'Mummaaa' a twenty-one-year-old Anvesha called out to her mother.
'Haan beta', Ananya answered, putting a bookmark in between the book she was reading.
'Mumma, kya kar rahe ho?' Anvesha asked plopping herself down on the recliner next to the bed her mother sat on.
'Kuch khaas nahi, do you want anything? I was thinking of making chocolate waffles and fruit cream custard for you.'
'As much as I would love that, I can't eat calories worth an entire year in one month you know. And phir hostel mein aur bura lagta hai.'
'Kuch bhi. Aise hi itni patli ho rahi ho.' Ananya cajoled.
'Yeh sab chodo maata. Ek baat hai... This last day of semester we were all sitting and talking-'
'Kab nahi karte ho tum log aisa?' Ananya interrupted.
'Ignoring her mother Anvesha continued, '-and everyone was sharing his or her family stories. Particularly their parents love stories.'
'Uh-huh'.
'That's when I realized I didn't know your story; how did you and papa meet? When did you get married? Were there any villains?' Anvesha listed out a flurry of questions excitedly.
'Hold up. Aaram se bhai. Your father and I met coincidently, met a few other times, liked each other and fell in love and well rest as they say is history, phir shadi hui and Kavish aur tum huye. And we're living our happily ever after.' Ananya regaled.
'Yeh kya tareeka hai story batane ka... Start se batao. Ache se. What was happening in your lives? How you fell in love?' Anvesha complained.
'How we fell in love iska toh koi jawab nahi hai. Bus ho jaata hai pyaar. Haan realization kaise hua yeh pata hai. You see-'
'Stop. Stop. Stop. Mumma yaar ache se batao. Natak mat karo.'
'Okay, Okay.'
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'I was going to start my 3rd year in college and was doing an internship with KKN for the vacations and that's where I met him. He was a new hire there but he had a couple of years' worth of experience. He was everything; good looking, rich and even pulled off that angry brooding male attitude that you girls are crazy about now. Well between you and me, girls were crazy about that kinda stuff then too.' Ananya replied winking.
Anvesha giggled. 'Hang on, Dad toh Investment Banker hai, woh KKN mein kya kar rahe the?' she asked bewildered.
'Shhh. Suno ab. Well if I may say so. Uss time par I was pretty good looking myself' Ananya continued with a playful smile. 'And I caught a few people's attention. He was one of them.
'And you can say, a whirlwind romance followed. We dated for a while. It was everything a girl dreams about. Not unlike that TV serial wala banda you fantasize about. He was possessive and I kind of reveled in his possessiveness. I was smitten enough to even tie my hair in a certain way because he liked it, wear orange which was my least favourite of all colours and take up contact lenses cause he said he loved my eyes.' Sigh. 'Well, he was my first boyfriend. And I had heard and seen my friends do a bunch of other embarrassing stuff all because their boyfriends' liked it. But well, it was mere infatuation, I got bored of it soon, and Manav's possessiveness and control freakery started getting to me.'
'HOLD UP JUST ONE SECOND,' Anvesha said loudly. 'Yeh Manav kaun hai bhai? Mujhe toh Papa aur aapki story sunni thi. Kabir and Ananya. Yeh Manav kahan se star ho raha hai iss story mein?'
'You only said you wanted to know everything from the start. Well this is the start. Tum Papa ke hisse ki story unse puch sakti ho. Or I could tell you that one too.'
'Achaaa. You only tell.' Anvesha said, not really expecting such content in her parents' story.
'Well Kabir was a typical playboy.' Ananya started. 'He dated a different girl for about a fortnight. In fact before me the longest he was ever with a girl was 18 days if I remember correctly.
'What?' Anvesha spluttered. 'Mum! You're scarring me. Papa sahi mein aise the? Mere papa!' Anvesha had a disbelieving look on her face.
Ananya smiled at her in amusement. 'Papa kaise the uske bare mein tum kuch na hi jaano toh behtar hai. But Kabir is charming enough now and a smooth talker. Can't you imagine what he would be like when he tried to use all these attributes in his favour?' Ananya asked.
'A little too clearly.' Anvesha said in a tone which clearly indicated that her imagination was really disturbing her. She could just imagine Ronnie, the Charmer of their batch. She shook her head. Ananya laughed.
'Anyway Kabir was very handsome, with a smirk on his face and a devilish look in the eye and was a smooth talker, undaunted by nothing when he had set his eyes on a target, and by target I mean any girl who struck his fancy. He was also very funny and had this gift of making any girl feel special and agreeable sooner or later. In short he was everything I didn't like. He had commitment issues and was cocky as hell and self-obsession ki limits cross kar di thi usne. He had this devil may care attitude going on for him and too much female attention. It really got to his head.' Ananya said distastefully.
