FF - Togetherness Again - Epilogue & A letter from NK Updated Page - Page 23

Part 13

Bishop Cotton's School

'Mumma, I am so excited!', Ranbir said jumping gleefully noticing all the preparations and arrangements in the school campus for the annual team competition.

Ragini smiled and looked around, her eyes darting from one corner to another looking for Nachiket. Dressed in a fresh pink kurti and white trousers she looked young and energetic. Her hair pulled up in a single pony made her look sporty all set for a competition. She looked at her wrist watch once again in the last minute.

Nachiket sporting a stunning navy blue T shirt and jeans walked towards Ragini. He took off his glares and tucked them on his T-shirt and stood silently behind Ragini. He smiled before he considered to trick scare her but instead he gently tapped on her right shoulder and stood on her left. Ragini reflexively turned to her right and then to left and chided, 'Nachiket! You scared me! You always do that to me.'

'Am sorry!', he laughed.

'It's okay!'

'Hey buddy, all set?', Nachiket asked in excitement and picked up Ranbir.

'Oh yes, I am very excited and I am sure we are going to win!,' Ranbir said and beamed with happiness. Well, of course we shall try to win but remember participation is important than winning or losing okay', Nachiket said and lovingly caressed his cheek.

'Nachiket...I wanted to...' Ragini stopped when there was an announcement for all the participating teams to gather in the assembly hall.

'Let's go!,' Nachiket said and walked ahead carrying Ranbir. Ragini silently followed.

After all the formalities of registration and confirmation of the participants, the teams were all gathered for the instructions. Dimpy and Karan too were present along with Ronit.

Assembly Hall

A young lady began to announce, A warm welcome to all the parents and students of Bishop's to the Annual Team Games 2012. I am happy to see that this year we have totally 12 teams participating in the primary section. The teams will compete in three rounds and after each round the four teams with the lowest score will be eliminated. The motto of these competitions is to test the child's team work ability and bond with the family. Each team has two members along with the student. The three rounds will be Paint it your way, Snack It and Treasure hunt. The three rounds will take place one after another and the rules for the same will be announced accordingly. The first round is Paint it your way. One member of each team along with the student will participate in the competition and draw / paint as per the topic. The third member of the team has to guess the image in the shortest possible time.

The first round was about to begin and the teams were to take their places.

'Ragini, I think I'll take the first round with Ranbir and you can do the second one,' Nachiket said.

'Alright! All the best,' Ragini wished them luck and moved to the waiting area where the remaining members of the teams were seated.

Nachiket and Ranbir took their positions and a canvas with some colors was given to each participating team. Nachiket was equally excited as Ranbir was, as this was a first time for him too. Both of them exchanged best wishes for the last time before the announcement of the topic was made.

Announcement: The teams will be given 15 minutes each to paint for two topics. The two topics are, My most memorable moment' and When I grow up I want to be...' The paintings will be shuffled and the third team member will be brought to guess the painting of the child. Each painting will have a specific number which shall be voted. The time starts NOW!

All the 12 teams began to let their imagination flow. The children were extremely excited as they discussed about the topics.

'So Ranbir, your memorable moment, something that you will never forget and that Mumma knows would be?' Nachiket asked.

'The picnic we all went to!' Ranbir cried.

'Fantastic!'

'And I want to be an Air Force Officer,' Ranbir spoke as he showed a plane with his hand.

'Really?! You will definitely be one my boy!' Nachiket said and hugged him.

Soon both began to paint with the different colors available with them. Nachiket held Ranbir's tiny hands in his and helped him to draw when needed. He noticed Ranbir had visualized the painting very well in his mind and hence the painting though not very beautiful was clear enough to speak his thoughts. It was cute in its own way as it was drawn by a five year old kid. Nachiket clapped and encouraged Ranbir as time was running.

Towards the last 5 minutes, Ragini who was strolling in the waiting room on the opposite side got a glimpse of Nachiket and Ranbir together. They both were so comfortable with each other. While Ranbir beamed at his painting, Nachiket helped him finish the last bit and clapped along. He cuddled him with so much love and warmth. She could see a bonding which Ranbir longed for with Nachiket. Nachiket was indeed the father figure Ranbir always wished for. She smiled with teary eyes but shuddered with the thought that Nachiket was not here to stay in their lives forever. What would happen to Ranbir when Nachiket will be gone? She did not want to deprive Ranbir of all the attention and love he got from Nachiket but at the same time she feared the consequences of Nachiket's absence from Ranbir's life. Their bond was growing fast which would only affect Ranbir when Nachiket would be gone. She feared and prayed when the next announcement broke her chain of thoughts.

