Chapter 4
Font:
Text Size:
Theme:
[MEMBERSONLY]
Hey everyone!
I had written a whole chapter before I read it and felt it wasn't very good. Threw it into the recycle bin and started anew. From this point in the story, the pace shall be faster. Things may be explained in flashbacks, or I may leave them to the readers' imaginations. The story has to encompass several years, I cannot take the liberty of going through each and every incident in great detail and bore you guys to death because the ishhtory ishn't moving forward-wa! 😆
The Chapters till now were kind of necessary to highlight the two incidences that we know- the double suicide and Anjali's broken wedding.
So, here's me. Picking up pace. Making it a fan-fic and not an aatma-katha (I dunno if you guys ever wrote aatma-kathas, I remember writing them so many times in school. Guess that thing got stuck! 😛) 😆
Yen-joi the update, pretend to enjoy if you don't! 🤣
Chapter 3: The summer
Anjali had been broken for days after Shantanu's rejection. She would simply sit in one corner of any room, with tears streaming down her cheeks, and refuse to eat.
Manorama had a tough time convincing her, but in the end it was a bright idea by one of the neighbors that made Anjali take the first step to her recovery.
"Arre Devyaniji! How can you thread a needle at this age? Isn't it difficult?" Malini, their neighbor pointedly asked, stealing a look towards Anjali.
Devyani and Manorama were quick on the uptake, "What can I do, Maliniji? I have to finish the embroidery work on this top before tomorrow morning. I broke the glass of my spectacles yesterday. Par kaam toh karna hi padta hai na!"
Malini called out to Anjali, "Arre bitiya! Can you come and help us for one minute? None of us are able to thread the needle, in fact, the previous tries have given me a headache. Rama is already doing her work. Can you please do it for us?"
Anjali may have been many things, but she wasn't disrespectful at all. Having an elder request you to do something and say please, was wrong in her opinion. She stood up with difficulty and walked to them.
As she sat beside them and saw their work, she was intrigued for a moment. Rama (Manorama) caught on to that and offered to show her the beauty of needle-work.
It took a long time before she opened up, though. Her sobs at night had tormented Arnav the most. He felt that he had failed once again.
He had completely adjusted to Akash's school. There was no other choice, and besides that, he liked the company that Shantanu and Akash provided. Studying till late nights, pouring over books in the small one-room library, coming home and discussing their 'business' with mama- it had all become a part of his life.
He still wondered about that night and the consequences of what had happened.
Kailash mama had been the one who had taken him aside, one day, and knocked some sense into him.
"She was my sister too, you know Arnav? I have seen her behave both maturely and immaturely. I've seen her take wrong decisions and then blame us. I'm sorry.. I HAD seen her do all that. I am not saying whether she was at fault or not. All I am saying is that you need to stop doing this to yourself. Your father and mother both were responsible for what happened. I am sorry to say that I never liked Malik. I can never forgive him his faults, the biggest being the life he has sentenced you and Anjali to. But at the same time, I cannot ignore the fact that my sister was at fault too."
"But mama, what if I could have done something? I felt so helpless.. even when they were fighting over the gun I could have gone and broken their fight.. but all I did was stay at the door instead of going in.. I didn't even try to save them!"
Kailash was amazed at the amount of blame Arnav had decided to shoulder.
" Why are you so hard on yourself, beta? Is there something else that you are not telling me?"
"Mama.. for a moment.. for a long long time, actually, I wished that I had been late. Instead of wishing that this hadn't happened or wishing that I had saved them, I wished I hadn't been there when it happened. That makes me such a big coward, doesn't it?"
As Arnav sobbed, Kailash held his shoulders and forced him to look up."I wish I could tell you that you couldn't have saved them, Arnav. Yes, you might have been able to save them if you had intervened. Or you could have made matters worse. You can never know that now. We don't blame you for what happened. Even if you blame yourself, we forgive you for it. So listen to me carefully, Arnav. No matter how much you think, the past wont change. Promise me you'll take care of yourself and your Di. Promise me that you'll do the best that you can in life."
From that day forth, everyone saw a change in the way Arnav carried himself. They had seen how he had withdrawn into himself after his parents' deaths. They had seen a slow change coming over him after he started school. And then they saw him losing his control over himself, after his Di's broken marriage.
But now, all they saw was determination. A strong will. Bordering on stubbornness.
He started taking proper interest in his studies. Akash, the brainy one, was surprised to see his cousin actually do rote-study.
Upon asking, he was told, "I need to be perfect. I have to score the best, and achieve success the fastest I can. Don't disturb me right now, Akash, we can talk once the exams are over."
"But bhai, the exams are two months away! Why are you working so hard right now itself?"
Arnav hadn't bothered replying.
All he talked was asking about Nani's health, whether Di had her food, and if Mama wanted help. Only Mami was allowed to pet him.
That changed in the summer break following their final exams.
