chapter 33
Sanyog - A Coincidence
When we reached near her apartment ⦠she looked at me ⦠directly in my eyes â¦
I questioned , what ? are you ok ? headache ?
She nodded , tears tricking down her eyes â¦
Hesitatingly I put my right hand on her left and patted slightly ⦠and said ⦠Ok ⦠everything will be ok â¦
She replied , I am afraid â¦
Afraid of what ⦠I asked â¦
I will lose her forever ⦠my baby Suparana â¦
I comforted her saying ⦠nothing will happen ⦠I am with you ⦠we will do something ⦠by the way her name is so sweet ⦠Suparna â¦
Yess⦠she hummed and said , shall I ask you something ?
Do you need my permission ⦠I questioned â¦
Shall I come to your house today ⦠I will stay for a night and will return in the morning ⦠she said in a guilty tone â¦
Sanyogita ⦠I am very upset with you ⦠I uttered â¦
I am really sorry ⦠she said immediately ⦠I should have thought twice before asking ⦠you are ill and moreover Aunty and Uncle are also aged now ⦠sorry once again ⦠I donât want to bother you people â¦
I started laughing and said ⦠will you please shut up and donât give such a short explanation ⦠itâs not answer in brief but its answer in detail ⦠I mean to say ⦠why are you asking permission from me ⦠since when ⦠I paused â¦
Sorry , Sameep ⦠I know, I need no permission to come to your home but after such a long time ⦠everything is changed â¦
You think so ⦠we donât ⦠I answered ⦠If Ma comes to know about this ⦠that you asked for permission ⦠she will literally drive me out of the house â¦
Mayank interfered ⦠laughing ⦠sorry to interrupt you but without your permission Sir , I have turned the car towards our home â¦
Thatâs very wise decision ⦠Mayank ⦠see what madam is saying â¦
Sanyogita said , I will need clothes to change â¦
I replied ⦠donât worry ⦠Ma will manage everything for you ⦠(inside my mind thoughts were overflowing ... Ma and Baba will be excited to see her with me back at home ... they might think that I have asked her ⦠but they donât know anything about her marriage, divorce case and about Suparna baby ⦠I will have to let them know everything stepwise â¦)
Where are you lost ⦠she asked ⦠and further enquired ⦠have you taken your afternoon pills ⦠Mayank have you given Sir the pills â¦
Mayank replied ⦠extremely sorry but I forgot ⦠I mean to say ⦠I didnât wish to disturb you ⦠you were chatting after so many years â¦
Thatâs very bad ⦠she said irritatingly â¦now what I will answer aunty â¦
Mayank take the car aside ⦠I ordered ⦠I will have them now ⦠I said â¦
No â¦not now Sir ⦠he replied ⦠now you directly take night dose ⦠that will be better â¦
Ok ⦠I replied
Shall we inform the doctor Mayank ⦠Sanyogita asked â¦
I will text him as we reach ⦠Mayank said â¦
Ok⦠she said but do it without fail ⦠she ordered
Yes ⦠Mayank said and nodded â¦
As we reached home â¦
Ma was standing in the door waiting for me ⦠when she saw Sanyogita getting down from the car, her eyes glittered ⦠I was sure ⦠what she might be thinking about us â¦
Sanyogita held her head while she was walking on the pavement towards the porch ⦠Ma immediately enquired , what happened dear ?
Sanyogita answered ⦠Nothing Ma ⦠bit of headache ⦠after many days , I ate outside food , may be because of that â¦
Ma replied ⦠Ok ⦠Ok ⦠come inside , freshen up and I will prepare ginger tea for you â¦
I asked laughing ⦠and what about me? Have you forgotten me?
Ma said smiling ⦠you includes both of you ⦠and went inside the kitchen ⦠turned back and said ⦠I have kept towel and saree for you in the guest room, Sanyogita ⦠go freshen up and take rest ⦠Sameep you also go and change your clothes â¦
We both started laughing ⦠Ma we are grown up now ⦠stop giving instructions ⦠I shouted â¦
For a mother child is always a child , how much old the child is ,it doesnât matter ⦠she said laughing â¦
After some time ⦠I heard giggling sounds from the guest room ⦠so I peeped through the curtain â¦
Sanyogita was sitting on the bed and Ma was sitting on the chair near her ⦠Sanyogita was sipping hot tea , she had taken shower and her wet hair spread all over her saree ⦠both of them they were talking and laughing continuously ⦠how I wished this bonding should continue forever â¦
Sanyogita saw me hidden behind the curtain and she called , why are you standing over there , come inside ⦠your tea is getting cold â¦
I entered and sat on the bed , Ma handed me the cup of tea â¦
Sitting on the chair , she was watching us both ,both of us sitting together with contended eyes â¦
The tension , Sanyogita shared with me , half an hour earlier was nowhere , almost vanished , her face was also glowing with happiness and satisfaction ⦠I was very happy for all of us ⦠after many years⦠this housed has witnessed happiness â¦
Sameep ⦠Ma said ⦠bring some balm for her ⦠she has headache ⦠and let her take rest ⦠she is tired â¦
I nodded and went out to bring the balm â¦
When I entered guest room again ⦠Ma has left and Sanyogita was lying on the bed ⦠half asleep , so I dared , went near her and started applying balm on her forehead softly ⦠I thought , she might be upset with me but she just whined and turned her back towards me ⦠her hair was thoroughly wet ⦠the backside of her blouse and saree was completely drenched ⦠I was afraid she might catch cold ⦠so I opened the cupboard , took out the towel and started rubbing her hair ⦠again she buzzed and started snoring , then I came out ⦠the fragrance of her hair was tantalizing my nose and mindâ¦. I entered my room and opened my diary and started writing â¦
The enigma of hers still prevalent
Years fled still her charm persistent
Contexts changed, reference still the same
I love her the fact remains the sameâ¦
The fact never changes
Dr. Archana Pandit