(#6 in Rikara as on 27th March, 2019)
Now I know the title says Rikara FF, but there is going to be quite a bit about other characters from the Oberoi verse, so bear with me.
Also, I'm no writer, this is just something that has been bugging my min...
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Gauri gathered up courage to visit the Oberoi mansion in the evening. Yesterday she had retreated from the scene, seeing Omkaraji upset, and not wanting to intrude, but today she thought was a good day to thank him for the portrait of his mother.
Gauri asked a staff member where he was, and upon being told he had gone out and will be back soon, Gauri nodded and said she will wait for him in his room.
It was strange to see the mansion so quiet, there was always something happening here, but Gauri guessed that she had come early and maybe everyone was still at work.
Gauri entered Omkaraji's room, and felt a sad sense of familiarity about the room which she should probably not feel.
She was about to sit on the couch, to wait for him, when she noticed a couple of old notebooks on Omkara's table. She was curious so she picked up one. It was an old sketchbook, containing plenty of drawings. It slipped from her hands, so she knelt on the floor to pick it up. She didn't realize when she sat down on the floor to go through them, but Gauri kept flicking through the sketches, mesmerized by how they captured the essence of human emotions.
"These are so beautiful. Surely, Omkaraji must've sketched them" said Gauri to herself. But she wasn't alone in the room, anymore.
"Yes, I made them" came Omkara's voice from the door.
Shankarji! Gauri almost yelled in her head, Omkaraji caught her.
"I...I just saw this on the table...and I got curious....I'm sorry I didn't mean to pry" Gauri mumbled, her words tripping over each other in anxiety.
"Relax. Its okay, you can look through anything you want" said Omkara smiling softly. He sat down next to her, and looked through his sketches.
"Kuch kwaab ladakpan ke hai in me, armaan hain kuch, aur muraadein bhi, tasveeron mein aksar lipti milti bachpan ki yaadein bhi" (There are some dreams in here, wishes and prayers too, wrapped in the pictures, there are some memories as well) said Omkara, glancing at his sketches fondly.
Gauri had rarely seen this side of him, and she was entranced by his words.
"Rudy...I made this when Rudra started walking" Omkara smiled as he recollected this memory. Gauri smiled slightly and also felt a little sad for the dreamy boy she could well imagine Omkaraji would be in his childhood.
"See this...this is the first time I sketched a bird...look at its wings, what do you see?" asked Omkara.
"The wings are too large" Gauri smiled.
Omkara nodded "You know why? Because I believe that even if the bird is small, its flight should be high."
At this point, Gauri started feeling a certain ache in her chest, a need to comfort him in his loss, because she was sure that he was mourning something.
