It was just 5 minutess wait but it felt years for Shweta. After 5 minutes, she said a quick prayer and went inside restroom. There she could see, 2 lines on the strip. Her heart started beating faster and she took the strip in her hands to have a closer look. Yes it clearly showed 2 lines. Shweta eyes filled with joy. Its been 3 yrs since she and Ashish were trying to have baby. There were times when she felt all pregnancy symptoms but the pregnancy test showed negative result. This time it came positive making Shweta on top of the world. She immediately tried to reach Ashish on his cell but he didn’t pick up. She desperately called him for 1hour but nobody took the call. As usual he might be in some meeting thought Shweta. Next call she made to her ob/gyn and made subsequent appointment. She could not contain the happiness within herself and wanted to share it with somebody but she wanted Ashish should be the first person to know before anybody else. Around afternoon she went to kitchen and started making lunch for herself when she heard a door knock. She wondered who would have come at this time of the hour. She went and opened the door to see Ashish standing there. Shweta smiled with broad smile as soon as she saw Ashish and wanted to hug him and scream. But in a split-second she realized Ashish was in awful mood and he had a big carton box in his hand. He silently entered the house, kept the box down and collapsed on the sofa with his eyes closed. Shweta wondered what happened, why did he came so early, was something wrong in the office, is he not feeling well. She went into the kitchen and came out with a glass of water for Ashish and sat next to him.
“What happened?” asked Shweta.
“Not feeling well?” asked Shweta again when she did not get response from Ashish.
“Ya..leave me alone for sometime” said Ashish covering his head with his hands.
Shweta felt bad on hearing his reaction. Ashish never behaved that way with her. He would always share with her, if anything goes wrong. She wondered why is hiding about what went wrong.
“Ok, did you had lunch?” asked Shweta.
“No” said Ashish.
“Ok, I will serve lunch for you” said Shweta and got up.
“I said no…did I ask u to bring lunch?” yelled Ashish.
Shweta was shocked looking at Ashish’s temper and her joy of pregnancy vanished. She could not brace herself up to tell the news to Ashish seeing his foul mood. They both were silent for a while.
“I am sorry sweety” said Ashish breaking the silence after a while, feeling bad for yelling at his wife.
Shweta felt little reassured now and thought it’s time to share the news which will pep up Ashish’s mood.
She came back and sat besides Ashish and took his hand in hers.
“I have something very nice to tell you” started Shweta. Ashish looked at her questioningly.
“I guess I am pregnant” said Shweta with a sweet smile, holding Ashish’s hand tightly.
“What..are you sure?” asked Ashish with worried look.
“Yeah, my periods got delayed over a week. I did a pregnancy test in the morning and it clearly showed positive result. I can feel all the symptoms” said Shweta with excitement.
“Oh no” said Ashish covering his face with both hands again.
“I thought you would be happy!” said Shweta disappointed to see Ashish’s reaction.
Shweta turned her face on the other side and sulked for not getting proper response from Ashish.
“I am sorry again sweety” said Ashish slowly “there is something which even I need to tell you..but this is bad one”.
“Whats that?” asked Shweta her heart pounding.
“Today our company laid off its 100 employees and I am one among them!” sighed Ashish finally letting out the reason for his bad mood.
“What!” said Shweta disbelieving.
“How could that happen…you were one of their best employee” continued Shweta still in shock.
“Its all due to recession sweety. Our company is downsizing its work force. They have even removed many in top management. Moreover, they are considering only citizens or green card holders and I am on h1” said Ashish sadly.
“Oh no” said Shweta “What now then?”
“Hmmm.. Company is going to give me 3 months salary in advance. I have to look for another job in 30 days. If not, we will have to go back to India” said Ashish.
“But then what about our green card processing?” said Shweta with worried look.
“I guess that has gone into trash too!” said Ashish.
“Oh don’t worry darling. You will get another job easily” said Shweta holding Ashish’s hand again.
They were silent for another half an hour. They cannot believe that their American dream is coming to end so soon. They were hearing about recession since long time but they never thought that it would hit them so soon. They were even planning to buy a house but all that is going to become impossible now. They both wanted to settle in USA. They can’t imagine starting life again in India.
Within days Ashish became busy posting his resumes to different companies though he knew there are very dim chances of him getting job in this kind of market. There used to be very few calls but nothing substantial came up. Market was really bad and people were hiring mostly green card holders or citizens. His h1 also was getting expired by that month end.
By 3rd week, Ashish knew that its time they start packing their belongings and go back to India. Shweta had first appointment with ob/gyn and everything was well with her pregnancy. She was disappointed that this pregnancy news came in such bad time but that was the only thing which kept Shweta happy. By last week, they sold off all their furniture and their favorite SUV. Both Ashish and Shweta were depressed with the thought of going back to India after 6 long years. They had a huge friend circle in US and everybody was saddened and felt helpless to see them going back to India. Ashish lost both his parents 3 years before his marriage in an accident. His elder brother stopped any kind of contact with Ashish after some property issue. Shweta’s parents and siblings too cut off their relationship with her after she married Ashish in a registrar’s office 6 years back. Shweta tried her best to renew her relationship with her parents but they couldn’t forgive Shweta for marrying against their wishes. Whenever she used to call home, they used to disconnect her call soon after hearing her voice. There was nobody looking forward for their visit to India. Ashish had already decided that he won’t stop trying to come back to US and will again start his h1 processing soon after going back to India.
