Love Forever

His heart skipped a beat when he saw her trying to climb the escalator and falling down. The deep frown lines on her forehead and the wrinkled yet serene face of hers told me a lot about her struggle.
The airport authorities told Sai her story and he thought of talking to her. He casually sat next to her and started chatting.
"Namaste Auntyji"
She smiled hastily while reluctantly looking away from the foyer and replied, "Namaste Beta. I am Nirmala." There was a weird familiarity in her smile. They started chatting and she was telling how she came there everyday, fighting with the rickshaw waalas and struggling with the escalator to receive her son Chotu who went away never to come back. Sai's thought started drifting.

“Get ready fast. Locals here are so unlike Chennai metros. We have a slow local at 7:15, we must not miss that. I’ll show you the ladies compartment and you’ll be safe.”
I was so busy talking that I didn’t notice her standing there.
“How do I look?”
She undoubtedly was the most beautiful lady to walk the face of earth.
“Amma… you look perfect as always. Priya can never catch up to that. Now run else I’ll never be able to catch up to her.”
We both burst into laughter and I just loved these moments.

Sai’s childhood was just like any other kid's until the day his Appa passed away in a freak road accident. He had breathed his last in her arms. That day Amrita (Amma) had lost all hopes but she fought her sorrows and lived and laughed only for Sai. Today she was going to meet Sai’s love, Priya. Sai couldn’t stop praising Priya on their way to the station. He found a soul mate in her and most importantly he was very sure that she would keep Amma very happy.
It was 7:00 A.M. when they reached Dadar station.

“Amma, I’ll get this tickets punched. Here… you have tea and sit here till I come back.” Sai signaled towards a bench.
Right when he left, a man with a huge baggage was pushing his way through the crowd. He looked very agitated and was cursing and fretting every now and then. He was looking here and there through the corner of his eyes. Amrita became very suspicious of him. The man advanced in her direction and dropped the baggage right besides her with a thud. Sai sensed the chaos and glanced in her direction but couldn’t spot her.
He was in the middle of a humongous line for ticket and 4 down it was his turn. He again tried looking for Amma. But no luck.

“Kyu Madam? Kaha jaa rahi ho?” Amrita was trembling with fear by now but did not move, for it would become difficult for Sai to find her. She kept mum and was looking in the opposite direction. Few kids playing on the platform kept her occupied and managed to ease her frayed nerves. She was carried away by the sheer number of people coming up and down the stairway.
She turned to look for Sai and spotted him at a distance coming towards her. She was relieved. The man was also gone with his baggage left near the bench.
Sai sensed something, he felt something was amiss. He saw Amma smiling from the distance. Suddenly he ran towards her and in a split second there was a huge blast right where Amma was standing. It was a deafening noise and Sai was just a few meters away from the spot. He fell with his face down and couldn’t hear anything but a long shrilling beep. He wanted to reach to Amma. He got up and started limping towards the fire. Though he wanted to run, his knees felt too week. People were running with fear gripped on their faces. They just wanted to be away from all this. Sai slowly started drifting away and fell unconscious.

When Sai opened his eyes, Priya was sitting next to him in the hospital. The doctor checked him and issued a discharge letter. Before Priya could say anything, Sai hurriedly dressed up, cleared all the bills, took Priya by hand and started walking. Priya was too bewildered to say anything. He kept on saying “Amma is waiting Priya, we need to hurry. She’ll be so happy to meet you.”
Priya couldn’t stop her tears when she saw Sai in that state. She just followed him.
Sai went to the station and darted towards the bench where he had left Amma. The place was all charred and he started panicking. He still waited, his longing wet eyes waited for an eternity at the station, but it was an endless wait. Priya held his hand. He looked at her and she was crying. She never dreamt of being the bearer of this bad news. But she gathered all her courage and said, “Sai, Amma is no more with us. You were…”
Sai was not listening to anything anymore. He just looked at the bench and then at her and then at the bench… Amma is no more with us… things started making sense and he started losing it all.
He wailed and cried there. He had promised her happiness, he had promised her a beautiful world. But she had left him, never to come back. Priya took him away. Sai looked back again and saw Amma waiting for him with that same pleasant smile. She was etched in his memory just like that.

Suddenly Sai was brought back to reality when Nirmala squeezed his hand tight and shouted. “The flight has arrived beta. Lets run. Chotu would be waiting for me. He will get lost in the crowd. Come on run.”
Sai tried to keep pace with her, her restless eyes scanned through all the people checking in. At times it would light up seeing someone who resembled Chotu even a bit but he never came. She was devastated. Sai took her to the tea stall and bought her some snacks and tea. She wouldn’t eat. He was supposed to report at office by 9 but he called in sick. They sat together, chatted some more and finally she ate. She gave Sai a warm contented smile.

It took a lot to convincing on his part to take her along. He just couldn’t leave her like that.
He knew that she had no place to go. Sai was not sure if she would agree staying with Priya and him so he thought of taking her to his friend’s old age home. He decided to talk to Priya and take her home once she is prepared. After initial registration formalities while he was taking her to her room, she looked at Sai through her misty eyes and said in between sobs, “God bless you my Son. Will you come with me tomorrow to the airport?”
“Sure.” Sai smiled. Sai was united with his Amma once again.