Chapter 26: We Are Family
~PAST~
Geet woke up groggily and rubbed her eyes to get rid of the sleep. Her shoulder still seemed a little sore, but the pain was certainly less. She felt thirsty from all those silly medicines and injections. She looked around to see if she could find the nearest jug of water. The water jug was a few feet away on the side table; she tried to reach by stretching her hands but her hands were too short to reach. She turned the other side, near the door to see if any nurse passed by, but her eyes caught a surprising sight. In the corner of the room on the sofa he was sitting, dozing off. His head dangled off his neck every so often due to lack of support. He shifted his neck unconsciously to a better position only to bring it back to the same position. She chuckled at the sight of his head nodding off in his sleep. He seemed calm and quiet as opposed to his arrogant and agitated nature. She wanted to put a supporting pillow behind him so that his neck wouldn't wobble out of place, but her shoulders were too sore so she wasn't able to get up. She went back to the task of quenching her thirst and once again stretched her hand to reach the table. This time she was successful than the previous attempt for she could touch the edge. Her fingers inched closer to the jug and the glass that was located on the edge of the table. She bit her lower lip unconsciously while continuing to stretch forward. She could touch the glass; she tried pushing it closer to fingers to grasp it fully. Unfortunately, her push led it to fall on the floor with a loud shattering sound. She instantly shut her ears and eyes close at the impact of her action.
The loud crashing sound brought Maan reeling back from his sleep. He instantly bolted up, panicking something happened to Geet. He rushed to her side and saw her eyes shut tightly while she held arms over her ears; "Geet!" he said startled, "are you okay? What was that noise?"
Geet slowly opened one eye and saw Maan wide-eyed staring at her, his eyes reflecting concern. She grinned cheekily as she removed her hands from her ears. "Kkuch nahi Maan, I tried to fetch water aur dekho kya hua," she said cutely scrunching her nose in anger. He looked at what she was pointing and found the glass shattered to pieces on the floor. He slapped his forehead, "Oh ho Geet, agar tumhe paani chahiye thi so you could have just woken me up," he said annoyed.
"Maan aap toh so rahe the, I didn't want to wake you up. I am sorry," she said her eyes filling up with tears at his tone.
He realized he was harsh on her, "Nahi Geet mera matlab voh nahi tha. Mera matlab tha ki, why did you have to strain yourself? Main hoon na," he smirked pointing at himself.
"Main hoon na," she imitated rolling her eyes.
"Geet!" he yelled, his eyes widening.
Geet shut her ears again and started randomly humming. He puzzled at her reaction and waved his hand in front of her gesturing what she was trying to do.
"Are you done?" she asked innocently.
"What?"
"Vahi mera naam smaran, Geet yeh mat karna voh mat karna, I mean I understand you love that name so much that you have to take it up often, magar please kuch toh kabu keejiye," she mocked.
He stood speechless at her guts to make fun of him. This woman in front of him wait, she couldn't be considered as a woman this child, yes she was child in a woman's body, in front of him was the epitome of irritation yet her childish antics and comebacks had never failed to put a smile on his face. He shook his head and smiled at her, "Geet, please spare me the fun," he said with a tinge of sarcasm. "If you get on my nerves often then I would be forced to take your name. So do me a favor and—"
"Maan," she said softly. He stopped in his mid-sentence and looked at her questioningly. "If you don't mind, mujhe paani dekar, you can continue your lecture session," she said, her eyes pleading.
"Oh sorry, main abhi aata hoon," he said and went out. He called the nurse to replace the water jug and asked her to clean up the glass mess too. He poured the water in the glass and brought it near her. Seeing she couldn't drink in her sleeping position, he gestured her one minute with his index finger and placed the glass on the table. He helped her to a sitting position and brought the glass near her mouth gesturing her to drink. She looked at him puzzled.
"Maan, I think I can drink on my own, choti bacchi nahi hoon," she said extending her hand for the glass.
