The Engagement Gift :JaGa OS

Jagat looked at the woman sitting next to him and his heart clenched. He had not been able to realize his folly until now; he was a coward to cave into his family s demands. How could he let her go alone, dint anyone understand the difficulty faced in travelling alone with a toddler? How could she complete formalities in a new city would nt it be too tiresome with Mannu clinging to her hip, the language barrier worsening the situation? He jolted out of his reverie when something soft touched his cheek; a smile lit his tense face as he saw Mannu point towards the air hostess standing next to their seat holding a chocolate laden tray. The airhostess pinched Mannu s cheeks and Jagya s heart strangely swelled with pride when she complimented little Mannu on being well behaved. Hell he should have been paying attention to his friend rather than his beautiful mom. Jeez where did that come from?? He reprimanded himself and Strike that out he chided.

He looked at Ganga as she picked one chocolate for herself. That was the difference it suddenly dawned to him between the childish woman whose eyes gleamed when he had slipped a three carat diamond on her manicured finger a few hours back and this woman whose eyes brimmed with child like enthusiasm as she carefully peeled the wrapper. She glanced up with questioning eyes; probably his staring was making her uncomfortable .He smiled at her as he pulled Mannu closer to him as he closed his eyes for a well deserved nap. Miracles did happen he concluded.

Just a few hours ago

He was sitting amongst his family, his soon to be fiance and loved ones but still he felt out of place as the women were performing ghoomar on the occasion of his engagement. He did not want a lavish ceremony, but who could he confide in? Who would listen? A small voice inside him taunted. You could nt even tell them that you was scared to get into another marriage. Dint they remember the sham of his marriage not once but twice? He had agreed to get hitched to Sanchi for, sake of his childhood friend. After all he was morally obliged to do everything to keep her happy. Was nt he the one to almost ruin her life? It was the same reason Ganga was travelling alone today and he was staring blankly at everyone unable to tell them what he wanted. The old Jagat would not care about others and he would have selfishly placed his priorities over others desires rather than becoming the martyr like the new one. At times he wished he could strike a fine balance between the two. He knew he dint want to accompany Ganga to Mangalore it was more of a need; he needed to see her settled safely in the new city before he could come back and start his routine at the hospital without his favourite 'nurse'.

He remembered the day she was trying to learn to give shots she had asked practically everyone she knew to let her experiment but the negative response had not left her disheartened. He was met with a strange site that night when he saw her sitting in her room fiddling with the syringe practicing on Mannu s favourite toy. Jagya had no idea why but he agreed to let her try on him and offered her his hand. She had poked it relentlessly but when she was still unable to master it, he had given her his other hand unhesitatingly. Five minutes later Mannu woke up startled, his mom was screaming in triumph while the doctor yelped in pain. He had worn full sleeved shirts to work for almost a week and had started donning a night shirt instead of his customary vest to his mom s surprise or rather relief.

Why was it that small details were etched in his mind when it came to Ganga but his brain drew to a complete blank whenever he tried to think about the woman next to him, whose hand rested on his after all he had to spend a lifetime with her. He wished he could go back to his room faking a headache when he was met with a sight that made him get up with a jerk. Lal Singh was walking up to him grinning and beside him stood the two people he least expected to see. He started walking towards them when Sanchi whose face looked like she had bit into a lemon decided to tag along clutching his arm. His mom s eyes were shooting fire but before she could say something Dadisa handed him his gift, an envelope with flight tickets for him and Ganga . The boyish smile on his face as he thanked his Dadisa was not missed by the old woman s sharp eyes. Jagya could not control the smile that reached up to his eyes throughout the ceremony. The ticket s in his breast pocket had completely eased the heaviness within.