[PUNJAB]
It had been a week, Shehnaaz was busy packing most of the time. She thought of taking a quick and last glance of her house before her cab arrived. Every corner reminded her of Amma, especially the kitchen, they've had a great time there, her mother's boring cooking lessons.
Flashback:
"Seekh le khana banana.. Sasural me koi teri maggie nahi khayega..!" Amma was tired of watching her daughter having her daily evening snack, so she was teaching her how to fry puri, to keep twitching it in the preheated oil, so it puffed up properly.
"Kya Amma.. Har baat pe sasural ki baatein karti ho..!" Shehnaaz was so irked.
"Acha nahi karti.. (chuckled) Lekin jab tu bahar padhne jayegi.. Naukri karegi..Akele rahegi.. Tab?" Amma asked.
"Toh aap kab kaam aaogi? Aap rahoge na.. Mere cook!" she laughed.
"Han.. Maa na hui.. Cook hi hu mai toh.." Amma feigned hurt.
"Sorry meri Maa.. Mazak tha..! Dekho.. puri banani aati hai mujhe.. Abhi ke liye itna kafi hai..?" pointing at the plate, filled with 2 baby puris.
"Hmm.." Amma nodded, serving her plate with aloo ki sabji, happily.
"Tere bhale ke liye bolti hu.. Hamesha thodi na tere sath reh paungi mai.." she added, feeding her daughter sitting on the kitchen floor.
"Amma aap aisi baatein kyu karte ho? Samne jo Simran ki beeji rehti hai unko dekho.. 99 ki hai.. Century complete karne vali hai kuch dino me.. Aur ek aap ho!" Shehnaaz shook her head, while Amma laughed.
Shehnaaz chuckled, reminiscing the conversation, she stroked her hand over the kitchen platform, the shelf, everything was just as Amma used to keep them, cups and plates, just the way Amma used to arrange them. This small kitchen will always remain her favourite place, followed by her bedroom. The room adjacent to her's belonged to her mother's husband, it was locked for years as if locking the room could keep those dreadful memories away.
"Simran.. Ye le ghar ki chabi.." Shehnaaz walked out after locking the house, "Sambhal ke rakhna.. Kisi ko mat dena.." she added.
Her friend had a plain face, "Kyu sambhal ke rakhna? Tu toh ayegi nahi vapas.. Bech de ya kiraye pe dede na ghar ko.." she suggested.
"Pagal hai tu? Amma ka ghar hai ye! Sochna bhi mat aisa karne ka.." Shehnaaz spat snatching back the keys and kept them in her hand bag. Shehnaaz didn't speak till the reached the railway station, totally ignoring her friend's apologies.
"Tera heavy luggage peeche ke compartment mein hai.. Coolie nahi badi trolley vale ko bulana le jane ke liye.." Simran said. She shouldn't have messed things up in the end, she knew her bestfriend's sensitive topics amd now she regretted her suggestion. She just wanted her friend not to worry about that place.
"Aur.. I'm sorry.." she continued.
"Mai...mai nahi bech sakti woh ghar.. Tu janti hai na.." Shehnaaz said, with teary eyes.
"Hmm janti hu.. Abhi jaane se pehle gussa mat kar.." Simran spoke before gathering her in a tight hug.
"Bye.. Khayal rakhi.." Shehnaaz pecked her cheeks.
"Bye.. pahuch ke call karna.." Simran said and climbed out of the train as the whistle blew.
[MUMBAI]
The 1 day and 8 hour journey wasn't as tiring as getting a rickshaw and another vehicle for her heavy luggage in the night. She was surcharged for the bulky goods that came along, her study table and bed in loose parts obviously, apart from the 3 suitcases.
'BalaJi Avenues', a huge metal gate engraved in bolds, a man came up as she climbed out, he looked like a watchman.
"Aap punjab se aayi hai?" he asked.
"Hanji.. Aapko kaise pata?" she wasn't expecting someone to welcome.
"Mai watchman Shyam.. Mujhe Tiwari Ji ne bataya tha kirayedaar aane wali hai.." he elaborated. She unlocked her phone to receive the same message from her landlord, that he had prior commitments. She obliged as he led her to the designated apartment, there she met Arohi, her roommate.
"Hey.. Shehnaaz right? Arohi.." she shook hands with her.
...............
Sidharth was back to hospital after spending the entire weekend happily with his Mom, a visit to home felt great, rejuvenated actually. As if it braced him for the upcoming hectic days, Mondays usually meant checking on every patient, a quick go through. Many requested him to grant them discharge, some even complained about the tasteless food, but most thanked him for his guidance and treatment that has healed people.
He was on one such round, when he recalled his previous surgery. "What was the patient's name... We operated on Friday? How's he doing?" he asked the nurse.
"He's Ramesh Yadav.. He's fine sir.. No complaints yet.. Aaj phir se CT scan hua.." she answered, flipping the short writing pad she had, guiding him to his ward.
"Kaisa lag raha hai Ramesh?" he asked the man sitting upright.
"Theek lag raha hai dr.." Ramesh immediately joined his hands as a gesture of thank you.
"Sar me dard hota hai?" He enquired, the patient nodded, just then the nurse handed him the reports.
"Tension lene koi zarurat nahi hai.. Dawaiyan continue rakhiye.. Reports theek aayi hai.." he assured. Ramesh sighed happily, thanking him again. Sidharth took a glance of the kid playing around his father's bed, he was too young to grasp the concept of accident and losing lives. He could have lost his father that day, gladly he didn't. And he was happy for him. His day went by with a couple of surgeries, minor ones.
"Doctor.. Raghav was asking for you.." a nurse informed.
"Who?" he didn't recognize.
"Sir the intern... He has been waiting for you.." she informed him. The training period was the only thing Sidharth hated, every year medical students were up for training under certain doctors, they would ask thousands of questions, follow him around and even texted him their doubts. He didn't mind guiding them, but these new kids, acting like doctors already ate his mind. Sidharth cleared Raghav's doubt, it was related to the file they were supposed to prepare.
Calling it a day, he went back home to see a tempo parked in the middle of the society compound, furniture being unloaded. A girl was asking the men to carefully handle the boxes.
"Aap ye chota box mujhe dedo.. Isme sirf books hai.." she said, taking the small cartoon in her hands. Was she a student? He could see her back, she wore a blue kurti over leggings hairs tied in a bun. Her voice was loud yet sweet. Then he saw her walking into the building ahead.
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AJEEB DASTAN HAl YEH..♥️
FanfictionA story of two broken people, who weren't very expecting from life. Yet they were willful. You want it, then you better strive for it, they thought. But that's not life when you get all you want. Right? Not that you didn't work hard enough, but, eve...