With the help of one of their friend in US, they got a flat for rent pretty soon in Mumbai. Ashish also had a job in hand in India for which he was easily selected through few telephonic interviews. The day they reached Mumbai, it was hot and humid. Shweta immediately felt sick as she came out of the airport. A teenaged boy came running to them and asked if he could help them with their luggage and get a taxi for them. Ashish felt happy with a helping hand and immediately agreed. That teenage boy immediately brought a taxi and helped Ashish to load the luggage. When job was done Ashish handed a 20 Rs note to the boy. Teenage boy stared at Ashish with amusement without taking the money out of his hand.
“Rakh lo rakh lo” said Ashish insisting the boy to take money.
“Saab bus 20Rs, you are coming from America and giving me 20Rs?” said the boy
Ashish felt taken aback “What do u mean by just 20rs! How much do u want?”
“20 dollars saab” said the boy with a smile.
“What…20 dollars!!” said Ashish angrily.
“Chillate kyun ho saab…if u want to give..give ..otherwise leave…” said the boy arrogantly.
“I wont give u a penny!” fumed Ashish and got into the taxi.
Boy left the place uttering some bad words.
He was all the more angry when taxi waala charged 500Rs just from airport to santacruz. He started cursing about the corruption rate in India from the day one.
Two days after settling down, Ashish joined his new company. He soon observed that there were different groups in the office according to the language they speak and thus lot of politics. He missed his old office and colleagues and the office environment back in US.
Shweta felt lot of nauseated for first 2 weeks in India and then slowly recovered. She felt happy that she got full time maid, Radha, but she had to bear her non-stop talk throughout the day. After knowing that Shweta is pregnant, Radha took good care of her and sometimes used to cook for her too.
Getting gas connection and license was a big headache for Ashish. Everywhere he had to bribe. People in government offices were not courteous at all. For Ashish it seemed that its abnormal to follow rules in India. Though India changed a lot in terms of economy since last time he was in India but basic mentality remained same. Though big malls, multi storey’s have erupted throughout the city, sincerity has gone underground in the same rate.
One day Shweta felt restless and went out to buy some groceries. As she went out, she immediately felt uncomfortable. Guys were staring at her from top to bottom almost piercing through her top. Though she was 3 months pregnant but nobody could guess that. She cursed herself for not wearing a salwar suit. A guy even passed a nasty comment on her and she almost wanted to scream but kept quite. Later that night when Shweta narrated the incident that happened in the morning to Ashish and he started chuckling.
“My pregnant wife still looks so beautiful, how could the guys stop staring?” said Ashish sweetly.
“Shut up Ashish…I am serious” said Shweta agitated.
“Welcome to India, madam!” said Ashish taking Shweta in his arms.
“Now don’t wear jeans and your sexy tops while going out alone here” continued Ashish lovingly.
“hmmm..i hate living here” sighed Shweta.
“Me too..and you know what” said Ashish looking at Shweta.
“What?” said Shweta.
“I have talked to one of my friend in US who has his own company and he is ready to file my H1 in coming april” said Ashish.
“Oh really” asked Shweta delighted.
“Yes my dear wifey” said Ashish kissing Shweta.
“Thank God, its hell out here” said Shweta.
Ashish used to have lot of work pressure in the office. He had to go to office even on the weekends. And to top it all, he reached home late due to the heavy traffic. Shweta missed Ashish a lot in day to day life as spending a quality time together lessened.
Days passed by very slowly. Ashish was looking forward for april to come. Work in the office was ok and he made very few friends. Similarly Shweta hardly made any friends in her apartment as she was confident that she would go back to her own set of friends back in US. Then one day, an elderly couple, Mr and Mrs Gupta, moved in their opposite flat. Mrs Gupta seemed to be very kind and friendly but her constant interference annoyed Shweta. They had two sons and both were settled in US. She always used to boast about their son’s well being in US to Shweta which irritated her more. When Mrs Gupta came to know that Shweta and Ashish too lived in US before coming here, she annoyed them more by asking why they left such beautiful country. But even after all this Mrs Gupta used to give her motherly affection to Shweta during her pregnancy. She used to cook different nutritious food for Shweta without any hesitation.
Soon the month of April came and Ashish’s friend filed h1 visa for him. Both Ashish and Shweta prayed that their case should be selected in the H1 lottery. God answered their prayers and Ashish’s H1 file was selected in lottery and went for processing. As Ashish had good experience in US, he was sure there would be no problems whatsoever while processing. It was just a matter of few months and they would be flying back to their beloved country.
One day Shweta told Mrs Gupta that they have filed for US visa again and that if everything goes well, they will fly back to US. As soon as Shweta said this, smile on Mrs Gupta’s face vanished. She kept quiet for a minute and then said “we are going to miss you”.
“Aunty you can come and meet us whenever you guys come to US to meet your sons” said Shweta softly.
