Ten Days Later
4 January 2017

"Raman, you've already extended the trip once. You better not say that you're extending again, or I am going to be very angry with you"

"When did I say anything of the sort madrassan?"

"Aap ko kal wapas aana hai, aap aa jao bas. No more excuses. Papaji aur mummyji ne bhi apna trip extend kiya hua hai aur Adi 10th ko wapas aa raha hai. Ruhi aur Twins aap sab ko kitna miss karte hai. Especially Raashi, Raman. Woh sirf aap ko dhundti rehti hai. Mujhe na....."
(You're supposed to come back tomorrow so just come back. No more excuses. Papaji and mummyji have extended their trip too and Adi won't be back until the 10th. Ruhi and the twins miss everyone so much. Especially Raashi, Raman. She keeps on looking for you. And I...)

Raman's laughter stopped his wife in her tracks.

"Why are you laughing?" she demanded

"Because you are not listening, meri ma, isliye. Now be quiet and listen to me. Mein kal wapas nahi aa sakta kyunki...."
(Because you are not listening my love, that's why. Now be quiet and listen to me. I can't come back tomorrow because...)

"Raman, no....."

"Ishita, let me complete what I'm saying"

Tears filled Ishita's eyes as she stared at her phone. Raman had left on the 26th of December and had been due back on the 1st of January. However, he had called the night before his expected arrival to extend his trip. Just like he was calling now, when he was due back tomorrow . And she didn't want him to stay away any longer. Ruhi missed him, his babies didn't understand where he had disappeared to, and she missed him more than she could say. She needed him back.

His wife's sudden silence brought forth another chuckle from her husband.

"Are you crying now, madrassan?"

There was silence.

"Ishita...meri jaan, kuch toh kaho." (Ishita....my darling, say something)

"Abhi toh kaha tha ki chup raho" (You just told me to be quiet) her forlorn voice finally responded, the words drenched with the tears she was desperately trying to hold back.

"That's because you wouldn't let me finish darling. Now listen. Mein kal wapas nahi aa sakta kyunki mein already wapas aa chuka hoon." (I can't come back tomorrow because Im already back)

"Raman. Aap sach keh rahe hai?" (Raman, are you telling the truth?) Ishita hastily wiped her eyes as a smile transformed her woebegone face. "But where are you?"

"We just landed darling. It should take an hour to get out of customs, so if you leave home now, you will be just in time to pick me up."

"Pick you up? But Raman, isn't Joseph picking you up?"

"I don't want Joseph. He isn't as pretty as you. I want you" her husband's chuckling voice came back in an instant. "And just you. Leave the babies with Aarti and tell Rinki to hold the fort for a while. Come and get me please jaan. I missed you."

"I missed you too jaan" she whispered back, blushing at the passion in her husband's voice.

"Phir aajao na jaan. Pick me up from Pick Up Zone at Arrivals at Terminal A. I'll meet you there in exactly one hour, theek hai."
(Then please do come my love. Pick me up from Pick & Drop Zone at Arrivals at Terminal A. I'll meet you there in exactly one hour, okay?)

"Haan Raman but....."

There was silence on the other end and then a dial tone and she realized that the call had dropped off.

Ishita switched her phone off and wondered quickly how she would manage picking up her husband. She had just been about to go out of her room to get Ruhi to take her to her dance recitals when Raman had called. The twins were already in their car baby carrier, fast asleep, and Aarti had been getting ready to leave. She picked up the twin's baby carrier, careful not to jostle or wake up her tired little pumpkins, and rushed out of her bedroom. Maybe she would be in time to ward off Aarti. The easiest thing would be to leave the babies with Aarti while she dropped off Ruhi and went to the airport from the dance studio. It would still be a stretch, since the dance studio was in the opposite direction, but there was no other option.

She rushed into the living room, careful not to shake the baby carrier with her sleeping babies, to be greeted by the sight of her older daughter, waiting impatiently by herself.

"Let's go Mumma" Ruhi pouted, flashing impatient eyes just like her father at her harried mother. "I'm going to be late."

"Baby, where is Aarti didi?"

"Woh chali gayi mumma. Ab chalo na."
(She left mumma. Now let's go)

Ishita looked around desperately, but there was no help in sight. Rinki and Romi had not yet arrived home from work, and Neelu had also left for the day. Her other reliable babysitters, her parents, were still away in Chennai, and Mihika of course had moved out to Mihir's apartment. It was just her and her three children. Well, she would just have to take the babies, whether Raman liked it or not.

