Little Amara sat on the pebbles by the Beas,
watching the ferocious river tear its way through the landscape, down the slope
to the valley below. It was quite a sight for a six year old and she was
enjoying it to the fullest by sitting right next to the edge and was quite
brave to do so as the slightest of slips would mean her getting taken by the
river, taken to a point of no return.
Even though her parents were a bit worried they knew that she would not listen
in any case, she was a wild spirit who could not be tamed. She was a reckless
girl but not a careless one. Reckless because she had no fear of what would
happen to her, she just wanted to live to the fullest. She once climbed quite
high a Neem tree next to her house in Delhi just to see what the view was like
with no regards to her age or the danger of falling down.
Right next
to her on the banks sat her little brother Viraj who was half her age. He
adored his sister, and those two were inseparable. Amara felt very protective
of her little brother and was very emotionally attached to him. She used to
spend the entire day in his company and never really let him out of sight and
since joining school she runs to him as soon as she gets back. They did
everything that kids do at that age, much of which was watching cartoons
together for long. As their parents saw them play with each other a smile came
upon them, this was their first vacation as a complete family and they could
see it being a success.
It was
almost dark and time for them to return to their hotel, they told the children
that they would be leaving in five minutes and they seemed to be ignorant of
this. They were lost in each other. The sun had set and it left in its tail an
orange haze in the sky, the lush green hills had a much darker shade to them
now. The orange of the sky was reflected in the river in a somewhat ruffled way
due to the speed of the water. One could see many flocks of birds returning
home against the backdrop of the sound of the water. It was an alluring setting
that nature offered. Yet the two siblings were splashing water on each other
and fighting playfully paying no heed to their parents or the scenery, for them
ignorance was truly bliss.
It was time
to leave, the mother started walking towards the car to put in sheet they had
been sitting on to avoid getting muck on their clothes. Amara got up and said
“first to the car gets to sit in front” and as that meant quite a bit, Viraj got
up in haste and then, disaster struck. As he was getting up, he stepped on a
loose rock and tripped and within seconds he was carried away by the sheer
velocity of the current. As Amara looked on in shock, too taken aback to even
scream, their father wasted no time and jumped in after his son as if something
was not done Viraj would surely collide against a boulder which would be his
demise. Their mother came running right to the edge and screeched for help,
Amara soon followed, but there was no one around and even if there was it was
too late anyways as the father and son were already out of sight.
**************************
Three hours
after the incident a rescue team was searching for the two missing men
downstream. They found no luck for atleast 5 hours after which the mother and
daughter were advised to go back to their hotel. There was stunned silence on
both the faces. The mother knew that 8 hours in that current and it would be
practical to assume the worst as it would take more than a miracle to avoid those
rocks and still be breathing and as for Amara, she was drowned in guilt and in
her mind she was responsible for the possible death of both her father and
brother and that was a harsh burden to bear, especially for a six year old, a
burden she would bear for years to come.
A day later
as they were in their room and their hopes hung on a thin thread, the news was
delivered. Amara was lying mute on the bed, her body had no more tears to shed
and their mother had not even shed a tear as she was in shock. They heard a
knock on the door, and almost mechanically without any emotion Amara got up to
open the door, she was too scared to hope, to even think that it could be good
news. Her fear was well placed, as the person brought tragic news with him.
“Ma’am there can be no good way to put this, so I will come to the point. We
have found the body of Mr. Chopra. He passed away due to his head smashing
against a boulder and subsequent drowning; we need you to come to the police
station to claim the body. I am so sorry for your loss. The body of your son
could not be found and I would say it is time to assume the worst. I am sorry
again.” With that pile driving news the
man went on his way, leaving Amara motionless and the Mother had the same blank
expression as though she had not yet heard the news.
***************************************
As Amara
entered the house from the market she saw her mother had already come home from
work and rushed to the kitchen to get her some water. Her mother seeing this
let out a smile thinking to herself how much her daughter had grown up since
that unfortunate incident three years ago. Of course the void left by her
husband and son could not be filled ever and even Amara knew this but she tried
nonetheless and her mother sometimes wondered if this was because of the fact
that she held herself partly responsible for what happened that day, her mother
however didn’t share this feeling of hers.
