Palak came running through the gates. She was so late – she hadn't realized the time and when she finally checked she was shocked. She was nearly two hours late – Mamma would kill her, and she hadn't even called home! Her heart sank further as she looked up at Ansh's window – uh oh, the red Mickey Mouse – their danger signal.
Palak straightened her shoulders and rang the doorbell – better to get it over and done with than stew over it she thought. Ram Dulare opened the door and let her in. Palak walked in, expecting to see Arti any moment, ready to grill her. But Arti was nowhere in sight and neither was Yash. She turned to Ram Dulare, "where is Mamma?" Ram Dulare just shrugged and walked into the kitchen.
Palak knew better than to go to Ansh's room – the Mickey Mouse said it all. She slunk into her room and heaved a sigh of relief to find Payal there. "Hi kiddo" she said.
Payal looked up from her homework, "Hi Di. I think you are in trouble. Bhaiyya was hinting at something and then he disappeared as soon as Mamma came. Why are you so late?"
"I know I am in trouble. But where is Mamma? Why is the woman torturing me? I wish she would just come and get it over with."
"What have you been up to Di?" Payal was really interested now.
"Nothing. You do your homework" Palak said, unpacking her backpack.
Ram Dulare brought in some of her favourite snacks. But Palak was too tense to eat. Instead, she started doing her homework.
An hour later she was done. As she put her books away, Arti walked into the room.
"Payal, have you finished your homework?" Arti asked.
"Yes Mamma".
"Go to Chachu's room, he wanted to talk to you," said Arti, sending Payal away to Pratik and Paridhi.
"Palak, is your homework finished?"
"Yes Mamma" Palak echoed Payal's answer.
"Come with me" and Arti turned and walked out of the room.
Palak was sweating by now – how she wished her mother would just scold her and get it over with. This tension was killing her!
Arti took Palak to the swing outside their bedroom and sat down, indicating her daughter to sit next to her.
"Palak, why didn't you call before going anywhere from school?" Arti asked.
"Uh…Mamma…I", Palak decided to be frank, "Mamma, I actually forgot."
"You forgot" Arti echoed. "I see. How long have we had this rule?"
"For years, probably since we started going to school", Palak forgot that this was a rule Arti had made when she and Ansh got to grade 5. For her, Arti was her mother and it just felt as if she had always been there, making all the rules, and sometimes the exceptions too!
"So, what happened that you forgot a rule you have always followed?" Arti still hadn't looked at her and Palak was squirming.
When she didn't get an answer, Arti finally turned to her daughter and held her hand. "Don't lie to me Palak or hide something from me. Tell me truthfully – I am on your side."
Palak gulped. "There's this boy in my Physics class – Vikram. He has been pestering me for a date for a while. I always turned him down. But he was my partner for the last project and we came first. So, he asked again, and it was kind of hard to say no this time. We did win, so…"
"Is this Vikram?" Arti handed the photo she had found in Palak's cupboard.
"Yes. Where did you get this?" Palak asked surprised.
"Where you kept it, hidden under your clothes in your closet. I found it when I was cleaning out your cupboard this morning" said Arti quietly.
Palak could have sworn – served her right for not clearing out her cupboard when Arti had asked her to. She wasn't going to repeat that mistake again!!
"So if this was your first date, how come you have his photo?" Arti asked, still very softly.
"Umm…" before Palak could say anything, Arti added a rider "Remember, tell me the truth."
Palak sighed. "This really was our first date Mamma. Tina took this photo while we were working on our project and emailed it to us. The original had us both, I just umm… zoomed in to Vikram's and printed that out" Palak finished, blushing deeply.
"You like him, then" – it was a statement, not a question. Palak nodded her agreement.
Arti continued to hold her hand and looked straight into Palak's eyes. Palak felt as if Arti was looking into her soul – she had never been able to hide anything from her mother.
"You will bring Vikram to meet your father and me" Arti stated.
"Mamma" Palak cried in protest. "He is just a friend, I am not going to marry him or something."
"We have met every one of your friends. Is there any reason we should not meet Vikram?" Arti's voice was almost icy now.
"Uh no. When you put it like that…" Palak mumbled.
"Ground rules – and you do not have the luxury of forgetting them" Arti said.
"1. Papa and I will meet your friend.
2. If you are going outside the school, you will meet with him in a group, not alone.
3. You will ALWAYS tell me where you are going – no exception. If this rule is broken, you can forget about meeting Vikram or any other friend outside school hours.
Is that understood?"
"Yes Mamma", Palak agreed.
Arti handed the photo back. Palak looked at her in surprise. "I have no intention of staring moon eyed at this photo, you may as well keep it" Arti grinned at Palak.
"Oh Mamma" Palak cried, hugging her mother. Her mother was ok with this – and all was right with the world.
__________________________________________________________________________
Later that night Arti reported her conversation with Palak to Yash. He sighed. He didn't like this, but he couldn't argue with the ground rules Arti had set either. "Why do girls have to grow up" he grumbled.
He got up and went to Arti's closet. "What are you doing?" she asked.
Without answering, he held out the plush purple journal. When Arti had been pregnant with Pooja she had written a journal to each of her children. Palak's was the purple one. Over the years both Arti and Yash had added to the journals.
He sat down at his desk. With Arti looking over his shoulder, he wrote to his daughter.
"Dear Palak. You are growing up. You are 16 and have your first crush!! Let me tell you – it broke my heart. My little girl is becoming aware of the world – and her world holds more than her father and mother now. It scares me Palak. Perhaps you will never understand, but for a father seeing his daughter grow up, fall in love, is terrifying. Your Mamma tells me you like him. And its not love, its infatuation. Words! What difference does it make – at this point you are becoming aware of other males – and that itself is the issue you see.
One day, some day, you will really fall in love. The time will come when you get married and leave. I had thought it years away, but today I realize that time has flown and the future is closer than I cared to admit. As you grow, mature, learn about the world, I have to learn how to let go, without leaving you adrift.
I love you Palak. I will always love you. Sometimes you may think what I say is crazy – but know that its your father who has your best wishes at heart, saying something to you out of his own experience while still scared of a future where his daughter is all grown up.
Bless you Palak. Don't grow up too soon. Be my little girl for a while longer."
Yash closed the diary. He stood up, reaching out to Arti and pulling her in for a hug. He needed her warmth, the comfort and peace her mere presence brought him.
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Note to my readers: let me know if you want to read a part-3 to this story.
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