(True story)

It was yet another day at school.Ravi hated his Maths class and was eagerly waiting for the lunch bell to ring.     ‘just another fifteen minutes to go for lunch’ he thought.

Just as he was glancing out of the window the school peon interrupted the class.

‘Madamji, Principal Sir wants Ravi to meet him in his chamber right now’said the peon.

It took Ravi by surprise! He looked at his best friend Krishna sitting in the bench next to him and shrugged his shoulders. Krishna and Ravi were the best of friends since childhood. They shared everything possible under the sun. As Ravi walked upto the principal’s chamber his heart started racing and pounding against his rib cage.

‘Why is my heart pounding? Why am I feeling so uneasy?,’ Ravi thought.

As he entered the room he saw the smiling face of Principal Edward looking at him.

‘Come son, come in…look who has come to see you..,’ said Principal Edward.

Ravi glanced across the room and found his dear old grandpa Dr.Manikanth and a lady sitting across the room.

‘Ok..Dr.Manikanth..ill take leave now..you can talk here without any disturbance, saying this Principal Edward hurried out of the room.

‘Grand pa …so nice to see you! Who is this lady here?’ asked Ravi.

The middle aged lady with grandpa looked blank. She was staring into space and mumbling something to herself. She moved her long fingers in the air in circles. It looked like she was trying to solve some tough mathematical equation in space around her. Her disheveled hair and her white shawl hanging lopsidedly on one side of her arm made her look weird.

‘Geetha,look! This is your Ravi..Say hello to him,’ said Dr.Manikanth

The lady looked at Ravi with eyes that pierced into his. She passed her fingers through his hair and looked at him from head to toe.

‘Ye mera Ravi nahi hai…..ye tho bahut lamba hai...Mujhe mera Ravi chahiye....’screamed the lady.

Ravi was too shocked to speak. His grandpa said,        ‘Ravi beta, this is your mother Geetha.she has come to see you’

‘Mera lalla Makhan mishri...mera Ravi Makhan mishri…’the lady broke into a song that sounded familiar to Ravi.

‘Mother? My mother? But I thought my mother was dead…all of you lied to me.!!., said Ravi and he ran out of the chamber with tears flowing from his eyes.

Geetha was a happy girl till she got married. Her father, Dr.Manikanth got her married to the wealthy industrialist Dinesh with great pomp and show. He gave a dowry of nearly 15 lacks as demanded by the groom’s party.Geetha had dreams of a happy family like any young girl of her age would. But her happiness was short lived as within six months of her marriage, Dinesh demanded more dowry. Though Dr.Manikanth shelled down a couple of lakhs more, the mental and physical torture of Geetha in the hands of Dinesh did not stop. When Ravi was born, Geetha was deliberately separated from her baby as a result of which she suffered a major nervous break down. One fine day the inevitable happened.Geetha was thrown out of her in-laws house and baby Ravi who was just three years of age was separated from his mother.

‘As we find Ms.Geetha’s mental condition unstable we give the custody of Ravi to his father Dinesh…case dismissed!!’ these words from the Judge came as a thunder bolt to Geetha and her father. Her mental conditioned worsened and as months rolled into years Ravi was made to think that his mother was dead until that day…

‘Papa how could you lie to me? I saw my mom today. I never objected you remarrying then why did you have to hide my mom’s existence from me??’ cried Ravi.

‘How dare you question me? If you go back to her I will disown you. All my inheritance shall go to your step brother.’ screamed Dinesh.

Ravi cried his heart out to his best pal Krishna who advised him to first complete his education and become financially independent and only then leave home for his mother Ravi longed to hear about his mother .He just knew that she was getting the  medical attention and care she needed for her mental condition under the watchful eye of his grandpa.Months rolled away and Ravi soon completed his masters with flying colours and landed a good job in Bangalore.Ravi was eager to get his mom to the city.He knew that he can now take care of her.

‘Grandpa will be so proud of me. He has become old now. I will take care of him too,’ thought Ravi.

As his bus reached his village his heart started racing again. It was pounding so hard against his chest.

‘Why am I feeling so anxious? Why? ‘, thought Ravi.

As he approached the ancestral house of his grandpa a stoic silence greeted him. He saw his grandpa rocking on his chair in the verandah staring into nothingness.

‘Grandpa. I have come home!! Where is maa? I came to take her with me to Bangalore. I got a nice job there. How is her condition now? We can show her to the best specialists in the city…, said Ravi.

With quivering lips Grandpa said,          ‘Ravi beta, You have come at last….but.you are late…your mom passed away peacefully in her sleep yesterday. I was unable to contact you so we finished performing her last rites…she was at peace in her last days. She did mention your name again and again, that’s all that she remembered of the outside world…’

Ravi felt a shooting pain stab his heart and he could almost hear his mother hum

‘Mera lalla makhan mishri…mera Ravi makhan mishri…’

pic-http://www.normankoren.com/Weingarden/Mother_child_720.jpg