[NO COPY]
Decoding Arnav Singh Raizada
Arnav Singh Raizada was a man starved of love. He belonged to that
species of men who felt deeply - be it love or hatred. He had been very
attached to his mother. She had been the first most important woman in
his life. He had learned to love selflessly from her. She had always thought
him and Anjali Di to look at the good in everything.
Even when he had been annoyed at her so-called-God for giving him that
diabetes, she had shown him the brighter side. She had told him, You are
already so sweet Chotte that you don't need to eat anything sweet.'
But Maa what's the use of being so sweet if I can't eat all those
chocolates and sweets that Di eats ?', pouted a 7-year-old Chotte.
Who said you can't? I'll make them especially for you with my own
hands.'
And in this way a sad Arnav was pacified.
He still remembered vividly that deep void in his heart when he had
realized that his sister would go away to her sasural (in-law's house) after
marriage. Being the silent and brooding kind of kid, he had never really
had any friends. His sister had then given up on her playtime with her
friends to play with him. She had been a second mother to him. And now
she would leave him and go.
He had seen his mother cry several times, thinking no one saw her. He
had cornered her during one such time and promised her that although Di
was leaving them, he would stay with her always. And Di would keep
visiting them too. He also remembered the promise he had extracted from
her.
Maa, promise me you'll never leave me? Ever. With Di already
leaving us, you are all that I have, Promise me, Maa?'
I promise you Chotte. I'll never leave you.'
If only he knew then that the proverb Promises are meant to be broken'
was indeed true.
She had broken her promise soon enough. He had been with Anjali in her
room, spending the last few minutes before her wedding trying to ease
her nervousness, when he saw his mother running away in the corridor
towards her room. She was crying bitterly.
He ran after her only to see his father running behind her already. He
heard their fight where Maa accused him of cheating on her, sobbing all
the while. He also heard his father trying to make her understand that it
was all a misunderstanding. It was then he heard it.
A gunshot.
Followed by an anguished cry of Ratna'.
Another gunshot.
And with these two gunshots, his whole world collapsed. He became an
orphan, losing his parents in the blink of an eye. But in all this, he knew
his father was not wrong. He loved Maa too much to cheat on her.
The events that followed this tragedy led to the transformation of Arnav to
Arnav Singh Raizada. He had lost his parents - and most importantly his
mother. His sweet Chachaji, who always bought sweets and toys for him
and Anjali, had thrown them out. What's more, he went on to confess that
he was the mastermind behind this plan - to kill his parents and own all
the Malik wealth. It was while sitting on the footpath, after being thrown
out from Sheesh Mahal, along with his Di that he had realized they had no
money to eat something or contact anyone.
It was precisely at that moment that he had steeled his heart, locking
away all the vulnerable, broken pieces of his heart and guarding it with an
vault, never to be opened again. He had decided to think with his brain.
Feeling emotional would only make him weak, he thought. The only living
family that he had now was his Di. And he vowed to never let her face any
hardship.
And then came his Nani like an angel into their lives. She adopted them
legally and gave them her surname Singh Raizada' , to keep them from
anyone who wanted to harm them. She also enrolled Arnav into a
Bachelors course into a local college. It was there Arnav knew what he
had to do.
He studied hard both for his Bachelors and also for a Scholarship in
Harvard, working part time at a roadside restaurant for money. Though
Nani had insisted, pleaded and finally ordered, he had remained adamant,
not wanting to burden Mama and Mami more than they already were.
Nani. He had always loved her. Dearly. She was that woman who had
showered more love on him than on Anjali. He was her favourite
grandchild. And he knew it. She had stood by him through thick and thin.
She had stayed awake late at night, after coaxing Anjali Di to sleep, to
ensure that he ate after his hard working day. She had also sold the house
Nanu had built for her along with all her jewels, to fund his business.
When he had told her how bad he felt on having to make her part with her
jewels, she had calmly said, Chotte, hum janat hain ki in sab gehenon
se hamri yaden judi hain. Par hum ee bhi janat hain ki apke Nanu bhi
eehi chahat honge ki aap apni jindagi ki nayi shuruwat karen. Aur
yaadon ka ka hai, wo toh aiese bhi hamesha hamre saath rahengi.
