Link to the previous parts- Flightless
The Beginning (Part A)
Aidashisha Raizada was born to a Khasi mother and a Rajput father. Her childhood bore imprints of lush forests, waterfalls and tangy wild berries. Having brought up in a small sleepy village on top of a hill, her mother's home, Aidashisha grew up possessing red cheeks with cracks all winter. When her mother died, Aida was at tender 16, stepping into adulthood with tentative steps.
After that she left her childhood home with her father and entered a place her morose heart could only call alien. She looked for waterfalls in Chandigarh, for a very long time. Alas! Home was lost to her and she had only started trying her hands in the art of losing. People stared at her large slightly squinted eyes that she inherited from her mother. She hid behind her father to escape the curious gazes. Her mongoloid features softened by Aryan blood looked different. She felt different. But then this was the place her father spent his own childhood. He told her the stories of his childhood that he spent with his parents and his brother, Aidashisha's uncle Ranjit. She always knew she had an uncle, an aunt and a cousin brother. But why they never visited them was a question she never got an answer to until her mother passed away. Life gave her the answers eventually, even though her father tried his best to protect her from them. Her father's family never visited them because they didn't want them. A Rajput marrying someone from godforsaken place from a different society, of another religion was a scandalous event. No one from the proud Raizadas wanted any part in that, especially her grandparents. They didn't want Iwbin Mishill as their daughter in law, but Arjun Singh Raizada fell in love. With Iwbin and all that she stood for. She carried waterfalls in her. The Raizadas considered him dead when he married Iwbin, against all the values of pure blood his clan inculcated in him.
Aidashisha was lost to the sleepy village on top of a hill but she never lost the memories and the wildness of wild flowers. She made a new home with her father's family, Ranjit uncle, Shubhadra aunty and cousin Manohar. She didn't give in when Shubhadra aunty wanted her to change her name to Aarti Singh Raizada, neither did she give up on her aunt. Her name was chosen by her mother and she will part with it only when she dies.
A little Arnav always listened to his mother's stories with rapt attention burying his nose in her Jainsein. Aidashisha preferred to dress like her mother when at home. She wove vibrant Jainseins with her own hands and gifted them to his mami, Manorama Raizada who loved everything colourful. His mother told him everything, stories from her childhood, how the rain smelled pelting on lush greens and the joy of sipping tea in the chills of Christmas, except where his father was.
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"Delhi is unbearable in summer Arnav says with irritation evident in his tone
"Why don't you come home this weekend? Mother will make you her special Lassi, with no sugar
"Akash, you know I can't. I have assignments lined up.
Akash knows Arnav likes to keep to himself, though he loves his maternal aunt and uncle. Arnav had spent most of his years with them. Akash and Arnav had been inseparable in their childhood. And together they had been a menace. Like most kids they assumed they were partners for crimes and for life. And like most kids' mothers, Manorama Raizada was exasperated. Akash as the eldest among them was the mastermind behind each mischief they pulled off successfully. They spent hours running through sugarcane fields instead of going to school, aimed catapults at earthen pots sitting inside neighbour's kitchens and answered they were practicing for archery for the next Olympics when chided. His mother twisted their ears till it turned red and his father often threatened them with 'Dhaun Napp Deyange Tuhaddi'. But Aida bua would laugh and save them from the thrashing. Sometimes she would ask them of their mischief and sometimes she would tell them of her own adventures. Aida bua! The name now is starting of an ache in the region of his heart. Sometimes he cannot make himself believe that she is gone, that she will never talk them out of their misery ever again, that her eyes will never dance with mirth again. Akash had often put the blame on Arnav while getting punished for their misadventures. He now wonders if Arnav blamed them for not being able to protect Aida Bua. Akash knew somewhere his wondering has a foundation. Arnav can't reconcile with the love he has for his only living family, a family that couldn't protect his mother, a family his mother should have been part of. He doesn't know how to deal with his conflicting emotions. He blamed a lot of people for his mother's death, some his own.
"Hey, I am saying no to attend dinner, not your marriage reception. Stop looking like you are about to cry.
Akash has an expressive face, much to his displeasure. His emotions played on his face and he can do nothing to hide it.
"Yes, maybe I should. Life seems to have lost its track He said dramatically, since you were 11 and I 14.
"Well, you must want some privacy then. I take your leave.
"Or, maybe you can hear me out and help me with my misery?
"Dude, that's why I never asked for a sister
"Sexist
"What did I just say?
"Okay, you misogynistic prick, I am just worried about this whole Ph.d thing and after my dissertation i just don't know if i have it in me to continue in academics.
"Why is everyone suddenly so obsessed with their dissertations? Seriously you guys should get a life.
"who else? Akash's interest piqued. Arnav doesn't do friends'.
"Ahh! No one important. Just some classmate. Arnav is not ready to divulge any information about him and Khushi yet "I was not kidding when I said I gotta go. Tell mami I will see her soon. And I do have some important stuff to look into for now but I think we can work out something for your ph.d proposal later tomorrow?
"Yeah, try taking some time out for yourself too chotey
Arnav's stance hardened, "I will see you tomorrow, Akash.
Arnav's important work had to do with looking for a certain someone who is doing everything in her power to hide from him. And Arnav didn't like it one bit.
Index
A tale of a cat, a rat and a tomato
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
Indian Mythology
Chakravarti Samrat Prithviraj Chauhan
Shiv Shakti
Anupamaa
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