Ch16(pt1): Naa aadi na ant hai uska:ishkara FF (pg34, 05/04) - Page 8

"To know what pain is.. you have to feel that pain, Ishana. I know if I had lost priyanka, the way Randhawa lost his sister, how i would have reacted. A girl died. A child lost his mother. A brother lost his sister."

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"It doesn't pain anymore. Sometimes pain acts as your biggest strength. Afterall, "jinke dard gehre hote hai, unki zid bhi utni hi gehri hoti hai. Aur meri baat toh ap chod hi dijiye, kyunki meri ek haar kaafi thi mujhe sikhane ke liye ki jeet kitni zaruri hoti hai. Mr. Omkara Singh Oberoi- galti aur gunaah mein farq seekh jaiye toh apki zindagi aasan ho jaegi shayad."

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"Ab bahut hua! Jitna bura hona tha ho chuka. Prinku pehelwan is really the strongest O bhaiya."

Sure! Just wait and watch😉

Chapter 8: Talwaarein jab wo lehraaayein; chin-bhin mastak ho jaye (part 1)

(Oberoi Mansion, Main hall, morning)

Ishaana had been irritated since morning. Not that she knew why. This case which was a nothing in her eyes was taking much more time than she wanted it to. Plus the Priyanka/accident mystery. Why could this guy not tell her dad the whole truth- and then he was known to be a satyavaadi Harishchandra. Her dad had started behaving like he used during childhood. She had always perceived sensitivity to be the biggest weakness of a person. That one lesson had been enough for them or so she thought. Life is always like this- when you start feeling that you have learnt enough in life; it throws situations which change your whole being and wants you to realise that humans are such where generalizations don't work.

She was pacing up and down frustrated with the whole drama when Shivaay, Om and her dad appeared to discuss what to do with the publicity that Om's drug addiction had already gotten before he could act on that part. But the case was getting on her nerves- not that she knew why.

'What now?'

She uttered without letting anyone speak. The Obros could clearly visualise her annoyance regarding the proceedings.

'We have shut the media people up. But we need to think what to do about Om's negative image.'

What flustered her even more was his calm voice and concern for Om. Concern? Why on the earth?

'And why do you want to think on all this. I guess dear dad, you are forgetting that we are not being paid for being Mr. Oberoi's public relations but for saving their son from a case wich is a resut of his own foolishness. A cas which could have been finished yesterday and which is a nothing.'

Ishana's audacity had been too much for Om. He always knew they had been overconfident about the case and that this accident meant nothing to them. But she had crossed all limits. Calling it a nothing- a mother had died, someone's sister had died and she... He still tried to be calm.

'Ms. Sareen- I am sorry if this case is taking so much of your time. But people are suffering because of your client which is me. They've lost their loved ones.'

This overtly sentimental fool of a person. It fuelled her vexation. Why the hell couldn't he understand that it was the situation and not him!

'What has been done, Mr. Omkara, has been done. You can't go around wearing a sorry Randhawa placard and neither would it give his sister back to him or reduce his pain. So...'

This was the culmination. He had never seen such an insensitive girl. That too the one who had a sister and was so attached to her. Did she even love her? Did she love anyone in the world? He lost his cool at that point.

Shivaay dreaded would happen next as much as Sareen did and also that any sort of intervention wouldn't help at this point.

'To know what pain is, you have to feel the pain, Ishana. I know, if I had lost Priyanka, the way Randhawa lost his sister, how I would have reacted. A girl died. A child lost his mother. A brother lost his sister.'

Shivaay was tad surprised to be all honest seeing Ishana's reaction. When Om got angry, even he got scared but this girl didn't even flinch a bit. Instead just raised her eyebrows, gave a sly smile and left! Omkara Singh Oberoi might be the calmest of all the Oberois together but when he raised his voice, it would scare the person to the core and this girl! Unbelievable! Anyway, he was sure that after this Sareen wouldn't mind having his first conversation without his beloved daughter.

