Samarpan
Reason lost the battle, and all I could do was surrender and accept I was in love.
~~~~~Paulo Coelho
~Prologue~
"Samarpan?"
"Yes Aayu, Samarpan…that's the title your mumma was keen upon from the first word of the first chapter."
"But what does it mean, papa?"
"It means surrender…surrender out of love and devotion. It comes from the innermost heart of the seeker. When we know love matters more than anything, and we know that nothing else really matters, we move into the state of surrender."
"Mumma said this book is about your story…yours and mumma's."
"May not be exactly, but it touches upon it, Payal…though I haven't read it. That's the only hint she gave me. She wouldn't let me read a single page before it came out."
"She is so stubborn, isn't she papa?"Aayu chuckled. "How many times have we seen her win an argument with you hands down. You always give in to her….She certainly has a way with words."
"Yes, she has….And to think there was a time when she hardly ever spoke….to anyone, though all that changed when our fates finally merged and stayed interwined," Yash smiled a faraway smile.
"What do you mean papa?...Mumma…..quiet?" Payal, all of sixteen, was surprised. Aayu, six years her junior, nodded his head amusedly, agreeing with his sister. Try as he might, he couldn't imagine his mother as a silent lamb. He recalled the dressing down she gave that bully in the school bus last month for pushing his weight around and making the primary students do his bidding…Nah, his mother could be a tigress if required, especially where her cubs were concerned.
"Yes Payal….silent to the point of muteness. A better part of her life she communicated only with the flowers, the trees, the birds, the stars, and, of course, her diary. Words…the written ones…became her companion almost as soon as she learnt to form sentences."
"Gosh papa! Mumma, taciturn and reserved…that's so hard to relate to (shaking her head and then contemplating for awhile). She is such a cheerful, happy person now. Why was she like that papa? She may not have naanima with her, but she had nanaji, so why would she be so silent? I can't imagine a day without talking with you or Aayu or mumma wherever you are….especially mumma. I so love to hear her voice when she speaks…and she speaks so well. I love to hear you and mumma talk. There's a look…it's difficult to explain…a certain special look you both have for each other. There…it is there in your eyes now as I speak of her."
Yash threw back his head and laughed as he placed an arm around Payal's shoulder, "That's love, sweetheart….something you too will experience when the right person comes along." Yash looked proudly at his beautiful daughter. She may not have Aarti's looks, but she was turning out to be a clone of her mother in every other way…the same softness, the same caring nature, the same penchant to set right every wrong in sight, and the same gift of believing in the goodness of life and of the living.
"Yeah…certainly not like how that Sagar looks at you. Like this…." Aayu made a wide-eyed zombie face and grinned.
"Aayu!!! He certainly does not look at me like that!!!"
"Does too….If he was not such a puppy, I'd have given a demo of my karate prowess for even having an eye at my Di."
"Oh yeah….Who said you are my bodyguard, kiddo?"
"Don't call me that, Di. I am a big boy. ….Papa said brothers are supposed to protect their sisters. Right papa? He also taught me the karate move to save you if any boy comes near you."
"Papa…you didn't?" Payal was flabbergasted…as Yash managed to look a little sheepish.
"I also told you to keep the lesson a secret, young man." He gave Aayu a stern look and then winked at him before turning his head toward Payal, "Don't look at me like that, princess. I am just a concerned father of a very pretty daughter."
Aayu stood up to bounce another pebble at the still waters of the lake and then sauntered over to the lake edge to shoot the tadpoles with his new camera…the one Prateek chachu had gifted, given his latest obsession for photography. At this point he was sure he would grow up to become a wildlife photographer.
They were here, in Nainital, for their annual vacation. Father, daughter, and son were lolling about their favorite place, on the small meadow. A part of the house could be seen from here…where Aarti was preparing something special with naanimasi's help for Yash, as it was his birthday. That's the reason the trio were shooed away from the house.
"Papa, what you mentioned earlier…about mumma's silence…is it something that happened in her childhood?"
"Hmm! Why don't you ask her? I am sure she will tell her best friend." Payal smiled as she rested her head on her father's shoulder, watching Aayu hop on stones in the water.
"Papa, one more question…"
"Shoot!!"
"When did you first meet mumma?"
"On the day she was born."
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To be continued...
INDEX
Part 1 (Page 16) https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/topic/3448596?pn=16
Part 2 (Page 30) https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/topic/3448596?pn=30
Part 3 (Page 42) https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/topic/3448596?pn=42
Part 4 (Page 54) https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/topic/3448596?pn=54
Part 5 (Page 65) https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/topic/3448596?pn=65
Part 6 (Page 77) https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/topic/3448596?pn=77
Part 7 (Page 89) https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/topic/3448596?pn=89
Part 8 (Page 101) https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/topic/3448596?pn=101
Part 9 (Page 112) https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/topic/3448596?pn=112
Part 10 (Page 125) https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/topic/3448596?pn=125
Samarpan--Thread 2
For new ss dear👏 👏 👏
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