Part-15 Anurag's Repentance
Note:I have always felt that when it comes to Prerna, Anurag has saviour complex.He loves that she relies on him.He loves being her saviour.In the tv precap,where Prerna tells him about the mysterious person who bailed her out, the way he questioned this stranger's motive this saviour complex to me seemed pretty evident.
As Prerna and Shivani rushed into Basu Bari,they were greeted by Anupam in the hall.Looking relieved to see them,he said,"Prerna,Shivi thank God tum log aa gaye.".Prerna asked,"Yeh sab kaise huwa,Anupam Da?".Anupam replied,"Mr.Bajaj ko mortgage waali baat pata chal gayi iss liye unhone deal cancel kardi.Aur unhone ne Shoshurji pe fraud ka ilzaam lagaya,lekin woh iss ke baare mein kuch nahi jaante the.Yeh baat sirf Onu aur Nivi ko pata thi.Meeting ke baad,dopahar ko jab woh ghar aaye,unhone study mein khud ko band kardiya.Jab woh hume koi response nahi de rahe the tab Shashurimaa ne master key se darwaaza khola.Andar jaake humne dekha ke Shoshurji zameen pe gire huwe the!". Confused,Prerna asked him,"Ek minute?Woh dopahar ko ghar aaye aur uske baad yeh sab huwa toh aapne mujhe itne der se phone kyu nahi kiya?". Looking down, Anupam hesitated to answer.At last he said,"Woh... Prerna,main to tumhe tab hi phone kar deta,lekin Anurag ne mujhe mana kiya". Prerna frowned,"Kyun?".Once again Anupam hesitated to answer.Shivani answered for him,"Haan,toh Priu Di,aap ma banne wali hai na,shayad iss liye woh aapko stress nahi dena chah raha hoga.".Anupam nodded in agreement.Prerna asked,"Achcha,kya main Kakababu se mil sakti hu abhi?". Anupam nodded and led her to Moloy's room.As Prerna followed him,she instinctively felt that Anupam was hiding something.He wasn't being completely honest with her about why wasn't she called earlier.They entered the room and saw Mohini sitting next to Moloy, who was lying on the bed.Nivedita was standing next to her mother when she saw Prerna and Shivani.Seeing Prerna's eyes search the room, Nivedita said,"Prerna,Onu medicines laane gaya hai.".This caught Moloy and Mohini's attention.Moloy greeted Prerna with a weak smile,as she went around the bed and sat by his side.Holding his hand,she said,"Aapne mujhe bataya kyu nahi?Agar mujhe pata hota toh main pehle hi aa jaati.".Moloy made a joke,"Agar tum jaati hi nahi,toh tumhe apne aap pata chal jaata.". Looking at her embarrassed expression he said,"Mazak kar raha tha beta.Tumhe aur Shivi ko maine humesha apni betiyon ki tarah pyaar kiya hai,aur ek baap kya kabhi bhi apne betiyon se munh pherta hai bhala?Yeh ghar humesha se tumhara tha aur tumhara hi rahega(looking around the room)agar yeh ghar raha to..". Controlling her tears,Prerna addressed Mohini,"Inhe kya hua tha? Doctor ne kya kaha?". Mohini replied,"Stress aur weakness ke wajah se inka blood sugar aur BP level dono hi bohot low ho gaya tha.Doctor ne inhe strict bed rest karne ko bola hai.".Just then,Anurag entered the room saying,"Ma,main medicines leke aa-".His words stopped midway, just when he laid eyes on Prerna.They smiled at each other as their eyes met.Her presence in this moment of crisis calmed his heart a little.Until,he recollected his Baba's words from this morning and once again ,he was engulfed with a feeling of mortification.He broke their eye contact and glanced at Anupam,who was looking down guiltily.Prerna, who saw all this,was now sure that Anurag didn't want her here, and it wasn't because he was worried about her. Moloy's voice interrupted her thoughts,"Medicines ko yaha rakh do beta.". Anurag came forward and placed the medicines on the bedside table,while Prerna tried to catch his eye.Once again she saw,he avoided looking at her.Just then Rivu Da,the Basu's domestic help came to the door and announced,"Boudi,khaana taiyyar,main table laga doon?". Mohini replied,"Haan,Rivu Da,aur do plates extra lagana.".Prerna protested,"Arre iski zaroorat nahi, Kakimoni.Shivi aur main bas Kakababu ko dekhne aaye the-".She was cut off by Moloy,"Haan,toh Kakababu ko sirf dekhne se kaam nahi hoga, Kakababu ke saath dinner bhi karna parega.Tumlog humare saath dinner kar rahe ho that's it!". Remembering the mess she left at home,Prerna argued,"Nahi,Kakababu hume ghar jaana chahiye.