The teams were asked to vacate the room leaving the belongings there and all the paintings were shuffled and placed in no particular order for the third member of the team to view. The third member was given 10 minutes to identify their child's painting and also explain it.

Ragini along with the other members took a quick look at each of the paintings. She stood rooted in front of one and a huge smile spread on her face when she saw the colorful image of a familiar situation. One had a big swimming pool drawn and a couple of children splashing water. The far end of the pool had three images, one child holding an adult's hand and another image with the hands on mouth to express a shock. She immediately recollected the picnic and Ranbir's trick to make Nachiket jump into the pool. She laughed a little and bit her tongue when she realized she was distracting the others. The other image had a huge plane with three other planes on each side. The planes had the national flag colors on it. The bigger plane had a small figure showing its thumbs up. She had heard Ranbir say so many times that he wanted to be an Air Force Officer also his love for planes and helicopter toys was known to her. He had so many of them. She proudly walked to the voting desk to vote for her child's painting. She did not even want to have a look at the other paintings as she was confident about her son's artistic strokes helped by Nachiket. She was the first one to submit her vote.

The round one ended and it was time for results. The teams gathered once again and waited anxiously for the results to be announced.

'...and the first team that enters the second round is Ranbir Malhotra and Team', the lady announced. Ranbir jumped with joy along with Nachiket.

'Yay!, Mumma we won!', Ranbir said elated. Both Ragini and Nachiket laughed and clapped as the other names were announced.

Ronit's team too was selected and that made the duo happy.

'Well done Ragini!', Nachiket said and smiled.

'I had to for you and Ranbir!' she mumbled.

Nachiket and Ragini looked at each other all the while till they heard the next announcements. The second round was to begin and this time the eight qualifying teams had to move towards the canteen in the school premises.

Canteen:

Announcement: The teams will have the other member and the child participating. The teams will cook any dish in 30 minutes and the other team member will have to guess the dish.

Ragini was skeptical if Nachiket would be able to recognize the dish as it had been 5 years Nachiket had not eaten anything Ragini cooked. Moreover she wasn't sure if Nachiket knew about Ranbir's food habits. She took a deep breath and hoped for the best.

As soon as the timer went on, the team began to prepare their favorite dishes in the shortest possible time. It was quite a sight to see all the mothers along with the child participating. Nachiket waited with the other members in the waiting area. He was still thrilled with the win in the first round. He noticed Karan pacing up and down the hall so walked to him to comfort him.

'Wonder what Dimpy and Ronit are going to cook', Karan said a little tensed.

'Relax, what extraordinary are they going to cook in 30 minutes Karan? It has to be something Ronit likes,' Nachiket assured.

Karan sulked and said, That is the problem Nachiket, my son is just like me, he doesn't stick to one favorite. His favorites keep changing every week.

Nachiket laughed out and commented, Oh yes, how can I forget the endless crushes you had in college. Every week Mr. Kapoor had a new chic'.

'Shut Up' Karan snapped.

'All the best buddy!' Nachiket said and backed away. He did not want to tense Karan further as he feared the scene himself. He kept his fingers crossed and hoped that he'd be able to identify correctly and fast. He recollected all his interactions with Ranbir one after another and remembered that Ranbir had mentioned Club sandwiches, samosas and Chocolate Milkshake as his favorites. He hoped the dish to be one of these but what if there were many of these? He thought.

'Ah...I'll manage. It's not rocket science Nachiket!,' he murmured to himself. He checked his wrist watch and tapped his fingers on the door waiting for it to open and let them in.

Soon the round two came to an end and all the participants put their dishes on the dining table and went away. Nachiket's eyes caught Ragini looking at him and smiling while she held Ranbir's hand and walked out from the other end. She looked relieved and confident. That satisfied look on her face gave him more confidence when he stepped into the canteen hall and walked towards the dining table with all the eight dishes laid in a circle. Nachiket skimmed through all the items and ruled out three as he was sure Ranbir would never prefer rice. Out of the five Nachiket spotted two kinds of sandwiches and a large bowl of salad. He knew Ragini loved salad but since it was to be Ranbir's favorite dish he decided to taste the sandwiches and prayed that it was either of them.

