SS--Kismat Connection- last part pg 4--08/02

Part I

Ridhima, stared down at the appointment letter she just received from Rathore's' the esteemed group of Hotels in Mumbai, as her campus placement, she being ther brightest students of the institute...

Ridhi (as she called by her loved ones) is yet to break this news to her parents...she sighed to herself, all this was bound to happen...She is destined to go there, She is destined to meet Him, else why out of all placement interviews its only from Rathore's she received her appointment letter...else why after 15 long years, when she had tried to forget everything she still remembers everything, why life created this opportunity to two of them to meet again...

She will have to speak to her parents, though somewhere she can guess their reactions , for sure they will be shocked, might be upset too...Rathore family was always an uncomfortable subject for her parents, they avoided discussing anything related to them & specially if its related to person named Devraaj Rathore. A name that changed their lives, & specifically Her life more than anyone else...

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There was a pin drop silence after dinner, as soon as Ridhi announced about her appointment at Rathore group of hotels, her little sister jumped with joy, & congratulated her, but all blood drained from Aniket and Simran's (Ridhi's parents) face...they never thought after all these years, the name Rathore's wud be back in their life, somewhere they believed their little Ridhima forgot about what happened 15years back, afterall Ridhi was just a 9year old kid when old lady, their next door neighbour "Shakuntala Rathore" passed away, not before changing life of little Ridhi, whom she use to adore & even Ridhi loved her like her own Dadi, inspite of age difference these two cud spend hours together...After Dadi's death Ridhi seldom made references of her...or Rathore Family... never ever uttered Dev's name... Both silently prayed, Ridhi doesn't remember anything about HIM...

Aniket was apprehensive to stop her from leaving as he didn't have heart to keep Ridhi away from pursuing her career...but as a father he wants to keep away his daughter away from Rathore's.

Aniket (cleared his voice)"Tum Jana chahti ho? (Ridhi nodded in yes) fine, you can go, par jaane se pehle Mrs. Sharma apne bete Shekhar se tumhe milana chahti thi, tum unhe bahut pasand bhi ho... I know its too early, padhai abhi khatam hui hai par jaane se pehle baat ho jaye toh achha rahega Na!! You two get to know each other 2-3 saal mein shaadi kar lena...courtship bhi ho jayega!! Tumhari Mom Mrs. Sharma se baat karlengi...we will find a convenient time to meet...

Ridhi"Uski zarut nahi hai Dad, aap Aunty ko mana kar sakte, yeh shadi nahi ho sakti, aur kyun? Yeh Aap bhi jante hai aur main bhi!!

Both Aniket & Simran took guard, they have been dreading this moment for a long time...Simran gave a distressed look at her husband she finally found her voice...

Simran"matlab ?? Tujhe...yaad hai??

Ridhima (calmly)"Ma, Accident Dev ka hua tha, memory loss use hai, mujhe nahi...!!

Simran"par...who sab 15 saal pehle tha...tu tab bachi thi, Main janti hoon Dadi tujhe bahu banana chahti thi, par unke chahne se kya hota hai?? Ab bahut kuch badal chukka hai, tum dono bade hogaye ho, hum yeh bhi nahi jante, Dev kya chahta hai ? uski family kya chahti hai?? aur waise bhi accident ke baad usse kuch yaad nahi hai...

Ridhima"par mujhe toh yaad hai!! Ek aurat ne apne aakhri palon mein bhagwan ke saamne wada diya tha, Dadi ne Dev aur mujhe rishte mein bandh diya tha...yeh unki akhri wish thi...

Aniket -par who wada tune nahi kiya tha... aur tujhe kya lagta hai, hum unki who wish puri nahi karna chahte?? par ab sab kuch badal gaya hai, Dev has lost his memory and is about to get married to someone else, Maante hai Dev ko kuch yaad nahi par uske parents ko toh yaad hoga sabkuch. Par phir bhi in 15saalon mein unhone ek baar palatkar nahi dekha...& Ridhi think practically humara aur unki family mein koi match nahi hai... In sabke bawjood bhi tum jana chahti ho, toh Jao, I just wish after reaching Mumbai you come to your senses, accept the reality!! Tumhe kya lagta hai, sirf waha jaane se, uske office mein job karne se, tum Dev se mil paogi, usse convince kar paogi...Jis Dev ke peeche bhaag rahi ho, uske nazdik bhi nahi ja paogi...Itna faasla hai do parivaaro mein...

