Chapter 38: Resurfacing Wounds
*Past*
Geet wiped off her sweat with a swipe of her thumb on her forehead. It had indeed been a long day. They were so engrossed in work that both Maan and Geet had skipped lunch. Her stomach growled in anticipation of food as she sat down in the barely furnished office, right beside the construction site. Maan sat in other end of the room, intensely studying the blueprints unaware of anything around him. She shook her head, "Yeh bandha will forget the whole world in front of his work," she mumbled under her breath before walking to stand beside him. "Maan," she called softly, tapping his shoulder.
"Hmm," he said still engrossed in his work.
"Maan," she whined having no proper reply from him.
"Chollu di Jaanu (tell me)," he said continuing to work.
"Pesathel (don't talk to me)," she snapped.
"Geet, tum teekh toh ho na?" he asked sounding concerned and touching her forehead with the back of his palm.
"Haan kyun?" she asked puzzled at the sudden question.
"Nahi zaroor kuch hai," he insisted placing the back of his palm on her forehead as though checking for temperature. "Varna you wouldn't call me incessantly and then order not to talk," he said suppressing a smirk.
"Haha very funny," she mocked.
"I know main bahut funny hoon. And I know that's what you love about me," he said winking.
"Spare me please Maan," she begged. "It's been a long day and I need food, badly," she added looking forlorn.
"Just this last one and then we'll go eat your idly vada sambar," he said drawing the final bits on the plan.
Unable to take it any longer she grabbed his pen, "That's it Maan let's go," she ordered with her hands on her hips.
"Geet!" he shouted angry that he had been disturbed and turned to see her tear-filled eyes. He instantly mellowed down. "Voh I'm sorry," he whispered looking down.
"It's okay," she said sniffing back her tears. "Mujhe bahut bhook lagi hai. Chalein please?"
"Abhi aayi," he said moving to clear up and roll up all the blue prints.
Once he wound down all the things quickly, he grabbed her and rushed to the waiting car outside. He managed to order the driver to take them to a restaurant while Geet came to sit beside him. They drove to what seemed like a small restaurant.
"Geet tum tehro, I'll go buy. Hum ghar jaakar khalenge," he said getting out of car when Geet stopped him.
"Maan aap kaise khareedenge? Language and cuisine problem remember?" she hinted he would have no clue trying to get them to pack the items needed.
"Geet tumhe kya lagta hai, Maan Singh Khurana ek idly vada sambar nahi khareed payega?" he scoffed.
"Maan rehne deejiye. Main yun gayi aur yun aayi," she said and before he could stop her she sped out of the car to buy food for them.
Geet ordered the necessary items and was waiting for them to be packed when she saw an aged lady trying to cross the busy street. Geet looked around to see if anybody was out there to help her as the vehicles zoomed with great speed. The traffic signal for pedestrian crossing was of no use and people crossed randomly. The lady started to cross in spite of the heavy traffic. Unfortunately for her a huge truck was fast approaching honking loudly calling the lady to move away. She could neither move faster nor back away quickly. Geet saw the impending danger and rushed to pull away the lady, just in time the lorry passed them.
Geet held the elderly woman tightly as she stood in the corner of the street while the public gathered. She checked the lady to see if she was hurt and finding her alright she sighed in relief. Maan still unawre of the commotion as he was sitting inside the car on the other side of the road, was busy checking his email on his blackberry.
"Vaango paati (Come grandma)," she said holding her hand and smiling warmly at the lady. The woman looked up slowly adjusting her thick-rimmed glasses trying to see who came forward to help her. A familiar feeling stirred inside the old lady as she glanced at Geet who looked a bit familiar. She reached out to touch her face wondering who she could be.
"Yaar nee? Enna aachu? (Who are you? What happened?)" the lady asked out of blue.
"Oh en peru Geetanjali paati. Neenga cross pannindu irukkumbothu oru thanni lorry vegama vanthindu irunthuthu. Athai neenga paarkaama poindu irunthel. Naan paarthu ungale izhuthen,(My name is Geetanjali grandma. While you were crossing the street you didn't notice a water lorry zooming towards you. I saw you and pulled you aside)" Geet explained patiently when an elderly man rushed to her side.
"Amma! Ennachu? Nokku adi gidi padaliye?" (Amma! What happened? Did you get hurt?) he asked checking her thoroughly.
"Avaalukku onnum agale, (nothing happened to her)" Geet assured seeing the man frantically checking his mother. The man looked up to profusely thank the lady who had saved his mother only to widen his eyes in surprise.
"Aap?" he asked in wonder.
"Arre Gopalan sir aap?" Geet asked, equally surprised.
"Haan I came to buy medicines for my mother and left her here to pick it up as she cannot climb steps and she must have wandered away," he said regretfully.