Nachiket slowly moved to the first sandwich and took a small bite of the nicely cut and laid pieces. He tasted it but wasn't sure. He wiped his hands with the tissue as he moved to the next sandwich. He took a small piece of it and there he recognized the taste of cumin'. He saw closely and found the traces of cumin powder sprinkled on the sandwich. He remembered Ragini's fondness for cumin' powder and guessed that this was made by her indeed.

He wanted to be sure and was about to go back and check the first sandwich when a small R' written in cursive on the corners of the dish with the ketchup caught his attention. The R's with the ketchup reminded him of Ragini back in college when she would always make an R' on his sandwich with ketchup and before he could object she would eat up the whole of it herself. Once when objected she added two strokes in the letter R' to make it N' conjoined with R', just like their lives and both had shared the sandwich that day. Nachiket laughed lightly recollecting the event, he didn't even have rethink as he was sure the R's here were for Ranbir!'. He walked away grinning towards the judge and submitted his answer. He was very happy and excited as he was not only able to identify it but the fact his Ragini and her habits were still the same.

Karan soon followed Nachiket and looked pleased. He went to Nachiket and said, 'There was only one bowl of Salad and it had to be Dimpy.'

Nachiket looked confused and asked, But it's supposed to be Ronit's favorite not Dimpy's.

Karan smiled at his friend's confused looks and put his hand around his shoulder and spoke calmly, 'Nachiket, did you forget it's DIMPY? She will find the easiest way out my friend! And her choice, fortunately for me, is also my son's choice. The salad looks exactly what I get to eat when my dear wifey is in no mood to cook!'

Nachiket laughed loudly and said, 'Your dead! Wait till I tell her about this'. Karan's wide grin disappeared in a jiffy and he jumped in front of Nachiket with folded hands and pleaded, you are not doing this Nachiket. Please...I shall do anything to please you, but keep this to yourself!'

'You are bribing me?' Nachiket retorted.

'You are her friend or mine, I forget sometimes', Karan said and sulked.

Nachiket could not stop laughing at his friend's fear. He promised him to be quite provided Karan gifted Dimpy a nice vacation. Karan couldn't budge so finally gave in and walked towards the assembly hall for the results.

Assembly Hall:

Announcement: The results for the round two are here. Only four teams shall qualify while the remaining teams will be disqualified.

Nachiket and Ragini stood next to each other with Ranbir closely standing around. Ragini was praying silently with her eyes closed. Nachiket looked at her innocent expressions and couldn't resist missing an opportunity to irritate her.

'Don't worry Ragini, I know we are winning!' Nachiket whispered into her ears. Ragini faked a smiled and continued to look worried. For her Ranbir's happiness meant more and losing here would disappoint him a lot.

'I knew it was the Salad! After all Salads are you favorite', Nachiket quipped and winked at Ragini whose eyes almost popped out at the word salad'.

'What?!'

'Yes! See I knew it!!', Nachiket said excitedly. He loved to see Ragini shocked and angry and she reacted exactly the way he had expected her to react.

'Oh no..!', Ragini sulked.

'Ragini, mark my words, we are in for the finals', Nachiket said confidently and looked at Ranbir who was totally unaware of the conversation and smiled.

'Nachiket...I thought you would remember it's...' Ragini stopped when she heard Ranbir's name. The announcer announced the last qualifying team as Ranbir Malhotra and team. Everyone hooted and cheered around them while Ragini kept looking at Nachiket who winked back at her. Ranbir jumped in excitement and Nachiket picked him up immediately and put him on his shoulder. Ragini was speechless. She was wrong; her Nachiket had not forgotten anything.

'Your love for cumin powder and the letter R' is still the same and I suggest it better remain the same, wait maybe we can add another letter. How about N'?, he smiled as he said and walked away carrying Ranbir. Ragini stood there blushing and smiling to herself. She continued to look at Nachiket's retreating figure and sensed she could do nothing to stop herself from being carried away. It seemed like Nachiket was back in her life for good.

