SIVANOLI - Serial Fiction - Page 6

Previously ...

Dhivya overhears her mother mention a sister she never knew existed. She confronts her aunt Shree about it.

And now ...

Episode 12

"What .... what are you talking about?" Shree tries to disguise her shock.

"Aunty, don't lie to me. I know what I overheard from Amma and Tatha's conversation. Who is this mysterious sister? How come thambi and I have never seen her?"

Shree looks around worriedly. Wonders what to say.

"You can tell me Aunty. What is the big secret you are all hiding?" insists Dhivya.

Shree sighs. Apparently the stubbornness that Indhu possessed was inherited by her daughter. "Your mother won't appreciate me telling you this. After all the trouble Appa went through to cover it up..."

"Cover what up?"

"Your mother and I weren't Appa's only daughters. I had another elder sister, Chandru akka. Indhumadhi, Chandramadhi and Shreemadhi." Shree smiles sadly. "Anna was very much Appa's son, always following him around, listening to everything he said. After amma died, it was us 3 girls for ourselves. We were very close ..."

Shree thinks sadly of the happier times and we see a flashback ...

A much younger Indhu, in her late teens, with her hair into two braids, swings a small girl - Shree - around. Another girl, close in age to Indhu, maybe 18 or so, watches while laughing and clapping.

"We told each other everything ... but there was one thing Chandru akka did not tell us ... not until it was too late."

A young man waves secretly to Chandru, signalling her to come over. Chandru smiles shyly and looks at her sisters. They are oblivious. She runs over to the man and he catches both her hands in one of his. From his back he produces a flower. Chandru takes it and puts it in her braid, giggling. She is obviously in love.

"She should have known better. After the breakdown of Akka's first engagement some months before ... only after much difficulty did Appa procure your father as the new groom, from Sri Lanka. She must have known Appa would never approve. But Chandru was foolish ... she wanted to marry him. And so they did."

Chandru and her boyfriend exchange garlands at the registry office.

"Chandru kept the marriage a secret, even from us. She knew Appa wouldn't approve. But then she became ... ill. We noticed the thali around her neck. She wouldn't tell us who her husband was. She said we would see when he came to the hospital to see her. He never did."

Chandru lies on a hospital bed. Indhu and KG are on one side, Shree on the other.

"Your mother was already married by then. In fact at the time she was expecting. Appa threw Chandru out of the house when what she had done came to light. Your parents took her in. But it was not to be a permanent arrangement."

A funeral scene: Indhu and Shree crying at the bedside of Chandru's body. KG and Indhu are each holding a baby in their arms.

"Appa refused to come to the funeral. People in the street were talking about it, the whole tragic mess. So we reached an agreement with Appa. We yould never talk about it again."

Shree reaches the end of her story. Her eyes filled with tears.

Dhivya breaks the silence. "But that's awful!"

"Yes," nods Shree, "that's why we decided to bury the secret and move on. Of course, it had repercussions for our future ... Appa kept a tight leash on his only remaining unmarried daughter - me."

"It's such a sad story. No wonder Amma never told me or Mahen."

"Yes, and you shouldn't bring it up with her either. She will be very distressed. She was closer to Chandru akka than me, they were only 2 years apart."

"Of course not," Dhivya promises. "It is a sad story, but I'm glad I know the truth now." She gets off the bed and leaves Shree thoughtful.

"The truth?" she muses to herself. "Not quite ..."

In Shree's mind we see another flashback: a baby exchanging hands ...

thodarum ...

Hope you all liked the episode. This format may be better on television, i.e. the flashback is shown while Shree narrates over the pictorial. Please leave your comments if you like this episode, or how I can improve if you didn't like it. Thanks! 😊

Wow.....its thrilling...Divya most be Chandras daughter and died after given birth to her and Indu was preggers with Mahen 😃

S.C..your ff is like watching a tv serial...I am hooked up with this ff, like I'm with arase & KKK😆 ...plz continue soon 😉

Thanks for the superb story. Can't wait for the next one. 😉 😛

keep going yaar...dont take too long to come by again.....

A very touching story Selvi. I like the 3 sisters names. Keep up Selvi

SC, I make this post as unsticky until you update the next part 😉

Okay Meli, I admit I have been getting behind my updates. Hope to get a new part posted by tonight.

Kavitha, I'm glad you like the 3 sisters' names 😊

Ok, sooner than expected 😆

Episode 13

Marina Beach

Dhivya's best friend Swetha is going home in an auto, travelling along Marina Beach, when she spots a familiar face.

"Driver! Stop here." She tells the auto-driver quickly. The auto screeches to a stop. Swetha hands the driver a few rupees and gets out of the auto.

"Thava! What are you doing here?" she asks as she walks up to Dhivya's cousin, who is sitting on the half-wall. As she gets closer she sees he is drinking from a bottle. She wrinkles her nose at the smell. "Is that beer?"

Thava nods and raises the bottle to his lips again. Swetha quickly snatches it from him before he can take a sip. "You should be ashamed of yourself! Drinking at this time of day. Drinking at all!"

Thava, who is a little drunk, just shakes his head sadly. "What else could I do? Dhivya told my parents she won't marry me."

Swetha stares at him. "But she's already told you that millions of times before? Why did you think she would change her mind suddenly?"

