From My Mother to My Daughter

Even though Vandana had fed her thrice in the last four hours, little Vartika was still cranky and refused to sleep. Vikas and Vandana took turns soothing the baby to sleep, but she didn’t oblige. Ultimately, she slept at five in the morning, after which Vikas went to sleep, but Vandana stayed awake. She made herself a mug of black coffee even though she knew caffeine was not good for a lactating mother.

She was frustrated and exhausted from caring for the newborn baby, who was barely two months old. Her mother-in-law had come to Delhi to care for Vandana and the baby and returned to Indore after helping the new parents for a month. Now, Vikas and Vandana were on their own to care for Vartika. Vandana interviewed several nannies to help her with the baby during the day when Vikas would be at work, but none made the cut!

It was dawn, and a muted light emerged from the sky; however, the sun was yet to be seen. Vandana sat with her tall coffee mug on the wooden chair with a bright orange cushion and slipped into the memories of the past. She was reminiscing about the days spent with her mother on their balcony.

Vandana thought of the hurdles her mother must have waded through to raise her.

Soon, she realised that tears had started flowing down her cheeks; those memories of her late mother had made her cry. She had lost her mother, Veena, ten years ago to cancer. Vandana was about to turn thirty years old when she lost her mother, and just before she turned forty, she herself became one.

Vartika was born a week before Vandana’s 40th birthday, and even though she and Vikas couldn’t have a grand celebration to mark her special day, Vandana felt she had ticked a very important box in her little black book.

After her mother’s death, Vandana maintained a diary to keep herself focused in life, besides helping her accomplish the milestones her mother thought were important for Vandana.

She was still wiping those tears when Vartika woke with a shrill cry; Vandana returned to her bedroom.

Vandana started missing her mother more after the birth of Vartika because now she understood the sacrifices her mother must have made while raising her.

***

One year after Veena’s death, Vandana mustered the courage to open and sort her cupboard. Those clothes still smelled of her mother, Vandana thought. Soon after opening the closet, Vandana realised she had opened a can of worms, and the grief that she had locked up in her heart tumbled out, and she started crying.

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But she decided to brave those tears and scan through her mother’s clothes, jewellery, and handbag collection, mainly consisting of medium-sized black and brown totes. While browsing through her mother’s wardrobe, Vandana chanced upon her vanity case, which she got as a complimentary gift in lieu of the cash discount for her cosmetics purchase. Even though she had her fair share of cosmetic collections, Vandana used eyeliner and lipstick most of the time.

When she opened the golden-coloured case, she was surprised to find no cosmetics. Instead, it was filled to the brim with beautiful light pink envelopes.

Vandana opened one of the unsealed envelopes, and a letter addressed to her by her late mother popped out. She impatiently opened all the letters one after the other and, unable to control her emotions, cried uncontrollably.

She spent the entire day reading the bunch of letters left to her by her mother. Veena wrote those letters after being diagnosed with breast cancer and feeling like she had only a few years left to live. She knew she wouldn’t be there with Vandana for long; those letters would serve as a reminder of her for her daughter.

Veena didn’t know that, from then on, those letters would become a template for Vandana to lead her life.

Vandana kept those envelopes stacked in a neat file in her cupboard and read them several times over whenever she desired.

Whenever Vandana felt her current situation was difficult to deal with, she would read and re-read those letters to find solace and some clue hidden in the pearls of wisdom imparted by her mother in those letters.

And more often than not, she found the answers she was searching for. Those letters were a means of keeping her mother close to her. Later, Vandana kept some letters in her cupboard and vanity case and some tucked under her mattress. They gave her comfort and warmth whenever she needed them.

***

Veena and Vinod got married in 1980. It was an arranged marriage, and they lived in their family home in West Delhi’s Paschim Vihar. The self-constructed house also housed Vinod’s parents, elder brother, and family. His elder brother Virender lived with his wife, Sushma, and their two sons, Jolly and Happy.

Veena gave birth to Vandana one year after getting married to Vinod. The family had a small celebration as Vandana was the first girl child, after two boys.

Vandana was an absolute joy to her parents; she had her father wrapped around her little finger. Vinod pampered her silly.

But one day, as Vinod was driving his scooter back from the office, a truck travelling in the opposite direction collided with him. The truck driver had jumped the red light and rammed into Vinod’s scooter. He died on the spot.

