Note: I am a person who jumped on the ashlok bandwagon post their marriage. I have been able to watch a few of the older episodes or read written updates. Bacchi samajh ke maaf kardo...Please point out inaccurate stuff so I can correct it. Thanks for all of your support to this story. Saw todays episode and decided to post this right now itself This is for y'all:
Was it you or I who stumbled first? It does not matter. The one of us who finds the strength to get up first, must help the other." Vera Nazarian
On ward to the story. Don't throw aloos at me please!
Chapter 4: Ignited.
Kalindi Kirloskar was pacing the hall.
The action was a quite normal one, but since she had been doing the same for the past 45 minutes, Avdhoot Kirloskar had a reason enough to to worry. Kalindi herself was a mixture of emotions. Anger, anxiety, apprehension and a sense of unending doom filled her heart, making her wring her hands and sigh periodically. Since the moment her husband had informed her about Astha's phone call Kalindi had been unable to sit still or concentrate on anything. "What happened to my child? Is she in trouble? Did Shlok hurt her again? " Kalindi muttered for the fifteenth time, thinking of her son in law with distaste. The man had treated her daughter like a ragdoll, pulling and pushing her, manhandling her. And for the past 4 months the only way Kalindi had been able to communicate with her only daughter was through the hurried and secret phone calls. Those were always clandestine and Astha never complained about the atrocities done to her there. For all she knew, Shlok was mistreating her poor daughter and Astha was bearing the pain silently. Astha still cared about Shlok and that very fact made Kalindi afraid for her daughter's future. Astha deserved a loving husband, one who cherished her. Not one who would give her a life of misery, pain and self loathing.
" Kalindi , calm down. It's going to be alright. Astha probably misses us all a lot. She hasn't seen you since the party where she was made 50% partner. And Ajju too, she hasn't seen her grandmother for a long time. Don't worry about it." Avdhoot tried to console his wife in a soothing tone.
But Kalindi was in no mood to be pacified. She brushed her husband's remarks off with a wave of her hand. " How can I not worry? She's my daughter and I care about her! I am her mother! "
"And I am her father, Kalindi. Besides, our Astha is not a child anymore. She can take her own decisions and we have to trust her judgement. You cannot keep treating her like a baby and coddle her all her life. She's going to have to learn to get up on her own. We can be there for her as support but you can't fight her battles. And you definitely can't take her decisions." Avdhoot stated, shaking his head at his wife.
Kalindi opened her mouth to protest but before she could say another word, the door bell interruped her words. She almost rushed to open the door.
" Astha!" Kalindi enveloped her daughter in a hug, so relieved to see the younger woman that she barely noticed that her much hated son in law was standing behind Astha. It was only when Shlok addressed her with a "Namaste Sasubai" that Kalindi tore her gaze away from her daughter to give a glare to her son in law.
It was obvious to Shlok that his mother in law had not forgotten about the last time that he had been here. Shlok too remembered that day with crystal clarity. He'd come to take his wife back. But Astha had refused to return , and his mother in law had threatened him not to take Astha with him. Shlok had ended up taking Astha anyway, carrying her like a sack of potatoes, slung helplessly over his shoulder, begging him to let go of her. He remembered the pain and fear in her eyes. Right now those hazel eyes were trained at him, earnest and full of trust. His Sasubai however ...
" Have you come to yell at us again? " Kalindi taunted, wanting Shlok to leave her daughter alone.
Shlok bit hard on his tongue to stop himself from responding to her scathing comment. He looked at Astha asking her with his eyes say something, anything to Kalindi. Astha didn't speak, looking at her husband with a confused face. It was then that Shlok realised that he was going to have to deal with this whole mess by himself.
" Sasubai.. I want to apologise to you for yelling at you and Aaju the last time I was here" Shlok managed to get the words out with some difficulty.
Kalindi's eyes widened. "What?" She asked in shock, shaking her head in disbelief.
