Lolita peeped in through the glass pane of the door and her jaw dropped in amazement.

"Andar maat jaiye Barrister Babu ko bilkul pasand nehi koi unke ijazat k bina andar jay" warned Bihari but instead she looked at him and rolled out her tongue.

Opening the wide door, she ran into the room and was fascinated by seeing so many n books and equipment around her. Back in the days where she lived, she used to sneak out of her house and secretly go to the library for books. She used to hide those books from her mother or else she could be in big trouble but now she won't have to lie or do anything secretly. She went towards the table and started to press the keys of the typewriter

"Barrister babu gussa karenge" Bihari warned her again but she paid no heed to him. After watching the sand slipping in the hourglass for a while, she started to play with the pages and quil kept on the table. She drew a stick man and then a flower roughly with the quill.

Taking out a book from the lowest shelf, she smelled the pages and recalled her secret book reading session in the basements of her house.

She opened a particular chapter and crawled under to table to read it. She could have read it by sitting on the chair but she was habituated to reading books secretly or hiding herself.

Books had always fascinated her, various books helped her travel various parts of the world without physically going there.

She recalled the moment when libraries were burnt down so were pike of books, into ashes since they believed books would lead to liberalize the mind, that is what a communist would do so the dictators burned down all books across the country except their own books which were only about war the "FUHRER". The schools were even bound to a certain types of books.

"Barrister babu a gaye to"

"Shhhh" she eyed him, "I am reading".

Just then Anirudh entered and looked at Bihari who pointed towards the table. Anirudh quietly sat on the floor beside her but she was so engrossed in the book that she hardly noticed him.

"Book par rahi hain ap" she looked up and on seeing him immediately kept the book aside, "sorry motu uncle ne kaha tha ki na chu mein kitabo ko".

Bihari cleared his throat hearing the wierd name.

"Aphika to sain sab"

"Really" she exclaimed out of joy and jumped out of the table. Anirudh nodded his head with a wide grin.

"You know mein na usdin pakdi gyi thi".

"Kis din?" Enquired Anirudh.

"Wo I used to collect books, against the law and would hide them in the basement wo secret place thi, par mumma ne dekhliya tha, she scolded me a lot aur mein gusse mein bhag gyi thi par jab mein humare town wapas ayi, waha sab khatam ho chuka tha, koi nehi bacha".

His smile faded away after hearing this.

Military checking was going on that day, Nazi militaries were checking each and every house to make sure no jew is left or hidden. When her mother went to the basements, she was shocked to see so many books...a fear crept into her heart that these people may assume them communist hence she lashed out at her daughter for her actions and threw all books away. The adamant little girl was so annoyed by her mother's behaviour, unable to understand her concern, she ran out of the house with a diary and some biscuits in her little backpack. It was snowing that day. She really hoped that her mother would come to find her but she didn't. Disappointed by this, she returned to her home town after a few hours but was it really where she lived.

All the houses were demolished to dust and the snow has turned red. She was traumatized by the view. "Mumma!" She called her mother, "Rudy" she called her neighbour friend, she called everyone she knew but no one answered except some nazi militaries carrying a few people on stretcher. She removed the stones with her little hands to get a glimpse of people she loved but failed.

Soon the people from medical camps arrived and took the children who survived, along with them. They called each children's relatives who were alive to pick them up but she was the only child who didn't utter a word hence no one of hers could ne be called unless one day Batuk walked in. She had seen so much at such a young age that the word, "fear" fears her. She truly believed her obsession with books had snatched away every one from her but in the 1 1/2 months journey, she successfully overcame her trauma and now finally she got a safe place to live and a happy little family. No one is as lucky as she is.

"Chalo sone" said Anirudh.

"Mein sabko good night wish karke au?" She asked innocently and ran out of the study before he could permit her. She entered Batuk's room where no one was present at that time. Climbing on the chair, she picked up a few old parchments kept on the table and her inquisitive mind told her to read them

This letter was written 2 months ago...

Priya Batuk

Yaad hu kya mein tumhe?

Shayad nehi! Par mujhe tum yaad ho aj bhi, purhi tarha, tumhare baatein, tum sab kuch....

