Chapter 62:
"Come on! Just try a few steps with me Rach!"
Rachna protested as she was forcefully pulled into the living room. The furniture had been pushed off to the side, leaving a large rectangular area free in the center to serve as a makeshift rehearsal space for the sangeet dance practices.
"Chandni please, not now. I have a call with my wedding planner in a little bit and I just want to go over a few things before that. Besides, you should take a quick nap. You're probably tired from such a long flight. I'm sure Tish must have been tough to handle on the plane."
"I'm not tired at all Rach. I slept pretty well since Tan was a darling and handled Tish for the entire flight. Besides, there's only a week left until the sangeet and we have a lot of practicing to do. I want every single performance to be perfect, especially yours. And what do you have to go over? You hired a wedding planner, so let her do the job of planning the wedding!"
Rachna listened carefully to understand the seemingly familiar words that sounded odd as they were cloaked under a heavy American accent. As soon as the last word was uttered, the play button on the nearby iPod was tapped and a loud thumping beat filled the air. Rachna flinched as the blaring music hit her ear drums, making them vibrate painfully.
"Turn it down Chandni!" She yelled, trying unsuccessfully to make her voice heard over the loud music.
A deafening silence filled the room a few seconds later, a welcome relief to Rachna's throbbing ears. Chandni glanced towards the music system where her iPod was connected to the speakers and her blank expression morphed immediately into one of excitement.
"Sno maasi!" Running towards Sneha, Chandni threw herself into her aunt's open arms.
"My Chandu baby! How are you?" Sneha stroked her neice's head fondly as Rachna looked on with a smile.
"I'm good Sno maasi, but look at you! Smoking hot! Tell me the secrets to your everlasting youth, I desperately need them."
Sneha laughed. "Still the same little ball of energy you are Chandni. It hasn't even been 4 hours since you landed in India and you already started dance rehearsals?"
"We have to be the best at the sangeet Sno maasi! Rachna may love the guy, but I am not letting him or his family beat us."
"Acha thik hai, go on with your practicing, but keep the volume down. I don't want complaints from the neighbors."
"Before the neighbors, you're going to get complaints from family members."
Sneha looked towards the entrance of the living room, smiling as Raghu came into view.
"Bhaiyya, how are you? How was the flight?"
"The flight was okay. I am of course tired and very much in need of a nap that this insane daughter of mine won't seem to let me have."
Raghu gave Sneha a quick hug before giving his daughter firm instructions.
"Chandni, rehearsals are postponed until tomorrow. No questions. No arguments."
"Okay fine dad, as you say. I'm just going to go check on Tish and Tan then. I'll see you all later."
Just as Chandni was heading upstairs to the guest room, she caught sight of Akash coming in through the front door and walked towards him, giving him a quick hug.
"Hi maasu!"
"Chandni beta, how are you?"
"I'm good. Maasu, I have loads to talk to you about but first let me go check on Tish. She was cranky when Tan...I mean...Tanay was putting her down for her nap earlier."
"Okay beta, go. We'll talk during dinner."
Akash walked into the living room and greeted Raghu.
"Bhaisaab, so glad you made it."
"I wouldn't dare miss Rachna's wedding Akash. You know Sneha, she would have killed me."
"Not just Sneha mausi, I would have too Raghu mama." Rachna stepped forward with a mischievous smile and stood beside Raghu.
"Acha bas, you can all chat more later. Bhaiyya, you go rest for some time now. The ladies will be here in about two hours to sing and then we'll have dinner afterwards. Akash, can you call the music store and make sure that they deliver the dholak in time? Rachna, come beta, let's go sort through those sarees quickly."
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Rachna and Sneha sat on the floor of the den, which was being used to store all of the extra gifts and miscellaneous things for the wedding. Sneha laid out a few rows of gift boxes, while Rachna sat off to the side sorting through a stack of printed labels.
"Pihu di didn't come home with you Sneha mausi?"
Sneha spoke as she pulled out some sarees from a shopping bag and placed them in a pile beside the boxes. "Nahi Rachna. She felt a bit crampy after lunch so I had Murli take her home to rest. I called her while we were driving back and she said she felt a bit lightheaded after her nap, so I told her to just call her OB for safety and take it easy for the next few days. I'm sure everything's fine, but she's still in her first trimester so better to take all the precautions that we can."
Rachna nodded. "Hmmm, that's fine. Chandni was asking about her earlier when I picked everyone up from the airport so I was just wondering. Anyways, did everything go well today?"
Sneha continued pulling out sarees from a second shopping bag. "Yes, it did. Prakash ji made beautiful arrangements; it was truly a sight to see Rachna. The tent billowing in the expansive green lawn with the house splayed out majestically in the background. It looked like it was a scene taken right out of one of those big-budget Bollywood movies."
