Journey of Hope

CHAPTER:- 22

Twenty-one years back

Pratik was numb hearing about Adyasha's death. He was shocked to believe what's truth. While Sunanda reached in the hospital along with Sirisha.

"Pratik! Beta, What's wrong?" Sirisha asked worriedly, seeing a numb Pratik. While he stood there, without uttering a single word. "Pratik! I am asking you something." Sirisha said, shaking Pratik's shoulder.

Sunanda was already getting bad vibes. She prayed God to keep her daughter alright and went inside the medical room. There Adyasha was lying lifeless. A numb Raghav was weeping, sitting on the floor.

"Raghav! Raghav! Why are you crying? What has happened to Adyasha?" Sunanda asked, pulling Raghav's shirt collar.

"Sunanda! I killed her. I killed her." Raghav cried keeping his head on her shoulder.

"Shut up, Raghav. She can't die. She can't. She is my hope, my Adyasha. She has to live. She has to. Did you hear me? Nothing will happen to my Adyasha." Sunanda cried, hitting Raghav's chest.

"Sir! Mam! Please, control yourself. We need to do some formalities. Then you can take the body with you." A nurse said coming inside.

"Hey, Shut up. Whom are you calling a dead body? She is Adyasha, Adyasha Bharadwaj. She is my daughter, Sunanda Bharadwaj's daughter. How dare you to call her a body?" Sunanda roared as an angry tigress. She would have strangled that nurse, if Raghav wouldn't have stop her in the middle. "Raghav! See... What this nurse is saying! She is calling your princess a body. I will fire her from this hospital. My Adyasha will wake up now, won't she? I know. She is just playing with us. Don't you know how childish your princess is!"

"Sunanda! Calm down... Sunanda... Sunanda..." Raghav called, Sunanda who went near Adyasha.

"Adya! My daughter. We will play later. Now wake up. Your baby is waiting for you my baby. Now you are a mother. Don't act childish. Come on, wake up now." Sunanda said, kissing Adyasha all over her face.

"Sunanda! She won't hear us now. She has become too big to share her problems with me." Raghav cried hugging Sunanda.

The nurse was in tears. She had no other ways but to call doctor.

While Sunanda struggled under Raghav's hold. "They killed her. She had told me. She asked me to take her, but I didn't listen to her. It's all my fault. They killed my daughter, my Adyasha, my hope." Sunanda kept shouting. Then her voice lowered, and she fainted on the floor.

✴

"Sunanda!" Raghav woke up, shouting his wife's name. His eyes travelled towards the wall clock, where clock hand ticked at 12. He sat up on the bed and wore his spectacles. Then he moved towards the window and opened the curtain.

The outside was dark. The winter snow was giving a whitish view among the darkness. Raghav closed the window again and pulled the curtain.

Wrapping a shawl around his thin body, he went near the drawer and pulled an album out of it. The album was filled with his pictures with Adyasha. It was a hand designed album. And all the credit for this went to Adyasha, his princess.

It had been twenty one years. Adyasha had left the world forever. He still remembered the happenings of that day.

Sunanda fainted. The doctor advised to keep her in sedation, as she couldn't take the news of Adyasha's death. Raghav cried. That moment the richest man of Asia had no one beside him. His wife was under sedation and his daughter was in death bed.

Sirisha Ahuja hurriedly completed cremation of Adyasha. Pratik was still not in a condition to do anything. He was somewhat on the same boat as Raghav. All his life, he tried to be the best businessman, but from inside he too wanted his own family to celebrate his success in business.

When Sunanda woke up, she was enraged after knowing that her daughter was buried. And that day, Raghav witnessed a mother's rage. Sunanda, who had bore all his physical assaults and forgave him for the same, raised her hand on him. Her eyes were raging fire to destroy everyone.

She went to Ahuja Mansion. And there she saw a broken Pratik. There were few ladies and Sirisha Ahuja was sitting with them. They were blaming Adyasha. According to them, what will Pratik do now with that new born baby girl. They were showing sympathy towards Pratik. And Adyasha - she was getting blamed for hiding her complications.

That's when someone suggested to do the second marriage of Pratik. And another one told to leave Adyasha's daughter in orphanese. And that was the end of Sunanda's patience. She marched inside. The baby was crying inside the cradle. No one was there. Sunanda lifted her and kept walking towards the main gate.

Sirisha saw her, but stayed silent. She didn't want to keep that girl with her. Dr. Anisha had disclosed Sirisha's secret wish to have a girl in front of her. Sunanda brought that new born girl to Bharadwaj Mansion.

Bharadwaj mansion was colourless. Adyasha was the only hope there. Raghav was sitting alone. Every place was reminding him about his princess. How she jumped from the last stair! How she giggled on the dining table! How she kept running as a bunny all day! He was inside Adyasha's room. He tried to find his princess there but everything was lifeless as his princess.

And that moment, he heard a baby crying. Raghav didn't move, but Sunanda entered inside.

"Raghav! Look who's here?" Sunanda said. Raghav heard her cheerful voice for the first time, after Adyasha's death. "Your princess' princess." Sunanda said, caressing the baby's face.

