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Reliving IPK ...
Episode 216
Pathar dil
He had walked into his room in a foul mood to begin with. This Dabba service debacle has him seething. Not only had she point blank refused to back down, it now seems she is using his room as her personal office.
There are papers and recipe books strewn all over the bed and the floor. His room ... Where he has lived for years with a quiet, ordered, uncluttered austerity, now seems to be overrun with her quirkily paraphernalia every corner he turns ... Her infantile crush's centerfold poster mocks him from his walls. And now, apparently, his room is also is being treated as some juvenile dorm room just before a mid term exam.
What the hell is this, he gashes through his teeth. What's this mess ? Yeh room saaf karo ... Now ... He roars, headmaster like, his tone harboring no room for argument.
Maybe if she had not mimed her momentary unavailability, which she did rather apologetically ... She was busy on the phone, she had pointed to her brand spanking new hands free device glued to her ear, much in his style ... Maybe he would not have lost it ... But the mood he was in, any little thing would have set him off.
He rips the hands free from her ear and issues an ultimatum. Clean the room or else lose this. Nahin karangay, she too digs her heels in stubbornly.
It is as if they are sitting on a tinder keg that will ignite any moment. The anger, the tension has been simmering for days. The glowing embers lie in wait; they flare destructively in an instant. Both are caught in this raging inferno ... Unable to let go ... Unable to stay together ... Nafrat and mohobbat reside side by side .
His arm is stretched high, holding her hands free out of reach, they tussle. For a brief tragic moment their eyes lock ... A dull regret mars their vision ... A blunt pain throbs though their hearts. They both see all that has slipped away from them ... A love ... A life ... The incalculable loss ... A deeply, hopeless lament for a life that could have been ... That had been within their grasp ...
Di ! She hollers, distracting him, winning this round.
His Di's loving outburst at Khushi's completely casual remark bares the festering wound. The memory of her betrayal, her unfaithful, deceitful callousness mock him. How can she sit here and talk to Laxmi about Di kitni acchi hai. Yes Di acchi hai, and yet you feel no qualms about cheating on her.
Meri Di hai voh, mein kuch honay nahin dooga, chahay tum kuch bhi kar lo, he warns, leaning in. She has had enough of his cryptic nonsense. If he is going to accuse her, she needs to know what it is that she has done.
Kya pata hai aapko, she agitates, frustrated beyond reason, unable to understand what he is so angry about. Aawaz neechi karo, he grinds through gritted teeth. Nahin karagay ! Her chin lifted, she defies him. Do you worst, she is not going to listen to him.
The battle escalates ... Like a red hot flare, it ignites instantaneously, burning with an intense fiery heat threatening to reduce everything to ashes. An violent, forceful battle of words that combusts out of control in a matter of minutes ...
Her heart breaks looking at him. How can he be the same man ... The man she fell in love with. Vishwas nahin hota, she looks at him, her eyes welling with pain.
He seems to be fighting a losing battle ... A battle completely beyond his control. He is angry at her yet no matter how hard he tries, he cannot control what her tears do to him. They hurt him more than anything ... More than even the pain caused by her deception.
Months later, he will admit to this, freely. Har bar, he will confess, holding her in his arms.
Tum mujeh inn say kamzor nahin kar sakti, he wills fiercely, as though obstinately trying to persuade himself. Because they make him weak ... Because they make him waver in his resolve to hate her, he fights hard, he fights dirty. Snarling, hurling, his words saber sharp, he attacks.
She deserves her tears ... Every one of them. For her lying cheating heart, she deserves to hurt even more than she hurts now ... The destructive path she has chosen can only lead to more tears.
The more he says, the more her eyes flood, the more he hurts, the more he lashes ... He is caught in a inescapable cesspool ... Unable to extract himself, he drags her in.
Her duppatas that have always fluttered joyously around them lie dead, completely inanimate ... Never have they ever been so still, so lifeless, as though they too are done ... Spiritlessly drained of magic like it never existed.
Nahin, she states, forcefully as he was leaving. Tears spilling down her cheeks in an unstoppable stream, she swears, Aaj kay baad, hum inhay aap par zaiya nahin karagay. She is not going to waste even a single tear on a heartless, pathar dil insan like him.
Enough ! He yells, pinning her to the door. Pathar dil ! He loses control completely. How can she accuse him being a Pathar dil when it is his heart that she has ripped apart. He truly wishes he was a Pathar Dil, at least then he would not feel so much.
Visibly stunned at the frightening levels of aggression that has leapt from within him, he let's go of her arms, sliding the door shut heavily. She cries out in pain, as her hand gets caught in the sliding door.
Khushi, he gasps, turning around to see her hurt. She does not let him near her. Her hand turning an ugly shade of purple, she lashes at him passively. She deserves this, does she not ? Hum issi kay liyak hai. Tears in her eyes, she skewers him with his own words.
Di intervenes worriedly. App theek hai Khushiji, she asks, knowing her brother will not say anything. But even Khushi is tight lipped. Saab theek hai, she is assured. Not convinced, Di worriedly seeks to consult Nani. Yes ... Nani will know exactly how to fix this.
Nani has an excellent plan. What Chottay and Khushi need is time away from home to resolve whatever it is that is troubling them. A honeymoon in paradise ... If that doesn't iron out the newlywed kinks, then she not sure what will.
Humay koi shoak nahin hai honeymoon pay janay ka, she announces belligerently, handing him the tickets to Bali that Nani had given her. She watches in stunned disillusionment as another tiny hope to salvage their relationship is shredded to bits. His face deadpan, his wooden eyes glued to her face, he tears the honeymoon tickets into multiple small bits. Tumhay kay laga, mujeh hai ? He scoffs softly, trashing their last hope.
Dr Aarambhi
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