"Of course," Maan gave her a cheeky grin for overdoing it, "magar tum toh choti bacchi hi ho," he winked.
Geet scrunched her eyebrows and eyed him while she drank the water. Maan chuckled at her behavior and took the glass back from her. "Vaise aap yahaan kaise? Where is Arjun?" she asked noticing Arjun's absence.
"Oh he went to pick up your parents from the airport. Tumhe kuch khane keliye laun?"
"Nahi, bhook nahi hai. I shall wait for amma and pappa—"
"Geetu!" Anuradha rushed into the room, her eyes brimmed with tears. Maan wanted to give them privacy, so quietly stepped out of room. Anuradha wanted to hug her daughter tightly but didn't do so after seeing the stitches on the shoulder. She took Geet's hands and cried loudly. Arvind walked right behind, his eyes red from all the crying. "Geet, tum toh mera jaan nikal di," he said kissing her forehead.
Geet smoothed her mother's hair, "Amma, I am fine. Stop crying please."
"Podi, en uyire poiduthu (meri jaan nikal gayi) when I heard what happened. Intha manushante chonne, antha case namakku vendamnu (I told him not to take up that case) but en pechu ketkamatale (he wont listen to my words)," Anu said, sniffing. "Ippo pathela, enna achunnu, (Now do you see what happened)?" she complained.
Geet couldn't fathom what her mother was talking about. "Kya hua pappa?"
"Naan chollarendi, antha veenapona Jai Mahajan-ku ethira vathada othundar. (I shall tell you, he took up to fight against Jai Mahajan's case) He is number one criminal businessman. Now see the circumstances," she said angrily.
"I am sorry Geet, I couldn't stand that poor woman's plight at that guy's hands and took up the case. He had threatened me not to take up the case. I had brushed it off magar main nahi socha ki he would hurt you," he said tearfully.
"Pappa, aap please fikar mat keejiye, I am totally fine. Please don't drop the case," Geet pleaded.
"Nahi Geet, nothing is more important than you. I have already withdrawn from the case," he said frankly.
"Magar pappa," she protested.
"No ifs or buts, I cannot see you hurt baby," he said with deep pain. Geet had tears in her eyes looking at her parents who were ready to sacrifice anything for her.
Arjun looked, leaning on the door, with tears in his eyes. He still couldn't forgive himself for letting this happen. He slowly walked into the room with his head bent low, "I am sorry Anu Ma," he said softly. Everyone looked at him; "I, I didn't mean to leave her—"
"Arre Arjun, tumhare galti nahi hai. It was just a coincidence. Stop blaming yourself," Anu said wiping away his tears and hugged him close.
"I promise you, I shall keep her safe," he said sincerely.
"Alright, alright, enough rona dona, chalo chalo chalo everybody chiri (smile)," Geet interrupted grinning cheekily for everyone to follow.
Everyone chuckled at her and wiped away their tears. Maan saw the close-knit scene from the glass window and became teary. The love they shared between them was beyond comprehension; parents looking out for their daughter, a friend looking out for his friend, and a daughter looking out for everyone around her. He had slightly envied the bond they shared, wishing even he was blessed with such close-knit family. But he was happy that he had found a friend in Geet and he vowed to make sure he never lost her at any point in his life.
The nurse had come to give Geet her medicines, thus, slowly everyone except Geet's dad filed out of the room. Arjun came out first and saw Maan looking away, his arms in his pockets. "Anu Ma, maine kaha na, voh hai Maan, unhone hi Geet ki madad ki. He brought her to the hospital and gave her blood when needed," he said pointing to Maan standing in the corner. Anu and Arjun walked towards him and Anu went and touched his shoulders.
Maan felt someone touch his shoulder and turned to see who it was and realized it was Geet's mother. He instantly bent down to get his blessing, "Arre nahi, nahi, jeete raho bete," Anu said picking him up. "Thank you very much bete, agar aap nahi hote toh," she paused unable to think about the consequences.
