The door was opened for the maid, i started complaining to her on the inconsistency ... the maid was on her own mind and went inside the kitchen and started her work like a machine.... nobody applies passion to their work nowadays ... sighed me.....
The aroma of the pav bhaji spread everywhere and the little one woke up without any wakeupcall becuase of the aroma as Pav Bhaji is her favorite food. she went directly to the kitchen with a bright smile and said wow... pav bhaji, i will just freshenup and come and went running to the bathroom without heeding to my screams to mind her steps...
Hubby was busy in the computer as usual and i kept speaking about how he used to give lot of time to the family and me earlier which has changed drastically nowadays and he is quite stressed and occupied with his work and working non -stop.. as usual it went into deaf ears and he closed the computer in sometime and went to have bath without uttering a word to me... Husbands ... hmmmmmm
husband left for work and the kid for the classes with a loud bye .... Empty nest syndrome peeped in silently and i looked around...
The Taj mahal desktop was the first gift i got from Naren and when we were dating From the school to the college when we gradually grew from childhood to adulthood we realised we were already in love and wanted to have a serious commitment and with everyone's blessing we were married 7 years before. Each gift and photo was carrying loads of laughter, story & memories as a backdrop....
The photo of Proud Father Naren holding new born Anu was in the center, those moments were the finest and touchy moments for both of us as i had lots of difficulties in conceiving and the doctor said Anu cannot have siblings as i was not fit for any more deliveries ... The one and only bundle of Joy for us in this birth...
Anu has been a very affectionate and warm child from the childhood.... A great sense of satisfaction arises whenever i see her....Again the bell rang and the maid opened the door even before i get up and reached the door... My parents..
OMG, they never told me they were coming and i was so glad to welcome and embraced them tightly... My mother upon entering the house started complaining about the traffic of the city which took so long to come, the maid, cleanliness of the house and Anu's unkept hair, non availability of milk in the fridge everything.... Moms never change hehehehh..
Dinner time and unusually all of them were quiet and i could not understand what was going on in everyone's mind and Naren started, i had called the pandit home and let us keep it very simple and Anu was looking at all without any clue of the topic and so was I... I kept asking what was going on and they were not very keen on sharing. Okay something cooking as a surprise as thy do that for every Bday of mine, i let them plan alone so that they dont have to be struggling with code words, i controlled my excitement and kissed Anu and left the place
I had to carry on with rest of the supervision of work, all lights switched off, kitchen is clean, bed is ready for Naren & Anu and the maid has kept a bag outside for milk etc...
Early morning someone rang the bell and i was quite surprised to let a Pandit in...
Surprisingly, the otherwise late raiser Naren got up and greeted him and said we dont want to call many as we still have not come to the terms of she left us ..... wait.... Who is he talking about ? Naren slowly brought the photo from the cupboard and put a garland around.... and with teary eyes held my hands and said I miss u pia... why did u leave us so early.....
I had no words to say, no body to hug and no life to be a part of this family.... I slowly was getting prepared to accept the condolence Puja the pandit was starting....May be they never know i never left them and very much present amidst them, amongst them..
Can they ever come to know ?................................................................