The next morning was a beautiful new beginning!

The dusk was awaiting him when Subodh stepped out of the lab. The long traffics had given him enough time to check the offers that he could avail for his next bus journeys. He had got two coupon codes having 50% CASHBACK. Even in the terrible traffic he had smiled with joy. He reached home; the grill was latched while the main door was open. He entered the home. Sitting on the chair he was removing the socks while his flat mate Shankar entered the hall. He said to Shankar “if you are planning to go home the next weekend let me know. I have a coupon code with 50% CASHBACK!” Shankar replied “No, I ‘am not going home”. Subodh observed the pain in his voice when he continuously blinked his eyes to hide his tears. Subodh went inside after changing his clothes; he made some tea and placed them on the table. Shankar was found to be little lost. They conversed for some time, sipping hot tea after which Subodh realized that Shankar was deeply hurt by his mother’s death. Shankar’s father had died when he was a little baby; all he had was his mother. The only person he loved the most in his life. Subodh knew him by heart, he always admired Shankar’s nature-modest, soft spoken, ever smiling, always ready to help others, good reader, good listener, what not! Shankar had once said all these he had inherited from his mother. Subodh somehow wanted to make him feel better. He wanted to take Shankar to a place where he could lose himself also find himself. Subodh prepared the itinerary as best he can.

AFTER A WEEK

In the morning the two pals reached Aurobindo Ashram, Shankar was extremely happy after spending good time on meditation. On the way back to their guest house Shankar explained how happy he was walking on the broad silent roads lined with colourful walls. They had good breakfast after which they went to Auroville, the city of dawn. When the tour inside the ville got over it was almost 4pm after which they reached their guest house right in front of the Rock beach.

They enjoyed every wave hitting them, entirely forgetting the hundreds of people around, deadlines, worries.

They had discovered the child in them!

The dusk slowly started to take over the day. They satisfied their hunger at a café. It was around 6:30pm when they settled on the rock where there were hardly a few people around. Subodh started the conversation which gradually made both of them to speak out their unspoken words. Subodh said that it is always very hard to forget our beloved ones when we have made tons and tons of memories with them. Shankar said how much he loved his mother, her smell, her smile, the way she stood at the main door to see him till he disappeared at the end of the road. The days where he sat on the kitchen slab annoying her and getting hit by the chapathi roller, her tear-filled eyes when he bought her the saree even before she opened it. She was a happy woman who was content with what she had. Who always prayed “Let the supreme power keep us all happy and healthy”. Subodh listened to every word he spoke.

Subodh told to him “You are so lucky to get a mother like that; she is luckiest to have a son like you. You have memories with her. I know the warmth of the mother, her care, her delicate stroke, her anxiety. Everything is so special and beautiful as I have seen it but I never experienced it as I am an orphan.

Shankar’s ears couldn’t believe it. Immediately he hugged him so tightly that he did not want to leave him. Their eyes were wet. The moon light, the waves, the breeze, the two lives amidst all these looked as though the mother nature had embraced the two in her bosom.

That night they went to farm fresh pizza to satisfy their hunger and had a good sleep. The next morning was a beautiful new beginning!