Meeting

Mrs Sinha was changing the curtains of the house when the doorbell rang. She hurriedly went and opened the door. Mr Sinha came in carrying with him two different kinds of soft drinks and four different kinds of snacks and sweets.

After keeping all items in the kitchen, he started helping Mrs Sinha in cleaning the house. “At what time will they arrive?” Mrs Sinha asked while rubbing the dust off an idol of laughing Buddha.

“He said they will be here at about 12 o’clock,” Mr Sinha answered.

The way they had made the preparations for their visitors, it was obvious that they were quite excited. But also, there was this nervousness somewhere amidst all that excitement.

The excitement was one that a bird has seeing the sky when it just learns how to fly.

The nervousness was one that comes when it looks down and sees how high it has flown.

Somewhere between that sky of excitement and land of nervousness, a bird flies.

After 12:00 PM, each and every passing second was making them more and more restless.

About 20 minutes after 12:00 PM, the doorbell rang.

Mr and Mrs Sinha looked at each other. They both went to the door together. Mrs Sinha adjusted her sari. Mr Sinha opened the door.

Their son Naveen was standing in front of them. He touched their feet. They put their hands on his head to bless him but their eyes were fixed on their other visitor, the girl standing beside Naveen.

“Mom, Dad, this is Ayesha. Ayesha, these are my parents,” Naveen said. Mr and Mrs Sinha gave an awkward smile. Ayesha did the same.

Ayesha bent down to touch their feet. Mr and Mrs Sinha looked at each other as if asking each other how to react. There was some tension in the air. They both expected that. This was the nervousness taking effect.

They both welcomed Naveen and Ayesha. They sat in the living room. Ayesha sat close to Naveen. She was feeling shy. After all, she was meeting these people for the first time.

There was an uncomfortable silence. They all just looked at each other and smiled at frequent intervals.

“It’s really hot out there,” Naveen said to start a conversation.

“Yeah, it is,” Mr Sinha agreed.

Naveen’s attempt at conversation failed. Again. Awkward smiles. Uncomfortable silence. An uneasy situation.

Mrs Sinha brought snacks and soft drinks on a tray. She offered a glass to Ayesha. Ayesha took it from her hand and smiled. Mrs Sinha smiled back in response.

Mr Sinha finally mustered up some courage and said, “We are so glad to finally meet you Ayesha. We have heard a lot about you.”

Ayesha did not know what to say so she kept silent. She was fidgeting. Naveen noticed that.

“Have some more kaju barfi Ayesha,” Mrs Sinha said and pushed the tray towards Ayesha. Ayesha picked up one. “Don’t feel shy beta.”

Ayesha saw a picture of a boy playing a guitar. “Who’s that?” she asked pointing at the frame.

“That’s our Naveen,” Mr Sinha said.

“Really? No way? Is that really you?” Ayesha asked Naveen. “I didn’t know you could play the guitar.”

“Oh, there are a lot of things you don’t know about him,” Mr Sinha said.

And so, the conversation took off and Mr and Mrs Sinha told many incidents from Naveen’s life over lunch. They all laughed over the funny bits. Ayesha didn’t feel shy anymore. Naveen was relaxed seeing Ayesha bonding with his parents. 

Mr Sinha signalled Naveen to come with him to the other room. Naveen followed him. He wondered what his dad wanted to talk about.

“She is such a sweet girl,” Mr Sinha said. “This is a big responsibility. You know that, don’t you?”

“I know, dad. She’s with me since seven years,” Naveen said.

Mr Sinha looked at Naveen for a few seconds then said, “I am proud of you, son. You have managed to raise a daughter all alone. Ayesha has had such a great upbringing even without a mother. She’s so lovely.”

“Well, you could say that she takes after her father,” Naveen joked.

“Or her grandfather,” Mr Sinha said. They both laughed.

“Actually, she takes after her mother,” Naveen said.

Mr Sinha looked at him and said, “I am really sorry, son. Your parents were such arrogant fools. We led you away from us. We didn’t accept Meher as our daughter-in-law. Please forgive us.”

Naveen hugged him and said, “Meher would have been so happy today, dad.”

The mistakes, the egos, the past had been forgotten. All that mattered at that moment was the hug that the father and the son shared and the tears that they cried together.

Mrs Sinha and Ayesha entered the room. Tears fell from Mrs Sinha’s eyes. Mr Sinha hugged Ayesha. Naveen embraced Mrs Sinha.

Some new relations were forged that day, some old ones were rekindled.

***