" Kya kar rahi hai bey?" I turn to look at my husband as he walked in through the door. He looks so handsome still. Aging simply hs no effect on his charm. It seems to work in a reversal role for him.

" Adu and Inu wanted to know how we met? Bas was narrating them the same." I gift him a smile. He comes close to me and leans down to plant a quick kiss to my lips.

" Ewww Sidharth. Bache hai yaar." I shriek and blush and cover my face, trying to hide that blush from my naughty kids.

" Awww mom.. aapko blush bhi karna ata hai. That's a surprise." Inayah quickly jabs at me. It is all in fun. Inayah, my sixteen year old daughter. Mine and Sidharth's. And..... Archie's!

" Ha ha. Sahi hai. Even I was wondering the same. Shehnaaz tujhe blush bhi karna ata hai!" My husband, that idiot and certified asshole is quick to gang up with his daughter.

But he isn't wrong though. Blushing and me....well we did not have much connection until the time....Inayah grew up a little. She now a days never leaves a chance to pull my legs and render me crimson red. She had  always been this exponentially naughty since she was a mere baby.

" Aur bhi boht kuch ata hai. Dikhau! " I discard my helplessness to brace up the woman I actually am. Fearless and  wild!

Sometimes I wonder how Inayah is turning out to be so much like me. I watch Sidharth gasp at that threat I threw and cower back thinking on the lines of sanity. He knows how i can make his life hell, especially in front of his kids.

" Mumma..aap please ye sab chodo aur batao.. aap dono kaise mile and how did we come into the picture.." It is Adu this time. My sweet little innocent Adu.

" Yes mumma. Tell us your story. We want to know. Kaise mile aap dono. And how did you meet.... Archie mom." Inayah insisted, leaning down to rest her head on her darling father's arms while Adu scooted to snuggle to me. Our sweet little family. I take a belated breath and look at my husband to calculate his reaction. The name, the personality, still a sore spot for him. The name, the person, the onus of our relationship as a husband and wife. Archie..the woman who brought us above the paradigm of what we were and made us what we are today. Yet, nothing of what we were is lost. Rather it is still our old version that we stick to, with a mixture of the newer perks.

Sidharth looks at me with a fondness so pure. A love that is unfathomable for people to grasp and understand and shakes his head. His face did not marr with shadows of pain anymore. His eye did not glisten with tears any more. He looked at peace around this person and I.. I had always found my peace around him. In a distinct way. In our own unique way. The Sidharth and Shehnaaz way.

" Our story..." I begin with a smile on my face.

" Ala Rasi.. our story is Ala Rasi kind." Sidharth pulls his daughter close and pitches in between. My eyes twinkle at that word. Ala Rasi..  Indeed our story is Ala Rasi kind. The anything for you kind.

I take a long breath in and compose myself before diving into the past when we met. The past, years ago. The past, a beautiful memory that shaped our present. The past, our beautiful and traumatic past.

" It was long long time back. I was just a kid and on the verge of growing up and we had shifted to this city of dreams from Mumbai just a day back."

And starts our story...

***

Life is....random. unpredictable, impromptu. Like an ambush. You can never know what will strike you next until you face the day. So unpredictable that the mornings can't assure you of a pleasant afternoon or a nice afternoon that of a beautiful night. It's so incalculable. So unsure. So random.

Two days back, I was in Punjab, living through a nightmare. And today, i am in Mumbai, setting myself in our new apartment. I sigh and look around the room that is my abode from now. We have landed in Mumbai yesterday. A whole day of wholesome hard work to set ourselves in this matchbox they call home and i am exhausted. Both mentally and physically.

With a grunt , i fall back on the neatly done bed, my legs hanging out in exasperation when my mother walks in with two glasses of cold drinks.

" Sana puttar. Have you....oh my, you have set the whole room. Gosh " she looks around amazed still holding on to the tray with two glassfull of Coca Cola. Damn! I love her for this. She just knows what I want and exactly when!

" Amma, please ogle at my room later and hand me the drinks yaar. I am exhausted." I whine getting up with all my efforts and grab the drink and finish it up in one go.

" Dheere puttar. Ki kar ri si." She reprimands as she helps herself beside me. I don't mind though. She is always reprimanding me, but all in good humor. I don't mind one word from her. How can I? She is all I have and i know what a war she fought just for me. Very few woman from a village of Punjab can gather their guts up and walk out with her teenage daughter at a time when we have lost our backbone to destiny.

