Chapter 27

Chapter 22

RR MANSION

One of her brows twitched followed by a low gasp her lips made, something was happening, the sound came from nearby, and her sleeping body was responding to the peaceful vibes that the environment was creating.

"eh..." Pallavi hugged Raghav tight but when did her husband turn so soft. Her nose scrunched up trying to make out her surroundings without opening her eyes and just when she realized it was Raghav's pillow she was hugging the nadaswaram's frequency alerted her followed by the beats she heard only when...Her eyes opened to a past memory and then a few more such memories followed... Raghav was performing Bharatnatyam.

A glimpse of the digital on the wall told her it was ten minutes past 9, the white and blue shaded curtains were fluttering with the morning air and it was strange how she felt fresh even when she was able to sleep barely for two or three hours. All these nights when he was away she was not able to sleep properly despite all those long sleep hours, but just his presence last night cured all her illnesses. Rubbing her eyes of the remnants of sleep her fingers touched the lips and she was notified how they needed a layer of moisturization, she was reminded about the assault they went through this morning. Collecting her hair and tying them in a loose ponytail she grabbed her gown slip and mumbled a little prayer to Lord Ganesha for everything.

She would have been busy smiling feeling something new inside her, on the current events of the morning and the aftermath until the Mrdangam's beats alerted her about something she didn't want to miss at any costs. Unlike her, this was a side of Raghav he kept to himself and she loved staring stealthily just like she had done the first time, before their marriage.

She almost ran again but then stopped her ever-ready Adidas-ready feet to walk slowly, and splashed some cold water on her face. she barely made it to his personal space and after reaching the door she joined her hands to the idol of Shiva in Natrajan to which Raghav was kneeling offering a Pranam; She had missed the first few moments where the dancer pays a small tribute to his teachers and also tells the Gods how grateful he is for all the blessings he has been bestowed with.

The beats resumed and this time they were not slow, she could feel the vibrations hitting her from the other side of the door, His stoic eyes moved to and fro along with the different mudras his long fingers made. The flute's melodious tune she was familiar with disappeared into a powerful rage the fast chord of Veena's created in no time and as if a certain kind of angst started coming out, Raghav's moves turned chaotic.

As a classical dancer herself, she always felt a stiffness in his expressions, a kind of boundary his body made between his heart and his movements. This was not something he enjoyed, this was something he paid a lot of respect and as an observant person, Pallavi knew that he locked himself inside only when he needed a talk with his Gods and of course to his MOTHER.

The symphony created was enchanting her to his hidden side when the sole of his feet and then toes tapped the ground in beautiful synchrony with his palms which opened, closed, sometimes in front of his torso sometimes in front of his chest along with little gaps where his arms balanced themselves in the lotus mudra.

The winds fluttered the curtains that touched her bare arms but it didn't make her lose her concentration and as the music turned fast she bated her breath for the circles he was going to make.

But to her surprise today he didn't circle around the area but balanced his feet to his spot and his arms outstretched and his neck moved... the arms changed mudras with the beats and she realized, Today it was not the angst he was trying to end his performance with, his ending moves symbolized hope, and for the first time during his dance sessions, she witnessed a small smile on his face that was usually devoid in all his offerings she had witnessed till now. The end of his offering was always accompanied by rounding an imaginary circle and he finally started to take rounds with his hands making sharp movements.

when his palms joined again to say a final Namaskar was when she observed something she had not till now, in front of the Metallic Natraja Shiva and Photograph of Amma was kept a small idol of Lord Ganesha.

*****

"You can always come inside." rolling twice the sleeves of his checkered shirt he told her when they were getting ready to leave for the day.

"No, I like it that way," she replied making a part in her hair.

"Chhup ke chhup ke khidki ke peeche se..."

"That sounds like a teenager," she turned to him for a small moment to share the laugh. " but Yes, I don't want to distract you."

More than distraction it was something she wanted to keep serene forever, she was trained as well in a classical form and she had no qualms in sharing it with the world but for him, it seemed a way to converse with people he wanted so desperately, a medium to clear his own mind.

"Anna, all meetings are rescheduled but the merchants from Nepal insist on a meeting today only so how about a meeting at dinner" Farhad stopped at their doors.

"Okay, but by six leave for your home, after that Ajith would handle it all..." Raghav instructed him.

"then I'll go and arrange the meeting at dinner.: "Farhad started to leave the door.

"Farhad ... Pallavi needs to tell you something," after telling Farhad to wait he moved his attention to his wife. " haan Pallavi tumhe kuchh baat karna tha na Farhad se..." (Pallavi, remember you needed to talk with Farhad!)

