MUMBAI MEDICAL INSTITUTE
It is since an hour when Trisha and Mrunalini retired for the day. Trisha opens her eyes and looks the surroundings in the room. The room has nothing but a small light glowing from the night lamp at the corner of the room. Trisha looks at Mrunalini sleeping on the small bed in that room. Trisha gets irritated and closes herself inside the blanket. She again opens the blanket and gives a look around. When she moved her hands, the injection needle from the glucose drips bottle stuck her. Trisha gets angry on looking at it.
‘How long I can keep my hand like this? Dadhi will scold me if I move my hand’ says Trisha to herself. She then lays down on her bed and closes herself fully with the blanket.
Few minutes later, the whole room glows with a bright light around her which she sees through the light passed through the blanket. She opens the blanket and wakes up from her bed.
‘Happy Birthday to you!’
‘Happy Birthday to you!’
‘Happy Birthday dear Trisha!’
‘Happy Birthday to you!’
Trisha’s face glows like an hundred watts bulb and she happily looks at the people standing around her. Mrunalini stands beside the bed of Trisha and in front Rahini stands holding a birthday cake in her hand. Arjun climbs on the bed of Trisha and hugs her tightly.
‘Happy Birthday Trisha' screams Arjun happily.
Trisha too hugs him happily and says ‘Thank you Arjun’
Trisha looks around the whole room. The place is decorated with balloons and color papers and in the wall hangs ‘HAPPY BIRTHDAY’. Rahini comes near to Trisha and places the birthday cake in front of her.
‘Now time for cake cutting’ says Rahini and she gives Trisha a cake cutting knife.
Trisha gets the knife from her and blows off the ‘7’ like shaped candle. Once again all the three of them sing the birthday song and clap their hands Trisha cuts the cake with the help of Rahini and she feeds the cake to Mrunalini who happily eats it from her hands. Trisha feeds the next cake piece to Rahini and then she feeds it to Arjun.
Trisha and Rahini hug each other tightly and Rahini kisses her on her forehead.
‘Happy Birthday sweet corn’ says Rahini to her.
‘Thank you aunty’ screams Trisha happily.
‘So how was the surprise? You liked it?’
Trisha delightfully nods her head like ‘yes’ and Rahini smiles at her.
Mrunalini watches everything with a smile in her face and she looks very happy. Rahini and Trisha chat with each other and both along with Arjun share funny and lovely moments.
‘So what does the birthday baby want this time. Tell me’ asks Rahini to Trisha.
Trisha frowns and says ‘Aunty, I want to go out of this place. I don’t want to stay here. It is smelling badly. I don’t like the nurse aunty here. She always feeds me something in bitter taste and injects some needle in my hands. I don’t like it.’
Rahini smiles at her and pretends to get angry ‘Really? Who is that stupid person who pricks my sweet corn with needle? I will not spare her. By morning your wish shall be fulfilled. Done? ’ asks Rahini to her.
‘Yipeee!’ screams Trisha in happiness. ‘Aunty, really I will go from here by morning?’
‘Yes,beta. You will leave this place soon. What else you want?’
‘Hmm….Pista ice-cream, fried rice, rasa malaai and then chocolate cake’ says Trisha counting her fingers in her hands.
Rahini’s face turns in slight shock as she hears Trisha’s list. She hears a women’s voice saying ‘I want vegetable noodles, pista ice-cream, chocolate cake and ……. rasa gulla. ’ says a woman counting her fingers. ‘If you give me these and ask for my life, I would gladly give it to you.’ exclaims the woman in happiness.
Rahini comes back to the surrounding and looks at the small girl with a smile. She says ‘Done. Then?’
‘Then?’ says Trisha pretending like thinking. Mrunalini interrupts her and says ‘Enough beta. Don’t trouble your aunty anymore.’
‘Not at all, Ma ji. I am very glad to give her whatever she asks for.’ Says Rahini to Mrunalani and turns back to Trisha. ‘you can ask what you want and I shall give it to you.’