Rachna smiled, relieved that everything had gone well. When she had spoken to Kabir earlier this morning, he had seemed unhappy about holding the wedding events at the Tripathi mansion. It had been only upon his father's insistence that he had agreed to do so, as Prakash felt that the happy atmosphere of the wedding festivities would remove all the dark memories associated with the house, allowing the family to have a fresh start in the truest sense.
Sneha finished piling all the sarees together neatly. "Rachna, you read me the names on the labels and I'll hand you the saree to put into the box okay?"
An hour later, Sneha stepped back to admire the stacks of the wrapped and labeled gift boxes that now stood in one corner of the room. She then glanced at her niece, who sat slumped in one of the free chairs, and chuckled.
"How about a coffee Rachna? I really need the caffeine now and it looks like you do too."
Rachna shook her head tiredly. "Actually I should head up to my room for my call with Pallavi. There's some last minute decoration changes she wanted me to approve for the reception set up. I'll just see you for dinner later if that's okay."
"Sure beta. But make sure you come down and sit in on the geets for a little bit as well. You don't have to be there every day, but since today is the first night, I want you to listen to a few songs."
Rachna nodded as she stood up. "I will."
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"Yeah Pallavi, I think that should be fine. There shouldn't be any changes in the design from this point forward so you can submit the plans to the resort management. Is there anything else that we need to discuss?"
"Nope, I think that's it for tonight Rachna. Just remember to send me Akshat's contact details so I can be in touch with him regarding the displays from the photo shoot that need to be set up."
"Yeah, I'll text you that information right now Pallavi."
"Okay, sounds good. I'll talk to you later then. Good night."
Rachna hung up the call and stretched her arms. Just as she finished sending the text message to Pallavi, her bedroom door opened and Gunjan craned her head in.
"Rachna di, the ladies are here to sing. Come down whenever you can."
"Yeah, I'll be there in a few minutes Gunjan, just as soon as I finish with this call."
Gunjan nodded and headed downstairs, as Rachna looked at her ringing phone, curious as to why Karan was calling her.
"Hi Karan. How are you?"
"I'm okay bhabhi. All well with you?"
Rachna laughed. "Well there's a million things going on around here but yes, all-in-all everything is good."
"That's nice. Uh bhabhi, I...there was something...can I ask you something?"
Rachna frowned hearing the hesitancy in Karan's voice. "What's wrong Karan?"
She heard him sigh on the other end of the line. "Bhabhi...are you and bhai going to Benaras? Right after the wedding?"
"Yeah, I thought Kabir had already talked to you and papa ji about this. Is there an issue Karan?"
"Well bhai had mentioned it passingly to me a few days ago but I don't think he talked to papa about it, at least not before today. They had a bit of a disagreement on the matter."
The worry rose in Rachna's voice. "Disagreement? I don't understand. Tell me exactly what happened Karan."
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Kabir noticed his father's confusion. "Papa, we can speak about this later. I'll see you back at home, okay?"
Prakash nodded reluctantly, a grim expression settling on his face as he watched his son drive away. He bade the guests goodbye with a masked smile over the next hour or so and ordered the servants to begin cleaning up once the majority of people had left. Sneha had noticed his aloofness when leaving, but she had found it best to dismiss her concerns, concluding to herself that he must be overburdened with all the responsibilities of organizing the wedding events on his own.
A few close relatives were staying at the Tripathi mansion until the wedding, but Kabir had bluntly refused to do so. It had been difficult enough convincing him to hold the ceremonies at the house that Prakash too hadn't pushed the issue any more than necessary. After making sure that all the relatives were taken care of for the time being and doling out tasks to the servants, Prakash settled into the passenger seat as Karan drove home to the Malad apartment. Upon arriving, they had found Kabir waiting for them in the living room. Prakash took a seat beside him and spoke, as Karan listened in on the conversation.
"All shipped?"
Kabir nodded silently, as Prakash waited for him to begin the postponed conversation. Upon seeing no further response from his son, he took the matter into his own hands.
"Kabir beta, why go to Benaras? Rachna's family is here. Karan and I are here. Why are you leaving all of this now that everything is fine?"
"Rachna and I collectively decided this papa; she and I are both happy with this decision. And from a business standpoint, it makes sense for me. The head office for KT Creations is still in Benaras, so it's important for me to be there. I have a good staff in Delhi and they seem to be handling things fine with my oversight and monitoring from an off-site location, so that workshop can continue to run as it's been doing for the last few months, but things are tougher to address over Skype calls and emails with the Benaras staff. I need to get things in order there, it's a bit of a mess currently."
