Originally posted by: rulama
Smita,😊
Here is my interpretation to Part 76.
Appealing to the intellect and the powers of reasoning, convincing, power to dispel doubt, overcome resistance or opposition is what this update is all about. Comprehensively it means COGENT.
Aarti's appeal after the narration of her story, to look elsewhere for a bride for NK was greeted by a pin drop silence.
Naniji was the first to break the silence.
Naniji said, "Bitiyaa, whatever happened, all the terrible things, they were not your fault. Why should you punish yourself for the past?"
Buaji & Mami nodded.
"Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin" ~ Mother Teresa
Mami said, "Child ijj not the phather (father) of man, Aarti Bitiyaa! Man is the phather (father) of the child. You were a child. Your phather was a man. He made mistakes. Why should you pay for them, Hello Hi Bye Bye?"
"I just don't see why the past has to matter"
~ Cassandra Clare, City of Fallen Angels
"Haan, Bitiyaa!", Buaji said, wiping away her tears. "You deserve to be happy, Nandkisore! Your Amma deserves to be happy. Marry NK Babua, and live happily. He will look after you very well, never hurt you with a word or an action...", Buaji could not complete her sentence, tears stopping her from speaking.
All the rest present there concurred with them.
Aarti was overwhelmed to see their response even after the narration of her story.
Despite her life story, Aarti saw for the first time how much they like her, love her, accept her with warts and all. She saw how much the elders were making her feel accepted!
Continuing their persuasion,
"He will look after your Amma as if she were his own.", Nani added.
Again, all nodded.
"Aarti Bitiyaa, I am not saiying (saying) thijj (this) because his parents are my rishtedaar. They are very good people, better than me. They will lub (love) you a lot.", Mami reassured her.
"To us, family means putting your arms around each other and being there" ~Barbara Bush
"Haan.", Nani said. "They are very, very nice people, very kind and jovial people. They will treat you as though you were Mahalaxmi."
Akash said, "Aartiji, I promise. You will never have to do everything alone anymore. We will all be with you."
All of them nodded.
"Family isn't about sharing the same genetics, That's being related, Family is when you love someone to death, and You would do anything for them, You trust them, Take care of them, And in return they do the same. Its the type of bond you hold together" ~ Tanya Bianco
"Haan, Aartiji. You are our sister. Your Amma is ours too. We will look after her.", said Payal softly.
Aarti was in a dilemma as how to convince them that she was a bad proposition.
"Marry me, Aarti.", NK said softly. "I promise you I will always look after Amma and never hurt you."
Aarti did not want to reply Her Sunflower. She did not want to refuse him in front of the others nor agree to his proposal!
"I know you won't." The admission alone cost her much.
A relief was evident on all the faces with her answer. But she sighed.
"Your life is changing, Aartiji!", said Khushi, smiling through her tears. "Now it is time for happiness. Don't be scared of the change. We will be there holding your hand."
"Change is hardest at the beginning, messiest in the middle and best at the end"~ Robin S. Sharma, The Leader Who Had No Title: A Modern Fable on Real Success in Business and in Life
All nodded, smiling at Aarti.
"The hair, the clothes, the work you do, all these don't matter to us. Your responsibilities are ours too. We will not let you leave us, Aartiji. We want you with us. We just want to be with you.",
"The strength of a family, like the strength of an army, is in its loyalty to each other"
~ Mario Puzo, The Family
Khushi added. Payal seconded her statement. The entire family looked ready to carry Aarti and her mother off to their home...
All the talk made Aarti wonder how to convince them, make them understand..?
While she was pondering over it, the Arnav Singh Raizada who was quiet all along decided to speak!
"Some people's personalities are so compelling that they command attention" ~ Laura Linney
When the Lion speaks you are compelled to listen, its voice is mesmerizing, it is to dispel doubt, it is ti overcome resistance and opposition!
He said, "Each time I met you, Aarti, I felt I knew you. As though you belonged with us. As though your rightful place was within the Raizada family..."
