Inside the flight
Arjun: Hi, I am Arjun. *extends hand*
Aliya looked at him and told her name reluctantly.
Aliya: Aliya
She tried to sleep but was not able to sleep. She remembered about getting slapped by Abhi. She remembered Daadi telling her that Pragya was the one who decided to send her to Australia instead of jail. She remembered Abhi arranging Purab and Bulbul's marriage.
After 10 minutes
Arjun: First time?
She just stared at him
Arjun: First time to Australia?
Aliya: No
Arjun: I think that you don't feel sleepy.
Aliya tried to read some magazines.
Arjun: Why don't you try some novels?
Aliya: No, thanks.
Arjun: Try reading this. It is very good.
Aliya: No, thanks.
Arjun: Just give it a try. It is interesting.
Aliya: Can you just keep your mouth shut?
Arjun was taken aback by her words and stopped talking. He started reading some novel. Arjun asked Aliya to move a bit.
Aliya: What now?
Arjun was shocked by Aliya's shout.
Arjun: Nothing. I just want to go...
Aliya pulled her magazine closer to her and gave way to him.
Arjun came back.
After 10 minutes,
Aliya finished reading the magazine and felt bored.
Arjun looked at her and extended few books to her after hesitating for few minutes
Aliya: Thanks.
Arjun: Take the first one. The Kite Runner.
Aliya: I have read it already.
Arjun was excited.
Arjun: You have read it? It is one of my favourite novels but I hate the protagonist a lot.
Aliya: You hate him?
Arjun: Yeah, he is such a selfish person.
Aliya: He is not selfish. He is a practical person with few flaws.
Arjun: How do you say he is not selfish? He didn't stand up for his friend when he found Hassan being abused. Hassan got caught up in the mess because of him but he hid like a coward.
Aliya: He was the same person who decided to go to Afghanistan alone to save Hassan's son.
Arjun: He refused initially. He agreed to go only when he came to know that Hassan was his half-brother. He refused to go even after knowing the reason for Hassan's death. Wasn't that being selfish?
Aliya: He has flaws but that doesn't mean he is selfish. Once he came to know that Hassan was his brother, he decided to proceed further. He didn't turn back and run in spite of all the struggles he faced at Afghanistan. That is the beauty of brotherhood. Brothers are above friends and they are special.
Aliya realised that she said that brothers are special. She was getting her childhood memories. She started thinking about how Abhi was always around her, how she was his first priority, how he fulfilled all her wishes and how he never let her down. She felt that the same brother wanted her to go to jail. She blamed it all on Purab and Pragya.
Arjun: Excuse me?
Arjun waved his hands before Aliya
Aliya: Nothing. I was just thinking.
Arjun: You have a brother?
Arjun didn't wait for Aliya to answer.
Arjun: I always wished I had a brother or sister. But you know, there are bad brothers and bad sisters too.
'The bad brother' phrase reminded her of Abhi
Arjun: I read a news few months ago. Its about Abhi, the rockstar. It seemed that his sister tried to take over all his properties. But it was not the first time the sister did a crime. I don't know how much true it is as I found this on the gossip column. The sister had already tried to kill his sister-in-law and marry the guy that was supposed to marry his sister-in-law. He is such a bad brother, you know?
Aliya was startled at his response. She thought Arjun didn't know what actually happened in her life. Why was he saying that Abhi was a bad brother?
Aliya: Why are you saying so?
Arjun: You know he doesn't have parents. It is his duty to give good values to his sister. He must have been money-minded. I think he doesn't value family relations. If his sister really did try to murder a person, he should have shown her the right way and punished her. This is the mindset of rich people you know. Instead of rectifying their mistakes, they try to hide it. He didn't do it so she went on to do another crime by cheating him. If he had punished her and taught her good values at the first place, she wouldn't have gone to jail.
Aliya: Don't speak without knowing the facts.
Arjun: Come-on ya. Almost 60% gossips about celebrities are true. They just don't accept it. But you know what. He must be worse than this sister. He got married in 2014. He divorced her and decided to marry his ex-girlfriend. He now lives with his wife and girlfriend in the same house. How disgusting is this?
Aliya: Don't you dare to talk about him. Just because they are celebrities doesn't mean you can talk anything about them.
Arjun: I am sorry. I didn't mean to gossip. It's just that we started talking about something else but it got diverted into something else.
After a pause,
Arjun: You must be his fan, right?
Aliya didn't speak anything but she nodded yes. The flight landed and she took out her phone to send a text. Aliya typed "Bhai... I am sorry. I have been the worst sister in the world."
Kumkum Bhagya
Anupamaa
