“Love rests on no foundation. It is an endless ocean, with no beginning or end.”

~ Rumi

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“Look, how have you grown, Sulochna Kaki,” her words immediately had Sujata’s attention. But Sujata wasn’t sure herself, why was she so much attracted towards the girl! Was it due to the questions that kept knocking on the doors of her brain? Or was it due to something else? She couldn’t come to a coherent decision, though, and that was all because of the whirlwind of questions inside of her head.

Who talks to a tulsi plant?

Even more than that, who names a tulsi plant? That too ‘Kaki’?

Was this girl alright? She seemed pretty young to go insane? Alas, no human had ever been powerful enough to go against God’s wish!

With her brain running in all possible directions, Sujata failed to comprehend her feelings at that very moment. But something about that girl was making her smile in a way she hadn’t smile in a while. Seeing her smile gave an indescribable tranquility to Sujata’s heart. This girl was definitely unique in her own way.

Noticing her smile, Bhavana failed to keep her words to herself, “I have never seen you smile that way, not at least in the last two years. You know you have one beautiful smile.”

That hit her hard and Sujata’s smile slowly faded away but still she couldn’t take her eyes off of the girl. Getting curious with her acts and talks, she finally asked Bhavana, “Who is she and what is she doing?”

Bhavana chuckled, “Oh, her! She is Swara.”

“Swara?”

“I’ve mentioned about her once or twice before but never told you anything much in detail,” Bhavana said and the next moment she noticed Sujata concentrating hard to remember when she was told about Swara.

Failing to recall even after a couple of minutes, Sujata burst out, “Why don’t I remember then?”

“Maybe because I just mentioned her name,” Bhavana said rolling her eyes and Sujata huffed still not being able to recall. “But what is she doing anyway?” She asked.

“She’s wishing her Sulochna Kaki on her birthday,” they hear a voice from behind and Bhavana smiled looking at an elderly woman, almost a decade older than her. As the lady smiled seeing Sujata and Bhavana, Sujata realized that she was not just what she looked like. Underneath the facet of wrinkles and frail appearance, was a woman who looked gentle yet headstrong at the same time. She stood somewhere near five feet and three inches, clad in a cotton saree, she had her grey hair neatly tied up in a loose bun that rested on the nape of her neck.

“Ganga Maa,” Bhavana chimed as she hugged her. “How are you? I haven’t seen you in a while.” Sujata could feel the excitement oozing out of Bhavana as she greeted Ganga Maa. The respect she had for her was quite evident.

Giving Bhavana a smile that mirrored her own, Ganga Maa replied, “Look who do we have here. So, finally you have gotten time to show us your face after two long months. Where have you been all this while?”

“Just here and there,” replied Bhavana with a shrug of her shoulders, “and as soon as we came here, we found Swara talking to her tulsi plant again.”

“Ah, I see! We have a guest here,” said Ganga Maa as she smiled looking at Sujata, to which Sujata joined her hands and bowed her head whispering ‘namaste’.

“Maa, this is Sujata.”

“Namaste! I’ve heard about you before. It is so nice to finally have you here, Sujata. Bhavana has mentioned you a couple of times before,” Ganga Maa smiled joining her hands in response to Sujata’s namaste.

“Even I have heard about you from Bhavana but she never told me that she worked here,” said Sujata glaring at Bhavana accusingly and Ganga Maa raised an eyebrow at her. “Looks like Bhavana doesn’t find us worth mentioning.”

The moment she heard this, Bhavana’s eyes widened and she held both her ears, “I’m so sorry, Ganga Maa, but please don’t accuse me like that. This place is like the second home to me. It’s just that Sujata had always been so occupied with her own worries that I could never find an occasion to bring her here. But now that she is here, I think it’s time to let bygones be bygones.”

Ganga Maa chuckled, “Of course. Of course. You’ve come here at a very auspicious occasion, Sujata. It’s our Sulochna’s birthday.”

Another mention of Sulochna pulled Sujata’s attention back towards Swara and noticing this Ganga Maa called her out loud, “Swara!”

“Yes, Ganga Maa,” she replied and the next moment she jumped back to her feet up from her knees, dusted off her suit and sprinted off in their direction just like a kid aiming straight for the ice-cream counter, with a huge goofy smile.

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“Alya, any appointments today?” Sanskaar asked the receptionist as he entered the hospital.

“Yes, Dr. Maheshwari. Your first appointment is with Mrs. Sunanda Basu at twelve in the afternoon. Then, with Mr. Raghunath Mandal at four in the evening,” Alya replied as she checked the register and then smiled looking at him.

“So, nothing for next two hours, except for my usual rounds?”  Sanskaar enquired as he took a swift glance at his wrist watch. But the next moment, Alya shook her head in denial and he narrowed his eyes.

“Actually, Mr. Satyendra Das is here to see you, Dr. Maheshwari.”

“Again?” Sanskaar sighed and Alya nodded her head,” I’m sorry, doctor. I tried stopping him but he just won’t budge.”

“It’s okay. You don’t need to apologize. I know how persistent that person can be. Alright, just send him in. I’ll see what we can do,” and with the small piece of instruction Sanskaar left for his cabin and Alya sighed shaking her head noticing the exasperation quite evident on his face.

