A Journey to Trust and Heal

67- Diwali

Rishi and Nikhil came to pick Jay. The first thing they did after entering the house was to hug Jay tightly.

It was a lovely scene to see them showering their love on him. The wide smiles on their faces upon receiving the 'Sorry Card' were enough to brighten Jay's mood and shoo off any insecurity that was left in his mind.

They all left soon after wishing us Happy Diwali to reach before midnight as they didn't want to disrupt Jay's sleeping schedule.

It would have been great fun if Jay would have spend Diwali with us but seeing that it was his first Diwali in our family, it was better that he spend it with his parents.

Mom and I started cleaning and decorating the house with full force. I would like to think that we were a great team as the house looked really beautiful with all those lightings and diya's(clay lamp).

I started making Rangoli with Mom but she soon shooed me off and made it singlehandedly. She didn't even try to sugarcoat it and straight away told me that I sucked at making it.

Though I sulked for a while, my mood brightened when I saw her beautiful Rangoli and realized that she was right, I did suck at making it.

'Well we cannot be best at everything', I thought shrugging.

                         ~~~•~~~

Next day :

The sounds of fire crackers and laughter of children were so loud that it could be heard from the house even though the doors were closed.

We were ready in our traditional dresses and were just waiting for the trio to come with their families as we had decided to celebrate together.

Rudra had come in the morning to wish us and take blessings from Mom. He was in a hurry as his friends were waiting for him but Mom didn't let him go before stuffing his face with sweets.

"HAPPY DIWALI", Shanaya greeted in a loud voice and came to hug me.

After returning her hug, I too wished her, albeit in a normal voice.

Turning towards her parents, I greeted them, while Shanaya did the same with Mom.

One by one, everyone came. After greeting each other, youngsters and elders got separated as they got busy in their boring talks while we went to burst fire crackers though in a small amount. We didn't want to cause pollution but still wanted to get the feel of Diwali which wasn't possible without the fire crackers.

"What the hell are you doing? Come back. How can you stand so near to the fire crackers? Are you mad? Don't you ever think about safety?", Maitri bursted out at Shanaya when she saw her standing too close to the fire cracker which was just about to burst.

Shanaya came back to where we were standing with a frown. "Someone would have thought that consuming sweets for the whole day would sweeten their tongue. Alas! All the sweets wasted on a person with such a sour tongue", Shanaya muttered giving Maitri a side glance.

"Yeah! Such a waste. Worrying about your life is a waste, right?", Maitri asked with a sarcastic smile on her face.

"Guys, stop it. Atleast don't fight on such an auspicious day", Jiya tried to stop them but no avail.

While they continued their fight, I looked back at Mom smiling and conversing with others.

They all were talking happily with huge smiles. The biggest smile being my Mom's. After all, it's been years since someone has talked to her with respect.

Dad's crime brought a great shame upon us. Relatives, friends all left our sides. But that too wasn't done quietly.  Before leaving us, they showered us with so many taunts and insults that a single respectful greeting felt precious these days.

Jiya shook me out of my thoughts, "Where are you lost? The fight ended long back. Come, parents are calling us inside for dinner".

"Nothing, was just thinking. Nevermind, let's go", I said and we all went inside.

All the ladies had prepared food together in the afternoon itself so as to not burden a single person with all the cooking.

We all were eating and enjoying when I got Tanya's call. Excusing myself, I went to my room to take her call.

"Hey! Happy Diwali", I wished as soon as I picked the call.

"Happy Diwali", she wished back but her voice didn't sound too happy.

"Is everything okay?", I asked in worry.

"Yeah, don't worry. Nothing's wrong. It's just...", she trailed off.

"Tanya? What happened?", I asked worried about her behaviour.

"It's just...Umm...Rishi told me how Mom helped Jay with his problems", Tanya said stuttering a bit.

Now, I understood her hesitance. Talking about Mom was making her nervous.

"Yeah, Mom handled everything singlehandedly. I was too shocked to think of anything that might have helped Jay", I said recalling what had happened.

"She is really changing, isn't she?", she asked in a whisper.

"Tanya, I don't think you have called to talk about Jay's situation. Tell me freely. What's going on in your mind?", I asked.

"Before leaving, Mom had came to apologize. It wasn't the first time but she looked truly defeated this time, like she was loosing hope. Is she....Is she okay?", Tanya spoke.

"Why don't you ask her, yourself?", I suggested knowing fully well that she won't agree.

The answer I received in return was silence. She didn't respond and I wasn't surprised by her reaction.

It was so clear from her earlier speech that even though she was worried about Mom, she was finding it truly difficult to talk about her.

"She is alone Tanya. There's no one for her there. She is exhausted now. You are not talking to her and I am here in another town. I saw the smile on her face today, do you know the reason. Just because someone greeted her politely.

I agree, she has made a grave mistake. One that is still haunting you and I am not even telling you to forgive her but please talk to her. Your one or two sentences would brighten her day. She has suffered enough. Tanya, please talk to her", I pleaded.

"I...I will try but don't expect our relation to be mended", She warned me.

"That's totally fine. Now I am hanging up, you call her and wish her Happy Diwali", I ordered and rushed back to where Mom was.

I waited impatiently for Tanya's call. Trio was talking to me but all my attention was on my mother waiting for her phone to ring.

5 minutes passed by and still the phone didn't ring. Taking out my phone, I was just going to dial Tanya when my Mom's phone rang.

I saw her eyes going wide in shock seeing the username and hesitantly pick up the call.

The smile that appeared on her face after hearing what was being said by Tanya, was enough to brighten the whole city.

This diwali was really special. It brought the happiness that we were even afraid to imagine.