"Kindred spirits are not so scarce as I used to think. It's splendid to find out there are so many of them in the world"
~ L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables
Aarti looked at him, her face expressionless.
His was equally so.
"I couldn't understand why you seemed so familiar, why sometimes looking at you was like looking at myself, as I was a few years back...Now, I realise why I felt so. Why my family recognised you and took you to heart..."
Aarti stared at him, waiting.
"When you have that window of opportunity called a crisis, move as quickly as you can, get as much done as you can. There's a momentum for change that's very compelling"
~ Anne M. Mulcahy
This is what Arnav Singh Raizada, a master at deals was doing! He saw the opportunity that he was waiting for, to convince Aarti to whom his brother had given his heart to. He knew how to do it. Not like the cold blooded deal that he had dished out to Kushi when he had first met her, but the warm appeal that is much more effective that he realized after the advent of Kushi in his life.
"Because you are wounded. Just as we all are."
Aarti frowned at him. The Raizadas & NK nodded. Buaji looked at Arnav and Aarti.
"Because you became an adult in your childhood. As I did."
Aarti stared at Arnav, unable to comprehend his meaning.
"What could be more convincing, moreover, than the gesture of laying one's cards face up on the table?" ~ Jacques Lacan
Arnav looked at his Nani, drawing Aarti's attention to her. "My Nani. She could be yours."
Aarti though was showing an impassionate face was perplexed. She wondered what was Arnav Singh Raizada upto? What was he implying??
Was he offering his Nani in exchange for her consent for the marriage?
"Reason gains all people by compelling none"
~ Aaron Hill
"My Nani married off her only daughter (as yours did) to a gentleman from a well-known family in Lucknow. My father, Arvind Mallik."
Aarti frowned.
"Yes, I changed my surname. Discarded his and took my mother's. That should tell you something about the high esteem in which I hold Arvind Mallik."
"I've never tried to block out the memories of the past, even though some are painful. Everything you live through helps to make you the person you are now" ~ Sophia Loren
This was a surprise for Aarti. Never expected one of this nature that too from Arnav Singh Raizada!
"Surprises can be compelling"
~ Cathy McMorris Rodgers
"Yes, he was a scoundrel. In every way possible. Wasted money as if the world was going to end in a day. Sold everything my mother owned to fund his extravagances. Bankrupted a thriving family business. Made my mother cry with his affairs and drinking."
"Eloquent speech is not from lip to ear, but rather from heart to heart"
~ William Jennings Bryan
Aarti for the first time seeing behind the faade projected by Arnav Singh Raizada to the outer world, realized what it must be costing him to come out with his story! She also realized how much he loves his brother, NK and to what extent he would bend backwards for him. He who is stern was exposing his wounds before her.
This narration had Nani and Mami wet eyes, Akash and NK pale.
"I can forgive all that. If I try hard enough...", Arnav admitted. "But there are two things I will never forgive him for. One, he was driving when he crashed his car into a taxi, and killed my mother who was sitting beside him."
As Aarti watched, Khushiji caught hold of her husband's hand, and held it in her lap in between both of her hands.
"The beauty of a woman is not in a facial mole, but true beauty in a Woman is reflected in her soul. It is the caring that she lovingly gives, the passion that she knows" ~ Audrey Hepburn
"Two...", Arnav cleared his choked throat. "Two, he killed the taxi driver and a couple travelling in the taxi."
Aarti drew in a deep breath.
Arnav was not done yet. "And almost killed the 10-year old daughter of the couple. Her whole body burned...", Arnav stopped. He couldn't speak.
Khushi completed his statement. "I am that girl.", she smiled at Aarti.
"It has shown me that everything is illuminated in the light of the past. It is always along the side of us...on the inside, looking out"
~Jonathan Safran Foer
Aarti just couldn't believe what she had heard! Eventhough she knew Kushi had burn scars she never knew the extent of it, the cause, and how she had fared! She who had thought Kushi had everything was flummoxed to realize extent of her battle with her injuries! Looking at her personality Aarti had no inkling of the turmoil Kushi had to undergo! She had always thought her to be a beautiful Lady who was lucky to be loved so much not only by her husband, her family but also by all those around her.
