Last wish of mother

                                    (Story)

"So, shall we get married next month?" Ninad asked, and Sagarika was completely stunned. A silence hung between them for a while. They just sat there, looking at each other. After some time, Sagarika said, "I'll tell you in two days." Ninad, who had been watching her face eagerly, looked a little deflated, but finally said, "Just two days, okay?" Then the two of them walked off in their own directions.

(Scene illustrated with the help of artificial intelligence)

Sagarika and Ninad had been together since their student days. Studying side by side, their hearts clicked. In today's language, the vibes matched. Slowly the bond grew stronger. They grew closer emotionally. Both confessed their love for each other. After finishing their studies, they both landed jobs in different companies. It had been barely a year since then.

Very often, the biggest hurdle for couples in love is getting their families to approve and accept them. But Ninad and Sagarika were lucky on this front. Both their families accepted their relationship with understanding. They began visiting each other's homes freely. Meeting on festivals and occasions, planning things together — everything was going along smoothly. So smoothly that you'd think nobody should be allowed to jinx it. But a jinx did strike, you could say. Not from any person, but from fate itself.

Ninad's mother had started falling ill. It had been two or three months by now. It began with a few minor symptoms, and before long the illness took a serious turn. Since they lived in the city, one test after another began, as advised by specialist doctors. All sorts of dreadful doubts began creeping into their minds. Last week, the test results landed like a bombshell. Ninad's mother had cancer.

Not wanting to rely on a single doctor's opinion, they consulted another well-known doctor. But as they say, no matter how much you wish bad news would turn out to be false, it turns out to be true. The cancer diagnosis was spot on.

Just as a bomb flattens everything around it, the happiness, peace, and joy of Ninad's home were completely shattered. And this was no ordinary bomb — it was practically an atom bomb. Because both doctors had also said, unanimously, that Ninad's mother had only four to six months left at most.

The shock was so intense that a graveyard silence fell over the house. Nobody felt like saying anything or doing anything. For hours, the silence in the house stayed unbroken. Not a sound could be heard. Two days passed like this. The first to recover was Ninad's mother. She accepted in her heart that she was going to leave this world. As she accepted it, so did Ninad's father, and Ninad too. What other option was there, really? No matter what anyone felt, the situation wasn't going to change.

Ninad's mother began putting her affairs in order. Where things were kept in the house, what to do with which belonging, who should get what — that dear woman steeled her heart and began explaining it all. Ninad and his father, after finishing work, spent all their remaining time at home. They began going over old memories one by one. Sometimes their eyes filled with tears of sorrow, and sometimes a faint smile of happiness spread across their faces. They also went over what had been done and what was left undone.

When Sagarika learned about the cancer, so did her parents. They started visiting Ninad's home almost every day. They tried to keep the three of them talking, hoping it would lighten their hearts a little. With each passing day, the force of the coming blow weighed more and more on everyone's mind.

While Ninad's mother was going over what was left to see and what was left to do, one thing kept coming up again and again — Ninad and Sagarika's wedding. Whenever the topic came up, it was hard to predict how Ninad's mother would react or behave. Sometimes she would start talking at length about everything to be done at the wedding and how it should all be done — so much so that it would get to a point where someone had to say, "Okay, that's enough now." But at other times, when the same topic came up, she would go completely still. Not a single word would leave her lips. Half an hour, an hour would pass just like that.

Ninad couldn't think straight at all. He simply couldn't bear the fact that his mother was going to die so soon. At the office, he couldn't concentrate on work either. His boss had to scold him for it. But somehow word got around at the company too. Everyone felt deeply sorry for him. Ninad's work until then had been spotless, so everyone decided to be understanding with him.

In the rush of home, office, home, the day would pass in a blur. But at night, Ninad couldn't sleep for hours. Time went by tossing and turning from one side to the other. "What do I do? What do I do?" — this thought left his mind completely numb. One night, very late, he finally fell asleep. In his sleep, he had a dream. It was a dream of his and Sagarika's wedding ceremony. The joy on his mother's face was overflowing. The *mangalashtaka* (the wedding verses) had begun, and suddenly, his mother collapsed. Shouting "Aai!" at the top of his voice, Ninad woke up. When he glanced at the clock, it was nearly five in the morning. His face was drenched in sweat. Ninad wiped the sweat off. He drank some water. He started thinking.

His and Sagarika's love had already been accepted by their families. By today's norms, there was no hurry to get married either. He had been thinking they could look at it in four or five years. But now there had been such an upheaval in his life that he didn't know what to do. Finally, an hour later, he made up his mind: he would ask Sagarika about getting married within a month. No, no — he would convince her. He would fulfil this wish of his mother's right before her eyes.

That very day, Ninad made an excuse and took Sagarika to their usual hotel. He brought up the topic with her. She too went completely still, but in the end she said, "I'll tell you in two days." She too had felt that there was still plenty of time before they got married, but now the situation had changed entirely. Both decided they wouldn't bring this up again for these two days, and would talk about it only after exactly two days. With that, they went back to their respective homes.

Before they knew it, the two days were over. Ninad and Sagarika met again at the same hotel. The anticipation was written all over Ninad's face — he couldn't wait for Sagarika to speak. Finally, Sagarika said, "Let's get married within the month." Hearing that sentence, Ninad suddenly felt light, like a weight had lifted. Sagarika went on, "Look, Ninad. If Aai's illness hadn't happened, we would have gotten married in four or five years. But with things the way they are, we're deciding to marry early. But why did we want to marry late in the first place? Because we wanted to experience some freedom before marriage. Even though your love for me and mine for you run deep, there were some things we needed time to accept as husband and wife. But now we don't have that kind of time. So even if we get married right away, we need to work out in detail what we're going to accept and how. We have to think through even the little things." "You're absolutely right, Sagarika! Come on, let's talk and decide right now," said Ninad. "Hey, you can't stay out of the house this long now. So go home, tell them, and come back tomorrow. We'll talk then," Sagarika continued. "There's one more thing I've thought of. In a situation like this, we need advice from someone experienced on how to behave and how to adjust. Preferably a professional!" "Meaning who?" Ninad asked. "I mean a marriage counsellor," Sagarika said. Ninad realised that Sagarika had thought about this in so many different ways over these two days. He said, "Absolutely right. But let's leave right now, meet again tomorrow and talk it through. Once we've sorted things out in detail, we'll tell everyone at home." Sagarika nodded. Both were firmly resolved. Their resolve was to fulfil 'Aai's last wish!'

Sudhir Gade, Pune

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(AI Translation)