Unknown to them, a pair of eyes had seen the whole episode and those knew what had transpired in the heart. Ishana was not getting annoyed because the case was too easy to take so much time but because after so many years, a person so similar to the one she didn't want to remember much haunted her. He suffered the same way her mother did and was going in the same direction. She wanted to avoid the little Ishana that she had been and that she had lost.

(Later in the day)

Apart from the small scuffle between Om and Ishana in the morning the day had been pretty uneventful for the Oberois. Abhijeet Sareen and Shivaay had finally decided on how to handle Om's drug addiction news in the media.

Rudra and Soumya had been busy since morning with something that they had called a top secret.' Rudra was walking with what looked like a movie reel when he collided with Kabir. Kabir and Pihu had kept a safe distance from the Oberois till now.

'Hey! I am so sorry!'

'Never mind, I was also in a hurry!'

'Both their reels looked exactly the same.

'Wow! Are you also planning to screen something for us?'

Kabir got a bit disturbed when the movie reel was mentioned. He had vowed to never let anyone see it again. He had asked his secretary to throw it years ago but probably she threw it in the junk and not destroyed it. Thankfully, he was the one to have found it in one of the old files. He was just going to destroy it when Rudra found him.

'No... No... it's just an old evidence. My secretary forgot to destroy it. Just going to do that now. What are you planning to screen, by the way, and where??'

He lied to divert Rudra's mind from that reel, hence he jokingly nudged him. Rudra was happy that at least he could tell his secret to someone without spoiling the surprise!

'These past days have been really stressful noe. So , me and Sumo, I mean Soumya have made a short movie on our childhood days and we are going to screen it to make everyone feel light. There is a small personal theatre at the end of the guest house but has been unused for a long time now. We are just making it usable.'

'That's a great idea! All the best!'

'Please do not tell anyone. It's a secret'

Kabir gave a thumbs up to him and proceeded to destroy the reel. He wished that seeing childhood memories were a treat to everyone but for some people, it could be there biggest nightmare. Not that he didn't know Ishana could never forget that one incident which left her scarred for life and changed her completely, but still he wanted to keep its memories far from her.

(Evening)

Ishana and Sareen were used to having dinners at Oberoi Mansion along with the family. How could Tej not do it, they were saving his would be heir or at least he thought Om would agree to be that in the future. The whole family had arrived at the dinner table.

Om ignored Ishana. Her insensitivity to the ACP or his sister was incomprehensible to him. He did hate Randhawa for having torchered him and his sister but he was justified. She was killed by him. He had all the rights to do that and this audacious girl! Only if she had faced hardships like Anika had, she would have understood the pain. Ishana noticed his ignorance. This man was so stubborn. Were all artists like that or was he a special case? She could understand his guilt but guilty to this extent- that was too much for her to take. Either he was too foolish to not understand how the world worked or he was too strong on his ideals to let them go. If he were the second, she would want her father to leave the case and go for good- which she knew for the matter of fact her dad would never agree to. The reason she didn't even want to think about.

'Where are Rudra and Soumya?'

'I hope they haven't gotten into their fights, otherwise our dinner would start only at breakfast!'

Shivaay and Om started laughing at that. Anika had been around with her tripled up work- getting things ready for bagad billa's marriage. She knew that one day he could simply wake up and announce the marriage out of blue. Second, finding out that billi's truth- that Daksh guy had been helping her to know teeny-weeny things about her but she needed the details about her husband on which that dumb fellow hadn't spoken about. Third, taking care of arrangements for Sareens- she knew dadi had given her that to give her additional income. She went to find Rudra but to no avail.

(near the room outside the personal theatre where the reel had to be put)

'Rudra, this door is not opening.'

'Arei Sumo! Don't get scared, I am trying to open.'

'What if they don't wait and start eating. Then our plans would fail.'

'Nothing of that sort will happen. My brothers would wait for me.'

Soumya made a face. This guy just puts himself at the centre in every situation. Finally, after a few minutes of trying they got her out.

'Stupid door!'

