—-5 months since Abhira’s departure from Udaipur—
Sanjay Bansal was ecstatic to say the least. The Global COO of Singhaniya Enterprises, Anthony Jai Chauhan (son of Yash Chauhan and grandson of Nandini Singhaniya Chauhan) had contacted Poddar and Poddar with an incredible offer. Sanjay could not believe that the global head of operations of Singhaniya Enterprises had come with a lucrative business proposition for their firm.
Sanjay went home with the best sweets in Udaipur. He jubilantly cried out for Kaveri Devi and the rest of the family to gather round.
“Maasa, arre Kaajal jaldi se Maasa ko bula lao, aur poore parivaar ko bhi. Bahut badi khabar hai.” Sanjay was brimming with pure joy.
Kaveri came a little puzzled hearing all the commotion, asking, “Kya hua Jamaisa? Aap itne utaavle hain”
Manisha whispered to her husband Manoj, “Manu, Jijasa aur woh bhi smiling? Zara pinch karna. Sapna toh nahin.”
Manoj obliged his wife, and she reprimanded for the strong pinch, “ Ouch, itna bhi zor se nahin karna tha.”
“Maasa, aaj toh chamatkaar ho gaya. Humein itna bada offer mila hai. Aapne Singhaniya Enterprises ke baare suna hi hai? One of the most reputed companies in the world. They are in the same league as the Ambanis, Wadias, Adanis, and the Mittals.” Sanjay spoke with full vigor.
“Haan Jamaisa, par unki batein kyun kar rahe hain.” Kaveri was confused.
“Maasa, humein contract mila hai unka! They want us to legally represent them in all of Asia as of now. Their Global Head of Operations, Anthony Chauhan has asked if we had resources for Europe and North America as well. Maasa, this is huge! Imagine the money and the reputation our firm will get!” Sanjay spoke.
“Wow! Congratulations Fufasa.” Armaan spoke earnestly.
“We are all proud of you, Jamaisa. It’s all the hard work of the firm, that this is able to happen. Charu, you should take note.” Kaveri was beaming.
—-New Delhi—-
For Abhira, this Friday seemed as if it could not go any faster. Yesterday, from the DNA match website, she received a notification that she had a direct match with someone, and that someone called Abhir had reached out and sent her a message on the website portal. He had even left his phone number, and requested her to call him whenever she could as he was ecstatic about the 100% match. She had called and they decided that they could meet up at the industrial park cafe, after work.
Gayu and Abhir had gone to get Abhira straight from her office, and were waiting at the cafe. As a measure of precaution, Abhir had taken the photos of Akshu which Kairav had shared with him, along with those of the extended family. Gayi held the DNA test results in her hands as they waited outside Abhira’s office.
Seeing her, Gayu yelled out, “Abhiraaaa!”. It had taken quite a bit of might for her, but she nevertheless gave it her all.
“Arre Ma’am aap? Yahaan?” Abhira was a tad bit surprised seeing her.
Abhir came forward, with a huge smile on his face, as he studied Abhira’s facial features. The same eyes as Mumma, and beautiful just like her.- Abhir thought internally.
“Main hoon Dr.A3S.” Abhir spoke.
“A3S? Yeh kaisa name hai?” Abhira spoke.
“Kyun, tumhein laga ki abbreviations ki virasat sirf tumhein hi mili hai? A3S means Abhir Abhimanyu Abhinav Sharma, Ms. Abhira Sharma aka baby sister.” Abhir spoke showing his ID.
“Baby sister?” Abhira spoke softly. She wanted to tread carefully, because her heart was already fragile from heartbreak and loss of her Mumma.
Gayu laughed as she gently touched Abhira by the arm, “Beti, jab tum mujhe pehle din mili thi, aur jis tarah se us salesman ko sunaya tha, mere andar ek aas thi, kaash meri Akshu ki beti agar hoti toh itni hi bari hoti. Then over coffee, when you told me your father’s name. I was over the moon, heading Jamaisa’s name. That is why I urged you to go do your DNA tests, and then forced this lambu here!”
“Aap mere Abhir Bhaiya hain? Jinhein Mumma ne landslide mein kho diya tha?” Abhira spoke in disbelief.
