Journey of Her

Chapter: 3

A lot of hard work is hidden behind nice things. This chapter is to show the pain every child with working parents go through. Being a student is not easy.

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There he was entering the garden dressed in a navy blue slim cut shirt and beige casual pants with his sleeves rolled up; tired eyes probably due to travelling; messy hair with few  resting effortlessly on forehead; sweat beads shining on his forehead and neck under the twilight sky of the hot evening...anyone could fall for that royal smile of him. 

His eyes roamed all around as if were to check whether everyone had arrived. There was yearning as well as excitement in his magnetic eyes to meet his best friend. He came and gave his first hug to Krishnakumar muttering a greeting. Rakesh jumped from his place and throwed himself on Ashwin shouting "machan" and he hugged him back tightly and both parted after a dramatic hug. Arjun muttered in an irritated tone " thuu... shameless people as if they haven't met for ages. silly fellows came home from the same university 2 days back." which caught the attention of the two machan duo. Ashwin turned saying "you are jealous da. isn't it macha?"  Arjun along with the 3 girls thupified/ spitted. 

That's when Ashwin crooked his neck pretending to take a glance at Sivaangi for the first time in the evening and said "congratulations madam... for your merit pass. very good"  Sivaangi chuckled saying "ellam ungal aasirvatham guru ji / all because of your blessings guru ji" and Ashwin smiled shaking his head and wounded his arms around Rakesh locking his neck. 

Vanathi who came with extra cookies cupped the cheeks of Arjun and Sivaangi in each of her 2 hands muttering "my golden kids". She left Arjun's cheek and fed a chocolate cookie to Sivaangi and placed a kiss on her forehead. Sivaangi hugged Vanathi  by her neck and Ashwin stood there with admiring eyes looking at the beautiful bond shared between his favorite cousin and his lovely mom. 

All sat along with Ashwin and continued their chats with tea. 

Rakesh and Ashwin had come home for 20 days semester vacation 2 days back. The results were out at 12.10 in the midnight and the whole family didn't sleep the entire night. Binni's family started their journey in the morning and reached for lunch. Ashwin had to visit a couple of banks to handover some files on behalf of his father. 

The elders were tired due last night sleeplessness and a busy day today so they all retired to their respective homes after tea and cleaning. Mahalakshmi discussed about their dinner before dismissing. Vanathi and Lakshmikanthan went back to their home along with children. So it was only Sivakumar, Mahalakshmi and Binni's family left. 

Sivaangi came after having a body wash changing into comfy clothes. She saw Rakesh texting on phone smiling to himself and she knew who was it, definitely there was nothing she didn't know about her brother. Mentally making a note to tease them later, she headed to her room and rested her head on the bed. 

She wondered how life changed overnight. Yesterday at the same hour she was shivering with nervousness and anxiety as she knew the result day was not far. 

Past 3 months weren't easy. she didn't do anything productive in these 3 months  after her exams. she came here last time soon after finishing her finals and today... the two visits were too contrasting to be compared. she didn't know how she had done her exams. these 102 days could have been the worst days of her life. no school, no classes, no meetings with friends; she felt she was being deprived of her every little happiness. She was home all by herself within the 4 walls while her parents were busy rushing to hospital day and night. 

Her life was quite narrow during the last few years. Her world revolved around only school, tuitions, home and rarely a visit to her native place. It wasn't easy to sacrifice everything and direct all her attention to only biology, chemistry, physics for 2 years and 10 months when her peers were enjoying their life with trips, social media, girl hangouts, party etc... She lived her life to the fullest when they all gathered for festivals at their natives. Her cousins were her major source of happiness. But it was not constant. since she chose to do studies online her joy became restricted only twice or thrice a year.