That day was Badi Diwali
in 2011.
It was just the dawn. The
colony was looking damn bright and beautiful. The colorful zig zag lights in
each house, the warm light falling on the straight rows of the trees, and the
chirping sound of the birds, all were making an embellished atmosphere all around.
Leena already put all
the gift packets ready for the evening. She kept all the dresses ready too. Leena would wear a Red Banarasi Saree with golden sleeveless blouse,
Sumit would wear a light green silk Kurta with jeans and they bought a cute Red
kurta with white pyjama for their one and only son Piklu.
Piklu was extremely
excited with his crackers, which his dad bought for him in the morning. The
previous day, they went to their close friend Anu’s house to play cards. It was a real fun. As
Diwali has its emphasis on money, gambling is considered lucky game. A popular
saying states that one who does not gamble on this very day will reborn as a donkey
in the next birth. So, Leena did not want to take a chance to reborn as a
donkey.
It was their first Diwali
in this house. Not house, it’s their home. Their own home, which they bought through Housing.com. It was just three
months, they had moved to their apartment. So, the couple wanted to brighten
up every corner. Leena painted a beautiful rangoli, decorated the entrance with
flowers and colourful lights. Few lights they hanged in the balconies too. The trio was spending best time with each other since morning doing all these decoration, complementing each other.
Sumit was all set with his camera too. Photography was his hobby.
Beep! Beep! Sumit’s mobile buzzed suddenly. Somebody was wishing Happy Diwali from other side probably, as she could hear him saying “Thank you. Thank you.”
Keeping the phone,
Sumit said that he needed to go to meet some of his school mates urgently. He would
be back in one hour. He asked both of them to be ready by then and planned
to go to the open area to do the fireworks and also start sharing sweets and
gifts.
Though Piklu did not
like his dad going out in this hour, he did not stop as he was a big boy now.
6 years old boy. Both Mom and Beta dressed up well, lit the diyas and candles.
The aroma of the diyas and the scented candles was giving a divine touch to all
the rooms and surroundings.
One hour was over.
Colony’s crowd started their fireworks. Gradually, the night sky came alive with
the glitter of firecrackers. Leena and Piklu kept watching the spectacular and
bedazzling Diwali scenario.
Leena picked up her phone and dialed Sumit’s number. But he did not pick up.
Piklu’s friends were
calling from the ground floor, he became restless. At last, Leena took the lock
and key, picked few gifts and sweets, and went downstairs thinking that Sumit would
surely call her up once he reached home.
She did not actually want to lock the house as mythology says, one
should not close the door on Diwali evening as Luxmi mata visits every house.
Time was passing. Leena
kept calling Sumit in between. He did not pick up the call.
11 PM. Leena and Piklu
came up. She had to give artificial smile to all of his neighbors, had to
answer to all where was Sumit. She was a bit tensed now. He never did like
this. Almost everytime, he kept the promise….Sumit even did not tell her the names, to
whom he had gone to meet.
12 PM. Piklu slept. He
was a bit tired. Leena was really tensed now. She could not think of calling up her parents
nor parents in law, as they would be nervous.
She thought whether she
should approach Police. But she did not have any faith in Indian police. She
did not know many people in the society too.
She kept calling….Now
it was switch off. Till now, she called up at least 100 times.
What to do now. She was
really confused…but at last thought she would wait till morning.
She just sat on the
bed, beside Piklu, kept her eyes and ears alert, kept peeping through the
window as the entrance gate was somewhat visible from her bed room …….thousands
of thoughts kept disturbing her mind.
At around 4 PM. She
could see two cars stopping near the entry gate. Two guys came down from the
car and talked to the guards. Leena had an intuition, her heart started aching, could
smell some unexpected bad news…..The cars entered the colony. She was expecting
to hear the calling bell in few minutes, though she was not sure about anything.
Crii..ii…ng………Her guess
was right……
She ran like a chitah…to
open the door…..
There were four men
standing there…….She was all set to hear a bed news from them……Her eyes filled with water in fraction of a second……………..
“We are Sorry Bhabi….Sumit
is completely drunk ……It’s not his fault……”One man said.
“Actually, we are his
school mates, we had a surprise card and drink party. Some of us pressurised him to drink. He became uncontrollable initially as he is a non-drinker” Another added……
Leena had no word to
say anything….….He could see Sumit coming front from their back with a guilty gesture.
“I am sorry Leenu………I
will never ever do like this again…..I did not know how I got badly immersed in
playing cards….and kept drinking….” Sumit tried to convince Leena….though his words
were still a bit un-clear.
Leena just hugged him….tight….
“I will never leave you
guys alone in this way…….I am sorry Leenu…” He started weeping like a baby.
Saying bye to his
friends……Sumit directly went to the bed room…..looking for Piklu…..He kissed
him on his forehead, saying… “I am sorry Beta….I promise, I will not leave you and your mom in this kind of situation. I understand what I missed today....”, he pulled Leena too, being extremely emotional.
Leena thanked God for
taking him back safe and his realization.
