MaNan-Colors Of Destiny

Chapter 30

(A/N: Yes. We're back with a new chapter. Guys, probably this is the last chapter for this week (till 8th November) because both of us have our exams and we cannot write. I hope you guys agree with us that studies is more important than anything else, at least at this age. So please, forgive us. We'll try to update on Saturday and Monday to compensate our absence. Hope you understand. We'll be back soon though. Just a break for a week or too. Love you all and thanks to everyone who comment and vote for our story. We appreciate your love for us. Stay blessed. Cheers. [Parth's style 😉✌️])

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~~Nidhi's POV~~
We wake up at 6:30. Yep, quite late but I think it's okay. We did our assignment till 11 last night. Amma still hasn't called so I think it won't be a big problem. I wake Dad and Naman and we all get ready one after the other. Dad drops us at school and we go to our classroom. We sit in our places. Naman, Akshay and Naman sit together and Kavya, Divya and I sit together. The teacher comes inside. Yeah, our first class today is English. In a way, it's cool but still, who wants to start the day with a boring presentation of their speech? Actually, it isn't really boring. It's just that people will be talking about their fathers and lives while Naman and I here, will just pretend to be deaf. The teacher takes our attendance and starts calling out random children to present their work. Surprisingly, I'm the third one to be called out. I go with my assignment to the front of the classroom. The teacher gets impressed with my work and shows the rest of the class. I get some appreciation and then, I read out my essay or rather, my speech.

"Everyone says, a girl's first love is her father, but not mine." A father is one precious gift from God, who protects you, supports you, and is your first best friend, or anything else, you name it, that you need him to be but unfortunately I do not have that precious gift. Those who have parents might not realise the importance of them. It is true that they are your first God and only those who have craved for that love can understand, the pain of not having a parent.

When I was younger, I always thought I had done something wrong and it was because of that big mistake that my father never wanted to see me. All I wished for was to meet my father once. Just once. All my life, I have been deprived of that love, my father, my confidant, my best friend and as a child, it really did affect my life. Childhood is the age children learn many things from their surroundings, their parents and their close friends and family. They are curious to know things but as a child, I never was exposed to any of these. I never knew why my father didn't want to be around me and it always hurt me, when I saw all my friends with their parents.

Living with a single parent home was normal for me. When I was young, I never knew that two parents were needed for the proper upbringing of a child until one day my mother brought it to my attention. She never told us anything about our father and even if she did, she always assured us that he will be back soon, because he loves us. She would always tell us positive things about him and hence, for us our father is the best father any child could ever have. Mother knew that one day, when I would understand how much his absence meant to us, he would be pictured as a perfect father, a father which every child would dream of.

My mother means everything to me. She cooks, she cleans, she works and yet takes care of both my brother and I while my father was never in the picture at all. Many of my friends would tell me that their fathers are the ones who taught them many things. From bicycle riding to self-defense, fathers are the ones who teach you most of the things. I always wondered why my father never bothered about us. If he would be with us, life must have been better. But the reality was that he just wasn't there and I blamed myself for it. It took me a long while to realise that I wasn't the problem. In fact, he was.

I never felt the real happiness and joy of a family until I met my father, Manik. He might not be our biological father, but he sure is my superhero. In these 5 days I've stayed with him, I've seen most of his shades and to me, he is the perfect ideal. He is the exact person, according to behaviour and attitude, who my mother would talk about. He always protected us, helped us, fed us, had fun with us and lastly, took immense care of us in the absence of our mother. Though I love my mother a lot and she means everything to me, she could never fill that empty space in our lives, which Manik could. Though I'm closer to my mother than anyone else in this world, I didn't miss her as much as I thought I would with Manik around. I thought once she'd leave, we would be dying with the phone in our hands, eagerly anticipating her call but I was wrong. In these 5 days, I've been away from my mother and closer to my superhero and I don't miss her much.

Manik might not be the best in this world, but he surely is an amazing father, in his own way. He is perfect for me and perfect for us (my brother Naman and I). Yet, I still pray to my Ayyappa, every night, to bring my father, my superhero, my best friend and my everything to me, whether he is in the form of Manik, or anyone else in this world close to our family. All I wish for, is that I see my father once before my last breath and I wish he could come into our lives and complete our incomplete family.

Nidhi: "Thank you." I conclude and everyone clap loudly. I look up to see the entire class in tears. Naman signals me 'Well-Done-Sis'. I smile faintly and look at my teacher. She wipes her tears and bends down to reach me. "Sorry Ma'am, I exceeded the word limit but I really wanted to write all this." She smiles and pats my head. The bell rings. Our teacher collects our assignments and leaves. The entire day gets over at the blink of an eye. The last class ends and we all run out of the class.

We all stand in front of the school gate and we get the biggest shock of our lives. Nobody is there to pick us up. We wait and wait until all the children leave the school. But nobody comes, neither Navya aunty, nor Manik.

We wait till 2 and then give up. We get so hungry. Our stomachs grumble and we decide to eat in a nearby dhaba. Usually, we bring money along with us, just in case everything fails. We all club our money together and manage to collect ₹138. That is more than enough to have lunch and go home too. There is a dhaba just opposite to school. Naman and Akshay go to that dhaba to get food for all of us while Samarth and we, girls, sit on a bench nearby. Naman and Akshay buy 10 idlis and we all share. By the time we finish our idlis, Navya aunty, Mukti aunty and Alya aunty come to pick us up. They get shocked looking at us and at the same time, feel proud of us for being independent. On the way back home, they tell us that Manik and Cabir uncle had to go to Lonavala for some important work. That means, we have to stay back at Dhawan's Residence until Dad is back. It isn't a bad idea, but we will miss Dad. We have proper lunch after going home, play some games, and chill. I miss Dad. At 4, unable to control ourselves, Naman and I dial his number with the help of Navya aunty and put the phone on speaker.

*calling Manik*
Manik: "Hello Navya? Are the kids there? Are they okay? Could I speak to them?"
Nidhi: "Appa..."
Manik: "Nidhi baby, I'm so sorry for not coming to pick you up. Actually I had to go for some urgent work. Sorry sorry baby."
Naman: "Manik, it's okay. We just missed you, that's it. When are you coming back?"
Manik: "I miss you both too but I won't be back before 4 a.m. tomorrow. I'm sorry Naman."
Nidhi: "Okay Appa. It's okay. You know? Today when I read my assignment in class na? Everyone clapped the loudest for me. The teacher also appreciated me for my work."
Manik: "Acchha? Nice. Good job baby doll aur haan, when you get the assignment back, I would like to read it."
Nidhi: "Sure Appa."
Naman: "Aur ma'am didn't even see my work. How lame!"
Manik: "Relax Champ."
Nidhi: "Appa, listen... You drive safely now okay? After you reach Lonavala, we'll talk."
Naman: "Haan, bye Manik."
Manik: "Okay bye guys. Love you both."
Naman and Nidhi: "We love you too. Come back soon."
*call ends*

After talking to him, we feel relieved. We have fun the rest of the day. I study a little but I get distracted by my insane brother. Later in the day, Navya aunty makes vegetarian Punjabi food and we all eat. I must say, Punjabi food tastes amazing. We eat and we girls sleep with Kavya in her room and the boys sleep in the guest room.
~~POV ends~~

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(Hope we didn't make you all cry. We're sorry if we did. We never thought we would be able to feel the pain of not having a parent but "Writing makes one feel emotions one has never experienced before." A quote stated by us. May God bless you all. All the best. Hope you liked our update. We cannot promise anything but we'll try our best to give an update on Saturday and Monday to compensate. Love you all. Stay blessed.)