Chapter - 8 (Mrs.Sonia Finds The Son She Never Had) 

"Hi, Jishnuda. What a pleasant surprise! Please come in. " Akanksha was genuinely happy to welcome this very talented young man into their house. 

"Thank you, Akanksha." Jishnu replied getting in. "Actually, I's on my way back home when I thought of dropping by."

"Ma, can you come out for a second? Jishnuda is here. " Akanksha shouted out at her mom in the kitchen. She had already shared with her mother about the all-section-topper of standard XII Science. 

"Have a seat, beta, " Mrs. Sonia said peeking out of the kitchen door. 

Jishnu sat down on the couch as Mrs. Sonia came out, rubbing her hands on a towel.

"Yes, Beta? " she said sitting beside Jishnu on the couch. Akanksha put the volume of the TV down with the remote.

"You must be hungry staying away from home for so long. It is almost 9 now," she uttered looking up at the wall clock. "Tell me what you'd like to have first." She asked. 

Jishnu took an instant liking to the lady. She reminded him of the mother he had lost a few years back. Mrs. Sonia noticed the momentary sad look on the boy's face and asked Akanksha to get him some fruit juice from the refrigerator. 

"Aunti, I do hope you don't mind my calling you that," And at the nod of assurance from her, he went on."Something I did in the afternoon today, made me feel very guilty and has been bothering me since then," Jishnu said painfully, having taken a sip of the juice from the glass. 

" You might not know but I called Anushka's number this afternoon. It was careless of me. But the moment she picked up the phone, I disconnected the line. I don't know why…. I really don't know why I acted so silly, " he looked more relieved, having blurted out what had been bothering him for long. 

Mrs. Sonia broke into a smile indulgently as she looked at the guilty look on the handsome boy's face. He was young and would learn his lessons in due course of time as well. Such calls from unknown callers and numbers kept coming all the time and, let alone feeling guilty about making such a call, no one really bothered about them. She couldn't recollect of a similar incident In her entire life of forty nine years! Casting a sidelong glance at her elder daughter, she could see the impact the boy's words of honesty had had on her daughter. 

"Aunty, " Jishnu urged her again. "I shall be obliged if you'll tell Anushka about my unintentional mistake. It will really help take the feeling of guilt off my mind. " He got off the couch then. 

"Though, it is not a big deal, Jishnu, I could call Anushka down if you'd personally like to talk to her about it," She said to him while looking up at her daughters' room. 

Anushka disappeared into her room just in the nick of time. Knowing her mom as well as she did, Anushka was expecting her mother to call her down at any moment soon. In a lot of ways, she was far more liberal and advanced than the women of her age. 

"Anu, Anu, " she heard her sister's voice from down then. The minute she took to grab a book from the study table and slip out on the porch, seemed quite long indeed. 

"Anu, Ma wants you to come down. Jishnuda is here." Akanksha didn't even try to conceal the excitement in her voice. 

Anushka looked from her mom to Jishnu at the other end of the couch, as if noticing him for the first time. She came down the stairs the next moment and greeted Jishnu casually though her heart was pumping very hard. 

"Hi, bro Jishnu." She would have worried about his real intention of paying a visit to their house, had she not heard the fool talking to her mom about it earlier. 

Before Jishnu could greet her back, Mrs. Sonia asked her younger daughter:

"Anu, why didn't you tell me anything about having received a call from an unknown caller this afternoon? " She asked her daughter quizzically. 

"Unknown caller? " Anushka seemed genuinely surprised. "I can recall no such calls, Mom. Oh, wait." She said to her mother, putting her hand on her head. 

"I remember now. There was a call all right. When I answered, there was no reply and the line got cut off." She said this looking straight at Jishnu. His discomfiture was something that gladdened her heart. 

"Thinking that someone had a problem trying to get to me, I called back the number. But a lady told me quite RUDELY that it was a wrong number! " She looked up at Jishnu, having stressed on the word "rudely" deliberately for trying to let Jishnu know how she felt about his sister. 

"That was my sis, Snigdha, Anushka, " Jishnu cut in. He loved his only sister and would have no one, none at all, criticizing her behaviour. "Madam, may I clarify, please? " he asked Mrs. Sonia next. The boy was extremely decent, thought both Mrs Sonia and her elder daughter, while Anushka looked confused as if not understanding what all was going on. 

"Sis Anushka. Today at school I found the chit with your number. I didn't know at that time that it was yours. I picked it up and kept it in my pocket after school. Of course, On reaching home, I was trying to call a friend, when I recollected the number." He paused for a breath here. 

"I play a lot to be good at mnemonics. Right after hanging up, I tried to see if I still remembered the number. Before I could think rationally, I could hear you saying " Hi, Anushka speaking." I only realized then what I had done. As an instant reaction, I cut it off. Feeling utterly ashamed of myself, I called my sister from the other room as I heard the phone ringing. Sis only repeated the words I'd taught her in the phone. "

Anushka looked aghast for real, for once. Could there be anyone more sillier? She wondered. . 

But her thoughts were interrupted the next moment when she heard Jishnu speaking again. 

"I'm really sorry, sis Anushka. That's why I am here. I meant no harm. Any. any inconvenience caused is regrett... " He stopped as the three ladies broke into raucous laughter simultaneously. 

"Sorry, Jishnu." Mrs. Sonia said hastily, a little later. "We laughed calling up to mind a joke shared between us relating to 'Any inconvenience caused.' Let me also tell you that you are an amazing young man with a great sense of honesty and propriety. You are therefore, forgiven."

It was only then Jishnu smiled since stepping inside the house. 

In the months following, Jishnu proved himself to be more than the son that Mrs. Sonia had always craved for but never had.