Aniket got up and quietly left the room... Simran gave one last squeeze on Ridhi's shoulders and followed him...Simran knows her daughter well, no use of convincing her, she is a girl of very strong will, if she has decided something she must have weighed all the pros and cons, that incident had changed Ridhi from playful chatterbox to a strong willed girl, she still had fun with her sister, her friends but when she took a decision no one could change her mind...

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After her parents retired, Ridhi went into her room, silently took out the file from the secret place, it contained all clippings from Dev Rathore's life, his accident, his professional life, businesses etc...all these years Ridhi had literally kept a tab on every happening in Dev's life...She sighed to herself, finally she will be one step closer to Dev, she looked at the bracelet in her hand, which was practically a "chain" which held a male "ring" Ridhi had been wearing this in her right wrist since childhood, It was the chain Dadi had given to her back then...though she had been just 9 years old, but she remembers everything clearly, the night when her mother woke her up in middle of night saying Dadi wants to meet her, since past few days Dadi hadn't been keeping well...Her grandson Devraaj had been here during vacations like usual...little Ridhi used to be jealous & intimidated of him...as she felt everytime he came her Dadi's affection & attention got divided...& Same for Dev, he felt jealous of little girl how his Dadi loved & adored this girl who is just a neighbor...Ridhi was still in daze & sleepy when she found Dadi lying in Dev's breathing with great difficulty...Dev was constantly asking her to calm down & relax...but instead Dadi very weakly gestured Ridhi to sit closer to her & took Dev's hand and placed into little Ridhi's hand on top of it... "tum dono humesha saath rehna, yahi main chahti hoon...Promise me!! Humesha saath rahoge (Dev-Ridhi just nodded Yes in daze) & she placed a ring in Ridhi's hand also asking Dev to give his chain he was wearing to Ridhi... Seconds later Dadi slumped onto their held hands breathing her last...Ridhi was in daze holding the ring & chain in her hand...

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Next few days passed on completing the rites, after which Rathore family left from Jaipur, thanking Aniket-Simran for looking after their mother in time of need, promising monthly maintenance expense for the house until they decide to return back...But that never happened, neither anyone from Rathore family came back again, nor Dev returned ever, but Aniket-Simran regularly received cheque from Rathore's as promised & two years later they came to know about Dev's accident in US where he was studying & due to accident suffered memory loss.

Ridhima sighed to herself, she always wondered whether Dev's parents ever tried to bring his memory back... if they did, the why they did not bring him to Jaipur ever, it might have been helpful, as Devraaj used to spend almost all his vacations here with Dadi... He might have recovered his memory...Ridhi remembers before Rathore family left, her father had briefly explained to Dev's parents what Dadi had said in last moments...but they just left without giving any response...

*****

In Mumbai

Devraaj, switched off the TV in his chamber, satisfied watching his own interview on a business channel... he hated to appear for interviews, they may start on professional note...but eventually ended up being too personal...prodding him to tell about his memory loss, his accident which he hated to share as during early years somewhere he felt with his lost memory people might take advantage of it, but over the years his business has grown and he has now become used to his so called deficiency, people now know him to be a astute businessman...now that his father has taken a back seat & handed over reins to him...Now its only Dev handling everything singlehandedly & that too with perfection...

Dev was about to leave office, as he has promised Megha his soon to be fiance a dinner, he doesn't want to be late & hear her cribbing throughout dinner...just then his secretary peeps in, keeping two signing folders on his desk asking him to sign the cheques, which usually Mr.Rathore takes care of from home itself, but him being away on vacation...Dev will have to sign them...