" I'm sorry for what I did last time, shouting at you and Aaju." Shlok repeated hesitantly, hating the apologizing. An uncomfortable silence followed .
" Aai, I think you and Baba need to listen to Shlok. He wants to tell you both something" Astha said finally, unable to bear the wordless conflict between her mother and husband. "I don't want to listen to him Astha. " Kalindi glared at Shlok.
"Aai ..please listen to him once. For me. For your Astha" Astha requested her mother. The request and pleading eyes of her daughter made Kalindi give in.
A few minutes later...
Astha was sitting between her parents, feeling as anxious as Shlok looked. She was holding both her parents hands, nervously waiting for Shlok to begin.
" I promised Astha I will tell you and Avdhoot ji everything. And I will. I only ask that you hear me fully before you say anything" Shlok looked at Kalindi and she nodded, giving him permission to continue.
" There was a girl named Swati. She was the closest friend I have ever in school and then we became more than that in college. I thought I loved her. And i thought Swati returned my feelings too.Mrs Agnihotri did not approve and after a big fight with me, Swati left me, telling me I am unworthy of love. Every woman I knew betrayed me. My mother. The girl I loved. I left India to forget about it. But I couldn't. I tried to find Swati but I was too late. She had already married another. I decided I would never fall for anyone. But when I returned, I meet Astha." Shlok took a deep breath and looked at his wife who was watching him with a sad look in her eyes.
Shlok then began retelling the Kirloskars every meeting between him and Astha. Astha's eyes widened at some of his words and she jumped in to correct him whenever required. She told him about how the media had humiliated his father . She told him her side of the day the goons had trashed Shlok's office. For almost every incident Shlok narrated, Astha retaliated with a correction.
At the end, Astha was in tears and Kalindi and Avdhoot were consoling their daughter.
"It just feels like...someone played with our lives. So... many... misunderstandings between us. " Astha stammered
"I'm sorry for everything I did to Astha. It was wrong of me to jump to conclusions based on my past experience. I'm sorry Kalindi ji for everything. I am sorry I let my anger rule my actions." Shlok said with lowered eyes, completely flattened by the true nature of events. He felt ashamed of his actions and he fervently hoped that he had not ruined his chances with Astha.
" I understand you acting rashly based on your bad past experience" Kalindi muttered " I did the same when I learnt about how you betrayed my daughter. I didn't ask her what she wanted and it was wrong of me not to consider Astha's wishes."
" Shlok, your mistake cannot be overlooked completely. The misunderstanding and the situation made you act this way. I cannot forgive you easily. Maybe someday when you prove you are willing to change. " Kalindi continued " I will not push the divorce issue any further. Astha, I will try to be happy with whatever you choose. It is your life and your choice. "
Astha got up from the sofa and ran to her room. "Astha! " Shlok started to run after her but Avdhoot stopped him. " You have hurt Astha a lot. Don't hurt her anymore. " he requested Shlok.
" I don't want to hurt her anymore. It was my mistake and I need to fix it before its too late" Shlok promised .
Her door was open, allowing him to see a heartbreaking scene.
She was on her bed, covering her face with a pillow. The shaking of her body gave away the fact that she was sobbing uncontrollably. "Astha" Shlok sat down next to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. Her sobbing increased and she tried to push his hand away.
"Astha please let me..." Shlok pried the pillow away from her face and turned her around to face him. Her body went completely stiff as he pulled her close. "Don't...I'm tired of all this. I just wanted you to love me back. I wanted you to care about me. I know it's stupid of me to dream about impossible things...Just let go of me "Astha took a deep breath. " It's too late now. You will never make me happy and I can never make you happy. Please leave me. It's better if I never see you again. After all I only make you feel disgusted. " Astha tried to suppress another sob.
Her words made Shlok feel like someone had punched him in the gut. He didn't know why he wiped her tears or why he held her close, letting her sob her little heart out. He didn't know why he held her tightly, refusing to let her pull away. She'd cried a lot of times since she had become his wife. It was him who had made her cry so many times. He'd pushed her away roughly and meanly so many times. She was still trying her best to wiggle out of his grasp with little success.
