Part 5
The sunshine shone bright on Siddhi's face and she opened her eyes slowly
towards the window. The direct sunlight disturbed her eyes and she narrowed
her eyes, leaving a slit like opening through which she could see Kunal sitting
on the half berth. He was reading the newspaper very intently. Her
eyes gradually opened wider and she kept on looking at him for a while
thinking "Kunal itni jaldi kab se uthne lage?" Kunal looked up from the
newspaper towards Siddhi.
Kunal: Uth gayi tum? Kitna soti ho!
Siddhi gave a faint smile.
Kunal continued: Accha suno, Seema ko bhejta hun main. Breakfast kar lena
aur taiyaar ho jaana. 11 baje hospital jaana hai. Thodi der mein Kapil aur
Shilpa bhi aane waale hain tumse milne ke liye. Theek hai?
Siddhi nodded.
Soon Seema entered the room with Siddhi's breakfast, a bowl full of porridge.
Seema: ( With a wide smile on her face ) Good morning Siddhi. Yeh raha
tumhara garam-garam naashta.
Seema took a spoonful from the bowl and extended her hand to feed Siddhi.
Though Siddhi did not like porridge but she started eating on Seema's
insistence.
Siddhi: Bhabhi, main aapse kuchh poochhoon? Mujhe kya hua tha? Matlab jo
bhi kuchh kal se hua usse mujhe bass itna hi samajh mein aaya ki main yahan
se bahut dinon tak door thi. Par...
Seema: Arey ruk toh sahi! Itne saare sawaal! Mujhe kuchh bolne toh de. Le
tu naashta kar, main sab batati hoon. (She put another spoonful in her mouth)
Tujhe yaad hai tu bhaiya ke case ke liye court gayi thi aur wahin par behosh
ho gayi thi. Jab iske baad tujhe hospital lekar gaye toh doctor ne bataya ki
tu coma mein chali gayi hai. Aur ab poore 6 mahine baad tujhe hosh aaya
hai. Pata hai itne dinon mein hum sab kitna pareshaan the! Aur Kunal
bhaiya, kisi se kehte nahi the par bilkul akele pad gaye the. Pata hai bhaiya
saara time ya toh apna kaam karte rehte the ya fir tere paas baithkar tujhse
baatein karte rehte the. ( Teasingly ) Waise Siddhi, kal bhaiya ne tujhse kya
baat ki? Aur tune kya kaha unse?
Siddhi blushed at her question remembering how Kunal had held her hand
yesterday.
Siddhi: Nahin bhabhi, humaari koi baat nahi hui.
Seema: Accha? Jhooti..
Ishaani called Seema and she left the room leaving Siddhi alone.
Siddhi's eyes fell on the newspaper kept on the bedside. She saw a similar
face on the paper and thus picked up the newspaper out of curiosity. Yes,
she was right. It contained Kunal's photo and the news talked about how
Kunal had got justice to the chawl-dwellers. She pondered over what Seema
had said. She could now relate to whatever the doctor had said. She placed
her fingers on Kunal's photo and unknowingly a smile cropped up on her face.
She recalled how Seema and the doctor had told her that Kunal took care
of her. She was amazed to see how Kunal treated her like a child in the
morning giving her instructions. She scanned the whole room. The room was
messy but a common sight for Siddhi. The table was messed up with files,
Kunal's clothes were all out on the half berth and through the glass cabinet of
the cupboard she could see the unorderly arrangement inside. "Kunal ab
bhi waise hi hain...", she thought. Still lost in thoughts, she saw the date
written on the paper. The smile on her face faded away when she recalled
that they had been given a six months extension from the court for their
divorce. The date had already passed by but she didn't know what had Kunal
decided. Should she talk to him about this.
She was still pondering over this issue when somebody called her aloud from
the doorway. It was Shilpa. Shilpa and Kapil entered her room. The three
of them spent some time together talking. During the conversation Siddhi
learned that Shilpa's marriage had been postponed.
Siddhi: Teri shaadi kyun postpone huyi Shilpa?
Shilpa: Ye lo! Ab yeh bhi koi baat huyi.. Teri tabiyat kharaab thi aur main
shaadi karti... Haan par ab tu jaldi se theek ho jaa, waise bhi bahut der
ho chuki hai teri wajah se pehle hi...
Siddhi hit Shilpa slightly on her head and gave a broad smile...
Siddhi: Tu bhi na Shilpa!
Kunal was observing all this from the door. Siddhi's carefree laughter seemed
to heal him off all the pain he had experienced in the past few months seeing
Siddhi in that terrible unresponsive state. He too kept on smiling
unintentionally. Siddhi was happy that all her family had been with her during
the tough time and the fact that Kunal was by her side all the time made her
happier. Suddenly Siddhi's and Kunal's eyes met. They kept on expressing
their happiness to each other through their eyes, so oblivious to the
surroundings that Shilpa had to shake up Siddhi to get a response from her.
Kunal quickly left the place.
Shilpa: Kahan kho gayi?
Siddhi: Nahin, kuchh nahin..
Kapil: Achha Siddhi, ab hum dono chalte hain. Apnaa khayal rakhna.
Siddhi: Ji bhaiya.
Soon both of them departed.
Siddhi saw the time. It was 11:05. She had to leave for hospital at 11 as
Kunal had told her in the morning. With great effort, she tried to stand up.
As soon as she stood on her feet, her legs started trembling and she lost her
balance. She closed her eyes tightly and gave out a shriek anticipating a fall
directly on the floor. But, there she was, swinging in mid air in Kunal's strong
arms. She slowly opened her eyes and saw Kunal gazing at her. At first she
was relieved at not having fell down. The very next moment she was blushing
profusely at the way Kunal was looking down at her. She lowered her eyes.
Kunal realized that he had been holding her for quite sometime and thus made
her sit on the bed. Kunal sat there beside her.
Kunal: Yeh kya kar rahi thi tum? Gir jaati toh?
Siddhi: Main toh bas khadi ho rahi thi...
Kunal: Kal hi doctor ne kaha tha na ki tumhein kisi bhi physical acyivity mein
problem ho sakti hai? Tum bhi na, kabhi kisi ki baat nahin sunti aur khud ko
problem mein daal leti ho.
Siddhi just sat there with her head bowed down.
Kunal: Ab jab tak tum poori tarah se theek nahi ho jaati, tab tak tumhein
kuchh bhi chahiye ho ya kahin bhi jaana ho, tum mujhse ya phir Seema
se kehna. Theek hai?
Siddhi nodded.
Kunal: Ab chalo, appointment ka time ho raha hai.
Kunal stood there in front of her and helped her get up. He then supported
her by keeping his left hand around her waist, hesitantly at first but gradually the hold grew firm. He then held her right hand in his right hand. All the way
from the room to the car, Kunal took care that Siddhi does not have any
trouble in the movement while Siddhi just kept looking at him with a smile
on her face, loving all the care and concern Kunal was showing towards her.
Kunal helped Siddhi to get settled in the car comfortably and then drove
towards the hospital.
To be continued...
Book Talk
