Sanskaar walked out of his college building after attending his lectures. One more semester and he would be done with his postgraduation. His last assignment required him to choose an idea for business setup.

Before Sanskaar hit 'Send' button, he saw a familiar figure standing near his bike. He quit the app, and pocketed his phone.

As he neared, the man straightened and his smile grew wider. Sanskaar never understood what the smile was about nor did he want to ask about it.

Ramprasad Maheshwari, his father, was dressed in his regular bandhgala with trousers. “Sanskaar, how are you?”

“How do I look?” Sanskaar answered with a raised eye brow. His father's face brought out his hidden sarcasm in torrents.

“What would you lose for talking to your father nicely?”

“What would you gain if I spoke to you nicely?”

“It would make me happy. It would make my day.”

“It would make me feel guilty, like I'm betraying my mother.”

“Sanskaar, you have grown up now. You should understand that Sujata and I…”

“I don't want to understand anything, Mr Maheshwari. I guess your visiting hours, as permitted by your brother, are over. You may leave.”

“I don't need anyone's permission to see you. Sanskaar, I'm your father. No amount of your attitude or arrogance can stop me from seeing you again. Whenever I want.”

“Say this before your brother. If you are still able to see me, I will think about treating you like a father.”

“I can't believe that Sujata has filled so much hatred in your heart for me.”

That struck the wrong chord. Sanskaar took a deep breath and gave his answer. “My respected Pitaji, for your information, I wasn't born blind. I can see. Everytime I meet you, I only see the hardships my mother faced. You people haven't left any stone unturned to ensure her failure, and at every step, she stood up again, stronger. But I am aware of the emotional turmoil she went through. Never will I forget that and never will I forgive you.”

They were interrupted by a shout, “Sanskaar!” It was Nayra. She ran towards them.

“Good that I found you here. Drop me home. My scooty is punctured.” She saw the person Sanskaar was conversing with and her frown reversed into a formal smile. “Hi, Uncle. You came to see Sanskaar? Sorry to disturb, but I really must reach home soon. Meet him some other time.” To Sanskaar she said, “Come on. Hurry up!”

____

Five minutes into the silent ride, Sanskaar spoke, “You don't have to babysit me.”

“Oh, please! I saw how you were talking to him. I had to rush to save both of you, otherwise the father-son drama would have gone viral beating the TRPs of all television shows.”

“Kuch bhi! I still think you are my mother's clone instead of my best friend.”

They stopped at the traffic junction when the light turned red.

Sanskaar reminded Nayra. “Don't tell Mom, okay? She will worry unnecessarily.”

“She was the one to ask your Dad to visit you at the college. She even gave your lecture timings for him to suit his. On that evening, I went to kitchen to wash my ice cream spoon. Aunty was talking to your Dad. She pretty much said the same thing about getting the permission from his family members but at the end, she gave away your lecture timings asking him to meet you then.”

“And you are telling me now?”

“Yes. Now listen, you were rude to your father. No two ways about it. What happened between your Mom and Dad is between them as married couple. The relationship they share with you is that of parents. Both are different. You can never change the fact that he is your father. So you must learn to accept this fact and accept him.”

“I can't do that to Mom.”

“Idiot, you are not doing anything to her! This is your father we are talking about. Not even his family. Just your father. Other than staying quiet when he should speak up, I hope he didn't commit any crimes to warrant your animosity.”

“Staying quiet is no less than a crime.”

“I have said my piece. Now stop here. I need to collect my scooty from Alvira.”

Sanskaar stopped the bike. He rolled his eyes at the realisation that Nayra was indeed babysitting him from getting into a verbal fight with his Dad.

After reaching home, he checked his phone.

Sanskaar considered the suggestion. It was no different from what Nayra said. But he knew it wasn't as easy as calling up Ramprasad Maheshwari and saying, "Hey! What's up, Dad?" What he could do was ask him to meet at his house in his Mom's presence. He would rather hash out the differences and keep his father in his life.

If they couldn't agree, he decided he didn't want to keep the Maheshwari tag and get his surname changed to his mother's maiden name legally. That would end the cold war permanently.

~♡~☆~♡~

Quick Glossary
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^Bandhgala - Type of formal suit
^Kuch bhi - Whatever

This was Sanskaar's life. Next update, you will see Swara's dilemma.

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