As Dev continued signing the cheques, most have of them have been household expenditures, but suddenly he frowned at name Aniket Gupta? Though the name sounds familiar but he doesn't remember he heard this name in all these years he has joined office or meeting any such person. On an instant Dev rang up to accounts department, who explained this maintenance expense for their house in Jaipur, & this person looks after the house...Dev frowned, he doesn't recollect going to their house in Jaipur after he returned from US & nor his parents mentioning anything about it...if property is useless why Dad hadn't sold off till now...he made a mental note of discussing same with his father when he returns.

****

As Dev's car moved towards Megha's house, blurry image of an ancient looking house, a small pooja house started filtering his thoughts...a place where he doesn't remember he have been to...he shook himself of these sort of thoughts, its nothing new to him, he often has these flashes...it happens with him whenever he tries to think about past or he comes across some new information...

These flashes, blurry images of places, people look familiar, some incidents too but as usual he cannot place them...Dev straightened himself and concentrated on the view outside & typed message to Megha to be ready for dinner.

****

It had been a long hectic day...& this long dinner (if he can add boring too) with Megha, had just made him more tired...Devraaj returned to his lonely home...but just for next two days... his parents will be back from vacation tomorrow , his sister will be visiting within a week for planning out the engagement sometime next month & the tempo of the ceremony will pickup...He literally dragged his feet to his room removing his jacket & shirt...though whenever he thinks about his future ahead with Megha he seems to be cluless... he is been told Megha had been his childhood sweetheart...& everytime the question pops up in back of his mind " is she?"

Though His family says so, even Megha & her family too...they always made him believe it was only Megha for him and no one else...According to his parents he was head over heels in love with her...

It always makes Dev wonder if such is the case then why doesn't he look forward to their meetings?

why his heart doesn't flutter on seeing her, why he doesn't feel excitement or joy of getting married to his childhood sweetheart in few months?

Why whenever he goes out with Megha he ends up getting bored with her...if he had any feelings for her he shud feel them when Megha is around him...He just lost his memory, his heart has lost its feelings...

Why he cant recollect anything or any flash about their past...Sometimes he curses his memory loss...he might have been used to now, but sometimes he feels he should get his memory & wishes it to be back as soon as possible...

****

Ridhima watched scenery pass by...10 hours more & she will be in Mumbai, she cud make out her parents have been upset, 15 years back too with no positive response from Rathore's, her parents too have given up on the relation & just moved on...they didn't gave a serious thought to Dadi's wish as they felt it was useless... & now they fail to understand why she is giving so much of importance was it just because of Dadi's wish or the glamour world of Dev Rathore

Ridhima sighed to herself...she will never be able to explain it to her parents that it has nothing to do with Devraaj's fame, money, their family status or glamour or just Dadi's wish...its just she can't overcome the incident happened that night she could still hear Dadi's voice loud and clear..."Tum dono humesha ek dusre ke saath rehna, tum dono ek dusre ke liye bane ho"...

Ridhi cud recollect Dadi always trying to explain that she & Dev are meant to be...they are perfect match together...& the look Devraaj gave her that time when Dadi asked to give him his chain to her...all memories, that incident is something she hadn't able to forget till now...

She wants to give one chance to her destiny, one chance to her heart, she wants to know if what Dadi told was true...whether we two are really meant to be together?? Has this been the reason why she had been single uptil now, no boy has even managed to win her heart...let alone manage to fit into her description of life partner...Over the years Ridhima tried going out with boys who showed their interest but somehow things did not work, while the boys were disappointed...as she didn't showed any interest...as she grew she became curious about Devraaj , she collected all news regarding him, in fact chose to study hotel management as soon as she learnt that he is diversifying into the business... Eventually she did realize status difference b/w two families...but it did nothing to help her overcome the incident...or feeling in her heart...

She agrees with her father's thoughts just joining Dev's office, will not result in two of them coming face to face but just increases the chance of meeting Devraaj...She doesn't know what she will do, what she will say if she got a chance to meet Dev, or how will she explain herself...she just wants to get over this feeling... May be seeing Dev in person might solve the issue, after meeting Dev she may not like him, & she will loose her interest like it had happened with other boys...she may eventually loose interest in Dev too...& if she gets chance to tell him about their past connection & his rejection later on will make it possible for her to overcome the incident & will allow her to move on in life...

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