Ek aur, garma garam story ready hai. I should really be prepping for research, lekin this is more fun. Dreaming up scenarios and fix-its is 100 times better than doing a literature review. So here, courtesy of episode 108 and 109, I present a missing scene (We didn't need that much drama between the two eps, let's be honest. They could have cut half of 108 and half of 109 and spliced it together). So, here's a splice:
Disclaimer- I don't own the characters, show or any dialogues (towards the end) that have been said in the show
-----------------------------
Signing those papers had been his undoing. It was all he could do to keep walking out of the room. His knees threatened to buckle beneath his as soon as he crossed the threshold and he had to brace himself against the wall.
He had come to fix them. And had ended up damaging them even more irreparably than before. How had he messed up so bad?
A whispered voice reached his ears. Words spoken out loud, but not meant to be heard.
“Itna bhi trust nahin tha aapko mujhpe AVM? Ek jhatke mein sab kuch khatam kar diya? Aapne soch bhi kaise liya ki main aapko dhoka de sakti hoon? Ya main aapki ma ki side le rahi hoon. Aapne promise kiya tha kia ap mera point of view understand karne ki koshish karenge. Par aapne to try kare bina hi sab kuch khatam kar diya.”
His head rolled back until it came to rest on the wall behind him. This was not the Ishqi he had just seen looking back at him with attitude in her eyes. These were not the words of risky Ishqi, the girl who had sacrificed herself for his family’s reputation. This was not his wife, who had promised to stick by him, through everything. There was a pleading in her voice that he wasn’t used to.
He wanted to go in. Confront her. Ask her why she’d done this. Why would she side with the one person who had single-handedly ruined everything in his life? Ask her why she’d brought the woman back into their lives, when she knew their history very well. Shake her until she broke her silence.
He broken from his reverie by a crash sounding from the room. He only just caught himself before rushing into the room and instead hurried through a neighboring open door, in the nick of time to hear maasi’s panicked voice rushing past. Slowly creeping out, he resumed his position outside the door. A stack of papers and some signatures done in a moment of haste could not possibly spell the end for them.
No.
He wouldn’t let it end like this. Straining to listen to the hushed conversation inside, he inched as close as he could without giving himself away.
“Ishqi, yeh kya hai?” maasi implored, taking the papers from her hand.
“Sab khatam ho gaya maasi. AVM ne sab khatam kar diya. Dekho na, kya karne nikli thi, aur kya ho gaya. Maine Dadi ki baaton mein aake yeh papers sign kare the. Lekin AVM ne toh khud aakar sign karein hain. Unhe mujhpe bharosa nahin hai maasi.” She choked out the words to the woman in front of her.
“Ishqi, main ab bhi keh rahi hoon, Ahaan ko sab bata de. Usne tujhe support kiya hai, toh woh apni ma ko bhi karega. Lekin poora sach jaanne ke baad.” Maasi pleaded again
Ishqi let out a shaky, disbelieving laugh. “Ab nahin maasi. Unhone apne haathon se yeh papers sign karein hain aur yeh ring mujhe di hai. Ab kis haq se main unhe jaake kahoon ki unki maa bhaagi nahin thi, balki mental asylum mein thi? Kis mooh se jaake bolun ki unhe wahan pahaunchane waali koi aur nahin dadi thi? Aap itne saal mausaji ki wajah se chup rahi. Savitri aunty toh bees saal se shaant hain kyunki jab unhone awaaz uthane ki koshish kari unki awaaz band kar di gayi. Kaise bataun Ahaan ko ki unke papa, jisko dadi ne mahan banaya hua hai, who apni patni ko nashi ki haalat mein maarte they? Peet-te they? Aur woh koi London-wandon nahin gayi, balki yaha thi, apne ghar se ek ghanta door? Suraj ji unke pati nahin, unke wakeel hain? Jo unhe sirf divorce aur apne bacchon ki custody milne mein help kar rahe they? Who saboot maangenge maasi. Aur mere paas koi saboot nahin hai” She wiped the few tears that had managed to escape.
Maasi grabbed her shoulders and gently shook her in her exasperation. “Lekin ab kya Ishqi? Ab kya karegi tu? Ahaan ne toh papers sign kar diye na? Toh ab kaunsa saboot tere kaam aayega? Savitri ji ne tujhe bola tha, ki Durga ji ke khilaaf mat ja. Jo bhi unke raaste mein aata hai, woh usko hataa deti hai. Dekh, unhone tod diya na tera aur Ahaan ka Rishta? Ab tu agar saboot ke saath wahan jaayegi bhi, toh kis haq se?”
