Only in the darkness can you see the stars — Martin Luther King Jr

 ‘’Twinkle, twinkle little star,

  How I wonder what you are?

  Up above the world so high

  Like a diamond in the sky!’’

The 5-year-old kid recited the rhyme in a soft voice while adoring the sky.  

‘’The stars look lovely today no?’’, Sunil asked in a hoarse voice.

‘’Yes, they look shiny. But why do stars twinkle?’’, Vaibhav’s inquisitiveness finally made him pop the question.

'He was just a kid. This was his age to ask questions.' Sunil thought to himself.  

‘’It is their light beta (son). They give out their light to us and this makes them stand out from the other objects. But they twinkle only in darkness. ‘’, Sunil tried to explain in the simplest way possible even if it meant making up a few facts.   

‘In any case, he will learn the science behind it in the coming years’, he thought to himself. 

‘’The science behind this process, you will learn about it in the school soon.’’, Sunil continued.

‘’When I grow up I want to travel over there, watch them closely’’, Vaibhav said while pointing to the sky.

He was mesmerized by the stars and his gaze was continuously above.  

''Just like we live here on land, on the Earth, this is our world right? The starts over there live in the sky. That is their world, it is called space. And you know the ones who travel there, are called astronauts’’

‘’Astro… Noot!’’ Vaibhav tried but couldn’t pronounce it.

‘’Break it and say. Astro-Naut. ‘’, Sunil said trying to ease out the process for him.

‘’Astronaut!’’, Vaibhav was finally able to say it in a gibberish tone.

‘’My child is a fast learner.’’, Sunil said while boosting his morale. ‘’You know if you go there you will be able to see the moon too.’’, he continued.

‘’Oh, Chanda mama bhi?’’(Uncle Moon too), he questioned excitedly.

Indian parents usually teach their kids to address the moon as ‘mama’, (mama in Hindi is mother’s brother, in English- it is uncle).

‘’But hum udhar kaise jaate hain, car se?’’, he asked innocently. (How do we go there? By car?)

Sunil smiled and answered, ‘’Beta, the car is used by us on the ground. Wo sky h na, so wo hum spacecraft se jaate hain.’’ (Son, we are here, on the land and we travel by car. That is the sky, so we use a spacecraft to reach there.)

Vaibhav tried speaking out the word but gave up soon as he felt this was a tough one.  Sunil hugged him tightly to his chest. He started singing a lullaby to make him fall asleep and asked him to close his eyes.

‘’Rock-a-bye baby, in the treetop,

When the wind blows, the cradle will rock.

When the bough breaks, the cradle will fall,

And down will come baby, cradle and all.’’

He was singing the lullaby on loop in a calm and soothing voice.

A few minutes later, Vaibhav opened his eyes and softly said,’’ Neeni nahi aa rahi.’’ (I am unable to sleep)

Sunil gave a hearty laugh. ‘’Okay, then what do you want to do? Play a game, draw something, or are you hungry? Should I cook something for you?’’

‘’ Ice cream!’’ Vaibhav said excitedly. ‘’Can we have it? Please.’’, he asked with those puppy eyes look.

‘’Okay, I will go and get it from the fridge. Meanwhile, you go and get your drawing kit. We have to complete your drawing homework too right?’’, Sunil suggested giving in to the puppy look.

They came back after some time and settled down on the mat. Vaibhav spread his colors and started drawing while relishing the ice cream. Sunil engrossed himself in reading a book, Pride and Prejudice.

He had received it as a gift from his reading club on the occasion of World Book Day. Since he was an avid reader, he tried to catch up on and off on his reading habit.

The night was magical. Dark blue-blackish sky stars twinkling, moon shining, and cool breeze blowing.

Suddenly, Sunil was distracted by the ringtone of his phone.

‘Sheena calling’, the screen flashed. 

He accepted the call and was trying to frame himself in the screen on the video call. ‘’Hi Sheena, how are you? Why didn’t you call yesterday?’’

‘’I am fine. Don’t worry, just spending the weekend at home. It’s a bit chilly over here today. Aj apka wala soup bnane ka mann tha. Socha video call kr lu. Issi bahane baat bhi ho jaegi apse. Vaibhav khn hain?’’, enquired Sheena. (I wanted to prepare soup by your recipe. I thought of a video call. This way I would be able to talk to both of you and also learn the recipe from you)

Sunil turned the phone towards Vaibhav. ‘’Say hi to Sheena, Vaibhav. ’’

‘’Hi! How are you? Kya kr rhe ho? (What are you doing?), Vaibhav waived to Sheena.

‘’Main, soup bnane lagi hoon. Ap kya drawing kr rhe ho?’’(I am about to make some soup. Are you drawing?)

‘’Haan. Abhi start kia. Complete krk dikhaunga. Apne sweater kyun pehna hai?’’, Vaibhav said while trying to hide his rough and incomplete painting. (Yes. Just started with the drawing, will show you once it will be complete. Why are you wearing a sweater?)