In the
three years that had passed a lot of things had changed. First of which was
that they moved to Mumbai from Delhi, selling of their lavish house in
Chanakyapuri. They did this as that place had too many memories of a happy
complete family and the trauma was too much to deal with. They had to move on
with their life and fast. Luckily Amara’s father had left behind enough savings
and the house fetched a lot of money to help them start anew. Her mother wanted
no connection with that life and luckily they hadn’t too many relatives, just a
few friends without telling whom they had moved to Mumbai. The mother had a
good education and was working before she conceived Viraj and now worked as a
marketing manager in an MNC. Amara went to a decent school here and was decent
in studies. But things were not always so rosy for her. She still held herself
responsible for what happened to her brother and father but to a much less
degree than at the start of their stay in Mumbai. She used to have nightmares
and hallucinations, and the only thing that kept her from killing herself was
the will to not abandon her mother. Luckily for her too, her mother was a
strong woman, she took sometime but eventually learned to carry her grief with
her and move on for the sake of her daughter. With time things got better and
even though they will never be the same, it’s safe to say that they held their
own. Over this period the mother and daughter bonded a lot. They would go for
evening walks along the seaside or go for movies together and her mother would
try to be the father too. Likewise Amara too tried to fill in for Viraj and
helped in all the household chores. They weren’t the ideal family, but they
certainly showed inspirational resolve to overcome their immense misfortune.
****************************
As Vikram
came home from the temple with his mother, he straight away ran to his father
who had promised him a chocolate if he went to the temple along with his
mother. As his father fulfilled that promise the ecstatic joy he saw on his
sons face was an immense source of happiness to him. Even though Vikram was
adopted he was always treated as their own son, and he also accepted them as
his parents. His adopted parents could not have a child of their own and so adopted
Vikram. The reason they chose Vikram from the orphanage three years ago and not
any other child was partly due to his extraordinary story. Vikram’s real
parents were never known even to the orphanage.
One
evening after sunset a couple who lived right at the outskirts of a remote
village by the banks of the Beas, saw something flowing down the river at rapid
speed. At first they saw just a man who was just going with the flow of the
river doing nothing to stop. His head was bleeding and was most probably dead
by that time and then they saw a very young boy also going the same way, but he
was miraculously alive and as luck would have it, he got stuck in the fishing
net the couple had set up for their evening meal. Immediately the man rushed to
save him, and save him he did. However the boy was unconscious for three days
he phased in and out of consciousness. On the fourth day when he was in his
senses, the couple asked him about his family but he was in too much of a shock
to say anything. He knew his father was dead, he saw him die in that river and
that was too much to take. After about a week he opened his mouth when the
couple asked him his name for the umpteenth time and all he could muster was
“V……” and the same again and again. They went to the local police station to
report this. The police however in this forgotten village was lazy, incompetent
and insensitive and hardly put in an effort to locate his family. This couple
was a poor one and could not take care of him, so they sent him to an
orphanage, where he was named Vikram as that name started with ‘V’. He had a quiet stay at the orphanage for about
a year before he was adopted by his new parents. He took some time to warm up
to them, but once he did he took them as his own.
*****************************************
It was a very important day in the life of Amara.
She went to her mom and asked her how she looked. “You remind me of me in my
young days, your father would have really liked to see you like this.” The
mention of her father brought a slight smile to her face. The smile was of both
wonder and pain. She missed her father a lot and sometimes spent nights wishing
he was there, even so she wondered what he would thought of her wearing this
blood red sari. Though she still missed her dad, in the 16 years that had passed
since his tragic demise she had been able to overcome the guilt and finally
accept that his and her brother’s death was not her fault and was an accident.
In the past
16 years her mother had worked extremely hard to be able to maintain their financial
security, there were a lot of late nights and early morning flights or long
hours at the office but Amara could see that it was all worth it. She had lived
a comfortable life for someone with a single mother, that too in an expensive
place like Mumbai. Today Amara was graduating from college and would take her
first steps towards adult life. She had topped her college with amazing grades
and had got a job in a leading marketing firm. She knew that her mother was
proud of her and more importantly she was proud of herself, because her mother
had recently told her that now that she will be earning that her mother will
resign within a year as she was now tired of running the house for more than a
decade and wanted to relax now, she was just waiting for Amara to be well
settled in her new environment. As Amara left the house for her graduation
ceremony she looked up to the sky and wondered for a fleeting moment if her
father was seeing how grown up his little girl had become.
