REDEMPTION ISHRA FF NOTE AND CHAPTER 22 page 52 - Page 7

CHAPTER-8

"No...no..even if I die, I will not agree to this..."

"Please my father's health is getting worse, I beg of you ...please..."

"My daughter and grandchild deserves better...what made you even hope that the deal is for a lifetime."

A cruel laugh followed.

"I hate you Ishitha,hate you so much".

Raman woke up gasping from his nightmare. His hands were shivering uncontrollably. How could his treacherous brain torture him with all those words, those images that he had long buried in some corner of his heart.

He looked around to see Ishitha and the children sleeping peacefully, but sleep is not going to bless his body today. He walked out towards the entrance of the bogey. The cold breeze momentarily calmed him. Trees and houses rushed past frantically. They were in the rural outskirts of some godforsaken state in Tamil nadu which he could not even spell out.

He was not proud of the fact that he ended up crying in front of Ishitha, that too in her clinic! He had shared his greatest fear of losing Ruhi with her. He should not get emotionally involved with her. She was not worth it, no woman who is ready to use a man's body just to beget a child is worth it.

"Raman , what are you doing here?" a sleepy voice enquired.

" Why can't I stand here? Or is the 'Chennai express' your appa's property?. Came the prompt reply.

" Why did I even bother??" Ishitha turned to walk back.

She was stopped by Raman's by emotionless question.

"You are so different now Ishitha...how could you become this independent...this kind?

A small laugh escaped Ishitha's lips.

" You never knew me enough to say that I have changed, Raman. Maybe I was always like this,maybe you never took the courage to to discover anything about me other than my body."

" But..."

" Let's get back to sleep, there is still time left to reach Chennai."

With that Ishitha walked away.

****

Raman was hell tired by the time they reached Chennai railway station. He strongly

suspected that Ishitha purposefully chose the journey by train to torture him. He just wanted to lie down somewhere, but the madrassan went on passionately arguing with a taxi driver in Tamil.

They reached Ishitha's house in the evening. Although he was shocked at the simplicity of the house, he was too tired to ponder over it. The four of them ate the dinner that they had bought in near silence and went to sleep.

Raman walked into the living room after getting fresh, the next morning. He noticed innumerable photo frames on the walls, Ishitha and Vandita's snaps when they were babies, Ishitha in various postures of Bharatnatyam, school photos, family photos. Ishitha had a striking resemblance to her amma. He instantly liked the one in which a laughing Mrs. Iyer tightly hugged an angry, pouting eight year old Ishitha.

"Raman would you like tea or coffee?"

He turned back to find a freshly showered Isihtha, a white towel partially tangled in her long lustrous hair. She was dressed in a simple sandal colored churidar, but the sight of her made something in his heart flutter. He noticed her smooth skin, there were still some traces of kajal in her eyes, her rosy lips looked very much inviting...Was she always this beautiful...

"Raman get back to earth and answer my question!"

" Wh..what?", asked a clueless Raman

"TEA OR COFFEE?"

***

After breakfast, Aditya showed Raman ad Ruhi around the house. Ishitha had gone to the market, at a little distance from the house, to his surprise in an almost worn out bicycle.

Raman was thankful for the break from Ishitha, the sudden physical attraction he felt towards Ishitha has thrown his mind out of balance.

" Did you like our house, Mr Bhalla? asked Adi.

"This is a beautiful house, if we had not come , it would have been a great loss."

Aditya smiled.

Raman was not lying. The exterior of the house was painted white, the interior was a blend of light and bright shades. The house screamed of elegance and homeliness. It was comfortable but contained no hint of luxury. The backyard was home to a beautiful rose garden. A pebbled path from the garden led to a very clean, isolated beach.

They heard the sound of a cycle bell, Ishitha was back.

****

Ishitha was sitting on the beach, watching the sunset. She noticed Ruhi's reluctance in going too close to the sea. They were busy building sandcastles, a little away from her. She felt a movement beside her.

" Thank you, Ishitha." Raman said softly.

"What for?"

"I had not seen Ruhi this happy for a long time and I also appreciate the opportunity to spend some time with Adi, even though my back hurt like hell after the journey.

A blissful silence followed.

" So how did you find out the place?", asked Raman.

" This is my amma's place, she was born here."

" She was not much rich, was she?"

" Well, you could say that. But appa found her character rich enough to fall in love with her."

Raman found the image of a cold blooded Mr. Iyer falling in love, absolutely funny.

" Did your grandfather approve?"

" Thatha believed that status and family honor is above 'silly things like love'. His threat to disown appa , if he married a middle class orphan, did not dissuade him from eloping with amma , though. They came to live in this house after their marriage. Appa landed up a job as a manager in a beach resort in Covelore, some kilometres from here. Appa did not earn much, but he was happy as long as he had amma by his side."

" I seriously cannot believe that"

" You will not understand because you have not seen them together. No one made appa as happy as amma and appa had not loved anyone as much as my amma, not even me and akka. All of us spend the happiest years of our life in this house. You know , Appa never actually recovered from amma's death."

Ishitha's eyes had a hint of tears.

"She was very special to you, wasn't she?"

"Yes. She was my mentor, my best friend...I always hoped that I could find my soulmate just like her, and have a beautiful daughter with him."

"You wanted a daughter.?"

"Yes. I would have taught her to love the same way my amma loved and spread happiness everywhere she went. I thank Murugan everyday for giving me Adi, but I regret not having a daughter sometimes.." Ishitha said in a melancholic voice.

Raman felt a lump in his throat.

"Ishima...come see my castle is complete, isn't it more beautiful than Adi bhaiyya's? Screamed an enthusiastic Ruhi.

"Coming baby"

Ishitha got up and ran towards the bickering children as Raman looked on.