Re-cap : Kasturi is very happy to see Robbie's gift, the statue. She and Gia go to visit Robbie in his theater. Kasturi sees Alaana and misunderstands her to be Robbie's girl friend. But is happy to find out that she is Robbie's sister. Robbie finds out he did not get the job at Chawla.E
PART-15 : PAINFUL PAST!
Monday was a bad day for Robbie He comes home very dejected. Robbie does not share any of this at home and just continues quietly. He still had the interview scheduled with Surti Industries on Thursday. Getting a job was not an issue for him, but getting the job he wanted was the issue! 😕
On Tuesday, Robbie is delayed at his evening job. There was a network failure and it had taken much longer than anticipated to fix the issue. Its almost 9.30 PM by the time he gets home. The girls have eaten their dinner and were closeted in the study room, preparing for their exams that were starting the coming Monday.
Puru and Devika were sitting in the living room, waiting for him. As soon as Robbie walks in, he feels something was not right 😳 . His uncle was looking very solemn and grim and his aunt was looking very upset! Robbie goes and sits next to Devika and immediately questions them as to what the matter was?
Devika says : Aaj School seh aate waqt, raste mei mujhe Raunak Singhania milaa.
As soon as she took Raunak's name, Robbie understands what she was going to say and he hears her saying it.
Devika : It was a chance meeting! Meine toh usse pehchaana hi nahi lekin ussne mujhe pehchaan liyaa! I was very happy to see him after all these years.....School seh pass out hone ke baad meine usse dekha hi nahi! Bas, baaton baaton mei ussne mujhe bataaya ke tumne ek bahut hi accha job offer reject kar diyaa hai!
She grabs Robbie's hand and says : Mei tumhe yeh karne nahi doongi Robbie! Tum apne career growth ko yun doosre ke iccha ke anusaar nahi rok sakte!!!! Itni acchi opportunity, iss kaaran ganvaa nahi sakte ke tumhaare chachaji ko buraa lagegaa!! I won't allow it!
And she turns to Puru and looks at him defensively! 😡 Robbie is pained to see his uncle and aunt angry with each other because of him and he says
Robbie : Chachi....aap galat samajh rahi hai!! Mei khudh out-of-country nahi jaana chahta, chachaji ki wajah seh nahi!!
Devika says : Mujhse jhoot bolne ki koshish mat karo Robbie! 😡 Mei jaanti hun, ke tumne inhi ki wajah seh yeh offer thukhraaya hai, inhone tumhe apni kasam jo de rakhii hai!!
She glares at Puru and says : Its about time, you left the past behind!! Mei jaanti hun yeh bahut mushkil hai, lekin namumkin nahi hai! Agar aap hamesha guzre hue kal ko, aane waale kal ke saamne laake khadaa kar denge, toh kaise chalega? Aise toh hum kabhi aage hi nahi badh paayenge!!!
Puru just listens to her quietly. He knew she was right......but could he EVER forget such a devastating incident in his life?
His elder brother, Narayan Sabharwal was more like a father to him than a brother! He had lost his father when he was 5 years old and after that his mother had struggled hard to bring up all 3 of them....his older brother Narayan, himself and his younger sister Sadhana. Having lost his father so early had pushed Narayan into a responsible mode very early. He played both the role of a father and a brother for his younger siblings. All three of them were very very close to each other, even after they all had grown up and had their own families. In fact it was his bhaiyaa and bhabhi who had chosen Devika for him and had performed his wedding! 😊
His bhabhi, Robbie's mom.....Aditi Sabharwal, was a wonderful lady....but she was also very ambitious and so when her husband had gotten an opportunity to work in the US, she insisted that they go. He, his mother and his sister had hated the idea and tried their best to dissuade their brother and sister-in-law from leaving.....but to no avail! His brother succmbed to his wife's pressure and he and his family moved away from them to the far-off land. 😒 Slowly he had tried to come to terms with this separation and was just getting to accept this truth when fate dealt him a severe blow from which he still could not recover! He could never forget that devastating phone call he had received from US informing him that his brother and sister-in-law had instantly died in a tragic road accident and his nephew was struggling for his life!!!! 🤢 🤢 His whole world had crashed around him!!! 😲 😔 😒 He and his jeejaji had run from pillar to post to get him a visa to the US!! Everything they had, was either sold or mortgaged to raise funds for the trip and expenses!! He had finally got the visa, after 10 days!! He was granted a visitor's visa on compassionate grounds, but it was too late!!! His brother's friends could not wait that long and so they had taken the decision to cremate his brother and sister-in-law!!! 🤢 😭
He could never get over the fact that he did not get to have a last look at his brother who was more a father to him than a brother!!! That his brother and sister-in-law were cremated by some unknown people without proper rites was a painful truth that was never going to let him sleep in peace!!!!! 😔 He was a completely broken man! But his nephew Robbie was not......Robbie fought tooth and nail for his life and after 2 weeks was finally in a position to make the trip back to India with him!! They both had come back devastated and numb with pain!!!
