Gayathri still looked to be lost in her own thoughts.
“What happened mom, you look very dull today?” asked Nikhil not able to hide his surprise.
Kalai Selvi and Pratap also looked at Gayathri. Gayathri smiled at them…
“Oh, nothing big Nikhil… It’s just that I am not able to remember something…”
“What’s that mom?” asked Kalai Selvi in a curious tone, while the other two looked at Gayathri curiously.
“It’s about the lecturer we met in our bungalow today… There’s something about her…”
“You mean Annie mom?”
“No not Annie, the other lecturer…”
“Oh aunty, she is not a lecturer! She is accompanying them as a last minute substitute… The lecturer who was supposed to travel with them fell ill at the last moment and hence Pooja had to join them… I think she works in the college office…”
“Pooja… Pooja” murmured Gayathri.
Nikhil hesitated for a second and said,
“I can understand your confusion mom… It’s the same Pooja!”
Gayathri looked shocked.
“You mean… You mean…”
“Yes mom, it’s the same Pooja!” said Nikhil trying to keep his face as plain as possible.
Nikhil’s words seemed to have hit Gayathri very hard… She looked devastated…
Pooja!
“Hey Charu… your child is so cute… so soft… she reminds me of rose, jasmine, lotus and and…”
“Come on sis! Is there any more flowers left?”
“Charu she looks like a mixture of flowers… Can you name her something related to flower? May be Rose… no, that doesn’t sound good… Mallika… No that sounds very old fashioned… Pooja! Pooja, how is it?”
“That’s a nice name… Pooja is not really related to flowers… I guess it means prayer… But sure, I will name her Pooja!”
So it’s the same Pooja! Now Gayathri could understand why Pooja looked familiar… Pooja resembles Charu… Charu’s smiling face came before Gayathri’s eyes…
But why is her daughter like this? She looked at Nikhil questioningly…
“You said she is doing fine!”
Pratap could not make any sense of the sentence. Though Kalai Selvi couldn’t understand the entire conversation, the expressions in the faces of Gayathri and Nikhil made her understand the context of the topic…
“Yes, she was staying with her cousin Prabakar…” said Nikhil in a flat tone.
“But then why is she like this? Why is she a support staff in a college, then?”
Nikhil didn’t say anything. He just stared at his mother for a few seconds… got up from his chair and left the place abruptly…
Gayathri was obviously taken aback by her son’s reaction...
“What’s wrong aunty?” asked Pratap.
Kalai Selvi patted him softly and asked him to be quiet.
Gayathri looked at the clock… It’s almost midnight but she was not able to sleep… She hasn’t slept peacefully for almost twenty years now… For the last few years she has been using some pills to get sleep but today even the pills seemed to be powerless…
She looked at her husband’s photo in the bedside table… She could see the smiling face of Kannan in the dim light…
He always has this smile in his face… She has never seen him losing his temper…
Where is he now? Is he still alive?
The intensity of the question again brought the pain in her heart…
Far away in Africa…
Though it was evening, it was very dark… Kannan continued to stare at the dirty wall in front of him… he could hear chaotic noise outside… But that didn’t disturb him…
Suddenly, as if stuck by intuition, he took the small piece of paper from his torn out pant pocket… It was a photo… a very old one…
Gayathri was smiling in that photo…
Will he be able to meet her again in this lifetime?
“Don’t worry Mr.Kannan, I will try to help you as much as possible… I am in touch with Mr.Ranga and Pooja… We will work together to get you out of this…”
Abioye a social worker from Abuja had met him almost a month back and have uttered those words… It has given him glimpse of hope… Pooja is trying to help him… He felt very happy about it…
But then what happened to Gayathri, Nikhil and his little daughter Kalai? Are they safe? Why haven’t he heard anything from them so far?
Oh god, atleast take care of them…
To be Continued
{kunena_discuss:686}