We went to Maya’s funeral and it was being held in the graveyard. I recalled my own death in my previous birth but everyone has to die one or the other day. I walked forward with Rashi and they all were crying badly. I prayed for Maya that all her sins are forgiven and she is sent to heaven. All the last rites were done according to Muslims. Arjun took the spade and dug the grave and when he was done, he buried her. He squeezed his eyes shut while crying. “Bhaiya, please you don’t be sad,” a boy said.
“From ashes to ashes, from dust to dust. You’ll rise again, in this I’ll trust. You’re in our hearts, ’till the end. We will meet again, depart my friend. You may be gone, but I know you’re near. In my heart, I hold you dear. My only hope, in peace you’ll rest. I still miss you, I bet you guessed. I’ll see you soon, it’s a must. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust,” Arjun said the poem for Maya as he put the soil on her and watered the grave. He came to me sadly and cryingly but thankfully too.
“Thank you Aarohi, you got her body freed else she would’ve never got peace,” he said. “No no, humans help humans, and if I freed her body, I didn’t do any big work, a human’s responsibility is to love other humans around, I did the same,” I said and smiled slightly at him and he too smiled at me slightly and went. A little girl came to me. “Are you Aarohi aunty?” she asked and I nodded at her. “Even my mom named me Aarohi, my mom went leaving me,” she said and looked down cryingly. I bent down for her.
“In heaven, every mother might be very happy, except your mother,” I told her. “Why?” she asked. “Because of two reasons, first is that you are her doll and secondly, everyone have a candle over there, and everyone’s candles might be lit besides your mother’s candle, why? Because you cry and your tears fall on her candle, so be a good girl and don’t cry,” I said wiping her tears and smiled at her. “I won’t cry,” she said and signed me to bend and I did, she kissed my cheek and when I turned to her, she smiled.
“Thank you,” she said and I too kissed her cheek. She gave me a yellow rose and I took it. “Why a yellow rose?” I asked her. “Because it represents friendship, I got many friends but none were like you,” she said cutely. “Aww you’re such a cutie pie, you remind me of my daughter,” I said and she smiled. “Come,” I said and took her by her hand towards Arjun. “If you don’t mind, can I take little Aarohi with me? If she will play with my daughter then she will be happy, you won’t want her sad, right?”
“OK, take her,” he said. “I will drop her,” I said and went outside the graveyard with her and Rashi, I made her sit on the backseat and I sat on the front seat with Rashi and drove off. “So was it really your sister who possessed her?” Rashi asked. “Yes it was her, only she can react that way and of course it was the only way for her to get back to me, she wanted revenge for what happened by me unknowingly,” I replied and told her everything. “What? But what would’ve you done? It was done unknowingly.”
“Exactly, even I am a human,” I said and the rest of the drive was silent. We arrived at the house and I stepped down the car and took little Aarohi with me and we went inside, I took her to Deepika and saw them getting along very well and was going downstairs when suddenly I was pulled in the twins bedroom. It was Tara who had pulled me. “Where are you going? Don’t think that by being outside the house for a long period, you can be away from me, your sister, do you remember me, Tara Kashap, baby?”
“Of course I remember you, and I know I did a mistake, did you even try telling me? Did you? Then how can you expect me to read your mind?” I said. “I refused you, didn’t I? You couldn’t get your love so what could I do?” she asked. “You couldn’t do but one thing is there which I can do,” I said. “What is that?” she asked. “Virat!” I called out and she pulled my wrist and twisted it behind my back and shut my mouth while I kept struggling to get free of her grip. She looked around.
I could see it as I was looking back at her. She pulled me towards her cupboard and opened it and pushed me inside making me sit inside and got her dupatta and tied me up. Slowly she started to close the cupboard darkening the cupboard. “No Tara, no please, I have claustrophobia, I won’t be able to breathe, don’t close me, give me some other punishment but not this, please,” I pleaded and she stopped and untied me and pulled me out. “Fine! I pity on you, but..,” she was cut in between. “Aarohi, why are you doing so much late?” Rashi said.
She came in the room and seeing Tara, she ran to me and took my hand pulling me out of the room but Tara held my other hand and pulled me inside, well Rashi won pulling me outside and closed the door locking it. We ran downstairs and saw Deep waiting for us. “Deep had come and so I came to call you,” Rashi clarified. “Aarohi, you look so stressed, everything fine?” he asked. “Tara came back, she said that in previous birth, Deepika wasn’t your daughter, but Virat’s daughter,” I told him, he got shocked.
“But why were we sleeping like that the next day I got drunk?” he asked. I got shocked that he never knew. What might’ve Tara done to make him believe that they really made love? Why Virat never knew that the baby will be of him and why Tara never tried to tell him? “Wait, I will go and talk to Tara,” I said and Deep pulled me back. “Don’t you dare,” he said and took a paper in hand.
He wrote something and gave to me. It said “I m writing to you because souls can’t read.. She keeps attacking you, we will go from here back from where we came, let’s pack our bags, before going we will burn the house so that Tara leaves us and goes.” I nodded at him. Later at night, I packed every bag and kept them aside. I went to the house temple and prayed. “God, I m leaving every question behind, my sister behind, this memory filled house behind, everything, give me strength to move on, every memory will be in my heart forever, I will take pics of every corner of this house before going, goodbye old house, goodbye Tara.”