'Stupid you! I told you to get it fixed by a carpenter!'

'It's not my mistake that he refused to come'

'But to call him at the very last moment and have only one carpenter's number!!!!'

'Okay! Let's give a break to our fights, or else everyone will finish dinner'

(At the dining table)

'WHERE WERE YOU GUYS?' The Oberois shouted at them in frustration

Rudra smiled and obviously wanting to take all the credit himself jumped in.

'I have planned a surprise for you all'.

'How Sumo knew this was bound to happen! Ofcourse, Rudra Singh Oberoi had never learnt to give others their due credit. She nudged him with her elbow.

'I mean me and Sumo have planned'

Tej got a little irritated by Rudra's antics but having already lost Om, he had never scolded his younger one. He did want to finish the dinner but knew that till Rudra is done, he won't let anyone have their meal.

'And what is the surprise.'

Rudra was happy that his dad would take a little less convincing since he also wanted to know.

'For that you all will have to proceed towards the personal theatre!'

'Personal theatre!!! But we have never used it in years!!'

Om and Shivaay exclaimed in surprise. They never thought that their baby brother would go so far to make them happy. That theatre was where Rudra used to pull them whenever he was sad to watch cartoons and whether it was Om's art competition or Shivaay's boards- they would have to accompany him.

'I... (glancing at a little angry looking Soumya) Me and Sumo repaired it. Come and see the surprise noe.!'

God always has his own ways of teaching people what he wanted them to learn. It was upto them whether to accept that knowledge or not.

Heyyy!! I am glad u like it!

Only thing i'll say now: part 2: has some pleasant and dramatic surprises for you!! 😉

Rudra and Soumya were ready to play the movie. Rudra's excitement was at the highest level. He wanted to show Shivaay and Omkara their good old times and forget all the pain they had gone through in the recent times.

But as soon as the movie started, he got cold feet. His worst fears had come true. The Oberois were shell-shocked. They looked at each other but continued watching as they wanted to understand what was happening. Kabir immediately pulled a visibly confused Rudra towards the screening room.

(The screen)

The volume of song playing is low. The scene is situated in a big bunglow and a younger Mr. Sareen is seen.

Ay hairathe aashiqui jagaa math

Pairon se zameen zameen laga math

(Ay hairathe)

(Dam dara)

A cute enthusiastic 12 year old girl is running all over the house shouting at top of the voice- 'taja news: Papa ne mummy ko good morning kissy dia!...'

A very charming looking lady wearing a sari is running behind her. 'Ishana! Wait! This girl just says anything!! See how your daughter is Abhi! Ishana!! Ishana!! Wait!!'

Ishana laughs loudly, takes the pipe used for watering plants and sprinkles water on her mother.

Do chaar maheen se lamhon mein (2)

Umron ke hisaab hothe hai

Jinhe dekha nahin kal tak (2)

Kahin bhi ab kok mein

Woh chahre bothe hain

(Ay hairathe)

Ishana is sitting with probably a young Pihu. Abhijeet comes hurriedly looking for his stuff when Ishana whispers purse in Pihu's ears and smiles sheepishly. Sareen shouts 'Nimi purse!.' The lady who is none other than Nimisha Sareen, Ishana's mother comes on the screen with purse.

Ishana whispers Watch. Sareen shouts 'Nimi! Watch!'. Nimisha appears with his watch and smiles at him.

He looks on thinking about calling her again. 'Papa! Mr. Keshv ki file' Sareen smiles at Ishana and shouts "Mr Keshav ki file' without thinking. 'Who's Mr. Keshav?' He realizes that he doesn't know anyone called as Keshav. He goes near her and holds her ear. 'Kya papa, I am just supporting your romance!' And both laugh.

Rudra in his excitement had closed the door of the screening room forgetting Soumya's repeated reminders of not doing so or the door would get jammed again. Rudra and Kabir's repeated trials had not led to the door opening.

Till now everyone had seemed to enjoy it though Soumya, Abhijeet and Ishana were still in confusion. Moreover, Sareen was worried because these were the very memories from which he had assumed Ishana always ran away from.

