Hey Dad! Meet My Mom (4 page)

“When? Where? Are you alright? What did you lose?” She asked and suddenly I found myself drowning in a river of lies from the depths of which I could think of no escape. But then suddenly I saw Rishi lifting his notebook again. I read it in my mind and then cursed my stupidity at having read the previous thing aloud. What was I to do now? There was no escape. I was trapped. I had to say it.

“No, I am not well. When you chose to sit on this chair, I accidently fell in love with you and lost my heart while thinking of you.”
Silence. ‘What the fuck have I just said?’
I took a sneak peek at Rishi, he was smiling.
‘You little monster! I’ll kill you. ’

And then she smiled. Yes, she smiled!
My friends were right, girls do love flirting!

I again looked at Rishi, he was still smiling but now he winked too.

Chapter 5

Is she an angel or a mere imagination?
I want my answers finally because confusion is at its culmination.
With each passing day I find her closer.
But the moment I hold her, she vanishes, proving me a loser.

“Who’s your favorite superhero?” I asked her.

“Shaktimaan; our very own Indian superhero. I still hope that someday one of our channels will announce the arrival of Shaktimaan’s second season and I can finally watch ‘evil’ getting defeated. I want to see Kilveesh dead.” She took a bite of her sandwich and while chewing she started talking again, “You know what, when I get really bored, I pat a random guy’s back and whisper in his ear.” She came forward and whispered in my ear, “I want to tell you a secret.”

I joined her in this creepy act, “What?” I too whispered.

“The secret is......
Gangadhar hi Shaktimaan hai!”
She said and then laughed like hell. I loved her laughter. It was like the sweet ringing of temple bells on an early morning, coming from a remote village. Her teeth were the whitest and the most perfect, I had ever seen. I wondered whether she was the girl that featured in toothpaste-advertisements.

She kept on talking and I kept on looking at her. I was living every moment with her to the fullest. People say that when we die, a slide show of all the happy memories flashes before our eyes. I knew that this very moment would be the first moment to appear in my ‘death ceremony slide show’.

Oh, by the way, I completely forgot to mention Rishi. Well I had kind of started liking the boy. Yes, I realize this sounds crazy, but the boy had helped me and this meant that he was a friend and not an enemy. So what if he was a ghost? He was just a child anyway. He liked me; he understood me and helped me. That was it. Well yes, there were still many questions left to be answered by him but right now I just wanted to listen to her. I wanted to hear everything she wanted to say. She was the angel for whom I had waited for such a long time.

I had definitely seen her before, seen her in my dreams, her smile, her hair, her...... her.... name? What was her name?

“What’s your name by the way?” I asked her when she was describing to me her dog’s choice of meals.

“Sorry...... Oh! Yes, my name.... See, I think that’s why all my friends tag me as ‘the most talkative person of the group’. I have been talking to you since an hour and I haven’t told you my name.” There were two missed calls on my phone, which I had totally ignored, to hear her name. But finally I decided to take the call rather than waiting for her to come to the point.

The frequency of the calls indicated that the matter was urgent. I took my phone out from my trousers and saw the screen which was flashing, ‘Mom calling.’

I got worried when I recalled the circumstances in which I had left the house. Mom must be worried. I swiped the screen to take the call and signaled to the ‘The Talking Machine’ to stay quiet for some time.

“Actually my name is........ ” I missed her name.

“Hello.” I said and heard my mother’s words, filled with utmost urgency.

“Beta,
come back home quickly. He is here.” Her voice was firm and had a hidden message that quite clearly said, ‘Leave whatever you are doing and come back.’ She was worried and I thought that something was wrong with her.

I instantly searched for Rishi, he was nowhere.
‘He is here.’
Was Rishi trying to hurt Mom?

I left everything and ran to fetch my car and drove back home.

I reached within 5 minutes and threw open the gates of my house. Every room was filled with smoke.
Fire?

I rushed inside searching for my mother. “Mom! Mom!...... MOM!” Nothing could be seen, there was just smoke and nothing else.
What had Rishi done? Where was my mother? This couldn’t be happening!

Then I saw my mother sitting on the floor with him.

Dressed in a black
kurta-pajama,
a black cloth holding up all his long hair and a black tika on his forehead, he was not looking any less than an Indian version of ‘Men In Black’.

“ Om (I don’t know what the F**K he said in between) Namah.... ”
He said while igniting the fire in already burnt wood.

“Mom?” I asked all my questions with just this ‘one’ word.

