Maaneet FF: Whispering Knolls Thrd2 Ch41Pg96 8/11 - Page 34

The loud ring of the phone echoed in the room. Anuradha slightly stirred at the sudden noise that disturbed her sleep. The next loud ring of the phone jerked Anuradha up and she groped for the phone in the darkness without disturbing her peacefully sleeping husband.

"Hello," she said half-asleep.

"Anu ma," she heard the person on the other line. Her senses suddenly awoke at the faintly familiar voice. She instantly got up and went out to the balcony, her eyes filled with guilt. Her silence probed the caller on the other side to once again call out to her, "Anu ma?" hesitantly.

"Maan," she whispered through the mouthpiece of the phone as fresh tears spilled down her cheeks.

"Aap, aap kaise ho?" he asked, his voice faltering.

"Main teekh hoon, tum kaise ho Maan?" she replied.

The line went silent and Anu clutched her chest as a wave of pain washed her insides. "Maan?" she whispered softly.

"Main aap logon ke bina adhoora ho gaya hoon ma," he said slowly, sniffing back tears.

"I, I am sorry Maan, voh," she said trying to find the right words to console him and salvage the wounds she had caused.

"Aap sorry mat kahiye ma," he responded instantly.

"Nahi Maan, after Geet left I—"

"Magar ma main bhi Geet jaane ki baad aap logon ko bhool gayi. I was centered on my life, not bothering to see the outer world, aap ki koi galti nahi," he assured.

"Nahi Maan I only thought about my daughter and forgot about my son and what he would have gone through," she said wiping away the tears.

"Haan ma uske liye tho sazaa jhelne padegi. Aaj se aap at least ek baar mujhse baat karogi," he offered.

Anuradha chuckled and wiped her tears away and nodded. Geet had taken a promise from her not to contact Maan to keep him happy. She didn't want to cause any rife in the new found happiness for Maan. And Anu had reluctantly decided in the name of Maan's happiness to keep him away from her. He had come to become a very big part of her life and to cut ties with him was very hard. But when Geet had reminded about his happiness was above everything, she decided to stay away in the fear that through her he would find Geet.

"Aapko manzoor haina ma?" his voice brought her back from her thoughts.

"Haan Maan, bilkul," she smiled.

"Aap nahi poochogi main kahaan hoon?" he asked.

"Kahaan?"

"Geet's house."

Anu was shocked by the sudden revelation. The last time she talked to Geet, she had said that he was coming but she also assured she would stay away from him. How did he find her?

"I met her in the conference and she pitied my state and brought me home," he joked as though answering her question.

"Kyun? Kya hua Maan is everything alright?" she asked with concern

"I wish it was ma," his voice intending something deep. "Khair voh sab chodiye ma. How is Arvind uncle?" he asked quickly changing the subject, not wanting to cause misery to her. He knew it would pain her to know what all happened after Geet left his life, taking the happiness with her.

"He is fine. Ab so rahein hain. Ek minute I'll wake him, he would be happy to talk to you," she said moving into the room.

"Nahi ma I'll talk to him later. I don't want to disturb him now." She was about to ask him about Radhika when she heard some noise in the background.

"Aap apna khayaal rakhiyega, Geet wants to talk to you. Main baad main baat karoonga," he said giving the phone to Geet who was impatiently waiting to talk to her mother.

"Hello amma," Geet said taking the phone.

"Ennachu di, I hope everything is alright," Anu said hearing Maan talk to her.

"Everything is fine ma. Athu naan apparum detailed-a pesaren, (I'll talk in detail later)" she said hoping her mother would understand as Maan was with her.

"Illadi (No need) its okay you don't have to explain. I just want you to be happy."

"I am hoping I'll be one day ma," she said distantly.

"I am sure this was meant to happen. Romba kozhapikkathe. (Don't brood over it.) Everything is for a reason."

"Hmm."

"Cheridi (Okay) take good care of yourself and say hello to my little darling," Anu said referring to Kritika.