‘’Kyunki yahan thand h na betu islie. Aur ye kya ap ice cream kha rahe ho? Papa ne khaane dia aj. ‘’, Sheena was concerned. (Because it’s windy here. Why are you eating ice cream today? Papa allowed you?)

‘’Haan. Aj cheat day h na. Aur ye dekho stars. Twinkle kr rhe hain!’’(Yes, today is my cheat day. See these stars, they are twinkling.)

He swapped the back camera towards the sky so that Sheena could see the stars.

‘’Wow, so beautiful. Tbhi aj terrace pe baithe ho dono. ‘’, Sheena lied. Even though the tiny stars weren’t visible in the camera, she didn’t want to spoil the moment for Vaibhav. (Which is why you both are sitting on the terrace)

‘’Haan. Aur apko pta hai main na astronaut bnunga badhe hoke. Chalo ab main draw kr rha hoon. Ap papa se baat kro. Miss you. ‘’He then came towards the screen to kiss it. He felt doing this would place the kiss on her cheeks. (I will grow up to be an astronaut. Now, I am going back to drawing. Talk to dad)

She did the same. Sunil then stood up and went a few steps away from Vaibhav. He knew Sheena would say something which he didn’t want Vaibhav to hear now.

‘’Sunil, what is this about an astronaut?’’ Her voice turned heavy with concern. ‘’Does he know?..’’

Sunil interrupted before Sheena could complete. ‘’Not yet. He is too small to understand what happened and how. May be in a few years when he will grow up, I will tell him everything. ‘’

‘’I understand. Don’t worry. He will. He is our smart and mature kid. Chalo mujhe recipe btao ab soup ki jaldi.’’ (Now, tell me the recipe of the soup quickly)

They talked for another half an hour and disconnected once the soup was ready.

‘Here is the soup in our very own Sunil style’, she sent a picture over WhatsApp. The bloody red soup garnished with coriander leaves glittered in the yellow Chinese bowl.

‘’It looks delicious Sheena. Chef bn gyi ho tum bhi ab whn akele reh ke. (You have turned a chef post living all by yourself over there). Take care. Love you. Miss you. I will talk tomorrow. ‘’

‘’See Vaibhav, the soup is ready. Looks tasty right?’’, Sunil showed Vaibhav the picture.

‘’Yummy!'', Vaibhav’s mouth watered. ‘’Dekho meri drawing bhi complete ho gyi.’’ (See my drawing is complete too)

Sunil saw the painting and he was teary-eyed. The picture was divided into two halves.

On the left side, he had drawn their family picture with Sunil in the right, him in the middle, and Anita at the left. He was holding their hands and they were sitting on the terrace gazing at the skyline with stars twinkling and the full moon shining, just like tonight. Only Anita was missing and well, they were missing Anita!

On the right side, he had drawn himself in a spacesuit posing beside the space shuttle. For a 5-year-old, he did an amazing job.

‘’It is.. (long pause) so wonderful Vaibhu. You draw so well. I am proud of you my boy. We will get this framed and put it over the wall in your bedroom. What do you say?’’, Sunil couldn’t control his excitement.

Vaibhav’s eyes glittered on listening to this. ‘’Yayy!’’, he exclaimed.

‘’Dad, when I grow up and I will travel the sky, shake hand with the stars, I will be able to meet mom right? Ap kehte ho na wo whn upar hai. Star ban gyi hain wo and wahan se humein dekh rahi hain. (You always tell me that she is there in the sky. She has become a star and is watching us both from there)

Sunil wanted to burst into tears. All these years, he had been single-handedly raising Vaibhav. He just told him that she had gone to the sky and become a star.

He resorted to this typical Bollywood movie idea when his 2-year-old kid questioned him about the whereabouts of his mother. This is a typical scene in Indian movies where the people while explaining to the child about the death of their closed one, instead of telling the truth that the person is no more, they go for the easy option that the deceased has converted into a star and lives in the sky now.  

He couldn’t tell him the truth. He was a kid and wouldn’t have been able to understand that his mother sacrificed her life for the country.  That she worked for NASA and went for a mission and never returned. That she fulfilled her duties for the nation. That country was her first love.

And now their son wanted to follow her steps, unknowingly though. Sunil didn’t want to spoil his mood and imagination. Over the years, he will get to know the truth anyway.

‘I will tell him when it will be the right time. And he will understand it. Even if he won't be able to, I will be there to support him, to guide him’, Sunil was talking to himself in his mind.

All he could say at that moment was ‘’Sure Vaibhav.'' Your mom and I would love that.  Now say bye to mom and let’s go inside. It’s way past your bedtime. ‘’

‘’Mom. See what I drew. Dad loved it. You like it too right? Good night Maa. Miss you. And I love you.’’ And he gave a flying kiss in the air to the star which he felt was his mother and was giving one back at him.