"What???" He stood up from his chair as Simmi cried to him "Haan Bhai! Mujhe maaf kardo! Jaane anjaane me, Romi ki iss halat ki zimmedaar me hu, aur shayad aapki bhi Ghunegaar banjati agar uss Ishita ne Abhimanyu ke saath milke aapki position ko bachaya nahi hota toh! Uss Ashok ne to puri planning kar rakhi thi aapko badnaam karne ki!"
He stood there in silence as a mixed emotions of anger,guilt,happiness and disgust played on his face.
As he let Simi's words sink in his mind, the first thing that he realised was that Ishita was not cheating him. All this while she was meeting Abhimanyu behind his back just to save his reputation and his position of Asia Business Head!
He looked at Simi who joined her hands in front of him pleading him to forgive her. As much as he was angry at her for again believing in Param's words and resorting to such things, today, he was in no mood to scold her, as she had brought him back to life by telling the truth about Ishita.
He patted on her shoulder and said in a soft but firm tone "Simi, What you've done is not a small thing for me to forgive you. I've told you, infact, warned you million times to stay away from Param, but you chose to be blinded by his so-called Love for you. Anyways, I'm glad atleast now you're getting to know his true colors and I hope soon you realise who's with you and who's pretending to be with you."
Simi seems to be lost in thoughts wondering if really Param is betraying her and playing with her emotions. Raman wipes her tears as she comes back to her senses when he says "Chal, ab rona dhona bandh kar. Shukar hai ki kuch galat nahi hua. Bhale hi ghar jal gaya ho, par hum sab saath hai..." He thinks about Ishita and tells Simi "ab hume koi alag nahi kar sakta." He tells Simi "Tum ghar jao abhi. Aur Romi ka khayal rakhna." Simi nods and leaves.
As she leaves, Raman remembers his last night's violent behavior with Ishita and his speech in the party. He sinks to his chair as tears escape his eyes.
How could I do this to her? Meri Ishita...Meri Jhansi ki Rani...Usspe shaq kiya maine? Itna bura behave kiya uske saath. Kitna hurt hui hogi wo.
He kept his hand on forhead as he supported his elbow on the table and let his tears of pain flow.
He closed his eyes as the scenes flashed in front of him of Ishita hugging Abhimanyu telling him "I Love you Mani" and Abhimanyu telling her to leave Raman and marry him.
Thinking of it, Raman again wonders- Par jo maine dekha tha, wo kya tha? Mere aankhon ke saamne usne Mani ko hug kiya aur pyaar... his words trailed off as freshly formed tears rolled down.
He wipes his tears when he sees 2 Raman's infront of him one representing his heart and other, his mind.
Raman-1, who's representing Raman's mind, laughs at him and says "Itni confusion kyun hai tumhe? After all that you saw, you still want to make a fool of yourself and believe Ishita? 6yrs pehle jo Shagun ne tumhare saath kiya, wo bhool gaye itni jaldi?"
Raman looks on as Raman-2, representing his heart speaks "Don't listen to Raman-1! Har aurat Shagun nahi hoti! How can you forget what all Ishita did for you, your daughter-Ruhi & your family? How can you not know that she'll never betray your trust?"
Raman lowers his gaze in guilt as Raman-1 speaks "Don't be fooled Raman! Iss baar agar firse koi tumhe dhoka deke tumhe barbaad karke chalijaye, kya tum uss dard se ubhar paoge? Once you fooled yourself believing Shagun. Now you wanna repeat the same mistake?"
Raman replies to Raman-1 "I don't know! Jo maine dekha wo...par Ishita aisi nahi hai...Fir wo jo dekha..."
Raman-2 says "Raman, kabhi kabhi aankhon dekhi aur kaano suni baatein bhi galat ho sakti hai. Ask your heart. Do you think Ishita will have an affair with someone?"
Raman looks on as the flashes of their recent "kuch kuch hota hai moment" rain dance played infront of his eyes. He remembers how they both enjoyed it and felt the love for each other in their hearts.
