PR reloaded-FF-Pt 66 Pg 148, 27/4/11 - Page 75

Gosh , I just love the length of each part .. its so long , and you dont rush any scene .. you show the characters thinking .. interacting properly .. if PR is remade , I hope the CVs the read this before planning the storyline ...

awesome update!!!!! continue sooon :)

hi i v joined new here ......... n i jst wanna say that i m a big fan of ur ff n hv been reading it from the first chapter.........

Hi everyone! I'm back with part 47!!!

PART 47

COUNTING DAYS

7 days to go..

The weekend passed quickly, and soon the foursome- Archana, Vinod, Tarun and Vaishali- made their way home. The journey was smooth, and Vaishali had almost no trouble as she lay in the long seat of the air conditioned Tavera with her plastered leg. The entire Karanjkar family was relieved, and no sooner had they entered that Sulochana whisked Vaishali away to her bed, fussing over her, asked Vinod and Archana to rest, and thanked Tarun profusely.

"Not a problem at all." He said, smiling his best smile. He looked around for Manjusha Vahini. She was standing in a corner of the room, biting her nails nervously, trying to escape his glance. Tarun was boiling over with rage at her for trying to spoil his reputation, but didn't say anything in front of the Karanjkars. There was no use in spoiling the good impression that had just been created. He talked for a while and then made to leave.

That night as Sulochana applied oil on Archana's hair, they discussed all that had happened while she had been in Mahabaleshwar.

"Varsha's visa and passport for London have arrived." Sulochana told her worriedly. "She DID agree to that job Archu, she did not listen to our advice. I'm worried for her. How will she live so far away from home? Who will take care of her? How will she.."

"Aai, relax. Varsha said that her friends are also going along, right?"

"Yes, two of her friends have got jobs in London, one of them has been, in fact, posted to the same company as hers- a publishing firm of some sort. Today Varsha was showing the entire list of salary and other incentives that she will be getting in this job. She seemed very excited." Sulochana looked at Archu. "I tried to convince her again and again not to go, but she isn't listening Archu. I ended up shouting at her and now she isn't talking to me. She doesn't understand my worry, I cannot let my young unmarried daughter go away to foreign shores in this manner, firstly I'm scared of sending her away there, secondly, what if she gets addicted to that sort of life? She won't feel like coming back to aamchi Mumbai once she starts earning so much and has fun and frolic unrestricted there in London. Then how will we get her married? And thirdly, Varsha is rash, not disciplined. The lifestyle there will consume her.."

"Aai," Archana tried to comfort her. "Why do you have such an outlook? Our Varsha is not a kid anymore, she can take care of herself. In the name of protecting her, we cannot keep her tied at home all the time. If we try to do so, she will snap. See how she went through all the procedures herself just cos we didn't favour her decision. Similarily, if we don't accept her decision, she may walk off in a huff from this house. As it is she is angry with all of us- we never listen to her regarding the issues in the house, the court case, Vaishali- Tarun's matter etc. Then it will be worse, cos she will be away and not remain in proper contact. We should try and talk her out of it, else.."

Sulochana looked scared. "Else what Archu?"

"Else we accept it, give her necessary instructions and let her go, hoping for the best." Sulochana looked down in despair. Archana held her hand. "Don't worry Aai, I'll try my best to talk her out of it."

Sulochana was not convinced. "Say that we'll find an NRI match for her and then she can go abroad with him and work, study whatever, but not now, and.."

"You leave it all to me." Archu smiled. "Lets turn to other topics. Did Dada say anything about Tarun?"

Sulochana nodded. "He said plenty. I'm thinking of inviting them tomorrow for dinner in the evening. Lets hope we come across an amicable solution tomorrow."

Archana looked super-happy. "Really? Good! Wow, things are happening fast in the lives of all three sisters- Vaishali's proposal, Varsha's abroad plans and my court case.."

She stopped short. Sulochana Aai looked upset.

"Court case against Ajit is in 7 days." Archana said in a small voice.

Sulochana shrugged "I know. Thank Bappa that you were not there the day the news reached us. Manjusha's anger was on the seventh cloud. She said that we encourage Manav subconsciously, you in particular."

Archana sat silently for a while. "I haven't encouraged Manav, in fact I had asked him to settle things mutually at first. He did not agree. So I said, alright then, go ahead. My best wishes."

Sulochana was shocked. "Are you on his side then?"

Archana pondered. "I don't think I'm on anyone's side as of now. I will be on the side of the one who is right. As of now, I think Manav is right, cos he has proof against Ajit, and cos I don't feel that he is the sort of person to trick people. He is an honest, hardworking man. If Ajit gets something to prove that Manav is just tricking him and all his proofs are baseless, then I will support Ajit."

Sulochana shook her head. Everything was going in circles.

*********-----------********

6 days to go..

Tarun couldn't help smiling. It was the best day of his life.

As he sat comfortably on the sofa of the Karanjkars drawing room with his parents, he looked about with content. Vaishali, sitting comfortably on the other sofa looked pretty as always, even though she had not dressed up in particular. She looked relaxed and happy. Her siblings looked pleased too as the Karanjkars and the Kapoors agreed for the marriage. Only Manjusha looked grumpy- ha ha to her!

It had all been a very simple affair. Vinod's convincing had yielded fruits as Manohar and Sulochana, although still nervous, agreed to give Tarun a chance, if the other side was equally willing. The Kapoors had hastened to accept. They were personally scared of Tarun's insolence and knew him well enough to guess that even though he had not eloped this time, he was certainly not going to bow down. It would only create more embarrassment if the son of a rich father got married in court. Better get him married to this girl, they thought, as it is, it was because of her that he had started going to office.

Now the two families sat together eating and making plans. "Bhai sahib, we would like to hold the sakharpuda in a few days, after Vaishali gets well." Sulochana said, then hastened to explain to her new Punjabi in-laws. "Sakharpuda is the Maharashtrian engagement.."

"We know Sulochana Ji," Mr. Kapoor laughed. "We have lived in Mumbai for so many years and have a lot of Maharashtrian friends too. We know about many of your customs. In fact, Tarun spends more time at Manav's home and garage than at our home, so he is more than half-Maharashtrian."

Everyone laughed. Tarun however, seemed to be very pleased with himself. "Yeah, I know Marathi as well." He said proudly. "Bring it on!"

Sulochana however was in deep thought. "I wanted to say something and although I had planned at first that I would talk it out in privacy, but now I think it is better that we do not delay any more." Everyone looked shocked. Sulochana turned to Tarun. "Tarun, we have now accepted you as part of the family. But relations cannot be maintained from one side only. So we just hope, that you will not take any action that will harm the members of my family emotionally, mentally or legally.. and that includes Manjusha and her family too.."

Tarun was stunned. Sulochana continued. "I won't take shelter behind big words. Tarun, do not support any person or act that endangers Archana's future, do not support people who intend to cheat her, who intend to destroy Manjusha's family.. and.."

"Aunty," Tarun said somberly. The Kapoors felt uncomfortable. "You can trust me this much that I won't cheat any of you, and especially Archana Vahini, with whom I had a bond even before becoming part of this family. She is the core of existence of someone who is very dear to me. I understand that all of us think well of her, but at times, the routes to happiness may be different. What I think is right for her may not be right according to you. Therefore, at such instances, we must agree to disagree."

The Karanjkars were horrified. Sulochana tried to speak, but Tarun said, "I'm not done yet. I know you're referring to Manav and the court case. I make it very clear to all of you that my relationship with Manav will NEVER change. If at all it has to change, it will only deepen- we will be brothers-in-law now after all. But otherwise, I will support him, not just because he is my friend, but because he is RIGHT. That said, my loyalties towards Vaishali and all of you will be the same. I won't do anything to harm you ever- I only expect to balance out the two sides. And I will do it." He looked at his parents. "I've done it all these years, my parents never wanted me to stay with Manav, but I did it and satisfied them too. This time also I'll do it."

The atmosphere in the room had changed. From the jovial mood that was there a few minutes ago, everyone had suddenly transcended into deep thinking, wondering if this marriage and 'balancing' act could survive the pressures and expectations on both sides. Tarun's parents looked worried. Before anyone could change their decision, Archana hastened to speak, "Tarun is absolutely right." Everyone looked up in surprise. She hesitated. "I mean.. we started trusting Tarun and his commitment to relationships when Tarun did not elope cos Manav had trusted him. As such, we cannot ask him to back out of his commitments now. It would be like, asking him to become dishonest. He won't be the straightforward, honest guy we had liked."

The Kapoors smiled. "Your daughter is very wise." Mr. Kapoor said and everyone smiled. "Everything will work out in the best way, we just need to trust Mata Rani. Anyways, you said that you want engagement done in a few days, what about Varsha? She is unmarried right?"

Varsha looked up. "Uncle, I won't be marrying for 3-4 years at least. I'm concentrating on my career right now. I'm going to London in less than a week- I've got a job there." Five days- wow! She thought excitedly.

The family gave gloomy looks. The Kapoors however looked suitably impressed. "Very good beta! Good job you are doing. We like such broad-minded and bold girls. Some parents are so overprotective and traditional that they constantly clip the wings of their children, narrowing their opportunities. All the best for your endeavours."

Sulochana looked embarrassed and shook her head. Varsha gave a victorious look to her family members. "Thank you Uncle!" she said.

*********-------------********

5 days to go..

The news of the court case unleashed a new wave in the three families- the Deshmukhs, the Lokhandes and the Karanjkars.

The Deshmukhs were inveritably excited. Damodar and the kids talked about the case for long hours. Manav and Tarun went to the lawyer and confirmed the evidence and the two witnesses against Ajit. They also prepared for their statement and cross questioning.

The only people who were displeased were Savita, Sachin and Shravani.

Post the disaster of his business proposal, Sachin was not even remotedly interested in the court case. When others discussed it, he shook his head, saying that it was a useless venture, and they would end up losing all their savings, without getting any compensation or confession. This irked Damodar, Vedant and Vandita, who were quite optimistic. Consistently Sachin taunted Manav on how he had 'switched roles' and now couldn't be identified. Manav ignored it, thinking that he had just become a little irritated after his proposal tanking, he was depressed and needed time. His Baba, however, didn't like it one bit.

"Is this the way to talk to your Dada?" He would say in a loud voice, which he seldom used, and which scared the kids. "What is this nonsense? Why so much of negative thinking? He is already nervous, now why are you making him more nervous?"

Sachin would shrug his shouders. Once however, even he replied back. "When he doesn't think of me, why should I think of him?" he said defensively.

"Sachin.." began Damodar, warningly. But Manav made him sit down and turned to talk to Sachin. "You're angry with me, I know. But please try and think positively. We need to win this case else we'll all get ruined."

"The sensible solution to save all of us from disaster would be to seal the deal with Ajit, and withdraw the case by accepting payment. But obviously you won't settle for that. You just want your marriage, you don't care about OUR security."

"Sachin.." Manav tried to explain. But Damodar had had enough. "Listen, I know who's been filling these ideas in you head." He gave a stern glance to Savita who looked nervous. "You will keep quiet, and not say a word against this case now."

"Cool!" Sachin said sarcastically. "Now you don't want my opinion also. Okay, but Dada, if you genuinely want things to get better between all of us, withdraw the case and take the payment. Else forget it." He stormed out angrily while Manav looked worried.

Savita went away muttering to herself. She was in a lose lose situation. If they lost the court case, they would land in a financial soup. If they won it, Archana would realize that Ajit had indeed harmed Manav and would maybe even come back home. Then what about Shravani???

Even Shravani was worried. She had assessed the situation in the same way as Savita had. They had met up and discussed about what to do. Initially Shravani had suggested that she would arm twist her father to pay off the loans, but Savita had warded her off. Girishji was a practical and realistic person- not an emotional fool. Nervous though they were, Savita handled Shravani very well, and asked her not to become disheartened- they would wait for the court case to come up before taking the next step to eliminate Archana permanently from the house.

*********--------------*********

4 days to go..

Rasika Aai massaged her head. "Everything is over now." She said to Ajit, who was drinking next to her. "My plans of standing in elections are going up in smoke. Usually it is the jhopadpattis and the chawls where people go to ask for votes, now where shall I go when the court declares that you are guilty of committing arson in those same places." She patted his back. "Great beta, great! You have repaid your Mom in a very nice way," she said.

Ajit was irked. "Do you really need to do this emotional stuff in front of me right now? I'm trying to think, as it is I'm also very worried." He thought deeply before speaking again. "Still there is time. I can negotiate with Manav."

"Do one thing!" Rasika Aai sat up. "Manav wants you to confess, right? Okay. Confess to Archana's family. They will break relations with you, they don't like you much anyways. Manav will take the case back and our images will be saved from getting tarnished. I've invested a lot for getting a ticket in the elections for the Mayor this year."

