Ek Duje Ke Vaaste

Part 30

Khushi woke up in the morning and saw arnav looking at her, lying down beside her. As soon she opened her eyes, arnav kissed her on her forehead. Khushi's eyes were swollen and she still looked pale. She lifted her hand and touched his face. 

Arnav said: khushi...I am really sorry..mujhe pata nehi tha ki kal tumharey mom dad ki....(khushi..i am really sorry...I didn't know that yesterday was your mom dad's) 

Khushi sat up on the bed followed by arnav. 

Khushi stared blankly at the wall infront quietly for a while and said: hum aath saal ke they....(I was eight years old). 

Arnav looked at her. She kept staring at the wall and continued: us din subah se hamari tabiyaat kuch thik nehi thi..halka sa bukhar tha...ma babuji ko ek rishtedar ki shaadi mein jaana tha, woh humey hamari saheli preeto ke ghar chhor ke gaye..humne jaaney ki bohot zid ki lekin woh nehi maaney..kehene lagey ki woh jaldi wapas aa jayenge...aur aatey waqt hamarey liye jalebiya leke ayenge..bas kya tha...jaise hi unhone jalebi ki baat ki.. hum maan gaye. (that day I was not well since morning..had fever... mom dad had to go for a relative's wedding..they left me at preeto's place.. I wanted to go with them but they didn't take me..they said they will come back fast..and get jalebis for me... and that was it..as soon as they said jalebi I agreed to stay back)
Tears were rolling down her eyes as she recalled her past. 

Khushi continued: shaam hui..fir dheerey dheerey raat.. aasman bhi badalon se dhak gaya aur kuch hi der mein bohot baarish hone lagi...jaise hi badal garje humey bohot darr lagne laaga, kyunki jab bhi badal garaj ta tha ma humey aapney seeney se lagake rakhti..hum bohot rone lagey aur ma ke pass jaaney ki zid karne lagey..preeto ki amma humey samjhaney ki bohot koshish ki lekin hum nehi maaney..barish aur bhi tez hoti gayi...hum jaakey khidki ke pass kharey ho gaye aur devi maaiya se prarthna karne lagey...achanak preeto ke babuji pareshan hokey aaye aur preeto ki amma se kuch kaha jo sunke woh rone lagi...humey kuch samajh mein nehi aaya... Fir preeto ki amma humey hamaey ghar le gayi... (evening came and soon it was night..the sky was covered with dark clouds and soon it started raining heavily...I got very scared as I saw the thunder and lightning because whenever such things happened mom used to hug me tightly..i started crying and wanted to go to my mom..preeto's mom tried to calm me down but I didn't listen to her....it started raining even more heavily...I went and stood near the window and started praying to God..suddenly preeto's dad came and said something to preeto's mom, hearing which she started to cry..i couldn't understand anything...then preeto's mom took me to our house) 

Arnav held her hand as she again continued: ghar me jaatey hi humne zameen pe dekha kuch safed chaddar se dhaka hua tha..humey kuch samajh mein nehi aaya...hum ghabra ke poochey ki hamarey ma babuji kaha hai...preeto ki amma rone lagi..unhone humse kaha ki woh ab is duniya mein nehi rahe... (I saw something covered with white clothes on the ground as I entered my house...I couldn't understand anything...I got scared and asked where were my parents...preeto's mom started crying..she said that they were no more..) 

She looked at arnav; tears were rolling down his eyes as well. She said: duniya mein na rehene ka matlab tab humey nehi pata tha arnavji..humne firse poocha ki ma babuji kaha hai..lekin jawab mein bas sabke aankhon mein aasu dikhai diye...baad mein humey pata chala tha ki jis gari se woh aa rahe they woh bohot tez chal rahi thi aur baarish ki wajah se uska accident ho gaya...un dono ki shakal itni bigad gayi thi ki unke chehrey ko dhak key rakkha gayaa tha... (I didn't know the meaning of 'they were no more' at that time...I asked again where were my parents...but I only saw tears in everyone's eyes instead of an answer... later on I came to know that the car in which they were traveling was moving at a very high speed and it lost balance and met with an accident..their face was so distorted due to the accident that they kept it covered)
Hum unhe aakhri bar dekh bhi nehi paye they arnavji..she sobbed hard. (I couldn't see them for the last time). Arnav quickly wrapped her in his arms. He was crying as well. He held her as tightly as he could to absorb all her pain.He felt as if someone stabbed him with a knife as he tried to think of an eight year old khushi helplessly waiting for her parents who never came back.