TALE 55

She put the glass on the table and lit a cigarette...
She wasn't enjoying her drink at all...
Uff!!! Can't get over him she said as she inhaled a long snuff of smoke...
She had seen him stand in the corner of d party hall in tattered clothes unkept hair and an almost rag like piece of cloth
He held it in his hands like a carry sack in anticipation of tying up some food packet or half eaten morsels off the bin basket near the exit door...
He must have been around 10 years old...
It was her niece's first birthday party...
There was a lavish spread across various corners of the banquet serving international cuisine...
Then there was a candy floss man, a chocolate fountain, an ice cream truck and an enormously huge princess themed cake which was served by well trained waiters...
The party was in full swing with balloons tattoos return gifts puppet show n return gifts...
He stood there with just one feeling in his eyes... Hunger...
It did not matter if it was a deliacy or a stale bread...
He needed fuel for his tiny frame...
Before anyone would notice him to shoo him off the premises she noticed him...
Wondering how he could sneak fooling the security at the gate, she approached him with an urgency...
She could sense how hungry he was...
Half way through she thought of the futility of asking him his choice of cuisine... 
First she thought of offering him a plate of whatever she could put in one...
But then where would he eat???
Then she thought of putting things in a polythene n handling him...
But how could she give him eveeything in a bag...
They had neither containers nor disposable plates...
So she quickly called him near a changing room near the banquet exit...
She asked him to sit there n wait for her.
She quickly piled on as much food she could in a plate n gave him...
He ate with haste and speed...
His teeth couldn't keep up with his hands n hence he swallowed much n gulped the cold drink to wash it down quickly...
He made noise while he ate and she could see as to how much a human can salivate while eating...
It must have been a long period of starvation...
He was clearly wanting to finish all but he couldn't...
She asked him if there was anything that he liked particularly for her to pack it for him to which he refused... It would get bad outside... We don't have a cold cupboard...he said...
To which she smiled...asked him of he went to school...
He said NO...there are some Didi's who come to teach us footpath kids once a month that's it... But we prefer to not waste time...
She asked him about what he did all day and also asked him about his parents...
I was found by a roadside dustbin here in this area by an old lady who kept me as a means of begging...
She died when I was young but I was looked after by the begger friends around...
Now I beg too... I wipe car windows n dashboard at times to ask for money...
I sleep with many homeless friends around...
Sometimes there is good money sometimes there is none...
He told in a neutral tone...
She was restless....
There was something in his green eyes that struck her, reminded her and moved her deeply...
He did not look like a roadside kid...
He looked like a blue blooded young lad dressed like a begger for a fancy dress competition...dressed to win...
Just that he was for real...
She ushered him out of the gate n joined the party...
She couldn't focus...she wasn't in her elements...
She kept thinking about those brilliant big green eyes...
And they reminded her about him...
And how they had met at an excursion back in highschool...
He was a local at the hill station and she was a tourist visiting his place for a few days on a highschool project...
An out grown teen that she was and a hot blooded rowdy guy that he was...hormones won over self control...they got busy after study hours...Both thought that it was a mistake
She came back to her city routine almost trying to forget all about him...
No she did not get pregnant neither did she run back to him...
Many boyfriends and a series of relationships later she realised that she never really forgot her first experience...
She kept remembering him throughout...
And today this young pre teen boy reminded her of her first...
Not in any sexual way but as to having doubts as to why was he abandoned?
Could he have been an illegitimate child of him born to a city girl like her and then abandoned???
Could he be his younger brother or maybe a lost close relative of his?
She felt like revisiting the hill station to search for him...
She felt like taking this young guy there to try to find possibilities of searching his roots...
Such stark similarity was rare...
She was shaken...
So she confessed this to her sister at her place as they opened the gifts post party that night...
They pondered over it for a while and let out a sigh...
They knew she wouldn't do anything that she thought she would...
She wouldn't even help the boy reach a shelter for homeless...
It was way to difficult and complicated...
She was too busy with her life profession and complexities to adhere to possibilities of giving life another chance to turn a new leaf...
Not for herself not for that young boy... 
Why she didn't???
Well, that's her choice isn't it...?
She he and him were leading lives obviously oblivious to each other... Yet strung together like mismatched beads on a string that life was...
Some tales are just like that...and by the way... 
‪#‎notsotinytales‬
- Prajakta Sathe.