"Arre koi baat nahi sir. I saw her in time. She is safe now," Geet smiled warmly.
"Thank you so much Geet. If you didn't save my mother in time," he chocked unable to contain his emotions.
"Yeh aap kya keh rahi ho sir. She is like my grandmother," Geet offered before adding, "teekhai sir, main chalti hoon. Vahan Maan mujhe intezaar kar raha hoga. I came to pick up some dinner for us."
"Tum bahar kyun kha rahe ho beta? Come, our house is just a block away, we'll have dinner there," Gopalan offered.
"Arre sir nahi nahi, aapko taqleef hoga. I ordered food already," she said shaking her head.
"Please Geet it's a request. It's the best I could do for saving my mother. Mana mat karna," he requested.
Unable to deny such a heartfelt request, Geet acquised and asked him to come along in the car so they could all go together. Maan too didn't feel like bothering them when Geet told him about the plan but again Gopalan requested so they all drove to his house.
Maan parked his car in the small street that hardly could accommodate anything more than a single vehicle. They all entered an old yet spacious house passing through the pyol (thinnai). Another lady aging in her early sixties came to greet them while Gopalan introduced her as his wife. They proceeded to sit and have a chat while Gopalan's wife went ahead to prepare dinner for the guests.
Geet looked around the house that had many black and white photos hung all around the walls. Initially everything appeared faded but her curiosity got the better of her and she went ahead to explore them. She started to curiously examine each of them. She was passing through every photo until one of them caught her attention. She paused to take a closer look at what looked like a huge joint family photo to find a very familiar figure standing right in the middle of the photo with two ponytails neatly plaited on either side of her head. "Yeh kaun hai Gopalan sir?" she asked piqued with curiousity.
Gopalan looked up to see her in the middle of his coversation with Maan. "Kaun beta?" he asked walking to stand by her side. Geet pointed to a girl happily sitting right in the middle. Instantly his face changed pale before anger overtook him. "Gayatri!" he shouted calling his wife. "Nokku evvalothadavai chollirukken. Ava photo-va maatathennu! (How many times have I told you not to keep her photo here)" His wife hurried to his side, not knowing the cause of his wrath. Then seeing the photo she began to stammer in fear.
"Athu, athu anna, Amma than, (That actually Amma told)" she said hesitantly.
"Ennachu? (What happened)" Geet asked trying to appease the situation. "I am so sorry sir, I shouldn't have asked," she said remorsefully. By the time Maan also came to stand by her side.
Hearing her voice Gopalan calmed down. "I am sorry Geet. It's not your fault. It's just old memories that I want to forget," he said shaking his head.
"Sir if you don't mind aap mujhe keh sakte hain. Aapka man halka hojayega," she offered. But he still seemed to hesitate. "It's okay sir. Aap nahi batana chahte hain toh it's alright. I do respect your privacy."
"Arre nahi nahi beta. Aisa kuch nahi hai. It's just I didn't want to burden you with my sad story. But tum bhi meri beti jaisi ho. Aao main batata hoon," he said taking a seat. "Voh joh tumne dekhi, she was my sister," he said longingly. "We had moved to Bombay when my father decided to earn his living after winding up here. We were quite young. I had just completed my tenth while she had just completed higher elementary school. We were small yet satisfied family with our parents looking after all our needs. She was the heart of our family making every single day alive with her bubbliness and cheerfulness," he chuckled reminiscing his old days. "We grew up and she went to pursue her law while I took care of my father's business. She was a very bright student so she didn't need any financial help and that was a major help for my father who had hard time meeting the needs of the family. Aur ek din voh chali gayi, hum sabko chod ke. She left us shattering our dreams and hopes and eloped with a low Punjabi guy," he said with disgust. Geet's jerked her head to see him for the narration sounded very close to her own parent's. Without noticing her change in expression he continued with his narration. "Humare izzat aur samman ko mitti mein laga kar uss neech aadmi ke saath chali gayi. We didn't even know about it until we got a call from her next day. Pata hai beta what each of us were going through!" he said looking heatedly. "She had left for court as usual but didn't return in the evening. We panicked and searched in each and every one of her friend's houses magar nobody knew," he said boiling in anger. "We filed a police complaint and came home. Somehow we managed to make my father sleep in spite of his agony. And in the middle of the night, my father," he chocked, his eyes getting teary. "My father got up suddenly shouting her name and left the house to search for her although we tried our best to reassure him. He returned in the early hours of the morning empty-handed and that's when that witch called saying she had married and was extremely sorry. That very instant my father breathed his last," he said, tears flowing as he remembered the shocking day. "My mother was shocked at the events and went into extreme depression and to this day she has not come out of it. Magar voh toh bahut khush hogi hume aise halaat mein dalkar," he said sarcastically.
