MG ff - Ajeeb Dastan part 12- Pg 44/10 dec - Page 14

That incident brought a smile to her face even today. Mistaking it as a smile to the tasty morsel he had just made her sample he asked "it's yummy na?" Her smiled broadened seeing his childish pleasure and she nodded. As he gulped down the rice he said "It's been ages since I've had Rajma Chawal like this. The boys didn't like typical Indian food so Meera never made it." She smiled at his attempt to defend his wife against his???????

Pushing those thoughts away from her mind she asked "Where are they now and how are they? I mean Krish and Ajay."

Maan, "Krish is working in South hall. He's into some nanotech. Ajay keeps moving. He's a musician."

Geet, "I'm not surprised at all. Because even as an infant Ajay loved music. He used to stop crying whenever I used to sing to him."

Ignoring her remark Maan continued "They had come for Meera's funeral. Both are ok I guess." The offhand way he talked about them and his sad expression, spoke volumes. But she didn't want to spoil his mood though she was very anxious to know about his life in London. Instead she asked "I understand you want to build a hospital here?"

Maan's face seemed to light up hearing that. "Yes, as I lay in the hospital bed for months, I had enough time to think about my past life over and over again. It was then that I decided that I'd had enough of London that took away everything from me. My youth, my Meera, my sons and left me lonely. I wanted to come back home, to the serene life of the village. I realized there's no point running away from reality any longer. I'm a villager and that's my true identity."

Seeing the melancholy on his face, she wanted to help him. "I'll ask Pandey ji, the broker who got me the plot for my school, to come and meet you. Maybe he could find some place for your hospital too."

Maan, "Yes, that would be nice."

Then looking at his watch he said "I'll make a move now. Thanks a lot for the awesome dinner. I really enjoyed it. Good night."

"Good night" she replied thinking he had become quite formal, living in London. As he went out she went to the door and stood watching him, in case he should require her help.

That night she went to sleep with sweet memories of the past. She remembered how her Maan had taken care of her during her illness. After feeding her the food he had given her a dose of medicine and then left, asking her to drink lots of water and saying that he would be back in the afternoon. With the medicine she had been better by afternoon and could manage to eat a few morsels of the rice that he had brought for her.

But when he came to give her the evening dose the fever had again shot up and she was delirious. Informing Meera about her condition, he had sat next to her putting cold pads on her forehead. She hadn't known anything about it until she opened her eyes the next morning, when the fever had let up. She had at first thought she was hallucinating in fever. Her Maan's upper body was sprawled across her bed while he still remained seated in the stool next to the bed. His head rested on the pillow beside hers, while his right hand rested against her face.

It was a morning she was never going to forget. She lay still for a long time simply relishing the rare moment. But then she couldn't resist the temptation to move her head a little closer to put her cheek against his. That had been a mistake. He had immediately opened his eyes, but she had shut hers tight and pretended to be asleep. Remembering all that brought a joy to her heart and she fell asleep with a smile on her lips.

Love,

Hinal

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