Malaal Ongoing G

Malaal-Chapter 11

Published On Monday,Aug 03, 2020 09:18 AM GMT-06:00

Chapter 11:

Jigar and Ahem looked for Rashi in every hotel, with the help of some faithful employees. When no hope was in sight, they went to the police station to file a report. Both Jigar and Ahem returned home with distressed faces.

“Kya hua Ahemji? Rashiben ka kuch pata chala?”, Gopi came running to him as soon as they entered. He shook his head slowly.

“Ahem kya tumne police mai complain likhwaayi?”, asks Chirag.

“Ji Kaka. Unhone kaha ki woh poori koshish karenge but chances thode kam hai, kyunki Rashi ne sheher se baahar jaane waala kisi bhi public transport ka istimaal nahi kiya hai, aur naa hi woh sheher ke kisi hotel ya inn mai hai. Aur toh aur uska phone yahan Rajkot mai hi switch off kiya gaya hai.”, Ahem said.

“Hay Krishna Bhagwan, kahin Rashi ko kisi ne kuch kar na diya ho...”, Kokila says, putting her hand on her head.

“Nahi, Kanhaji aisa kuch nai hone denge. Kokila, Rashi ne khud ek lawyer ko bheja tha, iss ka matlab woh sahi salamat hai. Haina?”, Hetal said.

“Haan Motabhabhi, lekin shayad humne Rashi ko humesha ke liye kho diya hai.”, Kokila said, looking at Jigar.

Jigar hadn’t said a word. He silently went to his room and the pet puppy he had named ‘Champ’ came running to him. He sat down with him and a tear rolled down his cheek.

“I am sorry Champ, I lost the woman who’d have loved you more than me.”, he said.

“Arre yeh sab logh yahan? Ahem, kya tumne inhe bulaaya hai?”, Kokila was saying when she saw some men with paint boxes and brushes standing in the hall.

“Nahi Mom. Mai toh khud soch raha hoon. Ji, aap sab ko kisne bulaaya hai-“, he was asking when interrupted by Jigar’s voice from the staircase.

“Aagaye aap logh? Chaliye, mera room upar hai.”, he said and turned and the painters followed him.

For hours, neither Jigar nor the painters came out of his locked room. Finally Jigar and the painters went out of the house and no one got a chance to ask Jigar anything.

“Gopi vahu, let’s see what Jigar had been doing to his room.”, Kokila asked Gopi.

Kokila, Hetal and Gopi went to his room and as soon as the door opened, their breaths stopped.

It was Rashi everywhere. All walls of the room had large portraits of Rashi painted on them. Rashi’s beaming smiling face right above the bed. Her low key seductive expression right opposite to it. Her irritated look on the study table wall. And the most beautiful one; Rashi dancing in her baby pink kurta and white churidar, while baby pink blossom petals raining on her. Each painting had been taken from Jigar’s memory. He had saved her every detail in his heart. The rest of the space had Rashi’s small photographs. Not a single space had been left vacant.

A tear rolled down Hetal’s cheek. “He really loves her like anything.”

Kokila couldn’t agree more. “Yes Motabhabi. I mean, this is crazy.”, she said out of fascination and awe.

“Mom-...Oh my God...”, they heard Ahem say from behind.

He stood their in awe for some seconds. “Yeh Jigar bhi na sachi, pyaar mai pagal hai.”, he said and smiled a teary smile.

They all saw Jigar entering the room. He didn’t get embarrassed or surprised to see them there. He simply walked in and requested them to leave him alone.

“But Jigar dikra, come let’s have some food”, Hetal said, half expecting that he would say no.

“Okay Ma. Just after some time.”, he said blankly. The four of them smiled at this and left the room, leaving Jigar staring at the paintings.

“Till I find you Rashi, till I see you, till I get you back, your memories will stay with me, your existence will survive within me, your heart would beat within me, and your name would be engraved on me...” he said and removed his shirt to see her name that he had just got tattooed on his shoulder.

“And my name? My name would be synonymous with yours. I won’t be known as Jigar anymore, to anyone. I would be known as your lover. Just your lover.”

He had a certain coldness in his eyes, a low-key mania, a vibe that he had changed drastically.

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“She won’t exist for Jigar from now on.”

These words were ringing in Rashi’s head since hours. She had been sitting in the balcony of Ishan’s house and staring hard into nothingness. Ishan had been looking at her in fear, so dangerous and so broken her face looked. Both of them were silent all this while. Rashi could feel tears in her eyes, but she didn’t want to cry. Not even one single tear for him. Nothing. Her lips shivering, her fists clenched and her eyes wide open, she was trying to fight the urge to cry her heart out. She had to control her pain. Because crying would be the sign of her love. While being angry would be the sign of her hate. She wanted the latter, that’s what Jigar deserved. In one jerk, she turned to Ishan. Ishan’s breath halted for a moment; she was looking like a psychotic, radiating a serial killer vibe.

“Give me that godamn alcohol.”, she said, surprisingly in a normal voice.

Ishan was taken aback. Yeah, he had suggested her, but really? She was ready to take it?

“Will you, Ishan?”, she asked again.

He swallowed and nodded slowly, and ran full speed to get a bottle from his room.

“Wait, I will get the glass-“

“This isn’t a party. I need it urgently.”, she said and took the bottle from his hand. In one moment, she drank it for a long time, and plumped down on the couch.

“I HATE HIM!”, she shouted to the skyscrapers and smiled with tearful eyes.

“Rashi Shah won’t love him anymore! She will forget him! Here, she does it right now! She won’t love him! She won’t-“, she smiled sadly and slowly went to sleep, the alcohol getting on to her quiet quickly.

Ishan smiled sadly at her and sighed. “Uff. What love does to people. Ishan, you got to be there for her.”, he thought and went on to go through Rashi’s files. He checked her degrees and squealed in surprise. “B.Com? Damn, haha, this lady won’t leave me alone.”, he joked and decided to talk to Rashi about it in the morning.

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