MY BETROTHED , MY BELOVED...
I stood in front of the closed front door waiting for someone's gracious presence to escort me inside.it had been years since I had come to this house and a lot had not changed , the white bungalow was yet encircled by beautiful green plants. I thought she would get them removed , surprisingly she hadn't. " great , I thought. my attention was diverted towards the young girl who had now opened the door for me .she wouldn't be more than 17. Her radiantly bright milky skin was dusked by pale sorrow. even though I knew her by heart seeing her like this I couldn't recognise her.
She let out a small sob , showing me her tear filled eyes and clashed her head on my chest letting out huge cries while clenching my shirt.
"papa!
Yes , I am her father yet it had been 10 years since I had last seen her 10 years huh they seemed like aeons to me .i am surprised she yet recognised me , she was so small when I had left home .i put my right hand on her head and the other on her back urging her to stop crying . she looked at me with tear filled eyes as if expecting something . I slightly kissed her forehead.
She led me inside the house where tons of unknown relatives wearing white clothes had gathered . they all came one by one and putting a hand on my shoulder expressed how sad they were , like if I give a damn whether they are happy or sad.
Khushi lay on the floor .dead , lifeless. A silent tear found its way through my eyes. I always wanted to behold her again ,in front of me ,but not like this . no , this lifeless body with a red dupatta kept on her covered by a white sheet is not my khushi.
My khushi 's eyes used to be filled with radiance, hope and happiness. This body has its eyes closed . dead , lifeless.
My khushi's face was ever glowing with life .this body's face was dull ,dead , lifeless.
My khushi 's nose was tiny and red, flaring when she was angry. this body's nose is covered with cotton balls. dead , lifeless.
My khushi didn't know how to remain silent even when she was asleep .this body hasn't opened it 's mouth since the past morning. dead , lifeless
Most importantly my khushi had the brightest ,happiest , liveliest soul in the whole world.this body is dead , lifeless , soulless !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Aarushi , my daughter started crying "papa , mumma died , mumma...
I consoled my daughter, little did I know unsaid , unnamed tears were flowing from my eyes also .
**************
I flew back to Mumbai but with my daughter this time .Anjali di and shyam jija ji loved her and their son ansh adored her. she was their new baby princess, the princess di and jija ji had always wished for.
Although I knew her , it seemed like I didn't know her whenever I tried to talked to her . A lot had changed in the past 10 years .she had become around 75 % like khushi you know like her smile , her love story with jalebi , her bonding with devi maiyya , her bookish hindi etc...but she was like me also you know angry ,intelligent , calculative and shrewd businessman type ...i got her admission in a nearby junior college to have her 12 th std completed. There one of the boys made of her being too thin and too short .all flared up she gritted her teeth and scoffed on his face saying that having a small body is better than having a small thinking . when that classmate of hers tried to show his male ego , she challenged him into scoring more marks than her in any one of the subjects. she knows how to hit the right weak point of people .she is shrewd. Not like her mother , like me.
It was 25 years ago that I had met khushi , at an intercollege meet .we both were doing our MBA then. the meeting was sweet , short yet unforgettable , for both of us ,urging us to meet again and again. She had joined hands with my startup and we were quite successful at it . we realized our feelings and that we needed each other s presence for a satisfying survival .
With the blessings of her buaji and my di and jija ji we had a small enchanting wedding ceremony and an exotic honeymoon at ...disneyland , California.well, we went to Honolulu also . . Don't you dare laugh on me it was khushi s wish how could I deny her ?( this is actually my wish I want to go to Disneyland and Hawaii for my honeymoon.)
Two years later , our company had reached great heights I had become a big shot and khushi announced that she was pregnant.my happiness knew no bounds .her buaji came over to take care of her .khushi looked even more beautiful her small body and her big bump was a sight to behold .she was tired of seeing herself so plump as she was used to seeing a thin herself .her antics kept me on my toes day and night . buaji had correctly named her "sankadevi the goddess of madness.
Khushi had correctly named aarushi .she was just like the first ray of sun brightening my and khushi's lives. We just adored her.in fact our whole house was painted in baby colours for her . we were very possessive first time parents .we would take care of and every step she took.we would never leave her alone or let her fall .
Khushi marvellously managed both work and home , she was very efficient at multitasking. but as aarushi s 5 th birthday passed, my company experienced a major downfall.it was a big shock to us as we had taken care of every deal very carefully. It turned out that khushi had had forgotten and misinterpreted some deal. It was fine with me I was trying my best to recover the loss and to a great extent I was successful .but I was unsuccessful in handling the downfall in khushi's confidence.she couldn't bear that it was due to her negligence that all this had happened .i tried to explain and comfort her as much as I could but she wouldn't stop blaming herself.
She started developing depression and worst alzheimer's. although the alzheimer's was mild but it grew dangerous whenever she would see me .like she had stopped recognizing me till this extent that she would get anxiously mad at my sight.
