"Hume kuch samajh mein nahi aa raha Arnavji! Kuch theek se nahi ho raha... Aur Di-"
And the phone went dead. Arnav stared at the phone, tears threatening to spill out.
"Chhotey?" He felt Di's hand on his shoulder...
. Di's cradle holds the answer Arnavji and am really sorry for letting that happen...
Arnav walked to the baby's cradle numbly... "Di, she said this held all the answers."
"What? Rajkumanri's cradle?" She asked. "Chhotey, what did Khushiji say?"
Arnav told her and cried. "She loves me Di, she loves me! What have I done to her?"
Then she watched her brother search in the cradle madly. He found nothing He finally sank to the floor and cried brokenly. "What have I done Di?"
"Its okay Chhotey! We'll figure it out!" Both of them were now sitting on the floor, by the cradle. Arnav got up. "I want to be alone Di. I will think about what Khushi said later" Because now, all he could think of was how much he had hurt her and how much he owed her. Anjali nodded in understanding, and watched her brother sadly, as he walked away.
As Arnav entered his room, he could feel its emptiness in every nerve. He turned to the Salman Khan poster, but it was empty. He remembered suddenly, the day he had found his room all decorated... It was all gone...It was as if she had never been here...No sign of her. He sat on his bed, dejected. At a loss of what to do... He didn't know when he fell asleep. He had no dreams and that scared him... He had been counting on seeing her atleast in dreams.
He woke up in the middle of the night and realized he was wearing his suit. With a sigh, he went to change to one of his Rugby shirts. He opened his cupboard, and another wave of pain hit; her colorful clothes were there... SHE wasn't.
As he took out the his shirt, a big red box fell out, spilling its contents. Most of them, he recognized and was again filled with pain and torture, as tears brimmed his eyes and he bent to pick up the contents of his wife's memoir box and the small momentos she had preserved from their past..He stared at the bangles in his hand, as he put them back in the box. He had purchased these for her the day she and NK had gone missing for hours. There was also an orange colored dupatta; he recognised it immediately; he had used it to annoy her and had wiped haldi off his face on PayAsh's Haldi. There was also a photo...of the first time they had met, both of them looking into each other's eyes. He was now blinded with tears, and his hand found an ear-ring he recognised too well. He had taken it from her on PaYash's Sangeet... He also found a small notebook. He opened it curiously. 'Laad Governor ko sataaney ke 100 Tareekey'... 'Shower lots of love', 'Light a mosquito coil...' He had been amazed that day when she could read his mind. There were many others, and all true. He smiled amusedly, then remembered she wasn't here. Refusing to even LOOK at the rest of the things, he stuffed them in the box, put it inside and went and stood by the poolside.
He gazed out at the stars. He looked at the stars Khushi had said were her Mother and Father. "I am sorry Aunty and Uncle. I am so sorry." He whispered. He looked at the star he had come to believe was his Mother. "Mujhe maaf kar do Maa. Maine bahut bura kiya. Kya karoo main abhi?"
He wanted to get out of here. Runaway somewhere where he found find painless solitude. He knew where he should go. He put on his jacket and set out. As he passed his Di's room, he heard voices. "Aap humse naraaz hai Rani Sahiba?"
Arnav supressed the urge to strangle Shyam
He could here the disgust in his Di's voice when she said sweetly, "Hum? Aur AAPSE naraaz?"
Shyam laughed. That disgusting scoundrel. Blocking his ears, he made his way to the back door of the house. He set out in the cold, to the familiarity of a place he had not visited for the last 14 years... He needed its familiarity and comfort now...
As Shyam went to the bathroom, saying he needed to freshen up, Anjali was still lingering around the cradle. She searched again. Maybe in his emotional trauma, Chhotey had mislooked those 'papers' Khushiji was talking about? She felt the sides...nothing. Exhausted, she sat down, her hand flying automatically to her belly. As she lowered her head in exhaustion, something white caught her eyes. She looked that way and saw something whit sticking out from underneath the baby's cradle. Her heart beating faster, she reached for it, and felt it with her fingers. They were taped papers. She quietly untaped the papers and called to her 'husband' "Ji, hum thodi der ke liye terrace pe hawa khane jaa rahe hain!"
With that she went to the terrace, and hurriedly opened the papers. She began to read, her eyes slowly reading each and everyone of those words, letting them sink in. As she reached the end, it all made sense... her marriage and Khushiji's words. . Di's cradle holds the answer Arnavji and am really sorry for letting that happen...he promised he would telk you the truth if I got you to sign the papers. She had to find Chhotey!
Finally, he stood at the door of the small outhouse, few meters away from Shantivan. He hadn't been here for ages... it reminded him of his mother...it hurt him, but now he needed her..., he was in that one place where he would find solitude to bury his guilt in... .after 14 years, he was here again.
PRECAP- Nahi...Nahi... Kisi ko kuch math bataiyye... Hume jhoot bolna hi padega
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