Chapter 4
Pushing away the hands, he turned merrily to find his father sitting on his knees, a sheepish smile on his face. Ravish hugged his father with full gusto, while Ranveer hugged him back.
"What is this papa, so late! I was almost certain that you wouldn't be able to make it!"
"Come on! My prince is taking part in a competition and I won't be there to cheer for him? How is that even possible?" Ravish smiled and separated himself from Ranveer, while he pinched the latter's cheeks.
"Thank you so much Papa! Now that you've come, I'm certain that I'll win the competition!" Ranveer smiled at Ravish lovingly, as the latter's English teacher came to call him to stand in line. Ranveer quickly kissed Ravish and wished him best of the luck, before making his way to the audience.
The teacher now came on stage and spoke an introductory note, warmly welcoming the parents, while giving an idea on the elocution competition's theme. It was supposed to be an on-the-spot competition, with the topic to be selected from a bowl of chits and the topic was supposed to be spoken upon for two minutes.
Ranveer could see that Ravish was third in line for the competition. The first participant was a girl, who came on stage looking pale, but the moment she had her chit in the hand, she heaved a sigh of relief. Ranveer was impressed with the girl overall as her tone was crisp and confident, her topic being on 'My Best Friend'. The audience cheered for her politely once she finished speaking and she smiled sweetly before getting off the stage.
The second participant again was a girl, but Ranveer had the distinct opinion that the girl could faint anytime with stage fright. The girl picked up her chit with shaking hands and stared at it blankly two half a minute, before she started speaking. Her topic was on 'My Hobbies' and Ranveer was quite surprised that the girl managed to utilize her time pretty well, even though she kept getting stuck in between at times.
The moment the girl got off stage, Raveer had his attention now fully over the stage, as Ravish walked up, an easy smile on his face and his eyes shining brightly. Ranveer managed to catch Ravish's attention and signaled him best of luck, while Ravish gave him a thumbs up. Closing his eyes, Ravish picked up a chit from the bowl and opened it. Slowly opening his eyes, his smile faltered and his eyes brimmed up unconsciously, as he saw the word 'Mother' written on the piece of paper.
Ranveer knew something was wrong the moment he saw Ravish's smile disappear and his suspicion came true the next moment, when Ravish blankly let the words 'my mother' escape from his lips. Ranveer felt a lump rise up in his throat and was about to get up, when he heard Ravish speak blankly.
"My mother. I don't really know my mother." Ranveer felt as though someone had dropped a hundred bricks into the pit of his stomach. He shut his eyes in anguish, his body paralyzed, half wanting to go and hug Ravish on stage and half wanting to bury his face. He slowly raised his head up and saw Ravish staring in his direction.
Forgetting his own woes, Ranveer gave Ravish a nod and the latter nodded back simply.
"But my father always speaks about my mother. He always tells me that my mother is a person that even the 26 letters of the alphabets cannot describe. She loved us all a lot and she cared for us a lot. She would always hug me tightly when I used to get up in the night afraid and she would always give me whatever I wanted. My father tells me that she used to do everything for the ones she loved and that she is a very good person. I really want to grow up and become like her. Even though I and my father rarely mention her at home, I really miss her a lot and I love her a lot."
The audience sat stunned for several moments, before everyone got up and gave Ravish a standing ovation, while Ranveer walked up on the stage and gave Ravish a hug. Ranveer could feel Ravish shivering in his arms and his body shaking with sobs, as he carried him from the stage, a proud smile on his face.
Ranveer and Ravish sat silently in the car, as the driver drove them back to the house. A cup sat in between them that Ravish had received on coming first, along with a certificate. Both of them were lost and thought and silently got down from the car the moment it stopped in front of the mansion.
Ravish took the trophy in his hand and headed straight for his room, where Ishaani's portrait hung majestically and kept the trophy and certificate in front of it. Ravish gave a single look at Ishaani's photo and walked away from the room, shutting it slightly harder than he intended to. Ranveer saw Ravish head towards his own room and shut it, while Ranveer shook his head painfully.
He knew that Ravish was upset and needed some time to be on his own to sort of his pain. Ravish had become five years old, but Ranveer knew that his maturity was much older for his age. He wished that Ravish would remain as immature as the kids of his age, but in a way he knew that life had forced him to grow up this soon, just like how life had made him and Ishaani mature that soon.