The scene on the screen changes. Nimisha Sareen is looking with a mock anger at a angered Ishana with scratches and dismantled hair.

'He called Pihu mad'

'And you hit him? So badly!'

'But the mighty one always wins and I wanted him to know that Pihu has a young mightier sister who would always protect her.'

'Hahaha!! Might is necessary Pihu but its usage is even more necessary. No weak person can say that he has forgiven the stronger one. For that weak has to be strong. Then, it's the stronger person's choice whether he wants to forgive or not. If he forgives, he'll be remembered as a great person. Otherwise nothing will happen and people will keep on fighting.'

'So, I should keep on listening to people's taunts till I become the strongest?'

'No! You should do poetry with me!'

'Again???'

'It makes me stronger, it will make you too.'

With this they look ahead and there is a beautiful beach in the front where both of them are walking

Vriksh ho bhale khade,

Ho ghane ho bade

Ek path chav bhi maang mat maang mat

Agneepath Agneepath Agneepath

Yeh mahaan drishay hai

Chal raha manushya hai

Ashru, swed rakth se

(Ishana jumps on her mother's back and chants with excitement)

Lathpath lathpath lathpath

(in the last both are seen walking holding hands)

Agneepath!!! Agneepath!! Agneepath!!'

Om felt a sudden twinge in his heart. The lady looked idealistic and honest. They looked like a contended family. He remembered Pihu looking at his eyes and saying Mom. And the young Ishana he saw in the video looked very different from the one sitting right in front of him now.

Kabir knew that now was the time that the worst part was in the reel. He anyway wanted to open the door and stop the screening. Ishana and Abhijeet shouldn't go through it again. They shouldn't.

The scene shifted for the last time. Sareen had become numb now. They had a lot of photos of Nimisha at their house. They did try to remember her sometimes. She had been one of the prettiest ladies of her times. Yet, they had somehow always refrained from watching her videos.

'Nimisha, please try to understand. One lie and it is finished.'

'She who is nothing for you Dev; was a living person with whom we worked for years. Now you say forget all that and lie. To win a case against an unethical man. I am not doing this.'

'Nimisha, Please understand! They are threatening me. They have asked me to kill you!'

'Then kill me Dev! Let me see how a business partner who is also my friend can do that.'

'Oh cmon! No need for all the drama. Just one statement and we are out of it.'

'What if it were your own daughter or sister?'

'And it is not! Why Nimi?? I had such big plans for us. You being one of the few successful business women in India and we both owning one of largest business groups in India. I'll never get a person as good as you Nimisha.'

Nimisha looked at him with disbelief. Those hazel doe-shaped eyes were filled with tears to think that these might be her last moments alive. She worried for her daughters and for her husband, yet ideals were important. She wanted Ishana to understand that no matter what the situation is, a person must always stand by truth.

'I wouldn't budge, Dev!'

'Well! Well! Dear lady! Now that you refuse to listen, my favourite medicine factory would have to be burnt down. Only because that girl died consuming drug overdose that we give. To be the biggest manufacturer, first you have to do such things to earn money. And who told her to take an overdose? Did I do it? But you won't understand. You won't call her an addict. You were my friend Nimisha, but now you are just an obstacle. And with this factory, the obstacle has to burn too.'

Before Nimisha could understand anything, the other guy, who she had been calling as Dev dropped the lighter and the whole factory caught fire.

'I didn't want to do this, Nimisha. One of your daughters is mad and now the other would get too. Wish you would have understood a small thing.'

He left without looking at the lady whose tears flew out and was signalling him to stop with her hand.

'NOOO!!!! Mummaaa'

But the voice startled her: more, because she knew her daughter's determination and anger both. Further she was aware that Ishana was still not strong enough to fight the monster.

As the face of the girl became visible, everyone sitting froze. Who would expect a lady being burnt alive in front of her 12 year old daughter. No one had the nerve to move. Where they had expected to see some heart-lightening videos by Rudra, the worst face of a human-turned-monster was in front of them.