Geet was astounded at the revelation and somewhere her mind pricked that may be it could be her mother. "Voh, voh what's her name sir?" she asked gulping hard.
"Anu, Anuradha," he said with disgust shattering Geet. She turned pale while her eyes became teary. She began to weep not knowing that she finally got to meet her grandmother, uncle, and aunt but was devastated at the events that he had just described. Maan who was just listening to the whole narration also seemed to be stunned momentarily at Gopalan's revelation. Could it be Anu ma, he wondered.
"Seshu mama," she whispered referring to his pet name.
"Tumhe," he began surprised, "Seshu is my nickname and only my family uses it. Tum, tum kaun ho?"
"Main Anu aur Arvind ki beti," she said her eyes filled with tears.
Gopalan couldn't believe his ears. She is the daughter of the woman who didn't think twice before ruining their lives. "How dare you? Get out of this house right now!" he yelled, his anger reaching its peak. "Don't you dare call me mama. She is dead to us and so are you!"
Maan who had witnessed the events unfolding in front of him suddenly became very angry when Mr. Gopalan began to shout at Geet. "Mr. Gopalan, I would kindly request you to watch your tongue. Mana hai ki Anu ma ne galti ki aap logon se chupake magar uska yeh matlab nahi you treat your own blood like that!" he said sternly.
"Maan," Geet said, alarmed that there might be a major tiff.
"Tum chup ho jao Geet. Unfortunate events have happened but that certainly doesn't mean that he can go on abusing you or Anu ma!" Maan said pulling Geet to her side.
"Oh very nice, bahut accha. Ab tak voh na layak Arvind aur Gautam hi tha uske peeche ab tum bhi aa chuke ho," he said icily. "Yeh hamara family matter hai. Tum kaun ho to butt your head huh?" he asked angrily. "She doesn't have the guts to come in front of us and she sends messengers to appeal her case is it? Oh accha mein samjha. Yeh ladki bhi vahi khoon haina toh iski bhi vahi adat hogi, mardon ke peeche daudne ka!"
"Enough!" Maan roared like an angry lion. "Ab ek aur shabd aapne kaha toh mujhse bura koi nahi hoga," he said pointing his finger at him. "Geet is my best friend. Aur Anu ma is like my very own mother. So if you point a finger at them it is same as pointing to me. Don't make me forget that you are elder to me." He roughly pulled Geet into his hold before walking out.
Without a word Maan and Geet drove towards the place where they were staying. Throughout the ride an eerie silence prevailed. While Geet was stunned at the happenings of the day, Maan was extremely angry that the man had the guts to point a finger at Geet and Anu ma. They reached the place quickly and Maan got out slamming the door of his car. Geet winced at his attitude fearing the worst. He walked around and opened the door for her. She simply stared at him while he refused to look at her. "Maan," she called him doubtfully. "Maan, aap please shant ho jayiye," she tried to calm him.
"Kaise Geet? He, he had the guts to insult you and ma!" he growled, his eyes darkening at the very thought.
"Maan voh bahut gusse mein hain aur buzoor bhi hain," she tried to reason.
"Toh that doesn't mean he can speak whatever he wants!"
"Maan, please. It was my fault I wanted to meet them but I never imagined this would be the outcome of it," she said finally breaking down.
Instantly Maan came to her aid and hugged her, rubbing her back. "Hey, shh Jaanu, its really not your fault. That was really not the way he should have repayed for your kindness! Dekho tum rovo mat. I shouldn't have brought you here itself. Arjun ne kaha tha magar," he said regretfully.
"Na nahi Maan. Aa— aap ne mana kiya but it was my ziddi," she said in the midst of her hiccups. "Maan I want to go home," she said hugging him tightly. "I want to see mumma!"
"Sshh tum sudhar jao. Hum kal pakka vapas chale jayenge. Teekhai?" he said trying to calm her. She meekly nodded at his suggestion and still stayed in his embrace. He walked towards their rooms holding her tightly in his embrace, fearing she may fall due to all that crying that may have weakened her. He made her sit on the bed and went to bring something warm for her, as she hadn't eaten since morning.
Maan returned with some warm rice and sambar and gave it to Geet so she could atleast eat something before she slept. But she refused saying that she wasn't hungry anymore. Not buying her reason, Maan sat on her bed, mixed the rice and sambar, and fed her until she finished the plate reluctantly.
"Ab chalo mujhe bahut nini aa rahi hai," he said turning her around and pushing her to lie on the bed.
"Nini?" Geet asked perplexed.
"Haan neend," he said tucking her.
"Aap neend ko nini kehte ho?" she asked amused.
