that had taken for her to get here, to this day, to experience it with all the people who were her family now. It was too early to call anyone so she made her self a cup of coffee and decided to watch the news.
As she poured the coffee she smiled, she remember her first day living with Maan in the outhouse, how they had fought and when she (being who she is) had refused to eat what he had cooked for them. She remembered how hungry she had been and had decided to drink a cup of tea, but of course why would Maan Singh Khurana have tea in his kitchen since he was used to only drinking bitter coffee. She laughed remembering how she had said aloud no wonder he is so bitter all he drinks is bitter coffee, he had heard her and had gotten angry. What did he say then, oh! Yes, he had said, "Maan Singh Khurana drinks what ever he wants, and Maan Singh Khurana is the way he is because that is what he wants." She started to laugh even harder, he did like to say his name again and again. He must have had been a really slow child and that is what had compelled him to keep on repeating his name so that he would not forget who he was. She wondered what he was doing at this time.
She pushed her memories aside and looked at the clock, it was already 6:30am. She was surprised that an hour had passed, how could she have spent an hour thinking of him. It was easy, he was her love.
She got ready and went to wake Geeta up.
"Get up, mera baccha, today is the big day"Geet said.
"Let me sleep, mamma; its only 6am, why are you waking me up so early?"Geeta complained
"It's not 6am, its 7:15am, come on get ready else you will be late for your own graduation and once the doors are closed they are not going to let you in." "Get ready and I will make you breakfast"
As soon as Geeta heard what time it was, she shot out of bed like a bullet and ran to the bathroom like she was going to miss a train. Geet laughed and went downstairs. She made Geeta's favorite breakfast, a stack of Blueberry Pancakes with syrup and a cup of hot chocolate.
"Wow, what smells so wonderful?, I am sure my mamma has made me the best breakfast in the world."
"You don't have to butter me up, I have already made the food, if you continue, I will eat it myself." Geet said
Of couse she wouldn't eat this food, she couldn't digest it. It was like eating Jalabies in the morning. She prefered to eat parathas, achar, etc, etc. Solid food as she called it. It was a miracle that she had started drinking coffee, in the first place. But it had been a necessity, when she first came to New York, she couldn't get Indian style Tea everywhere, but coffee seemed to be available on every street. And studying while raising a baby required long hours and coffee had lent her a helping hand in staying awake during those times.
Of course she couldn't forget Kate and Devi, her two guardian angels. When she had landed at JFK she knew no one, she felt alone, but thanks to the scholarship she had received to go to school her housing had been taken care off. She had been provided a small studio apartment away from the university since she was a single mother as the university officials hadn't thought it would have been appropriate for her to stay in the dorms.
Devi had shown up at the airport to receive her, Geet didn't know her so she was surprised to see a tall, indian girl holding a sign that read "Ms. Geet Khurana, your driver is here." Geet had approached her confused, and seeing the confusion in Geet's eyes Devi had said, "The truth is that I really am not a driver and I don't have a car, but I heard you were coming from one of the councilors and on hearing that you also had a baby I thought I would come to pick you up. We will be taking the train, since a cab can get very pricey" Even after saying all this Devi still hadn't introduced herself and on finally realizing that she put her hand out and said "Hi, I am Devi, I too am a student at Pratt, I am majoring in Architecture." Geet had felt at ease, Devi seemed like a really nice person but she was still concerned, taking the train that too with a small baby and what was a cab?
However, after getting on the train she was relieved, it wasn't too crowded and thanks to Devi helping her with Geeta and the bags she had been able to get to the apartment without any problems. She had invited Devi in, however on remembering she had nothing to offer her she had gotten sad, however Devi always had solutions to all the worlds problems and she had said "no problem, how about we get some bread and butter and pretend it is a grand meal and we will pretend that the water is juice." They had settled her into the flat and gone to the corner deli and gotten some basics, once they had eaten, Devi helped Geet unpack her bags, and every single thing that Geet had removed from her bag had made Devi shriek with joy. Clothes, achar, bangles, shoes, you name it she loved it. In the end she had convinced Geet that she couldn't go out in a Punjabi suit on the mean streets of NYC and that if Geet gave her some of her indian clothes she would give Geet some of hers regular clothes.
