I could hardly remember any couple visiting our Institution lately. In fact, it had been ages! 'Darkest clouds were hovering right at the top of our Institution' - someone truly said. But, today, out of nowhere, here came a couple standing right outside of our front gate. There was something uncanny about them - something for which I wouldn’t forget them for ever. They seemed to be either in a hurry or anxious to spill out the purpose of their unapprised meeting. To be honest, gauging the same wasn’t that difficult for me from the way they rushed into my office. Following them, here came our lone security guard 'Ramesh', screaming all the way down to my office and complaining about the very couple for blatantly ignoring his behest - a request to wait outside and not to enter in until and unless permitted, which the couple disregarded totally.

I was having my breakfast when they suddenly dropped by at my desk. At first, I didn't know how to react as I was taken aback by their haste. But, once I collected all my thoughts, I offered both a glass of water and a chair to settle in. Ramesh was still there, prattling and questioning their conduct. But, considering the rarity of any couple visiting our Institution of late, I had to ask Ramesh to hold his horses and leave the room.
 Once Ramesh had left the room, I opened up myself and asked them the intent of their meeting. And that was when the whole story unfurled. As part of the routine, I asked them to brief about themselves, but the moment their brief introduction started turning into a compelling story, my heart began to sob heavily. The eccentricity that I was talking about earlier was perhaps this one. And by the time I assimilated the rest of the story, I was certain that the very eccentricity was nothing but their intent. Yes, it was their purpose of meeting that differentiated them from the rest of the couple who had visited our place in the past. Till this date, couples having medical complications were the only ones who showed their faces to our institution. But with this couple, there was no such thing. Medical complications were not the reason behind their visit at all. In fact, they were good to have their child, and yet they chose to come here and pay a visit. In fact, the very couple’s objective is one of those things any Institution like ours wishes for from any couple, but unfortunately, it is also something the people who met us in the past were devoid of!

I was never so lachrymose in my life before. To be honest, I don't remember when was the last time tears rolled out of my cheeks so incessantly. Maybe, it was their story which was moving enough to melt a stoic heart! I remember the couple was holding each other's hand while divulging their story. But, the good part of the story was - though it was she who was uttering every single word, it was he who was as emotional as and as indulged as she was ... as if she was speaking his heart out.

'My husband was an orphan too,' she told me in a husky voice.  She untangled her hand from that of her husband and took a sip of water … maybe to clear her throat or maybe to eliminate any leftover ounces of nervousness she was drowning into. She kept the glass back at the top of the table, imbibed the anxiety along with the water, held her husband's hand again and continued. 'Yes, the person sitting right beside me was an orphan till 5, and that was the time when his late foster father adopted him!' 'Today is my father-in-law's death anniversary. We want to honor him and his unparalleled deed. We did ponder over a couple of days, but, to pay homage to our father, we couldn’t figure out anything better than or as good as adopting a child!' 

Yes, they came here with a wish to continue their father's legacy - a legacy which we hardly see any child looking to carry forward nowadays. And since the husband had been an orphan himself, he was sure of what he was about to do and, had his father been alive, how proud his father would have been!
 I got up from my chair while wiping out my tears and requested them to follow me. While going through the aisle of the main hall, I briefed the lady about the history of our Institution and our hospitality. I took the couple to the children's playing yard where all these angels and princes were playing and enjoying - except a girl who was sitting in dismay under the shade of one of those Neem trees. The gentleman questioned why she was not playing with others. Now, it was the time I had to enlighten them with the fact that she came here just a month back and that she was the only one who survived in one of the most horrific car mishaps happened a couple of miles away, an accident which succumbed her whole family.


'That must have been so difficult for such a small girl!' the lady said in total disbelief and showed her interest in meeting her. I called Ramesh and asked him to get Zoya in my office. While Ramesh strolled to get Zoya back, I took the couple back to the office.

I was briefing the couple about the very accident Zoya's parents had been in when Ramesh brought Zoya inside my office and made her stand right beside the couple. While talking to me, the lady turned sideways towards Zoya and noticed that there was something wrong about her. She was hiding something at her back. The lady caressed her hand over Zoya's face and gently tried to bring Zoya's hands forward. But Zoya was trying to push the lady's hands back as she was hesitant to take her hands forward. The lady cuddled her and stealthily saw what she was trying to hide. It was a photo-frame - of her with her whole family. The lady cuddled Zoya one more time to make her feel safe before she said to Zoya, ' you look so much like your mother. And you have beautiful eyes – just like your mother.' To our surprise, Zoya smiled for the first time after coming here. I turned my face towards Ramesh and saw a startling look that he posed. To be taken aback was quite obvious as Zoya smiled after ages! Zoya kept the photo back at the top of the table. She too caressed her hand over the lady's face and said, 'You are very caring - just like my mother!' The moment Zoya uttered the very line, the lady said to her husband - 'Dear hubby, we got our child that we were desperately looking for!

A smile on the gentleman's face said everything. But, Zoya was still unsure of what they were talking about. A befuddling look on her face was still looking for an answer - a look which I noticed quite promptly.' You are going to your new home, with your new parents', I said to Zoya to put an end to all those questions that were hovering inside her mind.
Zoya didn't know how to respond and in a moment of uncertainty cuddled the lady again - a cuddle which made the lady leave her chair and take Zoya to the playing ground to get her mingled with other children.


Now it was just a matter of time to see Zoya leaving us soon. While I was walking the gentleman through the paper-work, Ramesh went to bring Zoya's luggage bag. I handed over a pen to the gentleman to get his signature over the papers. Meanwhile, I was still thinking about whether they would be the best parents for Zoya. While putting all those documents safe within the drawer, I surreptitiously peeped through the half-opened door and noticed that Zoya was getting along with other children and, most importantly, with her new mother. That particular view was an apt answer to my rhetorical question I believed, putting an end to all doubts I would have about the very couple!

While holding Zoya's belongings in one hand and doing a handshake with the other, the gentlemen walked along with me till the main door, turned his face towards the playing yard and said - 'Zoya, it’s time to leave now.'

Zoya grabbed her mother's hand and got into the car in no time. She was eager indeed to see her new home. And yet, I was jubilant for her action as I knew happiness stayed away from her for a long time, and she was in a desperate need of parents. The gentleman shook the hand with me for the last time; the lady nodded to me with a tinge of a smile before saying to her husband – “We should leave now.” And then, the most beautiful moment came when Zoya peeped through the window and said - 'Goodbye Uncle; I will miss you!' - before their car got disappeared into one of the alleys.

Now, it has been more than a year when Zoya left our Institution, but the memory is still fresh. Surely, it has been an unforgettable memory for me, a rare one perhaps. Yes, you heard me right - 'A rare one' - as there are so many Zoya's we still have at our Institution and we are still waiting for the next couple-cum-parents who are as wise as and as generous as those of Zoya!
                                               
--THE END --