The third and final round was about to begin. Since this was to be the deciding game a lot of arrangements were made for the same. The teams assembled in the assembly hall for the instructions before the final game began.

Assembly Hall:

Announcement: The final round is about to begin. All the three members of the team will participate now. It's going to be a treasure hunt with a twist. The child in the team shall be shown the spots where the treasure is hidden. The remaining two members will be given a riddle which is to be solved to know the treasure. The child in the team can guide the team members to the spot. Each team plays one after another. The fastest team wins. The game is intended to check the child's memory power and the communication and co-ordination skills.'

The teams were ready and the child was made to sit back stage with a collar mike plugged in, a speaker and a monitor to see the other team members play. The other team members were given collar mikes too to talk to the child. The children were first shown the items that were hidden in the dummy house and then escorted back stage.

After the first team it was Ranbir's turn. Nachiket and Ragini were excited but nervous at the same time. They braced themselves and were ready for the game.

'All the best!,' Nachiket whispered to Ragini, she looked at him and smiled.

'Here is your first riddle,' the lady announced and continued, Keep me handy and I will keep you safe, I am your best friend in dark to keep you brave. Who am I?'

Nachiket mentally repeated the words and Ragini murmured the words too and in a split second Nachiket screamed, Torch...It's a torch!' and clapped in excitement. Oh yes...It's a torch', Ragini agreed.

'Ranbir, where is the torch?' Ragini asked.

'Torch!, he paused and then when he recollected he said, It's in the third drawer besides the TV'.

Nachiket hurriedly went to the drawers and opened the third drawer but didn't find it there. Its not here', Nachiket screamed. Ragini went besides him and checked once again but didn't find there,

'Check the other side', Ranbir's voice came through the speaker. Nachiket rushed to the other side and pulled open the third drawer and found the torch lying in there.' I found it!' Nachiket exclaimed and picked it up. He ran and put in the bin placed to collect all the articles.

'Excellent!' Ragini cried.

The announcer announced, Here is your next riddle, Stiff is my spine and my body is pale, but I'm always ready to tell a tale. Who am I?'

'...am always ready to tell a tale.' Ragini repeated the words and immediately screamed, It's a book!'.

Nachiket's faced brightened as he said, Oh yes, book it is. Ranbir, a story book?' Nachiket rushed to the book shelf without waiting for Ranbir to answer. He saw there were only note books and encyclopedias but no story book.

'Ranbir, where is the book baby?' Ragini asked once again.

'The Sleeping Beauty in the drawer of the study table', Ranbir spoke. He chuckled as he saw his mother sprinting towards the study table followed by Nachiket in the monitor.

She opened the first drawer and slammed it shut when she found only crayons and sketch pens and opened the second one and found the book.

'Nachiket! Here it is,' she retrieved the book and showed it to him happily. Nachiket rushed to her and took the book, Super! Here give it to me quick.' He put the book into the bin and both looked pleased with two items in the bin.

The lady announced again, The next riddle is "Although I may have eyes, I can't see. I am the favorite of all the children and mummies make paratha's of me. Who am I?'

'Aloo Parathe without a doubt!', Nachiket said happily and rushed to the kitchen. He looked around till Ragini came beside and immediately found the basket with potatoes'. She picked one up and looked at Nachiket and both burst out laughing immediately and exchanged a big high five in excitement.

Ragini was moving out when Nachiket stopped her, Ragini wait.' She stopped and turned to see Nachiket bend and pick up one more potato from the basket and said,' I love aloo ka parathas'. Ragini chuckled and took the potato from his hand and rushed to drop them in the bin.

'Mumma, please tell him those potatoes are not for his parathas but for my French fries', Ranbir quipped innocently. Both Nachiket and Ragini broke into peals of laughter and even the announcer couldn't hold back.

She shushed Ranbir and continued to announce the next riddle, I am heavy and am needed because I hold your papers firm when they are scattered and here in this house I am in a shade of blue. Who am I?'.

Nachiket and Ragini were confused with this one, they repeated the lines. Nachiket scratched his left temple thinking and asked, Ragini, what can it be?'

'You mostly have your papers scattered, am the organized one. How would I know?', Ragini teased.