The next day she had arrived with Kate and the two of them had turned simple Geet into someone she couldn't recognize they had given her a complete makeover. The had taken turns taking care of Geeta. She was such an easy child, no fuss, no crying, no yelling just playful all the time.
Over the next few months Geet had settled into a good routine, she attended classes full-time during the day, and in between classes she had managed to get a job at the Student Accounts Office. She made some money but not enough to pay a baby-sitter to take care of Geeta, but Geeta was being taken care off by Devi or Kate when she wasn't home. The had swooped in as guardian angels and made sure that Geet's life was as easy as they could make it. She never understood how there were such wonderful people co-existing with horrible people like Dev and her brother- Brij in the world at the same time.
Where 4 years passed by she never realized. She had majored in architecture with a concentration on urban planning. (she had always thought that she would return to India after graduating but she couldn't bare the thought of being in the same country as him and not being with him, she had decided to stay in American and make a life here for herself and Geeta) She had managed to get a job with a small firm on 52nd and Madison as a junior architect. She was to start after graduation. She was happy that she had finally achieved something that no one could take from her, it was a source of pride for her, she had used her brains to get to where she was.
Over the last few years she had kept in touch with him through text messages, but only sending news about Geeta and her accomplishments, however on graduating she had called him, she had to he was the one who had encouraged her to become independent, he had advised her, he had given her her first job and that is where she had gained the experience that had helped her get the scholarship, above all he loved her unconditionally. He had picked up the phone wondering who was calling him at 2am, when he answered his heart stopped, he heard her breath after all these years and finally her voice. She had said, "I did it, I am now a qualified architect, I couldn't have done it without you. I love you." Before he could say anything she had hung up. He had wanted to tell her that she had done it all on her own, that he was very proud of her and above all he loved her.
It had been so long since she had graduated, she was now a partner in the firm and today the firm was no longer a small firm with 10 people, it was a big corporation with offices all over the world. She had made enough to buy a place in the city and had made a nice comfortable life for her and Geeta.
She called Kate and Devi reminding them not to be late and then went over the meeting point and other details for the day. They were going to meet at 9am sharp at the corner of West 74th and Broadway and they were then going to go into the Beacon Theater together. Today was the big day for their angel and they would not ruin it. Kate was coming with Tim her boyfriend and Devi with Neil.
Geet and Geeta left their place at 8:30 and were at the meeting point at 8:55am. Geeta saw some of her friends and told Geet that she had to go into the theater. Geet kissed her and let her go, she waited a few seconds when she saw the rest of the cheering party coming her way. She smiled at the sight, they had dressed up in their finest, as if they were going to a wedding. She hugged them and they all proceeded into the theater, they were so excited that they couldn't stop talking about Geeta and how grown up she looked now and how tiny she had been when they had first seen her. Tim and Neil just stood to the side laughing at the crazy women. How had they gotten themselves into this mess.
At 10am the ceremony started, the graduates filed into the theater, all the parents filled with pride couldn't stop taking pictures. Geet had handed that responsibility to the men to capture the whole ceremony on video and camera. She didn't want to worry about pictures today all she wanted was to enjoy every second and absorb everything that happened without any distractions.
She held Kate's hand to her left and Devi's to the right. She saw her baby go onto the stage to accept her diploma, turn the tassel on her hat to mark her graduation, she sat through the guest speaker who spoke words of encouragement to the graduates (she remembered Maan and his words) and finally she saw her baby- the valedictorian give her speech. She heard every word and tears came to her eyes when her daughter thanked her for making her the person she was today.
She finally let go of her best friends and took out her cellphone, she sent him a message,'today she has taken flight, she is going to soar to great heights, she graduated high school'
Since I posted 3 really long parts today, I am going to be waiting a few days to update. I would like for more people to discover my FF and hopefully all who come across it will like it.
Please leave comments- good or bad as this helps me in deciding which direction the story needs to go in. Please press the LIKE button even if you don't want to comment but have liked the FF.