The comb fell down and Pallavi glared at Raghav with WHAT IS THIS BEHAVIOUR RAGHAV look.

"Main nashta karne ja raha hai tab tak tum Dewar bhabhi achhe se baat kar lo."

The cynical smile playing on Raghav's face when he moved out of the room was something that confused Farhad but he turned to Pallavi whose expression seemed she was searching for the right words.

"Is everything alright Bhabhi?"

"haan...Actually, it seems your junior Anna is on his way" Pallavi didn't wait for a moment after the words were out and walked out of the room leaving Farhad trying to understand Raghav's smile and then Pallavi's words until it clicked with him.

Pallavi eyed an unusually happy Raghav serving himself the breakfast and gesturing her to sit beside him when she came down and instantly calmed her tensed facial muscles.

"Naah, I feel nauseated in the mornings, I'll be eating something later." she plastered a smile not giving him the joy of having won the chance to tease her, and walked inside the kitchen to pour her a glass of orange juice.

"Ab tum bas dekhte jao,Ghamandi Rao," She made a note to return his favor the soonest as possible. (Now just wait and watch, Ghamandi Rao).

AMMA'S HOUSE

"How did you know we were about to come Amma," Pallavi was surprised to see Amma already waiting for them when she found the doors open and Amma sitting on one of the wooden chairs in her living area.

"I never visit Amma without informing her beforehand." a voice mumbled beside her when she bent to touch her mother-in-law's feet.

"Raghav bataya mere ko, aur aaj to theek lag raha hai tum Pallavi, Keerti told me you looked pale and weak yesterday." Amma caressed her cheeks lovingly ignoring the tensed environment that was about to dawn on them. (Raghav already informed me and you look fine today. )

"I am very well Amma, I was thinking to visit you for so many days but you know...

"i understand beta and anyway the work Keerti and You are starting needs all your attention at this point...tum dono baitho maine kuchh special banaya hai, mai abhi lata hai." Jaya turned to the kitchen when Farhad entered with a box of sweets Raghav had told her to bring.

"Amma, here keep these." extending the box of her favorite sweet Farhad smiled.

"arey waah, lunch ke time pe mithai ?... Farhad, kahi ab shadi to nahi bana raha hai tu." Amma teased him making Farhad's cheeks tint and a laughter bubble inside others' throats. (sweets? Farhad , is there good news regarding your marriage!)

"arey nahi nahi Amma, aisa to kuchh nahi hai." Farhad turned away his eyes shyly and started to walk outside.

"arey ruk to Farhad,

"nahi nahi Amma, I am keeping the Roja so I am better in the car," Farhad said before hastily leaving the living area and Amma opened the box to see her favorite sweets inside.

"I need to use the washroom, Amma," Pallavi whispered to her and left the mother-son duo to have some moments.

"aur kaisa hai tu?" not moving to his side Amma asked him from the kitchen she had entered.

" theek ."

"Keerti bata rhaa tha Pallavi ka tabiyat theek nahi hai... tu dhyan nahi deta," Jaya Rao had promised herself to not talk rudely with him today but it had just been too long that she had acted soft to him, so the tongue took the usual route of dry words.

"Haan, hum dono busy tha par ab nahi, ab to I need to take good care of her," Raghav replied, busy admiring the crystal white idol of Lord Krishna Pallavi had insisted last Janmashtmi to bring for Amma.

"Matlab?" Amma's hands pouring the water into glasses stopped for a while.

"nothing, did Keerti visit you?" he changed the course of the talk, suddenly aware of his mother's sharp gaze from the small window that connected the living area and the kitchen platform where she was standing currently.

*****

"Aisa bhi kya hai Pallavi," Amma was trying to understand why Raghav didn't make any attempt to leave as he always did after the lunch was done.

"Amma maine aaj tak aap se kuchh nahi manga but today I want you to give me something." Pallavi touched her hands and made her sit in front of her on one of the two chairs in Amma's small garden.

"you sound strange... kya baat hai Paallavi."

"We are EXPECTING..." with a smile Pallavi disclosed the news she wanted to from the moment she came here.

"sach me?" covering her mouth with the back of her palm her mother-in-law's eyes watered instantly.

"Chhota Raghav..." the tears flew freely from her eyes.

Pallavi nodded her head with a smile and Amma wiped her eyes instantly, "Ek minute Ruko tum idhar."

"Amma, wait ..." Pallavi held her arm and made her sit again.

