Kaisey Yeh Rishtey - 44

Chapter 44

It was a few months later.

The last rays of the setting sun cast a warm golden glow over the corner of the lawn where three elderly people sat chatting with the ease of old friends. Near them, on the brightly colored swings and slides, a little girl played happily, while another child, a toddler, swung on the tiny swing under the watchful eyes of her mother. The mother’s slight limp was almost unnoticeable, as she pushed her child gently to and fro, and then looked up as two girls came out from the house bearing trays. She started forward toward them, but Khushi motioned her back.

“Anjali, watch Sonal … she’s on the swing …”

“Let me help,” Anjali protested, and Shivanya also waved her back.

“It’s fine … you watch the kids … that little devil … don’t know what she gets up to … Radhika, don’t do that!” as Radhika tried to shimmy up the side of the slide.

“I can do it!” Radhika protested, but Khushi shook her head at the little girl as she placed her tray carefully on the table, and Radhika obediently came away, making a face.

“I can do it, mamma,” she tried again and Khushi smiled at her.

“I know you can, sweetie, you're a big girl now. But I need your help for some important work … can you hand the tea cups to dadaji, and nanasar and nanisar?”

Radhika cheered up at the importance of the job entrusted to her, and handed the cups one by one very carefully to the older people, who watched her fondly.

“I looked after Sonal,” she told Khushi importantly. “Anjali aunty went to answer the phone, so I looked after Sonal. I was very careful.”

Shivi gave Anjali a look of ‘here we go again’ and Anjali smiled mischievously. Khushi exchanged a look with her grandmother and waited. Sure enough, it came soon. Radhika came up to Khushi, her little face serious, and held her hand trustingly.

“I can look after your baby, mamma. I’m very good … and res… resposibible. Please can I have a sister? Even my friend Kanika has got a baby sister. I want one too.”

“What about if it’s a brother?” asked a male voice, very amused, and the girls looked around in surprise. Arnav and Akash had joined them unnoticed, still in their office clothes. It was Akash who had voiced the question, and his face showed his amused enjoyment of his sister-in-law’s heightened color. She shook her head at him. Arnav came up to her and kissed her cheek.

Radhika’s face showed her horror at Akash’s idea.

“I don’t want a boy! Boys are nasty!” she exclaimed, and Arnav chuckled.

“So the war is still on, is it?” he asked Khushi in a soft voice, and she nodded, smiling back.

“Full swing! Today apparently public enemy Master Kunal pushed her while she was on the swing in school and she got a microscopic scratch. He’s on her hit list. As are all boys, as of now,” she added with a grin, and the others all chuckled.

“Enjoy it while it lasts,” said her grandmother, also with a mischievous look which made her look much younger and strongly like her granddaughter. “Soon enough, she’ll like boys, and that’s when the troubles will start.”

“I don’t like boys,” said Radhika firmly, understanding only the last part of the conversation. “I’d rather have a puppy, then.”

“So it’s a sister or a puppy?” asked Akash, his grin widening. “Bhabhi, she’s not giving you much choice, is she?”

Khushi laughed and Arnav slipped his arm around her and hugged her lightly.

“You wait,” he told his brother. “Once you and Shivi are married, she’ll start on you too. Laugh all you like right now!”

Khushi’s grandfather chuckled, then looked at Akash.

“When are you both getting married?” he asked. “Don’t leave it too long, son. I’d like to attend while I can still walk on my own feet. At the rate you’re both going …”

It was Shivi’s turn to blush slightly, as Akash grinned unrepentantly.

“I’d get married tomorrow if her parents would agree,” he remarked and added “… and my father. But dad wants me to finish MBA first, so we’ll wait a bit. And now that Lavanya’s wedding date is fixed, her parents want to finish that off first. Older daughter and all that.”

Khushi’s grandparents nodded understandingly. Khushi looked at Arnav a little nervously. It was the first time Lavanya’s wedding had been mentioned since the phone call two days ago giving them the news. But Arnav was looking unconcerned and as she looked at him, he looked back and blew her a kiss.

“Quite right,” remarked his father. “Akash and Shivi are still young. There’s no hurry.”