Ohk, let me mention here that I am actually a teenager. Fourteen to be precise. Right at the threshold of growing up. And I am here, away from my homeland with my mother in the midst of setting a new life for us. A completely new life in a city that is equally unknown.

Gutsy we are aren't we? I know we are. And i like it this way. Punjab was a orifice that could have sucked us both and leave us to deal with hellfire.

A shiver runs down my spine at the mere mention of that eerie place.

" Puttar, take a little rest no bacha. You have been overworking yourself too much." I feel a sensation of peace as my mother softly forks her fingers through my hair, setting it up from that disheveled state. I humm and lean against her shoulder.

Mothers are like this unending source of peace and solace which is irreplaceable. At least I feel so. The way she had set her own traumas behind just to give me a better life, I can never be more thankful to her in my entire life.

" Amma, can I go to the beach?" I ask a while later. We have been enjoying this little moment of our 'we time '. The mother-daughter time. We will hardly get this from tomorrow. She needs to start her office and I need to gear myself for my new school.

" At this time? And you know nothing of this place bacha. I don't think you should go." My face falls at that.

" Come on Amma. This is just two minutes from here. I won't get lost. And waise bhi, we need to learn to sustain alone right. Kalse aap office jaoge toh i will be staying alone until the time my school starts. Please Aa, let me go." I please with that innocent pout i know will surely play the trick on my mother. He he, don't get me wrong, she is a sweetheart and i know she cares for me, but come on, we all need to learn to sustain alone right? I am fourteen for God's sake. I am growing up. I need to learn how to take care of myself!

" Sana..."

" Amma just an hour. Abhi baje hai...." I turn to glance at the clock to check the time. It is 4. Great. A long for the evening to come.

" 4. Main 5 baje AA jaungi. Please." I squint my eyes and give her that puppy eyes look again. I know this will work for sure.

" Please please please?" I add some more please for that added emphasis. And bingo, it worked.

" Ok. But 5 sharp. This is a new place and Mumbai can be scary for people who don't belong from here." I almost jump in excitement and hig her tight, wrapping my arms around her.

" Thank you thank you thank you." I think and place a tight kiss to her cheeks. She grimaces but I know she loves it when I shower my affection towards her. I know she does. It's me. And i am all she has.

I jump from the bed with all the exhilaration running through my veins and grab a pair of shorts and tee shirt to change and run to the washroom.

" Dheere beta. You are on your periods and you need to be careful at such a time." I hear her yell from inside my room. Shit! Yes. Periods. I open the cabinet and look for a fresh pad to change when I decide otherwise. I had just changed it a while back. I don't think i will be needing pad right now. And as it is, it just for an hour. What's the harm in saving one extra pad!

" Be safe. Take care of yourself and stay away from unknown people." I nod my head at her every protocols. It's just mother's and their way of taking care of us daughters. I dont mind her being extra cautious. You never know when life can throw danger daggers at you right!

" And please don't run and hop around. Periods hua hai. Don't forget that." She reminds me of my periods once again. I feel a little blush cover my cheeks as I nod my head again agreeing. Periods is still a sensitive topic for me. Well not that i am too much of a shy person who will blush at everything and anything. But its just that i have just about started with it. It's only been a few months.

Hold on hold on. Don't frown. I know it's a bit late for a girl to start but it's the way it is.

And so, my mother has this weird habit of reminding me to be extra cautious whenever I am on it. For stains!

My periods are not only heavy but it has a cunning way to show its presence from time to time. I don't understand the fact that why it has to gush out at times and soak your absolutely dry pad with a few heavy flows!  I mean what's the harm in being slow and steady! Why does it has to behave like this rabit in the race!

Relatable right! But a question no one has a solid answer i believe.

Anyways, enough of blood bath, we can ignore the 'bloody Mary' for now and enjoy the little time at the beach right! I slipped on the converse and take the stairs jovially. Life is starting afresh and I have to make myself fall in love with this life in Mumbai!

***

So everyone had been requesting me to republish Ala Rasi . But it needed heavy editing. Like heavy editing. Jinhone padh liye ho, bilkul bhi mat sochna k ye wahi hai purana wala. Ota completely new and exactly the way it will go to the shelves as paperback.

So... welcome onboard.. I hope we will enjoy this new journey like we did with the old version.

Do share your valuable reviews. I will love it if you can specify the point where I can excel and enhance the storyline.

Until the next part,
Ciao
Sanu