Everyone glanced stealthily at Sareen and Ishana. Though Sareen was getting increasingly uncomfortable, not knowing what to do whereas Ishana sat extremely composed. owever, Ho However, everyone failed to notice a pair of eyes, tears straining down the cheeks. The very lady they had hoped to meet one day was being killed in the most brutal manner.

'Ishana!! Please chale jao yahan se!! He'll kill you too! Dev, leave my daughter!'

'dev Uncle.. mumma?'

'Ishana, baby you want to save mumma?'

Dev's weird tone exhibited that he wanted to kill her mother. Anger was filled in her eyes,and that was exactly what Nimi was scared of. She knew her daughter was brave but she was not yet the mightiest.

'I'll save my mom'

'Then do it!'

Nimisha could still believe Dev to want to kill her. She could believe that he would call an innocent dead girl as a drug addict for his benefits. But as he pushed Ishana into the fire, her eyes widened with pure shock.

'Ishaaanaaa!!'

She struck as bravery personified that moment. Neither she had fear in her eyes nor did she try to look back with any sign of surprise on her face. The only thing in her mind was: she had to save her mom. At any cost.

She battled the fire around her as she tried to reach her mother. That moment, it looked as if Ishana was Nimisha's mother and not the other way round. She wanted to reach out to her and save her. The other guy could be taken care of later. The Oberois held their breath that moment. They had a gut feeling of what was going to happen as everyone knew that Nimisha Sareen was long dead now.

Kabir along with Rudra kept on trying to break open the door, now that no other option was left. The old scars had twinged again. He worried for Ishana's reaction and Abhijeet's feelings. That was on e woman both of them truly loved and adored, the one who had died the most horrible death possible.

Screen

Everyone got goosebumps as they saw a fearless and determined Ishana advancing towards her mother. Nimisha had tears in her eyes. Her daughter had proved to be much more than she had expected. She instantly hugged her.

'My ultimate fighter!'

'Nothing will happen to you, we'll pass through all this mumma.'

And yes, that is what Ishana had always been the ultimate fighter. Not only had she fought her enemies but also herself, not letting her past make her weak- instead, she had made it her strength.

As they made way through the fire all around and reached near the exit gate, Ishana felt elated that she would save her mother and then, she would see the expression on Dev uncle's face. She hated losing and she had never lost in any game, neither would she lose today- if only, the plans for her were not different.

The optical control quality of vials flarelight machine which was just next to the emergency exit had burst with Nimisha standing almost next to it. The others covered their eyes as they saw Nimisha getting burnt alive.

But nothing had shaken Ishana's determination or her spirit. She had to win this at any cost. She had to save her mother. She tried to get a blanket and put out the fire on her mother- but only if she could have overcome the limitations that a 12 year old would have. Her mother hugged her and struglled to speak out the last words.

'Don;t ever forget what I have taught you Ishu. Take care of Abhi and Pihu. I am sorry beta, I am really sorry.'

With that the screen got blank and Kabir rushed towards Ishana.

'It's all my fault. This reel should have been destroyed long ago. I am so sorry Ishu.'

'Ab dard nahi hota Kabir. Jo nazaare aankhon mei base ho, unhe parde par ek aur baar dekhne se dard na badhta hai na kam hota hai aur jinke dard gehre hote hai uni zid bhi utni hi gehri hoti hai. Aur meri baat to hap chod hi dijiy, meri ek galti kaafi thi mujhe sikhane ke liye ki jeet kitni zaruri hoti hai.'

She moved towards the door but stopped near Om.

'Galti aur gunaah mei farq hota hai, Mr. Omkara Singh Oberoi. Tab bhi ek maa ki maut hui thi aur do saal pehle bhi par jo tumne parde pe dekha vo gunaah tha aur jo do saal pehle hua; vo galti thi. Yeh baat samajh jaoge toh zindagi tumhari aasan hogi.

