Hi Everyone,
I decided to write something after a very long time and first attempt on IshRa. Hope I have done justice to their characters and forgive me for any errors.
Raman's head was cluttered with so much of mess, he felt like his entire life was cursed with never ending problems. He was once again wrong in his judgment, his nearly ruined Mihir's life by forcing him into a relationship with Trisha because of his self-imposed perception about women. He just dropped a drunken Mihir home who actually blurted out the bitter truth about Raman's mistake. Raman's feet froze at the door step in shock; he couldn't believe his ears as he heard his mum and Simmi hurling accusation on Ishita. Slowly he felt his blood rising in anger and eroding the shock on his face. He was furious, annoyed and disgusted as his witnessed the new drama in his house. Ishita didn't utter a single word in her defense; only her tears were pleading her innocence. Unable to tolerate it any longer, he barged into the house.
Ishita turned in hope and the moment she saw Raman, her hope faded away. She quietly wiped off her tears; she was hoping Mr Bhalla would step in to her rescue. From the day she stepped into the Bhalla house, he was the only soul besides Ruhi who understood her and stood by her through thick and thin. "Yeh saap kya hora hai?" he questioned and anger in his tone was inevitable. Both Simmi and Toshiji knew the heights of his anger through his tone and they were scrambling for the right words that will not provoke him further. "Ma, Simmi, What the hell is going on here?" he demanded again. His fist was clutched in anger as he saw Ishita standing there emotionless. "Woh bhai, off late Ishita Bhabi has been confronting Parmeetji with false accusation and Parmeetji has been antagonized because of this. Today she tried to change the whole story against Parmeetji when we confronted her" Simmi stammered.
"Simmi, don't you forget that you are in this house today because of Ishita. At least have some sense to investigate before you start flinging accusation against anyone" Raman snapped at her. "Bhai, Parmeetji is my husband. I can't doubt... "Don't forget that Ishita mera biwi hai.Agar tumkho tumara pathi mein barosha hai, mujko mera biwi mein pura barosha hai!. I don't want anyone to bring up this issue again in this house and that is final!" Raman cut off Simmi and grabbed Ishita's arms into their room and slammed the door. Ishita neither argued nor protested against Raman as he pulled her into their room, she was almost emotionless. Raman didn't know how to talk to Ishita as he saw her sitting on her sofa cum bed and starring at the wall blankly, seeing her in this state pierced his heart with guilt. He was to be blamed, he never felt anything whenever he taunted her but somehow hearing it from a third person didn't seem right even if it was from his own family. But again, how would he expect his family to respect her when he failed to uphold her respect in front of his family himself. For all that she has endured, she deserved the highest regard in his family but it has never been the case. Her merits evaporated the moment her flaws surface.
As much as it hurts his ego to admit but Ishita has made Raman see beyond his self-imposed perception of life. He finally realized that not all women are like Shagun and not everyone with bitterness in life sulks about it. If Raman had a bad past, so did Ishita but she never lets her past haunt and ruin her current. Subbu left her when he found about her infertility but that didn't make her hate love. She still believed in love, which was the reason why she stood adamant against Mihir-Trisha relationship because she knew the love between Mihir-Mihika was genuine while love ceased to exist for Raman the day when Shagun left him. He failed to see it was not love to be blamed but the person who didn't value it. She still tolerates Subbu's mom's taunts, yet she doesn't let it affect people around her. No matter how much insults and pain he and people associated with him gives her, her love for Ruhi never changed and diverged her from her responsibility of being a mother, daughter-in-law, sister-in-law and wife. In contrast, Shagun-Ashok's betrayal changed him to cold and ruthless. He built his own fortress with anger and hatred; he buried deep all his good qualities that he once uphold and treasured in life so that it could never been awaken in him. He believed that his unconditional love and gullibility was his vulnerability which led him to his biggest betrayal in life. He never thought that he could ever overcome it but somehow his family gave him the strength to move on. He finally rose again as the ruthless, heartless Raman Kumar Bhalla whose only goal in life was his vengeance towards Ashok-Shagun. He strived hard in reaching the heights that even his nemeses could never imagine in such a short span of time. He concluded that money was everything in life; no one appreciated human values in life till he saw Ishita. Maybe his attitude towards Ishita was always callous because she reminded him of the old naive Raman Bhalla. He thought he would never go back to the old Raman but he slowly saw Ruhi and Ishita bringing him back to towards the path again. Somehow that journey gave him the contentment that none of victory against Ashok gave him. His sleepless nights are over and so was his obsession over his ex-wife and her betrayal. He has finally begun to move on in life and Ruhi was his bliss in life not a reminder of his bitter past.