His mother did not survive her older son for more than 6 months and had died heart-broken and sad, unable to recover from the shock!! In a matter of 2 years, his whole world was turned upside down!!! 😲 But out of this horrendous past, one ray of bright light that pushed him to continue, was Robbie. In Robbie he found a son that he never had and had longed for! Robbie was his brother's memory to him!!! Robbie was his hope for the future, his connection to the past and his reason for the present!!
Robbie had blended beautifully with them. He became one of them!!! And so years passed and slowly he was able to put the past behind him.....atleast he thought he did! But he had vowed that nobody from his family was ever going to go faraway from him. He was NEVER going to allow it, not while he was alive!!!!! He had repeatedly hammered into the minds of all 4 of his children that he would NEVER allow them to go too far away from him!!! And that was the reason Robbie did not even consider the idea of higher studies abroad! He had lived his uncle's pain and knew that if he ever left, it would kill his uncle!!!
Puru comes back to the present, the pain of the past haunting him!! 😒 Robbie looks at his uncle and knows exactly what his uncle was thinking!! He gets up and walks over to his uncle and kneeling in front of him, takes his uncle's hand and says
Robbie : Chachaji, mei aapko kabhi chodhke nahi jaaonga........kabhi nahi! Koi bhi naukri ya opportunity, aap seh badhkar nahi hai mere liye!
Puru leans forward and hugs Robbie and pats his back! Robbie quickly gets up. He was very uncomfortable when ever his past was brought into the present and the situation would get this emotional !!! He turns to look at his aunt and they stare at each other. Robbie understands the pain in Devika's eyes! He sees the same question that he always sees in her eyes....."Aur kitne saal yun andar hi andar ghut te rahoge?......aaj toh apna mann halka karlo, beta!! Ab toh mujhe sweekar karke, meri mamta kaa udhaar chukao, bas ek baar mujhe 'maa' kehke pukaaro!!!" Robbie cannot! He just cannot call her mother!!!! He loved her like his own mother but for some reason he just could not bring himself to call her 'mother'!!! Unable to answer her question, he abruptly turns and leaves. Devika continues sitting there, very sad at being rejected once again! 😔 He was never going to recognise her as his mother!! Puru knows the pain she is going through and so he walks over to her and holds her while silent tears stream down Devika's cheeks! 😭
By Wednesday, Kasturi is extremely restless! 😕 She had tried hard but it was impossible to keep away from him! And the only way to meet him was at DU and so Kasturi makes a trip to the University with the hope of bumping into Robbie! She is apprehensive and confused! She hopes that nobody recognizes her and sees her, specially her brother!! She is not sure how she was going to meet him, what she was going to say to him or what he was going to say to her......but it happens most unexpectedly........She had just parked her car when someone taps on her window. She looks out to see Raunak waving at her!! He had seen her car pull up into the University. "Great" mutters Kasturi to herself wincing at the bad start!! But it was not so bad after all, because as soon as she gets out, she sees Robbie standing behind him!!! 😳
She stares at him surprised! Robbie and Raunak were in their hockey outfits, apparently they were just coming back from practice. He was standing a little away. He was in a relaxed posture and was holding the hockey stick over his shoulders with both his hands on either side of his head. He was looking very calm and Kasturi cannot help but think...."How can you be so cool and collected after doing this to me??? 😡 I cannot believe that ME, Kasturi Chawla is chasing a guy!!! I am doing this for the first time in my life!!"
Robbie takes her in.....she is wearing a parrot green halter top with small red flowers, on her jeans and was looking like a cool summer breeze in that hot summer evening!! They stare at each other and Robbie says...."Hi". Kasturi manages a "Hi" in reply before she hears Raunak say...."Kas, what a wonderful surprise! Tum yahaan kya kar rahi ho?" 😃 He grabs her hand and holds it. Kasturi smiles with great effort and is racking her brain to come up with an idea when Raunak himself offers an explanation......."Ajay seh milne aayi ho?"
