Sally did not wait for Mark to pay the taxi and take out
luggage; she directly ringed the doorbell and waited impatiently. Mark asked
her to calm down. As the door opened, an unknown face came out and greeted them
with a warm smile. "Come in. Madam told that you would be coming anytime
in a day or two", said the lady who looked in her early thirties by her
face. Sally and Mark were bit confused on how the lady recognized them. Their
confusion was cleared as they entered the house. The lobby was full of pictures
clicked at happier times.
The lady returned with glasses of water and told them that
Reha madam was out and would be back by evening. She told them that Saraswati
madam was sleeping at the moment. Mark thanked her and told her they would be
comfortable. Comfortable - Which they were not in the house they had lived in
for years. The same house looked stranger to them except the beautiful wall
full of memories.
They went straight into their daughter's room and as told,
found her sleeping. Still, they were worried. Saraswati was looking very weak
and had developed big dark circles under her eyes. Many medicines were
scattered on her study table. Concerned for Saraswati, they rushed to the lady
who greeted them.
Mark - "Is she not well?"
Sally - "What happened to her? Why is she looking so
weak? Why are so many medicines around her? What are those medicines for? For
god sake, please speak up", Sally almost shouted without a pause.
Lady - "I am the caretaker here. Please calm down
madam. Let me call Reha madam. She would talk to you.” She called some number and
said - "Madam, your grandparents have come. They are obviously very
concerned.”
Reha - "Oh! Thanks for calling. I would be home in half
an hour. I had already spoken to the teacher. Bye.", the call got
disconnected with these words.
"Reha", whispered Sally. She was their
granddaughter. They turned back to look at the pictures and found many pictures
of a beautiful looking girl right from her birth to little five year jumping
girl. Sally had tears in her eyes and Mark was smiling and sad at the same
time. The concern of their daughter vanished from their mind for some moments.
Some one very well said - "Interest is more precious than the principle
amount.” she looked exactly like her mother. Same eyes, similar nose and same
hair. Their thoughts were disturbed by the caretaker's voice on informing about
the call.
"She herself is a child. How is she managing this
caretaker?", said Mark in amazement.
"Let’s wait for some more minutes. She would be here.
Oh! I feel so guilty about leaving our angel alone when she needed us the most.”
Sally cried with tears in her eyes. Mark did not have anything to say except
the hug.
No comments:
Post a Comment