CUPIDāS LITTLE ARROW
PREMEERSS
Part-1
FIRST MEETING
āI am sorry Mr. Juneja, we couldnāt save your sister and her husband.They had lost a high amount of blood and it was nearly impossible for us to do something though we did try our best. But the good news is that your niece is alrightā¦she has some scratches in her arm and a not so deep cut on her head butshe will be alright in a week or twoā, the Dr. informed Prem Juneja, one of the most successful businessman in the country. Though he had his family and business in Canada and almost in all the parts of the globe, he preferred to stay here in India, particularly in Punjab.
The doctorās information shook him from inside.He left his office early today as his sister and her husband along with their 6 years old daughter were coming to him for the first time in these 7 years of her marriage.
You must be thinking why Premās elder sister had not come to visit him for 7 years. Isnāt that a long period of time? Well then let me tell you the whole story clearly.
Lalit Juneja whom today, all the big corporate houses and business tycoons of the world can recognize just by his mere name,was once a defeated man being a failure in the business world. The company which his father had given to him on his deathbed, was no longer his own as his partner cheated on him by revealing the details of the company to their rivals.He lost everything only except few savings of his own and the house which was on his son Premās name.
So to try his luck and make more money he decided to shift abroad along with his family. However his mother never wanted to leave the place where her husbandās memories were. So they left her here in Punjab with the inspection of a care taker and along with his wife Gayatri Juneja, daughter Kulraj Juneja and son Prem Juneja, Lalit Juneja left the country. His dreams came true within a few years and he became one of the respectable businessmen of Canada. But in his crave for money he started ignoring his family, specially his kids.
On the other and Gayatri Juneja was always an ambitious lady. She held the heredity of a royal family. Lalit and her marriage were arranged by her father and she couldnāt do anything. But she never liked Lalitās small house and his life style. Gayatri Juneja always wanted a life likeher motherā¦full of luxury, full of servants who could attend her whenever she needed and a rich social life where she could flaunt her wealth to the other rich ladies of the society. And after Lalitās huge loss in business things started to become worse. They had fight almost every dayā¦sometimes in front of their children.
Prem was too young to understand but Kulrajā¦she had seen her parents fighting in the nastiest way two people could fight, but she always tried to keep her brother away from all this. Her brother was the one she loved the most. She tried to gain attention of her parents by showing her excellent results in the exams or the many trophies that she had won invarious competition but they seem unaffected. Not that she hated her parents but after sometimes she had understood that only her baby brother was there for her. So she spent most of the times with her grandmother and her brother. But her fatherās decision of leaving the country really shattered her.
Life in Canada was never the same as in India.She and her brother were sent to boarding school for better studying. Kulraj was always a very bright student so she didnāt find it difficult to cope up with the studies there but what she missed most was her family. She was by then 13.
However things were different for Prem. He was 7 when his family moved to Canada. From the very first he was close to his sister. He never remembered spending some family time with his parents. When Kulraj was sent to boarding he passed most of his time with his study and thenanny who used to look after him. But whenever he had seen any other child withhis parents, the loneliness engulfed him. He used to miss his motherās lapwhenever he got scared at night or his fatherās supporting hands whenever hefell from the bicycle. After some 3 years he was sent to boarding too and he kindof adjusted there.
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Prem closed his eyes and sat on the bedside chair beside Tanu. This little soul who couldnāt even know properly what a family was, had been snatched from her family. Prem sighed and caressed her forehead with love and care. It was the first time that he was seeing his little nieceā¦his Kul diās daughter. āSo like her!ā he thought and smiled.
His chain of thoughts was broken by his friend and business partner Manmeet.
āYou havenāt eaten anything from the time you heard the newsā¦eat somethingā, he suggested.
āNo yaar,khane ka man nahi hai. Main yahin thik hunā, replied Prem feeling really tired at the happenings from the morning.
āAlright, at least go home and take some restā¦she is sleeping now. Besides, the stuff said they will not release the bodies till tomorrowā, Manmeet reasoned.
āNoā, denied Prem. āI want to stay hereā¦you go home. If I need anything I will call youā.
āAre you sure?ā Manmeet asked for a final time.
āOff courseā, Prem gave a weak smile and wished him good night.
Next DayMorning-
āHow did you plan to break the news to her?ā was the first sentence that Tanu heard when she slowly opened her eyes the next day morning. She looked around and tried to recognize the place in front of her eyes. āThis is not her homeā¦.then what place is it?ā the thought of an unknown surrounding scared her but what scared her more was the absence of her parents. She could see two young men and an old lady discussing something but whom she couldnāt see washer parents.
āWhere is mamma papa?ā she asked no one in particular.
The three heads immediately turned towards her seeing her awake. āRelax child, I will tell you where your parents are. But right now please lie down on the bedā, the nurse tried to calm her down.
Though she wanted to see her parents but she felt too tired to get up. After putting her to sleep Prem and Manmeet went to do the last rituals of Premās elder sister Kulraj Singh and her husband Kiran Singh. In the afternoon Tanu again panicked of not seeing her parents around her but the old nurse handled her. She not only told her that her parents were now with God and they would be living there but also made her understand that from that day onwards she (Tanu) had to live with her (mamu) maternal uncle.
What that little soul understood from the old nurseās explanation was not known to anyone but after that what everyone did notice was the quiet behavior of Tanu. Whenever anyone asked any question or tried to make any conversation with her she just shifted her gaze to her hands which had a pendant holding tightly and remained quiet.
It didnāt go unnoticed by Prem. He himself triedto talk to her but she seemed unaffected. The doctor advised him to take her homeā¦may be a homely atmosphere would bring her back to life. Prem nodded and registered that from then onwards a new soul would be living with him. Not that he would mind thatā¦why would he mind? She was the daughter of her elder sisterā¦a sister whom he loved the most, a sister whom he considered his only family. But the thing was that he has been a loner for a long time, may be for almost 17-18 years so he doesnāt know how to live with others, especially with a 6 years old child.
The next day Prem and Manmeet took Tanu home, a home where Prem lived alone. No, practically not alone; his helper Manohar was there. The little soul entered the house like a zombie. She looked around and her gaze fixed at a sight. Not paying any attention to what the other 3 characters were talking about, she moved forward and stood in front of a picture which had her mom in itā¦.not only her mom but also that man called Prem Juneja about whom she had been told in the hospital that he was her maternal uncle or mama, was there with her mom in the picture.
Prem noticed it. He slowly stood beside her and touched her shoulder. āTanu go with Manohar uncle, he will take you to your room. Go with him and take some restā¦Ok?ā
Tanu looked at him and without saying anythingtried to lift her small handbag. Manohar quickly took it and held her hands andled her to her new bedroom. Both Prem and Manmeet had understood by then it wasnot going to be easyā¦.neither for them nor for Tanu.
Done withthe first chapter. Do read and share your precious views. And if you liked itthen donāt forget to hit the like button. Next part will be posted soon. Tillthen take care and bye.
Thank You,
Love,
Sunayana
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