Love ...At Last?? ( Part -2)

( Please read the previous part to understand the story completely)

IAS topper Aditi Sharma went to Gangtok on her first posting, totally irked at her authorities for not giving her any choice of posting and was determined to escape from the place as early as possible.

Aditi woke up peacefully after eons, feeling cheerful after a dream which consisted of some pleasing matter which she couldn't remember, cozy and comfortable in the layers of fleece and looked at the sunrise which proved to be another breathtaking view, which could be an artist's dream project.

Aasma knocked on the door and asked whether she had freshened up and when she would like her breakfast to be served, with assurances to give her a call whenever Aditi needed anything.

After breakfast, Aditi set out on her sightseeing tour, in the Safari with a guide, provided by the guest house. The tea gardens, the greenery of the meadows, the mystic atmosphere created by the tall dark tress, the mountain peaks standing proudly with their ice crowns,the chilled lakes covered with flimsy layers of ice, dangerous yet mysterious, the turbulent mountain streams and rivers, rushing to which destination so impatiently, restlessly and urgently.

Finally, the Buddhist monasteries, inside which her mind discovered the ultimate tranquility, freedom from brooding over the past, worries and anxieties about the future, competitions in working world, frustrations due to over expectations from relationships, and all other causes of the unrest of her mind seemed to automatically evaporate..She began to visit the monasteries on daily basis to set herself free from the bondage holding her back.

Ages ago, life had been wonderful, when Adi was alive. They were a happy family with a good income from her father's bank job, a caring mother, a teasing and provoking younger brother and herself...till the accident had happened and the soap bubbles of her happy life had# ruptured.

She still found it hard to believe that Adi was dead, gone, forever and so were her parents virtually, father in a coma ever since, and mother carrying on life as a zombie.

She had vowed since that day that she had to be the backbone of her family, both financially and emotionally. She had to excel in her studies. She had to be a good house maker side by side. She had to pay the hospital bills and household expenses by part-time lecturership and had to study the whole night without taking a wink enabled by innumerable cups of caffeine. Marriage and her own family had never even been considered for her.

Now that she had achieved her ultimate goal, she fell empty, burnt out, with a big dark pouch-like circle under her eyes, a vacant expression in her eyes, daily headaches and chronic fatigue, and a smile that had left her lips long ago. Seeing this complete stranger in an arbitrary mirror in the monastery, she thought," Everything in this world comes at a price and this is the price I've paid for being a superwoman!!"

( To be continued...)