Trisha’s face turns sad and she does not reply anything. Rahini looks at her silence in surprise. She holds Trisha hands and asks ‘What has happened to my sweet corn?’
Trisha looks at Rahini and says ‘I want mummy’ in a sad voice.
Rahini’s stops smiling at her and her face turns sad. She looks at Mrunalini whose face also turned sad.
Trisha looks at Rahini and says ‘Papa told me that I killed my mummy when I was small baby. Aunty is it true? Did I kill my mummy?’ asks Trisha sadly to her.
‘Your Papa is the greatest idiot in this world.’ Says Rahini angrily. Trisha looks at her in wonder and does not say anything.
‘You don’t have to worry about what he says. You are most lovely child in this world. Had your Mamma been here, she would have felt more proud and happy for having an angel like you as a daughter.’
Trisha smiles at Rahini with tears in her eyes.
‘Now birthday baby should not shed tears. Got it? Tomorrow this beautiful angel is coming with me to my little house and going to stay with me. That is it’
Trisha’s face glows brightly on hearing her words. ‘Aunty, really am I going to come to your house?’
‘Yes, beta. I promised you isn’t it? I will not send you anywhere against your wishes.So you will come with me and stay there until you feel fine. Is it OK?’
Trisha goes to Rahini and hugs her tightly. Rahini hugs her too and looks at Mrunalini whose face turned rigid. Rahini holds Mrunalini’s hands and gestures her like ‘Everything is going to be fine’
- - - -
The big BMW car runs on the 'C'-shaped six-lane concrete road at Marine drive. The people roaming around those area probably do not know that their charming super star Rohit Kumar is inside the car driving by himself. Thanks to Arun who left his car key and ran away. Rohit’s popularity and stardom does not decline despite his quit from industry for seven years. He has his own group of loyal fans who always warmly welcome him to that artificial world and support him to grab back the Super Star throne which he abandoned. Today a lot of young and handsome guys, sons of famous ex-film actors, current film actors enter this dream world with a hope of capturing Rohit’s place in industry and in the hearts of his loyal fans. Perhaps those fools don’t know that the throne is custom made for Rohit Kumar alone by destiny. They might realize their mistake only after the big bang come back of this Super star.
Rohit owes a lot to many of the television channels which telecasts his super hit movies very frequently that people did forget neither him nor his killer charming look. What would happen if the people roaming around the areas, seated on the wall of the C road looks at him in the car? Police men would file a nuisance case on the Super star for creating chaos in one of the busiest roads of the city. Rohit smiled at himself looking at his reflection in the mirror.
The BMW car travelled for some time and slowed down at an area near a school. Lot of children were entering the school from different directions. Many children get down from the buses and run inside the school. Some children were dropped by some elders probably their parents, grand-mothers, grand-fathers in two wheelers, auto rickshaws everywhere. The children rush inside the school gate which started to close.
Rohit’s attention was caught by a small girl and a young man accompanied her. The girl would not be more than five or six years old hugs the young man tightly and kisses him. The young man also kisses the child and his eyes is filled with tons and tons of love for the cute little child. The young man drops the little girl near the school gate and waves his hands.
The little girl waves her hands too and says ‘Bye Papa’
The young man proudly looks at the little girl and says ‘Bye’ to her. The little girl runs inside the school complex towards her room. Many other little students keep coming to the place along with their parents. They send them off inside the school with lots of hope in their eyes and love in their hearts for their little children. Rohit feels a burden in his heart on seeing the sight of many parents and children especially fathers and daughters. Little later an another car arrives there and a teen age girl gets down from it. She says ‘bye’ to the person driving the car and rushes inside the gate. The age of the person and the affectionate flying kiss given by the girl to him literally showed that he can be none other than her father.
Rohit also hears the father saying ‘Be careful baby. Don’t rush.’
The girl replies ‘Ok. Papa. I will take care. Bye’ and runs inside the school.
