Chapter 10

Chapter 10

“I have already talked to my mother, Birendra” Sujata said, her eyes lined with tears.

“Why did you do that, Sujata? You should have talked to me first” Birendra Singh Malik said anxiously. 

He was sitting with her at a coffee house in Connaught Place. Just last week he had finished college back in California and was now finally moving back to India. Sujata had insisted he come and meet her before going to Lucknow. So, he had come, unaware that Sujata had something else in her mind.

“I tell her everything, Birendra. I am very close to my mother. I had told her about you the day I had come back from California. She didn’t approve of you. So, I thought that first I will convince her and only then I should tell you. What was the point of telling you if I couldn’t convince my mother?” Sujata explained sadly, wiping her eyes before the tears could fall.

Birendra Singh Malik exhaled loudly.

“Sujata! I don’t know what to tell you. I always considered you a friend. That whole semester you spent at UCLA was very easy for me because I got to meet you. But, I had no idea you liked me. You should have said something there or before you came back” Birendra said.

“How can you have no idea, Birendra? Those six months, we practically spent all the time together. We ate together, we studied together and we shared so much about each other. Why would I have done all that if I didn’t like you? I thought I was clear. I thought you knew and you liked me back” Sujata said, repeating herself for the fifth time today.

“I liked you, Sujata. I still like you. You’re my friend. But, no! I don’t like you the way you like me. I never thought of you that way” Birendra Malik repeated himself too.

“Why not, Birendra? And if you didn’t think of me that way then, you can do it now. Can’t you? Just think about it. You and I know each other. We have been friends. We can be good life partners. You have told me your father wants to get you married as soon as possible. So, you can talk to him. My family is very respectable in Delhi. I am rich. Your father will not have an objection. My mother has already given into my wishes” Sujata tried to offer the way out.

Birendra Singh Malik shook his head vehemently.

“You’re not listening to me, Sujata. The problem is not my father. The problem is me. I don’t love you and I don’t think I ever can. It will never work out between us”

“Why not?”

“Because I love someone else” Birendra Singh Malik replied, staring into his coffee cup.

“What?” Sujata’s voice was shocked, broken for a moment.

“Yes! I love someone else. We are in a relationship for the last two years. No one knows about it. My father will never approve of it. That’s why I have not told anyone. I didn’t tell you too because I didn’t think it was necessary. You didn’t ask me. I didn’t tell you” Birendra Singh Malik finally lifted his gaze and noticed the devastation that now lay on Sujata Singh Raizada’s face. He felt sorry but there was nothing he could do to cure it.

“Who is she?” Sujata’s words were only a whisper.

“No one you would know” Birendra Singh Malik clutched the coffee cup hard, not caring that it was still hot.

“Is she from Lucknow? Is she from California? Is it Madhvi from your class?” Sujata’s voice was growing hurried and urgent.

“No, Madhvi was my friend. Just like you are! As I said, you don't know this person. It's someone from Lucknow” Birendra Singh Malik said, his voice gravelly.

“How long have you known her? Were you dating her when we met at UCLA? Does she know about me?”

“Yes! We were dating when I met you. And I have known her for a long time. I always liked her. But, I didn’t know if she liked me. So, I never told her. It was only after I moved to California and came back for my summer holidays after the first year, I could tell her about my feelings. She initially refused. But when I again came back in my 2nd year, I pursued her again. It took me a lot of effort to win her trust and love, Sujata. And now, I am secretly dating her. My father doesn’t know. No one knows” Birendra Singh Malik said.

Sujata Singh Raizada remained silent for a very long time. Birendra Singh Malik waited in patience. He had laid out his cards and hoped Sujata would understand without trying to dig into more details.

“Are you very certain that your father will not accept this girl you love? Have you tried talking to him?” She asked.

Birendra Singh Malik shook his head.

