A Celebration?

“I don’t believe it! This must be a dream; a nightmare!” the school captain was muttering to herself as she looked at the surroundings.

“What happened Akka?” Sri Latha asked her.

“They changed our school Chelli!” she turned her gaze back to the building in front of her. “I can’t believe they brought us to the old Campus! No wonder the road was unfamiliar.”

Sri Latha looked at the ‘School’ with wonder. The class rooms were small when compared to the old school. The roof had sheets of asbestos clamped down to the ceiling. She fell in step with the captain who was constantly muttering to herself as she moved.

“This is outrageous! They turned the girl’s gym into an auditorium! What is happening?” she seemed bewildered and angry. “How can they do this to us?” she moved away from there to another corner of the campus. “No doors to the girl’s toilets!” she stormed off angrily towards what appeared to be the office. Sri Latha had a hard time keeping up.

By the time she had reached the office there was a heated discussion going on inside. Sri Latha sat by the wall and kept an ear to the conversation inside.

A slight shake and Srilatha came back to the present. “Sri Latha Yayavaram! Doctorate in Ancient Earth History – A comparative study of the gap between the male and the female through the years.” She ran all the way to the stage stopping just before the steps that she climbed slowly. She ended up stumbling over the steps almost falling on the stage and breaking her chin.

There were chuckles all around embarrassing even more. Her face was a bright pink as she managed to walk to the Guest of Honour to receive her Degree. “Are you alright?” the GOH seemed concerned. “Yes, sir.” She managed to croak anxiously as she posed for the photograph with a face that had turned red as a tomato.

She then had almost run out of the auditorium amid laughter and breathed a sigh of relief as she came out into the bright light of the afternoon sun. It was finally over. All she had to do now was to find a job. She would contact her professor later. It was time for a celebration.

The Royal Biryani House was the most famous destination of biryani lovers on the planet. Getting a table was very difficult and tables were reserved months in advance. She would never have eaten in a place like this. But her professor had been very insistent. He had booked a table for two 6 months ago.

She had protested but in vain. She now was standing before the huge 7 star restaurant unsure whether to go in or go back home.

“You should have waited for me kiddo!” she turned around to find her professor standing behind her with a smile on his face. “Come, I am starving!” he said rubbing his non-existent tummy in a funny way.

For a man of 67 years, Professor Kumar was surprisingly fit and thin. His frail body hid immense strength that he had gathered through years of practice, dedication, and research. Though his specialisation was in Philosophy, he was a master of vedic science, ancient martial arts and military combat.

The doorman bowed to the professor as he greeted him respectfully. The professor smiled and slipped a two thousand Rupee note into his hand. The doorman pulled the door wide open and waited till the two of them had entered.

The view was magical. Sri Latha felt that she had stepped into heaven. The restaurant was built on the ancient theme of heaven as described in the Vedas. The waitresses were dressed like apsaras – the damsels of heaven who were immensely skilled in dance and other fine arts.

Each table seemed to have been placed on small clouds that seemed to be floating in the sky. If she had not been able to feel the ground under her feet, Sri Latha would have thought she was actually in heaven.

Their table was in the far corner away from others. “It ensures privacy”. The professor said as she sat in the chair that was as soft as a baby’s cheek.

“Sir, I am really grateful for this treat but it was unnecessary.”

“Look here child. Nothing is unnecessary. You have been too severe on yourself for far too long. You need to unwind at times like this.” The waitress placed a menu card on the table. “Two Royal SP Biryani”. He ordered without even looking at the menu. “Two Sprite.”

“Yes Sir.” The waitress scurried to fetch the order.

“Sir, I will never be able to pay for that!” her eyes were wide as saucers at the insane fortune that each plate of Royal SP Biryani cost.

“That’s nothing. Nothing is greater than the happiness of my dearest friend’s daughter!” tears welled up in both their eyes as each was lost in their own thoughts.

********

12 year old Sri Latha was standing near the bed of her mother in the Royal Shaktheya Hospital, Vamsadhara District. Her mother had been unconscious when she had returned from school. She had panicked and called her father’s best friend Professor Kumar. He had told her not to panic and had immediately sent an ambulance to pick up her mother.

The professor himself had followed within minutes and had taken control of everything. He seemed to have a great influence as the hospital staff rushed with great determination to save her mother. He had sat by her side comforting her.

After a nerve-wracking seven days, the professor had taken her to see her mother. She smiled as soon as she saw her, holding her hand firmly and looking at her with all the love of a mother. She had not realised that her mother was in her death bed. That expression of love in her face and eyes, the immense pride that a child prodigy Sri Latha was her daughter; it had been a bit unnerving for her.

She had never realised that her mother had passed into the unknown till professor Kumar had come in and with a simple glance at her mother called the nurse. What followed were the most terrible days of her life.

Everyone seemed to pity her. Everyone tried to find out what her mother had left her in guise of comforting her. Their lack of empathy had been far too devastating for her than the loss of her mother. Despite being surrounded by many relatives, she was alone. No one seemed capable of understanding the deep pain she was going through.

********

Professor Kumar had been shattered when he had received the phone call from Sri Latha. It had taken an immense effort to ruthlessly hide his pain and take her under his wing. Mamatha had been his dearest friend’s wife who treated him like her own brother. In fact she was his sister by blood. She was his cousin – daughter of his father’s younger brother.

He had taken her under his wing after her father’s death in a tragic accident that had also taken away his best friend – her husband. Sri Latha was three years old then. She had been too young to feel the loss of her father.

Mamatha had done everything she could to raise the extremely talented but naughty kid. His support had been limited by his vast business requirements on him. But he had made sure that Mamatha did not have to face any trouble.

“She is critically ill.” The doctor’s words had hit him like a hammer on the solar plexus. “She was brought in too late. Severe haemorrhage in her brain has caused ir-repairable damage. We are very sorry, Professor. This is the verdict of Doctor Nandana.” Doctor Nandana was the most experienced neurosurgeon on the planet.

“How long does she have?”

“A week at the most though she will be under sedation for most of the time. You can see her when she is awake.”

It had broken his heart to see the twelve year old Sri Latha sitting gloomily on the hospital chair. He had had to force himself to be brave for her while he had been falling to pieces inside. It had been his greatest ordeal; an ordeal that had tested him to his limits of his sanity. He had managed to stay sane only because of the little helpless child that needed him more than anything else in a world full of predators.

He had decided to adopt her as his own daughter and protect her for the rest of her life. He had raised her as best as he could; raising a girl child had not been easy. He had sacrificed half of his business empire to be near her. Still he could afford to give her the best of the best.

**********

He shook his head to clear the gloomy past. He realised the kid was also thinking of the same thing. “No one can change the past, Srilu”. He used the pet name her mother had used for her instantly breaking her thoughts. She looked at him in wonder.

“Your mother was my sister, Srilu. I am your maternal uncle by blood and your only blood relative.” The revelation shocked Sri Latha for a moment but realisation hit her as everything fell in place. All the events of her life till that day went past like a reel.

“So, ........, So, ..........., that was why you helped me so much!” she whispered.

“Yes Child. I couldn’t bear to leave my own sister’s daughter to her fate. Your father was my best friend. How could I not take care of you? You were so little when your father died in that accident.” There were tears in his eyes. Sri Latha was stunned. That was the first time she had seen the professor cry. She now knew why he had chosen that particular table.