CHAPTER 41
After the worship, when all the people come down, Sandhya and Avishka spread a mat at some distance and arrange for everyone to sit. Prakram is well aware that the new daughter-in-law first offers the dainty, or bhog, to the deity. And after that, everyone sits there and eats. He looks at Avishka, about whom he has heard well, and says that she used to care only about her books, so he does not at all expect her to cook something. He is certain because Divya also lacked cooking skills. When he last visited the temple with Divya, Sandhya was the one who prepared everything, and she only made semolina pudding under Sandhya's supervision. Avishka serves the food very nicely and first gives it to Digvijay and Sandhya, then to Prakram, and then starts serving food to all the others who have come with them. Digvijay immediately eats the morsel and tells Avishka.
"It is very tasty; for the first time since Sandhya, I have enjoyed food cooked by someone."
Prakram begins to stare at Digvijay with a strange expression, while Avishka approaches Aashi, who is now running around and playing. After a long journey, she relishes the opportunity to run around and play. Avishka follows Aashi to ensure her well-being as she plays and jumps a lot. Prakram also eats a bite and finds it very tasty; then Sandhya smiles and tells Prakram.
"Avishka made it and did not let me do anything.”
“She…”
Prakram speaks all this loudly, due to which even Avishka, who was some distance away, starts looking back at him, and she too has seen him, but Avishka immediately fixes her eyes on Aashi and starts feeding her well. Sandhya says to him, smiling.
"I explained everything to her: we will serve the offering in this manner, and Aashi will receive a visitation from the deity for the first time since her birth. The offering will consist of two types, and she will wake up independently and head to the kitchen at 4:00 in the morning. She came and did all the work very comfortably.”
When Avishka heard Prakram's voice, she realized that someone was discussing her homemade food, which made her smile and bring back some memories.
PAST
Kailash is enjoying the aroma of all the food by opening the lids one by one, and Reema, sitting in front, is smiling. Today is Sunday, and it is the routine of all four that whenever there is a holiday, they all work together. However, Reema is careful not to disrupt her children's studies by not allowing them to do any work, and she pays close attention to this. Keeping this in mind, Kailash also tries his best to help Reema as soon as he comes from the office. Advait and Avishka quickly come and sit at the dining table, and Reema serves food to everyone. As soon as Reema begins placing the dish that Advait prepared on his plate, Avishka informs Kailash.
"Mumma, first mine..."
"Not at all; you always listen to her words... This time, my dish will be tasted first."
Seeing both of them fighting like this, Kailash puts all the things on the plate in an excessive manner and eats Advait's dish first, due to which he starts dancing his eyebrows while smiling, and Avishka moves her lips left and right to tease him.
"Wow..."
Reema immediately begins to eat the dish that Avishka had prepared. She simply joins her index finger and thumb to form a circle while keeping her eyes closed to express her pleasure, which causes her to smile. Advait and Avishka taste the dish that Reema and Kailash made and give them both a flying kiss right away.
"Amazing! This is heaven."
"Exactly…"
After listening to her children, Kailash and Reema smile and say things together.
"If any work is done with a full heart and love, then it is good; hence, one should never do any work thinking that it has to be done only like formality; do it with the utmost love and then see the result of your work. You will love the response."
“Absolutely…”
PRESENT
“Mumma more…”
Avishka immediately glances at the plate where Aashi has consumed all the food and is requesting more. In response, she smiles and goes back to fetch more food for Aashi. By then, Sandhya and Digvijay have already eaten, so Sandhya says.
"Now you sit quietly and eat your food. You wake up very early in the morning, and since then you have not eaten anything. Now sit here and eat your food; we will take care of Aashi.”
Prakram is still sitting and eating, and he sees that she is serving herself food, but there is not much on her plate. She begins to eat without making any noise and quickly finishes her food, all the while expressing her desire to be near Aashi. She focuses all her attention on Aashi, who is consuming food, yet she frequently disturbs Sandhya with her erratic movements. As soon as she finishes her meal and moves towards her, Prakram holds her hand, forces her to sit again, and gives her instructions while adding more food to her plate.
"To do all this, energy is also required, which is why it is very important to eat properly."
When Avishka sees the food on her plate, her eyes suddenly fill with tears, but she continues to eat the food silently. Prakram does not understand what is happening to Avishka, but he doesn't know what to make of these tears, so he immediately gets up and walks over to Aashi. Because sitting here is creating a strange situation for him because these tears are completely disturbing him.
Aashi is already sleeping in Avishka's arms, and her father is holding her legs in his lap; they have already come half way. Avishka herself is getting a lot of sleep because the long day's travel, getting up early in the morning, and fatigue combined are forcing her to sleep. She is currently sitting with Prakram and Aashi in the back seat while the driver is operating the car. She rests her head on the seat and automatically closes her eyes within a few moments. Prakram, who was working on his laptop, suddenly looks at her, and seeing her eyes closed, he looks at Aashi, who is sleeping very comfortably in their lap, seeing which he smiles lightly.