“Ab, wohi hoga jo plan kiya hai. AVM saboot ke bina maanenge nahin, aur mein khud unhe saboot jaake de nahin sakti. Toh ab, dadi ke is chehre ko Ahaan ke saamne lana hai, toh sabke saamne laana hai. Ab dadi ko iss jhoot ke peeche chhipne nahin dungi main.” She paused, turning to her maasi. “Mera banda ziddi hai, adiyal hai, khadoos hai. Sanskaaron pe kuch zyaada hi dhyaan deta hai, 1921 ka hai. Lekin main unse pyaar karti hoon. Aur woh mujhse. Aur unhe meri zaroorat hai. Mere liye itna hi kaafi hai.” A slight smile graced her face, through the emotions in her voice
It took Ahaan many minutes to comprehend the conversation he had eavesdropped on. He’d been hoping to hear why Ishqi would support the destroyer of his family. But it wasn’t Ishqi supporting the destroyer, it was him. It was his Dadi who had caused all of this.
Ishqi was right, he had signed the papers of his own accord, without even waiting to hear why she had signed them. She had to have been coerced, just like Kartik had said.
She’d risked everything, but if she had just talked to him...
‘Would you have listened? Every time somebody brings up your mother, you shut down. You’ve already told her off so many times. You’re not rational when it comes to maa. So why would you listen to her?’
20 years. His mother had spent 20 years in a mental asylum because she had tried to go against physical abuse inflicted on her by her own husband. She’d been placed there to cover up the sins of a son.
The dots were starting to connect. "Rhea had also accused Dadi of kidnapping Ishqi from the resort and plotting to keep them apart. How many times had things gone wrong in his life and it had been because of Dadi, but he blamed somebody entirely inappropriate? She had stopped him from going after Mayank. Had she done that out of care for their family? Out of fear of Sarla aunty's reaction? Or was it self-preservation?' He began moving towards the door. He’d heard all he needed to. Ishqi hadn’t betrayed him. He had betrayed her. He had abandoned her. She was trying to fix his family, but he had broken them.
But how did he get Dadi to confess? How was he supposed to accuse the woman who had raised him? The questions kept circling his mind as he drove home. Even seeing everyone seated in front of the TV, trying to make sense of the press conference, he couldn’t muster up the energy to react.
Let the chips fall where they may. He was beyond caring. “Ishqi ko jo karna hai, karne dijiye.”
Dadi’s shocked face rankled with him. Was she just acting or was this genuine concern? “Who ladki humare ghar ki izzat ucchaalne jaa rahi hai, aur hum haath par haath dhare baithe rahein?”
It was time for the truth to out. “Dadi aap hi ne mujhe sikhaya hai ki agar kuch galat nahin kiya hai toh darne ki koi zaroorat nahin. Humari family ne toh kuch galat nahin kiya. Hum logon ne toh kuch chupaya nahin hai.” THERE. The slight signs of panic on her face were all the confirmation he needed. Ishqi was right.
“Haa-Haan, par-”
“Darte wohi hain dadi, jo galat karte hain”
‘Jaise aapne kiya hai. Pehle maa ke saath. Aur ab Ishqi aur mere saath.’
“Aur log kya bolte hain, use humein kya farak padta hai? Humlog jaante hain na apni family kaisi hai? Usko jo karna hai karne dijiye. Uski wajah se hum apni family life aur mental state affect nahin hone denge.” He knew that more than Ishqi, it was what Dadi had done that had affected this family and their mental status.
Compared to that, nothing could possibly hurt him the way she had. Let Ishqi do this. Let her expose Dadi, because once again, she had been right. He wouldn’t have believed her even with the conference happening, had he not heard her words not even an hour ago.
It was time to reassess his life and he would begin with fixing his relationship with Ishqi, who should have been his priority from the start. He shouldn't have let Dadi interfere between them, at all.
----------------
I want to do a part two...? Agar dimaag chalega, toh I'll try to do a full khulasa and wrap of the entire story continuing from here only, with a re-written ending. And if it does go longer, I'll shift it to a proper fanfiction category.
Bade Achche Lagte Hain Naya Season
Bigg Boss 19
Real Estate
3