Many people vision dreams..They build it up with love and affection like a baby..till it grows and grows..And when luck churns itself with your dreams, success is your name..But this is what happens to everyone..I mean everyone except me..I have never known what I wanted...I lived life the way it comes..It wasn't that I dint have ambitions..It was that I had taken too much hopes in my life when I was small..and all I got in return was pain..My life was a mysterious journey..Till date it has been more or less strange to me..A million things have taken place that i have never able to relate to..It stood before me like man closed doors that I had to open with horrific hard work. Bua always told me that I was unlucky to be lucky..and this in brief describes me..I have received a lot of opportunities be it just a chocolate to a scholarship..It would always keep me alive till the last minute..Last minute what happens is what is mysterious to me..It is like everything that was perfect till then went wrong somewhere or the other..Something would always be out of place..Its feels like snatching a child from candy after garnishing his eyes with the images of candies at a candy shop..But till today, my belief in God has taught me to accept life the way it is..I believed that life would get better in time..I lived by my Bua's dii prediction that my life would turn magical when a 'munda' enters my life..But that too has been taken away fro me..
"Madam Jii..your stop..jaana nahi kya?", the auto rickshaw driver's voice put a barrier to my thoughts.
I got out and paid him for his services...
I clutched my certificate file as I entered the Mallik Enterprises..I am here for an interview..I was well prepared on the academic portion of it..But my experiences has taught me not to place an expectation when you are not sure of anything before you..I was and am always filled with hopes..But I never expect fearing the pain I might have to withstand if things turn upside down..
"Ms.Ridhima. You may get in now..All the Best..", the receptionist called out my name..
I prayed silently as I clicked the wooden door open..
"Sir, may I come in??"
"Yes Please do".
I faced an old man with a gentle face but with the firm formal attitude in his eyes..I smiled warmly trying to overcome the shivers of my body..
The interview went well. The questions on management and other major departments was a cakewalk for me..I was satisfied with my answers..
But my satisfaction was only to last short..He announced that he needed to know more on my personal life..I wasn't comfortable at all when I had to discuss my personal life..Not that it was uninteresting..But that it was too fictional for anyone to believe.Nevertheless I nodded my head because I knew that if he had to employ me he required it..After all safety is what everyone looks for first and foremost..
Guess he noticed my change in expression. Because then his tone changed and talked to me in a fatherly way..Something that stood completely new to me..A scene I could only vision in movies..
"Dear, You are free to tell anything..Dont hesitate..I just want to create an understanding between us..", he told me softly with a tint of affection for a daughter like girl..
"Yes Sir". I gave him a small smile for his encouragement..I sighed heavily as he placed his first question on me..
"Dear you don't have a surname??"
"No Sir, I am an orphan..I was found by some villagers in a temple as a two week old baby..They were the ones who took me to the orphanage..Nothing could be found out about me..Everyone in the orphanage tried to get in touch with anyone related to me..After 6 years of no response they left hopes and ranked me as a nobody like the many others..", I talked facing down avoiding eye contact with Mr.Mallik..It was a precaution on my side..I couldn't bear to see sympathy on his eyes..
"Then what about your husbands dear??? Why don't you put that??Please don't mind dear but it might be a problem when you need to leave India for work.."
Obviously he had noticed the sindoor in my maang..I was prepared to face this question deep down..But it was something only Bua, me and the man himself knew about..All the emotional preparation was going down the drains as I forced myself to bite my lip to keep my tears from betraying me..I gathered up courage for a whole minute as he patiently awaited my reply..
"Sir, Its a long story"
"I am all ears dear..I wont leak it..I promise to keep it to myself..Just get it out"
"It happened 2 years back sir..Like any other day Mumbai was crowded..I had gone for shopping then..I waited in the pedestrian crossing for a clear path for me to cross..And the next thing I knew after I took my first step was that I was rolling down the glass of a car..I became aware of the blood that oozed out of my body just as my eyesight became blurry..I wasn't unconscious..But I had too less a strength to move a muscle..People were staring at the dying me.For minutes I laid down there like an unwanted soul who dint even have the ability to ask for help..But thats when his strong arms took me in..I knew he was running to get me in time to the hospital..I could feel his heavy breathing..When we reached the hospital, once again my life replayed itself..The nurses argued that I could be taken to surgery only if there was someone of mine to sign the papers..My eyes were not in my favor..But I could catch bits of their conversation..I could grasp his voice shouting at the nurses for being so unmerciful..And then it was silence..Nothing happened for seconds..I could faintly see him coming close up to me..He did something..I felt something on my maang..I wasnt clearly sure of it..because it was only plain silence that i could catch in that situation..I was taken for surgery..A 3 hour long surgery..Whether I was lucky or whether if it was some unknown souls answered prayers, I came back to life..Two days later when I had completely gained consciousness I came to know everything..The man who had come to my rescue married me..Without any of the posh styles around..The nurses told me that he took his own blood for the sindoor..He had injured himself while saving me..He married me sacrificing God Knows what all for saving my not so needed life..I tried searching for him..But after that incident no one saw where he went..No one had seen him before around..
I dont know how he looks..I dont know who he is..But I do know..He is my husband..I know I will find him sir..I am born for him..And I will definitely find me..Till then my search shall continue", I wiped tear off my face..
He sat quietly staring at my face..He consoled me and encouraged me telling that my man would come..We shall unite..We conversed a little more before we dispersed..
That night I laid on my head with all the memories I kept alive even after 2 years..Memories that will always be mine forever..Memories that define my life itself..I need him and thats all I knew..
Fan Fictions
Anupamaa