“Beta, its been 10 yrs since both my sons have left to US. They have never once called us. They came to India few times in between but stayed for 2-3 days at our house. That’s it. They are very busy people Shweta. If you come to India sometime, then don’t forget us” said Mrs Gupta sadly trying to stop her tears. Shweta for the first time felt sorry for her. She thought how life can be irony sometimes, here she is trying to mend her relationship with her parents but they are not interested, and here is Mrs Gupta who is so eager to see her kids but they don’t have time.
Time passed by and time for Shweta’s delivery came near. Last trimester was tough for Shweta, but with the support of Mrs Gupta and Radha, Shweta gained confidence. Shweta started her contractions in the middle of the night one day and Ashish rushed her to nearby hospital. Mr and Mrs Gupta too accompanied them.
By morning 5’o clock little princess Neha stepped into this world looking at her parents for the first time. Shweta and Ashish both cried, hugged, laughed like two small kids looking at their daughter. They laughed when Neha cried, and cried when Neha smiled. It was wonderful moment for both of them. Its been 3 years since they were waiting for this day. Ashish knew how much this moment meant for Shweta.
Mrs Gupta didn’t leave Shweta’s side for those 3 days. Shweta at times felt guilty for troubling Mrs Gupta but she felt at comfort whenever Mrs Gupta used to hold Shweta’s hand or just put her palm oh her head lovingly.
The day Ashish and Shweta arrived home with their little one, they got the news that Ashish’s h1b visa got approved. Ashish and Shweta were both elated with the news and thanked their new born, Neha for being so lucky for them. Ashish got an appointment for visa stamping on Dec 1st 08.
As time passed by Ashish and Shweta were totally engrossed with their new found parental status. Shweta used to capture every moment of her baby’s growth in her digital camera. Ashish was all the more happy as things were going smoothly as he thought. He even had a project ready to work on after going to US. Mr and Mrs Gupta enjoyed the company of Ashish and Shweta even more after the arrival of little Neha. Shweta used to introduce them as “Nana- Nani” whenever they used to come home to spend time with Neha.
When all things were going fine and their stamping day was just few days away, their world came to a standstill for next few days.
It was on 26th nov 08 when as usual Ashish went to office. He had an official meeting as well as party that day and informed Shweta that it would be late by the time he returns home so asked her not to wait for him for dinner. Around 5pm Ashish called Shweta.
“Hello Sweety, I am just about to leave” said Ashish.
“Oh you are coming home now?” asked Shweta
“No no. I mean i am going to meeting now. We all colleagues are going together” said Ashish.
“Oh ok. Where is the meeting by the way?”asked Shweta casually.
“Its at Taj hotel” said Ashish amidst chaos in the office.
“Oh ok..you carry on..your colleagues must be waiting” said Shweta hearing somebody calling him from behind.
“Ok..bye” said Ashish and they all left for the meeting.
Around 7pm Shweta heard her door bell ringing many a times. She ran and peeped from the door hole and saw Mrs Gupta standing there. She opened the door.
“Beta did you hear the news?” said Mrs Gupta with anxiety in her voice.
“What news aunty?”questioned Shweta.
“There have been terrorist attacks all over the city beta. Switch on the TV you will know “said Mrs Gupta.
Shweta hurriedly switches on the TV and changes the channel to local news. Mrs Gupta was right about the news. The news correspondent was talking on top of his voice about the attacks which made clear about the gravity of the situation. Suddenly the news correspondent announced that Hotel Taj is also among the places where terrorist attacked. Hearing that, Shweta gasped. Mrs Gupta who was sitting on the sofa while watching the news suddenly panicked when she saw Shweta who was almost freaked out.
“What happened beta?” said Mrs Gupta trying to shake Shweta.
“Aunty Ashish went to Hotel Taj for the meeting today” cried Shweta.
“Oh no..is it…but but..first find out…what if he already left the hotel” said Mrs Gupta comforting her.
Shweta hurriedly made a call to Ashish but it was switched off. Her heart started beating faster and she tried reaching his office landline number hoping somebody would give information but nobody answered the call. Then she went to her bedroom and frantically started searching through Ashish’s wardrobe to see is she can get hold of any of his colleague’s contact numbers. She cursed herself for never bothering to ask Ashish any of his colleague’s number in case of emergency. Mrs Gupta also came inside the bedroom to help Shweta. After a frantic search she got the number of Mr. Ranganathan, Ashish’s manager written somewhere in his official documents. She ran back to main hall to call that number but the line went busy. She kept redialing the number for another 15 minutes but the line was busy constantly. Her heart raced faster and then suddenly she realized Neha was crying in her room. She ran to the other bedroom and took Neha in her arms and cuddled her with tears rolling in her eyes.
After an hour her phone finally rang. Neha was asleep by the time. Shweta made Neha sleep back in her bed and went to pick up the call. Her hands were shaking as she lifted the fone.
“Hello is this Mrs Ashish Khurana?” said a voice on the other side of the phone.
“Yes” answered Shweta with a weak voice.
“Mrs Ashish, I am Ranganathan, Ashish’s manager” said Mr Ranganathan with a heavy south Indian accent.
“I have been trying to reach you…” said Shweta unable to complete her sentence.
“oh ok ok. Actually you must have already come to know about what happened in the city today?” said Mr Ranganathan hoping that the answer would be yes.
“Yes Mr Ranganathan, I came to know about it half an hour back..” said Shweta.
