Riddhima
him
SLIGHT OBSESSION
She was sitting by the window sill, book in hand.but she wasn't reading.she was lost in her thoughts.thoughts of the past, of the future and thoughts of him.
"Rahul, jaldi aao na.bohot wait karva liya.plz aa jao." Sighed riddhima.
"Are you having an affair with my best friend behind my back?"
"not that rahul.this one." And she showed him the book she was reading.
"DRAVID". he groaned. "riddhima please yaar, this is the thousandth time you are reading this book"
" so?"
"I think you have a slight obsession with him"
" I am not"
" I can prove it"
" go ahead"
"you'll have to answer my questions"
"shoot"
"what is Rahul Dravid's full name?"
"Padma shri Rahul Sharad Dravid."
"Date of birth?"
"11th January 1973."
"Wife?"
"Dr. Vijeeta Rahul Dravid"
"Son?"
"Samit Rahul Dravid"
"His date of birth?"
"11th October 2005"
"who wrote the book you are reading."
"Vedam jaishankar wrote Rahul's biography"
"When did Rahul get married?"
"May 2003"
'Where does he live?"
"Indiranagar, bengaluru"
"Gosh. How I can you like the thingu ( short statured)?'
"For your kind information, he is a six footer"
"Is not"
"Its written in the last para on page 26 of this book. The exact line is when rahul shot up to be a six footer in his late teens."
"and I have proved my point."
"I am not obsessed."
"You so are"
She glared at him. If looks could kill, ridz would be in jail for murdering her husband.
"Look, I am not against your being his fan. But calling my princess, Rahul is too much."
"It'll be a boy."
"I want a daughter", saying this he stroked her tummy.
She removed his hand and glared at him. He didn't say anything. He knew her temper and in the ninth month of pregnancy, it would be suicidal to make her angry.
"Ok biwi, I'll be happy even it's a boy. As long as it's mine and you don't call him Rahul. one rahul is enough already, I won't be able to handle another. "
"Armaan. We'll have a healthy baby na? Will I be able to see her?"
"You will be able to see her." He lied knowing that it was a complicated preganancy,. Chances of teir both surviving were less or atleast the baby might be handicapped.but he couldn't say it loud. He believed in god. Believed in the power of love and he knew everything would be fine.
"Everything would be fine"
I'M SORRY
"Armaan, I know what the Dr. Keerti told you."
He was shocked, but didn't say anything as talking about it brought back bad memories.
"I'm sorry."
"It's not your fault. Baby, it's not your fault. You don't have to say sorry."
Unwillingly, his mind swept him back to that unfateful day, nine months ago.
FLASHBACK
Riddhima had been unwell since the past few days. She used to vomit a lot. She thought that it might be due to exhaustion, so that day she had taken a leave from sanjeevani. But in the evening when she was doing the household work, she felt as if the room had started spinning. Being a doctor, she knew it wasn't a good thing to happen. So she went to a clinic nearby. She didn't go to Sanjeevani, as she knew her husband would worry unnecessarily. At the doctor's she got to know the reason for her vomiting was not some disease but morning sickness. It meant that she was pregnant. It was time for her husband to return fro the hospital. Since she knew how much he loved surprises, she decided to hurry back home and decorate their home romantically so that she could give him the good news.
He would be ecstatic she thought. She knew he loved kids. And as a birthday gift, he wanted to be a father within a year. And he had made sure that enough opportunities arrived so that they could make a baby. She blushed thinking of the days and nights they had spent at their family vacation home in the outskirts of Mumbai, trying to make armaan's birthday wish come true.
She got in the car, her home was only 15 minutes away. And she wanted to get back as soon as possible. She knew she was driving recklessly, "but what the hell" ,she thought, " I can act responsibly after I become a mother".Armaan called from the hospital to check on her, she couldn't tell him where she had been so she picked up the phone.
" hi baby, kya kar rahi ho? Where are you , there's a lot of disturbance in the background."
" I .. um .. came to do do some shopping. I'll be reaching home in five minutes"she lied. She was feeling so guilty for having lied to him, that she didn't notice the Scorpio coming towards her.
" oh. Don't talk while driving"
CRASH..
" hello? Riddhima? what happened? Hello? Hello?
Never in his life had Armaan been so scared. he was praying to god hat she was fine. he immediately left Sanjeevani. on the way he saw that an accident had taken place. It can't be her. She said she had gone to the market and the market is not this way.he got down to see who the person was, and was shocked to see his wife, unconscious in the car. Her head had hit the steering and she was bleeding… a lot. he took her to sanjeevani, where tests revelaed she was pregnant. "this would have been the happiest moment of our life, he thought, only if this accident had not taken place."