Doctors advised that I would stay away from her miles away. this was unacceptable to me . staying away from my khushi was worse than my worst nightmare . I pleaded the doctor to find some alternate solution but he said that there was no other way . her death was unavoidable. By staying away from her , her lifespan could be increased for a few months or maybe years depending on how happy she is kept.
I didn't have the guts to be so selfish to keep khushi to myself for my comfort and sanity shortening the time my daughter could experience her mother's sane shadow over her head .
I sadly sent away khushi and aarushi to buaji's place at lucknow. I would call my little eight year old aarushi every night and hear all her thousands of childish whims and fancies in return of the favour she would do on me let me hear her khushi's voice without her noticing it.
" aaru baby, go to sleep, ninni time. was the only sentence I had heard in khushi's voice for those past 10 years. ya sometimes I would also hear "hai re nandkishore " in buaji's ever shrieking voice those phone calls were my only life support all those years .
My name , my photo or any other thing related to me was asked to be kept away from khushi it made her frantically mad, which was dangerous for both khushi and aarushi. I didn't keep aarushi to myself because I knew that my khushi needed her and so did my aarushi need her mother.
Khushi's condition improved to quite an optimistic extent by the time aarushi turned 15. She never talked about me or for that sake I was nowhere in her memories like I had faded from there. I had become like that torn page of her notebook which she now didn't care to think that what was there on that page ?
It always disturbed me how could she remember aaru as her daughter but never care to ask herself or anyone else - who is aarushi's father ? doctors told me that was not explainable . maybe it was because I and khushi had just fallen in love on earth as in an earthly relationship , but aaru and her relation was one beyond heavens.
Aarushi has grown up to be as beautiful as her mother. time passed so quickly that when aaru and I became best friends I didn't come to know.
i helped her choose her a saree for her college farewell like I had done for her mother. ( see the pic ) .
she is looking beautiful isn't she. full sleeves , yes . I don't want anyone to ogle at my daughter .unlike khushi , aarushi didn't mind that I wouldn't allow her to wear those stingy model type strapless gowns ,one pieces etc... .khushi would tease me all day and night about this that I own a fashion brand but yet I don't let her wear those "fashionable type of dresses. Those are not fashion , they look like malfunctioning clothes or like the tailor had less cloth piece so he stitched only half the dress!
Aarushi and I went to tons of adventure parks and movies etc...she read a lot of books like her mother. She decided that she would join my company and so she did . but she wasn't the cold arrogant monster boss her papa was , she was the understanding and friendly boss every employee of the world could ever wish for.
The most shocking day of my life was when I came to know that there was somebody who held equal position as me in her life - her boyfriend!!!!
I was ready to kill the boy who had entrapped my innocent aaru and so try to take her away from me! di laughed at my over possessiveness while I sat with an angry pout on my face while telling her about aaru s boyfriend.
She made me realize that my daughter was no more my 17 year old aaru who would eat up 7 packs of chocolate together .she was now 27 year old aarushi singh raizada , the COO of raizada group of companies .di explained to me how she also felt overprotective of ansh , her son when he had started taking his own decisions , but then she understood she was his parent not his dictator.
Aarushi made me meet saahil , a cardiologist , her boyfriend whom she wants to marry. He was decent, fine for my liking. i did great research on him and finally agreed.
The next day aarushi got ready beautifully for some ritual whose name I cease to remember but what I remember it was that I had performed it with khushi. With every second of the ritual , I remembered my ritual with khushi. Like khushi , aaru also wore a cream and red saree
. 
Every step , every puja that aaru did took me back around 35 years ,to my khushi. how she blushed during every ritual , shyly looking into my eyes!
Now it was aarushi doing the same with her fianc. I felt overprotective of her but I couldn't just stop her from fulfilling her wishes just because I wanted to keep her to myself , saving her from the world in a safe cocoon .i didn't want to lose her anyways , I had already lost khushi . but fate had different plans.
The very next day aarushi died . she had lost control of her car making her clash into a huge tree .her head injury was too serious for her to survive. saahil came over to offer me condolences and so did thousands of other relatives.
I hadn't cried when my betrothed khushi had left me neither did I when my beloved aaru left me.
Saahil told me that he understands how I might be feeling as he too loved aaru. How would he understand he will find another girlfriend , another love but where will I find another aaru for myself?
God has always challenged me by giving me the worst of situations my parents death , di s leg problems , financial insecurities , khushi s mental conditions , separation from khushi and aaru , khushi's death and now aaru s...like if god always hoped that I would give up .
Out of the 86,400 seconds in a day , I spend around 50,000 seconds wishing to go where khushi and aarushi are waiting for me but then I remember that's what god wants me to do - give up on life , on hope
But that's what I have learnt from khushi and aaru , ti never give up hope.
There will be one day when I will win , god shall himself make me ascend up the heavenly stairs towards my khushi and aaru .
There shall be finally one day when arnav singh raizada shall actually win the challenge of life...
this was my first ever story I extended it from 400 to 2000 words today .to my surprise I had got an 21 out of 25 for this which is very difficult in icse. I hope you like it pls leave your views below
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