PART-27
A car was parked inside a lower-middle class residential complex, facing a particular block. A flat in this block was probably home to that girl who had ruined Kalpi's life: Nisha. "Yes, Nisha ruined me from where I see" Kalpi thought. Whatever Nisha had done with Kalpi, did change her life completely. She lost that one person who might have been her protector, guide, idol and friend all through her life, since the time her brain remembered visuals of the world.
Growing up Kalpi had not seen her father. The only image of father which Kalpi carried in her heart was that of a person depressed and defeated. Being depressed was no problem given the circumstances life had thrown at them. "But my Dad allowed the loneliness inside him to envelope us too. We were a family, meant to stick together. We were each other's strength and support. But he, he just went away, leaving us all alone; weak and vulnerable in this world full of sharks" Kalpi thought.
When Kalpana needed a father figure to look up to; when she needed an idol who would teach her ways of the world; who would tell her how to take the winning strides, Kalpi had no one. She had no one who would be a shield to her and her family. A father-less child, that's what Kalpana considered herself. Her father was not with her when her Pakhya Dada and herself had to bear the taunts of their school-mates. They would have left no stone unturned in making their lives miserable had it not been for Raghav and Gauri Taai. Pakhya and Kalpi would have remained the subject-matter of entertainment and jokes in their schools had Raghav not protected them. The Jadhav siblings could not even afford such good school had they not devoted their time to earn the scholarships.
The struggle Kalpana and her elder brother had to go through might have shaped them what they are now. But when it mattered the most, Kalpi had no father to look up to. Somewhere every child is awestruck and inspired by his/her father. Every child wants to carry and does carry a part of his/her father within.
A father, who scolds them when they do wrong; who pampers them when they need love; who is a safety shield to them from rest of the world. Father, who becomes a guide when needed; and he is also the one who leaves one to be independent when the right time comes. But he is never the one to leave a child's side. Even if one is an adult, he/she need a father and he is by your side, always.
"No, I did not had any of it. I did not find any of these within my father, because...because my father was not with me. But who was with me, who somehow without even trying donned all these roles for me was, Raghav. Yes Aai was there. Aai did everything to earn bread and butter for us, to give us a respectable life. But it was Raghav who completed what was missing in my life. He became the centre of my attention, my idol. Raghav became the person whom I would look up to when I needed someone. I wanted to be like Raghav in every way, a winner always; like him. Raghav protected me and Pakhya Dada from everyone at school; partly on Taai's insistence and partly on his own. Raghav helped me like a mentor even in school work, in acting, in my career and now in business. He was always my shield. He never let me know how he took stand for me when I had no one. He punished Nisha, for me; even though I had insulted and ridiculed him. I never got to know when he became more important than my own father; maybe...he was my life always. My father gave me life but it was Raghav who nurtured that life with his care. And I..." Kalpi stifled a snob, refusing to cry yet again.
"I deserve this completely" she thought reliving the moment of eight years ago when she had slapped Raghav. He could not show how hurt he was. "I broke every trust Raghav had in me; so much that he could not even attempt explaining his side. Maybe he knew that I won't believe him. Maybe he was hurt enough to not even attempt showing these proofs to me. I was so angry, so blinded with my prejudices and stubbornness. I would have refused to listen to him; maybe Raghav knew that I had already made up my mind."
"But it is time to give back to the bitch a dose of karma. I want to see that girl who played with a precious relation" thinking so Kalpi stepped out of her car and started walking towards Nisha's flat. According to the address given by Mr.Shinde, Nisha's flat was on first floor. So, passing the lift Kalpi decided to climb up the stairs instead. Each step she took ahead, each stair Kalpi climbed raised the turmoil within her. Each step took Kalpana closer and closer to the past and recent past moments. Every venomous word Kalpi herself had uttered to Raghav eight years ago and even till now echoed in her mind.
Each accusation piercing Kalpi's soul little by little, a bit more and the wound being made by that guilt seemed irreparable. "I cannot believe Raghav Singhania that you can stoop so low..."; "No Mr. Raghav Singhania, enough is enough and today I am cutting all cords I ever had with you in my life. I promise to you, that even in dire need I won't ever work again with you, I don't want to see your face in my life again." Kalpi shivered as the words spoken and strong proclamations made by her to Raghav haunted her every sense. The same lines which once symbolized Kalpana's strength and self-respect were nothing but a stubborn teenager's moment of heat and naivety now.