***

A year had passed since Veena’s death; Vandana had immersed herself in her work to cope with her situation. She would wake up in the morning, get dressed, and leave for court. She would eat breakfast and lunch in the court canteen, return home late in the evening, and crash in bed without having dinner.

Vandana continued to follow this routine for several months after her mother’s demise to escape from the reality that had hit her. Her work became her coping mechanism for the curve ball life had thrown at her.

During that year, she hardly caught up with any friends or went out of station for a break.

It was the start of summer vacation at the courts, so Vandana decided to take some time off from work. She narrowed down on a four-day long moderate trek in Himachal Pradesh with a travel group she found on Facebook.

The Kheerganga trek in Himachal is one for beginners and is supervised by a guide; Vandana thought it would be better to hike with a group since she was a novice.

The journey began with a Volvo bus from Delhi to Bhunter in Himachal Pradesh. The group comprised nine people, including the trip organisers and the guide. Three women and six men were in the group, and the organiser, Nancy, who was running the hiking group with her husband, Gaurav, introduced them to each other.

The guide, Suneel, was originally from Nepal but had been working with Nancy and Gaurav for the last three years as a guide on their hiking team.

Nancy and Gaurav had met Suneel many years ago on one of their hiking trips to Uttarakhand and stayed in touch with him. When they launched their company, Mountain Climbers, they offered Suneel the job of a guide with their group.

Their Facebook page was quite popular with the trekkers, which was how Vandana found them.

Apart from Vandana, there were five other people: Nikhil, Manish, Kajal, Kapil, and Vikas. After they were introduced, Vandana realised that Kajal and Kapil were a couple, and their friend Vikas was accompanying them.

The bus started in the evening and reached Bhuntar in about ten hours at dawn.

After the group left the AC Volvo bus at Bhuntar, it was to take a state transport bus to Barshaini, where the hike would start.

The two-hour ride was bumpy as the bus driver manoeuvred on the narrow, hilly roads to Barshaini. From there, it was another half-an-hour walk to the homestay, where the group would rest for the day before starting their trek to Kheerganga early the next morning.

Each one was allotted a room as part of the package. The couple moved in together.

Vandana was dog tired, and after breakfast of butter-smeared toast with omelette and a glass of milky tea, she decided to retire to her room.

She took a quick shower in the warm water and lounged on the single bed, only to wake up after two hours. Moti, a German shepherd, was playing with Suneel on the small lawn at the homestay. He was jumping up and down the wooden staircase that connected the rooms with the dining area.

He barked loudly after missing a step down to the lawn and fell, waking Vandana up.

Moti was very playful. Like other dogs that lived in hilly areas, he expended his energy by running up and down the hill daily. This made him less aggressive than his counterparts in the city, who were confined to smaller spaces.

She went outside and saw Kajal, Kapil, Vikas, Nancy, and Gaurav sprawled on the lawn while Suneel played with Moti. She couldn’t find Nikhil and Manish there and later discovered they had gone on a stroll.

The group got talking. Vandana told them she was a practising lawyer, Kajal and Kapil ran a PR company, and Vikas was a journalist with a leading financial newspaper.

***

The hike started at 5 a.m., when the sun had yet to rise, making everyone feel like they were trekking in the dark.

Suneel led the group, and Nancy and Gaurav started walking with it but slowly trailed behind to ensure everyone else was on the right path. It had already started raining, and the first 500-metre uphill walk was strenuous for the group, who were first-timers. Vandana slipped twice on that walk before Suneel held her hand and brought her to the point from where the meadows would start.

As soon as everyone reached the edge of the meadow, it stopped raining, and the sun emerged. The one-hour walk on the meadow was pleasant, as the earth was dry. It was a straight stretch until a steep hill started.

***

Suneel was the first to cross the stream and took a picture of everyone as they crossed the same stream, which ran past the hill. The stones over which the water flowed had become slippery with time.

Once everyone had climbed to the other side, Nancy brought their attention to a signboard put up by the spouse of a hiker who had lost his life crossing the stream.

In the loving memory of my husband, James

Love Laura

James had slipped on one of the rocks, couldn’t maintain his balance, and fell off the hill. The group was shocked to hear that James had slipped from the same spot where they were busy clicking pictures a while ago.

***

According to the Mountain Hikers website, it was a moderate hike. However, the group took over seven hours to reach the final spot.