'Ahem-ahem.' Anvesha cleared her throat deliberately, stifling a smile.
'Well it was the truth.' Ananya said a little defensively.
'So exactly how did you two end up together if you disliked him so much? Lemme guess, you caught his fancy and he was relentless in his pursuit and well, you caved in.' Anvesha predicted excitedly.
'Ab story tumhe hi end karni hai toh mujhse kyu puch rahi ho?' Ananya asked slightly miffed and it was ironic because until a few minutes ago she really wasn't making any efforts in telling this story.
'Acha sorry, sorry. Aap hi batao.' Anvesha said holding her hand.
'Haan, toh kahan thi main? Yes! Manav and I. Both our parents knew about us and I wasn't ever commitment shy. So even when I was bored after a while, we were together. He was a dedicated boyfriend and apart from the whole control freakery, I was okay. We even managed a long distance relationship when I had gone abroad for my last year as an exchange student. And that kinda sealed it for me. I didn't think anything special was going to happen in my life and I was old enough to start thinking that fairytales were just fantasy. So I was entirely okay with my drab routine and steady relationship.
'But well life had other plans for me...'
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'When I went to the States for my PG, I knew no one there but my parents weren't worried. Out of nowhere, tumhare Nanu ke bahut close friend ka pata chala, and it was amazing really that these two gents were such great friends because I had never heard of him or his family before. They were apparently college mates who never really got a chance to introduce their families because of their extremely busy schedules. But well, this is relevant because the said close friend had a son who was living in the States getting some work ex after completing his post grad from Harvard. Well, naturally your Nanu was happy that there was someone in the States I could ask for help and who'd lived there long enough to actually provide some. It never occurred to them that they were entrusting my responsibility on a total stranger. Such is how good will works in the country. All I knew about this person was his name: Kabir Sharma.
'Had I known more or even seen his face, I would've told my father ki mujhe protection iss bande ke against chahiye.'
'Kyun?' Ananya asked bewildered.
'Because I had met this guy before. He was in my school. He was a senior and I was a sophomore. And this was the first ever guy to propose to me!'
'What?' Anvesha spluttered.
'Yes! It was his farewell after party and the entire high school was there. And this guy who I might add was crowned Mr. Charismatic, comes over to me and asks me for a dance. I was a very shy girl and not to forget daunted by male attention and this guy's reputation preceded him and I almost reflexively said no. In hindsight I think your father got smitten with me on this day itself because, there were much more polished and willing girls around, who had made all efforts possible to beautify themselves for this party, I hadn't even got my eyebrows threaded or my arms waxed and yet there he was in front of a gauche teenager ignoring the line of gorgeous girls who would've joyfully taken my place.' Ananya smiled a little reflectively.
'Anyway, what happened next is the embarrassing part. After I said no, here's what your father did. He got down on one knee, signaled for the DJ to stop and said in a clear loud carrying voice "I love you and only you Ananya. I am sure my life has no other purpose than to be with you forever. I recognize you as the beacon of light that's beckoning me towards life promising solace, love and happiness. Be mine Ananya forever and always."'
'Okayyy. That's the corniest thing I've heard in my life.' Anvesha said.
'Tell me about it.' Ananya agreed giggling.
'So what happened then?' Anvesha asked.
'There is something about confidence you know.'
'What do you mean?' Ananya asked.
'There we were, the center of attention. Some people were laughing but a majority were clapping and wolf-whistling. And there was Kabir waving about and winking at random people totally enjoying the attention, absolutely unperturbed by the scene he just created. And then there was me, feeling 50 shades of embarrassed. I said no and ran. And from what I've heard, Kabir was unruffled by even this. Well I never thought I'd see him again after that day, but I did a several years later in that airport where he had dutifully turned up to receive his father's friend's daughter.'
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'There he was waiting for me with a placard with my name on. I didn't immediately recognize him from before though. He looked different. Much much different. You get what I mean right? He was taller, his jawline squarer, his physique more strong. And all I thought was "Wow, I've got a hot chaperone."'
'I walked over to him with my luggage trolley and pointed at my name.
'Hi I'm Ananya.' I said holding out my hand for his.
'Kabir,' he said in a voice that almost melted me from inside and I failed to notice that he was smirking at me. He obviously had recognized me.
'He took charge of my trolley and said This way'. I followed looking around.
