Blind Dreams

Time Takes It All

(Present day in Raizada Mansion, Delhi)

As the first rays of light were entering the Raizada Mansion, a sound was coming from some direction. The whole house was engulfed with a sweet milky scent.  The alarm in Arnav's room has gone back by one hour, while that of Anjali's have gone forward by one. Not that she can get sleep for that additional hour but as a mode of relaxing for what she has been going through for the past 13 months. It seemed that the duty of the alarm has been taken away by the new stranger in the house and for each and every other hour at night it would ring, not to signal others to do their jobs, but definitely to warn its mother to give what it wants.

A gush of wind passes by and the cradle shakes a bit. Little screams of joy echoes throughout the house and gets stronger day by day; enough to fill the void of happiness in Raizada Mansion again. To fully regain the lost trust in one and partially heal two broken hearts.

The French windows in Anjali's room were opened out wide for proper ventilation. Now that everyone should be concerned about the new member; dust should be considered an enemy. It has been about 4 months since she moved into this new room of hers. She didn't feel the need to let the past dark memories haunt her and changing the room temporarily was merely the first step of it. With the support of the family members, the room was chosen and it happened to be the one adjacent to Arnav's, much to his pleasure. This room which belonged to NK which disturbed Arnav so much is now brightened up with some of her filmy ideas. Arnav liked this new change in his sister which was exactly what he wanted at this moment. Otherwise it would've been an extra burden on him. Trying to heal another person's wounds when he can't manage his own. 

The neatly leveled concrete slab, painted with sky-blue hue to which she didn't forget to add small cloud-shaped cardboard pieces glued with cotton-balls hanging through blue threads that cannot be distinguished with the real sky. Two of the four walls were painted with a grape- purple while the other two were left with plain white leaving the objects to be painted with lemon-yellow at their borders and white spaces intelligently increased the glow in the room. There were bright lights fixed around the family photo. Two of them who are expected to be in heaven according to their knowledge. The cradle was made with strong teak, which is placed right next to Anjali's bed with varnish applied all over the yellow colored paint mixed with the same purple colored comfy blankets. There was a wardrobe, computer table and chair, a book shelf to which the same technique of varnish-over-yellow was applied but most importantly there was one thing special about this room which Anjali loved the most. Khushi's stars. They were all used by Arnav after Khushi left the house until Aadhira Raizada joined the family. In fact it was his idea to hang the stars over Aadhira's cradle, so that it would be easier to get her off his mind. With all the hard creativity of the Raizada siblings, Arnav, Aakash and Anjali, the room looked like a three Dimensional Picasso!

The sunlight crept inside through the uncovered portions of the curtains; light rays were slowly nearing Aadhi's bed when a palm obstructed its way. Arnav kept on staring to the honey-brown eyes of his prince. They resembled the ones of someone who was very close to him once. This was the time for Aadhi to scream his 5 a.m. alert but he kept mum at Arnav's presence. Arnav lifted the baby up in his arms and started carrying him towards his room but was unable to do so without alerting Anjali.

Anjali : Chotte!

Arnav : Di, it's Ok. Please rest, I will take him to my room.

Kissing Anjali on her forehead quickly he left to his room carrying the little bundle of joy. Somehow he didn't like to be in that room either there was something in it which reminded him of Khushi more often. He carried Aadhi towards the poolside since it was his favorite place in the house. The soft, cool breeze was embracing Aadhi who was thoroughly enjoying the moment, but Arnav's protective instincts commanded him to take the baby inside. Unhappy at the sudden departure, Aadhi started to wail and scream at the top of his lungs. Arnav quickly stepped towards the door to close it in case the others woke up. Just as he went to close the doors he heard someone shouting "Nannav sing a song you fool". Arnav closed the doors rolling his eyes.

Arnav : Aadhi. Hey sweetheart. It's alright, don't cry. What do you want sweetheart? Should I sing a song? A song...I don't know any songs. Oh wait, I know one.

Arnav : Aaj Mausam hai Suhaana...

What the? What the? What the?

Kya dhoop nikli suhaani...

What the? What the? What the?

La la la la la la la

To his amazement the baby started laughing. Arnav had tears forming in his eyes.

Arnav : Aadhi you like it. It worked. Should I sing it again for you sweety? This song was made by your crazy aunt, Khushi. She loves Jalebies, she would have loved you even more than that.

Aadhi : K..Khu..Khusee

Arnav : Yes baby, your Mami ma...Wait..Did you just say?

Aadhi : Khukee?

For a minute Arnav forgot about everything. He just screamed for the whole Raizada Parivaar to run to his room.

Anjali : Chotte!! Is everything OK? Open the door!!

Arnav quickly unlocked the doors, everyone gathered around the bed...Anjali got worried and started caressing his face. For the past few months since Khushi had left him, Arnav and Aadhi have been Anjali's  apple of the eye.

Anjali : Chotte Are you OK?

Arnav : No..Di..Khushi?

Anjali : Chotte it's Ok if you don't want to tell. Do you just want to rest? I'll take care of Aadhi...

Aakash : Yeah Bhai, just rest for now.

Arnav : No Di please...Khushi...

Anjali : Chotte we all miss Khushi too. Do you want to talk it out at the temple?

Arnav : Oh God!! Di....

Aakash : Bhai now don't say that you don't believe in these things...

Anjali : Scold me if you want to, but please don't refuse to come!

Arnav : Oh God Di, STOP BEING FILMY AND LISTEN TO ME. KHUSHI...I MEAN AADHI JUST SAID HIS FIRST WORD.

Anjali : What? What was it?

Arnav : Khu....

Aadhi : Khukee?

By this time every single person in the room had tears of joy in their eyes except for Anjali. She was really happy inside her heart that Aadhi had said the name of a very lucky person. However it pained her heart to think that she is no more and that too all because of her. Hence tears of guilt were escaping her eyes at this moment. She finally managed to speak a few words.

Anjali : Yes Aadhi! Khushi Mami would have been the happiest if she was here today. She would love you than anything.

Arnav : I miss her.

Anjali : I miss her more than you Chotte. She gave me back my little brother and I took it all away.

Their eyes were brimming with tears when a ll of a sudden Aadhi decided to experiment with his newly discovered vocabulary.

Aadhi : Wot the?

Anjali : Chotte, What have you taught him? Having to manage two 'grumpys' in this household is my worst nightmare.

Aadhi : Wot the? Wot the?

Anjali : Oh no you did not Arnav!

And the fight began in the middle of laughter. Everyone was sure that this little bundle of joy could bring a smile to their faces after a long time. Aadhi was the root cause of happiness in Raizada Mansion for 5 months now, and he was able to make Manorama, Mama, Nani, forget everything which happened in the past 13 months before his birth. Even though they were still craving for more happiness if Khushi and Payal was there. Raizada Mansion was bound to explode if that happened with all the fun.