Rohit thinks to himself ‘He is calling that girl as baby. Had it been 80 to 90 years before, in her age she would have been a mother of a child. But that guy is calling her as baby’
Rohit smirks at the guy and the teen aged girl. Trisha’s bewildered look, her timid voice, her little scared foot-steps flashes in his mind for a while.
‘What would be the age of that girl Trisha now? Today is Sakshi’s 7th anniversary means that girl is completes seven years by today. But why does she look so little for her age? ’
Rohit once looks at the school which closed almost 90% and school bell rings for the prayer to begin. Many of the parents are still rushing drop their children before the gate gets closed fully. Rohit’s attention is once again caught by a little boy and a woman accompanying him, The lady kisses her son and the boy kisses her again and runs inside the school. Rohit looks at the mother-son duo for a while and he feels some familiarity about that woman.
Perhaps he does not know that she is the one who is in a rage of tearing his mask in front of the world and showcase him as the monstrous father in the world.
--- --- --
Arun wanders restlessly in his room and he keeps looking at the entrance of Arte Mansion time and again.
‘Whatever I want to happen, is happening in bullock cart speed. Whatever I don’t want to happen is happening in a lightning speed. On one side bhayya ran away with my car. Other side no news about the bail papers. The main accused is not at all caring about anything but I am here breaking my head here to avoid his arrest. What for I am doing all these despite knowing that he is wrong? I will better run somewhere before I get admitted in any mental hospital.’
Arun sits on the sofa holding his head tightly. Few minutes later a large Mercedes Benz car enters and stops in front of the portico of Arte Mansion. Arun looks at the entrance door where a young woman in late twenties steps out of the car and enters the mansion building. His face turns bright and he rushes to her fast.
‘Thank God’ says Arun to that woman. ‘Finally she arrived. Only now I feel like breathing.’ says Arun to the woman standing in front of him whose face is filled lot of pride and insolence. She gives an apathetic look at everything around her and to the guy standing in front of her.
- - - - -
‘I can see how much the number of criminals in our country have increased by the Benz car you own.’ says Arun spoofs Gagan. But he stops on looking at her angry look.
‘Nice car. Yours or uncle’s.’ asks Arun to her.
Gagan does not reply to him. She enters the mansion with a commanding steps as if she is the owner of the house. Arun gets irritated by her attitude.
‘You never dare to behave like this in front of Mamma. Knowing that she is not at home you are showing your arrogance to me stupid.’
Arun gives a sham smile and goes near to her. ‘Nothing has changed baby. Everything is placed as it is, as it was before five years. Even you have not changed. You look like the same beautiful woman and no one will ever say that you are 29 years old.’
She looks at him in the same apathetic expression. She stares at him and asks ‘Only if you get into any trouble you will get to recall our names and invite me to this house?’ slams Gagan to him.
Arun gives an awkward smile at her. ‘Your visit for one time is shaking this whole house for many years. Why would we invite you often?’ thinks Arun in his mind.
‘Why? Do you need invitation to come to this house? Do you step into your own house only if your dad or mom invites you in?'
‘Don’t try to be too smart, Arun’ says Gagan in a rough tone. ‘Don’t you know aunty ji does not entertain me coming here? She does not know that there are some basic hospitality etiquettes need to be followed when some guests visit their house’
‘You are correct. Hospitality applies only to guests not to devils.’ thinks Arun
‘No baby. You are mistaken. Ma, is not really like that. She is very sweet and cool. She has spoken about you and your dad many times when your father won in the crucial cases in Supreme Court. She really admires yours and your father’s talent a lot. Who else can beat you when it comes to solving of divorce cases? May be you will get into Guinness world record for breaking highest number of marriages in the whole world.’ Says Arun in a mock filled tone.
Gagan’s face smiles on the praises showered by him.
‘God, why the hell? I have to laud all the stupids and idiots living in this world.’
‘Here is the one you asked for’ says Gagan to him and she gives the stuff in her hand
Arun almost grabs it from her hand and looks at it. His face turns bright.
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