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‘I’m proud of you, Koyal,’ she said.
Ma was being sarcastic, Koyal thought, but when she looked up and saw her mother smiling encouragingly, she felt very confused.
‘It’s not easy to walk out on a bad marriage, away from a man as controlling as Amit, and you did that. For that I’m proud of you.’
A genuine word of praise. Koyal felt her throat tighten.
‘How foolish I was, Ma!’ she said, her voice cracking. ‘How terribly foolish.’ Koyal hugged the frail woman as tightly as she could. ‘I am so sorry, Ma, I am so sorry, for putting you and Dad through everything that I did. I am the worst daughter any girl could be, but you have been the best mother I could have asked for.’
Priya held her daughter’s face in her hands and then wiped her tears. ‘Hatred destroys, Koyal. It burns, it anihiliates. Your hatred destroyed you once. Promise me, you won’t ever let it consume you like that again.’
Koyal nodded.
‘Promise me, you’ll do whatever you need to do to not let anger make your decisions for you. It will be hard but you won’t be able to change anything in your life if you don’t conquer your anger.’
‘I promise,’ Koyal said, meaning it, fully aware what a big task lay ahead.
‘Will you promise me that you won’t shy away from hard work?’
‘I promise.’
‘Promise me that you will continue to test your boundaries?’
‘I promise.’
‘Promise me that you will believe in love.’
There, Koyal faltered.
‘Love, huh?’ Koyal grimaced. ‘It destroys, Ma.’
‘Love sets free, love empowers, love liberates, love exhilarates. Madness de
stroys, possessiveness destroys. Hatred destroys.’ Koyal stared in wonder at her mother’s words. ‘Promise me that someday you will find someone to love?’
Someone to love?
‘Promise me, Koyal, I don’t have much time.’
‘I promise.’
‘Well, then, I have a plan,’ Priya said.
‘What if I do something wrong, again?’
‘You won’t.’
‘How do you know?’
‘I’ll be watching from above,’ Priya said gently. ‘I will be the fairy that keeps an eye on you. I will be the voice in your head that will not let you make wrong decisions. I will be the heart that will keep you brave.’ Koyal breathed deeply. Ma went on, ‘Shut the door. Now listen very carefully to me for my plan will see you through the toughest period of your life.’ Priya patted the box. ‘Part two of your life will begin with you stealing from your dead mother.’
She winked as Koyal stared at her open-mouthed.
PART II
Six years later…
And just when the caterpillar thought the end was near, it became a butterfly.
