He kept looking at her face in the little brightness provided by moonlight.There was pain but it was different from the pain he had seen on her face,the day she left her parental house after marriage.It was the pain mixed with anger,regret and loss.
"Want to share???"He used "her words" to make her speak.
She gave a slight smile in response placing her head on his shoulder as she spoke,"One thing that i "REALLY" wanted to do in my life was "joining Indian navy".I put all my efforts and hard work to fulfill this dream of mine..Only time my parents had not listened my voice for hours was when I was studying for my CDS exam..."
"Then what happened..You could not clear the exam???"He asked.
"I cleared the exam but I could not join Navy..."She answered.
"Why???"He asked in confusion.
"Because I had enjoyed a lot of chocolates and candies in my childhood.."Her words did not make sense to him but sadness in her voice told him that she was not kidding this time.
"I don't understand geet.."
"There are some "Medical standards" which candidate should fulfill after clearing the written examination..,one of them is "Dental points"..If all 32 teeth are present in healthy condition,22 dental points are given and minimum dental point to join the navy is "14"..My dental point was below 14 because I don't have my second right molar in lower jaw and first left molar in upper jaw..Points are counted for a teeth only when corresponding teeth is present in lower or upper jaw..Besides that I have "dental filling" in my bicuspids on both the sides so they do not come under term "healthy teeth",so i could not fulfill this criteria.."She said with a defeated sigh.
"It was not your fault "geet"..You did whatever you could do to fulfill your dream..You worked hard but fate was not in your favor..."
"I know maan..but it hurts and it did hurt alot at that time..I locked myself in room and shed tears day and night..I cursed everything from "Indian navy for setting such physical standards" to "Chocolates"..and I cursed myself most for not taking care of my "teeth" when needed..But you know "cursing" does not help.."
"I am sorry geet that it all happened with you.."Maan tried console her..
"Though it hurts alot but I am not sorry that it "all" happened with me..This failure taught me "Three"very important lessons of life.."She said now folding her knees.
"What lessons geet???"Maan asked with much curiosity.
"Only way to scare life is by not taking it much seriously..."She answered.
"Hmm???"Her statement had confused him.
"Life tries to scare us every minute with its adversities,maan..In an attempt to control life,we don't even realize when it starts controlling us..and you know what is the biggest weapon of life to scare us..Its "unpredictability"..We don't know what it would bring for us next minute and fact scare us to such extent that if we are happy at this moment,we fear that may be happiness would lost next minute and instead of enjoying "that happy moment" to fullest,we loose the moment in worry of future .If life brings difficulties,it also brings happiness,but we loose it in worries.Life is not that bad after all.."She said with her gaze fixed ahead.
"Hmm..Interesting..!!"He exclaimed.."That means life has never scared you,because of you scare it before it can scare you with your "not so serious "attitude..he spoke further.
You are partly right and partly wrong in your statement maan..Its not true that life has never scared me...Life scared me about my future when i could not join navy,,Life scared me when you did not smile even once when our alliance got fixed ..Life scared me when you told me that you can't love me more than your sister..But I did not take its threats seriously..I focused on my M.tech and all the fun that i missed during my CDS preparation..I worried more about "chances of you being allergic to "Rajma" rather than your consent for this marriage..I did not let myself become sad that you can't love me more than your sister but I tried to make myself happy because you did not say you can't love me at all..."She said now lifting her head form his shoulder as she looked in his eyes.
"Is it that easy to not take life seriously???"Maan asked looking towards her.
"No..It is not that easy... but we can try by not letting child inside us to grow.."
"Is it in our hands???We grow with age..One can't control it,geet.."
"It can be controlled maan...for example licking cream from biscuits...At certain age in our life,we wanted to lick cream from the biscuit but we stopped ourselves by thinking that it is childish..Slowly slowly we made our conscience believe that licking cream is childish and with time,It also kills "that urge" to lick cream which was there once...We can be childish by being little less judgemental, by thinking a little less about consequences,by being little impulsive,by being happy in small pleasures,by expecting little,by forgetting early,by not holding grudges,by doing what our hearts want to do sometimes without letting minds interfere in it..I just do all this maan but sometimes consequences could be wrong,like that day in the kitchen..If aarav would have seen me that day,it would have affected him in wrong way of course...But most ot times,being little childish helps in scaring life..."She completed with an amusing smile playing on lips.
"hmm.."Maan nodded with a smile too.."and what was the second lesson???"He asked further
"There was a "grandma" in our neighbourhood,maan..One day I took her to a shopping mall..She was quite impressed and amazed seeing huge and beautiful building for first time..But after returning home,her comment about building surprised me.."
"What did she say geet???"
"She said that when architectural beauty touches its peak,its a symptom of "destruction" in near future..Ravan's capital "Lanka" had beautiful architecture..He made it with "Gold" but it was symptom of his destruction in near future..I actually laughed on her "view" and asked her,why earth has not collapsed yet then??? Is it waiting for more beautiful buildings to be constructed??She answered that earth has not collapsed yet because concept of "family" is still prevailed in our society..We still care about our family members, no matter our concern has vanished mostly for people who are not related by blood..As long "this family care" is there,earth is safe.."
"Where is the "lesson" part in all this geet???"He asked with genuine interest.
"The "lesson" lies in the concept of family..After that "CDS failure" I locked myself in room,I did not eat properly,I did not sleep properly...I was busy in my "sulking" without thinking how my sadness is affecting my parents..I did not eat but I did not see that my mother is also not eating...I came out of my sulking mode only when mumma fell ill..Her blood pressure had shoot up worrying about her daughter..You know maan, In family,One is not an individual entity completely...One's happiness or sadness affects his or her family members..So the second lesson is that,"Only way to make your family smile is by smiling yourself.."Kiran di continued her job inspite of Maya aunty's protests because she wanted her brother and mother to be happy..She don't complain to jija ji because she wanted him to be "happy"..I am sure She wanted Maya aunty to be happy too but sometimes things are not in our hands... So Only way you can make Kiran di smile is by keeping a smile on your own lips..."She said as she touched and stretched left and right corners of his lips with her thumb and index finger..
He smiled as he said quite genuinely,"I would try geet...!!!"
"Believe me maan,it would work...In family "happiness" lies in each other's "happiness"..."
"Hmmm.."
"And whats the third lesson,geet???"
"Well,third lesson is much important maan...so listen and understand carefully..."
Seriousness in her voice made him sit attentively on the swing.."Tell me geet"..He said making himself ready.
"Third lesson is that We should brush our teeth twice in a day..."She spoke in a quite serious voice looking towards his face.
She found him surprised for a while before he started laughing hysterically..Geet kept looking at him as his laughter caused a strange satisfaction and happiness to her heart..May be now,beside her parents,he was the person whose happiness could make her happy...!!!
CHAPTER 14 IS DEDICATED TO OUR BELOVED "MAANEET" AS TOMORROW IS THE DAY WHEN OUR SHOW WENT OFF AIR...EVEN AFTER ONE YEAR, WE MISS THEM WITH SAME INTENSITY...
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