Little girl's wild side

Chapter 27

Half an hour into the ride, Gautham saw that Sindhu had fallen asleep. So he turned around towards her house. By the time they reached her house, it was around 1 and Sindhu was fast asleep. She was sleeping like a dead rock.

Gautham was contemplating on how to wake her up when he saw lights on from inside the house. He was pretty sure it was Aruna. Earlier when he took off, he sent a quick text to Aruna informing her about their little drive, just in case Aruna woke up in the middle to check on Sindhu and panicked seeing Sindhu's empty bed. Knowing Sindhu, he knew for sure she must have snuck out like a cat.

Gautham thought for a minute then called Aruna straightway and asked her to open the doors. Then he carefully lifted Sindhu with his arms princess style and walked towards the house. It took him great effort just to pry her arms open from around him and some more to not to let her fall off the bike while he got out of the bike. But in the end he successfully lifted her up and Sindhu snuggled into him very comfortably.

That was the scene that greeted Aruna when she came out and it warmed her heart considerably seeing Gautham like this. He was very sensible and considerate on so many levels that she did not know what more she can possibly ask from her son-in-law.

Gautham gave Aruna a polite smile and greeted her but did not stop to talk. He was afraid Sindhu would wake up any moment. So he went straight to her room and laid her on her bed carefully and covered her with sheets and then switched on her air conditioners before he quietly exited the room.

When he came to the living room, Aruna offered him some water.

"Sorry ma. I hope I did not wake you. I just saw the lights were still on, so I just assumed you were awake." Gautham said slightly embarrassed.

"Oh! Don't worry Gautham. I was awake already." Aruna replied with a polite smile. After a long pause Aruna said with at most sincerity," Thank you Gautham. For everything you do for Sindhu. I haven't seen her, this happy in a long time."

"You don't have to thank me ma. You raised one hell of a girl. I don't even know how to measure the amount of joy she brings me and my family. Given a chance my mom will probably sell me out and take her home all for herself." Gautham said with slight awkwardness. And he was not just saying this. It's a fact that his mum was more eager to take Sindhu home than him. The way both talked to each other was more like that of friends who knew each other their whole life rather than that of a mother-in-law and a daughter-in-law.

Aruna had seen the interaction between Sindhu and Renuka. It would be a lie if she said it did not sting her. Sindhu was her daughter and she never managed to have such a relationship with her in a very long time but Renuka and Sindhu only knew each other for a couple of months and they already had secrets. She felt as if she failed as a mother.

She knew between the both of them, both are equally at fault for their bitter sweet relationship. But the fact is Aruna can't really do anything about it anymore. Sindhu has gone so far away from her that, she couldn't even recognize her as the girl who used to go to veena classes every weekend or the girl who would ask for food every day right after coming from school as if she had been starving for days. From being someone like that, when she became someone who sneaks out in the middle of the night to go out on a bike ride Aruna did not know.

Until this time whenever the bitter distance between them would show, Aruna always convinced herself saying Sindhu never connects with older people. And to an extent it was true. She was never close to any of her elders including her cousins and aunts and uncles. That was true at least until John. And since Sindhu never talked about John or anything that happened in Bangalore, Aruna never came to know about the relationship between John and Sindhu. But suddenly when she became so close to Renuka, the bitterness surfaced with a vengeance growing ten folds. But being a mother, all she could do was love her with all that bitterness even when she did not know how to show that love the right way.

Sindhu was somewhat in the same predicament. She loved her mum with everything she has. But loving a person and connecting with a person is entirely very different things. She rarely connected with people around her and sadly her mum was not one of them. No matter what, her mum never understood anything she ever did and Sindhu never knew how to make her mum understand.

Gautham saw a sense of gloominess cross Aruna's face. But he did not know why.

"Ma, are you okay??" Gautham asked concerned.

"Yea, I am fine Gautham. By the way, you should be heading home. It's getting late." Aruna said seeing the clock.

"Okay ma. Then I will take my leave. You get some sleep." Gautham said and stood up to leave.

But before leaving, he stopped at the doors and said, "Ma, may be you could talk to Sindhu. She seemed upset about something today. She wouldn't tell me what. Maybe she will tell you."

"I will give it a try", Aruna replied vaguely. She felt quite awkward. Seeing as Sindhu never really shared any of her problems with her since she had grown up, Aruna did not know how to reply to his suggestion.

Then Gautham left for his home.