(looking at Shivani) Actually Shekhar bhaiya abhi tak ghar nahi laute-". Shivani cut her off,"Priyu Di,Ma ne abhi mujhe message kiya Shekhar bhaiya ghar aa chuke hai.".Prerna gave a sigh of relief and said,"Thank God,main toh darr gayi thi,Shivi".This caught everyone's attention,Anurag asked concerned,"Kyu? Tumhe darr kyu laga?".Hesitantly,Prerna answered,"Woh...bhaiya aaj ghar late pohoche aur unka phone bhi nahi lag raha,toh Suman bhabhi ko laga ki issme shayad Komolika ka haath tha.".This shocked everyone, except Mohini.Wondering if Suman had something to do with this Mohini asked,"Kyu?usse aisa kyu laga?". Shivani replied,"Woh..bhaiya humesha aath baje ke andar ghar aate hai aur unka phone bhi humesha available rehta hai lekin aaj, naa unka phone available tha aur naa hi woh time pe ghar aaye.". Mohini said,"Haan,toh unke office mein kuch kaam hoga,tum logo ne unke office mein baat Kyu nahi ki?".Prerna replied,"Maine office mein phone kiya tha Kakimoni,lekin unhone kaha tha ke bhaiya ek ghante pehle hi nikal chuke the,unhe office se Ghar aane mein aadhe ghante se zyada nahi lagta,aur agar woh kahi phase huwe bhi hote hai unka phone humesha available rehta hai,lekin aaj nahi tha,toh bas iss liye bhabhi thoda darr gayi thi".Shivani added annoyed,"Aur unhone bina wajah Priyu Di ko bohot saari baatein sunaayi jab ki bhaiya unki wajah se Ghar late pohoche.".Anupam asked Shivani,"Matlab?". Shivani rolled her eyes,"Aap yakeen nahi karenge.Suman bhabhi ne bhaiya se kaha tha office ke baad electricity ka bill bharde,aur uske upar bhaiya ne apna charger kho diya.Low battery ke wajah se unka phone off ho gaya.Aur yeh sab bhoolkar bhabi Priyu Di ko blame kar rahi thi,ke unke wajah se Komolika ne bhaiya ko target kiya ". Hearing all this, Mohini tried to suppress a smile.She thought,Chalo yeh Suman mere kuch toh kaam aayi.Rivu Da called out from the door,"Boudi,dinner ready hai.". Moloy smiled at Prerna,"Chalo,beta dinner karo humare saath.".They all walked to the table taking their seat.Prerna found herself seated beside Anurag,who noticed this and quickly exchanged seats with Shivani.This didn't go unnoticed by Prerna,and it annoyed her to no end!So much for acting like adults!Why was he behaving this way all of a sudden?Was it because she wanted a divorce?He looked fine with it last night,so what had happened now?She had no idea,but she will confront him as soon as possible.Keeping secrets and misbehaving with each other was a thing of the past.They had a baby coming in six months.It was high time they acted like adults! Feeling Prerna's eyes on him,Anurag looked up and he was mortified by what he saw.The hurt and anger in them was so evident.He quickly looked down at his plate, almost ashamed .After everything his Baba said to him today,the shame and self-hatred he had felt for hurting Prerna, in the past had only increased manifold.The anger and hurt in Prerna's eyes now made him realise that perhaps she can never move on from their past.His father was right no excuse was big or noble enough for what he put her through,and that too when she was carrying his child.He could not help wondering whether she relived her moments of pain and humiliation at his hands, whenever she looked at him.Iss liye ab tumhare aankhon mein mujhe mere liye itni nafrat aur itna gussa dikhta hai, Prerna.He couldn't help marvelling at the irony here.Three months ago,he had wanted her to hate him,to give him that hateful glare she was giving him now.But more than anything today,he wanted her love back.He wanted things to go back to how they were,when she not only loved