Enjoy
It was a warm June morning, it was only 5:30 am but she couldn't sleep. Today her baby was graduating from High School. It was a big day, she thought of all the hard work that had taken for her to get here, to this day, to experience it with all the people who were her family now. It was too early to call anyone so she made her self a cup of coffee and decided to watch the news.
As she poured the coffee she smiled, she remember her first day living with Maan in the outhouse, how they had fought and when she (being who she is) had refused to eat what he had cooked for them. She remembered how hungry she had been and had decided to drink a cup of tea, but of course why would Maan Singh Khurana have tea in his kitchen since he was used to only drinking bitter coffee. She laughed remembering how she had said aloud no wonder he is so bitter all he drinks is bitter coffee, he had heard her and had gotten angry. What did he say then, oh! Yes, he had said, "Maan Singh Khurana drinks what ever he wants, and Maan Singh Khurana is the way he is because that is what he wants." She started to laugh even harder, he did like to say his name again and again. He must have had been a really slow child and that is what had compelled him to keep on repeating his name so that he would not forget who he was. She wondered what he was doing at this time.
She pushed her memories aside and looked at the clock, it was already 6:30am. She was surprised that an hour had passed, how could she have spent an hour thinking of him. It was easy, he was her love.
She got ready and went to wake Geeta up.
"Get up, mera baccha, today is the big day"Geet said.
"Let me sleep, mamma; its only 6am, why are you waking me up so early?"Geeta complained
"It's not 6am, its 7:15am, come on get ready else you will be late for your own graduation and once the doors are closed they are not going to let you in." "Get ready and I will make you breakfast"
As soon as Geeta heard what time it was, she shot out of bed like a bullet and ran to the bathroom like she was going to miss a train. Geet laughed and went downstairs. She made Geeta's favorite breakfast, a stack of Blueberry Pancakes with syrup and a cup of hot chocolate.
"Wow, what smells so wonderful?, I am sure my mamma has made me the best breakfast in the world."
"You don't have to butter me up, I have already made the food, if you continue, I will eat it myself." Geet said
Of couse she wouldn't eat this food, she couldn't digest it. It was like eating Jalabies in the morning. She prefered to eat parathas, achar, etc, etc. Solid food as she called it. It was a miracle that she had started drinking coffee, in the first place. But it had been a necessity, when she first came to New York, she couldn't get Indian style Tea everywhere, but coffee seemed to be available on every street. And studying while raising a baby required long hours and coffee had lent her a helping hand in staying awake during those times.
Of course she couldn't forget Kate and Devi, her two guardian angels. When she had landed at JFK she knew no one, she felt alone, but thanks to the scholarship she had received to go to school her housing had been taken care off. She had been provided a small studio apartment away from the university since she was a single mother as the university officials hadn't thought it would have been appropriate for her to stay in the dorms.
Devi had shown up at the airport to receive her, Geet didn't know her so she was surprised to see a tall, indian girl holding a sign that read "Ms. Geet Khurana, your driver is here." Geet had approached her confused, and seeing the confusion in Geet's eyes Devi had said, "The truth is that I really am not a driver and I don't have a car, but I heard you were coming from one of the councilors and on hearing that you also had a baby I thought I would come to pick you up. We will be taking the train, since a cab can get very pricey" Even after saying all this Devi still hadn't introduced herself and on finally realizing that she put her hand out and said "Hi, I am Devi, I too am a student at Pratt, I am majoring in Architecture." Geet had felt at ease, Devi seemed like a really nice person but she was still concerned, taking the train that too with a small baby and what was a cab?
However, after getting on the train she was relieved, it wasn't too crowded and thanks to Devi helping her with Geeta and the bags she had been able to get to the apartment without any problems. She had invited Devi in, however on remembering she had nothing to offer her she had gotten sad, however Devi always had solutions to all the worlds problems and she had said "no problem, how about we get some bread and butter and pretend it is a grand meal and we will pretend that the water is juice." They had settled her into the flat and gone to the corner deli and gotten some basics, once they had eaten, Devi helped Geet unpack her bags, and every single thing that Geet had removed from her bag had made Devi shriek with joy. Clothes, achar, bangles, shoes, you name it she loved it. In the end she had convinced Geet that she couldn't go out in a Punjabi suit on the mean streets of NYC and that if Geet gave her some of her indian clothes she would give Geet some of hers regular clothes.