Dr. keerti told him that Riddhima was out of danger, but her pregnancy might be very complicated. He thought of getting the abortion done, but that too wasn't possible as Riddhima had a risk of dying. His baby was something you couldn't keep and something you couldn't get rid of. The first few months were very traumatic for Armaan and Riddhima. She had sudden severe pains, which weren't normal. And armaan couldn't be happy when his wife suffered. He couldn't tell her the truth as he knew; she wouldn't be able to bear it.
For days he didn't leave her side, she would find his behaviour very weird. He had been told that her temper would be very fierce. She would do things, which she never did. Her body didn't know how to cope with the accident and the baby together.
But she was also a doctor; she consulted a gyanecologist one day after Armaan had resumed work at the hospital. The doctor told her the complications in her pregnancy. Riddhima didn't tell Armaan this. Earlier when he used to sit and stare into space, she used to find it weird, but after finding the truth she understood.
FLASHBACK END
With ninth months having past since the accident, and ten days left for her delivery date, she decided to tell him the truth. To tell him that she knew. So she apologised. He hugged her tight. And after nine months they cried. Cried for the baby, and for each other.
Armaan
Riddhima
DIARY
It took a long while for them to stop crying. For months both of them had bottled their emotions, their tears. And when they had let the tears flow, stopping them wasn't easy. Not at all.
Armaan stopped crying first. He looked at his wife. Her eyes red and puffy. She was sobbing his arms. Silent but strong sobs. Her entire body was shaking. Slowly she stopped crying. And she looked up to find Armaan staring at her. He was admiring her beauty. She looked beautiful even when she was crying. But it didn't mean that he wanted her to cry or that he liked to see her crying. He hated it when those big pearly drops fell from her what he called ' super-expressive' eyes. She had a glow on her face. Pregnancy had some advantages. It what your wife looked irresistible. It was such a shame that he couldn't –
"armaan. Why are you staring at me?"
" you are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen"
Even after three years of marriage and nine years of courtship, a compliment from Armaan made Riddhima blush.
" thanks" she giggled and for a second she forgot all her problems. It was just Armaan and his Riddhima.
" ab jaldi se meri biwi mujhe ek lambi si pyaari si kiss degi"
"later". He looked unhappy as he was in the mood for some romance as nothing more than that was possible.
"Armaan, mujhe ek baat promise karo"
"pehle bolo kya baat hai."
"Tum mere baad doosri shaadi karoge."
Hearing this Armaan looked at her as if she had gone insane.the look on his face clearly stated that he wasn't going to promise any such thing.
"Armaan, plz apne liye na sahi, atleast humare bache ke liye."
At this his face softened. He realized how hard it must be for her. He didn't argue with her, but he wasn't going to promise anything also. Even Riddhima knew this, so she dropped this matter for the time being.
" ek kaam aur karna hoga tumhe"
" nahi"
" arre pehle sun toh lo"
" bolo"
" yeh diary hai meri. I want our baby to know me. So jab voh badi ho jaye, give it to her. It has all the stuff which I want her to know about me, about us."
He took the diary from her hand and opened it. It was empty.he looked at her questioningly.
" khaali hai. I'll start filling it aaj se"
" I told you not to watch kuch kuch hota hai last night."
" shut up. It's an excellent idea". He knew arguing with her was pointless. So he agreed with her 'inspired' idea.
"fine".
" but ismein likhogi kya?"
"nothing much"
Armaan knew by now that her " nothing much" meant " a lot of stuff which I am not going to tell you so don't bother asking".
"aur kuch?" She shaked her head to say no.
" Fine. So where was I?" saying this he bent to gently kiss his wife. His Riddhima, Mrs Riddhima Armaan Malik . It had been difficult to woo her. But she was worth the chase.
OUR FIRST MEETING
Hi baby,
I am Riddhima Armaan Malik. Your mom. I know that I could have just written Riddhima, but Armaan Malik is the person why you are in this world. And When I write my entire name, i.e. when I write you dad's name with mine, I feel complete. Every girl has certain dreams regarding the person she wants to spend her life with. Even I had several dreams. Your dad fulfilled each and every dream. Together we saw a dream, the dream of you. Maybe now you won't be able to realize what I am trying to say, but that's the reason why I wrote this diary. I want to introduce you to your mother, to me.
I don't remember much about the first few years of my childhood. I was born to Dr. Shashank Gupta and Dr.Padma Gupta on 9th January 1980.
From what my parents tell me, I was a simple girl I was naughty but never destructive or disobedient. But I was never afraid of anyone. I could hit a guy if he asked for it, but I never picked fights deliberately.
I joined Amity ( a/n this is my school's name. It didn't exist so many years ago. ) at the age of three years in 1983. I studied in the delhi branch till the first semester of class fourth. In the summer vacations, I shifted to the bombay branch (there isn't any branch of amity in Bombay but who cares). Dad had joined the sanjeevani hospital there as a senior doctor. Mom had joined too. i wasn't upset to leave my friends or my city. The Bombay school was bigger, and I was happy to go to a bigger school.