"And the worst part, I let a third person manipulate myself rather than believing you Raghav. I too deserve punishment and I will be punished, by you. Because I am your wrong-doer, only you have the right to punish me. Till then, I would punish myself, on your behalf. But before that let me close this one chapter once and for all" Kalpi thought, as she now stood outside the door of Nisha's home.
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"Yes that would be it. Work on getting all the legal permissions and licenses for our new project. Sooner the logjams are removed the better. I hope I am clear, no more delays. I want that resort to be built at all costs" Raghav finished with a steely look as he gave instructions to one of the three senior-most managers.
"Yes Sir, Monday morning our first focus would be this project" one of the managers assured and Raghav nodded his head. "Fine enough and keep me updated wherever I am. You know I don't like excuses" Raghav ordered.
"Sure Sir, we would not disappoint you" another manager reassured Raghav, knowing that even with his own tight schedule Raghav never ignored his business. His sleeping hours were only four-five hours. Raghav Singhania was a tough task-master, with himself and with others.
Raghav glanced at his wrist watch. "It is late. You all may leave. I'll be leaving in next half an hour. Don't wait for me, I have some catching up to do" he told all the three men. The men's face visibly lit up, clearly wanting to be with their families now. They thanked Raghav and left after bidding him goodnight. Raghav gave one look to the pile of files in front of him and his laptop, sighed; and closed his eyes before resting his head on the chair. He kept like this for some moments when he suddenly remembered Kalpi. She had not shot with him today and Raghav was worried. "I should check on her, if she has reached home or still at shooting" thinking so he dialed Kalpi's number. Kalpi answered the call after one and half rings "Raghav" her sweet voice reached Raghav's ears making him smile. Raghav relaxed briefly but tensed again noting the tiredness in the hoarse whisper of Kalpi's voice. She had not even said hello to him, just took his name. There was clearly something wrong. "Why does Kalpi's voice sound defeated and tired? Is she in any trouble?" Raghav thought and bombarded Kalpi with questions.
"Kalpi? Are you okay? What happened? And have you finished with the shooting? Have you reached home yet? Is there anything wrong with your car? If yes then do not even try to take a cab at this hour. I'll come to wherever you are and drop you home. Tell me..." he would have continued more had Kalpana's voice not cut him in-between.
"Raghav, Raghav, please relax. I am fine" Kalpi replied, even more overwhelmed with the worry evident in Raghav's voice. His care did nothing to unburden her own guilt. She tried hard to fight the tears in her eyes; right now she needed to be strong. It was time to face Nisha, not to allow her weakness overcome her. "It's just...I am just tired. It has been a long day. But I had to visit an acquaintance" Kalpi explained to Raghav. "An acquaintance? Who and where? At this hour Kalpi? You should be at home" Raghav scolded Kalpi.
"Raghav" Kalpi sighed and closed her eyes. "Please stop caring for me so much" she whispered more for herself than to him. But Raghav heard her "Oh, umm, I am sorry" he said hurt and confused.
"But someone has to be there to over-rule you right?", "Well you have news Ms.Jadhav, you would not tell me what to do and what not. Definitely not when I am doing something in your interest." Raghav said and Kalpi could feel the smirk and his trademark attitude even through phone. She wiped the lone tear which escaped and shook her head. "Yes Sir, I understand" Kalpi tried to reply chirpily "Now if you allow me, I have a doorbell to ring."
"Fine Ms.Jadhav, just this one time I am listening to you. You may ring that doorbell" Raghav said, relaxed now after listening to Kalpi's voice. Though he was not completely satisfied, he intended to find out what bothered Kalpi soon enough. The chirp in Kalpana's voice sounded so fake to his ears "And Kalpi, you'll share with me the cause of your worry right?" he asked hopefully. "Yes Raghav, I will" Kalpi replied, managing only a whisper. She was afraid if this moment she has more conversation with Raghav, those tears would ditch her eyes. "Also I expect you to give me a call once you reach home okay?" Raghav said.
