contd...

Meera slowly pushed the door open and peeped in. She saw a man and a woman sitting, talking to Sister Annie. The man was in a light grey shirt, and the lady wore a bright yellow kurta. Anjali gave Meera a gentle push encouraging her to enter the room. The door opened with a small creak sound; all the heads turned towards the door. Meera came in.

Sister got up from her chair and stood by Meera. She brought the latter to her parents by her shoulders.

-"Meet your daughter, Mr. and Mrs. Collins." Sister said with a smile.

Throughout Meera had her eyes glued at her 'parents'. She tried to understand their emotions in their eyes.

Amber got up and moved to Meera. She cupped the little girl's cheeks. Meera noticed tears in the latter's eyes. Meera hated it. She hated whenever anyone cried in front of her—first because she couldn't control her tears seeing the person in front crying; and second, Meera was very bad at consoling. (The last time she saw a young girl crying near the temple, she offered the girl her pencil box.) Well, that was four years ago!

Meera knew she couldn't afford to do it now. Because that was extremely stupid of her. But before she could think any further, something took on her and she hugged the woman in front. Amber cried out silently. Meera felt her shivering. It was gradually growing impossible for Meera to not start crying. Her eyes had already started to water. Meera felt something she has never before- a kind of warmth. She loved her smell.

Is this how you feel when you hug your mom? She thought to herself.

Anjali knew what was coming. She quickly signaled Mr. Collins to help his wife gather herself together. And thankfully, things worked. Amber wiped her tears away and even helped Meera. Meera still had her arms around Amber. Robert came and stood behind Meera and placed a kiss on the back of her head.

-"You're so beautiful." Meera heard him say.

Meera slowly brought her arms to herself and wiped the tears away. She turned towards her 'father' and mumbled a "Thank you" smiling.

Sister requested them to sit to which they obliged. Amber pulled Meera between her and Robert. Meera had a small smile plastered on her lips. She looked at Anjali who in turn gave her a "told ya!" look.

-"Well, Meera was excited for today. But I guess she was more nervous." Sister Annie said.

-"Trust me, I was more nervous than you." Replied Robert smiling at Meera. Meera felt happy realizing that she wasn't the only one going through this emotional ride.

-"You know a lot of things about our Meera. But there's one thing which he had kept away from you for today." Anjali paused for a second and continued, "Meera is a beautiful painter too. Let me show you."

Meera slapped her forehead, "Noo!" she said aloud. Meera didn't like attention. She was already very confused with the overwhelming response her singing has been receiving.

Amber rubbed her back and laughed.

-"Calm down!" She said.

Anjali got Meera's notepad along with some two other pages out from the drawer and handed it to Robert. He was surprised. They were splendid. He handed the pages to Amber, who herself is a fashion designer who had a better sense of art. She was mesmerized to see the precision with which Meera had blended the colors. From nowhere it appeared to be paintings drawn by an eleven-year-old.

-"This notepad is new. She has recently started her venture with mandala art." Anjali sounded proud.

Robert opened the notepad and said in a surprised tone,

-"You draw better than all your siblings can in their entire life."

Amber snatched it from her husband, saw all of them, looked at Meera and,

-"You know what, you're helping me with the designs hereon."

Meera sensed the pride and happiness in their voices. It made her smile. She relaxed a bit.

It was finally time to go. They got up to leave. Meera hugged all her friends in the orphanage and Sister. Sister handed her a small gift and said,

-"All the best Meera."

Finally, she walked to Anjali and engulfed her in a big bear hug. Anjali was very close to Meera, probably the closest.

-"They are your family Meera. They will always be there for you; and in the same, you should also be there for them. So, always share your thoughts. Never hesitate if you need anything. We'll miss you."

Meera got into the car with her parents and drove off. To Meera's surprise, the car stopped in front of Sangit Bhavan. They got down.

-"Show us the way." Robert asked a stunned Meera.

She guided them into the main hall. She had been here multiple times. But today was different. Almost the entire department was present. As soon as the introductions were over, the students brought in a chocolate cake, Meera's favorite, that had "All the Best Meera" on it. The professors requested Meera to cut the cake along with her parents, which she did happily.

The cake cutting ceremony was followed by students hugging Meera and congratulating her. After some minutes, professor Dr. Sanjay Bhaduri, who was Meera's Guru came in with a gift and gave it to her. Meera quickly touched his feet. This not only made her Guru emotional but also her parents. It made Amber and Robert realize how culturally enriched Meera was. Dr. Bhaduri hugged her and said,

-"Gaan ta chharish na, Maa."
("Never stop singing, dear.")

-"And this is a small gift from us for our Meera." Said one of the students from Sangit Bhavan.

-"Open it and see what's in there." Encouraged Amber noticing Meera's excitement that she was trying her best to hide.

On cue, Meera ripped the wrappers open. Dr. Bhaduri's gift was an electronic tanpura. And the students gifted her two books—Gitabitan (collection of all the songs of Tagore) and Sukumar Somogro (works of Sukumar Ray).

She also took out the gift that Sister gave her and tore the wrapper off. It had a notepad and a set of pens.

-"These pens look different." She mumbled.

-"These are mandala art pens. They make the paintings more gorgeous." Explained Amber.

Meera was very happy with the gifts. In the meantime, a middle-aged lady entered the hall. Meera ran up to her and touched her feet. She was Mrs. Sanjukta Palit, Meera's class teacher from fifth grade. She too had a gift with her, which did not go unnoticed by Meera.

Mrs. Palit came and had a brief talk with the Collins, which mainly included Meera's academic details.

–"Meera's final results weren't out yet. Once it is, I'll post it to you." Mrs. Palit said.

-"Thank you, ma'am." Amber smiled.

-"And," Mrs. Palit turned to Meera and continued, "this is a small gift to Meera from Bolpur Vidyapith." She handed Meera the gift which was quite heavy.

Meera didn't waste a second and opened it. Inside there was a collection of all the twenty- three books of Tintin (comics) in English.

*****
It was 1.30 PM. They had already had their lunch at a restaurant. Meera found it hilarious how Amber and Robert found all the food items spicy when it tasted normal to her. The only dishes that they licked clean were the tomato chutney and payesh.

The family was waiting for the train at the Bolpur railway station. Amber and Robert had decided that their journey to Kolkata would be by train as Meera might not be comfortable being in the car for a long time.

The train arrived waking the otherwise sleepy station up. They boarded the first-class AC compartment. Meera sat by the window with Amber beside her, and Robert on the last seat. The train whistled its departure.

Suddenly, something stirred in Meera. She had tears in her eyes. She looked at her Bolpur that the train was living behind. The place that gave her everything. Amber noticed her daughter's eyes. She softly pulled Meera towards her. The latter did not protest. She eventually placed her head in her mother's arms. Meera closed her eyes as tears ran down her cheeks.

......

Payesh: Rice pudding.

Pictures in the media box are the paintings by Meera.