She smiled at her impatient daughter and motioned her towards the door. " Bilkul apne papa ki beti ho. So impatient. Chalo." ( You are exactly like your papa. So impatient. Let's go)

They had reached the car park and she was strapping the twins baby carrier to the backseat when Rinki's little blue Honda City, her new pride and joy, drew up beside her car, and a beaming Rinki stepped out.

"Kya hua bhabhi?" Rinki asked as she grabbed the pouting Ruhi to herself for a hug. "Aap itni ghabrahi hui kyun hai. Aur yeh madam kyun muh fula rahi hai?" (What's the matter bhabhi? Why are you looking so worried? And why is this madam pouting?)

Ishita hurriedly explained the situation to Rinki, even as the stubborn clasps on the seat belts she had placed to secure the baby carrier refused to catch. "Aur Ruhi upset hai kyunki uski recital ko late ho raha hai" she concluded. "Lekin Rinki, I don't know if I can drop her and get to the airport in time." (And Ruhi is upset because she is getting late for her dance recital. But Rinki, I don't know if I can drop her and get to the airport in time)

"Yeh bhai bhi na, itna deewana hai aap ka ki driver ko baitha kar aap ko hairaan kar raha hai, sirf aap ke saath waqt bitaane ke liye. But you don't worry bhabhi" Rinki said reassuringly. "I'll take Ruhi. Her dance teacher is my old batch mate. I'll wait for her while she practices and then get her back home. Aur bhabhi, mummy ka call aaya tha, woh Simmi di ke saath aaj hi waapas aa rahe hai. Phir plan change ho gaya. Kuch der mein aa jaayenge. Aap ka phone nahi lag raha tha, so she called me. So you don't worry. Go and get bhai. I'll get Ruhi back home and organize dinner with Mummy and Simmi di until you and bhai get back home. Then we can all have dinner together."
(This brother of mine. He is so crazy about you that he is getting the driver to rest and bothering you just so he can spend time alone with you. But you don't worry bhabhi. I'll take Ruhi. Her dance teacher is my old batch mate. I'll wait for her while she practices and then get her back home. And baby I, mummy called, she is coming back with Simmi di. Their plans changed again and they should be home soon. She couldn't get through to your phone so she called me. So you don't worry. Go and get bhai. I'll get Ruhi back home and organize dinner with Mummy and Simmi di until you and bhai get back home. Then we can all have dinner together)

"Thank you Rinki" Ishita said gratefully, smiling in relief at her young sister in law. She watched as Rinki strapped Ruhi into the passenger seat of her car, blowing a kiss to her pouting daughter as Rinki drove away. She then turned her attention to the seat belt clasps again, finally managing to secure the back facing baby carrier. The clasp had been playing up the day before as well, she needed to get the car to the garage tomorrow to get it looked at. But Raman was here now, Raman would do it. Raman would take care of everything.

She gave a quick tender glance at her babies before closing the back door. "Papa is back my darlings" she whispered to their sleeping forms, before she sat in her seat with a smile on her face and drove off towards the airport.

*******************************
An Hour Later
Delhi International Airport

Ishita drove around the airport car park, waiting for the agreed time, so she could drive up to the terminal. There had been surprisingly little traffic on the road and she had managed to reach the airport a good ten minutes early.

There were plenty of parking spaces available, but she could not park and leave the car with the babies still fast asleep. To remove their carrier now, especially with the clasp the way it was, would wake them up, and the last thing she needed right now was for the babies to start crying. She had forgotten to pack their nappy bag in the rush, and the prepared milk bottles had been in the bag. She could just hope that they would make it back home without either of the twins waking up.

She had tried to phone Raman, but for some reason, his phone appeared to be switched off. So all she could do was to make sure she drove up to the Pick Up Zone at his instructed time, so she would not be chased off too quickly by the parking wardens.

She looked at her watch again, just as her text alert beeped. It was Raman.

"Where are you madrassan?" His message read. "I'm at the Pick Up Zone."

Ishita smiled and nosed her car towards the terminal.

*******************************

Raman stood at the Pick Up Zone looking impatiently into the distance for his wife's car. The terminal was excessively busy today, with a large group of what appeared to be villagers dressed in black turbans and shawls massed close by, looking around silently.