"Okay" Kalpi replied and cut the call in-between abruptly lest she starts crying. Raghav found it weird but decided for Kalpi to tell him whatever it was herself. "I will wait Kalpi. I just hope whatever it is, will not affect us. That you do not push me away, again" he thought sadly.
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Turning back to face the door Kalpi rang the doorbell and waited cross-armed for someone to open it. Mr.Shinde had told Kalpi that Nisha was now married and she had a five years old daughter. Her husband was a small businessman earlier, but faced losses in business. After that they'd sold all assets and moved to this home. Nisha had in the intervening years contacted Shinde Sir many times asking for some roles. But Mr.Shinde had refused to help Nisha each time. Still the girl was adamant. She'd given her new address and phone number to him. All Mr.Shinde knew about Nisha's husband was that he had worked in someone else's company for some years to run their home. "I guess I will get all the answers soon" Kalpi thought. Wearing her most confident look and garnishing her face with a devilish smirk Kalpi smiled on hearing click of the door.
The door was now open and Nisha stood there wearing a worn-out nightgown. "Hello there" Kalpi said enjoying the shocked expression on Nisha's face.
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"K,K,Kalpi?" Nisha stuttered. "Yes darling, Kalpi. How are you Nisha? I came to meet my old well-wisher. Won't you welcome me in?" she said. "Maybe I am having a nightmare" Nisha whispered to herself making Kalpi chuckle.
"What? What did you say?" Kalpi asked.
"N, nothing. I mean please do come in" Nisha replied allowing Kalpi to come in and closing the door behind Kalpana. Kalpi noticed the girl eyeing her beautiful red tunic with Indian print. Jealousy was written all over Nisha's face. "I was so stupid not to see this before" Kalpi thought and shook her head.
"I'll bring water for you. You make yourself comfortable then we'll catch up okay?" Nisha said turning to kitchen but Kalpi stopped her. "No just leave the formality. I'll come straight to the point. Why did you do it Nisha?" Kalpi asked, her eyes turning serious. Nisha frowned, "What did I do? What do you mean?" a hint of panic creeping in her voice. She tried to divert the topic, "By the way I see you patched up with that ass**** Raghav. I see your show, anyway Congrats. You're a star now." Her wish sounding more like an insult to Kalpi, she lost her cool.
"Just stop it Nisha. Stop your well-wisher act right now. I know everything, everything what you did eight years ago. What you did with me, with my Raghav" Kalpi almost shouted, her voice raising high; her face turning red with anger. Hearing Kalpi's words, colour drained from Nisha's face. Kalpi satisfactorily watched Nisha's ashen face before it turned evil.
"So you know. I don't care how but it is good you know. At least I won't have to pretend anymore to be nice to you" Nisha replied with an evil grin. "Besides I am not at all happy with the success you have got; and that too with that Raghav. Raghav Singhania who ruined my life, I hate you both" Nisha continued.
"You are right it is good that I know now, the face of that bitch who took away my most precious relation from me. How could you do this? How could you do this with someone's friendship?" Kalpi asked in disgust.
Nisha laughed loudly, "Oh Kalpi. I still do not repent what happened with you and Raghav. You both deserved it so very much. You, because you took away from me what I deserved; my position in group and roles meant only for me. But you deserved it even more because you were a fool to distrust your childhood friend over an outsider. I merely took advantage of that little tendency I had seen in you to fight with Raghav over every second thing. And trust me, what fun it was to see that stupid fool being insulted by you. If you were a fool, Raghav was an over-confident fool to sing songs of your unique relation in front of me. He threatened to expose me in front of you and I took away his confidence. That ba****d..." Nisha was pouring out all the hatred she had for Raghav and Kalpana in one breath till Kalpi slapped her.
Stunned and holding her left cheek, her face tilted to one side Nisha was silent for a few seconds until Kalpi roared. "How dare you? How dare you use such words for Raghav?" and Kalpi slapped Nisha again.
"You bitch" Nisha shouted. "No you are bitch to play with people's lives. Because of you I lost Raghav's trust forever; I lost myself. I lost my life and I threw my idol out of my life. Had it not been for show, I'd not have met Raghav again. I'd not have the chance to be with him again!" Kalpi replied earning yet another laugh from Nisha.