'Umm...Heavy and papers...', Nachiket murmured, and after about half a minute and repeating those two words a dozen time Nachiket screamed, Eureka!' Ragini jerked with his scream and asked, What is it?' Nachiket held Ragini's shoulder and said with excitement, 'A paper weight'.

Ragini was surprised, then she happily laughed and said, 'Oh yes!' She had never seen Nachiket so excited and thrilled. He was a child altogether enjoying every bit of the game. Nachiket shook her and distracted her from her thoughts.

'Ranbir, baby you know what a paper weight is? It's a small stone like thing in a shade of blue...' Nachiket began to explain but was interrupted.

'Of course I know what a paper weight is!', Ranbir replied.

Ragini giggled when she saw Nachiket's embarrassed face when Ranbir replied. It's a shade of blue...do you remember which color it is Ranbir?' Ragini asked.

'Its sky color Mumma', Ranbir said.

'Ok, great...where is it Ranbir?' Nachiket urged Ranbir to give the directions.

It's in the right drawer of the table', Ranbir said.

Nachiket quickly turned to his right and faced the TV with the chest of drawers..., there isn't a table here Ranbir'. Are you sure?'Ragini was clueless too.

Ranbir who saw them confused in the monitor commented, 'I thought Nachiket uncle is smart'. He was unaware that he spoke into the mike making both Nachiket and Ragini laugh.

'Ya ya...Nachiket uncle is very smart!', Ragini teased. Before Nachiket could retort Ranbir spoke, 'Oh god! I said right drawer of the table. Ragini and Nachiket both looked at each other and laughed when Ranbir spoke again, Turn around.' Nachiket and Ragini complied accordingly and turned around now their backs facing the TV.

Ranbir saw them obey his instructions and spoke further, 'Now turn to your right...no wait...that's my right...your left!' Both Ragini and Nachiket bumped into one another in this left-right confusion and hit their heads. Nachiket quickly held Ragini's waist to prevent her from falling. He rubbed her head softly while he held her very close to him and his eyes were on her. Ragini squirmed a little and tried to free herself, but a hair strand had got tangled in his button which he slowly detangled it and put it behind her ear. Ranbir chuckled and said, 'I'm sorry. Go quickly!'.

Nachiket let her go and rushed and checked for the drawers in the right and fetched a brilliant aqua colored paper weight and threw it into the bin. Ragini clapped joyfully and looked at Nachiket but his gaze made her blush. He quickly stood by her for the last clue.

The announcer announced again, And the last riddle, "Fluttering, flying and flitting so free, from flower to flower is where you'll find me. Who am I?"

Ragini just heard flower and rushed to the flower pots in the balcony and immediately began digging in the pot. She messed her hands with the wet mud and then it struck her that she wasn't aware what she was looking for. Nachiket stood there thinking and then replied, 'Butterfly?'

'Ranbir is there a butterfly?', Nachiket asked.

'Yes, it's near the pots in the balcony', Ranbir said and jumped with excitement.

Nachiket rushed to the balcony and found Ragini messed with all the mud and laughed as he said, 'What is all this? Look for a butterfly not mud you silly thing'. He searched and quickly he spotted a small plastic butterfly kept on the flower in the third pot.

Ragini grabbed Nachiket's hands and took the butterfly admiring it; she realized she soiled his T-shirt and his hands. 'Oops, sorry!', she said and bit her tongue and impulsively took her hands to her mouth but Nachiket caught them. 'Err...Ragini! You'll spoil that pretty face of yours' and laughed further. Ragini remained fixed to her place lost in his charismatic laugh and his soft hold on her. He held her wrists firmly and spoke, 'you messy lady, now run and throw the butterfly in the bin before time runs out''. Ragini snapped out and ran to the bin and threw the butterfly in it.

The announcer blew the whistle to announce the end of the game. Nachiket grabbed a piece of cloth lying there and took it to wipe Ragini's hands. He teased her endlessly while he wiped her hands, but everything ceased to exist for her. She kept looking at him without blinking, charmed by him and stood still without reacting till Ranbir came and tugged her kurti. Ragini picked him swiftly when Ranbir spoke with excitement, 'Yay! Mumma...we finished the game'.

'Champ! You were so good!' Nachiket said and shook his hands and gently hugged Ragini and Ranbir in her arms.