Raman is ever indebted to Ishita for giving him Ruhi, making him realize his mistakes of neglecting Ruhi, nurturing the father-daughter bond, overcoming his obsession of Shagun-Ashok, helping Simmi, precluding him from the fraud land deal and now from ruining lives of Mihir-Mihika-Trisha. He was trying to save Mihir from the misery he once went through in the name of marriage but today he just realized that he was about to push him into a deeper dungeon. He knew the depth of Mihir's loyalty towards him but today he realized the depth of Mihir's love for Mihika. He was no different from Ashok who once used his loyalty to get close Shagun and today he nearly took advantage of Mihir's loyalty to prove his false perception that all women were gold diggers. A loud crashing sound followed by a soft cry broke his train of thoughts only to see a broken piece of glass pricking Ishita as she tries to clean the broken pieces on the floor.
Raman rushed to her side, taking her hand in his and trying to nurse it. "It's ok Raman, just a small cut. I will manage it" she said weakly as she tried to free her hand from his grip. "You call this small cut?" he tightened his grip and roared in anger. The moment his eyes met hers, he understood the depth of her answer. The cut was indeed small compare to what she just endured earlier. "Raman I will manage, the glass slipped from my hand. I will clean the mess I created" she replied. He understood that her reply was not only implying on the broken glass pieces but also her broken self but he was not ready to take NO as an answer. "No! I'm not that blind to see how small the cut is. Tum chup chap beto, let me handle it." he replied her sternly and slowly guided her away from the sofa to the bed. Surprisingly she didn't argue, as he got the first aid box. "It's gonna hurt a bit, the glass has gone quite deep so just bear with the pain. I will be try to as gentle as I can" he told her and she just nodded faintly.
Ishita couldn't believe her eyes when she saw the tenderness in him as he tended to her wound. It was as if he could feel her pain. She never understood Raman Kumar Bhalla no matter how much she tried. He can so sweet and nice and within a split second he can transform into extremely harsh and ruthless, she didn't know which his true avatar was. She saw his body flinched when she winced in pain. Ruhi wasn't around for couple of days so there was no need for him to put up the caring husband role. What surprised her even more was his reaction towards Simmi. She couldn't understand whether he was angry for the tamasha in the house or was he really trying to defend her. This time she was scared to let her heart believe that Raman actually cared for her. She was tired was getting hurt, at times she just wish she would grow numb that nothing else will matter to her besides Ruhi and her happiness. Ishita was so engrossed in her thoughts that she didn't realize that he was done with bandaging her wound until he spoke "You rest here while I clear the glasses"
There were countless questions that he needed answer from Ishita, but he didn't know how to initiate the conversation. His anger always gave him upper hand with Ishita but today he couldn't bring himself to talk to her without bruising his ego. Finally he took a deep breath and said " Aaj Jhansi Ki Rani moun vrath raka kya? There was no response so he turned his back to see her and what he got was a sarcastic look from Ishita clearly shouting "I'm not in the mood for your crappy nok-jhok Ravan Kumar!" but he wasn't ready to give up. "I bandaged your hand Ishita, not your mouth" he pushed her further.
"Look Raman, I'm just not in the mood to be your punching bag today. I will tolerate your all your lecture another day but not today. Mujhe akela chodo, I need to think a way to clear the clutters in my mind" she pleaded to him. Ishita gave him the opening that he needed, "Tell me what is bothering you, maybe I can help" he told her. Ishita blinked a few times in surprise, she was not sure whether she heard him right. "Did I hear it right, you want to help me?" she quizzed him with surprise. "Why? Did you take any oath that you will always be the one helping me or just because I call you Jhansi ki Rani it doesn't mean you need to handle everything on your own" he chided her. Ishita was really confused and she isn't in the right state of mind to decode his puzzling questions so she gave him a blank and confused look. Raman pulled a chair and sat next to the bed where Ishita is sitting. He scrambled his mind for the right words. "Ishita, I know that we got married for the just sake of Ruhi without any other expectation from this relationship. I guess the in midst of desperation to win Ruhi custody, we overlooked the other consequences that comes together with the marriage. As much as I don't want you to interfere in my personal matters and decision, you expect the same from me as well but the fact is that both of us can never adhere to it.