Raman looked at the men curiously and then shrugged. Maybe they were here to meet someone. But they sure didn't look too happy about it. Unlike his state right now, at the knowledge that his madrassan was coming to meet him. He had missed his family so much -his children, his parents, his in laws and mad siblings and most of all his darling stubborn maddening wife. He could not wait to have her in his arms again, to listen to her complaints about his absence, to kiss her pouting lips into submission. He ached for her whenever he was away, missed her with a ferocious hunger that belied their years together. Three years ago he had not even known of her existence, and now a mere few nights away from her left him lost and desperate.

He spotted Ishita's red Toyota approaching and turned to grab his bag from his trolley, brushing the arm of the man next to him as he did so.

The man was one of the sullen, shawl wrapped villagers, and he had moved close to Raman without his noticing.

"Sorry, bhaisahab" Raman said politely with a smile.

But that simple action had triggered something. Or perhaps a signal had been given. The man snarled at Raman. And then before Raman knew what was happening, there was a gun pointed at him.

Raman looked with horror at the man, noticing as he did that several men around him had shrugged off their shawls, to reveal bodies strapped with explosives, guns pointed at the unsuspecting members of the public standing around them. Screams of confusion rent the air, as the armed guards at the airport came rushing up, their own automatics drawn.

And then, into this nightmarish tableau, Ishita's car drove up and stopped.

*******************************

Ishita stopped her car and turned off the ignition, opening her door and stepping out of the drivers side.

And then she stood frozen. Raman stood facing her, terror etched into his face. Her husband had a hand stretched out towards her, words frozen on his lips, and there was a gun pointed into his face. He stared at her in terror, pools of sweat gathering on his forehead. He had called her here, had insisted that she come here, that she pick him up, had brought her into this.

"Ishita" he screamed, his voice breaking through the fast rising wall of fear enveloping him, as other screams rang out around him. "Go. Get out. Go."

Ishita stood frozen, her eyes fixed on the gun pointed to her husband's head, the dynamite strapped to the chest of the terrorist who was snarling at him. She noticed the others in the same positions, the guards who had their own guns trained on everyone, and she knew that the scene before her was about to disintegrate. The pick up zone was a powder keg, and it was about to go off. And her husband was caught in it. Her husband was in danger. She could not leave her husband. She made to step away from the car, and then the loud insistent crying of her daughter from the back seat suddenly filled a momentary silence.

The twins. Her little Raashi and Ishaan. She stared at Raman, as she realized that she needed to get her babies away. She saw the absolute horror on her husband's face as his daughters crying reached his ears, as he realized that his wife had brought the babies with her. She saw his eyes dart to the backseat, saw the fear multiply in his eyes, and then turn back to her.

"Go Ishita" he screamed again, as the gunman waved his gun threateningly. His eyes bore into hers, pleading, begging, and she understood. She could not leave him, but he would never forgive her if she stayed. He was her life, and she was his, but the babies that they had brought into the world together trumped them both. She had to save her babies. She had to try.

Ishita gave one last lingering look at her husband, and then stepped back into her car. It had all happened in seconds, from her arrival at the Pick Up Zone, her stepping out of the car and now her desperate attempt to flee. All in seconds and yet it had felt like eternity.

She started the ignition as the gunman moved his gun from Raman to aim at her. She sped the car away as her husband jumped at the gunman, just as the terrorist pulled a grenade, throwing it at her car.

And then there was an explosion.

*******************************

Raman stared in horror at his wife as she stepped out of the car, watching the smile on her face transform into bewilderment and then a horrified realization.

Ishita" he screamed, as other screams rang out around him. "Go. Get out. Go."

He saw her hesitate, her eyes fixed on him, and then watched in horror as she took a step away from the car. And then, to his absolute dismay, he heard the cry of his little daughter.

He tore his eyes from his wife, staring at the back seat of the car. His babies were strapped in their carrier. His Ishaan. His Raashi. He saw Raashi's little face pucker up as she cried, saw Ishaan's peaceful sleeping visage.

Absolute terror wracked through him. He saw again the gun wavering in the terrorists hands, heard a gunshot ring out behind him. Anything could happen here. His babies could not be here, his wife could not be here. He had called her here. He had brought them all into danger. They were in danger. They were going to die. Because of him. Only because of him.

He looked again at his wife, and his terror fought with the determination that he needed to get her to leave. His eyes pleaded and begged.