him but also when she relied on him the most.But he didn't know if this was possible anymore.How could she trust him,when he was going to betray her again?After the pep talk his mother gave him last night,he was ready to fight for her.He wasnt going to grant her a divorce.He was going to fight for this marriage.But after Moloy's outburst,he wasn't so sure anymore.Was it the right thing to do,going behind her back and forcing her to stay with him for the next six months? Wasn't it the same as going behind her back and getting engaged to Komolika? Frustrated at his own confusion and indecision,Anurag got up from his seat surprising everyone.Answering everyone's puzzled looks he said,"Mera hogaya, goodnight everyone.".He turned around when Prerna said,"Ek second mujhe aur Shivi ko ghar kaun chhorega?". Without turning around,Anurag addressed Anupam,"Aap please Prerna aur Shivi ko ghar drop kar dijiye.Aur haan,car sambhaal ke chalayega". Without waiting for a response Anurag left for his room, leaving behind an angry and confused Prerna.
~~~~~X~~~~~
In his balcony, Anurag silently stood looking at the moon.Some time back he had a dream about Prerna,where she told him about how she looked to the moon for guidance whenever she had a problem.Tonight he was hoping for the same-a little guidance from her confidant because he can't take it anymore!Ever since Prerna came into his life,she somehow became the centre of his world.Wrong,Anurag thought wryly,Prerna meri duniya hai.Even now,after all this time he can't pinpoint the exact moment he fell in love with Prerna and maybe he will never know.But he will never forget how he felt when he realized that he loves Prerna at Mishka and his engagement.It felt like magic the kind that cannot be seen or heard but it had immense power.He had once told Prerna he didn't know how he would continue with his life if she had rejected him.He wasn't lying then.He still doesn't know how is he going to cope with the coming months,when she would either leave him or spend the next six months hating him.And which one was worse?His parents constrasting opinions had confused him all the more.If Prerna had been here,she would've probably told him to follow his heart.But wasn't his heart the root cause of all his problems?Till now everything he had done for her be it marrying Komolika or pushing Prerna away he had done it for her happiness and future.He had thought hurting her and humiliating her was just collateral damage,in the face of her happy and bright future.But his Baba's words had completely changed his perception.Yes,even before he used to hate himself for hurting her,but then at least he could pacify himself with the thought that he had done all this for her happy future.However, Moloy's words cured him of that happy delusion as well.And now he doesn't know what he is supposed to do.What should be his first priority his happiness or Prerna's?Are they that different?He loves her,she loves him and yet she can't give their relationship another chance.This is what hurts him the most!The sweet naive girl who used to believe in the magic of love,who could make him-Anurag Basu fall hopelessly in love with her now,does not want to give their love a second chance.Anurag closed his eyes as tears escaped from them.Hum ek doosre se pyaar karte hai,bohot jald humara bachcha iss duniya mein aane waala hai.Lekin tum phir bhi humare pyaar ko doosra mauka nahi dena chahti,he thought sadly as he weeped.He whispered,"Tumse apni jaan se zyada pyaar karta hoon,aur phir bhi maine tumhari zindagi tabah kardi.Aaj meri wajah se tumhara sachcha pyaar paane ka sapna adhura rahega,kyuki meri wajah se na ab tumhe pyaar pe yakeen raha aur naa hi main tumhare pyaar ko deserve karta hoon.".Just then,he felt a slender hand sneak upon his.Stunned,he turned around to see Prerna standing in front of him.
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