Your nature doesn't stop you from stepping in whenever I or my family is in need and it applies to me as well. I have always jumped the wagon and insulted you all the time whenever you tried to help. It was my fault and I agree things would have been smoother if I just had the patience to listen rather than jumping into conclusion. I can't undo the damages in the past but I will try to change it the future. I don't know what transpired today but I have been noticing the changes in your behavior the past week. I know that it is definitely not due to your work stress or Mihika as you claim because you are really not good at hiding things Ishita. Your behavior effects Ruhi and it affects me as well. We never had a good start in the relationship but that doesn't mean we can never change it. Tell me what is bothering you and we will try to sort things out." Raman finally expressed what was in his mind with great difficulty and looked up to study her expression.
Raman was shocked when he saw Ishita's eyes were glazed in tears, he only wanted to help but he ended up screwing up again. "Look Ishita, I'm sorry for bringing this up now. If you don't want to talk about it then it is alright." he tried to explain when he saw Ishita blinking away her tears. He presumed that she didn't want to talk it, so he was about to leave and give her privacy she needed when she stopped him. "Raman, it is just that I don't understand you no matter how much I tried. It felt as if you read my mind and hearing all that from your mouth just got me a bit emotional. That's all" she wiped off her tears as he sat down again. As much as she wanted to tear the shades of Parmeet in front of Raman, she wasn't ready to face his wrath if he perceives her wrongly. The question whether he will trust her instead of Parmeet who has been part of the family much longer before her was haunting her. "Raman, I can't express how much it means to me for hearing those words from you. It is not that I don't want to share my problems with you but it is just too delicate. I will... " she stammered for the right words.
"Is it about Parmeet?" he nailed her with the ultimate question. Ishita was dumbstruck and she didn't know to react to his question but her expression gave Raman the answer he needed yet he wanted to hear it from her. She knew she was cornered and the determination in his eyes told her that he won't back off until he gets what he wanted. Ishita gulped for fresh air and gained some confidence. She finally told him everything, about her discomfort towards Parmeet's advances, how she saw him harassing Sarika near her clinic which lead her interrogation of Sarika and revelation of Parmeet's true colors. Raman felt a surge of anger rising in him; he could literally rip Parmeet apart if only he was in front of him at the moment. It took him awhile to calm himself before he does something really harsh to Parmeet. "Ishita, how could you not tell me that he was trying to take advantage of you? What if anything happened to you? Ruhi ko kya hota hai, mujhe kya hota hai" he questioned her. Ishita could sense the tension and possessiveness in his voice but she couldn't control her emotions as well. "Raman, what did you expect me to do? Run into your arms and cry? We could never have a normal discussion without raising our voice let alone discuss such a sensitive issue. I just didn't know how. I mean I can't just barge in and tell you that Parmeet is misbehaving with me. I don't even know whether anyone in this house would even trust me, let alone you." Ishita cried. Ishita reply hit Raman really hard, but he could only silently acknowledge everything that she has said.
"I have been observing Parmeet's behavior which was very devious in office. So I hired someone to do a background check and legitimacy of the accusation slapped on him in Dubai. I just got the report that proved my doubt today but what I didn't know that the lady was actually your receptionist Sarika. Never in my wildest imagination, had I thought that he had the nerves to misbehave and take advantage of you. Ishita, I would have trusted you even if I didn't have report on Parmeet from Dubai. My past experience has taught me not to trust anyone blindly, but it didn't mean I never trusted anyone. I just needed time, and when I trust someone I don't go around pledging my trust publicly. It took me longer to realize it but there is no question about my trust on you." Raman clenched his fist as he spoke. "Raman, I'm sorry but I didn't mean to question your trust but I just couldn't gauge how everyone will react to this. I actually confronted Parmeetji regarding Sarika just to make sure I was not jumping into conclusion as this involves Simmi Di. That triggered him to turn the tables against me. But Raman, we can't take any impulsive decision, he is damath of the house. We should think thoroughly before we decide to confront anyone" Ishita tried to rationalize Raman's anger. "Ok, we will decide how to handle this matter soon. I just need you to promise me that you would immediately alert me if he even tries to step on your shadow. I will show him what will happen when someone messes with Ishita Raman Kumar Bhalla!" he told Ishita and she happily agreed. "Done deal Ravan Kumar oops I mean Raman" she giggled.
Raman felt really light when he saw the genuine smile on Ishita's face. "Ishita, just remember that from today onwards, don't carry the entire burden on your head and try to be Mother India. We may have difference in opinion but we will try to work out things. Like your advice to Ruhi, sharing is caring and it applies not only to your happiness but also to your problems." he reminded her. "The same goes to you Raman" she responded. Finally the smile on their faces marked a new beginning in their life, the two individual who were bonded in a marriage under circumstances has finally taken their first step in their relationship.
Please feel free to comment and share your thoughts/criticism... 😊
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