2nd August 1988, Monday. It was my first day at my new school. it was pretty uneventful. I didn't talk to any one more than exchanging of a few hi's and hello's .My class teacher taught us English. It was difficult adjusting in the new class, but she was really nice and by the third period, I loved my new school. The entire day passed very smoothly, except once. During our games period, we had gone to the field. As I didn't now anyone that well, I sat on the bench and watched everybody play. Suddenly a basketball came and landed near my feet. After it came running, a boy. I just glanced at him once. He wasn't bad looking, but I didn't know if he was good looking either as I felt very uncomfortable in his presence and didn't really check him out, as they say nowadays. While picking up the ball, his finger brushed my leg and a shiver ran down my spine. He stood up and put his hand forward.
" hi. I'm Armaan malik."
"Riddhima gupta." I said shaking his hand. His friends called him. He winked at me and said his friends were calling him so he had to go. I just nodded. It was my first meeting with your dad.
MY CLASSMATE
After that games period I didn't see him again. Atleast for a year and a half. You must be thinking why I didn't see him? During our times, boys and girls at the age of 8 and 9 were thought of as enemies. Any signs of friendships between the opposition parties were frowned upon. I was a new student and I really wanted to make some friends, so I didn't mention to anyone about that incident again. Atleast not till I went to Class 6th. No, I didn't tell anyone about that incident to anyone even then. But I didn't have to. Armaan Malik was in my class. He was sitting right behind me .I knew he didn't sit behind me purposefully as the seats had been allocated by the class teacher. As I went to sit at my seat, I smiled at him. He looked at me, puzzled. He didn't remember our first meeting. I wasn't affected much, since I was in middle school, had a lot to study and didn't have time for boys.
After the first six months, the animosity between the boys and girls decreased. Yes it meant that your dad had become friends. But I didn't have a crush on him and neither did he.
We were classmates. We exchanged homework, played together and even sat together in class at times. But love had no plans of blooming so soon.
Three years, 6th, 7th and 8th, we were in the same class. But nothing happened in the romantic front. By the end of class 8th he had a girlfriend, and I was the first person he told .I was happy for him. But I felt jealous and I didn't know why.
Class 9th and 10th saw us in different sections. We stopped talking to each other. He changed girlfriends every two months. I'd see girls crying in the loo and I decided that I hated him and would never talk to him ever again, even if he pleaded to me.
But destiny had other plans. Once again we were thrown in the same section in class 11th. We both wanted to be doctors. And the school had only one section of biology.
His girlfriend was also in the same class. They had been going around since four months. But in June, they broke up. I was unaffected. Then he started hanging around with my best friend. They would sit together. So I had to talk to him when I went to talk to my best friend. Gradually I realized that he hadn't changed a bit. He was the same classmate he had been five years ago.
We became friends. Then best friends. We sat together, played together, ate together. We were inseparable except when one of us had to go to the loo. People started spreading a lot of rumours, but I didn't care. He was my friend and I liked his company. But you know what, by the end of first semester of class 12th, love had bloomed. Equally on both sides.
But nobody said anything. Till I let it slip to my best friend that I liked him. She immediately called him up. He told her that he felt the same. And after that she called me up. In school we behaved normally. As if nothing had happened. For a week we didn't show anything. But then I had a fight with my friend and I hugged him and cried. He realized what I felt for him. Still he just consoled me, we didn't discuss feelings. In class once, our sir told us not to look in each other's eyes but to look at the board. We felt embarrassed and couldn't talk that day.
In the evening he messaged me that he was going to watch a movie with a female friend. I told him not to go. He asked why. I said nothing. He went for the movie. At night he messaged that he loved the movie and that the girl was looking hot. I told him that id didn't like it when he spoke about other girls. He asked why. This time I answered properly. I said I felt jealous.
The next day the entire class abandoned the two of in the class. I had brought my phone to school that day. I was feeling nervous, so I was pacing around in the class. I had been told not to leave the class so I didn't leave. Suddenly my phone beeped. He had messaged. He wanted me to sit beside him. I did as I was told. I was shaking with fear. He messaged again, " please smile". I thought he was crazy, why should I smile without a reason? I didn't smile. Another message. " If I ask you out in the next 10 seconds, then will you smile?" And another message " I love you". My heart was beating at ten times its normal speed. After what seemed like an hour, I replied. " itna time kyyun laga diya?. I love you too". After reading my message, he smiled. A lot. I ran out of the class, into the loo. I was happy. But not once did I smile that day. Not even when he walked me to my bus and said I love you before I boarded the bus. No, I didn't smile. But I was happy. Very very happy.
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