He shrugs. "My parents and Tatha actually went to see Attai to ask for Dhivya's hand in marriage. I thought, at least then, faced with our grandfather and her taimaman, she would accept."

Swetha nervously reaches out and holds Thava's hand comfortingly. "You know she's six months older than you. Six inches taller, too."

"I'm not that short!" protests Thava, self-consciously touching the top of his head.

Swetha laughs. "No, not really. You would still be the right height for ...." she stops in the middle of the sentence.

Thava looks at her. "For?" he prompts.

Swetha hurriedly says, "For most other girls." It wasn't what she had meant to say earlier. "I mean, Dhiv is the tallest in our class."

Thava sighs. "I suppose you're right. It's just that I've always seen myself marrying Dhivya, it's so hard to see another girl in the same light."

Swetha looks sad at these words. "Come on then, we'd better get you back to your hostel."

"No, I was supposed to meet my parents at the hotel they're staying in."

"In this state? I don't think so. Call and tell them something came up. They'll still be there in the morning right?"

Thava nods.

"Then go and see them then. Now come." She helps him up from the wall and waves for an auto. They both get in.

*****

Sivanoli Mansion

Indhu walks into her sister's bedroom with a tray of food. "Shree, you'd better eat to keep your strength up." She puts the tray on the bedside table and sits down next to Shree, tiredly. "It's been such an exhausting day with Appa. He just doesn't seem to listen. Even now he's gone to see Siva. I couldn't stop him..."

"Akka," Shree interrupts. "There is a more urgent matter I have to tell you about. When you were talking to Appa .... Dhivya overheard. She heard you mention Chandru akka."

Indhu is horrified. "Oh my god!"

Shree tries to calm her sister. "Don't worry, she doesn't know the truth. She came here, to ask me about Chandru, and I told her.."

"You told her?" Indhu shouts.

"Akka, hear me out. I could hardly deny the fact. I had to tell her. If she had gone to ask someone else, the truth might have come out. So I told her half the story. About Appa's anger, how she died ... but not about the baby."

Indhu sighs with relief. "So she doesn't know about ...."

"You adopting Chandru akka's child? No. I managed to cover up that part of it. As far Dhivya knows, Chandru akka never had a baby."

Indhu nods. "If she had found out ... I could never ...."

"Akka, don't worry, she won't."

"You don't know Dhivya, Shree. She is persistent. Your explanation might not have fully satisfied her." Then Indhu thinks of something and her hand goes to her mouth. "The old photo albums! There may be something inside there that could give her a clue."

"You kept those albums?" asks Shree, confused by her sister's carelessness.

"They held so many memories, Shree. I couldn't just throw them out. But I guess now I have to. Excuse me." She starts to leave, and then pauses. "Thank you, Shree, for keeping my secret."

Shree shakes her head. "After all you've done for me? Besides, it was our secret."

Indhu nods and hurries out to the storage cupboard. From the bottom shelf she finds a box full of dusty, old photo-albums. She looks for the one from 1960.

After finding it she opens it and looks through the photos. There are some of Indhu and KG moving into their new house soon after marriage. Chandru is in the photos. More photos of their vallakaapu ceremony, held together since they were pregnant at the same time. Indhu thinks back ....

(flashback)

"I don't need a vallakaapu ceremony, akka," protests Chandru. "It's not like my husband is here, he has abandoned me."

"But I can't have a ceremony for myself while you, my equally pregnant sister, don't have one. We will have our ceremonies together. I'm not taking no for an answer."

Chandru reluctantly agrees. The ceremony takes place. KG walks around taking photos. The same photos in the album Indhu is looking at sadly.

Her mind drifts to another flashback.

"Akka, when I am gone, you must look after my baby. Please promise me that you will."

Indhu, at Chandru's hospital bedside, cries, "Don't say such things. You will live to look after your child..."

Chandru shakes her head. "Promise me, akka. You will raise my child as your own. Promise me."

Indhu promises, tearfully. Chandru draws a painful breath, but manages to smile. "My child will be well looked after, i know. I can die happy."

Indhu starts to argue that Chandru won't die, but it is too late. She has already passed away. In the crib next to the bed, a baby cries. Indhu looks at KG, who is holding their baby.

This memory shifts to the present. KG, returned from office, is staring at his wife as she rips out photos from the album. "What are you doing, Indhu?"

"I won't let my children know the truth. I promised my sister. I promised myself." She grabs a handful of photos and tosses the album back into the box.

KG follows her as she hurries through the house. "What are you going to do with those photos?"

"Burn them." She places the photos in a tray and sets fire to them. She and her husband watch as the photos go up in flames.

But back in the storage cupboard, unnoticed by Indhu or KG, one of the photos she had ripped out from the album had not been taken by her. Instead it had fallen to the back of the cupboard, and slid down behind a drawer.

On the photo is a clear image of both Chandru and Indhu in their eighth month of pregnancy ....

thodarum ....

Please tell me what you think of this chapter! And sorry for the delay in posting it.

so my prediction were right, Diyva is Chandras daughter. Looks like she will
find out the truth soon.

Why did Chandras hubby left her??

This chapter was good with emotions and sentiments. Keep it up, SC😉

Wow! What a story. Very gripping and full of emotions. Kee up the good work. Looking forward to the next chapter.

👏 👏 👏

Pat