"Un darling enna panna theriyumo? (You know what your darling did?)" Geet asked incredulously referring to the unpleasant incident and went to explain it. Anu couldn't believe her ears; she didn't expect Kritika to do such a thing but was glad Maan was okay.

Anu and Geet talked of other things before they hung up and went to do their respective work at hand.

Geet went to clean up the house a bit and arrange for the guest room. She had taken the day off to spend some time with Maan and clean up a room for him to stay comfortably. The morning had been spent lazying around after dropping off Kritika at school before Maan deciding to talk to Anuradha for he had immensely missed her. Geet didn't oppose, as she knew she was selfish in making her mother also cut ties with Maan although she had been a mother to him. The details of his visit and talk would be surprising to her mother for she didn't let her know of the recent developments but she decided to fill in the gaps later when Maan was not there. She felt a sense of deep satisfaction when she saw him speak to her mom for all these days she had denied him that. Guilt had clouded her last night when she saw him yearn for the days when Anu had lovingly fed him when she saw him look sadly at her feeding Kritika. She didn't know what the future held for her but as long as he stayed here she would make sure he was happy.

***

"Maa!" Kritika screamed walking into the apartment along with Arjun. "Where were you today? I was waiting to be picked up!" she sulked, dropping her book bag in the hall before slumping on the couch.

"Sorry da chellam had to do some shopping for tonight," Geet said walking out of the kitchen in her flower-printed apron and a wooden spatula.

Kritika went straight to her room while Geet followed her. She dropped her school backpack and pulled away her socks, sitting on the edge of the bed. Geet came to kneel near to help her change into a different set of clothes. Geet was busily unbuttoning Kritika's shirt when she heard her daughter scream.

"Ma! Stay put alright," she ordered before inching to her face and picking out something near her eye. Geet looked confused at her while Kritika brought her fingers closer and pulled her palm and turned it upside down. She carefully placed something and at closer look Geet saw it was a tiny eyelash. "It's a lucky eyelash, come on make a wish and blow it away," Kritika chirped.

Geet smiled weakly, tears clouding her eyes at Kritika's gesture. And before she knew it, "Unga appa kooda ippadi thandi pannuvaru (even your dad used to do this exact same thing)," she blurted in trance. And before she knew it, Kritika got up in a huff, her nose flaring anger.

"Ma! Haven't I told you never to take up that man's name in this house," Kritika screamed on top of her lungs.

"Athu (I mean)," Geet began only to be interrupted by Kritika.

"Please stop it ma, that man who failed to come see me even once is not my father!" she retorted, angry tears streaming down her flushed cheeks. "I do not hold anything for him."

Geet was taken aback by her sudden fierceness in Kritika but soon came to realize how badly Kritika would be hurt. Her child always pined for her father but fate had something else in store. Circumstances had led Geet to keep away from the father of her child. Pining from Kritika had soon turned into scoff and anger each day as she failed to see her father turn up. She had always kept his whereabouts in the dark away from Kritika but what could a child do after all when an important person in her piece of life was missing permanently.

"Please don't say that Kriti," she began as tears freely flowed from her eyes too looking at Kritika's vulnerable state.

"He has never come to see us ma, he left us!"

"Actually I left him," Geet whispered.

"And he let you ma?" she asked without batting an eye. Geet stood numb, unable to answer. Kritika walked past her into the bathroom angrily brushing away her tears, hurt evident in her stride. She was about to follow Kritika when she felt someone's hand stop her. She looked back to see Maan looking at her shocked and his eyes reflecting a thousand questions.

For a moment she feared how much Maan heard when she heard him speak, "Geet, what's happening here?"

"Voh, Maan," she stammered to get the right words.

"Geet I think I have been kept in the dark for quite some time now. Mind clearing it up?" he asked looking very seriously at her.

