Blessed To Have You

"Mumma! Are you there?"

Shreya peeped inside her mother's room, but she couldn't be seen anywhere.

This is the right moment, she said to herself.

She tip-toed towards her mother's bed, took out an envelope from her bag, and placed it carefully under one of the two pillows kept close to each other alongside the headrest. She looked around, took a sigh of relief, and left the room quietly.

Madhu, her mother, was watching all this from the kitchen. She was controlling herself all this while. She knew that Shreya is hiding something from her, and she was way too curious to know what it is. She also caught her several times talking on the phone, and using her laptop, chatting with someone she called "a friend from college", and she doubted that person was Shreya's boyfriend, but still she couldn't jump to any conclusion without actually knowing it from her daughter. She kept on cursing herself, for raising Shreya all alone. She started having a feeling that Shreya is going in the wrong direction, and she had no one to help her.

"Shreya! Change your clothes and go to Pramila's house, and get me some fresh lemons from her garden! I'll make lemon squash for you." Madhu called her out from the kitchen.

"Okay, Mumma!" Shreya replied and left the house. As she went outside the main gate, Madhu almost ran towards her room, picked the pillow, and took out that envelope that

\ Shreya placed moments ago. She was about to receive the biggest surprise of her life.

It was an offer letter from a prestigious college in their city, addressed to Mrs. Madhu Rajesh Kumar, that was her. She kept on staring at the letter. It said that her resume was selected for the post of associate professor in the college, and she had to join the next week. She couldn't believe her eyes.

"Mumma, how did you like my surprise?" Shreya's voice interrupted her thoughts.

"It is.. beta.. but.. how?" Madhu almost broke into tears.

"Relax Mumma.." Shreya came forward to hold her mother's face in her palms and said, "Remember you kept on asking me about the guy I used to talk to on the phone and chat? He is Mr. Manohar Joshi, working in the same college. He had come to my college to give a lecture, and when I approached him with the idea of getting you to work, he said he'll be there to help me throughout. I collected your certificates, degrees, prepared a curriculum vitae for you, and sent it through Mr. Joshi. Whoever reads your resume was highly impressed with your qualification. Mumma, I know you had to stop working so that you could raise me single-handed, after papa's demise. You had to do a lot of struggle, only because you couldn't work away from home and everything you did, you did for me. I felt I could never repay you for whatever you have done for me, Mumma, this is just a small attempt from my side. I hope you like it!"

Madhu kept holding the letter and embraced Shreya with tears flowing from her eyes. She looked above in the sky, thanked her husband in silence. That day flashed right in front of her eyes, when she had conceived Shreya, and decided not to have her, but it was her husband, Rajesh, who made her realize the importance of a child, and here she was, feeling proud of her daughter and feeling blessed on having her.