( Chotte, I know that I have memories attached to these jewels. But I
also know that your Nanu would also have wanted you to start your
life afresh. And what about memories, they will always stay with us
anyways.)"
Having returned from Harvard with an MBA, he had started AR Fashions.
He had to face difficulty in the beginning because no one wanted to work
with a novice. But then he had worked hard. Very hard. It was due to his
fierce determination to win and his brilliant business acumen, along with
his ability to take huge risks, that he had brought AR Fashions to the
position it was in today. But in doing all this, he had become mechanical.
Long gone was the prankster Arnav Malik. Who remained in his place was
the ruthless business tycoon ASR.
He had missed his parents every step of the way. When he had gotten
admitted to Harvard. When he had started AR Fashions. When he had
bagged his first deal. When he had received his first paycheck. When he
had received the title of the Best Businessman of the Year'. And some
more when Di got married to Shyam Jiju 6 years back. Mama and Mami
had done her Kanyadaan (giving away the bride). Shyam Jiju was a nice
man and he now had a 4-year-old niece, Shanaya.
He had craved for love so deep that it was almost impossible to get. True,
he had all his family. But he had lived life with this emptiness which none
could fill.
No one but her. Khushi.
She was his P.A. She had come into his life and coloured his life with
beautiful colours of love and happiness. She had filled that void in his
life so perfectly that it seemed that it was only her who could fill it. Who
was he kidding ! It was actually only her who could have filled it. She had
loved him with all her heart.
Getting hurt initially by his cold attitude. Bearing all his taunts on her aukat
(status). She had taken it all. But she had stayed. She had not left him
although he had been being so harsh on her. She had somehow realized
that he too loved her, but was just covering it up with his harsh behavior.
She had declared one fine day that she loved him and knew that he loved
her as well.
It was then that the walls around his heart began to crumble. He had laid
bare his heart to her, breaking down for the first time since his parent's
death. He had shared with her everything. His fears. His sorrow at losing
his parents. His difficult times when starting AR Fashion. How he missed
his parents. Everything.
She had then calmly wiped her tears, for she had been crying all the while
with him, and showed him two bright stars twinkling away and said, Who
says you don't have your parents? Look. The two brightest twinkling
stars are Maaji and Papaji. They will always be with you.'
Sachi?(Is it true?)', he had asked like a child.
Baat sach ya jhoot ki nahi hai. Baat vishwas ki hai.(It's not about
truth or lie. It's about belief.)'
He knew at that moment that there would only be one woman he would
ever want to spend the rest of his life with. So he had done what he had
wanted to do since a very long time. He had proposed her for marriage.
And she had agreed saying that he better think again, because she was a
bit crazy at times. And he had blown her away with her reply.
Khushi you're not a bit crazy. But totally crazy. And I am ready to
spend the rest of my life with this crazy woman. My crazy woman.'
And there was no looking back since then. She always said that he was a complicated code she loved decoding.
His reverie was broken when a pair of arms crept around him from behind
and his wife nuzzled her face in his back muttering, "Laad Governer,
why are you awake so late at night?"
"Nothing much. Was thinking why do you love me so much?", he said
bringing her to stand before him.
"Arnav. Loving you is like breathing to me. It's like I can't or rather
don't want to stop loving you. Ever. You are my choti si duniya.
(...You are my small world)",she said, her love shining in her eyes for
him to see and know.
"I know. And soon we will have two new members in our choti si
duniya.",he said caressing her huge 8-month's baby bump fondly. They
were having twins.
"I love you, you laad governor.", she said, her hands going around his
neck.
"I love you too, Jaan. Hamesha(Always)", he said leaning down to seal
his promise of eternal love with a kiss.
"Ha...umph..mes..pphhh..sha.", she somehow managed within the kiss.
NOTE :
I had always wanted to write this piece. This is my second attempt at writing. So please let me know how it came out?😊
You may read my first work ARSHI SS : 'We'll be Okay' here :
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Vanshaj
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