Until We Meet Again

 

 Thoroughly contemplating various pictures from his first marriage to the birth of 'Pari', Sameer engrossed in the memories of his life, about his beloved wife 'Shreya' and how he lost her post-delivery of their child.

"Had I not decided to get a mother for my innocent neonate Pari, we would have been living blissfully", thoughts that encompass Sameer's mind after getting into a worthless spat with Ameesha almost regularly.

"Papa, I don't want to go to a hostel, I will always obey to whatever Mumma asks, please papa", said Pari as she came running to Sameer and crying inconsolably. "My doll, no one can dare send you anywhere," Papa assured little Pari and hugged her tightly.

As Pari left the room, poised and tranquility with the futile justification, Sameer got back to his assignment. Sameer is a truly motivated, methodical and talented Scientist working with a prestigious multinational robotics company based out of Pune. Currently he is applying his proficiency on an artificial intelligence-based human-robot - 'Meeso'.

Sameer has been 'head over heels' about Shreya since the day he met her. She was a loving wife and a caring partner, whom he felt to heart and soul and blushed every time as she called him "Somu". Shreya had many dreams about the baby and had even planned ways to bring her up splendidly and gracefully, but ill-fated as she could not recover from the complications that developed after her delivery. Sameer was all devastated and bone-tired with this despair, but came in terms with life, seeing his daughter for the very first time, naming her 'Pari', his little angel.

Shreya, who was all over the house back then, is now confined and constricted to just some unkempt photo albums, after Ameesha pinch-hit, substituting as Pari's new Mom. Sameer's sole purpose of marrying for the second time went all in vain when Ameesha started treating Pari perfunctorily and abysmally. It became a regular chore of seeing Pari gloomy, hushed and every time near Sameer's working space but always inquisitive about the mechanics and attributes of the Robot that Sameer is working on. Once Sameer saw Pari muffling Meeso with Shreya's stole and playfully talking to her as her own, making it an emotionally endearing moment for him. It assured Sameer that at least now Pari has someone to be attached to, which can bring smile on her face.

Presently Sameer is working on a software program that will ask the Robot to send an SOS alarm to Sameer's smartphone if any emergency exists in his surroundings. Meeso will assess the situation and if it does not synchronise with the normal environment, it would prompt immediately along with the pictures of the surrounding. Still working on the program, Sameer sends various encrypted pictures to the Robot's Processor to access, match it with its Data and memory and react accordingly.

"Papa, Meeso told me that you always loose every badminton match that you used to play with Badi Mumma (Shreya)," enquired Pari chuckling. "Baby, you should avoid playing with my things, the Robot might encounter some problem, play with your toys. And moreover, you naughty girl don't cook stories as I do not always loose, it's just once in a while," claimed Sameer patting on Pari's back and sending her from there. "Silly girl how come Meeso tell all this which is still not programmed to enunciate and between how will a Robot know about me and Shreya. Kids these days always into mischiefs", thoughts that engrossed Sameer's mind, but he laid rest on all this.

Days after an SOS from Meeso, flashed on Sameer's phone with some blurred images while he was in office, which shook him from the core, and he rushed to his house. Reaching there Sameer was stuck seeing Pari shrieking with pain due to a deep cut on her knee and blood oozing out profoundly. Without wasting a single minute, he rushed Pari to the hospital. On the way Sameer assimilated from Pari that Ameesha shoved her in annoyance and so she got injured, which infuriated Sameer a lot and he decided to part ways with Ameesha forever.

As Ameesha left home after Sameer stern injunction to her to leave forthwith, Sameer sat vanquished and he felt dispirited due to the afflictions that Pari was subjected to. In a moment Meeso affirmed Sameer with an assertive tone, "Don't worry Somu, everything will be alright, do take care of yourself."

"Ya Ya, I know it Shreya, now things will be better", replied Sameer and left the room contemplated.

"Wait what? What did you just say?" exclaimed Sameer just an odd second later and stopped at once. How come with no power, a Robot react and respond and that too calling him 'Somu'. Petrified and bewildered Sameer entered his working space again and saw Meeso shutting down his flashy eyes slowly and slowly......with a dull tone of sound, "UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN."