Hiee folks... remember me?
Last few days have been crazy... First my laptop died and then was occupied with Ganpati celebrations at home. Ren and I were discussing the end of Mandar track and thats when this came up. Its a week since the track ended. But Ren was insistent that I post this. So, here it goes, how I would have loved to see Mandar track ending and wish they had addressed a few issues. Not sure how many people would want to read it đ
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TO WIN, TO LIVE AND TO LOVE
PART ONE
With a knife positioned at her throat and Raghav pointing a gun at his temple, things had started to blur around Pallavi. The last thing she had felt was the sting on her throat from the slight cut that Mandar had inflicted but the pain that was etched on Raghav's face was many many times more than what she felt. The last thing she heard was Mandar asking Raghav to shoot himself, the last thing she saw was Raghav pressing the gun on his temple and the last thing that escaped her throat was the cry as she realized Raghav was determined to do Mandar's bidding.
As her eyes focused on Raghav's bloodshot eyes, her body froze. An imaginable fear coursed through the center of her being. Raghav's eyes reflected no fear yet the sound of two hearts breaking resonated through the air. A moment later, Raghav's eyes shut and his hold over the trigger tightened. She wanted to scream. She wished the vile man,holding her hostage, would end this by slitting her throat once and for all. However, her own voice failed her as her throat was constricted.
"Raghav jahan Pallavi wahan"... If the untoward was to happen, she knew she would follow his suit. "Bas utni Zindagi chahti hoon, jitna ki saath ho"... she was determined to take her leave from the world which was devoid of him. She saw the sinister face of death and yet her heart prayed for a miracle. Not for herself, but for her Raghav. Her Raghav could not go like this. He was a magnificent man whose life couldn't be wasted like this. This was wrong. She wanted to shut her eyes to the horror that was to unfold.
A moment passed and then she heard Mandar shriek. After that, it all happened in a jiffy. Mandar's grip loosened and she stumbled forward. Aai had aimed at Mandar with a flower vase that caught him off-guard and dislodged her from his hold. With impressionable agility, Raghav lurched towards her and pulled her safely to himself, away from the claws of the beast, named Mandar. And that is when Pallavi allowed herself to breathe. In Raghav's protective embrace, Pallavi felt the warmth of his love seeping through her numbness, breaking into the frostbite of fear, infusing life in her.
She turned around to look at her Aai, her mother, who was her superwoman and a hint of smile filled with gratitude started to grace her stilled features and that's when she heard Aai say, "Mandar ek rakshas hai... Isne Devyani ko bhi maara tha. Iska sach mujhe shaadi wali raat ko pata chal gaya tha" And for the second time, in a matter of a few moments, she felt the earth slipping away from underneath her feet.
"Aapne bataya kyun nahi" she managed to ask somehow.
"Yeh ja chuka tha. Uski zarurat nahi thi" she heard Aai's reply. And she felt a sharp pang of betrayal pierce through her heart. Aai, her mother, knew everything. She knew her son was a monster, and yet she had denied Pallavi the truth.
Thereafter, an exchange of profanities and threats was followed by a scuffle between Raghav and Mandar. Raghav was beside himself as he trashed Mandar and finally handed him over to the police. There was so much chaos around and yet it had all started to feel surreal to Pallavi. She heard the leech assuring her that he'll come back for her and her head started to spin. Her knees went weak and with a loud thud, she splattered down on the floor. Amrutha, Kaka and Raghav rushed to her side. Sharda cried out her name in concern but she seemed oblivious to all of it. Her mind fixated.
All she could see was the horrific sight of Raghav raising a gun to his temple. All she could hear washer Aai's admission of being privy to Mandar's truth.
"Pallavi, tum theek hai? Dekho meri taraf. Mandar ka chapter over. Ab woh nahi aayega humara life main. Ab sab theek ho gaya hai Pallavi. Kuch bolo... meri taraf dekho..." his desperate plea cut through the dark clouds of despair that had begun to engulf her. His arms holding her in as he tilted her chin to make her look at him while her eyes held a faraway look.
If all the drama that had unfolded right in front of their eyes was not enough, Vijay Deshmukh's egoistic self flared and he started his not so sensible tirade, "Tum logon ko main kabhi maaf nahi karunga. Is aurat ke pyar main mera beta raasta bhatak gaya. Issi ki wajah se mera Mandar jail gaya. Pallavi Raghav Rao, ek baap ki baddua hai ki tum aur tumhara pati zindagi bhar tadpoge. Kabhi khush nahi rahoge... na tu aur na tera yeh pati...jaise..."
And a loud snap and scream stopped him mid way, "ENOUGH!!!"
The pulse on Raghav's forehead throbbed with rage. At one end he was worried sick for Pallavi and on the other end, Mr. Vijay Deshmukh was being completely irrational. He was about to shut him up but much to his own surprise, she beat him to it!
Pallavi's eyes that were hollow a moment back were now lit with raging wild fire. She was livid and shot daggers at Vijay Deshmukh. The anger on her face stunned Raghav. She was trembling and her face had turned white. Raghav tried to calm her by holding her hand but she removed his grip and took a step towards Vijay Deshmukh.
"Enough is enough, Baba... nahi sorry... Mr. Vijay Deshmukh. Let me remind you, Raghav Rao ko baddua dene ki aukad nahi hai aapki!" She breathed through her teeth, roughly wiping away the tear that escaped her eye.
"How dare you!" Vijay Deshmukh seethed.
"How dare I?" She scoffed, "How dare you? Agar aapko yaad nahi hai, toh yaad dila doon... jis Raghav Rao ko aap baddua de rahe ho, ussi ne Aai ki treatment ke liye paise bhare the... woh yahan aaya... Swapnil ban ke... ek cook banke... kyun? Let me tell you, if it was just about me, he would have gotten me out of this mess, on day one. But even though he hated me around Mandar, he relented to save you and your family from your own demented son! Aur mujhe baddua denge aap? Mujhe?Aapne apne pagal bete se meri shaadi karvayi thi... isse badi baddua kya denge aap mujhe!"
Everyone else looked on Sulochana couldn't believe that she was same Pallavi whom she had taken the liberty to walk over multiple times in the past. Sharda hung her head in shame. Kaka was remorseful while Raghav flinched. Everyone could hear the anger in her voice, however, Raghav heard her pain. He could clearly see Pallavi crumbling.He wished to reach out to her, but something told him, she wouldn't allow him access to herself today.
"Pallavi!!!" Vijay Deshmukh bellowed.
"I am not done yet, Mr. Deshmukh!" She cut him off sharply."What did you say, your son deserves a chance, despite being a murderer? I would have wondered if the one to be killed was someone of your own, would you say the same? I wonder if Devyani would have killed Mandar, would you have given Devyani a second chance? I wonder if instead of Aai, he would have thrown you off the roof, would you still give him a second chance?"
She paused a moment and took a deep breath before continuing, "I always considered you my father... Baba sirf kehti nahi thi, maana bhi tha...lekin aap mujhe dil se apni beti nahi maan paaye... You threw me out,questioned my character, tried to control me, hurt me, but trust me, I have forgiven you for it all. But that doesn't mean I'll let you trample over my husband and his self respect. Time and again you cursed Raghav, questioned his upbringing, dragged his parents into fights to satisfy your ego... but I warn you Mr. Deshmukh, never repeat this ever. You have no right. Do remember, the caricature of your upbringing is going to rot in jail for his deeds. And I am appalled on what kind of father justifies a murderer son. Chiii... I feel ashamed to have called you my Baba!" She finished, a myriad of emotions from hurt to disgust etched on her face.
"Pall..aa..vi..." Sharda called out to her. Pallavi shut her eyes tight and fisted her palm so tight that her nails dug into the soft skin of her palm. The pain did nothing to soothe the aching in her heart. Wasn't the woman calling out to her, her Aai, supposed to be her superwoman, her protector? Didn't she always advocate righteousness? She had given two years of her life to this family. Dedicated and devoted herself to the family's needs and happiness and all she had been fed was lies, taunts and curses.
Holding the sides of her saree,as if to prevent herself from crumbling down, again, she turned to Sharda. Gulping down, she took a tentative step forward, looking at her Aai,contemplating if she should continue or not. She pitied the mother in front of her. No mother deserved a son like Mandar. Yet, she knew today it won't be possible for her to contain herself. She had to let it go.
Determined, she went towards her Aai, and sat by her feet. Holding her hands, Pallavi looked into Sharda's eyes as she sat by her feet. "Aaj pehli baar, main aapki baat se agree nahi karti Aai. Aap jaanti thi na, Devyani was very close to me. Devyani's sudden death pushed me in depression. Mandar's death remained a mystery for which I was cursed and tagged as a bad omen. To get justice for your son, I jeopardized my marriage. Raghav ne Keerti ko bachane ke liye khud ko surrender kar diya so that your son gets justice. Then Mandar came back, he put all of our lives on stake. Kyun? Kyunki aapne nahi bataya. Kyunki aapko laga ki batane ki zaroorat nahi hai. Kaise nahi thi Aai?He was my husband. All of you kept telling me how sorted and good Mandar was,what bubble were you putting me into? Main aapki takleef samajh sakti hoon, Aai. But I still deserved to know his truth. It was my right!" Seamlessly tears made its way down her cheek.
"Pallu... muu... mujhee.. maa... maafff kar de" Sharda stuttered with great difficulty.
But Pallavi gently pulled her hand away from her and looked away. Wiping away her tears, she once again turned to her, "Main jaanti hoon Aaiki aapki intentions sahi thi. You didn't want to hurt me. Thatâs why, maybe I'll be able to forgive you one day. But for now, I may need some time."saying that she got up and with a straight face walked over to Raghav.
Raghav watched her. His heart was breaking into million pieces as he read the turmoil in her eyes. He tried to put his arm around her. But she took a small step away. It hurt him. She was denying him access to her pain. "Pallavi"he tried to speak but she slightly turned her face away from him. She know she was breaking inside but she didn't want him to know that. She walled her soul beneath a stoic mask, something very similar to what Raghav did to hide his pain time and again. "Mujhe ghar jaana hai. Can we please go home?" She said. Her voice was devoid of any emotion and that scared Raghav. It felt as if she was giving up.
Not receiving a response from him, she turned to look at him, "Itna soch rahe ho? Planning to abandon me, yet again? I can go to Kolhapur if you want" she deadpanned.
"Kya bol raha hai, Saree ka Dukaan? Main tumko abandon karega?"He was shocked at her assumption.
"Toh mujhe ghar leke chalo. Please" she almost pleaded. Notable to utter a word more, he simply nodded and gestured her to move forward. And this time, without giving a backward glance at the Deshmukhs whom she once called her family, she walked straight out.
Raghav looked back at Aai once.He could see Sharda was broken, guilty and hurt. He walked over to her and gently holding her palm assured her, "Main Pallavi se baat karega Aai. Aap apna khayal rakhna". Sharda acknowledged him with small smile or gratitude and he turned to look at the rest of the audience. Kaka's eyes were downcast in shame. Amrutha had tears in her eyes. Kaku and Manasi were gaping at the door that Pallavi had just stepped out of. While Vijay Deshmukh, had his back turned at the door. Taking a deep sigh,he followed Pallavi out of the door.
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Thanks for reading
Love,
Sonia đł
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