“See Mrs Ashish, to be frank I myself have no news about my team members which includes your husband till now. There were total 10 people from my team who went to the meeting today. I have tried contacting each and everybody but it seems everybody’s mobile number is switched off. …” and then Mr Ranganathan paused for a while “I have been trying to contact police about the same. I have even escalated the issue with our company’s chairman and other higher officials about the situation and they are also trying their best to assess the situation…” continued Mr Ranganathan “I will contact you again, once I receive some kind of information about my team members….aa Ashish” And then Mr Ranganatha paused again to listen Shweta’s gasp.
“Please madam, you don’t worry. Everything will be alright. Just be positive. Also don’t go out anywhere outside your home as the situation is very bad right now” said Ranganathan and paused again when he listened another call beep in his phone.
“Okay madam I will call you back again, I am getting a call on the other line, I think it is from our company chairman. Bye” and the call was over.
Mrs Gupta was just standing besides Shweta.
“What happened beta…is there any information?” asked Mrs Gupta worriedly, looking at Shweta’s pale face.
“No aunty. It was Ashish’s manager. They themselves have no news about them and said they will contact me again as soon as they know some news” said Shweta with tired and weak voice.
News about terrorism in Mumbai was blasting all over the various tv channels. There were no reports of any casualty yet. After a while Mr Gupta too joined them. All three were glued to TV with silence. They couldn’t believe the scale of the attacks happening in Mumbai. Every time there was a report of a new place where there have been bomb explosions. They felt helpless and lonely. Mrs Gupta decided to stay at Shweta’s house until there is some news from Ashish. She herself fed Neha when she got up and made her go sleep again singing a lullaby for her. Shweta was in no position to look after Neha and left her on Mrs Gupta’s care. By 12pm they realized Ashish is not going to return home that day but were happy there have been no bad reports from the hotel so far according to media news.
Mrs Gupta persuaded Shweta to have dinner but she refused and instead she went to her little daughter’s room and cuddled around her saying a silent prayer. Mrs Gupta settled herself on the sofa and Mr Gupta choose to sleep on the deewan in the hall. TV was not switched off but Mrs gupta lowered the sound a bit. She didn’t even turn off the light hoping Ashish would come back.
The night went by with a long wait. Shweta woke up with a heavy headache and her neck ached a bit as she slept in one position throughout the night without realizing. When she came out in the hall, she realized that Mr and Mrs Gupta, were still there at home. She could smell hot tea from the kitchen and somehow felt bit relaxed for the first time in past 12hrs to have Mr and Mrs Gupta’s company.
“Beta, while you were sleeping Mr Ranganathan called up, he asked u to call him back” said Mrs Gupta while giving her hot cup of tea.
“Oh, did he say anything more aunty?” asked Shweta with worried look again.
“no no..he said there is nothing to worry about but he just wanted to give you some information” said Mrs Gupta.
She dialed Mr Ranganathan number keeping her cup aside. After 3-4 rings Mr Ranganathan answered the call.
“Hello Mrs Ashish, ..a..aa..I was waiting for your call” said Mr Ranganathan. It seemed he didn’t sleep throughout the night and also he was talking from somewhere outside.
“What is it Mr Ranganathan? Did you get information?” said Shweta anxiously.
“Ya. Actually I came in touch with commander in chief, who is looking after this crisis and he said there are at least 300 people who are stuck up in the hotel. It might be possible that terrorists have kept them as hostages. Here people are trying their best to negotiate with them. They are hoping the crisis will be resolved by afternoon” said Mr Ranganathan slowly.
“uh..oh..can I come there?” said Shweta not knowing what else to say.
“No no. Please don’t come here. It’s not safe” insisted Mr Ranganathan.
After the call was over, Shweta for the first time felt the pain for the others too, not only for Ashish. She was wondering if kids were there too. As the news of the hostages flashed on the TV, Shweta imagined the scene as if they were tied and all kept in a room, that some might be in hiding. She was worried if they even had a chance to drink water.
As the word went out, other people from the apartment came visiting Shweta’s house and gave their wishes for his safe arrival. Lot of other colleagues of Ashish also called Shweta and asked her to be strong. It was already afternoon and she didn’t get any call from Mr. Ranganathan again. She was exhausted and sick. According to TV reports there wasn’t much progress. There was no sign of release of any of the hostages. She thought to herself that there was no point in calling Mr. Ranganathan anyway after seeing live reports on TV. She had tears in her eyes realizing it was already more than 24hrs since she saw Ashish. Neha had no inkling of what was going on, but she behaved like a good girl as if realizing she should not disturb her mother.
By evening 4’o clock there was reports that terrorists fired indiscriminately inside the Taj Hotel. There were also reports that few escaped from the hotel, that there was a bomb explosion in one of the floors of the hotel. Shweta’s eyes were already swollen by this time and she was holding tight with Mrs Gupta. She didn’t want to believe that Ashish might have been killed because she knew she would realize if something like that happened. She was more worried if Ashish was hurt.
In the night she tried calling Mr Ranganathan again but his fone was constantly busy. That day nobody ate anything. Neha was fed by Mrs Gupta herself. In the night around 11’o clock Shweta got call from Mr. Ranganathan.
“Hello” said Shweta meekly.