"Main nahi magar chote bacchon ko samaj aana chahiye na," he said without batting an eyelash.
"Chote bacche?" she wondered allowed and looked at Maan from the corner of her eyes to see him smirking. She eyed him only to see him giggling before it dawned upon her that he was pulling her leg. "Maan main choti bacchi hoon?" she asked angrily.
"Arre tum nahi Geet," he said vehemently shaking his head before continuing, "my best friend Jaanu is."
"Aaha you think you are very smart huh?" she huffed folding her arms.
"Think nahi babes, I know so. Chal save your nautanki for tomorrow," he winked and turned off the bedside lamp.
"Maan," she sniffed, faking tears, "aap mujhe nautanki bola?"
Maan instantly bit his tongue remembering the last time he called her nautanki and its consequences and rushed to salvage the damage. "Oops, nahi toh tumhe nautanki suna. Nahi nahi kabhi nahi. Tum toh meri sweetheart ho," he said turning on the lamp and looking sorry.
Geet instantly averted her eyes to his while her heart missed a beat. She stared at him forgetting he had called her a nautanki and somewhere in the corner of her mind expecting something more. It wasn't the first time he had called her sweetheart in fact he always addressed her as Jaanu yet she felt strange sensations when he had called her so this time.
Maan, seeing she didn't start her tantrums, sighed in relief. "Okay goodnight," he wished her and kissed her forehead. He then tucked in bed and stayed around so that he was sure she slept peacefully. Maan patted her to sleep and before he knew it, he too had fallen asleep by her side due to a long and tiring day.
***
*Present*
A small hand seemed to urgently caress her cheek as she heard someone call her. "Mumma wake up please," Geet heard her little angel whisper against her ear. She opened her eyes slowly and tried to adjust her eyes to the bright rays of the sun making its way through the hospital room. She smiled and tried to get up only to be pushed down by Kritika. "No mumma, don't get up on your own, lemme call Maanji," she said turning around and running towards the door. Within few minutes Maan walked into the room with a bright smile on his face.
"Geet, tum uth gayi. Ek minute, I'll call the doctor," he turned to leave when Kritika tugged his pant.
"I'll do that Maanji, could you please help mumma sit up," she said and left to find the doctor.
Maan came forward to help Geet sit up and adjusted her pillows so she could sit comfortably. "How do feel now?" he asked taking a seat beside her.
"Much better," she said. "Aur aap abhi tak ghar nahi gaye? You need rest Maan," she admonished.
"Haan magar tumhe ek acchi si surprise dene ki baad," he grinned.
"Surprise, kedi surprise?"
"Darling if it's a surprise you obviously have to wait to see it. Toda sabr karo, I'm sure you'll love it," he winked.
"Maan batayiye na, please, pretty please," she said making a puppy dog face.
"Fine, I'll give a clue. The surprise is flying to JFK airport and Arjun has gone to pick it up," he smiled. Geet tried to put his words together when she suddenly realized it might her. Her eyes widened in shock while she tightly held the bedsheet.
"Kk kaun Maan?" she asked hesitantly.
"If I tell you that person will kill me. The person has requested me to keep my mouth shut so, sorry babes," he said shrugging his shoulder. She smiled uneasily and wondering how she would face her. Just then she heard footsteps nearing her door and she instantly closed her eyes not wanting to face the person. She heard some shuffling in the room and some whisperings and everything went mum. She opened her eyes slightly to see who had come and a huge relief washed over her at the sight in front of her.
"Vicky?" she whispered, her eyes filling with unshed tears.
"Haan Vicky, uss bandhe jisse chodke tum yahan aagayi. The lady who promised to to hold my hand and guide me only to break it even before I could reach out to you," he said folding his hands on his chest that looked so similar to his older brother.
"Voh Vicky," she began hesitantly as guilt seeped through her.
"Oh God I was just kidding yaar," he grinned before lunging to embrace her in a tight hug. Geet was taken aback by the sudden change in atmosphere. He came out of the hug and smiled broadly at her while she looked at him confused. "Kya hua Geet?" he asked as though he understood her confusion. "Were you expecting someone elese?" he asked eyeing her with a smirk. "Khair chodo," he instantly assured to her relief. "Won't you ask how am I?" he said sounding a bit hurt.
"Oh I am sorry," she said shaking her head and coming out of her reviere. "How are you?"
"Fantastic like always," he winked. She smiled back and kept mum giving him a chance to speak more. "Aur Radhika, Radhika ke bare mein nahi poochogi?" he asked knowing her reaction.
as u can see the next new entry is ready to come... radhika 😉 hit up the like button people and comment bhi karo yaar usme please kanjoosi mat karo 😃😆
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