Maan had rushed to see what had happened when he heard Kritika scream only to find a very vulnerable Geet trying to explain while Kritika seemed peeved about the fact that her father never seemed to be there for her. In fact he had never been for her. He was utterly shocked to know that Geet's husband didn't only seem to be missing from the family albums but in their life too. She had conveniently lied about him being temporarily absent the other day when he asked but the reality was he was never present. His blood boiled at the thought of his Geet being left alone to fend for herself. How could that man leave his gem; he was determined to find the truth behind the lie she had kept all to herself.

"Where is he now?" Maan asked, anger evident in his tone.

"Maan it's nothing like you think," she offered.

"Let me be the judge of it," he cut her.

"Let's go to your room," she said finally giving up trying to convince him.

"Kritika?" he asked wondering if the little one would be okay.

"I'll call Arjun, only he can pacify her right now," she said walking out of the room and out the door of her apartment to call Arjun.

***

After Arjun took Kritika out, Maan silently walked to his room, followed noiselessly by Geet. He went to sit on the edge of the bed while she sat opposite to him in the nearby chair. She took a deep breath not knowing what or how to start. She gulped trying to form the right words. She knew he would be too upset and his anger would know no bounds. She had to make sure she keeps his anger under check for he was too fierce when it came to protecting her.

"Geet I am waiting," he prompted for her to begin.

"I'm sorry Maan," she confessed.

"Jaanu I don't want you to be sorry, I want to know what is happening. Maine pehle bhi notice ki. There were no pictures, no phone calls from him, in fact it seemed like there was no other person living with you other than Kriti. I thought of asking magar uss din you told me he was on business trip. Lekin aaj pata chala voh sab bahana tha," he said, pain of betrayal evident in his voice.

"Maan I didn't mean to keep you in the dark. It's just I didn't want you to worry."

"Telling me not to worry is like telling me not to breathe," he corrected. "I need to know where he is and how all these things happened."

"Voh humne mutually divorce ki. We, we kind of couldn't get it to work," she said looking away, avoiding his eyes.

"Kya!" he exclaimed, his eyes popping out in anger. "I am going to murder him for walking away from you. How dare," he flared, abruptly jerking off the bed.

"Nahi!" she panicked, running to calm him.

"Geet he left you and his child to fend for themselves. And that is no excuse. He shall have to face me for this," he said clenching his jaw. "Main usse chodunga nahi! He will have to pay for every single tear."

"You will not do anything like that Maan," she affirmed, her tone a bit serious. "It was a decision we both took. So there is no question of his fault. I have put that incident behind me. So please let me move on. Do you hear me Maan?"

He angrily jerked off her hold and walked to the window frustrated he was tied by her words. "Yeh sab meri galti thi," he said tightly clutching the window frame. "Agar uss din I wouldn't have let you walk away from me, yeh sab nahi hota" he said shaking his head.

"Maan please don't blame yourself. It was never your fault. It was my decision to leave," she cried.

"And I let you leave me," he said looking distantly out the window.

***

"Yeah, yeah," Kritika huffed before asking, "raathiriki enna ma? (What's for dinner?)"

After few tiffs and exchange of promises, finally Geet had managed to placate her adamant daughter to come back home for dinner. Geet was setting up the table while Kritika was replying to Geet's queries.

"Hmm let me see, tomato rice, thakkali tokku, rasam, vedaika poriyal, and appalam," she said wiping her wet hands on her apron.

"Tomato rice and takkali tokku?" Kritika asked incredulously. "Eewww," she added.

"Eeww ki bachi, Maan loves tomato just for today adjust panniko di (please adjust)," she begged, knowing Kritika's aversion for tomato. In fact Geet herself hated tomatoes but Maan loved them so she decided she would make something he liked for a change.

"Yuck mom! For that Mr. Ethirkatchi you are making me eat it?" she asked incredulously.

"Please, please di, I don't have time to make another dish. En chella kutty la? En thanga katti la? (You are my sweet little child right?)" she said slightly pinching her cheeks.