“Mrs Ashish, I am sorry, but there hasn’t been any news yet” said Mr. Ranganathan genuinely feeling sorry.
“oh..” said Shweta feeling good that there was no bad news at least.
“Please be strong, Mrs Ashish. I will pray that all my team members should return safely” said Mr. Ranganathan softly.
“ok…mmm..even I am praying for the same. Thanks for calling” said Shweta knowing that there is nothing more to talk.
Soon it was day three of terror. Reports were uglier by the morning. Lot of dead bodies was recovered from some floors of the hotel where anti-terrorist unit could go. Atleast 15 bodies were found and identified. Most of them were foreign nationals. Except for Taj Hotel all other places where attacks happened have been cleared out. Now, the whole nation’s concentration was focused on this hotel. Anti-terrorist unit was still combing each floor, room by room cautiously. According to reports due to fumes caused by bomb attack and as all lights were broken inside the hotel, it was becoming a difficult task for the unit to counter the attacks.
Shweta became restless by afternoon. She couldn’t stay at home. She wanted to go to the hotel and see what really was happening with her own eyes. She thought to herself that had she been there in place of Ashish, Ashish wouldn’t have sit at home waiting for her to come. She should go.
Mr.Ranganathan’s phone came and there wasn’t any difference in the news since last night. At around 4’o clock she decided that she has to go the site and asked Mrs Gupta to take care of her daughter. Mr and Mrs Gupta both were shocked by Shweta’s decision and begged her not to go as there is nothing she could do. They also feared for her safety as it was almost curfew like situation in the city but she didn’t heed to their words. Mr Gupta finally had to give in but said he will also go with her and will not let her go alone. Shweta didn’t say no and changed herself in a cotton salwar suit. She kissed Neha and hugged Mrs Gupta before leaving. She kept some snacks in her purse and a bottle of water in case she meets Ashish and he might be hungry. She was determined to come back home with Ashish.
Though hotel was just 45 mins drive from their home, it took almost 3hrs to reach the place by taxi. A large area around the hotel was sealed and there were small tents outside hotel where anti-terrorist unit were holding their crew. There were lot of media people, vans and other officers. It was chaos everywhere. Once there Shweta, didn’t understand where to go and what she could do. She could see few faces who like her seemed to have their people trapped in the building and media people were trying to take their interview. Some were talking in vain, some didn’t want to comment. Then in one corner she saw a lady sitting in the ground and praying.
She and Mr Gupta moved around to see if they can catch hold of some official to talk about the condition but it was too difficult to reach them. Smoke was coming out from many parts of the building and the building itself was drenched with water caused due to fire engines. From the far corner she could see few people carrying some bodies in the ambulances. Few were moving in the stretchers, few in wheel chairs. Media people standing there were giving different counts of people killed. It increased than what she heard last when she was at home. Just around then she felt somebody put a hand on her shoulder. She turned around with panic and there she saw a middle aged man around 50 yrs old with spectacles and pale face. For a moment she thought, he also might have somebody close inside the building and felt sorry.
“Are you Mrs Ashish?” asked the old man.
Shweta was little taken aback and said yes.
“Oh, I am Ranganathan madam” said Mr Ranganathan.
“Oh Mr. Ranganathan… hello…. mmm …how did u recognize me?” said Shweta recognizing the voice she has been in touch since last 2 days.
“Actually I called your home. Some woman took the call and she said you are here with her husband. She even told me what you were wearing. I even tried calling you on your mobile” said Mr Ranganathan.
Shweta checked her mobile and there were several missed calls, due to chaos she didn’t hear the ring.
For Shweta he looked as if he didn’t had sleep since last 2 days. She could see grown beard on his face and he looked tired.
“You should have not come here madam. There is nothing we can do. It is too dangerous for you” continued Mr Ranganathan kindly in a fatherly way. Shweta often heard about him from Ashish but never saw him.
“I just couldn’t stay at home Mr. Ranganathan. Ashish would have done the same had I been there instead of him” said Shweta pointing at the hotel and tears flew down her cheeks.
All this was noticed by a media spokes woman and she came running with her crew to ask why she was crying. Suddenly Shweta was surrounded with camera, mike and a lady asking all sorts ofquestions. She got panicked and got help from Mr.Ranganathan who shoo them away politely saying they don’t want to say anything to media.
He took them to one corner of the barricaded area where there was a small tent. He entered and invited both of them. She noticed that there was one small suitcase in one corner and a pair of clothes on top of it. A small bedding with a laptop on top of it.
“Whose tent is this” asked Shweta looking at Mr Ranganathan.
“Actually some of the police officials gave me this tent. I have been here since last 2days keeping in touch with anti-terrorist agents. I am trying my best whatever I can do. But there are many more people there. So far they couldn’t get any news about my team members” said Mr Ranganathan rather solemnly.
Shweta felt grateful for Mr Ranganathan for being so concerned about his colleagues but she didn’t want to thank him now until Ashish comes back safe. She just nodded and looked around the tent. Mr. Ranganathan gave them water to drink. She didn’t know what else to do. Mr Ranganathan and Mr Gupta both talked for a while about the situation about why it was taking time to nab the terrorists.
