Second Chance (Vol.1) Squandered

26: Adi and Pa

Adi 12:30am...
Status: Wide awake...

He had been tossing and turning for over two hours. He had fallen asleep once but then rolled over to his left side and felt a searing pain in his left shoulder. He had been careful after that to lie on his back but sleep had escaped him again.

He had tried to kill time watching movie trailers... reading online law magazines... but every time he shut his eyes... Arshad had his arm around Zoya!

He forced his thoughts elsewhere... He struggled to remember anything with no Zoya in it... Any happy memory from his childhood...

If stories were to be believed Adi had not been overly fond of his scrawny baby brother. At most Adi tolerated him and did not harm him. Ma and Arjun were a team and Pa and Adi were inseparable.

Pa was unlike other typical zoned out fathers. He gave Adi his complete attention. Adi worshipped the ground Pa walked on. They were in awe of each other.

Adi would invent games and Pa would play with him in earnest. Adi made the rules as the game progressed. Pa would listen to Adi as if he was witnessing a future legislator drafting his first policies.

And Adi followed his Pa everywhere. He remembered being called Pa's shadow, tail and what-not. Pa taught him everything: to swim, to cycle, ball, bat, TT, badminton, carrom, ... In fact, Adi could not remember Pa tiring of him or ever scolding him before... well... before the big faceoff.

The big fight... No. He didn't want to go there tonight...

Anyways Pa seemed to have mended his ways now. Not that Adi had kept tabs on his Pa but there had been no gossip that had reached his ears in the last many years. Maybe Adi had unfairly labeled his Pa a cheater for far longer than he deserved. He should have buried the proverbial hatchet ages ago.

And Adi could never forget that when he had needed Pa the most, Pa had stood by him... unconditionally... holding no grudges. Adi and Zoya had been cleverly tricked and framed for Pooja&Yash's murder by CBI officer Rajveer Khanna. Despite what had seemed to be a watertight case, Pa had proven them innocent.

And how! Pa had savagely prosecuted the prosecution! Ha! His Pa had been on a roll and had routed the case on the very second day into the hearing! Adi was happily back to openly fanboying his Pa.

At the end of the long ordeal, when his relieved overwrought Pa had pulled him into a tight rib-cracking embrace, Adi had silently indebted himself to Pa for life.

And he had no regrets with this ceasefire. No. He had regrets. He regretted not having been sensible about this earlier. Pooja had tried but he had just been adamantly obstinate to reconsider his stand. He remembered that Pooja had been very disturbed for several days the last time they fought over Pa. It had been one of her longest sulks.

And may have been the reason... No he did not want to go there... Not tonight...

He would not admit it to anyone but he had missed his Pa. And during Pooja&Yash's murder case he realized that his Pa had missed him too; maybe infinitely more than he had. A parent is always more forgiving than a child. He had heard this often and now he was living proof.

Adi had got into numerous scrapes since his teen years; few involved the police. Pa had bailed him out every time. Adi had never been grateful. After all, most of his brawls were thanks to Pa's reputation in the juicy gossip circles. He had believed Pa bailed him out for Ma or for his own self-esteem; never for love of Adi. And maybe his every custodial detention pulled his Pa back to the starting line in his race to Chief Justice.

He would make it up to Pa; all those 16 wasted years. He did not know how but he would. They were still a little awkward in each other's presence. 16 years! Half his life! Wasted! As soon as Zoya sorted her heart, he would go about setting right all his wrongs. The list was long! But with Zoya by his side he could happily go through any list of tasks.

Did he regret not being a lawyer?
Kabhi Haan! Kabhi Na!

Adi was like his Pa in many ways. He could be ruthless and pragmatic. Just like Pa he could see through humungous staggering layers of information and evidences and zero in on the relevant clues and assemble it to solve or win cases. And like his Pa he knew the difference between solving and winning cases.

He was proud he came from a family of lawyers.
But flying was his passion.
If he abstained from either for long he craved for them.
He could have been good at both the professions.

Regarding stepping into his Pa's shoes, he had missed the bus.
Adi wasn't one to cry over spilt milk. He had been thick-headed. He accepted this. Luckily Arjun would carry Pa's business forward. And clearly both Pa and Arjun were steering clear of his Pa's forte that was criminal law and focusing on the corporate world instead. That wasn't as exciting.

Maybe if he hadn't been so passionate about flying he would have regretted not being in the family business. But he had decided to actively participate in Pa and Arjun's work related discussions that invariably spilled into their home; even if that meant Pa and Arjun having to explain the entire law curriculum to him.

And he could get back to unofficially studying the law books and magazines because he had decided to take a sabbatical from flying till he sorted his life with Zoya. Flying duties would keep him away from home for days at a stretch in certain sectors. And for some time he would not be given the privilege to choose a sector of his choice closer home. He could not afford being away from home till Zoya was comfortably settled at Hooda house.

No. No Zoya thoughts. No going there now. "Owwww!" He couldn't now truly decide if his wrist hurt more or shoulder though the damage was wider on the shoulder than the wrist. No. Arshad's hand on Zoya hurt him most. Adi needed a punching bag.

Back to reminiscing his early years, Adi vaguely remembered the hearsay that it was Pa who had taught him to be patient with baby Arjun, how to entertain baby Arjun and take care of his baby needs. And Adi idolized his Pa so anything that Pa said or did, he did.

More Ma and Pa fought more Adi protected Arjun. Ma and Pa's fights scared little Adi. He did not want baby Arjun to get scared so he used to shut Arjun's ears or talk lot of baby nonsense in a loud voice. And Arjun learned to talk back. Then they ended up in a jugalbandi on who could blabber the loudest... and Ma&Pa were forgotten...

Over the years they soon learned to lose themselves in novel ways to another world of their own. Pa was very busy with his work. So Adi taught everything his Pa taught him to Arjun using Pa's techniques. And somewhere in this process the brothers bonded.

Adi treasured the days when Ma and Pa were at peace. They loved each other with the same passion that they fought. He and Arjun would go all quiet, sit back and commit every caring gesture and conversation to memory. Adi used to replay the moments again and again in his head, relishing every moment. These were his reserves for the long luckless days when they fought. Arjun only saw Ma and Pa's happy side. Adi saw to that.

Of course! Adi's early memories were vague and foggy. But they must have been more or less in line with his teen years. Ma and Pa had changed little over the years.

Or maybe much of this was influenced by what older house staff had told him later in his teens and his Nani had corroborated with his childhood pictures.

Nani had 100s of Adi's and Arjun's pictures which she had preserved well but were now just stashed away in boxes in the basement. He added scanning the photos and preserving them in digital formats to the long to-do list in his mobile.

What fun it would be to share his and Arjun's childhood pictures with Zoya and Noor while scanning and saving them in digital formats... And maybe Pa and Ma could add their stories and captions... It was a beautiful dream...

The Sandman had finally taken pity on Adi and had sprinkled some magical sand in Adi's eyes.