"Che po ma, anthu aal vanthathukku apparam naanum paakaren, (Don't talk mom, I am seeing that after he came) you are favoring him a lot," Kritika pouted angrily as Geet looked at her with guilt.

"Its not like that Kriti, its just that," she tried to get the right words to explain.

"Whatever ma," Kritika said before walking away in a huff before Geet could stop her.

Kritika walked to her room peeved about the fact that she had to eat tomato, a fruit that she abhorred. Since young the smell of tomatoes gave her nausea thus her mother avoided giving her tomato by using various methods like paste that completely dissolved in the dishes when cooked. But the man who seemed to have captured her mom's attention seemed to love tomatoes and of course her mom danced to his tunes! Kritika thought hard to do something regarding this sudden change of loyalties. As she thought her eyes fell on play-doh that filled her toy cabinet and an evil smile spread across her face.

"Mr. Ethirkatchi beware for the devil is at work," she smirked before walking towards the closet.

***

"Kannamma dinner is ready va chaapida (Dear, come and eat)," Geet called from the dining table as she set up the plate and other utensils for dinner.

"Itho vanthuten (Here I come)," Kritika chimed in skipping to the table.

Maan just walked in while Kritika settled comfortably on the chair. He smiled genuinely at her before taking his seat opposite to her. Kritika grinned back at him for it would be the last time he would smile like that. Geet looked at Kritika surprised at the sudden change in her daughter but it felt good that she was finally giving in. She served Maan before putting some on the plate for Kritika and went to sit beside her.

"Arjun kahaan hai Geet?" Maan asked taking a bite of rice.

"He has to take a call from work," she said carefully picking out the tomato pieces from the rice before feeding Kritika.

"Mmm Jaanu, besh besh itha itha ithathan ethirparthen (superb this is what I expected)," he said relishing the tomato rice.

"Of course Mr. Ethirkatchi enjoy all that you want now," Kritika thought.

Geet just fed a mouthful to Kritika and she took it absentmindedly, looking intently at Maan. As she chewed on the food she realized a small of tomato had managed to get into her mouth, "Amma!" she shrieked and pulled her tongue out revealing a small bit of tomato on the tip of her tongue. Maan and Geet shot their head up at her sudden scream to find a very angry Kritika staring at her mother with her tongue out. He chuckled as his mind reeled back to the days when he first saw Geet react exactly like Kritika.

"Ma pothum (enough), I'm done," Kritika said jumping out of the chair before her mother could catch her. Geet shook her head and filled her plate and looked at Maan. She saw that he was lost somewhere in his thoughts and called him.

Maan engrossed in the memory when he suddenly heard Geet call out to him.

"Maan aap kahaan kho gaye ho? Is the food not good?" she asked taking a bite to see if the ingredients were blended well in the tomato rice.

"Arre nahi Geet," he smiled but frowned as he saw her take a bite of the food she abhorred. "Vaise Geet I never knew you liked tomato rice," he blurted.

"Voh," she paused, caught in her act, "nahi I still hate it but you have come as a guest toh yeh sab karna padta hai," she joked.

"Acchaji, voh sab teekhai but did I, did I just see you take a bite of it?"

"Haan toh kya hua?" she asked nonchalantly.

"No, I never said that but it's really shocking afterall I can see the trait of hating has been passed on well."

"Whatever, kabhi kabhi humare khwaishein kisi aur ke liye badal jaate hain," she murmured under her breath.

"Come again?"

"Nothing, aap kha lijiye, main abhi aayi," she said getting up to find Kritika.

By the time Geet came back Maan had finished dinner and was washing his plate. "Arre Maan aap bait jayiye I'll do it," she said forcefully taking the plate away from him.

"Geet main kar rahan hoon, tum jao aur kha lo," he said pushing her away to eat. She scrunched her nose in anger and stomped to the table and slumped down, murmuring curses.

