I know Naamkaran is ending and with that, a lot of us are very upset.. I am more so because this has been the only show that I have ever followed in my life, and am 28! But Neil gave me husband goals while Avni taught me to fight against any and all injustice, but forgive the ones closest to us when they genuinely seek forgiveness, and that would remain with me.
I read somewhere and would like to share it with you, it read something like this, "Every person has old battle scars from the battles they fought in their lives, but there is only one type of people who win, the ones who wear these scars proudly and wake up each morning with a new resolve to do everything to heal the scars, despite knowing they won't heal. The stumble sometimes, they fall flat sometimes, but they don't give up," . For me, this is what is happening in the show. Avni and Neil haven't given up, but they have fallen enough times to be scared about getting up again to fight.
A lot of people requested me to extend the story and have Neil's conversation with Avni and Prakash included in this, so here it goes. I am writing for Prakash's conversation right now and would do with Avni tomorrow.
Challenging Destinies: Part 2
Khanna House
Neil reaches his home at 4AM, exhausted with every step he took, and yet sleep hadn't ever been farther away from his eyes.. The last few hours kept playing on a repeat in his head, along with his promises with Avni.. He knew he was Neil, Mowgli's father, but he wasn't Avni's Neil and was any other Neil allowed to be called Mowgli's father? He couldn't marry Mitali, not with Mowgli in the picture, at least till he sorts out everything.. He breaks down sobbing on his knees, pulling at his hair in frustration.
Prakash wakes up for water, only to realise his bedside glass is empty. As he steps into the kitchen, he sees a figure sobbing in the garden through the window. He goes out cautiously, only to encounter a completely heartbroken Neil. He rushes to Neil and puts his hand on his shoulder while kneeling next to him. Neil just turns towards his father and hugs him while crying. Prakash, although scared, continues to stroke Neil's head, allowing him to cry peacefully.
"Tillu, son, tell me what happened? What's wrong? I know you left around 11 PM in a hurry, and now you are back like this, what happened? You are my supercop son, and seeing you in this condition is scaring me!" were only some questions highlighting Prakash's turmoil at hiding the truth about Mowgli from his son. "Dad, can I get that world famous coffee you make? Today I don't know if I lost everything or gained so much that I can't even hold it in me, but I do know this dad, I need to talk to you, because if I don't, I'll lose the right to be angry with Avni and I know I have that right." Prakash gets more confused at these statements but still gets up and makes Neil sit on the bench in the garden, before heading to the kitchen to make coffee for both father and son.
While Prakash is gone, Neil gets lost in his thoughts, "I am sorry dad, I know that what I am about to tell you would kill you, but you have the right to know it all. You have the right to know why your daughter left you, why you have a grandson who doesn't know who you are, who you don't know. But dad, I need you today. You have been my guide, you were the only one on my side when I wanted to become a cop, when I broke down about Avni's death, when I wanted to be a good husband, and today, I need your help even more. I understand Avni today, and her decision 10 years ago, but that won't mend my wounds, heal my scars."
Prakash returns to the garden with the coffee mugs and sits down next to Neil, handing his cup over, "Neil, now tell me, what happened tonight? And don't lie. There are enough lies in our family right now to add more to them." Prakash feels guilty about hiding Mowgli but knows that right now, Neil needed support, not another reason to be angry at Avni.
Neil turns to his father and with tears in his eyes, "Dad, I love you. I know I don't say it often, maybe not show it often, but I love you and if anything happened to you, I would die on the spot. I am about to tell you a lot of secrets, secrets that broke apart our family, Avni's perfect family. But I need you to promise me that you wouldn't take stress and just hear me out. Keep faith that I can fix everything with time." Prakash gets scared at Neil's words but he trusts Neil and promises Neil to always be with him and listen calmly and with strength.
Neil gets up from his place and walks a few steps away, "While you were gone inside, I kept thinking about what to say, but then I realised that if I lied to you, I would be repeating Avni's mistake from 10 years ago. Dad, at 11PM today, I received a call from Sukoon Ghar, it was Mowgli calling but he sounded very scared. He kept crying and saying that some man hates his Jaan didi and would take him away, killing Avni in the process. I panicked and rushed to Sukoon Ghar." He turns towards his dad, scoffing at his own brain, "You know dad, I couldn't admit then, but I was scared for Avni too. I thought those goons were back, or worse, Ragini Pandit was. After all, nobody knows where she or Vidyut's gang went."
Prakash smiles at Neil, "Neil, you love Avni, whether you wish to admit it or you don't, the truth won't change. She has hurt you a lot, true, but she has also loved you a lot. I am happy to see Avni's Neil today who rushed to her side when he heard she was in danger."
"You know dad, this is the second time today somebody has called me Avni's Neil. It sounds good to hear. But moving on with the story. Mowgli asked me to lie to Sunheri and take him for ice cream. When I took him away, he told me that Mitali had come to Sukoon Ghar in the day."
"Mitali!? But why would she go to Sukoon Ghar?" came Prakash's prompt questioning, to which Neil could only respond, "To tell about our marriage to Avni.". Prakash is shocked at the revelation, "Why did she go but? You didn't tell Avni yourself? How could you do that to her? How could you send Mitali? You are not my Avni's Neil anymore, are you?" screamed Avni's father at his Tillu. Neil laughed at his father's anger, "Right the second time dad. I am not Avni's Neil anymore, in fact I don't know which Neil am I now. But that's for further on. I didn't ask Mitali to go, I don't think I even wanted Avni to know. But Mowgli told me that after Mitali left, Avni completely broke down and kept repeating the lines Mowgli heard, refusing to eat or drink anything."
Neil came back again and sat at his father's feet, putting his head in this lap, "Dad. Mowgli was this scared because he didn't want to leave his mom right after he found her. Dad, Mowgli is Avni's son, my son! Our love's symbol." Prakash's lack of response makes Neil look at his father, " I take it you knew! Then why did you also lie to me dad?". "No Tillu, I didn't know, I guessed because of the way he acted. He was a mirror image of you. I confronted Avni the day Mowgli ran away, she told me the truth. But your anger towards her has her convinced that you hate her and would take Mowgli away from her for revenge. She lives only for Mowgli, he is all she has of who she truly is. If in your anger you did something like that, I wouldn't have been able to forgive myself and when you told me you wanted to marry Mitali, I knew that somewhere, Avni's fear were well-founded. You changed in your anger Tillu, and for the first time, even I wasn't sure which is the real you."
Neil bows his head in embarrassment, "You are right dad. The first thought I got was also of anger when I found out about Mowgli. I always had a special connection with him, which I know now is the fact that he is my son, mine and Avni's son! Do you know that Mowgli doesn't know about me? Avni has told him I am a superhero who has to save the world, and meeting me would disclose my identity to the world." Prakash smiles at Neil and brings his hand under his chin, "He is you Neil, a part of you, and would always be so. The minute I found out the truth, I wanted to rush to him and hug him tightly, but I couldn't. We'll get our Mowgli Tillu, but I won't let anyone take him away from Avni. A father promised her, and that won't change."
"I can't even dream about that dad. And the fact that Avni was scared enough to think that, got me even more angry at her, but when you confessed to thinking it was right, I am ashamed that I let anger change me so much. A father promised his daughter to protect her son, and today, a father promised his son to protect him and his mother, never letting them be apart. So don't worry dad, I would never snatch Mowgli from Avni." Neil promised his father, allowing a gleam of old Neil to shine through, the one who could die before letting Avni shed a tear.
"Tillu, I know finding out about Mowgli must have been a shock for you, but why do I feel that you are still not telling the whole truth?" enquired the father who could see through his son. "I can never hide from you dad. Dad when we returned to Sukoon Ghar, I found DD there who told me that Avni was missing, and in her weakened state, it wasn't safe for her outside." Neil turns towards his father with tears rolling down his eyes, "I can't lose her again dad. Staying away from her, is a living hell but I can't forgive her, at least not yet, but if anything would have happened to her, I don't think I would survive again. I need her alive to breath dad, even if she is far away from me."
Prakash walks up to Neil and wipes his tears, "I am a witness to your love for each other. You standing here tells me that our Avni is safe, else you won't have come home." . "You still trust me with Avni dad? I don't know how she brings the best and the worst in me!" Neil exclaimed, happy at the trust his father was showing in him. "It is because you love her, more than you have ever loved anyone, but you also hate her for her lies and secrets, more than you have loved her."
