Ragini was smiling remembering her romantic date at the beach. It was still fresh in her memory. She hears someone clear his throat. She looks up to see Nachiket smiling back at her.
Chapter 4
"Kya hua Nachiket? Kuch chahiye tumhe?" She asks bringing her mind back to the present.
"Ragini, Nishi ko hosh aagaya hai !" Nachiket exclaimed.
"Really?" Ragini instantly got up and they both strode towards Nishi's room.
"Nishi beta kaisi ho ab?" She asked Nishi as they got into her room.
"I'm better. Thanks Ma"
Nachiket stood silent behind Ragini. He couldn't find the words to speak to his daughter..
"Ma, mujhe ghar jaana hai!" Nishi cried out.
"Beta, kal discharge milega tumhe. Aaj hum yahin rukenge." Ragini said caressing her cheek affectionately.
"Nai! Mujhe abhi jaana hai!"
"Nishi beta, zidd nahi karte! Aik hi din ki tou baat hai."
"Ragini, let me talk to the doctor. I think we can take her home." Nachiket said and left the room.
Ragini's home
After talking to the doctor they got Nishi discharged from the hospital and got back home. Nachiket accompanied them too.
While Ragini helped Nishi walk to their house, Nachiket stood looking around. It had changed a lot in the sixteen years but he suddenly felt nostalgic. This was the place where he used to wait for Ragini before their marriage. And how she would sneak out at night..and they would spend the whole night together, talking endlessly.
He felt a fresh stab in his heart thinking about the last time he came here..or the so-called last time, when he was supposed to come here and take his set of kids away.
He heard someone call out his name. He looked up to see Ragini asking her what happened.
He just nodded and climbed up the stairs trying hard to focus on the present, pushing the old memories out of his mind.
He stopped at the front door..lost in his thoughts.
"Nachiket beta, ander ajao" Ashaben said looking at his confused face.
Nachiket walked inside and waited for Ragini. He looked to his left, where his children's childhood memories were hung against the wall. He started looking at every photo. One of the photos caught his attention..Ragini was sitting in the middle and Nishi and Aarav stood on her both sides, kissing her cheeks.
"Yeh Aarav ke 10th birthday party par li thi," Ashaben said when she saw Nachiket looking closely at that photo "Ragini weise photos nahi leti kisi birthday's par lekin Aarav ne bohot zidd kari thi usdin."
"Naani, Ma aur Nishi aagaye?" Aarav came out of his room and stopped in the middle when he saw Nachiket, "Paapa.."
Nachiket turned around and looked at his grown-up boy. He was only one year old the last time he saw him. He never confessed to anyone but he missed Aarav everytime he saw Agham..and Ranbir always reminded him of Nishi. He was never separated from them.
Aarav was approaching him. Should I hug him? Should I tell him that I love him? Ragini ne tou mujhe sirf Nishi ke liye bulaya hai..
Before he could reach to any conclusion, Aarav touched his feet and hugged him tight. "Paapa, I missed you so much!" Aarav said with tears in his eyes.
Nachiket's eyes filled with tears too. He saw a blurred vision of Ragini standing at the doorway. He instantly looked at her..her moist eyes blinked telling him to go ahead. Nachiket tightened the hug, his eyes still on Ragini..thanking her. Ragini turned around and went inside the room, leaving them both alone.
Nachiket broke the hug and kissed his forehead,
"Your Papa missed you too, beta." He held him by his shoulders and looked at him. How grateful he was to Ragini for letting him be this close to his son.
"Papa aap kitne din tak ho yahan? Please aap jab tak yahan ho roz aate rehna. We've missed you so much, Papa!"
Nachiket caressed his cheek, "Haan zarur beta. Now you go sleep. Kaafi late hogaya hai. Good night!"
"Good night Papa. I love you!" Aarav hugged him again and walked to his room.
Nachiket's face lightened up. One could tell how ecstatic he was that night just by looking at his face.
But, one thing troubled him. Nishi. He still hasn't spoken to her. He walked to Ragini's room, where Nishi was. He knocked and entered the room. Ragini was feeding soup to Nishi. Nachiket looked around the room and found a chair. He pulled the chair to Ragini's side and sat there. He thought of something to say. May be he could tell her that though they were separated but he missed her. May be he could tell her that he loved her so much and his world came crashing down when he heard about her suicide. He opened his mouth to tell her all this but what came out was only,
"Hi Nishi."
Nishi looked at him for a second and then looked away.
"How are you feeling now?" He added.
"Aap kyun aaye ho ab yahan? Please chale jayie yahan se."
"Nishi, yeh kya badtameezi hai?! Aise baat karte hain apne Papa se!" Ragini cried out.
"Ma, please! Mujhe inse baat nai karni. Yeh mere Papa nai hain. Aap please inse kahen chale jayen yahan se" Nishi said looking away.
"Nishi! Sorry bolo apne Papa ko abhi!" Ragini yelled.
"Meine kya kaha? Sorry bolo."
"It's okay Ragini. She's right..mujhe koi haq nai hai.." Nachiket said heartbroken and walked out of the room.
"Nishi! Yeh kaise baat kar rahi ho tum apne Papa se. Yeh sikhaya hai meine tumhe!" Ragini fumed and walked out following Nachiket.