Aarti stared at Arnav & Khushiji, unable to breathe properly at the very thought of a 10-year old battling burn injuries from the accident in which she lost her parents...
"The past is a ghost, the future a dream and all we ever have is now" ~ Bill Cosby
"He destroyed many lives, the lives of everyone who came close to him.", Arnav said softly. "Nani's, Nana's, Mamaji's, Mami's, Di's, Amma's, Khushi's parents', the taxi driver's, Khushi's, and mine. I was a teenager when I had to take on the responsibility of a wreck of a family business and huge debts..."
"My past has not defined me, destroyed me, deterred me, or defeated me; it has only strengthened me" ~ Steve Maraboli
Aarti looking at the Raizada's now had never envisaged that they had trodden such a path strewn with thorns.
She wished she could cry.
"When you tell us about your father and Shikha, we can understand you. We can read between the lines...", Arnav continued.
Nani & Mami nodded.
"The past is always tense, the future perfect"
~ Zadie Smith
"Maybe, only we can understand you. Listening to you talk of your past was like returning to our past for us.", Arnav admitted.
Neither Aarti nor the rest were in a position to speak.
"Our past may explain why we're suffering but we must not use it as an excuse to stay in bondage" ~ Joyce Meyer, Battlefield of the Mind: Winning the Battle in Your Mind
Then suggested Arnav, "Let's go forward, Aarti."
"We can draw lessons from the past, but we cannot live in it." ~ Lyndon B. Johnson
Aarti nodded. She was going forward. Forward and away.
"Marry NK. If he so much as harms a hair on your body, we promise to beat him to pulp.",Arnav smiled wryly.
"What you had yesterday is only memories; what you will have tomorrow is your dreams and what you will do today, let it be love" ~ Santosh Kalwar
Akash, Nani, Mami, & Buaji nodded vigorously.
Arnav added. "Your mother will get her family. And we will get both of you."
"It is only when the mind is free from the old that it meets everything anew, and in that there is joy" ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
How Aarti wished she could cry! What curse was it that prevented her from letting all her pain flow away?
"I'm not saying it's going to be easy. Nothing in life is easy. But that's no reason to give up. You'll be surprised what you can accomplish if you set your mind to it. After all, you only have one life, so you should try to make the most of it"
~Louis Sachar, Holes
"Let's get married today, Aarti.", NK suggested. "A small ceremony with just family. We can leave tonight with Amma and Gopi Kakka on the trip you have planned. We can stay away from Delhi till Amma feels better, and then return here. What do you say to this plan?"
"Often the right path is the one that may be hardest for you to follow. But the hard path is also the one that will make you grow as a human being" ~ Karen Mueller Coombs, Bully at Ambush Corner
Beginning with the effective appeal from Nani, Mami and Buaji as to why they would like her to consent for her marriage with NK and why her request not to be considered as NK's bride be rejected , Akash's and Payal's persuasion to come within their fold, Kushi's convincing talk of not to be fearful of the changes that would occur, Arnav's compelling, conclusive and eloquent narration of his and Kushi's background to dispel doubt of being unable to understand her and why she is a welcome addition to the family, was topped by the proposal of a simple wedding by NK.
Wasn't it a COGENT of an appeal??
Aarti has come to that fork in the road where she has to make a choice.
"One Choice, decided your friends.
One Choice, defines your beliefs.
One Choice, determines your loyalties - Forever.
ONE CHOICE CAN TRANSFORM YOU
All one needs is just One Choice"
~ Veronica Roth, Divergent
What will Aarti's one choice be?
To marry NK or not??😛
Or should I say, marry NK now or later???😉
Lets see whats in store!!!!😆
That's it from me. Hope you enjoy it!
Book Talk
Anupamaa
10