Reincarnation - a short story

"I bet it’s a girl" Sumeet said hazily staring at the sky.
Smitha smiled as she removed the packed eatables one by one from the picnic basket.

Smitha was three-months pregnant with their baby. Sumeet had decided to take a break from his work and go for a picnic with his wife for a day or two. They chose a serene place with a river which was around 6 hour drive from their house. On a bright sunny day they packed a few stuffs hurriedly, hopped inside the car, turned on the music and drove to the place they had been planning since the past one week.

“What do you think we should name her?” Sumeet asked still staring at the sky.
“I thought about it one day. If it’s a boy, we will name him Sujit and if it’s a girl, we will name her Kiran. Sweet and simple. Isn’t it?” Smitha replied.
“I know. We will name her Nayana, meaning eyes, because she’ll have beautiful eyes like you have.” He turned sideways and looked at Smitha straight into her eyes. For a moment he felt as if he saw the whole world in her eyes.

Just before dusk, everything suddenly became dark. The sky got completely covered by black clouds. It was totally unexpected. Sumeet had checked the forecast that day. The papers had never mentioned any possible showers.
“When has the newspaper ever been right about the weather” she said with a told-you-so look on her face.
“But- But the monsoons not until 3 weeks from now. This must be one of those pre-monsoon showers as they call it.”
“I don’t know what they call it. All I know is that we now need to wind up and head back to the city.” She said as she started packing the uneaten foods back into the basket.

After they were done stuffing everything into the car, he started driving back to the city. It started raining very heavily. The wipers tried hard but couldn’t make much of a difference. The headlights were dim too. And all he could hear was the sound of trees ruffling against each other in the rain. He drove fast so that they could reach home as soon as possible. After 2 hours he felt thirsty, so he turned back to take the water-bottle from the basket.
Smitha suddenly screamed, “Sumeet, Truck..NO”.
Even before he could make some sense out of it, he heard a loud noise and a very bright flash like he had never seen or heard before. Few minutes later he was lying there on the ground trying hard to move but couldn’t. After some time he heard something which sounded like sirens. He closed his eyes and collapsed.

Sumeet opened his eyes and found himself in an emergency ward. He started recollecting everything one by one. The picnic, dark clouds, rain, a scream, bright flash. He remembered all. The doctor entered the room.
“Hello Mr.Sumeet, How are you feeling now?” The doctor enquired.
“Whereas my wife? Her names Smitha. Where is she?”
“I am really sorry Mr.Sumeet but we couldn’t save her. It was too late. I am sorry”
He lay there on his bed the same way he was lying near the river on their picnic. The only difference was he was staring at the blank ceiling this time and not the sky. Tears trickled down his cheeks.

“I am Dr.Kapil, Is there anything that I can do for you?” the doctor asked.
“I don’t want her to die, doctor”
“Mr.Sumeet..huh…But..”
“Doctor, I want to donate her eyes and other organs. Can I do that?” he said firmly.
“You surely can Mr.Sumeet” the doctor replied.

Weeks passed by and the monsoons finally arrived. Smitha was right. The newspapers were always wrong with their forecasts. One rainy day he stayed at home from work because he was down with flu. Reluctantly he got up and went to the hospital. As he waited in the hospital outside the doctor’s room, he saw a small pretty girl pass by. The girl looked at him and gave him a beatific smile. There was something in her that made Sumeet wonder. Dr. Kapil was passing by and saw Sumeet standing.
“Hello Mr.Sumeet, What brings you here?”
Kapil caught him staring at that small girl.
“Do you know her?”
Sumeet nodded.
“Well..you should, In fact you have the right to know about her. She is six years old and she was born blind. But now she can see the world through your wife’s eyes. Smitha’s eyes were given to her.”
Sumeet couldn’t believe his ears. He knew it. He knew that some part of Smitha would still be alive.

He drove back home and somehow he felt very happy that day. Next morning he took the teddy bear he had once bought for their unborn child, hopped into his car and drove to the hospital. He asked Dr.Kapil and went to that girl’s room. As he entered her room he saw her staring at the rain hitting against the window glass. Something she was seeing for the first time.
“Hi, I am Sumeet, I have a present for you”
The girl turned, “Aren’t you the uncle I saw yesterday?”
“Yes I am” and smiled.
He kept the teddy bear beside her and asked, “Whats your name dear?”
“Naina”.