'When we reached his car and he'd put all my stuff inside I walked over to sit in the passenger seat and that's when he removed his shades, might I add, he looked mighty fine doing that. But the point is that that's when I recognized who it was. I was gaping at him open mouthed and he said 'I guess your memory has made a comeback?' smirking again. He kept a hand on my seat and turned around to reverse the car from the driveway.
'You look so different now.' That's what I said to him.
'You do too.' He said putting the car in gear. 'You are much prettier than I ever remember you to be,' he said turning and looking me straight in the eye. Well I have to admit Kabir has an intense gaze, which doesn't let you break eye contact until he wills it. He knows just how to use this.
'Well we didn't talk about anything consequential. He took me to a small restaurant for dinner, then to the apartment that he had found for me, helped me with the luggage, gave me his card, told me he lived just two blocks away, bade me goodbye with a promise that he'd take me to my campus the next day.'
'And that was it. He helped me with a lot of stuff, best routes to travel, best places to eat and offered his company without asking. He took me to the most exciting places in the city and I even once went on a backpacking tour with him. My stay in the States was majorly a cakewalk because of him. He had livened up my life so much that I hadn't ever thought it was possible.'
'With him I realized just how dull my life was. He once told me that I was very uptight and I didn't wanna believe that. "You are so uptight you could give Mary Poppins a lesson or two." That's what he said.
'Haww.' Anvesha said.
'I know. Your dad was an asshole. But I did realize what he said was true. He always insisted that I should loosen up a bit. And with him it was so easy. He was so easy to befriend and even easier to fall in love with.'
'But how did that come about?' Anvesha asked eagerly.
'I'll tell you one instance... Kabir and I had gone to watch the Titanic when it had re-released in 3D. We were watching it and I'm not sure why he had come to watch it with me cause from the start he was complaining things like "you do realize that if she had listened to what he said and not come back on the blessed ship they'd both be alive by the end" and what not. We shared a bucket of popcorn and a coke. And my cell had vibrated in my pocket and I was going to take it out and that's when I noticed my hand in his, awkward I tried to jerk it away, but he held on tight, that's when I realized I liked it that way too...'
'Aww Mumma!' Anvesha cooed.
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'But things weren't this rosy throughout. You're forgetting there was another person in the picture: Manav. We'd been dating for more than a year by then. And his possessiveness had grown to insane lengths, so much so that when he heard from me about my blossoming friendship with Kabir, he warned me to stay away from him and also that he was coming over to the States soonish just to ensure I complied.'
'What a nutjob!' Anvesha exclaimed.
'Hmm.' Ananya agreed. 'So, it had been three months since I shifted to the US that Manav ended up there and in my apartment. Kabir turned up to call on me the same evening too and the shock he felt on seeing me with Manav, I can never forget his face.'
'Manav, like a dog marking its territory, kept a hand around me as he introduced himself as my soon to be fiance to Kabir. I was actually too shocked to respond to that. Manav had apparently gone and asked my father's permission. Anyways, Kabir schooled himself very carefully, and apart from the accusing look he sent my way when he first got acquainted with the fact that I had a boyfriend with whom I might be engaged soon, he did nothing that would reflect his feelings. I can't tell you how rotten I felt inside.'
'Then what happened?' Anvesha asked urgently, 'How did you get rid of Manav? How did you end up with Daddy?'
'Well I couldn't just let him leave hurt and under an impression that I was a deceitful hag. It was a misunderstanding I had to clear. So I told Manav that I had to return Kabir his jacket which he had made me wear the other night when I had gone out to watch a broadway show with him. Manav wasn't impressed but I couldn't care less.
'I followed Kabir and called out to him and he stopped. Once I was there in front of him I didn't know what to say. What could I have said? It's not as if we'd made promises to each other. And apart from innocent moments that we'd shared, there was nothing that ever etched a talk about commitment or anything. And I knew Kabir's view about commitment and relationships... So I really didn't know what to say to make everything alright.'
'Your jacket.' I said to him timidly cause I was troubled by the storm I could see in his eyes.
He took it with a jerk.
'A fiance?' he opened the topic.
'Kabir I honestly had no idea that he'd go to my father and ask his permission for marriage.' I explained a little panic-stricken.
'Were you aware that you had a boyfriend ya yeh bhi nahi pata tha tumhe?' he asked coldly.
I gulped.
'Kabir I'm sorry.' I said not sure exactly why I was apologizing. I wasn't two-timing with him or anything; we didn't even have a proper thing going.
'Just go back up Ananya.' He had said and turned to walk away.