"I need to do something Paallavi."

"Amma, I asked you to give me something..." Pallavi put pressure on her words.

"vo sab ho jayega, abhi mujhe kuchh karna hai , my grand child is coming I have to do so many things." Amma desperately tried to stand up but Pallavi didn't let her. She knew with her words she was going to put her mother-in-law in a tough position, a Dharma shamkat but for her husband and now for her child she wanted to at least try.

"aacha bolo." Amma sighed seeing how much stubborn all of them be it Raghav, Keerti, and Pallavi were when they wanted to be.

"Amma I want you to COME WITH US to RR mansion...

The deafening silence was what Pallavi had already anticipated, Amma believed in her values but more than her values it was a side of Raghav that irked Amma... For her, money meant the amount one earned through honest means but somewhere she ignored the fact that for her son Money meant he could have saved his father and brother, Money meant the strength to tackle tough times, Money meant a power he was made to crave when tough days clouded his childhood.

"Pallavi, of all the people I thought you would understand me..." Jaya left her side and with lost feet started to go inside.

"if not for Raghav then maybe for your grandchild..." Pallavi knew it was a lost battle but she wanted to try all her cards, and she felt hopeful when  Jaya stopped in her tracks.

"I never knew what it was to grow up around parents, grandparents but I craved them whenever I heard Kids talk about how their Aaji, Dadi, or Nani made sweets for them, told them stories of Lion and Rabbits...

"Pallavi...

"at times when their parents scolded them or even pulled their ears, it was their grandparents who saved them... that was something I could never have but that is something I want my son or daughter to have, to have all of them, Amma.

"But I am always here... you guys can co me to m e..." Jaya knew it would never be the same thing...if she remained adamant about her words she might miss something precious to her again, Lord Krishna was giving her an opportunity to live the childhood of her kids in the form of her grandkids, he was giving HER FAMILY back.

"But what if I could not stand Raghav's activities, he is no more the same guy after Pallavi's arrival but there are a hundred things as a mother I could never agree with."

So many thoughts plagued Jaya's mind that she didn't notice when did Pallavi leave her room.

*****

"Amma is not facing any difficulty living here alone..." Raghav asked as he entered the kitchen where Pallavi was trying to fix the after-lunch mess.

"she is a strong woman Raghav, there is nothing that she can't face alone." Pallavi reminded him.

"Yes, Sometimes i think why we are like this... I wish I could tie her Pallu to me just like I did in my childhood." again his wish to spend time with his mother just like old times came on his lips.

"really... you used to tie her pallu to your finger." Pallavi smiled imagining a little child doing tactics to let his mother not leave him.

"I was a total Amma's son, I wanted her around me every time." Raghav passed the small jars of spices to Pallavi and she kept them on the shelf over the platform the way she had seen Amma putting them. "She used to work a lot; house chores, her dance academy, and then the three of us..."

He stopped and she knew he was transported into a time that would never come back and more than that time the memory of those five people who used to live together happily was something that disturbed him.

She saw him taking a deep breath and then resuming his task, it bled her heart... Life was such an unpredicted journey, why people didn't understand the importance of having more of it with their loved ones around. Why Raghav was unable to make his mother come to his home, why can't he tell her that he needed her in his life, why did he want to let it be the way it was, dying every night a little, suffocating every morning a little more.

"I asked Amma to come with us..." unable to see him like that she blurted the words.

"and she didn't agree..." his pained and quick reply made her think about the relationship this mother and son had, they knew each other so well and they were both adamant in their own ways.

"How did you know she would not agree ?"

"I know my mother for the last 29 years, she used to beat me the most and used to cry every time after beating me but I was such a naughty kid...if there was someone who could make her agree then it was me but I don't want to force her for anything that she doesn't like."

"But Raghav...

"we'll visit the temples in the evening so have some rest...I'll make some calls and see Farhad." Raghav walked out of the living area and found Amma's sharp gaze on her.

"Pallavi isko bol de, nau mahine hai iske pas apna sara aaltu faltu kam band karne ko... mera Grandchild ka Appa agar ye kar sakta hai to main sochega ki kab packing karna hai...( Pallavi, tell him he has nine months to wrap all his illegal works... if the father of my grandchild can do it then I can think about living with him).

This was the time for Pallavi's eyes to water and Raghav's expand in surprise... pulling out the end of her saree that she had tucked in to clear to kitchen Pallavi walked from behind Raghav.

"Amma, tum sach me ...