****************************************
Vikram was
leaving for Chandigarh railway station. He was leaving his home to start a new
journey in Delhi. He had got admission in Delhi University and was excited and
anxious to start college life. His parents had come to see him off. His father
had initially been against him leaving home and had suggested that he choose a
college in Chandigarh only, however he agreed once Vikram gave him the
practical reasons about the quality of the colleges. His mother had packed some
food for the short train journey. She kissed him on the head as he bent down to
take her blessings and his father did the same.
Sometime
later as he was in the train, looking out at the passing fields, but he was
totally oblivious to them, there could have been the sea instead of the fields
and he still would not notice, he was thinking of his parents, his biological
parents. He thought where his mother and father were, were they alive, if so
why they did not find him. Did they think him dead? He was missing something,
he could not remember their faces at all, there was someone else also in the
family, someone who he was very close to, probably even closer than his parents
but he could not remember who, he was thinking hard and suddenly her face came
before him as clearly as though it was only yesterday that they were sitting
beside the river, his sisters face was before him but before he could try to
remember more the train had reached its destination.
His
mother had arranged for him a pg in Delhi. It was a small house but was in a
decent locality and was clean. He had another roommate with whom he thought he
would get along well enough. He intended
to study hard and was looking to earn straight after college without doing a
post graduate course. He wanted to start early as he did not want to live off
his parents income for much longer as he felt much indebted to them for raising
him up as their own.
**************************************
The news was
both good and bad. Amara was going to Delhi, she had been made the head of
marketing in Delhi after 3 and a half years of faithful service and would get a
significant pay rise and would get a lavish apartment to live in. However on
the other hand she would have to leave her mother, an idea she was not very
comfortable with. Her mother had practically raised her up on her own and now when
it was time for Amara to take care of her, she was moving out for her own
reasons. She felt selfish, but her mother soon talked her out of it, as she
usually did in such situations. Amara was going to Delhi it was decided, the
place where it all began. She however also convinced her mother to move there
once she was settled, she told her mom to sell off everything in Mumbai and to
move in with her in Delhi, their home. Her
mother was highly reluctant to move back because of all the memories of her
husband and Viraj, but she loved her daughter ever so much and agreed.
As Amara was
at the airport saying her goodbye, she saw a certain sadness and fear in her
mother’s eyes. “ It will be alright” she said. “I have a good feeling about
Delhi, please come soon.” Her mother nodded her head and Amara kissed her on
the forehead and was off. As she sat in the waiting room, she admitted to
herself that even she was really anxious about going back somehow, even though
no one waited there for them she was anxious in a way that she did not seem to
dislike.
******************************************
As Vkram
came home from his internship he was in a gleeful mood the reason was simple he
had got a permanent job with the MNC he had been interning with. Vikram had
topped his college with flying colours. In the three years of college, he came
first in his class in all of them and had applied for a job as planned. The company
he liked the most took him on as an intern for a three month period, thereafter
deciding if he was capable of a job. He worked really hard, excelled in every
task given to him and had finally got his reward. He was to be junior marketing
assistant, the pay was nothing great but the scope for growth was enormous and
the job profile really excited him. It was something he knew he could be the
best at. The marketing department needed new and capable employees also as the
company had doubled its production in the region and the old number was not
enough to handle the marketing. His boss told him now that he would be taking
orders from two people working in tandem, the other person being a certain
young lady who was transferred from the Mumbai branch to help handle the
expansion in a better way. It would make an interesting team he thought to
himself, his boss was 63 years old and this lady was definitely under 30. He had
called home to confirm this news and his parents were really proud of him, he
promised them that he would visit soon and would bring something for them with
his first salary.
The next
day when he went to office, his first day officially he went to his boss to
understand his task for the day, his boss told him to go and introduce himself
to the new co- head who wants to meet each member of her team personally. “Make
an impression” he said. As Vikram entered the room, he saw her looking at some
files with some concentration. “Ma’am you wanted to see me?” As she looked up
and saw Vikram and he saw her, they stared at each other, as if they had been
waiting all their life for this day. There was silence for a good 2-3 minutes
when finally he said “Ma’am?” “Yes, sorry.” She said suddenly. “ Iam sorry I
was a bit lost. I am your new co-head Amara Bhatia. You are?” The name seemed
to ring a bell but he had no time to dwell on it, he had to make an impression.