Prakash was silent for a few minutes after hearing Kabir's explanation. He sighed deeply before he replied. "You seem to have everything figured out beta. I just wish you had told me about your plans earlier."
Kabir looked at his hands, twisting his fingers nervously. "I had meant to, but you've just been so busy with planning everything that I never saw the right opportunity arise."
"Is that the best excuse you have Kabir?"
Kabir looked up, surprised by his father's comment. "Papa?"
Prakash shook his head. "You just didn't want to tell me until the last possible moment because you thought I would try to stop you. Am I correct?"
Kabir looked away, as his father continued speaking.
"Well you're right; I do want to stop you. But I won't. I guess I was wrong in thinking that I could return after all these years and have life resume normally. It seems that nothing can be the same after all that has happened though. Go on beta; go on with your life. I won't stop you from doing what you want."
"Papa..." Kabir trailed off, unable to come up with the appropriate words. Prakash spoke unhindered, somewhat lost in his own train of thoughts.
"I just wanted to spend whatever time I have left with my family. But it seems that my own family doesn't want that."
A thick uncomfortable silence settled in the room. The gravity of his father's words tugged painfully against Kabir's heart.
"Papa, don't say that. Come to Benaras with Rachna and me. In fact, I was planning to ask you to move in with us once we get back from Belgium, as that would give you enough time to sort through all the legal matters here in Mumbai and then you could easily come to live with us."
Prakash laughed emptily. "And the house here? The business?"
Kabir became silent, but Prakash voiced the thoughts that were running through his son's head. "Leave them? Should I sell them off and forget about it all? The business empire that I spent my entire adulthood and middle age toiling over? I should just walk away from it when I'm getting it back after so many years?"
Kabir sighed. "Papa, that's not..."
"That's exactly what you're thinking and exactly what you want me to do, but it's not happening beta. As much as I want you to take over the reins of this business, in the end, it's your decision of whether you want to or not. I'm not going to give this all up simply because my right hand refuses to take up the responsibility though. I still have my left hand and he's going to work hard to learn the necessary skills so he can take charge, right Karan?"
Taken aback by the sudden turn of events, Karan didn't respond to his father's question; instead, he tried to address his brother. "Bhai, why don't you just merge KT Creati..."
Kabir put up his hand. "Don't Karan. I gave up that house 13 years ago and my rights over the business 7 years ago. I'm happy with where I am today and I have absolutely no intention of returning back to anything that I already walked away from. That house has nothing but haunting memories associated with it and the business gave me nothing but a shamefully false scandal to tarnish my reputation. I will never come back to anything that is even remotely related to that woman." Kabir spoke scathingly, his every word painted with a resentful anger.
"That woman was my wife. She was the mother of my children. You can run away from the house and the business, but you can't deny those relationships and connections Kabir. I honestly don't recognize my son today. Is this really the Kabir who had promised to be my support in life? To be my right hand forever?"
Kabir stared at his father, his face hardening with bitterness upon hearing the accusatory questions. "You didn't need your right hand for all these years that you were in hiding papa. You were perfectly content sitting in the back seat, observing and controlling things with a remote. But your right hand had to learn to live on his own; he had to figure out the ways of this world by himself. You can't reel back in what you already cut away."
Kabir stood up and walked into the master bedroom, ignoring Karan's pleas to stay and talk it out. Meanwhile, Prakash remained sitting in his own position, taking in the angry words that his son had just uttered, sensing the large chasm that had just been created in their relationship.
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Rachna rubbed her forehead, as she heard Karan narrate the entire incident. She exhaled loudly once he had finished speaking.
"Okay...what's the situation right now? Where is Kabir?"
"Bhaiyya is in his room. I'm just getting ready to drive papa back home since there are a few relatives staying there until the wedding and he wants to oversee the preparation for all the events that are being held there."
Rachna bit her lower lip and thought for a few seconds. "Karan, don't say anything to your brother right now, just let him be. I'll speak to him later tonight. And why don't you go home and stay with papa ji tonight? He could use the support."
"Sure bhabhi, I can do that. Are you sure you don't want me to speak to bhaiyya though?"
"Yes Karan, he won't listen to anything you say about this matter. I'll talk to him. Please just take care of papa ji though."
"I will bhabhi. And sorry for adding to your worries...but I seriously didn't know what else to do."
"I'm glad you told me all this Karan. It would have been worse if I found out about it later. Anyways, call me if anything else happens and make sure that papa ji is okay."
Hanging up the call, Rachna closed her eyes and sighed dejectedly. Glancing at the time, she headed downstairs to sit in the geets, but her mind was muddled with worry; hundreds of thoughts ran through her head, as she tried to figure out how to resolve the situation that she had just learned about.