She just couldn’t come to believe that all this was real. She always used to hear about such news in TV but never ever cared about much. She now understood the kind of fear this kind of terrorist attacks carries with itself. Just around then she heard some loud shooting noises from the hotel. They all came out of the tent instantly and stood there looking at the hotel. They could hear the sounds more clear and there were lots of rounds fired though it was not clear who was firing it. The commotion which was there till then went silent and everybody there were looking at the building and trying to listen the sounds of the shooting. Shooting went on for another 20 minutes and stopped. After a while again the same chaos came back from the crowd, media people giving the latest news and a new set of ambulances coming towards the hotel.
Mr. Ranganathan asked them to stay inside the tent while he goes and tries to find some information. Shweta was almost tempted to go with him but decided that it may annoy him. Mr Gupta and Shweta both entered the tent again and sat silently. At around 8pm they called home and both talked to Mrs Gupta. Neha was already slept by that time and Mrs Gupta made her some food to eat before sleeping. She informed Shweta that Neha was behaving very well and didn’t cry at all. She asked them when they would come back for which Shweta didn’t give any certain answer and said they might be little late. She was determined not to go back home without Ashish but felt sorry for Mr Gupta. After the call was over, she asked Mr Gupta to go back home and that she will be alright. Mr Gupta smiled and said that his wife will kick him if she knows that he left her here. Shweta smiled a little and felt grateful again for Mr Gupta. She suddenly remembered her parents and felt sad that they don’t care about her at all. These two days have been more horrible for her had she didn’t had moral support from Mr and Mrs Gupta.
At around 9pm Mr Ranganathan returned to the tent. He noticed Mr Gupta was lying down on the bedding and Shweta was sitting on the other corner with her head leaning back waiting for some news. They both came back to their senses as they saw him. Mr Ranganathan looked more tired than what they saw last but it was the same case with everybody there. He said that more bodies have been found by police but none of the bodies belongs to his colleagues. Shweta just wondered that how a human being is referred to as “body” once he or she is dead. The mere thought of it overwhelmed her. Mr. Ranganathan insisted them to return home as there is nothing they can do here. He insisted many other family members from not coming here who were in same situation like Ashish but being their manager he felt he was responsible to be here. Mr Ranganathan was also feeling guilty at the same time because it was his idea to have the meeting at this hotel.
“I will not go back home without Ashish.. Mr Ranganathan” said Shweta somewhat stubbornly “am sorry about that”.
“Please madam, we don’t know how much more time it will take and it’s not safe for both of you here”.
“Its ok Mr Ranganathan..you are here…they all are just your colleagues..your team members..nothing else..but still you are here for them…there is my husband out there…I don’t have anybody else other than him and my daughter in this life…” said Shweta with depressed anxiety.
Mr Ranganathan didn’t have much idea about their personal life other than that they came from US recently and he liked Ashish for his work in office. He couldn’t argue much with Shweta. With that he said he will be back after sometime. After a while he came back with few bottles of mineral water and 2 packets of food. Shweta felt little embarrassed when she saw Mr Ranganathan had to go and get them food. She was in no mood to eat food but then that would offend Mr Ranganathan who took so much of effort to bring food from somewhere in this kind of situation and moreover Mr Gupta might be feeling hungry, he was old and she should think about him too. Shweta ate very little and Mr Gupta seemed to be hungry and he ate heartily thanking Ranganathan for taking the effort. After having food they stood outside for long time and talking to few people mostly who were media people about the situation. They said that 80% of the hotel has been cleared by the anti-terrorist agents and in another few hours this ordeal will be over. Shweta felt good hearing this thinking that Ashish will be soon with her; it’s just a matter of few hours. She still refused to believe that he might have been killed.
Soon it was past midnight and the whole ordeal entered into its 3rd day already. When there was no new news till 2 AM, Shweta and Mr. Gupta rested for a while inside the tent. They got up and came out of the tent around 6 a.m. They didn’t know where Mr Ranganathan was throughout the night while they were resting. He appeared before them after 7 am saying that few people were rescued but none of them were his team members. Shweta felt that crowd increased more than the previous day with more media crew. It was almost as some fair was going on, as she noticed lot of small tea stalls and other snack stalls installed overnight serving people there. At 10 am she called home again and talked to Mrs Gupta worrying about her daughter. Mrs Gupta said she was doing fine and was causing no trouble. She insisted Mr Gupta to go home again but he refused plainly.
People were increasingly impatient with terrorists still hiding inside the hotel for 3rd day straight. Nobody had clue why it was taking so much time to finish the task. While scanning the hotel from far corner where she was standing, Shweta noticed that at one corner there was a police van and few officers standing around. She noticed them for some time. They were all in black uniforms. They were laughing and seemed having no remorse about what was going. After watching them for a while, she couldn’t take it anymore, there were people inside the hotel fighting for their lives and here these people were laughing and smiling. While Mr Gupta was talking to somebody there Shweta sneaked past the barricades and walked towards the van. She patted on one of the officer’s shoulder from behind when other officers noticed her. The officer turned around to see her.
“Having fun?” asked Shweta sarcastically.
“Who are you madam, you are not supposed to be here?” asked the officer with concern.
“My husband is there in that hotel since last 3 days amongst those terrorists and you are all standing here and joking. Don’t you have any heart?” said Shweta angrily.