Maan chuckled at her childish gesture, "Jaanu, there is absolutely no difference between you and Kritika." Seeing there was no reply, he carefully placed the washed plate on the dish rack and wiped his hands on the nearby towel that hung near the dishwasher and walked to sit in the couch beside Geet. She sat cross-legged on the couch, her plate perching on her lap. She was intently watching some Tamil reality singing show, her eyes glued to the television. Her hand went mechanically from the plate to mouth, her brain only registering what was happening on the television. He tried to divert her attention back to him, only to fail miserably at it. She kept shoving his hands away as he tried to block her from seeing the show. Giving up he frowned and moved away a bit before lying down, placing his head on her lap.

"Maan!" she gasped as he placed his head near her plate. She took away plate in one swipe to see Maan smirk.

"Shh disturb mat karo, dekho dekho you'll miss the show," he ordered with a lop-sided grin. She shook her head continued to watch the show.

The end credits were rolling on the television and Geet looked down to see Maan peacefully sleeping, with a serene smile on his face. She lightly caressed his forehead and smiled, a lone tear forming in the corner of her eye. She put her plate aside and tried to place his head on a pillow, without disturbing his sleep when she heard Kritika calling.

"Maanji!" Kritika chirped in her sugary sweet tone, innocently walking into the living room. Before Geet could stop her from disturbing Maan's sleep she saw him wake up and look around. "Maanji," Kritika once again said walking to stand in front of him, batting her eyelashes.

"Kriti he was sleeping, why did you wake him?" Geet asked.

"Its alright Geet," Maan smiled, "boliye Kritikaji," he said turning to look at Kritika.

"Voh I need some help with something in my room. Will you please help me?" she asked continuing to coo.

"Of course azhagi (beautiful)," he grinned getting up.

"Don't call me azhagi," she said biting her teeth, "please," she added quickly.

"Please go to my playroom, I'll follow you, I need to get something from mamu," she said pointing to the way to her room.

"Ennadi venum, I'll help you," Geet chimed in unable to fathom the sudden change in Kritika's attitude.

"Ma!" Kritika panicked, for a second her mother would ruin everything. "No not you, only him."

"Geet's it's alright. At least tumhari beti ke saath kuch time toh spend kar sakoon," he assured.

"Very good, now aap please jayiye, I'll be right there," Kritika interrupted before she skipped to the door.

Maan was about to walk to her room when his cell phone buzzed to life. He looked to see who might be calling him at this hour but was elated seeing the number. "Vicky!" he said grinning widely at Geet. She returned his smile and asked him to continue with his call while she would look into Kritika's matter.

It had been a long while since he had talked to his little brother. Vicky had left India a year ago to pursue his interest in masters in finance and business in California. Although he caught up with his Maan Veerji often updating him about his studies and day-to-day lifestyle, studies, exams, and assignments kept him busy. Few days ago he had received a call from his Daadi stating Maan had come to New York. He promised to go meet him for his fall break was approaching soon and he decided to call his brother to check up on the latest updates.

Maan slowly walked to his room, listening to Vicky chatter away about his professors and the assignments he heard a loud shriek from the other end of the house. He abruptly cut the call and ran to the source to find a big slushy mess in the playroom with Geet on the floor, her forehead bleeding profusely.

"Geet!" he yelled in fear, rushing near her, patting her cheeks. "Geet open your eyes Geet!" he called vigorously rubbing her cheeks. Seeing no reaction from her he deftly lifted her from the floor before calling for the ambulance.

"Okay Mams I am leaving," Kritika chirped hoping Maan would have entered the playroom and had a nice shower of her slushy play-doh. Well it's the least she could do for making her eat tomato. Yuck! She had carefully let the twenty small boxes of the toy clay soak in water, making it slushy and sticky. She had perched the soaked clay near her small round table so that when Maan would come to open the door he could be warmly welcomed with a shower of play-doh! What she didn't know was it was her mother who went in and unfortunately the slush had caused her to slip and hit her head in the nearby bookshelf, knocking her unconscious and hurting her badly.