Since all of them were beginners, Suneel was tremendously patient with them on the trek. His ability to adapt to the hikers made him a popular guide, which was why Nancy and Gaurav hired him.

***

Suneel, who was carrying all the equipment for the tent-building, taught the group how to put up their tents. Nancy and Gaurav lugged some utensils and a gas stove to cook meals while the trekkers carried their rucksacks filled with clothes, dry food items, and water bottles.

The arrangement was the same as the rooms, with one tent per person. The group had to stay at Kheerganga for two nights before they started the downhill hike on the other side of the hill.

Everyone was exhausted from the trek, so instead of cooking dinner, they ate the simple meal of dal and chawal served by a large hiking group from Maharashtra. Since it was a large group, they had plenty of food, which was sufficient to feed another small group of people.

The varan bhaat, as the Maharashtra group called it, was cooked to perfection. Everyone devoured it, after which they erected their tents and went to sleep.

***

Since they were not regular hikers, everyone woke up with muscle cramps the next day. As prescribed by the tour group, everyone carried their share of medicines and ointments for the trip, even though Nancy had brought a first-aid kit in her luggage.

Nancy and Gaurav were enjoying their morning tea perched on a giant rock overlooking a small stream when Vikas and Vandana joined them. They got talking, and Vandana told them that she was a lawyer at a district court in Delhi.

Vikas was a journalist with Financial Standard, a leading business newspaper. He also attended a private journalism school in Bengaluru.

His parents lived in Indore, and his elder sister was settled with her family in the UK.

Neither Vandana nor Vikas realised that Nancy and Gaurav had left for a stroll, and they were the ones talking.

***

On their way downhill, Vandana and Vikas chatted some more. By the end of the four-day trip, they had exchanged numbers and decided to meet in Delhi.

Vandana had just returned home from work, and since her house help was on leave, she decided to make khichdi for dinner instead of ordering food from outside.

After returning from the trip, Vandana started caring for her health. She became mindful of her eating habits and increased her adherence to an exercise regimen. During the trek, she realised that she needed better stamina and agility and that staying fit was the key to achieving that. After dinner, she checked her phone and found that Vikas had left a message: “Wanna meet up for coffee this weekend?”

Without giving much thought, she typed: “Yes.”

***

Vandana wore a long black dress with spaghetti straps, red stilettos and a matching clutch.

She usually carried a hobo bag to work, large enough to store her mobile phone, wallet, house and car keys, sunglasses, sanitary pads, lipstick, hand cream, perfume, notepad, pens, visiting cards, energy bars, and some cash. But she could only fit her keys, lipstick, credit card, and mobile phone in the clutch.

She thought she didn’t want to carry a big bag on her date.

“Is it a date?” She was talking to herself, standing in front of the mirror.

She applied her favourite MAC lipstick and left the house without answering the question.

***

Dressed in a black kurta-style shirt and jeans with casual shoes, Vikas was waiting for her at the corner table.

Vandana thought he didn’t bother to shave during the trip and looked rugged. Today, he was clean-shaven and looked sharp.

Even though they felt slightly awkward meeting each other in a formal setting so soon after the trip, that discomfort was quickly replaced with ease.

They ordered coffee and muffins and enjoyed them while they talked. Vikas ordered another round of coffee and sandwiches, which they devoured in no time. Both didn’t realise that they had spent the last three-and-a-half hours chatting with each other.

Vandana offered to drop Vikas at his house, the accommodation he shared with two other men.

Before leaving her car, he offered her a paan from the local shop.

“His paan is famous all over Delhi,” he said, inviting Vandana to taste it.

“I have lived in Delhi all my life; how come I have never heard of this famous place.”

“You need to spend time with the right people,” he replied with a wink.

The pan shop was close to his house, but he walked back to the spot where Vandana had parked her car with him. It was already half past ten, and the street was deserted.

As Vandana got inside her car, she pulled Vikas closer. “Thank you for the lovely evening,” she said, pecking him on the cheek.

“I thought the evening was better than that,” he winked again.

Vandana smiled, fixing her gaze on his lips. He came closer to her, and they kissed under the moonlit sky.

***

They had been dating for a year when Vikas popped the question. It wasn’t a cheesy proposal where Vikas went down on his knees to propose to Vandana. He had casually mentioned marriage, mainly to calm Vandana down, who was in a highly combative mood after the two argued over a political issue. It bothered Vandana when their political views clashed, even though it rarely happened.

