MPbGD Part 46 posted on pg 150 on 16/1/12 - Page 5

Originally posted by: arshluver_15

Hey di
i am so glad that you started this new FF...
i am quit confused as to what kind of relationship armaan and ridhima have and why his kids called her badi maa...
if you could can you clarify this for me...
thanks for the pm
lods of love
nruti

woowww...

gr888 start di...

waiitng to see...

wat is waitng for AR..

thnx for the pm...

Originally posted by: ssh57

that's the main suspense of the story. read on and keep guessing. love shardha

hey dear...

amazing start...as i said any thing on armaan and ridz on u will b awesome...looking forward for story to reveal ...

all the best for this story and update soon

love

sania

Part 2

While she tried to put her thoughts into words, Armaan was glancing around the house, appreciating the way it was so well maintained. On one wall was a big photo of his parents, which he had never seen before. It had been garlanded with fresh flowers. Obviously the flowers were not more than a day old, so it must have been changed only that morning. Even the flowers in the vase were fresh. She wasn't aware of his arrival, so she must be have been doing these things routinely. Since how long? he wondered.

A: thanks a lot you've maintained the house excellently!

Not being used to being complimented by him she felt awkward. So she asked him 'would you like some coffee?"

A: Yes, that would be fine.

When she went up and returned with two cups of coffee, Armaan wasn't in the hall. She was wondering if she should call out to him, when she heard voices from inside. She recognized it as Kuppu's. Kuppu was shooting questions at Armaan. "What happened chinayya (younger master)? You look so tired! Why didn't you inform us that you were coming today? And where were you planning to stay? It's good teacher amma maintains this house like a temple and hence never rented it out either, or else how could you have come in here?" so on and so forth. "Sitting in the van for three hours has tired my legs. They are just recovering from the injury," Armaan replied to his queries as he lay resting on the bed.

Then seeing Riddhima, Armaan sat up on the bed, leaning against the bedpost with his legs stretched out in front. She handed him one cup when he extended his hand towards her. When she turned around to give the coffee to the lad, he said "I don't drink kaapi amma."

K: amma why did you take so much trouble? You should have told me na? I would have made it.

R: it's ok Kuppu. Does uncle know that'.

K: No, he's having his afternoon nap. I was in the backyard so I didn't hear the vehicle. When I came indoors, I heard some voices and hence came to check. I saw that boy holding and bringing Chinnayya here. I couldn't recognize him first. I think the foreign country climate didn't suit chinayya, that's why his hair has greyed prematurely. I think my hair is still darker than his.

He laughed at his own joke. Armaan too joined him and that made Riddhima also smile. Then turning towards her Armaan said, "Sit down and give me company. If I remember correctly, you are very fond of coffee." The lad went outside and got the chair for her. When she settled on the chair and started sipping the coffee, he said, "If you could tell Rajesh how to get to the market he'll go and get the grocery and other things. So that we won't have to impose on you."

K: I myself have to go to the bazaar. I'll take him along.

Armaan took out a thousand rupee note from his purse and handed it to Rajesh. "It's difficult to get change for such a big note here," said Kuppu, "but don't worry we'll manage." Then both of them left after making sure that chinayya didn't need anything else.

It was very awkward for Riddhima sitting alone with him. So to start a conversation she asked "how is everyone? Karuna, the boys?" Suddenly his eyes dropped and his face grew sad. When he looked up at her again, his eyes were brimming with tears. "Karu is no more" he said simply. "She died in the car accident which left me like this." Riddhima let out a gasp. "I'm very sorry." She knew how much he loved her who would know better?

A: Perhaps God has punished me for the way I treated you.

R: Don't say that. I've never held against you or Karuna. You must be tired, take rest. I'll go now. Just call out loudly if you want anything.

He nodded and lay down on the bed. She didn't want to ask anything more about the accident and make him sadder. But what she didn't know was that she had left him with thoughts of the past. Inspite of the way life had treated her, there was absolutely no bitterness in her. She was the same selfless girl he always knew. "Riddhima!" he sighed.

Riddhima, Armaan, indeed rare names for south Indians. His dadaji, that is her nanaji, was a civil engineer and worked in a construction company near Chennai. His father and her mother were kids then. There was a north Indian electrical foreman in that company by the name Armaan Mallik and his wife's name was Riddhima. The two families were allotted quarters next to each other.

The Malliks didn't have any kids. So they doted on Subbu and Padma as if they were their own kids. They had been neighbours for almost five years. But after that the company had closed down due to heavy losses. Their grandfather had returned to their village and the Malliks had moved north, to their hometown. They had totally lost touch after that, as they didn't even have a phone connection then.

Years passed by. Subbu had got married and got a son. In memory of his favourite uncle he named him Armaan. A few years later Padma got married. She'd had 2 miscarriages before she conceived Riddhima. But when she was in the fifth month of her pregnancy her husband died of typhoid. Her in-lawslost no time in blaming her and her unborn child for their son's death and sent her packing with her parents.