She came rushing towards me and showed me to the man and said, “He’s the one, baba. Please save my child from the shadows of ghosts.”
Oh come on!!!

The
baba
instantly smiled and chanted another deadly mantra and threw something again on already burnt twigs. The whole scene was already set. The baba was ready with all his ghost taming instruments
(kamandal, jhaadu, a lemon, sindoor,
etc.), a set audience including the ‘aunties’ of the entire neighborhood, some elders of the society, my mom and now finally the beholder of the spirit had also arrived.
Perfect setup!
But something was still missing.

“Bring your boy here with you.” The
baba
said rudely. I wanted to slap him on his face and throw him out of my house but that would create a whole new scene in front of the neighbors and most importantly that would upset my mom. I quietly followed my mom and my mom followed
baba’s
instructions.

I sat on the floor in front of him and next to me sat my mother.
Something was still missing.

“Om (...difficult to be decoded...) Namah.... ”
And then he threw something again on the dead fire but this time he was not alone. Rishi too joined him.
Yes, the ghost himself had been missing all this time!

I saw my mother; worried, ready to do anything just to save her child.
Why are mothers so caring that they are even ready to behave so stupidly?
She was joining her hands in front of that
baba
who was busy fooling us.

The only person who was enjoying the whole scenario was Rishi. He liked everything that the
baba
did and copied him too. There was a time when
baba
was searching for his lemon and Rishi helped him and found the lemon for him. The ‘Ghost Hunter’
baba
was getting help by the ghost himself. I fought hard to control my laughter but somehow it erupted and I laughed.

Baba
gave me a strange look and waved his
jhaadu
over my head and said to my mother, “Your son is in the witch’s hands. She’s leading him to hell.”
Baba
picked up his
kamandal
to pour some ‘holy’ water on me but it was empty. He looked suspiciously inside the
kamandal
again but found nothing in it. Then he flipped the opening downwards and saw a lollipop falling from inside the
kamandal.

Baba
now looked scared and without saying anything, he ran away from the house. Slowly the crowd also scattered and only three of us were left in the house; me, my mom and Rishi.

“Hey Bhagwan!
You have already taken Puneet’s father away from us and now..... ” My mother cried like a small kid and after sometime continued, “Please spare my son.”

She continued pleading before the idol for hours. There was no third person between us; my mother was the only one for me and I was the only one for her in this big world of strangers. My father, a very big politician of his time, had died in a car accident. That was the event which changed everything in our life. We fell from the heights of the sky straight to the ground and since then every time my mother stood in front of the idols of God she always put forward my father’s issue. She loved him a lot, maybe more than me. She was totally broken after Papa’s death but had to be tough and stand up again to make me feel strong. She didn’t want to place a weak example in my head.

“I can’t live without him. Please.... ” Now that was enough, I took her in my arms and brought her back to the living room. I made her sit on the sofa and consoled her. While doing all this, my eyes searched for Rishi. I found him standing behind the sofa. He was about to cry, he was feeling low for my mother.
So cute!

“Why did this ghost have to come into our life? We were so happy; I was even talking to your
bua ji
about your marriage but...... ” She blurted out everything in her mind and then spoke with an imaginary air, “Please, leave us and spare us! We have not wronged you in any way then why are you wandering over our heads?” Rishi dropped tears from his eyes and saliva from his mouth. I felt bad for him.

I don’t know what was attracting me towards him but there was some connection between us. I started liking him.... Just like.... Just like, he was my
Son.

While this affection was pouring out of my eyes towards Rishi, my mom suddenly started wailing very loudly. I got totally distracted and Rishi got terrified.

“Mom..... Mom.... listen to me. He’s gone. The incident which took place in the morning was just the result of all my overtime work at the bank and less sleep, nothing else. So just calm down, there’s nothing here, no ghost.” I said all this to console her and pulled her again in my arms. She was such a drama queen!

I saw Rishi, he was looking like a heartbroken child after listening to my words but then I assured him by blinking my eyes trying to signal that I had said all that just to console her. He smiled slightly.

The whole episode was dramatic but finally it ended and then began the personal sessions with Rishi.

Chapter 6

What purpose do you seek in me?
I am as good as that brown, dried-up leaf still on the tree.
Do I owe you something beloved?
I am nothing more than a living dead who can just be lamented.

“
Who are you?” I asked Rishi. I was sitting on the chair next to the bed in my room on which Rishi was sitting. It was difficult for me to decide whether to be strict with him or behave friendly. I didn’t know who he was but for some reason my heart was shouting, ‘Hey, can’t you recognize your own son?’