CHAPTER - 8
~Family Affairs~
"Arre yeh Ragini phone kyun nahi utha rahi hai?" Aman was strolling rapidly in his room. He was trying to call her, but every time he called her number, it was engaged. He put the phone on the table and sat on the bed.
"Chachu, aap abhi bhi ghar par hai?" Aman looked at the door.
"Haan...main aaj office late jayunga..." He said to Sameer who was standing there.
"Aap theek hai?" Sameer entered.
"Arre aapko bas isi baat ki tension hai...woh busy hongi. Thode der baad kijiye na..." Aman made a weird face; he was not fully convinced, but nodded. Sameer left.
Later at the night at Shekhawat Mansion:
"Adi..." Aditya was coming to the dining room for dinner when he heard Jairaj's voice and stopped instantly.
"Pure din kaha the?" Adi was a little taken aback at Jairaj's sudden question but as he was habituated with these kind of questions he replied spontaneously.
"Friend ke saath tha..."
Jairaj was doing some office work on his laptop. Hearing him, he closed it.
"Tumhe kabhi yeh ehsaas bhi hota hai ki tum ek parivaar ke saath rehte ho??"
"Matlab...main kuch samjha nahi?" Adi said in a questioning tone.
Jairaj stared at him.
"Tumhara kuch aata pata hi nahi hota hai...kaha rehte ho...kiske saath jate ho...kaha jate ho...kuch..." But Aditya cut him off.
"Main yeh sab batana zaroori nahi samajta..."
"Hum sab ek parivaar ka hissa hai Aditya..." He got up. "Agar tum samajh rahe ho ki tum aise hi baharwale jaise behave karoge toh..."
"Toh kya dad...kya chahte hai aap?? Main iss ghar se chala jayu..??" Aditya's voice rose.
"Aditya...Bado se kaise baat karte hai yeh bhi kya tumhe ab shikhana padega??" Jairaj couldn't control his anger.
"Aap mujhe majboor kar rahe hai...aur..."
"Dad...woh..."
Aditya stopped in the middle of his sentence and turned towards the door. Mrityunjay was there.
"Kya hua Adi?" He came inside and placed a hand over Adi's shoulder. Aditya removed his hand and left at once.
"Ise kya hua?" He asked looking at his pathway.
"Kuch nahi beta. Yeh toh roz ka mamla hai. Adi din din bigadta jaa raha hai...kya karu main iska?" Jairaj said while opening his laptop again.
"Dad...aapko toh pata hai woh thoda aisa hi hai. Main samjha dunga use." He smiled.
"Waise tum kuch bolne aaye the?" Jairaj looked at him.
"Haan...woh...aaj Gauri aunty bol rahi thi unhone documents ke saath ek CD bhi diya hai...iss project ka...toh kya woh aapke pass hai?" he asked, narrowing his eyes.
"Nahi beta...mujhe lagta hai Govind ke pass hi hoga. Aap ek kaam kariye unse phone pe pooch lijiye..." He replied.
Mrityunjay kept his eyes down.
"Nahi dad..." And he paused for a moment, "Itni bhi zaroori nahi hai. Aap unse puch lena." And he left.
At Tara's house:
Tara was making her bed but her mind was elsewhere, the way a stalker started following her then the fight which had occurred at the office with that boy, everything was making her anxious. She came to the kitchen to take a bottle of water when she heard Govind's phone ringing with the name "Jairaj ji" flashing on the screen. She was not very comfortable receiving the call but as Govind was not there and the phone was ringing constantly, she received the call at last.
"Govind se baat ho sakti hai..." The man from the other side asked.
"Haan...hold on..." She replied and came out of the kitchen when she found him at the garden sitting there unmindfully. She came closer to him and gave the phone to him,
"Jairaj ji ka phone hai aapke liye..."
Govind got up from the chair at once and took the phone from her.
At Shekhawat Mansion:
"Kya hua tu aise muh latkake kyun baitha hai?" Mrityunjay asked. He was going to his room but the way Aditya had left from his father's room, Mrityunjay knew that it was essential for him to make Aditya understand about his father's approach.
Aditya didn't reply.
"Dad se naraz hai?" He sat beside him on the bed.
"Mere naraz hone se kya fayda...kisiko kuch farak thodi padega? Aapko pata hai na Bhaiya Dad kaise behave karte hai mere saath. Sirf dad kyun..sab log...ek taraf toh bolte hai tum bade ho gaye ho Adi..aur jab main apni zindagi apni tarah jeena chahta hoon tab hazaar sawal poochte hai..." He said in a grumpy tone.