Coming out of his thoughts Raman asked Raman-2 "Par, agar uska dil saaf hai to why can't she tell me the truth? Itni akad kis baat ki use? Can't she know how much I'm in pain? Didn't I tell her I don't like her doing Mani-Jhaap? Didn't I let her know that I'm hurt?"
Raman-2 smiles and asks in a soft tone "Ask yourself Raman! Don't you know your Jhansi ki rani? Agar tum usse sachcha pyar karte ho, to ye sawal nahi karte. True love doesn't have if's and but's Raman!
As Raman-1 & Raman-2 continued to fight with each other, Raman couldn't bear it anymore and banged his fist on the table yelling "Bas karo!".
As he looked around, he noticed that both the Raman's have disappeared. Raman takes a deep breath as a hurt face of Ishita's flashes in front of him.
Bas Bahut hua! I've got my answers that I needed! Meri Ishita bewafa nahi hai! Wo mujhe kabhi dhoka nahi de sakti! Ab chahe koi kuch bhi kahe ya kare, I know Ishita ki tum sachchi ho!. I promise you Ishita, jitna dard maine tumhe diya hai, usse badhkar tujhe mohabbat karunga. Humare beech sab kuch theek kardunga. I promise. -He decided.
He rushes to home calling out Ishita but finds her nowhere. He thinks to call her but then decides against it thinking itna rudely maine usse behave kiya, phone karunga to bhi nahi uthayegi! Clinic hi chala jaata hu.
As he goes to clinic, the scene in front of him again causes his anger to resurface. He sees Abhimanyu holding Ishita's hand as Abhimanyu tries to console a crying Ishita "Ishu! Tum samajhne ki koshish karo. Tumhe ye kadam lena hoga! Think about future! You deserve love Ishu!"
Raman's eyes swell up once again with tears as he hears Ishita tell "I know Mani! But...it's...it's not that easy. You know that. Mani tum bahut ache ho. I'm lucky to have you by my side. But give me some time. Sahi waqt aane par main khud Raman ko bata dungi. Mujhse bhi ab ye sab bardaasht nahi hota ab."
Raman felt as if his knees would give away any moment and he might collapse to the ground! He traces his steps backwards once again, misunderstanding their conversation.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Abhimanyu is actually explaining Ishita that Raman loves her and he is misunderstanding their friendship as an affair and that's why he is hurting her and himself in the fear that Ishita may leave him like Shagun.
He tells Ishita that he knows even she loves Raman a lot then why can't they both talk it out and confess to each other. She is still afraid of telling her feelings to Raman and so Abhimanyu tells her "Ishu! Tum samajhne ki koshish karo. Tumhe ye kadam lena hoga! Think about future! You deserve love Ishu!"
Ishita understands Raman's behaviour but she is still not ready to confess her love to Raman especially after all the bitterness between them since past few days and his violent behavious last night. Hence she tells Mani "I know Mani! But...it's...it's not that easy. You know that. Mani tum bahut ache ho. I'm lucky to have you by my side. But give me some time. Sahi waqt aane par main khud Raman ko bata dungi. Mujhse bhi ab ye sab bardaasht nahi hota ab."
Mani tells her "Ishu, rishton me ego kabhi beech me nahi aani chahiye. Sometimes, it doesn't matter who's right and who's wrong. All it matters is to keep your ego aside and take first step towards saving the relation especially when you know that person matters you the most in this world."
Ishita promises Abhimanyu that she'll think about it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
But after taking few steps back, he wipes his tears and tells himself - No, no, no! Ye aankhein dhoka khaa sakti hai, lekin mera dil nahi! Meri Jhansi ki Rani mujhe dhoka nahi desakti!
He thinks to confront her right away and clear everything as he again walks towards her cabin and is almost about to enter when he decides against it and thinks- Iss waqt baat karna sahi nahi hoga. Aur seedha sorry bolunga to bhi nahi manegi, ulta zindagi bhar sunayegi. Aur galti meri hai to uski bhi hai!
Kisne bola tha use mujhse sab chipake karne ko! Insaan hu Bhagwan nahi ki mujhse koi galti nahi ho sakti.