TALE 54

"Sakhi?" He asked her as she opened the door.
"Abhi? Oh yes, she has told me you'd drop by. Come in... She ll be here any minute. Please come!"
She shut the door as he entered their wonderful duplex apartment surrounded with lush greens...
It was close to 4.45 pm and she had just woken up from her short noon nap...
She was dressed in an earthy colored organic cotton tunic and a soft flowing olivemul skirt...
Her dark long hair flowed loose from her thick braid which ran till her waist and her nose pin sparkled in between the locks that covered her face from the noon breeze...
She welcomed him with a warm smile...
She had heard a lot about him from her daughter since she came back from the fresher's party...
"Sakhi has been talking about you constantly after you selected her at the dance auditions for the intercollegiate. She tells me that you are one of the most popular and loved cultural secretary your college has ever had! Come, make yourself at home... What will you have? I was going to make myself some ginger chai. Great to have your company now.... Sakhi is a religious coffee drinker..."
She kept talking as she rearranged a few cushions over their ethnic baithak and pushed the handloom curtains away letting in warm golden sunlight along with a confusingly cool breeze...
He kept looking at her almost muted in amazement as he watched her hurrying things up in a rhythmic grace...
He couldn't help but stare at her tall curvaceously gorgeous frame of feminine elegance her glowing face and flawless skin...
He hadn't seen a complexion as smooth as her's in real life... 
He thought he was seeing a beautiful sculpture right from an ancient cave...
She went to their open kitchen where she started making tea as she continued her constant chat. 
"Abhimanyu is your name right? How do you like your tea, one spoonful of sugar? Come sit here at the dining table. Sakhi told me you love to talk as well. You haven't uttered a sentence! Do you find me intimidating Abhi? ", she chuckled as she got the tray to the table...
"No aun...sorry, I mean No ma'am...
I was awestruck with the serenity of this place! It is so precious to have a duplex apartment right here in the heart of the city and that to with a garden as exquisite as this... You have perfect outdoors inside... M'aam thank you for the tea!" , he said politely conscious of how he sounded since he wanted to camouflage his excitement..." 
It suddenly got cloudy and began to rain.
"Oh, I hope Sakhi doesn't get stuck..." He said looking out through the garden...
"I guess she'd be near our area by now...unfortunately her battery seems to have discharged... I am going above in my riyaz room for singing now... You can wait for Sakhi here or come join me upstairs", she said smiling...
The spark in her jet black kohl eyes was extremely invigorating...
He being the Cultural Secretary felt that this was a fabulous opportunity to hear some awesome music in a fantastic climate...
"This is our ancestral home build by Sakhi's great grandfather during his hay days. He was an architect with a remarkable sense of esthetics." , she said as they climbed the teakwood staircase that led to a long passage with bedrooms on either side and a huge hall designed like a courtyard overlooking a vast terrace... 
She sat down on the brocade mattress tying her hair into a bun... holding the tanpura n then wrapping her long arm round it.... 
Her long fingers caressing each string into a soothing sound....
She began with her saaaa....as Abhi sat on a teakwood swing as he watched her start her practice...
He could listen to that saaa for the entire evening without missing out on any other kind of singing...
This was followed by aakaar...
Her voice was enveloping the growing wind and was embellished by the occasional lightening...
As she started the introductory notes of NAT MALHAR...
Her raag vistaar must have truely inspired the clouds which then burst in full swing!!!
Aalaap n taans that followed melded with the crazy wind that flowed and it seemed that there wasn't her there wasn't him... There was just music that had blended the renderer and the listener into divine oneness...
The music rain play continued till late night until the home phone rang...
"Maa, my scooty gave up in the rains and my phone got discharged... and then I had to walk the east west bridge but as I came down I saw the terrible waterlogging and went back to naani. Did Abhi come? Oh...or is he stuck at our place? Omg...wait Maa dad's calling. Guess he is worried about us looking at the news... I ll call u back " , said Sakhi.
"Abhi, Sakhi got stuck in rains and is staying back at her grandmom's place. It hasn't stopped raining since late noon. I suggest you don't barge out tonight, stay back and inform your parents about your stay." , she said as she covered her tanpura with a silk drape...
"Ma'am I d call them anyways. But they don't stay in this city. I stay with my friends in a rented flat on the other side. Hope Sakhi's father is safe"
"Oh Ram is touring for business this month... He d love to meet you otherwise being such a people's person that he is... Come I ll cook dinner for us..."
That night conversation ruled the dinner table and they discussed everything about art craft culture textiles fashion spirituality ethnicity influences modernism contemporary flavor history aesthetics dance theatre sculptor poetry theatre puppets films instrumental music books literature and all things related to creativity...
First across the terracotta lamp lit platform near the windows in the living room and then perched up on the brass hooked swing upstairs....
They stayed up late through the night way beyond dusk into the early hours of dawn... 
As the rains subsided in the morning and he slept over the brocade matt in the riyaz room... 
She carried on with her morning chores...
Sakhi pulled him down the stairs as he sleepily approached the dining area seeing her mom just out of the bath with wet hair and her waist showing through the saree pallu draped across her svelte body... 
Dhoop in one hand and flowers from the garden in another, she wished him morning with a warm smile...
Abhi couldn't take his eyes off her... He wondered how lucky would Mr. Ram be...
Sakhi and Abhi rushed to college after breakfast....
She continued with her routine of prayers n puja cooking gardening lunch reading yoga writing noon nap...
She kept thanking divinity for Sakhi was in good company as she though about how intelligent intellectual and talented Abhi was.
She kept hearing about him every now and then from Sakhi and knew that they both were getting close...
As the college won all the prizes that year with Sakhi and Abhi in tow they knew that they were a winning formula and got fond of each other...
However after their overnight picnic Sakhi seemed considerably disturbed...
She stopped talking and being her usual cheerful self.
Concerned about her well being she coaxed her to share her frustration and sadness...
"Maa, we broke off... Abhimanyu and I....she said sobbing bitterly... At the overnight trip when we got close, as we neared the highest point of our intimacy Maa...his eyes were closed and he uttered Avantika, maa he took your name!..
Why maa why???"
She had raised her daughter into a very confident young soul who could share anything to her at any point without inhibitions....
Just that....to be utmost honest to herself...Avantika felt bad for her daughter...but somewhere good for herself.
Some tales are humanly honest...
‪#‎notsotinytales‬
- Prajakta Sathe.