Kasturi quickly says : Haan......bhaiyya seh milne aayi hun.
Raunak says : Lekin, Ajay abhi thodi der pehle nikal gayaa. Usse koi kaam tha!
Kasturi is elated but fakes disappointment and says : Oh! That's too bad. Shaayad mujhe call karke aana chahiye tha! 😕
Raunak says : Well, ab aa hi gayi ho toh chalo hamaare saath ek cup coffee ho jaaye!
Kasturi says enthusiastically : Sure! 😛
But immediately wishes she had not said that because she hears Robbie say : Sorry Raunak.....mujhe jaana hogaa. Mujhe che baje tak computer institute pahunchana hai and DTC (Delhi Transport Corporation) buses kaa toh koi bharosa nahi.
Kasturi musters all her courage and says : Actually, mei bhi usi taraf jaa rahi hun, I can give you a ride if you want!
Robbie turns to look at her surprised. Kasturi tries to look as normal as possible.
Robbie says : Arre kyun tumhe takleef.......
Kasturi replies : Koi takleef nahi. Mei bhi toh wahin jaa rahi hun. Please do join me! And she turns to Raunak and says : Sorry Raunak, actually mujhe bhi kuch kaam yaad aa gayaa aur mujhe abhi nikalna hogaa.
Raunak says : No problem, we will do it some other time!
Robbie says : Theek hai, just give me 15 minutes.
He leaves to shower and change while Kasturi and Raunak catch up. Soon Robbie joins them looking awesome in a red T-shirt that says "I Play Hockey" over his jeans and they bid goodbye to Raunak, get into her car and she drives out. Kasturi just cannot believe that he is actually sitting besides her!! 😳 His presence so close to her unnerves her and she is nervous!!
Robbie opens the conversation by asking........."Tumhaare exams bhi Monday seh shuru ho rahe hai na? Kasturi confirms that. They keep talking....the conversation progresses from exams to getting out of college, to careers, to money, to poverty,to the narrow roads, to the sudden increase in influx of cars onto the roads, and what that was doing to the traffic, to how Robbie was able to manage going in buses.......
Kasturi says : Lekin, tumhe kabhi yeh mehsoos nahi hua ke personal vehicle hone seh bahut saara advantage hota hai?"
Robbie replies : Ofcourse advantage hotaa hai, I don't deny it. But, if you plan properly, public transportation bhi bahut effectively use kar sakte hai! Mujhe ek baat batao, what is the work of a vehicle? To take you from Point A to Point B, right?
Kasturi agrees : Haan
Robbie : Toh public transportation use karne mei kya buraayi hai? Mode of transportation koi bhi ho, maksad toh kahin pahunchna hi hai na? Zyaada tar hamaare yahaan vehicle ek status symbol hai, aksar log show-off karne ke liye gaadiyaan khareedte hai. Aur iss chakkar mei traffic ka haal dekho kya ho rahaa hai! Ab tumhaare yahaan hi dekh lo.....I can bet between the 4 of you, you probably have 6 vehicles!
Kasturi replies : Actually we have 9 cars.
Robbie shakes his head and a smile escapes his lips. Kasturi does not miss the contempt in his smile...the contempt he was feeling for her lifestyle and reacts frustrated : God, tum hamesha itnaa kyun sochte ho? Why does everything have to have a higher purpose in life? Why can't something be done just for fun? 😡
Robbie realizes that they are getting into a heated argument again and so says : Theek hai, here is something for fun. Ek joke sunogi? 😊
Kasturi says : Sure!
Robbie tells a joke : Three women die together in an accident and go to heaven. When they get there, St. Peter says, "We have only one rule here in heaven: don't step on the ducks!" They enter heaven, and sure enough, there are ducks all over the place. It is almost impossible not to step on a duck, and although they try their best to avoid them, the first woman accidentally steps on one. Along comes St. Peter with the ugliest man she ever saw! St. Peter chains them together and says, "Your punishment for stepping on a duck is to spend the eternity chained to this ugly man!"
The next day, the second woman accidentally steps on a duck and along comes St. Peter, who doesn't miss a thing. With him is another extremely ugly man. He chains them together with the same admonishment as for the first woman.
The third woman has observed all this and, not wanting to be chained for all eternity to an ugly man, is very,
VERY careful where she steps.