--------------------------
"RAMA!!!! We are getting late! How long does it take for you to grab your purse?"
This was the loud voice of Ramdulari Sharma. Manorama's sister. It was she who had given her the nickname of Rama. Manorama called her sister Ram, while she was Rama. A pair. A mighty pair at that!
"Arre I am coming out just now! Can't you wait! Your impatience has grown 10-fold since last summer. And its not my purse, knowing you, I had to pack more water than anything else. I know how thirsty you get after eating pani-puris and chaats. I still don't understand why you wish to eat at some unhygienic chaat-thela, I can make them at home!"
"Kya re Rama! I eat at home in Mumbai. And the gol-gappe there are not as fun as they are here. Plus Delhi-chaat! My mouth is already watering!! Chalo chalo! And now where is this brat Nandkishore!? NANDKISHORE!! ARE YOU COMING WITH US OR DO WE LEAVE NOW???"
Arnav blocked his ears at the loud question. It didn't help that he had been sitting right beside maasi when she had shouted!
Sighing, he just hoped that the plan to have a family outing would ease his boredom.
"ITS NK, MOM!" Came the expected reply.
And in rushed the teen, no, boy himself. How could he even qualify being a teen? He looked like a squeaky-clean 10 year old who hasn't stepped into the sun. Brightness! Ah!
If his complexion wasn't enough, he had paired a bright yellow jersey with deep maroon long shorts. Oh God! Someone tell him he looks like an ice-gola!
Akash trudged in behind NK, and barged right into him in his excitement. "Sorry, sorry NKbhai, I didn't see you standing there. Why did you stop, by the way?"
"Akaash! You spoilt my entry! I was showing Nannav my new jersey, and you barged in at that moment!"
"NK bhai, my name is Akash. AAkash. Not AkAAsh. And I think if you call Arnav bhaiNannav one more time, he'll bite your head off!" Akash grinned as he saw Arnav's nostrils flare with irritation.
"Why the hell are we going out anyway? Its so hot outside! Di!! Can I please stay in?" Arnav put on his best pleading expression and looked at his sister.
Anjali laughed, seeing right through it. "Chhote don't even try that with me. You can never learn to plead. And besides this outing is to celebrate YOUR results. Not mine. You need to be present."
"But di, just look at NK! I can't be seen with a cola-candy!"
"Nannav, mere bhai, its fashion! You now, Govinda is wearing these latest styles in his films. Keep up, keep up!"
"NK beta, I think you better stop standing there and start moving. We are late, as it is, and I don't want to miss the beginning of the film!" Rama called out.
"Akash, please explain once again, why in the world are we going to watch Biwi No. 1?"
"You see, bhai, its like this. Mom and Masi love Salman Khan. Dad is a fan of Anil Kapoor. And I like Karishma Kapoor. Dadi doesn't mind a good movie now and then, so Biwi No. 1 is the best combination. Plus we have to celebrate the fact that you scored the highest marks in all subjects this year! So that is why we are going out for a movie and chaat later on.."
Arnav had a pained expression on his face. NK hit Akash over the head and said, "Except one subject. And that was a pretorical question, Akaash!"
"Its rhetorical, not pretorical!! I can't understand how you suck at Hindi and English, both." Arnav looked like he would gladly beat someone up.
"You are one to say that, Nannav! Didn't you write English words in the Hindi paper? What was that Akaash- Main bohot hardworking hoon.. Or the other one- Mujhe lagta hai Poetkehna chahte hain.."
Akash and NK burst out laughing. Hindi was the only subject Arnav couldn't master.
"So what? What's the big deal? Its not like I need to speak or understand 100% pure Hindi ever in my life. Everyone knows English. Or at least everyone I will work with, will know English. I will make sure of that when I start my company." Little did he know that 12 years later, he would meet someone that flipped his world around, and that someone did not know hoe to converse in any language except Hindi.
"Arre, do you guys want to hang out here itself, or shall we leave now? The movie will start in an hour, and it takes us at least 35 minutes to get there. I don't wish to miss the beginning!!"
At Kailash's command, they trooped out as one and headed for the auto-rikshaw stand.
Anjali looked around at her family and smiled. This summer was turning out to be good!
They had a lovely time at the movie, and later eating the chaat. Everyone except Arnav admitted to have had fun. All Arnav did was smile a bit wider, or grin outright at his crazy cousin's antics.
"Auntyji,I think Arnav is getting better now. I am glad I decided to visit this summer instead of waiting for Diwali." Ramdulari pointed towards the sight of three young boys enjoying their break.
Devyani sighed with contentment. Life was getting better.
---------------------------
Liked it? Smiled at the end? Lemme know!!
I do reply to your comments, at least as far as I can. My replies are just before my updates. I shall be posting my replies to your comments for the previous chapter by today evening..
Love you guys for being there!
-Chibi
Your reaction
Nice
Awesome
Loved
LOL
OMG
Cry
36 Comments