“See madam, you should not be here, this is restricted area, it’s not safe for you here. Please go back” said officer controlling his anger.
“Safe..safe my foot..when India has such officers like you..who take bribes at the drop of the hat..nobody is safe” said Shweta with agitation when others came near her to drag her off from there.
“Mind your language madam…we are working round the clock..its people like you who are delaying the process” said the officer finally letting off his anger while others tried to calm him down.
Shweta was then forcefully dragged off from there by other officers. Mr Gupta then noticed that Shweta was being dragged off by officers towards where he was standing. He rushed to her and asked what happened with heavy breath.
“Nothing” said Shweta getting all the more angry at the way officers dragged her.
“Why did you go there beta?” asked Mr Gupta softly.
“To give them lecture uncle..they are least bothered about what is happening inside..its been 3 days ..its ridiculous to see how they are handling this grim situation..they were standing there and making jokes..thats why I hate India uncle…I never wanted to come here..everybody here is corrupt and nobody feels the responsibility…” said Shweta with tears in her eyes.
“Beta calm down…I know what you are going through..believe in God…Ashish will return safely..have faith” said Mr Gupta patting her head softly.
After a while Mr Ranganathan came to know what happened from Mr Gupta and felt Shweta shouldn’t have spoken like that with officers as he knew many officers too lost their life in this battle. The real fault was with politicians.
The saga went on for few more hours when all of a sudden there was a big commotion in the crowd. There were rumours that all the terrorists in the hotel have been gunned down finally. It was nearly afternoon by the time this news came but nobody was yet allowed to come near the hotel. People were finally cheering and clapping around. Shweta and Mr. Gupta stood there silently waiting to hear something about Ashish and his other colleagues. Mr Ranganathan was as usual not around them and they were waiting for him to come with some confirmed news that the crisis is over. Around 1pm Mr. Ranganathan came to them with happy smile even though he looked very very tired. Shweta could already sense the good news looking at Mr. Ranganathan’s face.
“All are safe Mrs Ashish..all are safe..they all are taken to hospital..come along with me..you can meet Ashish there itself” said Mr Ranganathan happily hugging Mr Gupta.
“Why are they being taken to hospital?” said Shweta panicking if they have been hurt or worse have been hit by bullets.
“Oh..they were all are pretty shaken up…and week due to exhaustion..they will have some physical examination by doctors..i guess..thats it” said Mr Rangathan hurrying towards the tent to take his belongings. After a while all three hired a taxi and hurried towards the hospital. Behind them they could still hear sounds of ambulance and fire engines. While in the taxi, Shweta called Mrs Gupta and gave her the good news and said she will call back once she meets Ashish. Mr Ranganathan was calling families of all other team members and gave them the address of the hospital.
After reaching the hospital, they were directly taken to the trauma ward. Journalists and media crew were already there. After talking to one of the doctors there, they were directed to one of the rooms where all his team-members were there. As soon as everybody reached the room, there was silence. Shweta scanned around the room to see Ashish and there he was sitting in one corner of the room with IV attached to his hand. Shweta ran towards Ashish and others noticed their presence and there was murmur all around.
“Ashish” said Shweta falling on her knees to see Ashish whose head was bent down.
Ashish lift his face weakly to see Shweta and a line of tear went down his cheeks as he weakly got up to hug her.
“I knew nothing will happen to you..i knew” said Shweta amidst tears hugging Ashish tightly.
Meanwhile Mr Ranganathan was hugging and cheering each and every colleague of his happily and congratulating them. Mr Gupta too who didn’t know anybody other than Ashish hugged everybody and patting them all for being lucky and brave to come out of the worst terrorists attack ever happened. Finally he came to Ashish and hugged him with tears in his eyes. Everybody in the room was moved and there were tears of happiness all around. Slowly families of other members too came and the room was crowded soon. After all the medical formalities, which took nearly 2 hours, they were all given permission to go home and rest.
As Ashish , Shweta and Mr Gupta knocked their door, Mrs Gupta came out with a [i]silver thaali[/i] which had a small fire from camphor and she rotated the thaali in front of them with moist eyes. Ashish then bowed and touched Mrs Gupta's foot with respect. As he stood up, Mrs Gupta gently kissed him on his forhead. After entering home, he searched for Neha and grabbed her with both hand and kissed her. She gave him a sweet smile as if she was missing him too. Finally he was back with his family.
Mrs Gupta already prepared food for them. Ashish soon took shower and had very little to eat. He couldn’t eat more. He wanted to rest. Mr and Mrs Gupta finally went back to their home after four days of nightmare. As soon as they left, Ashish slipped into the bed taking Shweta and Neha along. Shweta was tired too. All three had sound sleep not knowing when it was already dawn.