“I haven’t talked to him. But, you know my father. You met him when he visited me at UCLA. All he cares about is family and lineage. If he so much as learns about us, he will have her killed”

“I can talk to your father on your behalf. I can convince him. Maybe he will listen to me. You know he liked me. Tell me who is this girl? I will talk to your father about her” Sujata said, placing her hand on Birendra’s hand.

Birendra smiled sadly, shaking his head.

“He will not listen, Sujata. I know my father”.

“Alright! But, who is she? I want to meet her” Sujata continued.

“I can’t tell you” Birendra replied, eyes downcast.

“Why not? Am I not your friend now?” Sujata pressed Birendra’s hand for emphasis.

“You are. But..”

“No buts! Who is she?” Sujata pressed.

“Sujata, I don’t..”

“Please, Birendra. You owe me at least this”

Birendra Singh Malik sighed.

“She’s the daughter of our family doctor” Birendra Singh Malik said, looking away.

“What’s her name?”

“I don’t want to talk about this any more, Sujata. Just talk to your mother. Tell her not to send the proposal to my father. Tell her you have changed your mind. You can’t tell her about any of this. I don’t want my father to find out about it in any way” Birendra Singh Malik requested of Sujata.

“I can do anything for you, Birendra. So, don’t worry. I will take care of everything. I love you” Sujata Singh Raizada had said.

“I am lucky to have you as my friend, Sujata” Birendra Singh Malik had smiled politely at Sujata’s declaration of love.

“What happened next?” Khushi’s voice was slow. She and Akash were sitting on the rooftop of her house with their legs dangling down.

“Next, everything went to hell” Akash replied and Khushi looked at his face in question.

“She didn’t talk to her mother. She didn’t tell her to stop the proposal”.

Khushi’s eyes widened.

“Why?”

“Because she loved Baba too much. Her love was as blind as it was one-sided” Akash replied.

“So, the proposal was sent?” Khushi wanted to hear more.

“Yes. But before Nani ji called Baba’s father to talk about the proposal, Sujata aunty had already written a letter to Baba's father. In the letter, she disclosed everything Baba had told her. She told Baba’s father that he loved someone else. She also told him who Baba loved. She did all this to ensure that when Nani ji calls him about the proposal, he will have a reason to accept it instantly. And that happened! When Nani Ji called Dada Ji and said she wanted her daughter to get married to Baba he immediately accepted the proposal. They even fixed a date. When Baba learnt about this he was shocked and angry. He went back to Delhi and met Sujata aunty. He asked her why she didn’t stop the proposal. Sujata aunty told him that she tried to forget him but it was impossible for her. And she said when he is so certain his father will not accept his marriage with the woman he loves he should forget about the woman”

“This is unbelievable” Khushi exclaimed.

“Baba begged her to withdraw the proposal. But, she told him she would not. She told him to talk to his father if he wants the alliance to be cancelled. So, Baba came back and he talked to Dada ji. He told him he loves someone else. But, Dada ji was enraged and told him if he does not marry Sujata aunty, he will be responsible for Dada ji’s death. He emotionally blackmailed him”

“So, Malik Uncle had to agree?” Khushi asked, her knuckles white.

“No. He didn’t say anything to his father after that. A day before the wedding, Baba met Sujata aunty again. He wanted to talk to her one last time to see if she will listen to him. So, he went to Delhi again.”

Khushi knew it must not have worked because Malik Uncle did end up marrying Sujata aunty.

~~**~~

Arnav stood in the room that once belonged to his mother. It didn’t look anything like it did when his mother used to live in it. His father had the room cleaned and things thrown out a few weeks after she had died.

Still, as Arnav looked around, he could picture the room in its old form. He could picture the old mahogany bed with white drapes on it. He could picture his younger self sleeping in that bed with his mother. She used to sing him lullabies. She used to tell him stories. She used to play with him. She used to listen to the stories he brought home from school. She was the perfect mother. That’s how he remembered her. His Nani had told him the same things about her.

She was a passionate woman about things and people that she loved. And she loved him. He loved her.