Few months later, she delivered a baby girl. Without any second thought she named her Riddhima, because after all she was born to be married to her nephew, Armaan. (In certain castes of Tamilians, girls get married to their cousins, i.e. mama's or bua's sons.) So Riddhima and Armaan grew up together in the same house, though he was elder to her by 5 years. Right from the time she was a baby, her mother instilled in her, that she was to be Armaan's bride.

As a little girl, Riddhima adored the ground her Athaan walked on. She would be chasing him wherever he went calling out "Athaan, Athaan". For him, she was an endless embarrassment. His friends teased him no end, because of her. That was why he avoided her as much as possible. Inspite of all his threatening and scolding, she followed him around like a faithful puppy.

When he got admission in Madras Dental College, he thanked God with all his heart and left home happily. He would come home during the vacation, but for a few days only. He began to notice that she was blooming into a very pretty but shy girl, very different from the earlier chatterbox. He was very thankful that now she didn't tag along everywhere with him. She rarely ever spoke to him. (But he didn't see her hiding behind doors, admiring her Athaan who had grown even more handsome now, with good height and perfectly chiseled body.)

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He didn't realize when he drifted off to sleep, but opened his eyes when he heard shouts of "Amamma (nani) see I won the cup! come fast amamma see my cup!" he heard footsteps running downstairs and heard Riddhima shout with joy, "I knew my Rajati would win the first prize."

He got up and limped to the window, making sure he wasn't spotted by anyone. When he looked outside, he saw a couple get off a scooter and enter the gate. Riddhima was carrying a 4 or 5 year old girl in her arms. "Come Suja, come maplillai (son-in-law)" she welcomed them. As they moved towards the staircase at the side of the house, Suja said "Amma you should have come for the programme. You would have really enjoyed it. Everyone was praising Priyam so much, you know? They were appreciating her diction, her pronounciation'"

"After all who trained her?" the man joined in.

They had begun to climb the stairs when Suja exclaimed, "amma the downstairs door is open."

R: Yes, the house owner has come.

S: You mean'.

Then the voices abruptly died away.

Armaan went and sat on the cot and again and started thinking, Riddhima had called that chap mapillai. Did that mean the girl was Riddhima's daughter? But she looked around 28 or 30. Riddhima herself must be just 45 he calculated. Then who were they? And why did that kid call Riddhima 'amamma'? maybe he should ask Kuppu. Then looking at the clock he realized that Kuppu and Rajesh had been gone for over two hours now.

As he lay on the bed, he could hear a lot of chatter and laughter from above. Because of the open courtyard in the front and back of the house, sound easily carried. His thoughts automatically went back to his family.

Initially after going to the US, he had felt very lonely without his family. It was almost 8 months before they could join him. Karuna's elder sister, who was settled in the US after her marriage, had sponsored Karuna, as well as their mother. So his mother-in-law had also moved in with them. Though she spent few months with her elder daughter, she was with them for major part of the year. And she felt no qualms in nagging her younger son-in-law to better his financial position and constantly comparing him to her rich elder son-in-law.

Armaan could only manage a part time job and Karuna also ran the house very economically. But it was difficult with one earning member and two children schooling in private school. Thanks to Karuna's jijaji, who agreed to stand guarantor for the loan, he had been able to get to get loan to pay his fees as well as his children's. Though Karuna was also dentist, she couldn't practice there unless she graduated there again and as of then, there was no way they could afford fees for one more person.

Immediately after his graduation there Armaan had joined a hospital chain, which paid very well. Their standard of living became better. Then slowly his popularity grew and he became a famous dentist with his own practice. He was now very well off with a mansion and moving among the elite. He coaxed Karuna to join the grad school, so that she could also start her practice. But as she had been out of practice for so many years, she preferred to remain a housewife. Moreover, she didn't want to put her family to any inconvenience.

Armaan became a workaholic wanting to earn more and more, nothing seemed to satisfy him. Probably the nagging and comparisons made his MIL is what drove him to it. But in the process he got distanced him from his family.

Karan being an above average student got into a good university. But he had a lot of American friends and in trying to imitate them grew away from his family. Karuna tried to rectify her mistake by putting her younger son on a tighter leash. But that had only resulted in him becoming a total rebel. Once he completed school he had moved out of the house but hadn't even enrolled into any university. He joined a rock band and lived a life of his own. No amount of talking by his parents and grandmother, was able to get him back.

Soon Karuna's mother, who had doted on her grandsons, passed away. That had been the last straw for Karuna. She had gone into depression. She had wanted to return to India but Armaan didn't want to give up his lucrative practice. That often led to heated arguments between them. How he wished he had agreed to her. At least she would have been alive today. They had been having one such argument when they were hit by a reckless driver who had jumped the traffic lights. As she was in the driver's seat she had been instantly killed. Armaan always felt if they hadn't been arguing, perhaps she would have seen the other car. Of course that wasn't a fact as everything had happened in a split second.

He had been hospitalized in the US for over a month. When his condition was stable he had requested his brother-in-law, Karuna's jijaji, to arrange for him to go back to India. He had come to Chennai where his brother-in-law owned a house and started treatment at the Apollo hospital. As of now, he didn't want to return to the US. How he longed for the happy moments with his family. But that was impossible now. Realizing that tears welled up in his eyes.