This is just to remind my readers that this story and the places mentioned in it are completely fictional.

Even though there are many strong women in India; there is no Anuradha Bose and half of the facts in this story are cooked up by me and the other half is from books and the lovely internet,  so credits and love to all my sources.

                            ***

January 7 1999

St.Paul's Hospital
Maharashtra

Rakesh paces around the hospital corridor as his beloved wife, Parvati lies inside giving birth to his child, the doctors and the hospital staff had told him that there were a lot of complications and he should be prepared to face anything.

It was not like he had pushed his wife off to danger, he had even tried to persuade her not to have the baby but she had gotten furious asking how he could even think about killing their child.

Rakesh freezes as nurses and doctors rush inside the room, he glances his older brother, Rishabh.

Rishabh gets up from his seat and puts his strong arm on his younger brother's shoulder saying "Don't worry, they will be fine."

Both the brothers rush over as a doctor comes out of the room and glance at them meaningfully, "Doc?" Rishabh asks nervously. Rakesh feels the world shake around him as the doctor lets out a sigh.

"Both the baby and the mother are happy and healthy," The doctor completes with a tired smile. Rakesh looks at his brother grinning, elated.
"What, You need my permission to go see your wife and kid?" Rishabh mocks him grinning.

"Hi," Rakesh mutters going inside the small hospital room, Parvati looks up at him tired. He smiles gazing at the baby and asks "Do we have a name?" She shrugs and says "Anything you want."
"Anuradha." He says stroking the baby with bright brown eyes.

2014
Bose Household

"Mummy!" My fifteen-year-old self screams from the bedroom, I had been searching for my running gear for the last hour and it was nowhere in sight.

"Always screaming around the house...What do you want?" A much more mature version of my mother, hair flying out of her tight bun snaps pointing the ladle at her daughter.

"I can't find my running gear!" I scowl annoyed, mummy rushes back to the kitchen to tend the breakfast on the stove, I follow her and ask "Where is it?" Having hidden her daughter's running gear scared that her marks might dip, Amma ignores me and stays silent, I continue to pester my mother scared that missing a single day's training might ruin my future. "I don't know, stop pestering me and go study!"
I glare at my Amma now sure she was behind my missing gear.

"What's going on..." appa who had come from his airbase for a week's leave asks yawning his way into the kitchen, he looks at his wife confused as I hug him whimpering, "Why is she crying? Why are you crying?" He asks nudging my small face up.

"Mummy's not giving me my running gear!" I complain my eyebrows scrunching furiously, appa looks at his wife his grey eyes confused. "She has her exams in a week!" She shouts at him shrilly, he stands between his daughter and wife awkwardly when I yank his arm and shout "I have good marks besides I don't even want to be a doctor!" He nods putting an arm around his daughter protectively.

"What are you nodding at?" Amma asks appa, he smiles at her persuasively and says "Parvati, she doesn't want to,"
"A little girl says something and you start supporting her like a duffer!" He swiftly takes the ladle from her hand and says "Honey, listen, if she doesn't want to..." but stops seeing her brown eyes glowing with fury.

"I'm gonna be a pilot like you appa!" I snap stubbornly making my father beam "Not going to happen," Amma says making both of us scowl.
"Just give her the running gear." Appa scowls tired, he smiles at me when Amma storms off to take it from their bedroom.

"Amma's crazy!" I complain to my everloving father on the way to the coaching centre. "Hey...She's your mother," He warns her with an affectionate smile on his sharp face, "I don't want to be a doctor..." I shrug and tell him as we reach the huge building near a vast expanse of levelled ground.

Appa strokes my soft, short hair fondly kneeling down to reach my eye level and says "just do a job that you're passionate about...And your Amma, she'll come around when she sees your passion." I put my hands on the side his face and kiss him right on his dimple lovingly.
"Go get 'em, tiger." He tells her flashing her a grin.

2010
Bose Household

October twenty-one was a very special day for my eleven-year-old self for various reasons, the first reason being that it was the first time in my life that my father had come to call me from school, I still remember him leaning against the car wearing a white shirt and jeans.

I ran to him ignoring my friends and squealed in joy as he swooped me off the floor. "Hey, fighter." He says dimples forming on his handsome face. "Appa!" I say joyous to see him after almost a  year that I do not his wet eyes.

The second reason, is that I found out a day later I was never going to see my Amma ever again, she had passed away in an accident Rish Chacha gently explained to me later.

The third reason could still give me nightmares. It was on October twenty-first that I had stood frozen seeing reckless, young flying officer Rakesh Bose who bravely blasted enemy planes without flashing an eyelid scream and cry in pain as his family failed in trying to help him.

Later Appa shut himself inside his room for four whole days, on the fifth he came out looking pale and sick. He was quitting his job to look after me, he declared.

This turned out to be a shock for the whole family as everyone knew he loved flying more than he loved himself. Even an eleven-year-old me could see the dreaded quitting his job.

Once, Amma and I had got a special permit to watch him fly at the air station, I had observed as he was about to climb into his plane that his grey eyes sparkled with passion and seemed to be happiest with it.

2017
Bose Household

As a college girl of eighteen years, if you ask me who I loved the most, I will not say my boyfriend or best friend but my Appa.

Partly because he was the best father in the world and partly because I had seen him give up everything he loved to look after, to be truthful I was the reason Rakesh Bose's eyes did not sparkle anymore.

"Where are you going?" He asks looking up from his newspaper, I smile at ex-pilot with a few greying hair but the same strong frame of his younger days and say "Naina's house. She's having us over," he looks into my eyes for a while and ask "Is Farhan invited?" I adjust my scarf and say "Yes, is that a problem?"

I feel the tips of my ears going red as his eyes scan me, "No," he says after a pause. I grin at the faint shadow of dimples forming on his cheeks and say kissing "I still love you more than him."

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