“It would be difficult to make the marriage work if we keep having arguments like this,” Vikas said.

“Marriage? What marriage?” an annoyed Vandana said.

“I am saying if we continue to fight like this over political issues, how will our marriage work?”

“How did you arrive at our marriage?”

“I didn’t arrive at marriage all of a sudden; I see marriage in our future. Don’t you see it?” Vikas had calmed down and left the argument behind him.

Vandana fell silent for a while before calming herself down and responding rather sarcastically, “I think this is the most unromantic marriage proposal ever.”

“I really have a long way to go with you. A filmy-style proposal would have made you cringe, and I couldn’t think of any other way to broach the subject of marriage with you,” Vikas said with a half-smile.

Vandana guffawed at his remarks and felt relieved that Vikas had understood her personality.

***

It was a 90-minute flight to Indore from Delhi, and Vikas’s parents had come to pick them up at the airport.

Vandana insisted that they get married in Indore since she was not in touch with any of her relatives and did not have any close friends.

Indore was Vikas’s birthplace, and his immediate family, close relatives, and some of his childhood friends also lived there.

Vikas had made all the wedding arrangements, and even though Vandana said she wanted to contribute to the wedding expenses, he had declined. “Heavens would not fall if the groom’s family paid for the wedding, and that too when the bride was the only guest from her side,” he had told his father and managed to convince him.

The wedding was to take place on a Saturday morning, but his parents insisted they reach Indore a week before the wedding day. Before the wedding day, they had planned some rituals, including mehendi, haldi, and an engagement ceremony.

Vandana had brought her entire trousseau to Indore as she would be spending a month at her in-laws’ place. Even though Vikas insisted that they go to Bali for their honeymoon, Vandana wanted to spend some time with his family before they came back to the grind in Delhi. He agreed.

***

Vikas and Vandana were welcomed with the staple Indori breakfast of poha and jalebi. Both loved poha, so they ate to their hearts’ content.

Vandana first had poha at Vikas’s Delhi house, where he regularly made poha for himself and his flatmates whenever their cook was on leave. It was his favourite breakfast, and he found it easy to prepare.

Vandana decided to learn to make the perfect Indori poha from his mother during her stay and surprised Vikas when they returned to Delhi.

“Before the wedding, Vandana will stay with Chachi and Chacha on the first floor,” Vikas’s father told him, directing the house to help carry her luggage on the first floor.

Everyone was enjoying the post-breakfast tea in the living room on the ground floor when Vaibhav, Vikas’s cousin, suggested that Vandana visit the city’s famous khau galli in the evening.

“Let’s take you to the khau gali and make you taste Indore’s famous street food,” said Vaibhav. Before Vandana could reply, Vikas said, “Yes, let’s go.”

His father suggested that Vandana, Vikas, and Vaibhav proceed with their plan as the family elders had a lot of pre-wedding work to do.

Vaibhav drove them to the place, which was Sarafa Bazaar during the day and Khau Gali at night.

Vikas and Vaibhav insisted that Vandana try the famous garadu chaat, bhutte ki kees and dahi bada before they ended their food tour with the matka kulfi.

“The snacks were really delicious,” Vandana said, licking the kulfi from her straw.

***

Vandana made for a gorgeous bride in a yellow chanderi silk saree and gold jewellery that was gifted to her by Vikas’s mother. She also wore her mother’s gold bangles.

Vikas wore an ivory-coloured sherwani set for the wedding and looked dapper.

Vikas’s family pandit solemnised the wedding, which his close and distant family relatives attended. Some of his childhood friends, who still lived in the city, also attended.

The newlyweds stayed with his family for two weeks before leaving for Delhi.

Vandana developed an instant bond with her in-laws, and they also grew fond of her in no time. His parents decided to visit them in Delhi, and in turn, Vandana and Vikas would come to Indore to celebrate the festivals with them.

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After the marriage, Vandana and Vikas got busy with their respective jobs and could only make time for each other on weekends. None of them complained about the pace of their lives, as they were focused on establishing themselves before they started a family together.

***

Vandana woke up in the middle of the night, went to the bathroom and threw up. She and Vikas returned from Goa last night after a short holiday. It was a long weekend with two public holidays falling on Thursday and Friday, so they decided to make the most of it and travel.