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“That’s not possible, Mr. Das,” Sanskaar said for the umpteenth time massaging his temples, in an attempt to ease the slowly rising headache. He had been denying this man’s proposal for last one and a half months and still he was persistent enough to show up in the hospital every next week.

“But at least think about this, Dr. Maheshwari,” Mr. Das tried to reason once again, “You’re the one of the best neurosurgeons in West Bengal and it would be an honor to have you as a guest professor at our college. I just can’t find anyone as good as you in here.”

Sanskaar sighed. This guy was just so insistent that he wouldn’t listen. Even his mother wasn’t this adamant in getting him married again!

“But, Mr. Das, teaching is just not my thing. I have never taught anyone. Operating on someone and teaching someone are two entirely different things,” Sanskaar made a feeble attempt to make him understand his point of view but noticing the way Mr. Das had been shaking he knew he wasn’t anywhere near convincing the man.

“Our students need you, Dr. Maheshwari. Please think about this proposal once.”

“But…”

“Okay. How about this? Actually, we are inviting you for the whole semester, but if you want you can join us for just a month and if you are comfortable with it, then you can continue. That’s only if you wish to,” Mr. Das tried to give an option Sanskaar might agree to, silently hoping for him to accept the offer.

“I…”

“Please, Dr. Maheshwari. Think about it once. Our semester is about to start in two weeks.”

Sensing the urgency quite evident in his voice, Sanskaar took a deep breath and finally nodded his head, “Okay. I’ll think about it.”

It seemed Mr. Das really needed his help. As a matter of fact, there weren’t many neurosurgeons in that region or even in the adjoining areas. The ones who were there were either too busy to help anyone out or had gone to much advanced cities to try their luck out. And with the level of education Sanskaar had received, he was one of the most qualified professors Mr. Das could get for the medical college.

“Thank you. Thank you, Dr. Maheshwari. That’s more than enough for me now. I’ll come to meet you again next week. I wish for your answer by then,” expressing his gratitude profusely Mr. Das shook Sanskaar’s hand, a sense of relief etched all across his features.

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“Namaste, Bhavana Aunty,” greeted Swara the moment she reached near the three ladies who had their eyes eagerly set up on her.

“Namaste, beta. It feels so good to see you after six long months. So, it looks like you’re finally back for good,” Bhavana replied gleefully as she embraced Swara in a quick hug.

“That I am and I’m not leaving you all anytime sooner or later,” Swara chortled making the the ladies chuckle. That was when her eyes landed on Sujata and the younger one’s curiosity filled eyes found their way towards Bhavana. Sensing her inquisitiveness, Bhavana smiled, “Swara, this is my friend. Sujata.”

“Namaste, Aunty,” Swara joined her hands to greet Sujata to which instead of replying with a ‘namaste’, as she should have done, Sujata raised her hand and caressed her hair lightly, blessing her, “Always be happy, child.”

That motherly caress left Swara dumbstruck as she looked straight into Sujata’s eyes and it didn’t take much effort to realize what huge of an avalanche of pain hid behind those experienced eyes. A torrent of overwhelming emotions quite evident, that even took Swara by surprise.

And why was Sujata allowing herself to become so vulnerable in front of this girl who hardly looked twenty-one or twenty-two… She didn’t know herself!

“Aunty, is everything okay? You seem a bit worried,” Swara asked Sujata, to which she just shook her head in denial and smiled. “Nothing is wrong, my dear. I was just wondering why were you talking to the tulsi plant! And where is your Sulochna Kaki?”

“Sulochna is no more, Sujata. We lost her seven months ago,” it was Ganga Maa who had replied and everyone’s smile faded away. To say Sujata was shocked would be an understatement. They were celebrating the birthday of a person who was no more alive?! What was this place? She was utterly baffled.

“W-What?” was all she could say before Ganga Maa gave a little smile and said, “But we have her alive in our hearts. However, our Swara have an altogether different theory. Right, Swara?”

Swara gave a light chuckle, “I believe that beside keeping those precious people alive in our hearts, planting a small pant in their name makes sure that we always have their blessings with us. So, whenever a member of Home Sunshine leaves us forever, we plant a small plant in their name. That's definitely a win-win. We'll always have them alive in our hearts and their blessings and good wishes will be an added bonus.”

Sujata was left awestruck! No person ever had been able to have such an impact on her in just a few minutes of meeting. But this girl! She was much more than she could imagine. The level of maturity she had at such a young age had surely left a long lasting impact on her.

“That’s such a noble thought, beta. I’m so glad that I visited this place on such a beautiful occasion. It couldn’t have been any better,” Sujata was overwhelmed with the emotions. She had not felt such a lightness in her heart in such a long time.

“Of course, Aunty. Even we are so happy to have you here,” Swara chimed and it was at that moment that a bell went off in the premise and everything went into a chaos all over again.

“It’s time to cut the cake,” Ganga Maa chuckled looking at Sujata’s baffled expressions and everyone proceeded towards the main hall for the ceremony. But something still kept bugging Sujata.

If Sulochna was no more, then who would cut the cake?

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A/N

Hello everyone!

This story will be updated on the 1st, 11th and 21st of every month.

I hope you liked the chapter. Since, I’m building up the base of the story, the length of the chapters may vary but the story will be updated on the dates mentioned above and in between TYMHIS will also get updated.

See you all soon. Till then stay blessed and happy reading!

With love,
Stella ❤️