The three of them came out as and the game continued with the remaining teams. One team wasn't able to solve all the riddles so they were disqualified while the other team, Ronit's team took more than the prescribed time. Hence the qualifying teams had been just two.

All the participants and family members were assembled in the assembly hall. It was result time again and Ragini had high hopes that they would win. She earnestly wished to win for Ranbir as this was his first time. Nachiket was carrying Ranbir and Ragini stood next to him nervously.

Announcement: All the teams have put in fantastic efforts and we are proud to announce the winner of Team Game competition 2012' is...'

Ragini closed her eyes and unknowingly gripped Nachiket's sleeves and refused to look up as she rested her head on his shoulder. Nachiket noticed this and smiled. This was his Ragini unusually anxious and nervous.

'...Ranbir Malhotra Team', the lady announced. The team finished in just 6 minutes and 36 seconds. Please give them a huge round of applause.

Ragini opened her eyes and jumped in excitement. Nachiket threw Ranbir in the air and caught him immediately and kissed him. He was the happiest to see Ranbir smiling and happy; this of course brought smile on Ragini's face. The three could not contain their happiness as everyone around were congratulating and complementing them for their teamwork. Karan and Dimpy clapped happily and showed a thumbs up when Nachiket saw them from a distance.

The Team was called to the stage for felicitation and so the three of them went on the stage. Ranbir was elated and he grinned ear to ear as all his other friends cheered and clapped for him. The Principal smiled as she welcomed Nachiket and Ragini on the stage and shook hands with them.

'I am so happy for Ranbir, the boy definitely deserved to win. Congratulations!!' the Principal congratulated. She handed over the trophy to Ranbir who flashed a winning smile to the audience. The Photographer clicked pictures of Ranbir with the trophy then lastly said, One family picture please!'

'Of course!', Nachiket said and put his hand on Ragini's shoulder and brought her closer to him. Ragini looked at Nachiket but he appeared at ease and very normal. 'You and Ranbir are family for me Ragini', Nachiket's words echoed in her mind. She pushed her thoughts aside and smiled for the pictures as her son's happiness was more important than anything else.

After the ceremony Ranbir sprinted away to his friends with the trophy and the two descended the stage and were encircled by everyone congratulating them! Ragini's mind was occupied with a various thoughts...she was happy that Ranbir won, but her worry of seeing Ranbir lonely and aloof when Nachiket would not be around resurfaced. Her eyes were fixed on Nachiket and she could bet she'd never seen him this happy and contended. Soon the two were left alone and Nachiket realized Ragini's eyes on him.

He sensed she wanted to speak something and so persuaded, 'Ragini? You want to say something?' Ragini gave a small smile and took a deep breath before she spoke, 'Why are you doing all this Nachiket?'

Nachiket's face turned serious. He heard her patiently, while she spoke further, 'I am not complaining, in fact am so thankful to you for all your efforts to make Ranbir happy but...'

'But what Ragini?'' Nachiket urged her to speak further.

Ragini looked away as she tried to hide the tears clouding her eyes. She sniffled and tried to compose herself before she spoke further, 'don't get us habituated to your presence Nachiket...Ranbir and I...'' she stopped 'I mean Ranbir will not be able to understand the reasons for your absence later...We both know you are not here forever...''she trailed off.

Nachiket understood her apprehensions; though she spoke about Ranbir, he knew she spoke about herself too. He wanted to hold her close and assure her that he was here to stay and be with them forever, but this was not the right time, not the right place and definitely not the right moment. He thought for a while and chose the right words in mind before he spoke to convey what he felt.

He looked back dead serious into Ragini's eyes and held her shoulder before he spoke in a serious tone, 'Ragini, when you can be a mother to Ranbir and do everything for him can't I be his father?'

Ragini gasped in response as she was caught off guard. Nachiket's gaze did not leave her and all she saw was a strong determination and conviction in Nachiket's eyes when he spoke. He was serious and meant every word he spoke.

'Nachiket uncle...', Ranbir called out loudly and ran to him. Nachiket immediately scooped him up in his arms.

'I love you sooo much', Ranbir said affectionately and hugged him.

'I love you too!!', Nachiket said, his eyes still on Ragini watching him in silence.

To be contd..