"Ishita" he screamed. "Go."

And then to his utter relief, he saw his wife waver, saw her eyes cloud over, as she got back into the car. He saw her drive away and then saw the terrorist move his gun from his head to point it at Ishita. And then, in front of his even more horrified eyes, he saw the man pull a hand grenade.

Raman knew that his own life didn't matter. He had to save his wife and his children. He had to save them no matter what. He threw himself at the terrorist, just as he raised his hand to throw the grenade.

The next moment there was an explosion. Raman was knocked of his feet, his ears ringing as gunfire rang out behind him. There were screams and shots as the elite Border Forces arrived at the scene, pulling civilians away. But there was an odd silence, punctuated by ringing in his ears as Raman struggled to his feet.

He stared in absolute horror at the scene before him. In the road in front of him, where his wife's car had been a moment before, there was a burning fiery mass. And there was no sign of anyone alive. No sign of Ishita, Ishaan or Raashi. No one could have survived that, he knew. And yet his heart wouldn't let him believe what his eyes could see.

"Ishita" he screamed, his breath coming in jerks, his heart pounding in fear. "Ishaan. Raashi. Ishitaaaa."

Then as he watched in horror, there was another explosion behind him, knocking him off his feet. And as he crumbled to the ground, Raman Bhalla realized that he had lost everything. And it was all his fault. He had killed his children. He had killed his wife. They had ceased to exist because of him. Searing pain engulfed him and he swallowed his screams as he fell.

And then there was just blessed darkness and oblivion.

*******************************

Ishita sped away, her heart pounding, all her energies concentrated on getting her children away from the mayhem behind her.

As her car navigated the speed breakers that dotted the road, she glanced into the rear view mirror. Her heart pounded, her mouth dry, and tears threatened as she saw her husband struggling with the terrorist. She saw the man raise his hand to throw something, just as the car jumped over the speed jump and sped away.

Another car, approaching fast behind her, blocked her view. And then there was a huge explosion.

She continued driving, seeing in horror through the rear vision as the grenade hit the following car, saw it explode in a ball of fire, which chased after her car. "Raman" she screamed, above the cries of her babies. "Please be okay. Please Murugan, mere Raman ko bacha lena. Please. Please. Please. Ramannnnn."
(Raman. Please be okay. Please God, save my Raman. Please please please. Ramannnnn)

And then soldiers were surrounding her car, pulling her and the babies out, ushering them away to safety. She grabbed the baby carrier from a soldier, looking at her babies through her tears and the acrid smoke of the explosions renting the air. They were both crying loudly, both grimy with soot, but they were both unharmed.

"Mere pati" she screamed at the soldier ushering her away. "Raman. Where is Raman?"

And then she was inside an ambulance, her screaming babies still held close. Someone was asking her something, a doctor. But she couldn't hear anything, Her ears rang, her heart pounded, and tears cascaded down her eyes.

"Raman" she screamed, noiselessly to her own deafened ears. And then someone took her babies from her, a needle was inserted into her arm, and there was oblivion.

Hey yeh Bombay sheher haadaso ka sheher hai
Yeh Bombay sheher haadaso ka sheher hai
Yahaan zindagi haadason ka safar hai
Yahaan roz roz har mod mod par hota hai koyi na koi
Haadasa Haadasaa Haadasaa Haadasa

Yahaan ki khushi aur gum hai anokhe
Bade khubsurat se hote hai dhoke
Bahot tez raftaar hai zindagi ki
Hai fursat kise koi kitana bhi soche
Khushi haadasaa hai gum haadasa hai
Haqiqat bhulaakar har ek bhagata hai
Yahaan roz roz ki bhaag daud mein hota hai koyi na koi
Haadasa Haadasa Haadasa Haadasa

Yahaan adami asmaan chumate hai
Nashe mein tarakki ke sab jhumate hai
Hari roshani dekh bhaagi woh kaare
Achaanak ruki phir se banake kataari
Yahaan ke parindo ki parwaaj dekho
Haseeno ke chalne ka andaaj dekho
Yahaan husn ishq ki abo hawaan mein hota hai koyi na koi
Haadasa Haadasa pyaar ka haadsaa

Yeh Bombay sheher haadaso ka sheher hai
Yahaan zindagi haadason ka safar hai
Yahaan roz roz har mod mod par hota hai koyi na koi
Haadasa Haadasaa Haadasaa Haadasa