He walks back towards his car and as he sits in the driving seat, he taps his fingers on the steering wheel and wonders Ishita, achanak se ye sab kya hogaya! Ek mahine pehle sab kuch theek tha. Jab se Ye Mani aaya hai, sab galat ho raha hai. Lekin galti chahe kisiki bhi ho, main humare rishte ko yun khatam nahi hone dunga.
He decides to apologise her when she comes back home in the evening.
Raman picks up Ruhi from school on the way and drives towards home when Ruhi notices her papa sad.
She asks "Papa, kya hua? Aap itne silent kyun ho?"
Raman forces a smile and says "Kuch nahi beta..." but Ruhi was not convinced "Papa, main ab badi hogayi hu. Sab samajhti hu. Aur main to aapki bestfriend hu na. Aap mujhse kuch bhi share kar sakte ho." She grinned.
The car came to a hault as they reached the home. Raman pulled her cheeks and said "Meri dadiamma! Haan tu hi to meri bestfriend hai." ...his smile faded as he uttered "wo...tumhari Ishima..." and it was enough for little Ruhi to guess that again her parents have fought one more time!
She hit her forhead with her palm asking him "Offo! Firse? Ab kya hogaya?"
He smiled at her as he parked the car and held her out in his arms. Once they reached their room upstairs, he put away her bag and took out her shoes, making her sit on the bed as he sat next to her and was thinking about Ishita.
He didn't even have the courage to took into Ruhi's eyes and say how wrong her papa is! Without looking at her, he said "Beta, iss baar papa ne aapki Ishima se bahut rudely behave kiya. Ab Ishima katti hai papa se! Aapke papa bahut bure hain!"
Ruhi hopped on his lap, encircling her tiny arms around his neck and kissed on his cheek. Surprized at her gesture, he looked at her and asked "Ru? mujhe laga aap bhi mujhse naraaz hojaogi?"
Ruhi smiled and said "No papa! I know ki mere papa Ishima se bahut Love karte hai jitna aap mujhse karte hai. Aur Ishima bhi aapse bahut love karti hai. Aap pyaar se sorry bologe na to wo bhi forgive kardengi aapko. Meri Ishima bahut sweet hai." She exclaimed with a twinkle in her eyes.
He gazed at his little angel with proudness wondering how his 6yr old daughter knew her parents so well. She's truly an angel sent by the Gods to unite Ishita & Raman.
He kissed her and said thanks for trusting her father. She giggled and went downstairs as her dadi calls her to give snacks.
In the evening, Ishita returns home to find Raman playing with Ruhi. Ishita pretends to ignore the presence of Raman as Ruhi runs into her arms and pulls her towards the sofa and makes her sit next to Raman.
As Ishita sits reluctantly, Ruhi tells them "Ishima! Papa! Humare school me annual day hai day after tomorrow. And main ek play bhi kar rahi hu Shravu ke saath. Sabke parents ko invite kiya hai." She takes out the invitation card from her school bag and gives to them asking "aap aaoge na dono...mera play dekhne? Pls pls Ishima, papa "
Ishita and Raman exchange glances at each other wondering if the other wants to come or not. They look at Ruhi who's awaiting for their reply. Ishita was about to say something but Raman presses her hand and says "Haan haan Ruhi! Aakhir meri beti...(looks at Ishita)...er...I mean humari beti ka play hai. Hum zaroor aayenge."
Ishita looks at him suspiciously on his sudden sweet behavior as Ruhi jumps in joy clapping her hands.
Ishita reads the invitation card where the dress code is mentioned. Ladies to come in red gowns and for men its black suit.
Seeing worry lines on Ishita's forehead, Raman wonders what's bothering her now. She tells Ruhi "Ru!ek problem hai! Yahan likha hai red pehenna hai function me. But mere paas ek hi red gown thi wo to us ghar ke saath jal gayi!"
Ruhi tells "To kya hogaya! Papa aapko shopping pe le jayenge aur nayi dress dilwadenge."
Ishita is not pleased about going for shopping with Raman. She says "Ruhiii!" But Ruhi was not listening and she ordered "Chalo papa, chalo Ishima,hum aaj hi jayenge shopping karne. Bahut maza ayega. Chalon a jaldi!"
