Chapter 1 - Why The New Saath

Hello Everyone!

Firstly it was totally unexpected to have TaaRey back and that was the most beautiful part of the lockdown! Like 7 years later? Who would have even imagined!! 

And we knew Palki would definitely do something to give them the closure they needed back in 2013 - but what would she do was nobody's guess - because of the messed up characters. It just wasn't sitting well. 

But there she came with a beauty that only she could write up! What a webisode - had me thinking a whole week about it!

It was bittersweet..It was special. It hit home and it tied up every loose end. It re-defined Rey's character and gave justice to Taani's - all in just 10 minutes. It re-defined what they shared in their own words..and gave us a new beginning. 

I am picking the story up from that point. 

Let's explore their #NewSaath together - Chalo Chale Mitwa!

Taani sat there, staring at the "Board of Feelings" after she had finished her call with Rey, a hundred emotions running riot through her mind. A call on her laptop broke her line of thoughts. It was Swayam, her brother. She quickly connected. 

"Heyyy!" Swayam chirped but immediately paused looking at her sad face. "Umm..how did it go?" He asked. 

"I don't know Bhai..I can say it went well. But you won't agree to that if I say we are not together anymore." Taani smiled. 

"What? Hold on! Kya keh rahi ho tum?" Swayam was completely confused. 

"Rey and I spoke Bhai..we spoke like we have never spoken before. And trust me, it was beautiful to know what actually is in his heart. I saw myself anew in his vision today. Bhai aapko bhi pata hai, all of us have been through a lot. For me it was a broken marriage..after which I was trying to re-discover myself. And then Rey came back into my life once again." she said speaking her heart out. 

"And you weren't that happy there.." Swayam completed for her. 

"Yup because somewhere it felt forced. For both me and for him. He was just healing after Kria had left once again. It just did not sit well with what we shared. It was not normal. And that was what we spoke about today." she wiped a tear from her eye. 

"Go on.." Swayam urged. 

"We defined Love bhai. What it meant to us and ironically it came down to everything we ever shared. Today he realised that he was wrong when he decided to fake that break up with me. Today he told me things..which he never told me before. And you know what Bhai? Our definitions of Love were the same. Our thoughts match even today.. that connection has come alive again, like never before." 

Swayam was confounded by now. On one hand she was speaking about love, on the other hand her eyes held a pain and then peace that he had not seen since a long time. What was going on? 

"But then..we realised that this was not the way it was meant to be for us. It was insult to the emotion that we shared to be with each other without understanding what or why. Maybe that is why Rey took all these efforts..you see this Board Bhai?" Taani turned the laptop to show her brother the Board of Love. 

"Wow.."Swayam whispered surprised. 

"To tell me what I meant to him..to apologise for his mistakes and made me tell him what he meant to me - and finally coming down to what we never could be before - Friends!" She had a melancholic smile on her face. 

"Kya? After all this? Friends?!" Swayam exclaimed. He had just gotten Sharon back after a long period of struggle..And he wanted his sister and his beat friend to be happy as well. He couldn't digest what was happening. 

Taani giggled.  "Yes Bhai. Back then our relationship had everything - except for friendship. And the lack of that one crucial element led to so many misunderstandings and heartbreaks. So many wrong decisions," she sighed. 

"Today I could see the beginning of a new understanding, a new bond that we will cherish forever. Something that is Beyond the conventional definitions of friendship and love. A Saath that is Forever," her eyes held the shine of joy that came from within. 

"But why friends? Taani I can see that peace and happiness in your eyes which I haven't seen in a long time. But what exactly did Rey say?" Swayam was struggling between opposite emotions now. He Did not know whether to be happy or to be sad. 

"He told me he has a lot of Love in his heart for me

..But not that affair waala love." she replied, her eyes welling up. 

"And I totally understand that. What he has for me is beyond every definition Bhai. It is pure and selfless. It is something that has helped me grow, know my own self." she tried putting her emotions in words. 

"Are you happy? Kya tum hurt nahi ho?" was Swayam's only question. 

"I am hurt..But I am also at peace. A peace that I cannot describe. A peace that I had felt long ago when I was with Rey in the very beginning days of our relationship. Bhai one thing I have realised in all the ups and downs I have gone through is that - humein kabhi bhi apni khushiyon ke liye kisi par dependent nahi hona chahiye. Even if that is your better half - you are not dependent on him for your happiness.. instead his happiness becomes your happiness. What we share is beautiful Bhai. I have no idea aage kya hoga, but I know one thing - We are in the right place. I am not going to rush anything. I just want to cherish my present with Rey..the bond that I share with him, the meaningful relationship that is blossoming between us. So yes, I am content, after a long time. With his words, he gave me freedom from myself once again." she signed off. 

