Gauri gently rocked Aadya whose eyes were drifting closed. The month old baby had finally fallen asleep after Gauri had fed her and sung her favourite lodi for her. Placing the baby gently down so as not to wake her, Gauri kissed Aadya's forehead and tucked her in. Slowly she withdrew and placed pillows protectively around her baby. Initially her neighbours had been sceptical of the single mother, but the frost had begun to thaw when Gauri refused to let them faze her. The gossiping women had been won over by Gauri's warmth and Aadya's chubby cheeks - in the end they concluded that Gauri was doing a good deed and there was no shame in that, after all the child was not one born out of wedlock. The elders of the village similarly had taken to the new resident having been witnesses of Gauri's loneliness since her arrival to her new home. Of course there were still a few disgusting men who questioned her need to adopt, going so far as to offer their own services in giving her biological offspring and she knew to avoid the darker corners and only visit the market at busier times. This world had never been a kind place for the vulnerable and Gauri could no longer be fearless in the face of cruelty and darkness - now she had her little blessing to think of and she swore never to let lecherous shadows blight her daughter's life. So she quickened her steps, lowered her eyes and wrapped her shawl around herself, covering her head and her waist length hair, praying to avoid the vile creatures that haunted her. At night she ensured all her doors and windows were locked and bolted and requested the kindly old lady who lived with her middle-aged son and his family next door, to keep an ear out for her. GaurI could never take a risk where Aadhya was concerned.

Some of the ladies who came to leave clothes for sewing had advised her that newborn scalps needed gentle shaping, so the arrangement of Aadya's pillows was crucial and Gauri had taken especial care that her head rested right. After all it would not do if her little angel accused her of ruining her head shape later in life. Gauri laughed to herself at the direction her thoughts were headed, her baby was not even close to talking yet, and she was already planning the quarrels they would have... she could not wait until she could talk. They would have the most lovely discussions, in fact Gauri already talked to her baby, sharing her every positive opinion with her. However there was one niggling sad thought in Gauri's mind... what about when she began to ask questions... questions she would not be able to answer. Gauri had decided she was Aadhya's mother, but when she went to school (Gauri's daughter would be educated as far as she wished - no family trouble would stop her), would they not require her father's name? Would her little girl not want to know his name? What answer could she give her? And on that night, for the first time since her arrival in Kashmir, her heart whispered that name to her. The name she had once thought was the answer to everything... OmkaraJi.

Yes. She would tell her daughter about the man she had thought she married. The honourable man who saved her, the one who respected women. She would never mention the reality. She would not describe the cold-hearted way in which he had shredded her vishwaas, the reality of how low he considered her. As Aadhya got older she would explain that the two of them had separated, but that her father was a good man, that he loved her very much but lived a very busy life in a very busy city that Gauri could not bear. She knew she was being selfish, but her baby was all she had, and she wanted her to have her father's name. Gauri had grown up knowing she was an orphan - that she did not have her father's name, but rather a stranger's kindness had giver her a last name. It wasn't a pleasant feeling and she never wanted Aadhya to feel that way, so for her daughter she would use Omkara, after all had he not used her for his family years ago? In repayment he had been unable to save her mother, so this would be her reimbursement. It was decided.

She turned in for the night mentally planning what needed to be don't the next day. She would be leaving Aadhya with a kind neighbour whilst she went to collect some thread from the market. A new-born could not brave the Kashmir weather regularly and she could not risk her getting ill.

For the first time that night Gauri had really remembered Omkara, unaware that he had landed in her new home, that even now he was quickly approaching her beloved village.

Omkara cut the call and turned to enter the busy market place. Like he had all those years ago he attempted to slide his phone into his pocket, but dropped it. Unaware he headed forward. As fate would have it Gauri had just entered the market place and witnessed a long haired man dropping his expensive phone. Without thinking she rushed forward to pick it up and called out to him.