This time Om had nothing to say to her as any other Oberoi present in the room. A girl so fierce and invincible- be it physically or emotionally was a rare find. Amongst them, a pair of eyes looked on as if they had found and lost something both at the same time whereas another pair looked as if they had found a new path in the long lost way.

'Let's go for dinner everyone. Whatever happened was years ago. It won't change if we skip the dinner, so better not do that.'

The Oberois were stunned by Ishana's calmness. It seemed like she had just seen a horror movie and came out of it. But that was no movie; that was her life. It wouldn't take more than 5 minutes to understand the kind of lady Nimisha Sareen had been. She wasn't wrong in calling Ishana as the ultimate fighter. Ishana had fought with herself to not let the incident bring her down anyways. But only four people understood that the Ishana they saw was only the outer covering used to shield herself from the world. Kabir just thanked god that Pihu had slept early. He was the last person he would want the video to be seen by.

In all the hustle bustle and Kabir running to Ishana after he heard them watching the final blast, they both had forgotten to stop the reel.

Screen

For five minutes the screenhad been blank and they thought that the video was over but then:

Maina ne sooha saaha le jaana khoye ki

Meethi meethi kheti mein khelan ho..

Totaa bole pedon pe, ed se, poodi se

Sooha saaha needan mein okha nah o

Sangi saathi, hang soone thaare ho na hio

Sooha Saaha amma ka

A young Ishana and a young Pihu were lying down and Nimisha was singing them to sleep. She had done that every night till she was alive.

Kabir smacked himself mentally. Rudra had managed to get the door open by calling in some guards. The first thing they did as soon as the door got opened was to stop the reel.

Everyone got up. To keep things normal they decided to just let things happen as they normally do, but the two eyes who had both found and lost something after watching the video could not stay patient any longer.

Toota...taara sa...

Chhota sa, taara sa...toota re...

Poochhe woh dekhun teri baari

Kyun na soye, kyun tu roye

Kyun tu khoye yoon pardes mei ho

The Oberois turned back to look at the lady who had started singing. It was the first time in years that Ishana's eyes welled up. She had promised herself to be strong, she didn't cry at her mother's funeral or when they managed to put Dev behind the bars. She had only smirked at him. She froze near the gate of the theatre trying her level best to control herself. The lady was singing the song in exactly the same manner as her mother used to.

She came in front of her as if the words in the song were really meant for Ishana.

Kyun tu rootha, kisse rootha

Kya hai choota tera des mein ho...

The lady put her hand on Ishana's shoulder whose tears now strained her cheeks and ears red with embarrassment. Ishana hated to look vulnerable.

Jo bhi hai rookha sookha

Mann mein wo bolo toh

Kholon raahein baton ki, baahein ho

'She used to come there, every 3 months or sometimes even 4 months. Every single child in my orphanage used to wait for her including me. She was our angel. She would make us eat food that she cooked herself. She would sing us to sleep. She promised me she would find my chutki one day. When I first met her, I'd gone out of the orphanage with a polish to earn money and go to school. She made arrangements for me to go to school.'

'She was naive. Too sensitive for the world, Anika. That's why she died.'

'She used to assure me that I'll also get parents one day. Then Sahil's father came and adopted me. And I could never meet her after that. I always hoped that one day I'll meet her and tell her that I did get a dad and a brother. But I never knew.'

Ishana couldn't hold any longer. The dead woman was brought alive by Anika once again. She hugged her tightly but once again managed to control her tears. The Obros were shocked to the core There were major revelations about the would be bahus (which no one knew till then). Ishana fighting to save her mom till the end. Sahil not being Anika's real brother. It was a very quiet dinner in the Oberoi mansion that night.

But Priyanka was elated. InIshana's determination she had found her ray of light. Sometimes, to save the elders, one had to go against them. And she would do exactly that, however, in a careful manner. Om might never forgive her but that is the only option left with her now.

'Ab bahut hua. Jitna bura hona tha ho chuka. Prinku pehelwan is really the strongest O bhaiya.'