"And what about the love you hold in your heart for him? Will that be happy just being his friend?" Swayam asked, always being the one to ask eye-opening questions. 

"The love I hold in my heart for him is forever. It is eternal and it is special. And I am happy being by his side on whatever form he allows. Even if as his friend. Bhai main explain nahi kar sakti..par main khush hun. Aur main thik hun. Don't worry," she assured him. 

Swayam took a deep breath. He had known deep down that this was coming. He wondered how Rey was doing.

With Rey

"So?" Sharon questioned. 

"So?" Rey replied to the challenging face staring at him on his computer screen. 

"You look content. But you also look sad. What is it? What happened with Taani?" Sharon couldn't contain herself. 

After great difficulty she had gotten Swayam back in her life. She wanted Rey to be happy too. In her opinion, he had suffered enough emotional turmoil. 

"It went well..I spoke to her, I made her understand and in that process understood many things myself," he answered. 

Sharon waited for him to go on. 

"I realised that one cannot define love..defining Love is like defiling love. You see this Board of Love behind me? These are just a few words that define what I and Taani share and I wasn't surprised that her thoughts matched mine," he trailed off. 

"So..is everything fine between both of you?" Sharon asked, confused now. 

"If you call not being together fine - then yes it is." Rey smiled. 

"What? Rey please explain." she was exasperated at that statement. 

"Look Sharon, when I spoke to Taani today I wanted to speak my heart out about what she meant to me If it since 5 years ago. And nothing, trust me nothing has changed that. She was the one who fixed me back then, she is the one who is standing by me even today. She has been a constant..And I do not want to insult that support, that love with my own confused mind. Both of us have come out of broken relationships that were pretty much emotionally draining. And for a fact, I know that she loves me much more than I ever can. I did not want to do injustice to that love, once again like I had done back in college," he paused. 

Sharon was listening keenly. 

"Today I apologized for every mistake I had made and gave her, her rightful place in my heart - as a partner, a friend who deserves compassion and understanding, not someone who can be taken for granted. She has given me so much Sharon, she made me understand myself. Her love is just so pure," Rey smiled to himself. 

Something in that smile, relieved the worries in Sharon's heart. 

"As of now, one thing I am sure of is that I respect her immensely, she is extremely important to me and what we share means the world to me. For now, I am not thinking what will become of the future - I am content with what I have in my present, a friendship that I maybe always wanted, an understanding we always sought but never got." 

"Friendship?" Sharon was surprised. After his speech she certainly did not expect this. 

Reh chuckled. "Yeah. I know it is surprising. But that is the way it has always been with me and Taani. Our relationship was never normal to begin with. We have no definition, we share something that is Beyond understanding. That allows us to be there for each other, even after having a past together and away from each other. In her, I see an anchor..that I thought I had lost. Sharon do you remember? During she engagement, she had told you that she could never become my friend? That had me gutted back then..But I realised it was true. I could never give Taani what she deserved Sharon," He sighed. 

Sharon kept silent, listening keenly to every word. 

"So now instead of forcing each other into this relationship - I thought why not begin anew? Why not begin with that one relationship which is magical, but one that we never had? Why not begin with a New Saath?"

"Rey but.." Sharon did not know what to say. His words were acting like an oxymoron. It made her heart ache and gave it a sense of peace at the same time. 

"I do not want to make mistakes again Sharon. I have made enough of them. This time I want to take it slow, I want to be here in the present, cherishing her for who she is, carving an understanding that was previously lacking, allowing this bond to blossom rather than hastily term it as something as conventional as Love. Because what we share is even beyond Love. It is something that I do not want to insult with my hasty decisions anymore. She deserves happiness more than anything else. Neither do I want to lose her. I choose to treasure our present, than hope for the future. Affair waala love is temporary..the TaaRey waala New Saath is forever," he smiled from his heart after ages. 

And that smile put to rest all of Sharon's concerns. She had nothing more to say. Indeed, a love That returns after 5 years, one that never went anywhere had to be beyond every definition, beyond even forever!

With Taani

"Bhai?? Trust me..everything will be fine. Because you know what? Affair waala love is temporary, break up hogaya toh woh love bhi khatam. But our New Saath is forever. Whether we are together or not in the actual sense of that term or not, it will always shine on. A love that is Beyond everything else." she smiled, her heart content after ages.

And this contentment, this smile touched Swayam's heart too. It made him want to jump out of the screen and hug his sister tight. All he wanted was for her to be happy.

While he hoped that she and Rey would come together as he and Sharon had, for now it was enough for him to see both of them make a new beginning together, putting an end to the mistakes of their past and picking up from everything that was beautiful about their bond. 

That was enough. 

There ends Chapter 1 - or rather begins. :) Please do your likes and comments!