They decided to join Sooraj and Shilpa, Vikas’s friends from Mumbai, who were headed to Goa.

“It would be good to have company,” Vikas had insisted, and Vandana agreed, as she wasn’t much of a planner.

On the trip, they hopped shacks and had copious amounts of booze and seafood.

“It must have been indigestion; we ate mindlessly there,” Vandana said very casually when she saw Vikas walking up to the bathroom to enquire about her.

“Must have been. Do you want antacid?”

“No, I am fine,” she said and went back to sleep, only to wake up after half an hour.

“What is the matter? Why are you throwing up so much? Should I take you to the hospital?”

“No, I am fine. Go back to sleep. We will see in the morning,” Vandana suggested, but her mind had started thinking.

When she woke up in the morning, after another round of vomiting, she asked Vikas to get the pregnancy detection kit from the chemist.

***

The agony and pain of losing her mother had compounded after Vandana became a mother herself. Her in-laws were supportive, but they had their limitations. They lived in another city and, with age, couldn’t travel frequently to Delhi.

Vandana wrestled with the thought of Vartika growing up without the love of Nana and Nani almost every day of her existence. The idea of Vartika growing up without the love and warmth of half of her grandparents made Vandana extremely sad.

Vandana’s heart ached more for her mother than her father because she barely remembered her father now. Her personality was shaped in her growing years by her mother. Being a single parent, Veena had the most influence on Vandana.

She thought she had learnt to live with the hole in her heart after her mother’s death, but the grief came tumbling back after Vartika was born.

Vandana realised the overwhelming nature of a mother’s role and felt guilty about her past behaviour towards her mother.

The tantrums she threw when she was a kid and the way Veena managed the role of a father and a mother to her made her realise the struggles her mother must have gone through to raise her.

The fact that she couldn’t apologise to her mother for her past behaviour disheartened Vandana.

She opened her cupboard and started reading the letters Veena had left for her, one by one. Again!

***

My dear Vandy,

You are not married now, but someday you will be. Let me tell you that getting married is not an achievement. Let no one tell you otherwise. Your marital status should not define the person you are because there is so much more to you and your personality. Having said that, building and nurturing an equal and healthy partnership spanning years and decades is an accomplishment. A partnership that has stood the test of time is worthy of being called an achievement. I wish and pray that you have that kind of partnership one day, and I hope it is fulfilling. It rewards you in every sense of the word. Another achievement that the world would like you to believe is bearing a child. Becoming a mother is an immensely overwhelming experience for a woman, but over the years, I have realised that motherhood is cherished if it is a choice. The decision to bear a child should solely rest with the woman, and she should be strong enough to defend that option. Whether you exercise the option of having a biological child or adopting one should be based on how much you want that kid in your life. And let me tell you, adopting a child would not make you any less of a mother or a woman. After all, how you raise that child will determine the kind of parent you are. Vandy, be the mother who gives space to her children and focuses on becoming their friend. I always worked towards being your friend; I don’t know how much I succeeded.

Love

Mumma

~~

Dear Vandana,

I had kept these letters deliberately in your vanity case because I know that is something you use the least. Although I love you, and to me, you are the most beautiful daughter in this world, a little makeup wouldn’t hurt. I am not mocking Vandu, but you can put on some makeup occasionally. Enough of that; I wrote this letter and others to let you know how much you mean to me. Even though people around me, basically both your grandmothers, wanted a grandson, when I was carrying you, I prayed for a healthy baby girl, and my prayers were answered when the doctor broke the news of your birth to me. When I held you in my arms for the first time, I knew I had made a friend for life, who you people now call BFF. Being your mother has been the most fulfilling relationship of my life. I just hope that I made the right decisions for you, and I only want to see you shine in life. I pray that you soar high in life.

I love you to the moon and back

Mumma

~~

My darling Vandu,

Your Daddy gave you your nickname and fondly called you Vandu while I addressed you by numerous names – Vandana, Vandy, Gudiya, Babu. We loved raising you; your smile and the sparkle in your eyes made us extremely happy. Daddy would come home tired from work, and your toothy smile was all he needed to change his mood. You would wrap your arms around him as soon as he entered the house and insist on playing with him. You even got a little jealous of me if I tried hugging your father, as you were very possessive of him. Your Daddy and I loved you a lot and always wanted to give you the best of everything, be it education, clothes, or toys. I missed your father a lot, especially on the day you started formal school, the day you started college, and the day you graduated from law school. He would have been so proud of you if he were alive. He always wanted you to become self-sufficient and financially independent before settling down. I feel happy that you have achieved your father’s dream; you are an established advocate, and I hope and pray that you excel in whatever you do.