“Vikram Singh.” “Aah, so you are our
youngest employee. Your work as an intern has been quite brilliant I am told. I
would expect even better quality now. You can leave, your duties will reach you
soon enough.” Vikram did as he was told,
but on his way out he wondered why there had been that silence, Amara wondered
the same.
*************************************
It was good
day at the office for everyone, their company recorded profits more than
anything ever seen before and it seemed as though the decision to expand over
two years ago had been the right one. Vikram had now got two promotions in as
many years and a significant pay rise. It was not time to buy a new house as
his place was too cramped and small for someone in his position. As he went
house searching, he looked for houses all over the city and even liked a few
but none of them seemed just right. He decided to search more or else he would
take the house he saw in GK-2. It wasn’t perfect, but it was in a good location
and was of decent space and was worth the money it commanded.
The next day
he was almost done with all the houses, when the property agent sensing his disappointment
said “Sir, there is one more house, it is a bit above your budget but is one of
those finer houses that has a really classic look to it. It is in Chankayapuri,
might I take you there?” Vikram was in
no mood to go as he knew it would be way too expensive, plus he had already convinced
himself to buy the other house. Yet he
went to see it, and when he saw it something happened. They had just reached
the driveway and Vikram knew in his heart of heart that he would be buying this
place. He saw the interiors and fell in love, they were really good and lavish
but he could find that in a better place or at a better price but somehow he
knew he would be buying that house He did. He took a significant loan from the
bank and put in all his savings into that house. Even though it was priced more
than it was worth, Vikram felt happy.
The
following week as he reached office his old boss called him to his cabin. He
was retiring and though the news made him sad as he shared a good rapport with
him, he was overwhelmed with joy when he learnt that he was going to take his
place. His boss told him that his dedication, innovative ideas and
unconditional hard work had led him to recommend him as his replacement, and
the board agreed. He was even happier as he was going to be working with Amara
now, someone who he really enjoyed working with.
As he went
to Amara and received his congratulations he told Amara of his new house and
asked her that she come with him to look at the house and they could order
pizza to celebrate them working together. Amara who was really fond of Vikram in
a friendly way agreed. As they parked in the driveway of Vikram’s new home and
were walking towards the porch Amara suddenly stopped. Vikram urged her to
follow and when she didn’t he figured something was wrong. When he asked her,
the reply shocked him.“ I used to live here.” She said. Vikram was surprised to
say the least and even more so when he saw Amara cry. He put an arm around her
shoulder and took her till the porch
where they sat after he got her some water. “I cannot go inside. I used to live
here with my family till…………..till my father and brother passed away.” She sobbed.
Vikram was truly shocked now. “You
actually lived here?” he asked in disbelief and when she nodded sobbing he was
silent. After about 10 minutes when she finally stopped crying Vikram asked her
about her family and what happened to her father and brother. She was reluctant
to tell a mere co-worker but she did upon insistence from Vikram. “We had gone
on our first vacation as a family….. then as quickly as Viraj fell my father
dived in after him to save him and they went downstream. After sometime they
found the body of my father, all life had left him, and my brother….” “ They
never found him. Right?” Vikram asked. “Yes. How do you know?” Amara asked a
bit surprised. “Because I am Viraj Bhatia, your brother. There was utter and
complete silence as they stared at each other with tears in both of their eyes,
even the wind seemed to have stopped.
It took
them ten minutes to break the silence and a further hour for Viraj to complete
his story by the end of which they both were crying and that too loudly, both
tears of joy and sadness. The sadness of being apart for so long, while Amara
thought him dead and Viraj could do nothing but wonder about the whereabouts
and identity of his family. Sadness because they had been seeing each other
everyday for so long and yet they never really found out who they truly were. But
the joy overpowered any other emotion, the joy of seeing each other after more
than two decades and at the same house where they were born and where they were
raised together, the same house where they played hide and seek and other
games. They embraced each other for a long time before they let go. “Its time
our mother knew of this.” Amara said. She took out the phone and called her
up. “Hello mom? Guess who I found. Here talk
to him.” As Viraj took the phone, both nervousness and excitement filled him. A
tear ran down his cheek when he took the phone. “Hi mother, it is me Viraj.
Your son.”
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