"Stop struggling. Don't fight me. I'm not letting you go till you stop crying. Just calm down and we will talk about us" Shlok tried to say as calmly as possible.
"Us? There is no us. There just you. And me. And this hate you have for me. There is nothing to talk about. " Astha admitted, struggling more frantically than before.
Shlok let her go. He pulled out his cellphone and made a call. "This is Shlok Agnihotri. I am cancelling my reservation tonight." After the reservation was cancelled, Shlok messaged Aditi about his changed schedule and requested her to inform Mrs Agnihotri.
" Shlok? What reservation? What cancellation? " Astha asked, the words coming out unintentionally. She covered her stupid, big fat mouth and looked at him with apprehension.
" Change in plans. We are having dinner with your family tonight. I think you need some more time to calm down. I'm not going anywhere without you. Let's talk about this."
Shlok offered, watching her face light up with a little joy. A small smile appeared on Astha's face and Shlok felt an odd sense of satisfaction. He had put that smile on her face.
"R..really? I can ..have dinner with my family? " Astha asked, feeling excited to sit with all the people she loved and cared for.
" You are not having dinner. We are. I've asked Aditi to inform Mrs Agnihotri that we are going out." Shlok wiped another tear off Astha's face.
A thought entered Astha's mind and her face fell . " Shlok... But Sasubai will be angry if she knows where we are. "
Shlok's face was filled with distain. " You are my wife. It's none of her business where I take you. If she asks you where we were just tell her we had an important dinner meeting. And that won't be lying either. This is important. " Shlok smiled at her.
" Why are you being so nice to me? It's not another of your tricks is it?" Astha asked, her eyes wide and alert.
" I... was wrong. It was...cruel what I did to you. I understand if...you still want to...want to.. leave me after this month ends. " Shlok couldn't look into her eyes. He knew how they would be. Widen open, warm and non judgemental. As soon as the words were out in the open Shlok wished he could take them back. Now that he was so close to losing her, life without seeing her innocent face ( Yes, she was just a girl with innocence in her soul and love in her heart.) seemed almost unbearable. But he decided that if she wanted to truly leave, he won't hold her back. It would be her decisions even if they left him feeling empty inside.
" Astha...i will respect your decision. If you decide to give me another chance I promise I will try my best to give you all the happiness you deserve. And if you decide that you don't want to see my face again, I'll leave you alone. It's entirely up to you." Shlok wiped another tear from her face.
" I..am ..I don't know what I want...i want to believe you. I really do. But I can't bear to have my heart broken again." Astha whispered, looking straight at her husband's face.
" We still have a month left. You don't need to answer me right now. Take your time " Shlok resisted the urge to ask her to pick him. Give him another chance.
" Let's tell your parents we are staying for dinner. " Shlok got up and offered her his hand. Astha hesitated but the pained look on Shlok's face made her put her hand in his. A gentle squeeze later she was on her feet, looking at Shlok with hope in her eyes.
" Wash your face. It's all tear stained." Shlok said gruffly, stroking her cheek.
Astha blushed, at war with herself. Shlok was being so considerate to her . And at the same time she felt tension bubble up in her system. Something wrong was about to happen. She had this gut feeling that things were going to become crazy.
Dinner at the Kirloskar place was a complete and total antithesis of any meal at the Agnihotri household. For the first time In months Shlok noticed his wife was laughing and making silly jokes. Dinner was homely and delicious. Even more so with Astha's happy face.
And it was then and there that Shlok Agnihotri, arrogant, kanjoos and extreme Akdu decided that he wanted to be the one to make her smile. He decided he'd do his best to make up for his mistake. His quest for revenge had turned into something else. Something he couldn't name yet.
Hindi TV Shows
Bindi
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
Jodha Akbar
