Chapter 1
Kalpana
Some eight years later...
"Raghav baba, come look what has happened to sahab!" Screamed the terrified maid.
Raghav rushed to the study to see his father drunk and throwing things in the air breaking whatever came in the way! He was raging mad. Fury, frustration, disappointment, embarrassment were just a few emotions he was going thru. On the table was the note Gauri had left that morning. A one liner. "I am leaving"
Raghav was terrified to see this side of his father. He had no clue his father could have this side too. His fun loving dad who never raised his voice was yelling and screaming! He moved closer to his dad in hopes that he will be able to calm his father. But his father paid no heed to the teary eyed child that came to support, for support. In his rage, he pushed Raghav and Raghav stumbled off and grabbed the table for Balance. And that is when he noticed the note! The note that broke the bubble their family lived in. The note that took his childhood away. The note that changed the course of his life!
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The community hospital was bustling with activity. It was more like a bazaar than a hospital. But this is all Vitthal could afford with a growing family for the birth of their second child. His mother was sitting on a bench with his son, Pakya, outside the labor room. He was pacing the floor in anxiety. Will he finally get a princess? Will their dreams come true?
He was lost in his thoughts thinking about the past few years of their life. The last eight years were a roller coaster for their family. His married life was a bliss and his job was great at the beginning. But after two years of their marriage, their troubles started when Kamala started getting worried about not being able to get pregnant. Then they found that if they get the treatment done, she would be able to get pregnant. That meant money. Money that they did not have. Vitthal made enough for them to live without starving, but that left them with no savings for a rainy day. He went to his boss, Mr. Singhania who was kind enough to give him a loan to get his wife treated, but that needed to be paid back. Kamala had to start working as a bai to slowly pay off the debt while getting treated. All their effort paid off when Pakya was born. And now their happiness was going to get doubled with the birth of their second child!
Vitthal was brought out of his deep thoughts when the nurse came and told him that he was yet again a father. A father of a little girl. His princess.
He held the hand of four year old Pakya and took him into the ward to meet his little princess. She was prettier than any imagination! They named her Kalpana! Their Kalpana who was now their reality!!
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And such was the day when Kalpana came into the world. Making their family complete. Unaware were they that in a house not too far, a family was being broken and shattered into pieces that would no longer fit together...till she will make it a whole again!