Ranveer shut his eyes in pain as Ishaani's name floated through his mind and he sighed. Quickly heading downwards, he called the maid and told her to serve Ravosh his food after some time, while he finished some work and returned.
Ranveer paced outside the room impatiently, while he waited for the doctor to come out and give him the report. The doctor left the room after five minutes and Ranveer walked over to him.
"She's still the same, Mr. Vaghela. We're trying our best, and the new medicines are being effective, but this is a really long process. Just keep praying now. Only a miracle can help." Ranveer nodded his head dejectedly and the doctor patted his shoulder, before leaving him. Ranveer shut in eyes, his one hand taking the support of the wall, while the other hand was over his eyes.
Slowly opening his eyes, his mind far too tired to fight with any emotions, he took a deep breath to steady himself. He slowly walked towards the room and entered it, and he felt the life leave his heart, just like every single time he entered the room. Walking towards the chair, he half-slumped, half-sat upon it and stared at Ishaani's sleeping face.
It had been three years since she was in a coma and Ranveer came to visit her every single day. He stared at her face blankly, the usual turmoil of emotions rising within his heart at the sight of her lifeless form, while he took her hand in his own.
"Ishaani. How are you? I hope the doctors are taking good care of you. They tell me that you can hear everything we say, so atleast you know I'm with you over here. Always. Dr. Mukherjee was telling me that the new medicines are proving effective and you will recover pretty soon." Ranveer felt his voice crack and a tear fell from his eye.
"You know, Ravish had his English Elocution Competition today. Came first in it. He had to speak about you and he spoke so beautifully and lovingly. You would have been proud if you would have seen him. Ofcourse I know you are, he's our prince afterall." Looking at Ishaani's face in despair, Ranveer spoke hoarsely.
"I miss you Ishaani. I really miss you. Please do come back to us. Not only I but even Ravish needs you just as much, Ishaani. We really love you and miss you a lot. Please come back soon." Ranveer kissed Ishaani's hand and hid his face within their entwined hands. Ranveer gave her a sad look before he got up and kissed her forehead lovingly and walked away, his life constantly draining from his heart at the sight of his broken soulmate.
Ranveer and Ravish were sitting in the latter's bedroom, silently having dinner. Ranveer fed Ravish slowly, while the latter ate without any fuss. Ravish looked at Ranveer keenly for a minute, before he made up his mind.
"Papa, can I ask you something?"
"Anything."
"Papa, if mumma was such a good person, why is God making her suffer so much?"
Ranveer gave Ravish a pained look. He knew that Ravish never liked mentioning Ishaani's name in any conversation because of the pain it caused both of them, but he did not feel surprised. He knew that Ravish was disturbed after morning's incident and needed closure now.
"Ravish, your mumma is a very good person. God has written a testing phase for all of us. Your mumma's suffering is ours. Just because he gives us pain, it doesn't mean that he doesn't love us. He has written destiny and what's best for us. We don't know why he decides fate for us, but he does it for our best. Never lose your faith in God. And besides, even though I don't have you mumma to live with for the past three years, but I have you. You are the silver lining in our lives."
Ravish simply nodded his head and fell silent. The rest of the meal passed silently and Ranveer put Ravish to bed some time later, making sure that he brushed his teeth and changed into his night clothes. Just as Ranveer switched off the light and was about the leave the room, he heard Ravish speak slowly from behind.
"Papa, can you please sleep with me tonight? Please?" Ranveer looked back and gave him a smile.
"Ofcourse beta." Ranveer walked over to the bed and stroked his head gently, as he felt Ravish cuddle him slowly. He smiled and kissed Ravish on his head as he felt Ravish slowly fall asleep in his arms. Settling him on the bed slowly, he covered the blanket over him and walked up to the wardrobe, removing one of Ishaani's pallus from it. He gently made Ravish catch hold of it and saw an unconscious smile appear on Ravish's face.
Ranveer went over to his room and shut the lights off, his mind unable to concentrate on any of the work files pending to be read. He changed into his night clothes and climbed up in his bed, his mind continuously pondering over what Ravish had asked him.
Even though he had made his point clear enough to Ravish, he knew that he had lied to himself for even he could not determine whether his life had changed for the better or for the worse in those three years.
Phew! :) Another update up. :) Please, do not hit me our hurl anything at me after reading this. Everything to be redirected to the CVs.
Constructive criticism will be more than welcome and sorry for any typos. :) :)
Cricket
Anupamaa
