Chapter 6
Return to India
I preferred now to live in solitude. I felt solace in solitude and I was supposed to concentrate on calls from my family, few good friends, and over study.
Days were passing, and it was a year and more four to five months were passed by this way, and I kept continue my routine. I thought that after completion of study, I would live to London or New castle which is another city of United Kingdom. I should be prepared for that, and I should prepare up to that extent to fulfill eligibility criteria. Like all other international students I had also dream to settle down over there. If it happened then after I would start process for migration of my wife, Roshni and I would persuade my grandmother as she was one of the most important persons of my life.
One day I was coming back to my home in train and I was listening music on my newly purchased ipod, and I got call on my cell phone. When I checked I found that call was from India as it was displaying Indian ISD code over that. I was curious to know who was the caller. I picked up the call, and I heard a man was saying in Hindi which is having meaning as follows,
“ Is there Surajji ?”
“Yes. I am. Who is there ?”
“ Rajaji. I am Ramu, your Ramu kaka. Please come back to home as soon as possible.”
“Why? What happened?” I asked eagerly.
“I am feeling painful to say you that your grandmother’s health is deteriorated and she is consistently urging your name. She wants to see you. I can’t say anything more but I asked you to come here as soon as possible. Raniji (Roshni) is taking care of grandmother. She will call you very soon but please start packing to come back here.”
I reached to home, I packed my bags, and waited for a call from Roshni. I thought if I wasn’t receiving any call then I would call over there. I was very nervous and I thought that what would have happened to my grandmother. I knew that she was already 82 years old, and there might be illness due to old age, but because of her care she could maintain to live a normal life.
“Triingg Tringgg.” My cell phone was rung. I picked up so quickly, there was Roshni on the other side of the phone. She told me that grandmother was facing serious health issues. Grandmother could not breathe properly due to those health problems. I was frantic and on the same day I booked tickets to come back to India. I landed at Nagpur international airport presently known as Badasaheb Ambedkar International airport named behind chief architect of our constitution, Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar. My home was approximately 150 km away from the airport. I had already instructed them and told them time. They picked me from Nagpur airport. I instructed driver to go directly to hospital. I reached to hospital after journey of 3 hours.
I entered into the ward where my grandmother was admitted. Roshni was sitting beside grandmother. Ramukaka was over there who was in service to grandmother. When I entered into room Roshni looked at me, and she stood up and came near to me and embraced me in nervousness. I kissed on her forehead and saw her my hand as like expressing that don’t worry I am here now.
I moved towards grandmother whose eyes were curious to see me. She looked at me with cute smile on face which brought freshness. She was exhausted by fighting against ailment. She was just waiting for me, and after watching me she was delighted. She beckoned me to go near to her.
“Don’t worry. I came back. We will go back to home very soon. You will be discharged.”
My grandmother’s condition was so severe that she could hardly speak something. I also knew that her condition was critical, and it was hard this time to recover, but I didn’t want to say any single word which disappoints her. However, my grandmother was much smarter than me, and she had seen world more than me. She was pretty much aware about the circumstances.
I sat near her, took her hand in my hand and smiled a little and said,
“You had promised me that you would give your blessings to our child, and you would swing the cradle.”
She heard this and chuckled.
She touched her earlobe as she wanted to say that she could not keep her promise, and shook her head.
“No. No. You should. I want to see you after 10 years as healthy as you were before. I thought we would play together with our kid. Don’t break my dream dadi.”
She smiled again.
She beckoned me to bring my ear closer to her mouth. I took my ear close to her mouth as she could barely speak few words and she whispered.
“Beta. I don’t have more time. I knew that my time has come and very less time has been left with me.”
I gazed at her. She started speaking again,
“ That is why I want a promise from you. Will you keep my promise?”
“What promise? I mean yes how can I avert it. I will surely keep promise. Just order me Dadi.”
I spoke that in anxiety. I knew that these words were very much precious. I really didn’t know what was going to happen next.
“I want you to come back to India and live over here and continue tradition of our regal family to join politics and serve for the people altruistically.” She took a pause and said
“Will you do that for me?”
I was in a deep thinking for a moment, and thought that may be first and last time she was asking something to me and how could I refuse her so I told her that
“Yes I will. I will do that for sure. You have never asked me anything now you are asking me first time to do something, and I can’t shun it.”
She smiled at me and took my hand closed to her, and kissed on my hand.
She was feeling too much better now.
I looked at Roshni she was also very happy with my decision and she put her hand on my shoulder as like she was patting.
After seeing her smile I had a still hope that grandmother would be recovered. We could take her to our home but it didn’t happen.
She was stuck in that moment, and I felt that everything was stopped. I understood what was happened. I told doctor standing over there to give her emergency treatment.
I stood and went on side and he immediately started checking up grandmother but all his efforts were futile because holy soul of grandmother had already left the body.
Loud screaming was heard. Every one present in that room were weeping. It took long time to us to stop crying. I couldn’t resist myself from crying. I thought I had lost my whole world. It is said that if you lose money you can gain it back, but, if you lose a life especially life of your beloved one it will never be regained and it is huge loss.
I was in a deep shock as I was thinking “God you haven’t given me much moments of happiness, why are you giving me pain all the time.” But, at the end of it I can only say that yah happiness and grief are part of life. It is cycle that continues repeatedly one after other.
It was all set to perform funeral, and I remembered the day my mother and father were died. I lit pyre. It is fact that when you go to crematorium and if you observe that there would be silence, and in that silence when you see the burning cadaver you would feel gradually extinction of feeling of pain with that as it is also fact that the person who has left this world full of delusion would never come back again. You can’t do anything except keeping the sweetest memories of that person in your heart.
Roshni my wife was still in deep pain when we came out of crematorium and she cuddled me, and she was inconsolable. Generally, it is not allowed to woman to come along over there but it was her love that pushed her to come over there, and how could I stop that. She had great bonding when I was not in India. She took care of each other, and because of love and warmth my grandmother gave to her she never realized my absence. It took 2-3 months to come out from the shock of death of my grandmother. Later on I decided that I would not go back to the Cambridge as I had to keep promise that I gave to my grandmother. There wasn’t any reason now to go back there as that wasn’t my goal anymore. There was a time when I had taken decision that I would settle in any of the city of United Kingdom, but, now it wasn’t possible to manage both things. I left my remaining study and started moving towards my next destiny which was waiting for me.
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