Malaal-Chapter 4

Chapter 4

“Rashiben, yeh nishaan kaisa? Aap ko kisi keede ne kaata hai shayad.”, Radha asked Rashi while having her breakfast.

Everybody on the dining table looked at Rashi. Precisely, at the love bite on her neck. Rashi blushed a little.

“Umm, haan Radha, kal kisi keede ne kaat liya.”, she said quickly. Everyone put their heads down to save Rashi from some embarrassment. Meanwhile, Hetal smiled a bit and looked at Kokila, who suppressed her smile with much effort. Rashi looked at Jigar to see his reaction, but surprisingly he seemed totally uninterested in the conversation. He wasn’t shy, or embarrassed or...anything.

Radha got the cue from everyone’s reaction. She couldn’t believe it. What she expected was a big fight between Rashi and Jigar, and she instead gets to know that they made love last night. She clenched her fists silently and took a deep breath. “Maybe my plan has failed. Maybe they sorted it out. Maybe they trust each other too much.”, she thought and swallowed her food with much difficulty. “But atleast let me do the Kokila job now.”, she thought and took a deep breath.

“We all have to go to the Shri Krishna temple tonight, I hope you all remember.”, Kokila asked, to which all members nodded.

“Mom, I’ll leave for the office. Come Jigar.”, Ahem said and got up. As usual their wives followed them to the door to wish them goodbye and give each a secret goodbye kiss. Gopi gave it to Ahem in the driveway while Rashi did it at the door itself, everyday.

Gopi and Ahem walked outside. As soon as Rashi came forward to kiss Jigar,  he moved away.

“I am getting late Rashi, bye.”, he said and left.

Rashi was left shocked. Jigar had never done this before and obviously they weren’t getting late. Rashi stood their in confusion with tears in her eyes.

Jigar had been thinking many things since yesterday and getting hurt during each of it. He tried to think rationally about what would happen to their babies, once he gets divorced from Rashi, but simultaneously he would cry and ask why he is in such a situation at the first place. He had seen love in Rashi’s eyes for him, even last night. But the more he thought about it, the more he realised that he had been wrong all along. The love he used to see in Rashi’s eyes wasn’t real. It was just a farce, a lie, beautifully conveyed through those beautiful eyes. He tried to get himself back in his senses. He was sitting with Ahem in the car and didn’t want Ahem to guess that there was something wrong with him. But he constantly asked himself, “Would Rashi take away the kids from me? Or does she even love them? I don’t think she would want her children to act as a hurdle between her love story with Varun. She would let them be with me I think. But, aren’t they too young? What if the court orders Rashi to keep them? Will she, how? What will I do without my children? Hell, what will I do without my wife, without my world?”. His train of thoughts was stopped by a jerk due to a speed breaker, and he got back to his senses.

Rashi slowly walked to the temple in their house, and looked at Kanhaji. She was so lost that she couldn’t think clearly what she had to ask God for. She had felt that she had it all, but Jigar’s sudden change in behaviour since last night had shaken that belief. She couldn’t brush off the gut feeling she had, that something was not quite right. She just couldn’t put her finger to what exactly it was.

She just stood there quietly, when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She knew it was Gopi.

“Gopi, ask your favourite Kanhaji that why he always does this to me?”, Rashi said.

Gopi was surprised. Though, she had sensed that something was wrong, during breakfast. But also, Rashi’s love bites made her think otherwise.

“Rashiben, what has happened? Please tell me, and I am sure, by the grace of Kanhaji, we will deal with it.”, she said softly.

Rashi told her what Jigar had done at the door moments ago and how he’s been behaving oddly since last night.

“But Rashiben, I suppose everything was fine between you and Devarji last night, isn’t it?”, she said, slyly indicating towards the love bite.

Rashi understood what Gopi meant. But she couldn’t bring herself to tell her that there was something very wrong in their love making last night. Something uncertain. That the love felt like sweet poison dripping from the fangs of a stealthy snake of hatred. The way it engulfed both of them last night, and they couldn’t help getting drowned in it.

“Gopi, leave it okay? Let’s get Sahir and Samar here. It’ll lighten my mood. Uff, see how much time we wasted here in talking. Come.”, Rashi said and took Gopi with her to her room.

They walked into the room and saw both babies sleeping. Rashi was pleasantly surprised.

“How come they are still sleeping? They usually get up by now.”, Rashi said, approaching them.

“Babies never cease to surprise us, Rashiben.”, Gopi said with a smile.

Rashi picked Samar up and paused. She turned pale. Her hands were shaking.

“Go...gopi....”, her voice choked.

“What happened Rashiben?”, Gopi said in shock.

“He’s...my baby....my baby is not breathing.”, Rashi said slowly, tears blinding her vision.

Gopi ran to her.

“What are you saying Rashiben! What do you mean? No, Rashiben..”Gopi screamed.

She picked up Sahir and sat down with a thud.

“Rashiben, even Sahir, is not..”, she looked at Rashi and before she could complete, she saw Rashi fall to the ground.

“RASHIBEN!”, Gopi screamed and put her head down in grief. She couldn’t think clearly. She wanted to think that all of it was just a nightmare and she’ll wake up from it any moment now. But it wasn’t.

“Maaji! Kakiji! Papaji! Baa!”, was all she could manage to shout.

They all heard her shout and ran to Rashi’s room, and even one look on the face of Gopi, two babies lying lifeless and an unconscious Rashi was enough to tell them, that their lives won’t remain the same anymore.

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