Ajit looked shocked. "What about Majusha Tai? She has constantly been trying to protect me, her in-laws, and Vinod in particular will get very angry."

"No they won't." Rasika said quietly. "Manjusha was never directly involved. She only helped you in indirect ways by informing you about the goings-on in Archana's life, and how Manav had got involved in her life. You used Manav's situations to malign Archana first (as in Archana's engagement with Varun when photos of Manav and hers were circulated and his love-letter secret was opened up.) and then reverted the same situation to malign Manav. Manjusha is comparatively safe. The only place where she has faulted is that she has fought with all the family member saying that you are innocent. But even that is okay, I'll tell her to cry and shout that you cheated her, and then use her crocodile tears to melt the hearts of the Karanjkars and ask forgiveness. For Punni's sake, they might just forgive her," Rasika said, thinking deeply. "Difficult, but can be done. You confess and make Manav withdraw the case. Elections are important."

Ajit looked at his Aai with rage. "Aai, I never thought that you would be so selfish that you would agree to risking Tai's home just so that you could stand in elections."

Rasika was shocked, but controlled herself. "This is for all of us." She said angrily. "You don't do anything, you've just maligned the family name, now I have to take care of these things. Regarding Manjusha, I never wanted her to marry into that family anyway, she could have married someone so much more richer and better. Such measly in-laws she's dumped on us! But still, if the Karanjkars get angry with Manjusha, I'll go and request the Karanjkars and tell them it was all your fault and se should not be punished."

"Things won't come to that!" he said gruffly, looking straight ahead in the air. "I'm Ajit Lokhande, and I won't let that do takke ka mechanic defeat me. I'm not used to accepting defeat in life in this manner. I'll lose on all counts if I confess the truth to Archana- my vengeance against her will be incomplete as she will go back to a happy marriage with the owner of a big garage and a loving guy Manav. My vengeance against Manav will be incomplete who had insulted me in front of all the garage workers and thrown me out. And what will I get? Nothing! No girl still wants to marry me, thanks to Archana's public revelation of my double crossing Swati and my gold digger nature. I lost my fortune because of that girl, and her husband has just made life worse for me. I cannot bend in front of them."

Rasika Aai sighed. "Ego issues have to be kept aside Ajit. Even I'm not feeling nice that I shall have to eat a humble pie in front of the Karanjkars whom I hate, but what to do.. we have to be practical.. accept defeat in front of them.."

"AJIT LOKHANDE WON'T ACCEPT DEFEAT SO EASILY!!!" Ajit stormed, getting up suddenly and smashing his glass on the floor. He then overturned the table and the bottles of whisky and rum crashed. Rasika got scared. She knew Ajit had a violent temper and an elephant sized ego, but today it was going beyond control. She sat glued to her seat, looking at him nervously. Till date she had encouraged all his dangerous ventures, usually aimed to satisfy his ego, however unrealistic and misplaced from the real world they had been. Things like sending a girl to a brothel, stalking her repeatedly and getting her marriages broken off and arson were so 'television serial type melodramatic', the type viewers watch and say 'This never happens in real life. No one ever goes to such extents.' But here it was happening in real life!!! It seemed odd even to her at times, that no one mattered to Ajit more than himself, not even Manjusha, who did everything to protect him. She was a good sister indeed. And he was the bad big brother, who continuously created upheavals in his sister's life. And he actually had the gall to call HER selfish!! She wanted to point it all out to Ajit, but his immense anger and his fiery red face quietened her.

Ajit calmed down after a little while. He took out another bottle from the bar and started making a drink. "I'll talk to Manav again. This time, not on phone. This time, it will be both of us, face to face. I'll do anything, but I'll get out of this situation unscathed using my money. I'll show everyone!" he said, gritting his teeth.

Rasika Aai stared wide-eyed. She had unleashed a Frankenstein!!

*********-------------********

3 days to go..

"Manav," the lawyer, a tough looking man with a big beard and black spectacles called Mr. Farooq, said, "Most of the cross questioning will be done to you. The reasons? Firstly, cos YOU found the evidence against Ajit (cigarette lighter), he is YOUR relative, the garage was on YOUR name and most importantly, cos you have a bone to pick with him. I understand that he is responsible for the separation between you and your wife?"

Manav nodded, looking down. Tarun felt embarrassed. Both of them had come to Mr. Farooq to discuss the nitty gritties of the case, and get a few minor details cleared up.

