chapter 1

It was a well-furnished room, on the bed she lay, with the wheelchair adjacent to it.

"aaram se, maa..." she cautioned, as she rested her mother's back on the cushions behind her.

"purvi, main khudh baith sakti hoon abhi..." replied her mother calmly, as she took her arms off of her, and stood with her hands on her hips.

"you'll be alright?" she confirmed yet again, as her mother just nodded in agreement, with a smile.

Suddenly, the bell rang.

"lagta hai aa gayi..." informed purvi, as in a matter of seconds, a young woman appeared, with a middle aged man.

"toh, yeh hai meri wife, neelu..." said the man, as he pointed to purvi's mother, and the young woman acknowledged.

"yeh hai wheelchair, yeh, yahan, bathroom hai..." he said as he opened the door to the bathroom in the room, and switched on it's lights.

"uhhm, khaana-peena inka fridge mein hota hai, woh tumhe aate hue dekha diya tha...kitchen bhi dekh liya, wahan microwave mein karke de dena, aur phir inka plate cinq ke paas rakh dena, woh savita aake kardegi..." he explained quickly.

"aur suno, aaj shaam ko main zara inki exercises karaungi, dekh lena dhyaan se, tumhe wahi karwaani hai..." added purvi, as she just nodded in agreement.

"aap khud khaana khayengi?" questioned the young woman.

"pair chalna band hue hain, haath thodi...main khalungi..." responded neelu politely with a scoff.

"aise thodi hamesha ke liye band hue hain, thik ho jayenge." Insisted purvi.

"toh thik hai, ishita beta, aap phir manage karlengi?" he questioned as she nodded in agreement.

"chalo phir, nikalte hain hum, haan purvi?" asked her father, as she nodded in agreement, her gaze still fixed on her mother.

"chalo, mann lagake padhai karna..." assured neelu, as purvi reluctantly followed her father out.


Purvi had her eyes fixed outside the window of the passenger seat.

"she'll be alright, bache..." assured her father, as he continued to drive.

"nahi, woh bas, aise maa ko nahi choda na, inn do hafte...ajeeb lag raha hai.." responded purvi.

"hota hai beta, isiliye toh i didn't want ki koi ajnabee khayal rakhe uska.." he responded.

"well, she's a medical student, she'll know better than us, right?" confirmed purvi, as he too nodded in agreement.

"dekho beta, ab tum bas college pe dhyaan do...things will be alright." he suggested as she nodded in agreement.


It was a tea stall, right behind the road. Two benches kept right in front of, where two young men were seated, with tea cups and pakodas.

"dushyant, toh ab do hafte ho gaye hain ya nashta karte hue, toh matlab ab roz ka toh maan hi loon yeh..." remarked his friend, as he sipped his cup of tea.

"aur shaam ka chowmein bhi..." pointed dushyant, as his friend agreed.

"yaar hai toh woh jagah badiya..." commented his friend.

"ab woh college ki mess ke sadhe hue lunch ke baad, muh ka taste sudharne ke liye kuch toh hona chahiye na, kavin." Retorted dushyant, as kavin chuckled.

"pata hai, teen saalon mein, mujhe aaj tak rajma mein, paani mil gaya, rajma nahi mile..." noted kavin, as they both chuckled.

"bas dinner mein shakal dekha dunga gharwaalon ko, taaki pata rahe unhe main zinda hoon.." said dushyant, as he finished his last pakoda.

"mere ghar mein toh woh bhi nahi hai, sab kamre mein khaate hain, pata nahi dinning table kyun nahi bech dete..." argued kavin, as he gulped the last sip of his tea.

"oh bhaiya, khaate mein likh liyo humare!" exclaimed dushyant, as they both got up to leave.


Neelu lied down on her bed, as ishita shifted her feet to the right. Neelu closed her eyes, as it hurt.

"toh yahan bhi movement nahi hai..." noted ishita softly, as neelu nodded in agreement.

"koi baat nahi, you are good with the movements of your toe, that's good. We'll just do that for now." She assured with a smile.

"abhi nahi beta, abhi toh mujhe saans aane do bas..." responded neelu.

"jaisa aap chahiye aunty, paani laon?" offered ishita, as she nodded in agreement, so ishita quickly went to fetch water.

Neelu tried to sit up on her own, which was a painful process.

"arre aunty, ek second.."said ishita, as she kept the glass aside, and quickly grabbed her, to make her sit.

Neelu let out a huge sigh, as ishita made her drink water.

"better?" confirmed ishita as neelu nodded in agreement, and ishita kept the glass aside and seated herself on the edge of the bed.

"savita bata rahi thi physiotherapy padh rahi ho..." stated neelu, as ishita nodded in agreement.

"ji, woh weekend waala course dekh liya tha, sasta bhi hota hai, aur phir baaki din kaam karleti hoon, toh maa ki bhi help ho jaati hai..." responded ishita.

"pehle kahan kaam karti thi?" asked neelu.

"woh ek pharmacy ke dukaan thi, door bahaut padta tha, phir maa ne bataya ki aap ke liye attendant chahiye..." replied ishita.

"hmm, woh sameer chahte the purvi padhai pe dhyaan de ab, toh phir attendant exercise bhi karwadein..." agreed neelu.

Suddenly, the bell rang.

"main dekhti hoon..." said ishita as she got up to open the door.

She reached the door, as she opened it to find dushyant.

"ji, aap kaun?" asked ishita, as dushyant raised his brow.

"yeh mujhe puchna chahiye.." responded dushyant.

"matlab..." said ishita.

"yeh mera ghar hai..." revealed dushyant.


Author's note: so, this is the first chapter you have already read, for a recap. you can check out the second chapter!