He starts working again on his laptop, which is kept at the side of the seat. Avishka's face suddenly turns downward, due to which she wakes up. But again, she tries to sleep with her head tilted back on the seat. Prakram slides lightly and sits close to her. When her face started slipping back down, it rested on his shoulder. He settles her head on his shoulder because he knows she falls into a very deep sleep. She was very sleepy; that's why she is sleeping very comfortably with her head resting on his shoulder. Prakram smiles lightly while doing his work on the laptop.
.
.
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It has been 7 days since Prakram, Avishka, and Aashi came to Australia, and after coming here, Aashi is even more happy because instead of taking a room in a hotel, Prakram has taken a cottage here, due to which Aashi has complete freedom to play here. And she keeps playing all day outside in the garden, running in the whole cottage, and even there is a swing where she loves to swing with Avishka, which is her favorite. At this moment, Aashi is eagerly waiting for her father, while Armaan, who is seated nearby, cannot contain his laughter and is hiding his mouth with his hands. After coming here, Prakram's busy schedule prevents him from arriving on time, causing Aashi to fall asleep before he does.
Today, however, she is extremely irate and is seated with both hands folded across her chest, her cheeks swollen with rage. She appears incredibly endearing in this position. Avishka is also amused by her behavior, but she suppresses her laughter by engrossing herself in cooking. She believes that if she laughs in front of her, it will only intensify her anger towards Prakram. This is the first time that Avishka has seen Aashi so angry with her father; otherwise, she loves her father very much.
There are many maids working here, but because Aashi enjoys the food Avishka prepares so much and eats it so well, Avishka is now attempting to cook the food herself. Armaan glances at Avishka, who is struggling to contain her laughter upon seeing Aashi, causing him to chuckle aloud. Seeing him laugh like this, Aashi immediately stands on the sofa, puts both her hands on her waist, and looks at him angrily.
“You said that Papa was coming in some time; you did not bring Papa with you, and now you are laughing at me.”
"I'm sorry, Princess; I just remembered some jokes. I'm not laughing at you at all. Your father informed me that he planned to arrive early for his princess today, but it's possible that he was caught in traffic.
"So, what are you doing here? Go and clear the traffic."
Hearing this from Aashi, everyone starts laughing, and Armaan tries to explain to Aashi while controlling his laughter with great difficulty.
"Aashi, I can't do this; if I did, I already did it for you, but I will call your father, talk to him, and ask where he is right now."
"Okay..."
To protect himself from Aashi, Armaan immediately calls Prakram, knowing full well that he was free early today and had promised to come to Aashi immediately. Armaan leaves quickly, but Prakram has not yet arrived. Within a few rings, Prakram picks up the phone.
"Yes Armaan…"
"Where are you?"
Hearing his daughter's voice, Prakram immediately smiles and tries to tell her something, but Aashi responds angrily.
"You have no time for Aashi at all, so now I am very angry with you and will not even talk to you... I have no time for you."
Aashi gives the phone to Armaan and immediately runs away from there, due to which Avishka also sees her upset and goes after her. Armaan takes the phone and talks to Prakram.
"Sir, she was waiting for you for a long time."
"I know, and I will come and convince her as soon as possible; I am already here.”
Armaan smiles and hangs up the phone. Avishka comes to Aashi, who has started crying after coming into the room, due to which she immediately picks her up in her arms. She started complaining to her mother.
"Papa is very bad..."
"No, Aashi. Papa has a lot of work; that's why he doesn't get time sometimes, but whenever he does, he is always with Aashi."
"I have not seen Papa for 2 days. Papa leaves early in the morning and comes late at night. I miss him so much.”
"I miss you too, my princess."
Avishka immediately turns towards the door where Prakram is standing. She tries to direct Aashi towards Prakram, but she is angry with him, so she wraps her arms tightly around her neck and does not look at her father at all. While coming inside, Prakram says:.
"I am sorry..."
But she is very angry; she is not looking at her father. Avishka begins to smile and gaze at her father, prompting him to reciprocate by standing in front of Aashi, who is silently clinging to her mother's lap.
"Someone is very angry, but Papa is only late today because of Aashi."
Aashi is so furious with Prakram that she promptly spreads Avishka's hair in front of her face, preventing her father from seeing her face at all. Prakram places Avishka's hair on one of her shoulders and places his hand on her shoulder, which leads to him having no idea because he had to quickly convince her daughter, who is very angry with him. Avishka feels his warm touch on her shoulder and looks at his hand lightly from the corner of her eyes, but she knows that Prakram is currently busy convincing his daughter. Perhaps that is why he is not paying attention to this thing.
'Sorry darling…”
Aashi quickly turns her face forward and places it on Avishka's chest, due to which Avishka is laughing even more. Prakram swiftly moves forward, bends slightly towards Aashi, kisses her cheek, and explains the situation.
"Papa was looking for a mini cake shop for Aashi.”
Aashi suddenly looks at her father, and Prakram brings out a big box hidden behind him and immediately opens it, in which there are many mini and colorful cakes, seeing which Aashi starts smiling.
"So many cakes..."
"There were numerous cakes, and I had to decorate them all while standing in front of me, which led to your father's late arrival. I said that not a single cake should be similar to another because my Aashi would enjoy eating different cakes."
After hearing this, Aashi becomes very happy and starts laughing even louder after seeing the cakes.
"We will cut all of the cakes into birthday cakes."
"Okay..."