
The four Days!
Chapter-31:
Thirukkural: (Chapter-117; Poem-1168)
The night which graciously lulls to sleep all living creatures, has me alone for her companion.
-Thiruvalluvar.
Toward the end of the day:
Part-1:
That Night:
Mr. Shekar came out of the room and closed the door quietly.
Once he failed to comfort his wife let alone approaching her, now he had to near his brother-in-law, who was feeling guilty, he could understand.
He could not think a way to come of this pain, crushing the heart, not going away a moment, keeping everything blur and in a slow manner, engaging the brain tightly not letting to think.
But it could think of only one thing- somehow it managed-was Dhanya's return.
Won't she come and call him only once?
Can't she come and tell,'Papa I'm all right!'?
Can't it be possible?
He moved to the kitchen instead.
He dabbed some water over his eyes. He turned and found his brother-in-law standing there at the door way.
"I-"he cleared his throat and said, "I just came to get some water."
He moved to pick up a glass.
"Me too," his brother-in-law said weakly.
They both moved to the dining table and sat without a word.
They were silent and immersed in their own thoughts for a long time.
Their throats were dry, but not that they were thirsty.
The glasses were there untouched...
Mrs. Shekar wanted to be in her daughter's room. She felt as though her daughter's thoughts were present in that room.
She touched the things, Dhanya touched.
Her daughter was always a father's child, she knew. She had to content with Dhanya after two abortions.
She knew Dhanya would speak freely with Mr. Shekar than to her and to speak with him, she would keep her mobile in her bag. They would speak in the afternoons and they would keep thing from her as secrets. She smiled mirthlessly.
She did never take it seriously, before. But now, she felt that if she was closer to her daughter than she was, Dhanya would have told her that if she suspected someone was following her.
She could not get that from her husband that if there was anything happened like that. She could not understand whether the father-daughter duo kept it too from her.
Her chest heaved in a sigh.
She could not approach her brother too in this matter. Though she could see that he could not have done anything in this, she could not talk to him-no not to anybody.
She knew the gents were talking to the police alone. It did not matter for her, if she was to get her daughter back.
After the missing, one thing she found was her daughter had started writing a diary. She knew, the police could not find anything important in it, but for her it was important to keep her mind sane and the diary did the job well.
She opened it and saw the first page.
Her daughter had written her full name neatly.
She touched the letters 'Dhanya' and her lips whispered it.
She did not think, a thing could change more important than anything in life, suddenly.
Her mind started rewinding the name-giving function of her daughter. Her father was alive and present then.
He presented a golden locket for his first grand daughter and named her 'Dhanya!'.
Her brother along with his wife first called her as 'Dhanya Shekar!'
Her daughter would proudly say her name always with her father's name behind it.
She was sitting there with the first page of the diary open for a long time.
Danya's first birth day- with that full gown she could not stand her weight and whenever she showed a hint of falling, her father thrust himself forward, ignoring the kid's protests. When asked Mr. Shekar said, the white gown would get dirt if the child fell. Everybody around smirked knowingly. He grinned and took his child in hand.
Then the next birthday... and two months back they celebrated her nineteenth birthday. Her father gifted a smart i-phone, which was now in the table near the lap-top.
She did not know whether they would celebrate her next birthday, now. A lone tear fell and before it could hit the diary she stopped it in the mid way. It ended on her hand and she dried her eyes before thumbed the pages.
'Dear miss. Diary,'- her daughter had started, it made her smile in that state of her mind too.
'Dad bought you for me, just to keep me engaged with things and to use as an outlet for the matter I want to share with someone dearly. But I don't have much to share now, since I've told him everything happened today in the college. So no secret for you today. But don't worry miss, still I have something to share now.
I'm now writing my ever first diary in life and I didn't tell this to dad. May be tomorrow. Mm.. then what?
Yes, I'm happy to write!
Ok . bye, see you soon!
Dhanya Shekar.
.
.
.
'We are going on a trip to mom's favorite temple next week. We didn't tell her still, it would be a surprise for her...'
She would not forget the things happened on that trip in her life-time, she thought.
.
.
.
'Uncle gave me a bundle of Sherlock Homes'. I'm so happy. You know, Homes seems more handsome than any other hero to me and I've started reading the second chapter tonight. I've to do the remaining homework in the morning so, bye, good night, deary.'
.
.
.
'Oh, shh, don't disturb me, I'm not going to write anything tonight, I'm busy, all right busy with Harlan Coban, bye.'
.
.
.
'Hey you know Dad gave me permission to buy leggings. Tomorrow I'm going to shop with Tanu. When I said not to tell to mom he said at once, 'Never', and, 'Never show it in her eyes, then she would ask a skinny jean for her and who could see her in it,' he continued boldly from the bath room, in a whispering voice...'
One more secret they had kept from her, she thought.
It was apparent that Dhanya was laughing while writing it, for the letters were irregular and too were laughing.
She thought a moment later, she would never ask about it- but all she wanted was her daughter's return.
On the date before she went missing Dhanya had written that,' I've to ask mom how to prepare Pepper Chicken Roast'. When I told Kanya about it she asked me eagerly the preparation and I said, mom would do it effortlessly.
I miss her.
'Dear Mom, I miss you so much...'
This time she could not stop or prepare herself to divert the running tears as they started deforming every single letter of the page.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Precap:
Toward the end of the day-2!
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