The Teacher Who Knelt to maid Son

[Batni123]

Backstory – The Night the Seed Was Chosen
(Three weeks before the Ludo game)

1:14 a.m.
The flat was wrapped in darkness and the low hum of the ceiling fan.
Radha sat on the edge of the master bed in her thin white nightie, knees drawn to her chest, phone glowing against her tear-streaked face.

Arvind’s exhausted voice crackled across the ocean.
“Doctor ne final bol diya, Radha. Mera ED permanent hai. {The doctor has given the final verdict, Radha. My ED is permanent.}
Do IVF cycles barbaad. {Two IVF cycles have failed.}
Tum 37 ki ho… egg reserve bhi khatam hota ja raha hai. {You’re 37… your egg reserve is also running out.}
Lockdown kab khulega, kisko pata. {Who knows when the lockdown will end.}
Ab kya bacha hai?” {What’s left now?}

Radha closed her eyes.
Eight years of trying.
Eight years of empty nurseries and negative tests.
The longing had become a stone in her womb.

She whispered, “Ek tarika hai, Arvind. {There is one way, Arvind.}
Koi jawaan ladka… jisko hum poora trust kar sakein. {Some young boy… whom we can fully trust.}
Good genes, good height, intelligent, well-mannered.
Natural insemination.
Koi clinic nahi, direct.” {No clinic, direct.}

Arvind laughed once, hollow.
“Tum pagalon ki tarah baat kar rahi ho. {You’re talking like a madwoman.}
Aisa ladka kahan se laaogi jo zindagi bhar muh band rakhega?” {Where will you find a boy who’ll keep his mouth shut for life?}

Radha’s voice fell to almost nothing.
“Nikhil.”

Dead silence.

“Lakshmi ka Nikhil?” {Lakshmi’s Nikhil?}

Arvind’s eyes widened on the screen.
“Colour fair matches with you… baaki bhi sab perfect. {… everything else is also perfect.}
Intelligent hai, seedha-sada hai, background humein pata hai. {He’s intelligent, simple, we know his background.}
Bas 19 saal ka hai, sperm count sky-high hoga. {Only 19 years old, sperm count will be sky-high.}
Aur woh hum par dependent hai… kabhi muh nahi kholega.” {And he’s dependent on us… he’ll never open his mouth.}

Arvind stared at his beautiful, childless wife for a long moment.
Then he exhaled, defeated, loving.
“Agar tum chahti ho… kar lo, jaan. {If you want it… do it, love.}
Main toh waise bhi kuch de nahi paa raha. {I can’t give you anything anyway.}
Bas khayal rakhna apna.” {Just take care of yourself.}

Call ended.

Radha let the phone slip from her fingers.
Tears rolled down her cheeks in hot, silent streams.

She didn’t hear the soft creak of the door.

Lakshmi stood in the shadows, pallu pressed to her mouth, eyes shining.
She stepped inside, closed the door without a sound, and sat beside Radha on the bed like a sister.

“Didi… maine sab sun liya.” {Didi… I heard everything.}

Radha’s whole body jerked.
Shame crashed over her like boiling water.

Lakshmi took Radha’s trembling hand in both of hers.
“Didi, aapne mere liye itna kiya hai. {Didi, you’ve done so much for me.}
Mera beta aapki wajah se padh raha hai, aapke ghar mein reh raha hai. {My son is studying because of you, living in your house.}
Baccha chahiye aapko? {You want a child?}
Toh mera Nikhil dega. {Then my Nikhil will give it.}
Main uski maa hoon, main kuch nahi kar sakti… lekin main bahane se gaon chali jaungi jab samay aayega. {I’m his mother, I can’t do anything… but I’ll go to the village on some excuse when the time comes.}
Aap jo karna hai, kar lena.” {You do whatever you have to.}

Radha stared at her, stunned, tears still falling.
“Lekin… woh mujhse bahut darta hai…” {But… he’s very scared of me…}

Lakshmi’s smile was small, wise, almost wicked.
“Darta toh hai… lekin jawaan ladka hai, didi. {He is scared… but he’s a young man, Didi.}
Main uski maa hoon, main jaanti hoon...me apki into madam kardungi ki bahar chale” jaungi {I’m his mother, I know...I will help you in giving personal time, will go out for some reason }

She leaned closer, voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper.
“Lekin didi… mujhe bhi kuch chahiye.” {But Didi… I want something too.}

Radha wiped her face.
“Bolo.” {Tell me.}

“Nikhil ko sambhaalna, top engineering college dilwana, poora kharcha… {Take care of Nikhil, get him into a top engineering college, bear all expenses…}
Aur aapke paas itne flats hain, ek flat uske naam kar dena. {And you have so many flats, transfer one in his name.}
Jab tak woh top engineer na ban jaaye, saari zimmedari aapki.” {Until he becomes a top engineer, the entire responsibility is yours.}

Radha laughed through her tears, the sound half-sob, half-relief.
“Pakka. {Definitely.}
Yehi flat, jisme hum rehte hain… main Nikhil ke naam kar dungi. {This very flat we live in… I’ll transfer it to Nikhil’s name.}
Bas… woh mera kaam kar de. {Just… let him do my work.}
Mera pet bhar de.” {Fill my womb.}

Lakshmi squeezed her hand so hard it hurt, eyes shining with fierce maternal pride.
“Toh phir theek hai, didi. {Then it’s settled, Didi.}
Ab aap bas thoda sa khel khelna… thoda sa challenge, thoda sa haar maan’na. {Now you just play a little game… a little challenge, a little defeat.}
Baaki main dekh lungi.” {I’ll handle the rest.}

She rose, smoothed her old cotton saree, and walked to the door.
At the threshold she paused, looked back, eyes twinkling like stars.

“Aur haan…
jab pet bhar jaaye,
toh bacche ka naam hum dono milkar rakhenge. {And yes… when the womb is full, we’ll choose the child’s name together.}
Main toh soch rahi hoon… ‘Arjun’.
Jeetega zaroor.” {I’m thinking… ‘Arjun’. He will definitely win.}

Radha nodded, tears still falling, but now lit with a wild, desperate hope.

Three weeks later the Ludo board was laid out.
The dice were loaded long before they were ever rolled.

The queen had already decided whose pawn would cross the finish line first.
And whose seed would finally give her the child she had prayed for every single night.