Nachiket was standing in the balcony. He looked out absent-mindedly. May be he shouldn't have come. What was he expecting?
"Nachiket!" Ragini walked to his side.
"Ragini.." he turned around and then looked away.
"Nachiket, I'm sorry!" Ragini said choking.
"It's okay Ragini. In fact you don't need to say sorry." Nachiket replied looking out, "It's all my fault. Meri beti ne pehli baar mujhse kuch maanga tha. Yeh soch kar phone kara ke Papa sub theek kardenge. But meine usko kya bola ke mujhe dubara phone nai kare. Usne itne saalon baad mujhse pehli baar baat kari aur meine..." Nachiket continued blaming himself without looking at Ragini, "You know jab tumhara phone aaya I was really mad at you. Aggar tum uswaqt mere saamne hoti tou kya kuch bol jaata. Lekin jab mein plane mein tha...uswaqt mujhe realize hua ke galati tumhari nai, hum dono ki hai. Shayad meri ziada hai. Aggar Nishi mujhse baat nahi karti tou kabhi aisa qadam nai uthati. Mein uski last hope tha..lekin... Shayad mujhe aana hi nahi chahiye tha idher.." Nachiket stopped, his eyes filled with tears. "I failed as a father, Ragini...I failed.." He said looking down.
Before Ragini could speak anything, he was already gone. Ragini followed him downstairs but he couldn't be seen anywhere. Nachiket, we both failed as parents...mein samajh sakti hoon tumhari haalat..
The next morning
Ragini was asleep when her phone rang. She received the call without even looking at the caller id,
"Ragini..Nachiket baat kar raha hoon."
Ragini sat up hearing his name. "Haan bolo Nachiket"
"Mein tumhe pick karne aa raha hoon. Be ready." Nachiket said and disconnected.
Ragini sat there looking at the phone. She looked at Nishi who was sleeping beside her. She put a hand on her forehead checking her temperature. It had lowered down.
She quickly got ready and waited for Nachiket.
At evening
Nachiket was standing in Ragini's balcony, talking over the phone.
"Pam, mein kehraha hoon nah. Yahan aate hi busy hogaya mein..phone dekha hi nahin."
"Yeh toh tumhara haal hai, Neil! Us Ragini ke pass jaate hi tum humein bhool gaye" Yelled Pam from the other end.
"Pam please, stop it! Mein yahan Ragini ke liye nahin apni beti Nishi ke liye aaya hoon!"
"Neil woh tumhari nahi, Ragini ki beti hai. Tumhare bacche idher hain India mein!"
"Stop it, Pam!!" Neil spoke raising his voice, "Mein Aarav aur Nishi ka baap hoon aur rahoonga jaise Ragini Ranbir aur Agham ki maa hai! Aur is sachayi ko koi nai badal sakta..na tum na mein aur na hi koi aur!"
There was silence on the other end.
"Anyways, meine isliye bhi call kari hai ke Nishi ka roka hone jaraha hai next week aur mein chahta hoon ke hum sub attend karen." Nachiket added.
"Aggar tumne decide kar hi liya hai tou sahi hai! Mein Agham ko bhej dungi. Ranbir weise bhi mana kardega."
"I don't care Ranbir kya kehta hai, I want all of you here soon."
"Neil tum udher jakar paagal hogaye ho?! Ranbir ki internship start hone wali hai. Agham ka college aur Suhani ka school. Tumhe kisi ki parwa hai?"
"Suhaani ki kal se vacations start horahi hain aur Agham ka college start hone mein abhi kuch weeks hain. And Ranbir's internship can wait. Mere hospital mein hi kar raha hai nah..I will talk. Koi issue nahin hai. Just because I don't show that doesn't mean I don't know anything about what's going in my children's lives."
"Fine! But Suhani kaise asakti hai? I think we should leave her here."
"Tu paagal hogayi hai Pam?? Aise kaise usko akaila chod den udher? Tum le ao usko we'll se kaise handle karna hai."
"But Nachiket..Ragini?"
"I will handle that nah. Tum log jaldi aajao idher."
"Okay. See you soon."
"Nachiket?" He heard Ragini's voice as soon as he disconnected the call. Shit, kahiin Ragini ne sun tou nahi liya.
"Kya hua Ragini?"
"Woh mein yeh kehne aayi thi ke..Thank you so much Nachiket. Tum ne aaj joh kara. You were right..humein bhi Nishi ko samajhna chaiye tha"
"It's okay, Ragini. Aur please don't say thanks. Nishi meri bhi beti hai." Nachiket said looking into her eyes.
Ragini didn't say anything.
"Anyways, mein next week tak yahin hun jab tak Nishi ka roka nai hojata." Nachiket said trying to overcome the awkwardness.
"Are you sure Nachiket ek hafte mein saari tayarian hojaengi?" Ragini asked worried.
"Arey, ek week tou bohot hai. Ek din bhi hota nah tab bhi mein karleta." Nachiket said trying to lighten up the mood.
"Okay, phir hum aaj se shopping karna shuru kardete hain." Ragaini said smiling.
To Be Continued...
Shiv Shakti