Asha karti hu tum khush ho. Jaante ho wo Taj Mahal aj bhi hain mere pass, sambhal k rakha hain.

Yaha aane k wakt maine dad ko bohot samjhaya, intezaar kya ki tum aoge lene par tum aye nehi, hum bhi jaa nehi paye aur akhir mein I was married off to a Man, son of Owner of an Indian shop. Ameer hain wo log, ladka accha tha, izzat karta tha, par shadi k 2 saal bad cardiac arrest mein chal basa, Lolita choti thi tabh bohot.

Umar k karan Dad bhi chal basey 1 saal pehele abh mein aur meri beti rehte hain. Hum khush hain yaha par ek daar bhi hain...kabhi bhi kuch bhi ho sakta hain. Desh jaal rahe hain, sheher tabah ho rahe hain.

Mohol badal raha hain, aur kharab ho raha hain, kabh kya ho jay kisiko nehi pata.

Tumne mujhse ek vaada kiya tha, aj nibhane ki baari hain. Tumne kaha tha jab bhi mein tumhe bulaungi, tum chale aoge. Mein bula rahi hu tumhe, tum aoge? Meri beti ko yaha se le jaoge?

Iti

Tomar Priyam

When she kept the letter aside, she saw Batuk coming out of the bathroom. On seeing the letter, he tried to snatch it from her hand but she was quick enough to move away.

Lolita enquired him holding the letter, "apne jhoot bola mujhse? Medical camp se apko kisine call nehi kiya tha".

Batuk remained silent for a while.

"Apko unhone chitthi likhi thi na? Aur like you promised her, wherever you will be, her one letter and you will be there for her".

"Haa" he replied back.

"Apne pehele kyu nehi chitthi likhi, phone kiya, agar ap pehele hi jaate to ye sab nehi hota" she said hoping that if he would have gone there years ago this wouldn't have happened.

"Maine call kiya tha" added Batuk, 10 saal pehele. Yudh shuru to nehi huya tha par shuru hone k kagal pe tha, phone kiya tha confess karne k liye aur usko wapas lane k liye par unke maid ne phone uthaya tha, kaha hi Madam to ghar pe nehi hain, aj shadi hain unki, church gyi hain".

"To?" Questioned Lolita, "kya fark padta hain?"

He chuckled a bit and patted her head, "bohot fark padta hain, tum nehi samjhogi, jao sone jao".

Lolita frowned at her and went to her room where Bondita was waiting for her. Finally Bondita could get what she wanted. "Ao andar" said Bondita.

"Mein insomniac hu, neend nehi ati mujhe".

"Mein bhi jadugaar hu, jadu ata hain mujhe, jhat se neend a jaygi" she said cheerfully.

Lolita slept on the bed while she patted her head to sleep. Anirudh watched her from a distance and for the first time, she saw a different kind of smile on her face, a satisfaction that was lost with the loss of her child. They did tey for adoption but couldn't connect with any other child. Anirudh was eagerly waiting for the morning to arrive. Once it will be morning, they will become her legal parents after signing those papers.

"So gyi kya?" asked Anirudh.

"Haa" whispered Bondita in order to not disturb her sleep. Bondita and Anirudh both slept on either side of her and she slept in between her parents, wrapping her hands around a little doll. The drift that was created between the ten years ago, was filled by someone now as the centre of the bed was finally occupied.

Batuk opened her diary and noticed a line she wrote in childhood....

(This line is actually there in one of the chapters)

He finally did something for her. Some things never get strained no matter how much you and time changes.

Yes he owns a company like his father now, he has a loving wife but some things never change.

His Bond with Bondita, his love for Priyam, nothing changed.

He could see Priyam in her.

He had lost so many things that now he has nothing to lose, parallelly with his loss, he gained many things and that is lessons, lessons of love, lessons of life and how to deal with the toughest situations.

Batuk looked at the diary for the last time and smelled it ...

"Rosses and Chrysanthemum"

The same known smell but the very next moment he threw it in the fireplace. His feelings are now safe, not in his chronicles but his heart and now nobody would read it.

But

Somethings never change.

The End