Mr. Farooq cleared his throat. "The opposition will inadvertently try and take advantage of this fact. They will try and prove that you are simply trying to trap Ajit and take revenge for breaking your marriage. Also, that you are trying to get this rich man to pay for your garage expenses- killing two birds with a single stone."

Manav thought about it. "The proofs, they are good right?"

Mr. Farooq scratched his beard. "I don't know, I mean, yes they are good, but who knows Ajit might have a hidden ace much more stronger than our proofs? Cigarette lighter and witnesses may be proved false depending on the caliber of the lawyer- he has the ability to convert true into false due to the cross questioning." Manav and Tarun looked worried. Mr. Farooq hastened to speak, "Hey don't get scared both of you! I'm not saying that these are bad proofs, just that- if we can get something stronger, it would be perfect."

Both the guys nodded. Tarun said, "Ajit will surely commit some mistake now that the countdown has begun. We just have to be ready at the right moment."

"Tarun, I will be ready at the right moment."

"What do you..?"

"Tarun, understand. Now you should not get involved much in this matter," Manav said thoughtfully. "After a lot of difficulties the Karanjkars have accepted you as son-in-law. Your involvement against Ajit will annoy them and spoil relations."

Tarun didn't look convinced. "Manav," he said firmly. "My equations with you are not going to change bcos of those people. I made this thing very clear to them."

"It's not about changing equations, Tarun, its about the gravity of the situation. I'm not telling you to leave me in the lurch. I'm just saying, you don't be open and vocal about Ajit as of now. Be in the background. This is in everyone's best interests."

Tarun nodded silently. Manav's thoughts returned to what Mr. Farooq had said. He needed the strongest proof in the world against Ajit to make sure that he would win. From where could he get it?

*******XXXXXXXXXX********

That was part 47 guys, and now I'm waiting for your comments and feedback. Most of this part went into setting the stage for the next few parts. So no ArMan scenes!

Great job, Nikita! That was a clever way to build up to the next few parts. Looking forward to reading the next parts... and what happens after the court case... and pretty much everthing else in your story. 😆

Great going nikki ! 👏I like the maturity in ur approach and characters,u know.find u a v interesting personality actually😆I also like the scenic explanations u r giving,ur writing and prose grace has increased tremendously ovr the pages-mez meaning this as a compliment(coz I go back and read prev parts again,to make sure aint missin anything) - u have lessened tedious parts v well.

Loved it Niki!! 👏 Aj kurkure nahi the but I ate Ruffles sour cream and onion! It was sooo interesting even without ArMan scenes. How I wish this was shown on TV😍 Fazool PR dikha rahe hain ab


Ha ha to Manju, Ajit, and Rasika!! I cant wait for the day Manav wins the case and gets his Archu bak! 😃 😍 I m so excited! I wish I cud see his smile😍

Oh a new character! Btw, guess my dad's name😳


I know whats going to happen! 😃 Manav will meet Ajit. Ajit will spill the truth and Manav will record it😃

Before I ramble on about the update
I Need to tell you something that happened to me yesterday

I was gone for saree shopping with my mom yesterday and the guy who was showing us material Looked Soo exactly like Manav .. i had to nudge my mom to make her Notice 🤣 Every thing was same Exact features of the man himself. That was maybe pure coincidence or what. I was like pinching myslf and was staring with my mouth Open 🤣
my mom kicked me to stop staring It was SOOOOOOOOOOOO Damned funny I say 🤣


UPDATE COMMENT

AWESOMENESS!!!!!AWESOMENESS!!!!!AWESOMENESS!!!!!
Well I understand what Varsha's mum is going through I had to go for an Interrnship project to London my mom behaved exactly the same way : )
Mother's are like that is it not???

Sachin and Savita aai Another Namoona mother son Jodi As per my thinking I feel Sachin is so Gullible *lekha Shakes head vigorously*

it's getting way too interesting Nikki


Tarun and Manav Justify true Friendship Dost ho toh aisa
Oh Boy Ajit is at his Usual again :( Sigh What else will happen if he has a viscious mother Like Rasika Aai and scheming sister Like You Know Who
aise log toh aasani se Buri Sangat me bigar jaate hai Uppar se Ajit's Elephant Size Ego as you said is apt for a demon character like him

All in all a gr8 chapter Nikki 🤗
lekha