Trials Of Fire Ongoing G

Epi 126 Chp 56 Pooja's Love Saga Takes Root Once Again! What happened in her first marriage?

Darsh was walking to the kitchen for a glass of water, when he noticed Pooja and Shilpa going out in a hurry. Their suddenly changed Indian attire baffled him.

“Where are you two off to....."he pointed to them, "dressed all Indian?”

Pooja halted and turned like a faithful stallion gracefully turning sensing his master’s presence.

“We are going to bring back Naani and gang. They have been gone since yesterday and looks like they’ll spend even tonight at Naani’s friends’ place. Because the whole gang is Indian, so we don't want to scandalise them.”

“Ok! I’ll drive you! Give me a sec!”

Darsh turned immediately forgoing his thirst. Pooja’s breath caught at his immediate concern, but she forged on.

“Why? I can manage! I am not a novice! I don’t need anybody to manage my life for me.”

She uttered the lie without a shred of guilt. She wasn’t sure she could handle another incidence of proximity with him so soon. He raised an eyebrow, a ghost of a smile on his lips as if he found something humorous in her comment.

“I know, you aren’t!” His tone was soft to appease her, “I know, you can manage; but like hell, you will!” The voice raised only slightly but the grim determination in his tone was too hard to even think about thwarting him.

“Wait here! Don’t move!” Before walking away, he warned her with an oddly familiar rudeness.

Pooja stood there; seething inside, her thoughts in total turmoil….. why did he act as if to show his right over me….She sighed with the memories from forever. why, why?

As he picked his keys he didn’t dare ask himself why it felt so ok to speak to her as though she was already a part of him.

“Didi, I won’t come then?” Shilpa asked tentatively as if the tense silence was unbearable for her.

Pooja clasped her wrist with sudden firmness, “Don’t you dare! Just come, not another word!”

The car sped at a clipping pace……A deep orange evening over a ribbon of steel grey road…….. Trees on the side spreading long umbras….. Traces of dwindling sunlight filtering through…….the world around stealthily faded away!

Two souls, a man and woman, with so much potential to love and unify, sat in tense silence beside each other. There was electricity in the air.

He turned in a by- lane and she swung to him with narrowed eyes.

“Short cut!” He spoke tersely, as if angry, that she didn’t trust him.

She gestured in what she hoped appeared to be blithe unconcern. The truth was, she was trembling a little at that very moment, but not in fear! She prayed that he would not notice.

“So you always manage everything all alone?” he asked his voice nonchalant.

She thought she heard an odd mix of curiosity and suspicion in his words, as if he was asking another question entirely. In the tense electric silence, it was she who looked at him first, a hint of fear and suspicion in her eyes. His eyes were fixed on the road, giving nothing away. He looked casual, outwardly calm!

But then slowly, he turned and his soul piercing eyes staring intensely at her. A shiver of fear bumped down her spine at the intensity in his eyes. The question in his heart had found its way to his eyes….. An eternity in a spec of moment!

The ring of Pooja’s mobile sounded shrill in the total quiet while two pairs of eyes conversed. With a jerk, she took the call. It was Bhaiyya.

“Pooja, where are you?” The anxious concern evident in his voice.

“Bhaiyya, I am on my way to fetch Aadi. He hasn’t returned since yesterday.”

“Oh yes! I am missing him, too!How are you going?”

“Bhaiyya, DD is taking me and Shilpa in his car.”

“Oh! He’s there; in that case,no issue! I was worried whether you were travelling alone…… No problem, just return before night, OK!”

“Yes Bhaiyya” Pooja disconnected and burst out laughing. DD joined her.

“There’s the answer to your question! Bhaiyya always wants to take responsibility for everything, for everyone! And he does it with such pure love in his heart that you cannot deny him.”

Darsh’s eyes were fixed on distant horizon. “That’s true! He takes his responsibilities very seriously.”

Pooja was surprised at the faraway lost look in his eyes. His tone sounded like it was backed by some real experience or memory. A feeling like there was a piece of extra knowledge with him, which she was missing, suddenly crept in Pooja’s mind.

Shilpa had felt the silence palatable, if not totally bearable; once the duo in front suddenly laughed and relaxed in easy talk. She blabbered her words and realized she had been itching to say something all this while.

“He had given me a mobile and when I accidentally dropped it in water, he gave me his handset.”

Darsh smiled, “Material things are of least concern to him! He’s the man who can give his body parts for his loved ones. He can give his life for his loved ones or even take life!”