Neil smiles at the similarity between the words his father used and he himself used. "Dad. I did find Avni. She was with Ayesha Ma. She had taken away my wine bottle one day to stop me from drinking, she drank that and sat there talking to Ayesha Ma when I reached there. Dad, I cheated her. I know that when she is high, she speaks her heart, she had done it before. So I decided to ask all my questions to her, but before I could ask her about Mowgli, she turned my world upside down." . Prakash smiled at his son's innocence, "You have questions only she can answer, and she has answers she is scared to give. So while the method was wrong, I can't fault you decision to ask questions. But what happened that you couldn't ask her about Mowgli?".
"She didn't think it was me. She thinks I hate her enough to not search for her, and since I moved on in a day, I won't care for her. She thought I was her imagination, her Neil, as she called me, not the present day hater Neil. Dad, I asked her why she left me 10 years ago, and she told me." Neil turned towards his father again, holding his hand, "Stay with me dad, because what I say next will explain everything but take away your peace. Do you still want to hear it?". Neil almost hoped his father would say no, but Prakash is a man who loved Avni even before Neil acknowledged her as his wife, "If you know why she left, I want to know where I failed my daughter in keeping her safe. I can see it is hard for you, but I need to know son, if I want to help my daughter heal, my son heal, even if you wish to marry Mitali post it, I need to know."
Neil steeled his resolve, "Dad. The best day of our lives, the day Avni came back home, got turned into the darkest day of Avni's life when Neela Ma died. And when I thought I killed her, you all tried to send her away to save our relationship. Dad Neela Ma died because of Vidyut, but he didn't shoot her. He made someone do it. He drugged a member of our family to kill me, and Neela ma died to save me." Neil stopped here, still not sure he wanted to say the whole truth to his father, regretting even starting to speak as he saw his father go pale, clutching the coffee mug hard in his hand. "Vidyut made a video of the shooting and blackmailed Avni into marrying him if she wanted to save this person. That's when Avni decided to end the fight by walking away rather than standing tall and fighting head first. Avni proved herself dead to save.." Prakash interrupts Neil, "You haven't told me who Neil. And don't give me the how does it matter speech, I want to know. Who held the gun that killed Neela ji?". "You" came the small whispering sound of Neil, who stared right in his father's eyes, ready to be his strength, when his failed him.
Prakash reeled from the shock of Neil's answer, "I killed Neela ji? I killed Avni's ma? My Avni suffered so much, to save me? She gave up her Neil, she gave up being a mother, just for me? Oh Avni! Why didn't you come to your father? Didn't you know I would have gladly given myself to the cops and spent a lifetime in jail if it saved your love, you life?" . Prakash doesn't realise he said the last part aloud, and Neil stands there shocked at his father's confession, "I thought dad would be heartbroken, won't be able to function, but all he can still think of is Avni and our happiness, our life? Oh dad!". Neil shakes his father out of his thinking zone, "Dad! Do you really think we would have been happy while you suffered? No dad, both me and Avni would rather die than let anything happen to you!"
Prakash, still guilty and planning to apologise to Avni the next day, drugged or not, he killed her mother, smiles when he hears this line of his son's and suddenly feels all of his worries flying away, seeing Neela ji's dream becoming a reality all over again, hoping to not fail her again, he takes the plunge, "Tillu. Didn't Avni do exactly that? Kill our Avni to let me live? Become Neilanjaana to save her family?" . Neil is the one now in shock as he realises the connection between his words, his fathers lines and Avni's reactions while facing Vidyut. "I... I...". Prakash walks up to his son and hugs him, he then puts his hands on his shoulders, "Neil, think about everything as Avni's Neil. Not the broken man who lived 10 years in guilt and pain, but rather as the man who promised to always make Avni smile in front of us. Think like the supercop you are, what would have happened if the video came out? Think as our Tillu, what would you have done if Avni had come to you with all this? What would have your duty allowed you to do?". Saying all this Prakash walks away from Neil and towards his room, leaving Neil in his turmoil and carrying his guilt and pain with him, to wake up his wife and mother and tell them the truth before it was too late.
Neil keeps standing in the garden, reliving his father's words, his words, Avni's actions, his reactions, Mowgli's secret. The one thing that had seemingly disappeared from his brain was his upcoming marriage with Mitali. He takes out his wallet, and there, in the photo section of the wallet, caresses the pendant of the mangalsutra Avni broke. Cursing fate, cursing Vidyut, cursing himself, cursing Avni, he walks back to his room, hoping he can find his answers in his memories with Avni.
*--THE END--*
Please do comment and let me know what you think about it.
Edited by cutepigs - 7 years ago
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