"You think you will win Raghav? If yes then you are very wrong Kalpana. Eight years ago, you broke Raghav's belief and trust in you very badly. So badly that he shall always fear to let you in again like before. You may be working together and everything seems fine now. But Raghav will always think what if you leave him again? No Kalpi it is not easy this time. And I am very happy about it. Just because Raghav ruined my acting career and made sure I never get good roles again, my family forced me to marry early. They got me married to a businessman. He was not as big as Raghav, but he did own two small companies. It was enough for me to spend well on me and continue my struggle in modeling plus acting. But then just after one year of marriage, my husband faced immense losses. We were forced to sell everything and shift here. Then you know what happened?" Nisha eyed Kalpi and asked.
Then Nisha continued uttering hate-filled words without waiting for Kalpi to reply. "My husband- Ashok had to get job as a Manager in another company to feed us. Do you know which company it was? Singhania Group of Companies! What a cruel joke, the man whose closest friendship I ruined became my family's angel. I don't know whether Raghav did this deliberately to insult me, or Ashok got it on merits. But I was highly pissed off. I had to bear every taunt of my husband every day because he knew what had happened with me. Every day he showed me down saying I did so wrong with such nice person. Because of Raghav my husband turned against me. I tried my luck in modeling, TV and films to fulfill my dreams alongside. But the only roles I got were that of an extra. Modeling was my only savior, and then Ishita my daughter was born. I was forced to take a break from my dreams for two years. But when I returned, I got back into acting. This time I took up every role I was offered, even that of an extra. I hoped some day, someone would spot my talent but to no avail. I was bookmarked as an extra roles artist and a small time model. I was ruined and my husband; only this month he left the job to start a new business again. This time also Raghav Singhania helped him, by giving him the franchises of one of his famous clothing brands. Ashok has his own shop now, but once again he is under Raghav Singhania. Even now he is away to stock his shop with new supply this late hour while I was awake to make my five years old daughter sleep in the small bedroom of this small flat"; "I hate you both Kalpi, I hate you. But I know Raghav will never truly come in your life again. You both will always remain incomplete and I am the happiest person to know that" Nisha was glaring at Kalpi who was by now fuming in anger.
The next thing Nisha knew was her cheek was smacked again by Kalpi's slap, making her stumble slightly. "If you think I came here only to hear your rant then you are so mistaken Nisha. You do not know Kalpana Jadhav yet.This is for telling lie to me" Kalpi said and slapped Nisha again on the other cheek. "This is for not respecting relations and trust" Kalpi continued and again slapped Nisha; her both cheeks receiving Kalpana's gift one by one alternately.
"This is for being still a bitch and not repenting even once." The small living room of one-bedroom flat echoed again with a slap as Kalpi said "This is for not being grateful to the man who despite what you did, is the reason of a roof on your head and food in your family's stomach."
"This is because you are so wrong in analyzing mine and Raghav's relation. We may be imperfect and full of mistakes, but our relationship is much deeper and pure than you can ever imagine" Kalpi said, again with a slap on Nisha's now reddened cheek. Nisha struggled to get her hand free from Kalpi's left hand. But an angry Kalpi had a death grip on Nisha's wrist. "This is a warning to stay away from our lives from now on. May we never see each other again, but you will certainly see me and Raghav together, always. You wait and watch" Kalpi said and left Nisha before placing another slap on one of her cheeks.
Leaving Nisha's hand, Kalpi pushed her making her stumble on the couch kept besides. Though she still burned in anger and hissed "And yes, I hate you. I hate you more than you hate me and Raghav." Kalpi's body was trembling with anger as she closed this chapter of her life. Her angry stare stuck at Nisha for some moments before leaving the boundaries of that colony forever.
The last thoughts as Kalpi twisted the ignition key of her car while she tried to control her ragged breaths were: "I hope my words come true Raghav and you allow me in your life like before. I hope that we really come together again, to never leave each other again forever. For the confidence in my words is failing in front of the fear in my mind and heart; that you may not accept me like before. That it is a difficult journey Raghav, I am not confident Raghav. I really am not confident, because my confidence comes from you. But I pushed you away Raghav, I pushed you away."
Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction using characters from the show "Ek Mutthi Aasmaan" on "Zee TV". The characters are owned by creators and owners of the show.
PART-28
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
Cricket