TALE 53

You have no time for a second opinion 
You have just probably a week more to take a call and decide
His life is in risk...
Tensed with the words of the specialist she hoped and prayed for a miracle that it would just turn out to be nothing but her worst nightmares...
She pregnant with their second child the first one was in the ICU admitted for acute epileptic seizure...
Her husband was all the support he could be taking care of the hospital arrangements talking with friends n family and running around with their first born sons reports for assessment
Their hands trembled as they signed the declaration papers for their beloved son as he got ready for removal of a brain tumor
It was big enough to occupy major part of his hypothalamus which led to it being a challenging as well as risky surgery...
Past few years of pleasurable parenting ran in front of her eyes like a feature film...
She had such a smooth pregnancy and a flawless delivery...
The baby was a perfectly healthy child with amazingly normal milestones 
He was a very happy cheerful and pleasant baby who loved to be in company of people
She had taken a break from work to enjoy motherhood
It seemed so brilliant that his birth brought in prosperity to the household 
Her husband was promoted and she received a humongous amount of money from ancestral sources
They shifted in a bungalow and made it an absolutely comfortable and beautiful place to be in...
With such good days in life they thought it was a good time to think of another baby
They conceived and before they could celebrate bringing their second child in the world, disaster struck...
At first, doctors mentioned a seizure as a normal reaction of high fever in infants in the past and hence she had trusted them and moved on...
When he experienced yet another one without any temperature, she got worried...
The MRI showed a considerably huge tumor in the brain which unfortunately hadn't shown any complication until then...
It had to be removed as it was straining and putting the cerebral matter under tremendous pressure which could result to be fatal.
It was a day long operation...
17 hours outside the O.T. seemed like eternity...
To their sheer relief, it was successful...
As their first child healed under the post surgical recovery period the doctors revealed to them a truth...
A bitter fact
The tumor had affected his hormone producing capacity and had damaged his optic nerves...
The optic damage could be handled with external aids however the hormonal secretion couldn't be retrieved...
He had to be injected with hormones daily lifelong...
And the delicate internal balance which led to normal growth in children as they grow into adults needed to be monitored...
The monthly injections were going to cost close to half a lakh per month...
She quickly resumed work in the final months of her second pregnancy
The husband stood strong behind them as he chose to work from home till their first one settled at home and the second came in this world
It did not matter now for double checking any such reoccurrence in the second baby because she was already in her third trimester 
Yet they tried to find out as to why such a thing could occur in the first place...
The doctors answered them that some embryonic residue deposits stay well into the fetal development and such tumor formation results...
Well they came to a conclusion that not all debilities could be probably addressed by medical fraternity...
They happily brought into this world a healthy baby girl 
Fortunately she had no such challenge...
Today their life is filled with a daily routine of hormone injections regular doctor visits and medical monitoring...
Yes there are challenges, financial social and emotional...
But they are sailing through it...
Both the kids ask them about the condition of the elder one...
They are answered as practically as possible with scientifically logical answers...
They now lead closely knit lives with strong support of family friends tertiary care providers school and office colleagues...
Both of them are working parents of two potentially very bright young kids who are slowly made aware of how special they are...
They are taking care to make no one a victim or a hero and they are very sure of never mentioning the words lucky or unlucky in front of their kids...
Above all the fact holds true that positive parents make happy kids.
One never can imagine a victory without fighting a battle...
Celebrating life... 
Inspiration... 
‪#‎notsotinytales‬
- Prajakta Sathe.