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Rachna plastered a smile on her face as she entered the living room, where several mattresses had been set up to accommodate the 30 or so family friends and neighbors who had arrived to sing the geets. The ladies sat in a large cluster facing into the circle. The two or three eldest women, who were most knowledgeable about the songs, sat in the middle to lead and conduct the others. Two middle-aged women sat at the edge of the cluster drumming the dholak, their fingers tapping out a steady rhythm of beats to sing along to. Rachna spotted a few familiar faces, who merely nodded and smiled to acknowledge her presence in the room. Sneha saw her when she entered and led Rachna to a spot in one corner of the room, where Chandni and Gunjan already sat, so she could listen to the songs comfortably.
The ladies finished a song as she sat down and began a new one after a brief pause to decide which one they wanted to sing. The collective voice of 30 women, some in tune, others off key, filled the air, the harmonious sound reverberating in the room gloriously. Rachna listened attentively, not understanding the meaning of the Sanskrit lyrics, but feeling a sense of overwhelming gratitude fill her heart with each passing second. A single thought crystallized in her mind, which she whispered aloud to no one in particular.
"How beautifully selfless this practice is? There are 30 acquaintances, almost near strangers for me, singing and praying for our happiness, showering their blessings on us, on our relationship. We missed all this when we first got married...how lucky we are to get a second chance and start everything again on a new foot."
Gunjan heard the whispered words and squeezed Rachna's shoulder for support. Rachna smiled at her sister and turned her attention back to the song with closed eyes, letting the calming melody put a rest to the storm of worries in her mind.
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"Dayal got so jealous when he saw Shail hug me during their engagement."
The entire family sat on the back patio after dinner, taking advantage of the mild breezy evening. Everyone laughed, as Raghu described the funny incident.
"They got engaged on the day of Raksha Bandhan so I had arrived in the morning for rakhi and stayed for the engagement ceremony that was held in the afternoon. That was the first time Dayal saw me since I had been completing my residency in the US when their rishta was being finalized. So he had no clue as to who I was and you can imagine how perplexed he must have been when he found his fiance hovering over another guy. I can still remember the look on his face when Shail introduced me as her Raghu bhaiyya. He had mistaken me to be an old crazed lover of hers that was trying to stop the wedding, so he felt quite embarrassed when I told him the entire story of how Shail and I had met during my last year of medical school when she was just a fresher and how I had taken care of her like she was my little sister. I left no stone unturned to tease him about this every time I visited Shail for Raksha Bandhan after that."
Raghu finished his story with a grin. "Even after I moved to the US permanently, Shail sent me a rakhi every year. Sneha would always forget, but Shail's rakhi would reach me on time without fail."
"Didi sent you two rakhis every year, one from her and one from me. I asked her to send them together since it was easier that way." Sneha justified herself quickly.
"Shail would also call and wish me for Raksha Bandhan first thing in the morning, but you always forget Sneha. She managed to remember every holiday, everyone's birthdays, all the anniversaries, everything...she never forgot a single thing."
Sneha leaned her head against Raghu's shoulder, a faint wetness noticeable at the corners of her eyes.
"Didi would have managed all this without batting a single eyelid too. I have everyone's help and I still feel like things are out of control. I don't know how she balanced it all...her work, family, friends, everything. I can try as hard as I want but I will never be able to handle everything as easily as she did."
Raghu placed a comforting hand on Sneha's shoulder as a sob escaped her lips. A nostalgic silence settled over everyone.
"Mummy would have asked all of you to straighten these sad faces and save your tears for my bidaai." Rachna smiled as she wiped the tears off of Gunjan's face.
She stood up from her chair and picked Tisya up from Chandni's lap. "What's say Tish? Let's change these tears into laughs."
Looking away from the squealing toddler in her arms, Rachna scanned the faces of the people sitting in front of her, all of whom were looking at her with surprise.
"No one can fill mummy and papa's void in my life. But I miss them a lot less when I see you all smiling."
Rachna turned her face towards the toddler, who was wriggling to be set free in the grass. "How about we enjoy some ice cream Tish?"
The little girl clapped her hands and excitedly screamed upon hearing the mention of the sweet treat, which elicited a chuckle from everyone in the family.
Sneha left for the kitchen to bring out dessert, while everyone else slowly eased back into their normal conversations. Chandni and her husband Tanay chatted with Akash about the differences between medicine in India versus the US, while Raghu and his wife Mandira spoke to Gunjan. Rachna set Tish down on the grass and watched her run around happily. After a few minutes, Rachna excused herself to go upstairs, where she waited patiently for her husband to come online for their nightly Skype call.
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❤️ Nivi
Edited by nividances - 10 years ago
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