Pooja turned sharply to Darsh,a question marring her brow. The ring sounded again. This time it was Darsh’s car phone.

“DD, are you there?”

“Yes AD, what’s it?”

Somehow, the call was not unexpected for Darsh. He had known Advay for too long and now he naturally expected that Advay would make sure Darsh was with Pooja and then go an extra mile to make Darsh acquire the added sense of responsibility for taking care of his sister. Not because, he suspected Darsh or anything. It was just Advay’s inherent nature.

“Chandni wants to see Louvre tomorrow. You have any plans or you free?”

“Free! I can join!”

“Is Pooja OK with Louvre tomorrow. Check with her please.”

“Yes Bhaiyya! Ok with me.”

They had arrived by the time the detail call got over.

“Aadi, you come with me, OK? Let Naani and super Naani stay for one more day, as they want.” Pooja beseeched earnestly. Till date, she had been able to coax him out of his resistance; but lately she found the whole exercise draining on her strength.

Aadi’s brows creased in immediate defiance. “Mummmmy…… why can’t I stay with them? I have just made friends here.” He whined.

“But Aadi, you can stay with me also, right? As such mostly you sleep with me!” Pooja tried being reasonable with him.

“Yes! So why can I not stay for just one more day away? I’ll come with Naani and super Naani tomorrow.”

Deciding to calm the brewing squabble, Darsh walked towards Aadi and kneeling down to his level, cupped his shoulders gently.

“Hey, Buddy! You can always stay for one more day; but then your CM has planned Louvre visit. You'll miss that...... And then you'll lose the chance to impress your school friends from India; saying that I have seen the Mona Lisa from our history book. “ Darsh folded his hands over his chest making a pompous gesture.

Adi's tantrum mood evaporated, dispersed by an odd curiosity in his eyes. Darsh circled his arm around Aadi's shoulder and lowered his voice like a conspiring gesture.

“Just imagine impressing the class-girls with that extra bit of information you alone have!”

Adi blushed as if being caught by his mother and hugged Darsh tightly. “I’ll come with you people.”

Darsh patted his back softly, an odd kind of happiness spreading in his heart.

Pooja felt much better at heart as she patted Adi to sleep. Aadi’s smile was Pooja’s heaven and earth; making her heart explode with a fierce emotion that still humbled her. He was the reason for her to live now.

Not that she had not got a good life. She had had the fortune to be born into the illustrious Raizada family, everyone around her had fawned over her. Her parents doted over her like a princess. The servants literally kissed her ass. Then, Bhaiyya had been brought in as her favourite playmate. He had thought the world of her. Affluence had been the norm until one day her father had lost all his fortunes and later his life in business. She had grown older and wiser then. But then, without much gap, Bhaiyya had taken over, restoring their status of being rich and powerful.

Her world had been very small and self contained; such that, she rarely strayed outside the borders of that. It felt like just a small transition from being her father’s daughter to her Bhaiyya’s sister. The college girls had fawned over her just because she was his favourite.

The problem with everyone pandering to her meant she could never fully trust when someone liked her for herself. And she’d made a monumental mistake in her personal life because of it.

Life had been gliding over clouds, all glittering. She, her bhaiyya and Darsh, an inseparable triad! As she blossomed into youth, her feelings for Darsh had changed. She had become differently aware of him…..something more than being just a close friend…..she had thought he felt the same way, they had been so close!

But somehow, the man who shared everything of his life, his feelings about his parents and then the loss of his mother; never ever expressed how he felt about her. He had continued to dote more and more on her bhaiyya, always giving preference to bhaiyya over her. She had at one time felt jealous of Bhaiyya and in an angry defiance; she had gone and fallen in love with another man. She hadn’t been able to tell the difference between suck-ups and sincerity. She had thought the man loved her; but in reality, he had loved her wealthy status.

When she had introduced him to the family, everybody had thought of him as an aspiring young man and she was never ever denied anything. So the marriage had happened almost immediately and Bhaiyya had given her his London apartment to stay and enjoy marital bliss.

After marriage, her husband had realized that the entire wealth was in Advay’s name and though Pooja looked affluent in college, she hadn’t carried much inheritance. He had insisted with Pooja to get part of the assets transferred to her name; but Pooja had rejected the idea outright! She knew the wealth was self earned by her bhaiyya with sheer hard work and intelligence. It wasn’t part of any inheritance from her father. She was too loyal to her bhaiyya and he loved her beyond limit. So she never felt any need to get anything transferred on her name and she wouldn’t dream of ever asking him to do it.