TALE 52

They planned to start a family as soon as they were sure that they could sail their boat smoothly in matrimonial companionship...
It had taken them 5 years into marriage to come to terms with each other's nature and way of thinking...
They meticulously figured out everything about their future as they dreamt of having an extension of themselves
She wanted a Libran baby and Libra baby it was going to be... 
She was super excited for this journey and was looking forward for this experience of creating a new life within...
Incidentally she got to visit Australia with her husband during that period for a project which he was a part of...
It was going to be a lone journey of upto 9 weeks in a foreign country for the first time ever and in a condition of impending motherhood also as new experience for her...
She had mood swings and bouts of depression and tension as she sat alone in their hotel room for the first few days that they were there.
To escape from the anxiety waves and crying episodes she slept it out...
She was yet to come to terms with her changing body and wavering hormones and ever fluctuating energy levels 
The place was new and the husband away for work...
She took the matter in her own hands...
She thought... Let me enjoy...
She would buy a day pass and roam about the city touring the attractions and enjoying the urban life of Aussies...
She got in the groove of travelling...
A few weeks down they shifted to Tasmania in a beautiful town of Hobart...
It was chilling cold yet utterly beautiful...
She was mesmerised with the relaxed flavor of nature encrusted place that Hobart seemed
While the last few weeks were spent in beautiful Melbourne they came back to India making a short halt at Bangkok to ensure some fun time together...
Back home and her much confident self she carried on with her work, household and medical check ups with elan...
The husband showed least involvement and it bothered her somewhere but she tried not to let it affect her composition since she wanted the best for her baby...
As the d date approached she was showered with lots of care and pampering from her parents and in laws...
They had a Moon lit baby shower dressing her up in her favorite flowers Mogra with family and her colony friends
They had yet another Noon themed baby shower dressing her up in her eternal love of golden Champa blooms with her closest friends and cousins...
They made sure she relished ever morsel of food that she put in her mouth and living was made utterly comfortable for a radiant mom to be that she was...
Yet, she somewhat craved the attention from her husband... 
As the delivery date approached, 
she showed no signs of labour...
Induced into one...she tried her level best to have her baby by natural way...
But destiny had different plans...
A healthy bony baby boy was delivered at midnight by a caesarian section...
Exhausted with labour but happy to hold him she realised that this was it...
It was so precious a feeling that she thanked her stars for gifting her with a divine gift...
The new role of a nurturer was tiring but most of all rewarding 
She was thrilled to see him grow and develop everyday... 
6 months into this phase she noticed that he hadn't opened his left fist as a developmental milestone he should have already achieved...
She was concerned and took him to their paediatrician 
The orthopaedic doctor without much thought opened up his left hand and put on a plaster over it...
Her baby cried and wailed, they came home...
Not finding it right she removed the plaster relieving the tender infant...
True to her scientific roots she logically felt that there must be more to this problem than a local manifestation...
She took a neurologist's appointment...
They got an MRI done...
He is a CP child with a condition called Hemiplegia...
10 cm diameter fluid filled cyst has been found in his right brain which has affected his left body functions...
Get a 3D echo done to check if his heart is normal said the neuro.doc.
Her heart pounded as she waited for the reports of her beloved baby. Thankfully his heart was normal
What would then be the conclusion, she asked the neuro.specialist...
He has perfectly formed left body which he is ignoring due to zero signalling of brain towards that side His right brain being damaged will lead to lessened awareness to his left limbs and torso leading to lesser usage tightening of muscles and distonia...
The solution here is daily physiotherapy for life...
He will find it difficult to perform bi-functional activities like opening a bottle buttoning / unbuttoning his shirt throwing or catching a football or walking up and down the stairs without support or stabilizing a book while writing...
Delayed milestones, oronotor sensitivity and challenged daily activities would be a part of your acceptance targets...
She heard it carefully...
She knew what was in store...
It had shattered her family but it had made her strong...
She had decided not never let this fact bog her and her child down from leading a happy near to normal life...
A new phase of learning started...
Trips to physiotherapists neuro-clinics and hospitals for botox surgery started along with another journey...
Her spiritual quest...
Her journey from outward to inward...
To know why and how some things happen and what they mean and how to tackle them
She soon learnt that there was no tackling...
There was no solution...
There was one big revelation...
Unconditional acceptance...
That made her wise and strong...
Her son is doing much better than what we thought
And she has emerged as a peaceful young wise mother.
She believes, All is well...
‪#‎notsotinytale‬
- Prajakta Sathe.