Lots of Love

Mumma

~~

Dear Vandana,

It is every Indian parent’s dream to see their daughter married, and your father and I had the same vision. We wanted to see you happily married, and when your father passed away, I decided to fulfil this dream without putting any kind of pressure on you. I want to see you in a bridal get up – bright red lehenga and accessories. You would make a gorgeous bride, Vandu, but I won’t be able to see it. I wish I could beat this disease and live to see that day, but I guess God has some other plans. Don’t feel disheartened because we will be watching you from the heavens and showering our blessings. You are our strong and independent daughter, and we are certain that you will make all the right decisions in your life, including marrying the right man.

Love you

Mumma

~~

Dear Vandu,

All your friends are married and will soon have their own families. Honestly, I sometimes get worried about your wedding, but deep down inside, I know you will make the right decision when the time comes. You are intelligent and capable of making the right decision without consulting anyone. Think very hard before making that decision because choosing the right partner is the most important decision an independent woman takes in this country. The right partner makes your life easier and more meaningful with his presence. If you want a partner who is open-minded and progressive in his thoughts, you have to be the same, too. You should support each other’s dreams, whatever they may be and have each other’s back. Such relationships are worth investing in and preserving. Besides great companionship, physical intimacy is equally important in a marriage. It is your right, as a wife, to demand that from your husband. Some women feel shy admitting that their marriages aren’t physically and sexually fulfilling; don’t be part of that tribe. It is essential to a couple’s life, so do not let anyone tell you otherwise. Do not hesitate to discuss these issues with your husband, and if he is the right partner for you, he will understand. I sometimes feel that your generation is much smarter than us when it comes to these matters.

Nonetheless, I am a mother, and I feel I have a right to tell you everything from my wisdom. I am also writing you these letters so you have something to remember me when I am gone. These letters will remind you of me and reassure you that I will always be there for you whenever you need me. At whichever junction of life you are at, open and read these letters, and they will help you find answers to the questions you are searching for at that point in life.       

Lots of Love

Mumma

~~

Dear Vandana,

I am writing this letter with a heavy heart because it is about the issue of separation. These days, divorce has become very common in our society, and a lot of people say that it is because women are educated and independent and refuse to adjust, but I feel otherwise. Women have learnt to stand up for themselves and live with dignity and respect. Everyone has a right to live with self-esteem and never compromise. No matter what happens, never compromise on your dignity to make a marriage work. Every woman has a right to live with self-respect; no one can take that away from you, not even your husband. There is no shame in walking out of a marriage if your dignity is at stake because there is no room for abuse in a marriage. No woman deserves to be mentally or physically tortured in a marriage; she is better off without that relationship. I know you are a strong and independent working woman, but I am a mother; all I want is for my child to be happy in life.

Love you loads

Mumma

***

Vandana broke down after reading those letters.

She thought, “We keep planning for years and decades, but life happens to us in minutes and sometimes even seconds. One moment, someone is alive, and in another, it is all over. Such is life.”

But she resolved to take control of her life; she reminded herself that her mother taught her never to give up. She would strive every single day of her existence to make the most of her situation.

She decided to express gratitude every single day for the life she had.

***

Even though it was a Sunday, she woke up early and went to the kitchen to prepare a cup of coffee for herself. Vandana saw Vikas coming from the bathroom, dressed in shorts and a T-shirt.

As he was about to enter the storeroom to get his sports shoes, Vandana asked, “Why are you up so early?”

“I am going to take Vartika to the park; do you want to join us?”

She did some breathing exercises on the bench while Vikas and Vartika played football.

As she watched Vartika learn football from her father, Vandana recognised that her glass was half full after all.

Vandana reminded herself that the essence of life is in moving on. Never let complaints take over gratitude.

She had found a loving and caring husband in Vikas, who was also a doting father to their daughter, Vartika.

Vandana was reminded of the famous saying by the Sufi poet Rumi:

“Don’t grieve. Anything you lose comes around in another form.”

XX

(The writer has written this short story in her personal capacity)