FF: With a Difference (Updated Part 10 on Pg 17) - Page 2

Part 2

Rays of sunlight made their way through the curtains of the room's window.

The light disturbed Kunal from his sleep. As soon as he opened his eyes,

he hopefully gazed at Siddhi hoping that she will wake up from her long

deep sleep. But only her silence greeted him good morning today too.

He wished her good morning and went out of the room to get ready for another hectic day ahead. This week was hectic than usual as he had a major

hearing on the way. He took a quick shower and packed his files for the day.

Kunal went to the dining area where the family had already gathered for the

breakfast. He wished good morning to everybody and then informed Gaurav that he had paid the electricity and telephone bills and that Gaurav had to

take care of the house rent for the month as he had to get some routine check-ups done for Siddhi. Gaurav nodded. Kunal started to leave for work when Veena

asked him to first have his breakfast before leaving. But he replied that he

was getting late and will have something at work and left. Gaurav too left after

a while taking the kids along with him to school.

Veena: (She had recovered from her trauma by now) When will Kunal lead a normal life again. Why does he have to suffer always??

Raj: Only God knows what he has in store for Kunal. After Siddhi came to his life,

he started changing. But now he has again confined himself in his own grief.

And Siddhi, she is suffering too.

Seema: (she was listening to the conversation from the kitchen) Don't worry Ma-Papa. Once Siddhi will be ok, everything will be fine.

Veena and Raj nodded their heads and with a deep sigh went to their room.

Kunal reached court and secured his chair in the library. For the last six months he

had been using the library as his office. When the tragic incident took place with

Siddhi, everybody feared that Kunalmight go back to his old ways. On the

contrary, he was determined to get back whatever he had lost because of

Thakrals, his career, his reputation and most importantly Siddhi. He started

working again, taking up cases individually rather than serving a law firm this

time. In a few months he had built a reputation of a decent lawyer who won

every case he took.

This time he was fighting for some chawl-dwellers who were being forced to leave

their establishments by a builder who had acquired the land for commercial purposes.

The chawl-dwellers had managed to put up a legal notice against the builder

but their lawyer backed-off at the last moment since the builder had engaged the

biggest lawyer of the town, D K Thakral. It was then that Kunal himself offered

the chawl-dwellers that he would take up their case. When the worried people

inquired him about his fees, he exclaimed that he was not taking this up for money.

In the past two months there had been five hearings for the case and the one

to come would be the last and final one. Kunal had to win it this time no matter

what. Hence he was going through all the minute details and the pits and falls one

last time.

The following week Kunal kept himself busy with his work. The only other thing

he did was to talk to Siddhi whenever he was at home. Her silence was painful,

but it made him more determined to give a tight blow to Thakral.

On the day of the hearing...

Kunal: Siddhi, I am going to the court for the hearing of the case. Bataya tha

na tumhein, wahi chawl wala case, Thakral ke khilaaf. Aaj bahut important din hai

Siddhi, kam se kam All The Best toh bol do.

He waited for a few minutes near her hoping for a response, but then gathered

his files in one hand, took his coat in the other and left for court.

Yes, the day was actually very important, not only for Kunal's case, but also for one

another reason. After Kunal, Gaurav and the kids left, a loud crashing sound came

from Sinal's room. Shocked, Seema, Veena and Raj hurried towards the room...

To be continued...