I held his hand from behind and that did it; he very quickly cornered me against the wall with both his hands on either side of my face. Trembling more because of the shivers that his proximity caused than in fear of what he might say or do, I shrank back into the wall and looked up at him with timid eyes.
'Don't. I don't appreciate being taken on rides by the likes of girls like you Kashyap! Do yourself a favour and stir clear from me now on cause I have no patience for your games.'
'Kabir please.'
'Please what?!' Kabir asked exasperated, running a hand through his hair. 'You had a boyfriend you never bothered to tell me about in all this time that you were with me.'
'We were never together Kabir.' I gathered enough courage to say that. 'we've never... we don't...'
'Think again what you're going to say,' he had said as he pushed my hair behind my ear and I all but melted in that touch. 'Think very carefully. You might not be sure of what you want but know this that all I want is you. Don't pretend you were unaware. You've known this a while.'
'That evening was very eventful. For the first time Kabir had worn his feelings up his sleeve. I had never seen him that angry or frustrated ever. And as sure as I was of the spark that existed between Kabir and me, I was also troubled by my relationship with Manav cause he had taken it to another level. My father had said yes and I didn't know what to do! Listen to my heart and break up with Manav and start afresh with Kabir or just let Kabir go...'
'So... how did you come to the conclusion?' Anvesha asked anxious for the answer.
'Something happened that evening...' Ananya said.
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'I returned back to my apartment with heavy footsteps and a heavier heart. A very important decision had to be made. And soon. Going by the time I had spent with Kabir these last three months I knew I could be happier with no one else. I knew that he made me a livelier me. It wasn't how it was with Manav where I did things to please him. Kabir liked me the best in my own skin. He appreciated every side of me and with him there was no need to keep my best face on. With him I could be me and still be wanted and valued. That's how it should be in a relationship. No pretenses. But my family's involvement and the amount of time I had invested in my relationship with Manav was something that was making it difficult for me to make a decision.
'As I bolted the door Manav asked me What took you so long?'
'We were talking.' I said listlessly.
'It looked more than "talking",' Manav said forcefully.
My eyes snapped up to him, 'You were spying on me?' I accused.
'I'm your fiance, I have a right to know what's going on in your life!' he shouted.
'About that! Why did you go ask papa? Shouldn't you have talked to me first?' I demanded.
'Obviously you'd want that. Wouldn't want your family involved. Unhe kya pata unki beti yahan kya kar rahi hai!'
'What do you mean by that?' I snapped, my nostrils flaring.
'You know exactly what I mean. I'm not blind you see. I saw what was going on between the two of you.' He bit out standing a foot away from me now. 'But know this Ananya, you're mine. Tum sirf meri ho! Samjhi tum?' he lashed, hauling me close to himself with a tight grip on my upper arms.
'Manav leave me!' I had cried out in pain.
'Not happening. That is the last you've seen of that guy today. You'll stay away from him now.' He shook me violently.
'Ah, Manav, you're hurting me!' I cried.
'I'm hurting you? What about the hurt you've caused me?' he asked jerking me with each word, a maniacal gleam in his eyes.
'Manav!' I shouted as I pushed him with all my might and the next second I stormed out the door and walked till Kabir's place.
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'You see a relationship is about a lot of things. There is one thing that when you are in a relationship you'd be what that person wants you to be. And there is this other thing that they would never ask you to change. A relationship is also about finding your safe place. Your happy place. The one place you'd want to be after a rough day. That's what a relationship should provide love, solace, happiness and safety.'
'I had two encounters with both the men in my life that evening. While both dealt with the same problem, their reactions is what made the decision easy for me. On the one hand there was Kabir, who though hurt, frustrated and angry, did nothing to hurt me and then there was Manav, who deliberately manhandled me, and continued to do so even after I urged him to leave me, telling him he was hurting me. And even then he didn't leave until I pushed him away. I didn't feel safe with him. When you watch the protagonist doing this in your serial you gush about "how passionate the scene was" and "OMG! He feels so much!" but that's not how things are in real life. It's not just passion but also safety and security. Your heart needs that too.
'Kabir was everything I disliked earlier and grew to love later... he was my safe place... the love of my life..."
'Hmm...' Anvesha mused.
'Kya soch rahi ho?' Ananya asked picking up her book again.
'You Mum have cleared a few things for me...' Anvesha said contemplatively.
'What do you mean? Anvesha, are you seeing someone?' Ananya asked excitedly.
'Not really... I mean... kind of... but...'
Bhabhi Ji Ghar Pe Hain?
