Chronicles of Life

#chap44 #chroniclesoflife #Sagas_by_Irvika #sweetlovestory

Shruti looked warily at her and said, "Kya mom.. How will I manage? " Jyotiji gently rebuked her and said, "High time you learn dear. You can learn basic draping while still here and then ask Preksha or Alpaji to help you out. Then, there is that ready to wear sari as well. So it shouldn't be a problem." She spent the entire afternoon sorting out and deciding about clothes. Her friend Priyanka came over in the evening and helped her to chose and coordinate. Once done, her mom treated them with delicacies and they had a good time catching up after so long.

The days passed quickly prepping herself and before she knew, it was time to go to Mumbai.

To be continued...

Atharva was waiting at the station to receive Shruti. As soon as the train stopped, both searched for each other in the crowd when she saw him first and waved out to him. She passed him her bag and alighted down. The glee on their face was unmistakable, although it had been just ten days since they met.

They quickly moved out of the station and settled in the car, when Atharva got something from the back seat and offered, “For you.”

She opened the box to see garlic bread and coleslaw sandwich for her. She exclaimed, “How nice of you! Thank you…” and offered him.

He refused, “No… I have a fast.” Shruti grimaced, “Atharva… how many fasts do you observe? Mujhse toh ek bhi nahi hota… anyways... I feel that you fast so many times ki mere bhi paap dhul jaayenge,” she joked and he simply smiled.

They reached home and the moment she stepped in, she became aware of the enormity of the occasion. The living room was being decorated with lights and colourful fabrics in an eye catching design. But what caught her attention was a semi constructed temple.

She looked at Atharva who explained, “Its Siddhivinayak temple in its miniature form…”

Soon, Minish, Atharva and Shruti set about joining the multiple cardboard pieces. It was like a huge jigsaw puzzle. Still, a lot was to be done as it was a mammoth structure. They took a break as it was almost dinner time. Isha had been wandering around, curious about what was going on.

Atharva was yawning by the time they were done with dinner but Minish and Shruti insisted and got him involved or else it would have been impossible to get the temple ready. It was almost 1 a.m. by the time they took a breather and decided to continue on the next day.

Shruti was apprehensive about sleeping alone again, but did she have a choice? She changed into her pyjamas and settled down. She kept chanting Gayatri mantra, as per Atharva’s instructions and gradually went into slumber, although not a very peaceful one. Her subconscious mind was not at peace and she started seeing a nightmare where she visualised herself being chased by someone.

She woke up with a scream and instantly bolted for the door, running blindly all the way to Atharva’s room. By the time she reached, she was panting and was extremely restless. She knocked at the door a couple of times after which Minish came and opened. He was startled to see her in that state and asked her to come in. Atharva had woken up by that time due to the commotion and immediately asked her to sit down.

Both Minish and Atharva were appalled to see her in that condition and listened to her haltingly explain her predicament. Minish thought of giving them some privacy, offered to get water for her and went out. Atharva immediately took her in his embrace and pacified her, hugging her tight and showering her with endearments. It took her some while to settle down.

Atharva’s mind raced to contemplate about some solution, but could think of none. One thing was clear though, that Shruti was in no condition to be alone. But then, he couldn’t ask bhabhi or ma to be with her every time. Ma wouldn’t leave papa alone and Shankar used to travel frequently, so anyways Preksha and Shankar were getting less time with each other.