Shades Of Life

I hung up the phone and ran into the other room.Humming my favourite tune,I searched for my husband to tell about it.He is found no where,must have went to the hospital.He is on call duty these days.

I just spoke to my best friend on phone who is in India.We were friends from school.We got selected in same medical college and are very close.After getting married,I moved to Saudi with my husband and it’s been almost six years we went to India.Next week we planned to go to India.

I was more excited to meet my friend than my family.My friend,smitha  is a mother of a four year-old girl.

Then the next week as we planned,we landed in India.In the taxi I was thinking all the way from the air-port to my house about her.

She took a decision  six years back to marry our class-mate.I am happy for them,but her parents were not.We tried to convince her parents.They waited for many months for convincing her parents.But they didn’t agree.Both of them married against her parent’s will.Just few days after that I moved to Saudi and not in touch with her regularly.

My husband shook me and said,’we’ve reached,come back to the normal world’, I was lost in my thoughts.My parents and my cousins every one was so happy to see us, I miss them a lot.

Two days later,I planned to meet smitha in a hotel,the same place where we used to hang out years ago.I went early,I was so excited and started biting my nails.I waited there for almost half-an-hour and then I heard a voice “didn’t u stop biting your nails?,”

I was so surprised to listen that,that is what smitha used to say always!but the voice!I turned around to see;To my surprise it is a small girl looking just like smitha.I smiled and searched for her.Smitha is in the corner smiling at me.She is the same happy girl as always.

We talked about every thing for almost 4 hours sitting there.Her baby is sleeping.

“How is Ram?”,I asked.Smitha replied,”fine”, There is no light in her eyes,something is wrong which I am unable to find out.

Then just before leaving she gave me a small gift and asked me to open after she left.I took it and I am excited to open it.She left first.I sat there for some more minutes and opened the gift.The box was empty with a letter and a pass-port of her daughter.Surprised,I opened the letter and started to read.

Dear priya,

I took the wrong step.Ram left me two years ago.He is not the person we thought of.He is a drunkard and harassed me for money,beat me many times.I am very much depressed.My parents don’t know anything about my life.I never saw them after my marriage.I have no where to go.”My hands trembled,I am sweating,my heart beat  raised and I rushed outside to find her. Not very far from where I stood,I saw a huge crowd and ambulance.I ran madly,  and  saw ‘my friend’s  body drenched in blood’ taken in side the ambulance.My mind stopped working,everything is blank………………then I saw the cry of a girl from my left side,smitha’s daughter.I took her into my arms and cried with her.

After,post-mortem,I returned to the hotel to collect my bag and the letter was lying in the same place on the ground.I continued reading,

“I don’t know what to do.I know only you.Here is my daughter’s pass-port,take her with you and raise as your daughter.Bye my dear,forgive me.”I wiped my tears and decided to take her daughter,as god’s gift to me(I can’t get pregnant.).

The next week I left India with the god’s given daughter with me.