Mrityunjay smiled seeing his expression.
"Tujhe pata hai dad aisa kyun karte hai...?" he asked.
"Kyun ki dad mujhe pasand hi nahi karte." He answered and turned his face aside.
"Nahi...Tujhe yaad hai ek baar bachpan mein tu khelte khelte kahi dur chala gaya tha aur shaam tak ghar wapas nahi aaya tha...Dad ne pure ghar ko sar pe utha liya tha..." He stopped and then went on, "Dad ke liye tu abhi bhi woh chota sa Adi hi hai aur isliye toh fikar karte hai ki tu kaha gaya...kiske saath gaya...kyun ki dad ko darr lagta hai ki tere saath kuch galat na ho jaye...tu kuch galad na kar baithe...samjha...?!"
"Par..." But Mrityunjay cut him off.
"Par var chhod aur chal mere saath dinner karne." Aditya looked at him surprised.
"Aapko kaise pata maine dinner nahi kiya?"
"Tujhse bada hoon na...janta bhi zyada hoon..." He answered with a serious expression.
Aditya smiled and hugged him. Mrityunjay patted his back.
At Tara's house:
Govind cut the call and was about to move when he heard Tara's voice from the back.
"Dad aap Jairaj ji ke samne hamesha aise baat kyun karte hai? Itna jhuk jhuk ke...sehem ke...I mean aap employee hai lekin maine notice kiya hai aap bahot ajeeb tarah se..."
"Tara..." Govind's voice rose, "Mujhe notice karna chhodo aur jake so jao." He said in a rigorous tone.
"Main toh bas...aise hi..." But she couldn't complete her words as Govind had already left.
She switched off the lights of the front yard and went to her room.
Next morning
Raichand Mansion:
Today was an important day for Gauri as well as for her whole family. She was going to talk about Aman and Ragini's wedding today. Since one year they had been engaged and their wedding date was also fixed but somehow the wedding didn't happen. Sometimes Gauri felt a little sad for Aman. After Pratham's demise, he was the only person who encouraged her and helped her mentally and made her strong, but in his life he didn't get much happiness which he deserved. His first marriage was awful as there were so many differences between them. In spite of that he had never shown his mental turbulence in the family, so now it was very necessary for Gauri to give him all those things which he had not got yet.
She came out of her room and dialled Jairaj's number. After two rings, she heard his voice.
"Good Morning Mrs. Raichand...boliye!"
"Morning...maine aapko yeh batane ke liye phone kiya tha ki aaj mujhe Aman ki shaadi ke bare mein Ragini ke gharwalon se milne jana hai toh final draft ke liye main Aman ya Sameer ko bhej dungi. Main baad mein aa jayungi." She said.
"Ji...ab aur main kya bol sakta hoon. Waise bhi yeh project toh Mrityunjay handle kar raha hai...phir bhi main use bata dunga."
"Haan...waise bhi mujhe nahi lagta zyada problem hogi. Woh kabil hai aur akela hi iss project ke liye kafi hai." She smiled.
"Do din pehle hi aap use laparwah keh rahi thi aur aaj kabil...achha laga sunke." He said in a mocking tone.
"Mr.Shekhawat har baat ko ghasit ke past incident tak le jana kya zaroori hota hai? Uss waqt halaat kuch aur tha...hum wahan pareshaan ho rahe the isliye maine kaha tha." She justified herself.
"Aap gussa bahot jaldi karti hai...khair Aman aur Ragini ko meri taraf se mubarak baat dena. Rakhta hoon."
"Ji...zaroor." They both hung up.
At Ragini's house:
Gauri reached Ragini's house and Ragini's father welcomed her. Ragini lived with her father, she was his only daughter. After the death of her mother, he raised her all alone. She entered and sat down in the living area.
"Waise toh hum logon ko jana chahiye tha aapke ghar lekin..." Her father said while sitting down.
She sat there.
"Haan...ladki ki shaadi hai...taiyari bhi karni hogi..." He said. Gauri nodded and took a glass of water.
Suddenly Ragini's phone vibrated, she saw the caller name and cut the phone at once.
"Rashi kaisi hai?" Ragini asked.
"Theek hai. Woh apne maayke shift hui hai." Gauri replied and checked the time.
"Ji ab mujhe jana hoga. Mujhe office bhi jana hai... aap log abhi se taiyari shuru kar dijiye...hum bhi udhar sab shuru kar dete hai. 17 December dekhte hi dekhte aa jayega!" She smiled and got up from the sofa.
Ragini hugged her and she left.