"Aap mujhe thanks kehne ki koi zaroorat nahi. It was my responsibility to save my friend," he said. "Aur haan main aapse bahut chota hoon, aap please mujhe aap mat kahiyega. Hume Maan bulayiyega."
Anu was touched by his kind words and gesture. She cupped his cheek and smiled, grateful that her daughter was alive because of his timely help.
"Aur, kya main aapko Aunty bula sakti hoon?" Maan asked hesitantly.
"Of course Maan, tume mere baite jaise ho, tum mujhe jaise chahe bula sakte ho."
Maan who had been bereft the love of a mother all his life was overwhelmed by the love and kindness she showed. Since the age of eight, he remembered only his Daadima taking care of him for he had lost his mother in an uncalled for plane crash. Although his father was very caring towards him, he never had time to shower his love and to be always with him. Maan had never blamed his father, for he understood his father's priorities, but he always felt the lack of his presence during his childhood and adolescence when he needed his father the most. His brother, Vicky, was too young to realize his mother's absence. But he made sure he was always there to guide Vicky as a father as well as to share his innermost fears as a friend so that he never felt the lack of a father figure in his life. Seeing the love and bond Geet's parents shared had made him feel incomplete once again. He wished to feel a mother's love and a father's support through these two genuinely caring couple.
"Thank you Aunty," he said gratefully.
They all turned to see Arvind cradling his daughter while she slept peacefully after taking the medicines. He let his silent tears flow while he tightly hugged his daughter and kissed her forehead, "Sorry baby," he mouthed silently.
Anuradha shook her head, "Sabke saamne court mein bade sher bankar ghoomtein hain, aur yahaan dekho ek choti si injury ke liye chote bachon ke tarah ro rahe hain. This man before his daughter is worse than a chuha!" she chuckled.
"Haan Ma magar aap bhi kuch kam nahi, mujhe pata hai how much you cried when she left you to come for this job," Arjun reminded.
"Chumma iruda (keep quiet)," she said slightly hitting Arjun's arm. "Haan I cried, kya karoon other than Arvind and her I have nobody to call as my family," she said with a distant look on her face.
"Ma aren't you forgetting something, I mean someone," Arjun said pointing to himself.
"Oh haan, how could I forget Gowtam Anna."
"Ma," Arjun whined, "you forgot me!"
"Oh ya, sorry baba, inge va (come here)," she said gesturing him to bend down. She kissed him lovingly on his forehead and smiled. He hugged her tightly, "Sorry Ma, this mistake shall never repeat," he vowed.
"Pagal, stop blaming yourself, chalo let's get home. I need to prepare something for you all. I am sure aap logon ne kuch nahi khaya hoga. Arvind will not move from that place until she gets discharged. So, I need to get done time pe khana and other stuff."
"Haan Ma, aur haan even Maan didn't have anything. Kal raat se he has been here only, without sleep or food," he said gravely. "Chalo Maan, ghar chalet hai, you can freshen up and get something to eat."
"Nahi Arjun, you carry on, main, main ghar chatlta hoon," he said, not wanting to bother them.
"Arre, aise kaise ho sakta hai, chalo Maan, kyun mere hathon se khana utna bura nahi hoga," she joked.
"Nahi Aunty, its just that I don't want to bother you guys."
"Oh come on Maan, don't be a spoilt sport. We are family," Arjun said smiling widely.
Maan felt a rush of emotions. It had been really long since he felt complete. All these years his Daadima and Vicky were only the people whom he could call family. But today he was granted new relations that were waiting for him to embrace. He smiled and for first time his smile reached his eyes causing it to twinkle in joy. He had forgotten the meaning of a real and heartfelt smile the day he heard his mother was no more. Of course Daadima was with him always but he missed the true love of his mother, her presence, her warmth, her loving embrace. He nodded briefly at them saying that he would make a quick call to office and Daadima and would join them soon.
Cricket