She manages to go months without stepping on any ducks, but one day St. Peter comes up to her with the most handsome and hot man she has ever laid eyes on !!! St. Peter chains them together without saying a word.
The happy woman says, "I wonder what I did to deserve being chained to you for all of eternity?"
The guy says,
"I don't know about you, but I stepped on a duck!" (🤣 )
Kasturi bursts out laughing!! 🤣 The joke was hilarious!! The tension that was building up between them disappears and both Robbie and Kasturi are happy to realize that! 😊 She doubles over, laughing 🤣 🤣 and in that process unexpectedly lets go of the steering wheel! Robbie quickly reaches for the steering, when at the same time Kasturi also reaches for it!! Their hands touch and this time neither Kasturi nor Robbie withdraw their hands!!!! 😳 😳 They continue, with her hand over the steering wheel and his hand over her's for a few minutes and then slowly Robbie withdraws his hand. Suddenly the following song starts playing on the 92.7 FM radio in her car. Somebody had requested this song as part of the 'Golden era' program!!
(Guys.....awesome awesome song from the movie Aarti! A huge favorite of mine and amazingly sung by Lata ji and Rafi ji! Here is the Youtube link for this song
Baar Baar ......its a must-hear! 😛 )
Baar-baar tohe kyaa samajhaaye paayal ki jhankaar?
Kyaa?
Tere bin saajan laage na jiya hamaar
Chhup-chhup ke karata hai ishaare chanda sau-sau baar
Kyaa?
Aa tohe sajani le chaloon nadiya ke paar
Tere bin saajan laage na jiya hamaar
There is an awkward silence between them and Kasturi turns to look at him. 😳 She wanted to tell him that she was very attracted to him, she wanted to see if he felt the same way as her but Robbie refuses to meet her eyes! He did not want to reveal anything! Kasturi turns back to look at the road.
Chalte-chalte ruk gaye kyun sajan mere?
Milte-milte jhuk gaye kyun nayan tere?
Jhuke-jhuke naina karate hain tum se ye iqraar
Kyaa?
Tere bin saajan laage na jiyaa hamaar
Aa tohe sajani le chaloon nadiya ke paar
Robbie turns to look at her and Kasturi also glances at him. Suddenly she feels very shy ☺️ and lowers her eyes and turns back to look at the road! The song was saying everything she was feeling and everything that she wanted Robbie to say!
Dariya upar chaandani aaee sambhal-sambhal
Inn laharon par man mera gaya machal-machal
Ek baat kahata hoon tum se na karana inkaar
Kyaa?
Aa tohe sajani le chaloon nadiya ke paar
Tere bin saajan laage na jiyaa hamaar
Robbie was having a tough time to behave normal and casual!! 😳 Their attraction to each other and the song added to it, was really heightening the emotion they were sharing but also trying to control!! Robbie turns away to look out of the window. This was getting a little out of control and he hated the feeling of being out of control! She was pushing him...he was already on the borderline!! He was wary.....his experiences with her brother were not very positive. 😕 If she was anything like her brother then he did not want to have anything to do with her! But.......she did not seem like her brother, she seemed more genuine than him, but Robbie wanted to be sure!!
Na beete ye raat ham milte hi rahe.
Bas taaron ki chaav mein chalte hi rahe
Naam tera le-le kar gaaye dhadkan ka har taar
Kyaa?
o, tere bin saajan laage na jiyaa hamaar
Baar-baar tohe kyaa samajhaaye paayal ki jhankaar?
Tere bin saajan laage na jiyaa hamaar
Aa tohe sajani le chaloon nadiyaa ke paar
The song ends and they continue quietly in the car till they reach Nehru Place. As soon as Kasturi stops the car, Robbie gets out, grabs his bags and leaning down to the window says...."Thanks a lot!". Kasturi just looks at him and does not answer. Their eyes meet conveying a lot of things that they could not say and the next moment Robbie turns and leaves without turning back!! A sad and confused Kasturi drives away . She knew he felt something too but he was apparently not ready to accept it!!!
Friends............this was a huge part and I hope it had everything to satisfy all of you, those who wanted to know Robbie's past, those who wanted more RK, those who wanted the story to progress! I put quite a bit of an effort on this for allround liking 😃
Edited by pragalbha - 16 years ago
Debate Mansion
Parineeti
Chakravarti Samrat Prithviraj Chauhan