Raghav stood up and went near them. He looked into the baby's face. They were same as Adyasha. The pink tinted cheeks, round nose. Only the eyes were different, they were similar to Pratik. Raghav took her from Sunanda. The baby had stopped crying. She was looking at him.

"My princess' queen." Raghav whispered near the baby's ears and the baby put her hand on his ear. "She is holding my ears. She wants to punish for not saving her mother." Raghav said, in between tears.

"My Adya's hope she is! Ashia!" Sunanda said and Ashia let out a cry, as if responding them.

Raghav Bharadwaj felt wetness on his cheek. He wiped the lone traitor tear, that flowed ditching his control. He always cried, remembering those memories.

Raghav Bharadwaj was a self made man. He had seen many struggling days. He was a monster back then, venting his anger on his wife. Then he got his princess and changed. After her arrival, he got a new spirit to earn for his princess. He had to give her the best in everything. He had to be the best father for her. He had to be a best man, whom his princess will admire.

That changed Raghav Bharadwaj. First he tried to mend his mistakes. He asked for forgiveness to Sunanda. He made a totally different man out of him. Now when he faced loss in business, he came back home to see his little princess.

While little Adyasha was too much fond of her father. Whenever Raghav returned home, she ran into his arms. She hugged him and then gave a million dollar smile and whispered near his ear, "Baba! Princess loves you." That healed all his pain. Raghav Bharadwaj forgot his lose.

But when he found his princess dead, he again lost himself. This time, he forgot his own existence. He had no memories worse than that phase. He would have died long ago, only if it was not about his princess' princess.

Ashia - As Sunanda said, his Adyasha's hope. Raghav opened another album, which was filled with Ashia's pictures. He kept turning pages after pages and caressed each pictures of hers.

"You are the reflection of my princess. As if she got a rebirth in you. But you won't suffer the same fate as hers. You will complete the story that has started twenty one years back. You will write the new story, where my princess will get her right back. You will stand up to her hope. You will crash the world of patriarchy. You will create the world of equality. You won't bring the change, you will be the change. And the change in the world is always inevitable. I am sorry for not raising you as a princess. Because you are born to be a queen." Raghav said, looking at a grown up Ashia's image.

He had never treated her as a fragile doll. Instead he made her strong enough to survive any storm. He prepared her well to control her emotions. He taught her the tactics of business and how to move the pawns according to her own wish.

Sometimes he too lost the battle. He wanted to protect her from all the cruelty of the world. He wanted to treat her as he had raised his princess long back. He wanted to take away all her pain. After all she was the reflexion of his princess.

Only if that would have been so easy! He always behaved tough around Ashia. He had made her strong enough to handle the world's toughness. He didn't want to raise her among the false hopes of a fairy tale.

While letting Ashia sleep, he narrated fairy tales to her like he did long back to his princess. But with Ashia, his ways of narration was different.

He took Adyasha to the disney land, showing him the princess' lifestyle. And that's how he made a fairy tale life of Adyasha, who kept dreaming about her prince charm.

But, with Ashia, Raghav didn't repeat the same mistakes. He narrated her that to get a prince charm, Cinderella had to survive her step mother's torture. He narrated her how Belle had to save the beast once. Then he told her about the reality too, where Cinderella didn't get a prince charm, as her step mother securely locked her inside a room and she had no ways.

"Why don't she use her hairpin?" The little Ashia questioned making Raghav smile. But he didn't give up. He preferred to be harshly honest to her. He told her his own story, where belle couldn't cure the magician's charm. The beast remained as a beast forever. He made Ashia aware of the cruelty of the world. Instead of showing her the delicate rose petals, he taught her how to get through the thorns.

It was not easy for Raghav too. There came sometimes, when he felt like dropping the idea of revenge. He wanted to take Ashia to the world of eutopia. He felt weak, making her strong. Then again Adyasha's face flashed in front of his eyes. And he realised that World had no place for Adyasha's innocence.

To survive here, Ashia had to learn the manipulation. She had to learn to be unkind. She had to control her emotions in a way, so that no body could take advantage of her.

Then in the end, she was daughter of Adyasha. The girl was born with kindness and innocence. Raghav found Adyasha's reflexion in Ashia everytime, he went to wake her up in the morning. She lazily showed tantrums. But, Raghav acted strict, though he wanted to pampered her too like his princess.

And Raghav's sternness had a great impact on Ashia. She turned out to be a perfect in almost everything. At the age of thirteen, she completed her matriculation and opted for higher studies. Then at the age of nineteen, she completed her MBA and become the youngest MD, replacing Raghav.

And now, she was on her quest to get her identity back. She knew her fate. And Raghav had full trust on her. To rule as a queen, she went on the war field as a soldier. She was ready fight her own battle.

But, every night Raghav had the nightmare of loosing her. After Adyasha, he had no strength left to bear, if anything happens to Ashia. Ashia showed the world to her tough self, that was prepared by Raghav. But Raghav Bharadwaj knew his granddaughter. He was aware of the innocent girl inside Ashia, who still loved pink colour.

And for that innocent soul, he was still afraid. That's why everytime he reminded her about her mother's suffering. He wanted her to remain strong only. Because the world never cared for the sufferings of weak!