The next day she had arrived with Kate and the two of them had turned simple Geet into someone she couldn't recognize they had given her a complete makeover. The had taken turns taking care of Geeta. She was such an easy child, no fuss, no crying, no yelling just playful all the time.
Over the next few months Geet had settled into a good routine, she attended classes full-time during the day, and in between classes she had managed to get a job at the Student Accounts Office. She made some money but not enough to pay a baby-sitter to take care of Geeta, but Geeta was being taken care off by Devi or Kate when she wasn't home. The had swooped in as guardian angels and made sure that Geet's life was as easy as they could make it. She never understood how there were such wonderful people co-existing with horrible people like Dev and her brother- Brij in the world at the same time.
Where 4 years passed by she never realized. She had majored in architecture with a concentration on urban planning. (she had always thought that she would return to India after graduating but she couldn't bare the thought of being in the same country as him and not being with him, she had decided to stay in American and make a life here for herself and Geeta) She had managed to get a job with a small firm on 52nd and Madison as a junior architect. She was to start after graduation. She was happy that she had finally achieved something that no one could take from her, it was a source of pride for her, she had used her brains to get to where she was.
Over the last few years she had kept in touch with him through text messages, but only sending news about Geeta and her accomplishments, however on graduating she had called him, she had to he was the one who had encouraged her to become independent, he had advised her, he had given her her first job and that is where she had gained the experience that had helped her get the scholarship, above all he loved her unconditionally. He had picked up the phone wondering who was calling him at 2am, when he answered his heart stopped, he heard her breath after all these years and finally her voice. She had said, "I did it, I am now a qualified architect, I couldn't have done it without you. I love you." Before he could say anything she had hung up. He had wanted to tell her that she had done it all on her own, that he was very proud of her and above all he loved her.
It had been so long since she had graduated, she was now a partner in the firm and today the firm was no longer a small firm with 10 people, it was a big corporation with offices all over the world. She had made enough to buy a place in the city and had made a nice comfortable life for her and Geeta.
She called Kate and Devi reminding them not to be late and then went over the meeting point and other details for the day. They were going to meet at 9am sharp at the corner of West 74th and Broadway and they were then going to go into the Beacon Theater together. Today was the big day for their angel and they would not ruin it. Kate was coming with Tim her boyfriend and Devi with Neil.
Geet and Geeta left their place at 8:30 and were at the meeting point at 8:55am. Geeta saw some of her friends and told Geet that she had to go into the theater. Geet kissed her and let her go, she waited a few seconds when she saw the rest of the cheering party coming her way. She smiled at the sight, they had dressed up in their finest, as if they were going to a wedding. She hugged them and they all proceeded into the theater, they were so excited that they couldn't stop talking about Geeta and how grown up she looked now and how tiny she had been when they had first seen her. Tim and Neil just stood to the side laughing at the crazy women. How had they gotten themselves into this mess.
At 10am the ceremony started, the graduates filed into the theater, all the parents filled with pride couldn't stop taking pictures. Geet had handed that responsibility to the men to capture the whole ceremony on video and camera. She didn't want to worry about pictures today all she wanted was to enjoy every second and absorb everything that happened without any distractions.
She held Kate's hand to her left and Devi's to the right. She saw her baby go onto the stage to accept her diploma, turn the tassel on her hat to mark her graduation, she sat through the guest speaker who spoke words of encouragement to the graduates (she remembered Maan and his words) and finally she saw her baby- the valedictorian give her speech. She heard every word and tears came to her eyes when her daughter thanked her for making her the person she was today.
She finally let go of her best friends and took out her cellphone, she sent him a message,'today she has taken flight, she is going to soar to great heights, she graduated high school'
Since I posted 3 really long parts today, I am going to be waiting a few days to update. I would like for more people to discover my FF and hopefully all who come across it will like it.
Please leave comments- good or bad as this helps me in deciding which direction the story needs to go in. Please press the LIKE button even if you don't want to comment but have liked the FF.
Enjoy
Bade Achche Lagte Hain Naya Season