"Paalavi , isko bol main iske liye nahi apne grand child ke liye vaha aa raha hai..." Jaya hid the smile making way on her face and turned away to do something she had thought to do when Pallavi disclosed the news. (Pallavi, tell him I am only coming there for my grandchild).

"Thank you Saree ka dukan..." turning to her, Raghav pressed Pallavi's shoulders beaming in happiness, and then knelt to face her tummy.

"aye junior Rao, abhi se jaadu shuru... mere ko pahle pata hota to mai kab ka tumko bula leta." he removed her saree and kissed the space he believed their baby was breathing. (Junior Rao, if I had known you would be one such magician I had planned your arrival long ago).

"Raghav... Amma is here." Pallavi hit his head lightly.

"doesn't matter." He told her and pecked her lips before grabbing his phone from the table and dashing outside.

*****

"Are you saying the truth, Anna?" Farhad was shocked when he heard Amma's decision.

"Yes Farhad, I feel so happy, so so happy." Raghav was literally jumping in that hot afternoon on the side of the road.

"But how did she agree, is it some magic of Bhabhi?" Farhad had a faint feeling that Pallavi was involved.

"Yes, but Amma says she is coming to me only because of her grandchild...she would never take my name." Raghav's eyes were sparkling like never before.

" whatever it is Anna, all that matters is she is coming back to you..."

"I have waited for this day for so long Farhad ..."

"I know Anna ...and believe me all those days of trouble end here, with this child great things have already started."

"you believe that?
"of course I do Anna but so far I have understood Amma, she is not a lady who would budge from her ..." Farhad gulped the word VALUES seeing it could press a nerve in Raghav's mood. " I mean..."

"We need to make new strategies for our business, Farhad ... I am not saying we are going to turn all white, a business is never all white but yeah we would leave a few markets in coming months for good."

*****

"Thank you, Amma..." Pallavi hugged Jaya from behind after she kept the plate of aarti back in its place doing a small tilak ritual for the expecting parents. "did you see how happy he was.."

" Haan, I just hope he would keep my words as well," Jaya mumbled, her palms joined, and eyes staring at lord Krishna's idol to keep her family safe and help her in the coming days.

"haan haan, Amma ka room taiyar karna hai... No non-veg, okay build a separate kitchen... of course, everything should be themed on pale yellow and whites... Useless, every one of you... I am saying yellow and you ask me which shade of yellow... Farhad tu hi dekh in sabko

"Anna, calm down ... everything would be done as you want."

Pallavi and Jaya turned to the main gate after hearing the words and found Farhad making rounds of Raghav trying to calm him.

"it would be fun to see Raghav as a son and father in the next few months..."Pallavi spoke seeing her husband doing all he could for his mother.

"think about the house help Pallavi, he would confuse them for sure," Amma said and both ladies laughed at the very busy man who was barking orders and then making amendments because his mother had agreed to come back to him.

******** 

Precap: "Aai, baba, and everyone here Raghav Jeeju wants to announce something, I think this is the same reason Jaya Aunti invited all of us here today." Amrutha's words turned everyone's attention towards Raghav.

"Saree ka Dukan, ye Chipkoo ladki ko kya ho gaya..." Raghav smiled uncomfortably to all the expectant eyes.

"Yaad hai kucch din pahle Farhad ko mujhse kuch jaroori bat karni thi, shayad Amrutha vaise hi kisi jaroori bat ka kah rahi hai." Pallavi lifted one of her brows and Raghav understood what Amrutha and now what his wife meant.

"but Farhad is different and your Sanki family I mean revealing it to your whole family is different...

" kya, baat hai Raghav..." Vijay's gaze met Raghav's and Pallavi looked down to hide her smile from everyone.

Hey everyone, First of all, a very happy Mother's Day to all of you, hope you are planning something for your mothers, this year I am dedicating this day to all those women along with my mother who at times acted/acts as a motherly figure to me, be it, my Grand Ma(s), my aunts, my teachers, my friends, and to all of you as well who at times happen to be my biggest support...

 I wish I could tell how the gloomy days turn a little less gloomy when out of the blue one of your texts, comments, or just involuntarily anything from your side finds a way to make me smile.

Thank you all for being there, I never knew I would be writing this special chapter on Mother's day but I swear the Amma & Pallavi's and then Raghav & Amma's scene (some part would be coming next chapter) was planned long long ago... others are added as per the current storyline but the two specific conversations were always the push for Raghvi's pregnancy scene for me.

Hope you liked it like always I'll be waiting for your feedback.

Take care everyone.

Love Morusya.