Aadi had been born within an year of marriage. Her husband nagged her day and night to get assets transferred to Aadi’s name; but she had firmly told him to earn the wealth himself for his son. The bickering had increased day by day; but she hadn’t let her family know even a word about it. Simply because one word about her happiness and Bhaiyya would, in no time , transfer all his wealth in her and Aadi’s name, without a single thought.

Aadi had grown to almost school age and one night, his father had suddenly disappeared leaving her all alone with her son. Bhaiyya had rushed to her immediately and pursued for him; but he had fled England. Naani and Pooja herself had insisted not to pursue any further; as it was good riddance to bad rubbish.

Whenever Aadi had cried where his father had gone, Advay had hugged him and consoled him that he had gone on business tour and would return with lots of toys. When his school admission was due, Advay had put himself as the legal guardian saying that Aadi’s father was in foreign country on account of business. This had prevented people from talking about Pooja’s abandoned status and Aadi’s world had been completely buffered from the mishap.

Yet, Bhaiyya and the family continued to blame themselves for not intervening in her life earlier and bringing her marital happiness. It was she who felt sincerely that the onus was entirely hers ; as she had made that choice out of deep seated hurt in her naive age against Darsh.

And after all these years, thanks to Bhaiyya’s invitation, Darsh was back! That same Darsh, who had disappeared from their life from before her marriage. He had got transfer to France. The very knowledge that he had chosen to move away from her had hurt her and made her all the more defiant........she had never ever bothered to stop him or question him or connect with him. After all these years, Bhaiyya had also transferred company on her name making her financial assets secure. For her, it was just a legal paper. All her security was Bhaiyya’s love for her and for Aadi. She had learned to appreciate love now.

And now, Darsh was creating ripples in her secure world……..asking her uncomfortable questions, challenging her about the status of their relation, bonding with Aadi, being around her, for her all the time! She was perturbed. She couldn’t let her life be ripped away by a man twice. Once was enough, and playing this dangerous game threatened to steal her very sanity.

The mobile vibrated in the peaceful early morning and Advay rushed to pick the call, so as to not disturb Chandni sleeping next to him.

The moment the caller identified himself, Advay knew that the conversation could not be held with the risk of Chandni overhearing. He put the call on hold and rushed to the living room near a window so nobody would hear him.

“Yes! What is it?” Advay was eager to know the status of his game plan.

“The supplier list is ready. I can connect you with them today itself.” The caller spoke excitedly.

Advay sighed. He had himself got the balls rolling to put his plan in fast gear; so it was natural that people wanted things to be done at earliest possible. But today was booked for Aadi and Chandni. That couldn’t change!

“Do one thing! You have the first meeting with them and explain the background as I have told you. I will meet all tomorrow and finalise everything in one single meeting.”

“Ok Sir!”

Advay was not the only one to be making calls at god forsaken hour of the morning. While Advay was in the living room finalizing one game plan, his younger brother was in the kitchen propagating another game plan. Both were doing their call in a hush to not let anybody else in the family overhear and know about their doings.

Both came away from their calls and were stunned to come to face with each other near the stairs! What to tell?

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Oh! Oh! What will the brothers tell each other now?

You girls are wise readers so you'll naturally remember from previous chapters what game plan is each of them executing.

Much earlier, I had explained the back story of Advay who jumped off a train as a child and returned back after sixteen years from London with multiple passports. The show had not given any explanation whatsoever.

Epi 87 The couple Dynamics Men From Mars Women From Venus A Baby Dream The Baby dilemma Chapter17

Epi 88 A Wife's Regret Advay's True Redemption The Meaning of Loving Someone Chapter 18

In this episode, I explain the back story of Pooja's life.

The sudden change in Mumbai track had baffled us all. Advay was known to have been robbed of all his relations. Chandni had cursed him saying he was not worthy of family relations so God had not given him any. Advay had cried that he once had everything but now lost all.

Suddenly out of nowhere, a family had emerged and there was a married sister and her son. The reference of Advay telling Aadi that his father sent him toys..... Suddenly towards the end of series, Pooja had disclosed to Aadi that father had disappeared......no connecting links were shown.

Hope you gals like and find believable, the back story of Pooja as justified in this chapter. It also links with her past with Darsh and will connect with future tracks. Aadi and Darsh are bonding already!