Raman scratches his forhead with his index finger muttering to himself "Loh! Ab ye karela Lal mirch ke chilke me ghusegi!"
Ishita unable to hear him asked "Huh? Kuch kaha aapne?" with suspicious look.
He smiled and said "Areh nahi! Main to ye keh raha tha ki Ruhi ne sahi to kaha. Chalte hai shopping pe."
Ishita was not able to digest his sudden sweet behavior.
She mumbled in low voice enough for Raman to hear "Ajeeb hai! Kab Ravan kumar se Ram kumar banjate hai pata hi nahi chalta! Sorry to bola nahi, upar se aise behave kar rahe hai jaise kuch hua hi nahi!" She walked off telling Ruhi "Acha theek hai Ru! Main abhi change karke aati hu. Fir chalte hai. Theek hai?"
Ruhi nods in agreement. Raman also excuses himself and follows Ishita thinking to apologise her.
As he enters their room, he finds her cursing about him to God in tamil.
He shakes his head and mutters to himself - Ye Jhansi ki rani nahi sudhregi. Kos bhi rahi hai to tamil me! Ab kya main tamil dictionary saath leke chlalun din bhar ye jaan ne ke liye ki ye madrasan kya chugli kar rahi hai bhagwan se mere bare me!"
He notices the bracelet that she gifted him in her hand and hits his forhead with his palm "Oh shit! Raman! Uska gift tune phir phenk diya na! Tu bas reasons de jansi ki rani ko talwar nikalne ki! "
She sees him muttering to himself something standing at the door and asks angrily "Kya badbada rahe ho? Ab kya naye bahane dhoond rahe ho mujhe hurt karne ke?"
He takes baby steps towards her fidgeting his fingers as he fumbles "Wo...main...I mean... ss...ssorr..." before he could complete his sentence, she interrupts him and says "The great CEO...oops ab to Asia business head ho... Aap kabse itne hichkichane lag gaye? Aur kya bolna chahte hai? Wait, let me help you, you want to say sorry right?
Before he could even open his mouth to reply, she hands the broken bracelet in his palm and says "You know what! Mujhe aapse kuch nahi chahiye! Na aapka sorry, na aapka thanks... na aapka pya..." she bites her tongue to stop before she uttered the whole word.
He tries to apologise and clear everything,but she doesn't let him speak. He looks at the broken bracelet dejectedly and then tells her "Maanta hu galti ki hai maine. But main sab theek kardunga Ishita. Aur ye bracelet..."
His words again remain incomplete as she looks into his eyes with hurt and asks "Kya theek karoge Raman? Aapko kya lagta hai, har baar aap galti karoge, aur fir aake sorry bologe to sab theek hojayega? Kya wo saara dard jo aapne mujhe diya hai wo sab mit jayega?"
She looks at the broken bracelet in his hand and says "Ye toota hua bracelet toh firse judjayega Raman. Par toote hue dil ko jodna itna asaan nahi! Aur jud bhi jaye to daraarein humesha ke liye rehjayengi!"
She leaves the room with her saree to change leaving behind a hurt Raman alone. He remembers her words when he faked an accident to meet her in a garden and how she was almost kidnapped by some local goons. Her words echoed in his ears when she said without trust, there's no relation and hence there can't be any relation between them.
Ishita, jaanta hu ki maine tumhara dil dukhaya hai. Ab se nahi, balki humesha se... par ab aur nahi. Main tumse mohabbat karta hu...beinteha mohabbat.
Main ye nahi jaanta ki tum mujhse kitna pyaar karti ho, ya karti bhi ho ya nahi, par main apni taraf se puri koshish karunga iss rishte ko nibhaane ki... Tere pyaar me har gham jhel lunga, tere diye har aansu ko pee jaunga... Tere diye har dard ko seene se laga lunga Ishita... Bas tum ek aakhri mauka dedo humare rishte ko. Ab ye rishta sirf Ruhi ke liye nahi, sirf ek doosre ke liye banega.
Seher Hone Ko Hai
Health and Fitness
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