The wind at Sonamarg Glacier had grown harsher… it no longer felt like beauty—it felt like exposure.
🌬️ Akash stood still. Depabali didn’t move away this time. Her eyes were fixed on the endless snow ahead.
“There’s something you don’t know,” she said.
Akash looked at her. Her voice was steady… but something beneath it trembled.
“During our final exams… third year…” she paused, gathering breath, “…I found out I was pregnant.”
Everything inside Akash fell silent.
“What?” he whispered.
Depabali didn’t look at him.
“I didn’t plan to tell you… I didn’t even know how to understand it myself.”
❄️ The glacier stretched endlessly—cold… unforgiving.
“I had exams… papers to write… a future to hold on to…”
“And inside me… something had already begun.”
Akash’s breath turned uneven.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
This time—she turned.
“Would you have stayed?”
He had no answer.
Because the truth… was uncertain.
“That’s why,” she said softly.
“I decided to keep the child. No matter what.”
Her voice didn’t break—but the strength in it wasn’t easy.
“My parents didn’t accept it… they couldn’t.”
A faint, bitter smile.
“Society didn’t accept it either… you can imagine the rest.”
Akash lowered his eyes.
“You fought alone?”
“Not completely.”
He looked at her.
“One of our college teachers helped me… she believed in me when no one else did.”
Her eyes softened at the memory.
“She arranged everything—guidance, protection… even silence when it was needed.”
Akash felt something tighten inside his chest.
“I finished my exams… every paper… with this weight inside me.”
🌬️ The wind howled louder.
“I left after that… no farewell… no explanation.”
Akash looked at her.
“You didn’t even try to find me?”
Depabali smiled faintly.
“I thought about it… many times.”
Her eyes dropped.
“But I needed support then…”
A pause.
“And you weren’t there.”
Akash closed his eyes—not in defense… but in acceptance.
“I didn’t know.”
“I know.”
That made it harder.
Because it wasn’t blame… it was truth.
“I built everything from there—my career, my life, my identity…”
“For her.”
Akash’s gaze drifted toward the distance—where Asha stood… unaware… unknowing.
“And you never thought…”
“Of telling you?” she completed.
He nodded.
“You were not part of that life anymore,” she said.
The words were calm… but final.
“I couldn’t afford uncertainty then.”
❄️ The glacier stretched endlessly. Two lives stood within it—connected by something unseen… unspoken… unacknowledged for years… and yet undeniable.
Akash felt it now—not as memory… but as truth.
A bond that existed—
even when they were apart…
even when they chose silence…
even when life moved forward.
👧 From a distance, Asha called out—“Ma!”
Depabali turned.
The moment broke… but not completely.
✨ Because some truths—once spoken—never return to silence.
❄️ To Be Continued…
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