Babuji was in hospital. He had had a paralytic attack. He might not be able to speak again, walk again, not recover at all ! And now that Khushi had returned from Nainital, her family inadvertently looked at her for solace, to shoulder the mountain-like responsibilities of her family in distress, to find a way out somehow. "Aap bahut himmatwali hain. Aapko hi to apne parivaar ko sambhalna hain", Anjali gently reminded her while consoling the Guptas at the hospital.
But no one realized that Khushi was in pain. Her parents had died when she was very young leaving her all alone. She could not afford to lose her loving adopted father, not now, not ever! She felt drained of all strength The very thought of having to go through the process of darkness, emptiness, loneliness all over again seemed unbearably painful, sapping her of her vitality, pushing her into an abyss she feared. So she closed her eyes to block out those terrible thoughts and prayed aloud, "Shakti dena Devi Maiyya, shakti dena."
And suddenly, a familiar gust of wind. She opened her eyes and looked up from the hospital chair she had slumped into, and there it was, what she had prayed for, her Shakti, her strength of mind, heart and soul, her Arnavji! As calm as the blue pullover he was wearing, his hair slightly blowing in the breeze, his brown caramel eyes beckoned her, as if saying, "Khushi!" I am here for you!
An unknown feeling washed over her. The last time she had seen him was when he had rudely ordered her out of his car on their way back from Nainital. But she did not for a moment think about her humiliation at his hands. He was here now, he had come for her! Her brain went numb and her heart took over and she simply ran to her man like there was no tomorrow and hugged him tight for dear life and all the pent-up pain poured out into sobs, small ones at first and then big ones spilling on to his blue visage. "Nahin hai himmat hum main.Nahin hota hai humse yeh sab. Hum poori tarah se toot chuke hain", she cried on his shoulder.
And he. He raised his hands to hug her back, to console her, but his arms stopped short of hugging her, his fingers fisted in confused hesitation, reluctant at this public display of emotion, so very true of his conditioning as the heartless, emotionless ASR. Later, in the privacy of his room, a tormented guilty soul derided himself, " Kyun nahin rakh paya usspe hath main? Wo ro rahi thi. Shayad chhahti thi main use kuch kahoon? Shayad yeh kahoon ki sab theek ho jayega. Aur main...main usske aansoon dekhta reh gaya. Kya ho gaya tha mujhe?kyun usska ek ek aansoon..."
Yes. Her tears always affected him. The mighty ASR had no planned, calculated, clinical solution for her tears. He had no clue how to deal with this ocean that welled up inside him everytime tears welled up in her eyes!So he just stood there, no not hugging her but lending her his broad, strong shoulders to cry on, his wound from Nainital fresh, oozing blood, a telltale sign that faraq padta hain. He shut his eyes to the rest of the world and took in her pain when it became uncontrollable, just letting her weep till she was done. He understood her tears, her hug, as some years ago he had felt the same pain and yearned for a shoulder to lean on. But instead he had taken upon himself to wipe his Di's tears and gulp down his own. Overnight an adolescent boy had grown into a hard man.
She came to her senses when she was spent, and suddenly realizing what she had done, broke the embrace as suddenly as she had rushed into his arms and crashed into him. But he did not want to let her go. He was hurt. Why did she snatch herself away so? "Khushi?" Those words of consolation on the tip of his tongue were never said. But at that moment when her world came crashing down upon her, her heart bursting with pain, her mind panic-stricken, to pray for strength and to get it there and then was nothing short of Devi Maiyya's blessing! And that is what true love is...it's a blessing. A prayer answered. That is why, Khushi "..ko sar rakhne ke liye unke kandho ki zaroorat padi." He, who was her love, her man, her protector.
And when he came to the hospital again to pay Babuji's bill, he rectified his earlier lapse of not hugging her back. When she broke down again in front of him, in spite of chiding herself earlier,he placed his hand on her head. As if to say, I am your rakshak. Your every aansoon is precious to me. I won't let the pain that engulfed me touch you again. Don't worry. Sab theek ho jayega.
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Cricket
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