“Bhagwaan ji ki marzi se main bach gaya, aur Kairav Mamu ko contact kiya, kyunki mujhe laga Mumma landslide mein nahin bach payi. Kairav Mamu, Mumma ke bade bhai hain, aur abhi USA mein hain. Tumhein believe nahin hota na?” Abhir said.
He then showed their DNA results, along with photos from Kairav and Muskaan’s wedding. There, Abhira saw pictures of her Mumma and Papa and a small boy, surrounded with plenty of other faces she could not recognize except those of the Goenkas. She looked questioningly at Abhir.
“Woh chashmish main hi hoon. Yeh Kairav Mamu hain, aur woh Muskaan Buami hain. Woh Papa ki muhboli sister hain, aur Mamu se shaadi ke baad Bua aur Mami dono, so Buami.” Abhir spoke.
“Beta, tumhein viswas nahin hota na? Tumhari Mummy ki maa, Naira Singhaniya Goenka meri first cousin thi, mere mama Natik Singhaniya aur mami Akshara Maheshwari Singhaniya ki ladki. Akshu was named after her Nani by Naira, your Nani.” Gayatri explained.
“Haan, meri Mumma ne yeh sab apni diary mein likha tha.” Abhira spoke, realizing that this was legit. She had located her family; family members who actually cared for her Mumma.
“Abhira, humare saath ghar chalo. We have videos and photos of everyone. This will help you understand everyone, and who’s related how.” Gayu offered gently.
Abhira was hesitant, when Abhir spoke up, “ Dekho, agar tumhein lagta hai hum tumhein kidnap kareinge organs ke liye, toh pehle hi bata doon, humara ghar Lutyens Gardens mein hai. Paison ka koi issue nahin hai! Chaho toh apne office mein mujhse polygraph test karwa lo!”
“Arre nahin nahin, main abhi bhi shocked hoon. Still processing!” Abhira spoke, trying to hide her skepticism.
Gayu took out a mini Ganesha status from her purse, holding it in her hands, said, “ Main Ganesh ji ki kasam leti hoon Abhira, ki tum meri Naira ki navasi ho, aur Abhir ki chhoti behen.”
Abhira relented seeing their warmth, and Gayatri and Abhir’s various attempts to take her home. Nothing they had said so far contradicted anything that was in her Mumma’s diary. Even the photos showed the Goenkas. Ok, Bhagwaan ji please take care of me. Leaving this all on you.- Abhira prayed silently.
When Abhira came to Gayatri’s house, she saw it was beautifully decorated as if there was something festive. As she was about to enter, Gayatri stopped her. One of the house helps came with a beautifully decorated aarti thali. Gayatri smiled as she turned around and took Abhira’s aarti.
Gayatri then gave Abhira instructions, “Beti, tum apne shoes hatakar, iss alta ki thal mein pair rakho, phir uss safed kapde par chal kar ghar ke andar aao. Betiyaan Lakshmi ji ka roop hoti hain. Tum humari Lakshmi ho Abhira.”
Abhira’s tears started to flow. So much love, care, tenderness, and respect. She did not have the habit for this. She was just absorbing everything, when Abhir said, “ I hate tears ABP. Chalo andar, maine abhi tak khana bhi nahin khaya hai. Socha tha BS ke saath dinner karoonga.” Abhir quipped.
Abhira was miffed that Abhir was doing abbreviations on her,when she had considered herself as the undeclared champion of abbreviations, “Yeh ABP or BS kya hai ab?”
“ABP yaani Abhira bani Pushpa, and BS is baby sister.” Smiled Abhir.
“Abhira, yeh toh bachpan se hi ulte seedhe abbreviations bana daalta hai! Par ek baat isne sahi kahi, dinner wali. Chalo, dinner karte hain aur saath mein baatein.” Gayu spoke affectionately.
Abhir hugged Abhira sideways as he led her to the dinner table telling, “ BS, tere liye family tree ki ek dhansu presentation banayi hai maine. Tujhse milne ko Naksh Nanu, Kairav Mamu and Muskaan Buami kal aa rahe hain. Phir kuch dinon baad, puri paltan aa rahi hai world wide family reunion mein!”
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