Ashish was strangely silent since he came home. He was still in trauma. Their date of stamping was coming near and Ashish didn’t seem to bother about it. Shweta was worried about Ashish, at the same time she didn’t knew how to bring the subject of visa stamping which was on coming Monday. She knew Ashish was prepared with all the documents long time back. It was Friday that day. Ashish talked very little and office granted them leave for that day. Next day he was most of the time on phone making some enquiries which Shweta didn’t understand as he talked in very low tone. She hoped it was regarding Visa stamping. On Sunday he got a call from a stranger and Ashish listened while scribbling down something on a notepad. After the call was over, Ashish asked Shweta to get ready as they will be going out somewhere. Shweta was bit irritated as Ashish didn’t tell her any details about where they are going but didn’t dare to ask and got ready. After 15 mins they were on the roads to a destination which Shweta had no idea about. She tried asking Ashish about where they are going all of a sudden and he simply replied her to wait for a little while more and she will know eventually. After an hour they reached an old apartment complex. They both climbed two floors and reached a house where Ashish rang the door bell.
A young woman with a small baby opened the door. She looked pale and had sad eyes. Shweta was bit taken back when she looked at the woman who looked beautiful and had no idea why they were there.
“Namaste…mmm..is this Captain Ganesh’s home?” asked Ashish softly.
“yes..he is my husband..but…” saying this the woman’s eyes filled with tears and fell short of words.
“yes I know” helped Ashish with tenderness.
“I knew him. My name is Ashish and this is my wife” said Ashish gesturing towards Shweta.
“Can I come in for a while” continued Ashish.
The woman at the door didn’t say anything and gave them way to enter inside her home.
As they entered the house, Shweta saw few elderly people all in somber mood. Then her eyes fell on a big photo of a man in the centre of the hall with a garland across the frame. Shweta felt she saw the man somewhere and heart sank when she remembered him. It was the man she had an argument with recently at the Taj Hotel premises. Shweta was shocked to know he was no more and soon understand his name is Ganesh. She looked around to see Ashish. He was sitting uncomfortably in a chair. She too came to sit in a chair adjacent to Ashish’s. She wondered if Ashish knew about the incident that happened at the Taj hotel and that it was the reason why he was disturbed since few days.
The lady of the house came back with two glasses of water and sat in the opposite chair with lowered eyes.
Ashish moved uncomfortably in his chair and finally opened his mouth to speak which seemed a lifetime “i..i..owe my life to your husband. He lost his life while saving me” said Ashish with choking voice.
Shweta was paralyzed to hear this.
“While in the capitivity, I was freaked out. I tried to sneak away from there. I was too terrified. I didn’t want to die so soon. They were killing people mercilessly. But as I tried to escape, I was caught by one of the terrorists and he tried to shot me. But before he could do that, your husband came in between and killed him” said Ashish clutching his hands together and lowering his face not able to look at the lady who got widowed because of him.
“Then he looked at me with smiling face” Ashish tried to breath in as he tried to remember that smiling face of Ganesh which he can’t forget for life “and said I was lucky that he caught me before terrorists did anything bad” Ashish felt silent for a while before he could say anymore but he had to do this for the sake of Ganesh.
“Then he said that he promised you to take to movie that day because he knew that the mission would be over by that day. He also said that it was the first time he was taking you out for movie” said Ashish sobbing again. Tears came rolling down from Shweta’s eyes but she didn’t move to give holding hand to Ashish.
“Just then another terrorist came from nowhere and opened fire at both of us. Ganesh quickly covered me and killed him too but this time he wasn’t lucky. He had to give up his life. He died in my hands” paused Ashish while looking at the hands where Ganesh breathed his last breath. Ganesh’s widow stared at him to see the man whom her husband saw last before dying. There were only sounds of sobbing in the house.
Ashish again lowered his eyes and slowly moved his hands to his shirt pocket “ he asked me to give you this before……”resumed Ashish while taking out two movie tickets from his pocket and slowly got up from his chair and moved near Ganesh’s wife to give the tickets. Ganesh’s wife took the tickets with shaky hands and kissed the tickets with tears which never seemed to end.
“I am sorry” said Ashish finally letting out the guilt which had been with him since past few days. Shweta felt as guiltier and for the first time got up from her chair and came near Ganesh’s wife and took her hands in her hands and cried.
They were there for a long time before they returned for home. After returning home they were silent for a long time before Shweta broke the silence.
“Ashish, I have to tell you something” said Shweta softly.
Ashish looked at Shweta as if asking her to continue.
“I knew Ganesh too. Infact before you came to know” said Shweta with fresh tears again making a liner in her eyes.
Shweta narrated him about what happened on that day and cried feeling guilty like a child. Ashish didn’t say anything but took her in his arms. He knew he was more responsible for Ganesh’s death than anybody else. They both sat there crying, holding each other’s hands for long time and silently thanking Ganesh for giving them the new lease of life. That night both came to a decision.
On Monday, Ashish went to office and gave his resignation with 2 months of notice period as required. Later that night they had heartfelt dinner with Mr and Mrs Gupta at their home. In coming days Ashish became busy by making plans to be an entrepreneur. He pursued his dream of owning a business which took rust since long time due to dollar dream race. Shweta and Ashish who didn’t had any acquaintances before coming to India now has a bigger family which contained Mr and Mrs Gupta and Ganesh’s family. Ganesh’s wife Geeta didn’t had any animosity with Ashish as she knew Ganesh did his duty. She was proud of being Ganesh’s wife and liked Ashish’s family. As for Ashish, Ganesh’s sacrifice led him to believe that there is still hope in India.
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Terrorists wanted to bring fear with the gruesome attacks but little did they know that such attacks can never kill true human spirit.