And suddenly, people were trying to make her a villain?

He didn’t love her, Bhai. He loved someone else. And she knew that. She knew that and still, she forced him..

Your father did not ruin your mother’s life. She ruined his.

Arnav fought the urge to smash something.  He tried to remember one good thing about his father.

His birthdays were grand parties in the Mahal. There was a mountain of gifts piled every year but there wouldn’t be a single one from his father.

All his father did each year was look at him and look at him. No wishes, no hugs, nothing!

And when his mother died, his birthday became a bland affair. There would be a cake and a party and lots of people he didn’t know.

His father would be in these parties, drinking in some corner. Arnav avoided falling in his way and he knew his father did the same.

No happy memories. None! Sometimes, Arnav hated himself for thinking why. Why did his father hate him so much? What had he ever done to him? It was as if his father used to hate him more than he hates him.

So, Arnav had learnt to become indifferent to him. Initially, he had learnt indifference. The hate had come only later; once he learnt his father was directly the cause of his mother’s suicide.

So blasted his life was! Running to Delhi was the best decision of his life. There was nothing for him here. No father, no love, and care.

And now he came back for what?

To see his father snatching the last thing from him? His brother? No. He will not let that happen.

Arnav walked downstairs and headed straight to the dinner table. Only the doctor was seated there.

“Tell me” He demanded.

The doctor looked up from his plate and stared at Arnav.

“You’re not ready” The doctor replied and went back to eating. Arnav fumed angrily.

“You are no one to decide that. And that didn’t stop you earlier” Arnav stated, sitting down on the chair opposite to the doctor.

“You’re right. It didn’t stop me earlier because I don’t really care whether you are ready to hear the truth or not!” The doctor said, pointedly looking at Arnav.

“So, what is stopping you now?”

“Your father! He thinks that you are not ready to hear the truth.  He doesn’t want me to hurt the feelings of his lovely boy. The boy who pushed his father down the stairs and then ran away” The doctor said.

“Are you always this charming or is it just me?” Arnav shot at the doctor, staring blankly.

“I am who I am” the doctor said and went back to his food.

Arnav kept staring at the man, bubbling with questions he didn’t want to ask.

“Why did you come back to the Mahal? I remember that you left after my mother’s death. You were never around. So why did you come back?”Arnav gave in to the urge. He might not want to hear his father’s explanations right now but he should hear this at least. Small steps, he told himself.

“Why don’t you ask your Nani? I am sure she can spin some tale that would be better suited to your taste” Doctor Kumar replied and Arnav’s already threadbare patience began to disappear.

“You watched in silence as my mother suffered every day. You treated her for years yet she was never better! Biggest of all, you knew all about my father’s cheating yet you never tried to stop him! So, don’t pretend that everything I know about you is all wrong. You are an opportunist gold digger of a friend who stuck by my father only because of his name and money. I know all about the hospital he bought in your name. What was that for? A payment for keeping your mouth shut about my mother’s suicide?” Arnav said, looking at the doctor with disgust.

“My grandfather served your family as a doctor. My father served your family as a doctor. So, if I serve the same family out of tradition and respect, I guess that does make me “an opportunist gold digger of a friend”.Who taught you this logical deduction? Oh, Wait! I already know” The doctor said acidly and pushed away his plate.

“You didn’t answer my question, Doctor” Arnav said when Dr. Kumar rose from his chair.

“You want an answer? Then ask the man who fathered you! Stop being a coward. Go and face him. Prove to me that you’re better than the rest of the Raizadas” Challenge dripped from the doctor’s face.

Arnav rose up from his chair too.

“Nice trick” He smiled smugly at the doctor.

“You think you can play me, doctor? Goad me into talking to him? I will talk to him when I want to. Not because I have anything to prove to you. Get that?”

The doctor just shook his head.