“I like that!” Akash exclaimed. “Ajay was just this age when he got married …”

There was a small silence, then his father said softly. “Yes, he was. If he was here, he’d be the first to tell you to go ahead …”

“No, he wouldn’t,” said Arnav firmly, breaking the slight somberness that had crept into the atmosphere. “He’d say, Akash, take my advice … stay single … be happy, and let Shivi be happy too!”

They all laughed and his father added, “Yes, and Poonam would say … why didn’t you say that during our time … what was the big hurry then?!”

The atmosphere lightened again and the talk became general. After some time Anjali got up to leave with her daughter, and Khushi accompanied her to her car.

“We’re thinking of adopting a baby,” Anjali told Khushi softly when they were out of earshot of the others. “Aman is very keen that Sonal not be the only child. Both of us are only children, and it gets very lonely. At least Sonal has Radhika now, and she just loves it, loves coming here to play with her. But when she goes back home, she keeps calling for Radhika. I think she really misses her. She’s just over one now … maybe in another year or so, we’d really like to have a second one.”

Khushi nodded understandingly. Anjali had taken the loss of her ability to have any more children very bravely, she thought with a pang. 

“I agree,” she told Anjali equally softly. “Radhika loves it too, but she also hates it when Sonal leaves. That’s why all these pleas for her own sister. She keeps telling me that if she had a real sister, they could be together all the time and she wouldn’t have to leave. I think it’s a good idea, Nina. Only children do get lonely.”

Anjali looked at her hesitatingly. “Khushi, do you know … could you help? We don’t know where to go … an orphanage … a children's home ... where? We would really like to give some child a home too. We're lucky, we have so much. If we could have another child, we probably wouldn't have thought about this, but now it seems  it's God's way of telling us we should share our blessings. ”

Khushi smiled. "That's a lovely way of looking at it, Anjali," she said sincerely. She looked down, then looked back at Anjali.

"You know I was a foster child for most of my life," she said hesitantly, and Anjali nodded. 

"I didn't even know it at the time," said Khushi. "But now that I look back, I was so lucky, Anjali. Lucky that Baba and his wife took me and my mother in when they did, lucky that they continued to look after me for so many years ... I know I found my grandparents so many years later, but all through those years, I had a stable home, someone I called family. That feeling is so precious, that stability is so important. If you can give some orphan child that, along with the love, you will give a child a life as surely as though you gave birth to him or her."

Anjali nodded, her eyes warm, moist. 

"If we get another Khushi, we will be blessed," she said, and impulsively hugged the other girl. Khushi smiled, her eyes as moist as Anjali's. 

"So ... where? How can we go about this, Khushi? How do we even start?"

Khushi thought for a bit. “What you could do,” she said slowly, “if you want to go that way … is register at the hospital. They know you – go talk to the lady in the Social Service department. She’s Mrs. Khanna, tell her I sent you. She would know when babies born in the hospital to unwed mothers or some such problem, and are given up for adoption. That way you could get a newborn baby and look after it from birth. Or else, if you want to check out the orphanage … the hospital looks after one in Mahabaleshwar. I could check on that if you like.”

Anjali nodded thoughtfully. “I’ll speak to Aman,” she told Khushi. “I'll discuss it with him, and see what he says. Thanks, Khushi. We’ll see you tomorrow, then.” 

She turned to get into her car. Behind them, Shantitai came out of the house with the phone and approached the group of people sitting in the lawn.

“For Khushi bhabhi … from the hospital,” she told Arnav and he took it, and spoke briefly into the phone. As Khushi came back to the group, he held it out to her.

“Your auntyji is back again,” he said with a grin and she looked at him reprovingly as she took the phone. Her grandfather looked at Arnav questioningly as Khushi moved away to speak.

“What aunt is this?”

Arnav grinned. “Oh, she’s a very sweet lady … one of Khushi’s patients. You know what a soft heart Khushi has. This poor woman has been admitted three four times in the last few months – she has an alcoholic husband who keeps beating her up. She lets out her heart to Khushi. Talks to her for hours. I think she has no one in her family who’s very close. And Khushi of course …”

“Will always be there to listen and help,” nodded Khushi’s grandmother, a mixture of pride and love in her voice. Arnav nodded and turned as Khushi came back to the group, her face concerned.

“Arnav … I think I need to go to the hospital. She’s admitted again …”

“He beat her again?” Arnav asked, taking in Khushi’s worry, and she shook her head, her face blank.

“No … she tried to commit suicide.”