“You are truly lost, Arnav. And I can’t help but feel bad for you. I know your anger and pain better than you think I do. You think that Birendra never loved you. But, he did. He just couldn’t show it. He was too lost in his own pain and guilt. And that is not a justification. That’s just the truth. He never hated you. It was your mother he couldn’t live with. She betrayed his trust over and over again. Until he was totally broken! The man you remember as your father is not who he originally was. He was a better man. I don’t know if it is your bad luck or his but when you needed him, he was too far gone. For that, he will always be sorry. That’s why he seeks your forgiveness”

Arnav didn’t dare breathe as the words poured out of Dr. Kumar’s mouth. Finally, the doctor was talking. He was saying things Arnav will not believe even in his dreams.

His father loved him? That was the biggest lie of this miserable world. His mother was the villain of the story? Even a greater lie!

“Why should I believe a word of what you say?” He taunted the doctor.

“Then ask your Nani! Ask her if your father did not beg her thousand times to let him see you. Ask her if he did not reveal everything to her? Why do you think your Nani left with you so soon and so abruptly when you visited here? She had finally learnt the truth about her daughter’s actions. She had learnt the truth about why your father hated your mother. She had learnt the truth about why Birendra had such a hard time expressing his love to you. She learnt everything that day. Yet, she left. She learnt and decided your father did not deserve a chance with his son. She snatched you from him. All because she loved her daughter too much to care about her sins”

Arnav’s mind was swirling with information now. His Nani had never really told him what had happened between her and his father that night. He had asked. Once. Once before she had told him that his father had finally confessed that he did not want anything to do with him. After that, Arnav hadn’t asked.

How can any of this be true? This man has to be lying. Everyone in this Mahal was trying to alter his reality.

Arnav shook his head and after looking at the poignant face of the doctor, he quietly left the hall.

~~***~~

Khushi waited for Akash to continue, but he was taking a minute. She took that minute to think about everything he had told her so far.

Sujata Singh Raizada knew Birendra Singh Malik before her marriage to him. She fell in love with him when she met him at the University of California where she was enrolled for a semester as an exchange student from Delhi. Birendra Singh Malik was already a full-time student there. Sujata met him, spent time with him, and came back to India. She remained in touch with Birendra through phone calls and letters. And when Birendra told her that he had finished his studies and was returning to India, she told her mother she wanted to marry him. She asked her to extend an official matrimonial alliance to the Maliks. She had meant to surprise Birendra but it turned out totally opposite for her.

That’s when she twisted her methods to get what she wanted. She truly believed that Birendra Singh Raizada will fall in love with her once they were married. But, she knew that she will have to manipulate Birendra into marrying her. She will make him forget all about the woman he loved.

All the pleas of Birendra Singh Malik had fallen deaf to her ears.

But, as told by Akash, Malik Uncle had tried one last time. Just a day before the wedding was to take place. She waited for Akash to continue.

Akash opened his mouth again but his cell phone shrieked.

“It’s Doctor Uncle” He said and received the call.

Khushi watched as panic broke loose on Akash’s face. Panic and fear!

“I am coming, Doctor Uncle” He said in the phone and whirled to Khushi.

“It’s Baba. He was having difficulty breathing. He also coughed a lot of blood. Uncle is taking him to the hospital” Akash explained quickly while getting up and Khushi felt the panic set in too.

“But how? He was getting better” She breathed, running down the steps with Akash.

“They don’t know much right now. Uncle asked me to come at the hospital. You stay here, Khushi. I will let you know” He said but Khushi shook her head.

“I am coming with you” She said, holding Akash by the arm.

Akash looked at her face and the worry on it. Her eyes were already pooling with tears of fear.

He lunged and grabbed her in his arms, hugging her.

“Nothing will happen to Baba! Just stay here, Khushi. I will call you if we need anything at the hospital” He said and pulled back.

Although half-heartedly, Khushi nodded.

And then Akash was gone.

Khushi turned and found her father looking at her with solemn understanding.

She walked to him and hugged him.

“Everything will be alright” His father said to her and Khushi hoped that was true.

__________________

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