Part 1
Ragini woke up with a splitting headache.
It took a while for the world to come into focus. She was exhausted, and she didn't know why. She felt like her body was sore everywhere, and she didn't know why. Things kept shifting in and out of focus and it was hard to focus on a single thought in her head.
She just lay in her bed for a moment, not really thinking, but staring transfixed, as though hypnotized by the slowly rotating ceiling fan. She didn't want to get up, feeling too lethargic to even move a single muscle, but she knew she had to get up. Today was a big day.
She got out of bed - with more difficulty than usual - and absently started to remove her garments. Her eyes darted around the room, landing on random object here and there. Something felt different, felt... off, but she didn't know what. Everything looked normal.
She opened her closet to dress herself and was taken aback by how little of her clothes were in the closet. Maybe Dadi had donated them? She mused absently as she dressed and braided her hair.
She descended the stairs and was surprised to see decorations everywhere. What was going on? Was she forgetting something? Ragini tried to remember if there was a festival around the corner that she had forgotten about, but trying to remember was making her dizzy. Her head felt like the time her and Baba had gone to the fair and ridden the tilt-a-whirl. Her head spun and she felt like she might throw up last night's dinner. She felt horribly disoriented and clutched onto a pillar for support.
"Ragini!" She heard her Dadi exclaim in panic. "Ragini, are you okay? What's wrong? Talk to me."
Ragini remained silent until she felt like she could open her eyes without vomiting. The concerned face of her Dadi came into focus. "I'm alright Dadi." She tried to smile, but from Dadi's frown, it was probably not as convincing as she hoped. She then noticed the numerous people that were present in the room, staring right at her. "Dadi," she whispered, "Does Baba have some friends over?" Her Dadi remained silent and just stared at her.
Ragini looked around the room at the sea of unfamiliar faces, all staring at her and making her feel decidedly uncomfortable. She spotted her Baba in the crowd and went over to him. "Good morning Baba." She greeted. He too just stared at her, not saying anything. Ragini had a bad feeling in her gut. Something was going on here, something big, but she didn't know what. Who were these people? Why were they here? Why was her family acting like she was a stranger?
She looked around the room again and this time noticed some expressions. Some were stoic, some were pitying, some were sad, but there was one man in particular, the man in blue, who just looked angry. He was glaring at her; it seemed, with all the hate in his being. Ragini shivered at the sudden chill and turned back to her Baba. "Baba, what's going on?" Her Baba seemed at a loss for words and simply stared at her.
She felt a hand on her shoulder and found it belonged to their neighbour, Swara, who looked at her with concern. "Hello Swara." She greeted pleasantly.
Swara seemed taken aback but replied just as pleasantly, "Hi Ragini."
It didn't seem to occour to Ragini's addled mind to inquire why Swara, granddaughter of their sworn enemy was in her house. She just focused on the familiar face in the confusing situation. "Are you all prepared for the contest today Swara?"
Swara's pretty face morphed in confusion. "Contest?"
"Yes," Ragini reminded her gently. "You and I have to compete to see who will represent the school. I look forward to performing with you Swara."
Ragini saw the person approach from behind Swara and recognized her immediately. "I hope you are coming to the contest also Sharmishtha Aunty."
Ragini got that feeling of unease again when neither woman responded to her, but exchanged concerned looks instead. She felt the need to escape this situation. She searched in the sea of faces again until she spotted her grandmother. "Dadi, I am going to go prey, then we should leave for the academy."
Ragini didn't want for a response, but twisting her hands in nervousness escaped from the room.
As soon as Ragini left the room, the whole family, in tandem, turned to the doctor for an explanation.
"Doctor," Swara spoke up, "the contest that Ragini is speaking of took place 6 months ago. What's wrong with her?"
The doctor asked them all to take a seat and explained that Ragini was suffering from a memory loss. "She is apparently going through a lot, which explains her suicide attempt, but it seems that her mind has been unable to cope with the stress of recent events. Was there something special about this contest?"
Swara thought back to those earlier days where life was so simple and uncomplicated. It was just her, Maa and Dida, and though life wasn't perfect for them, things were pretty great. She thought back to hat contest. Things really had taken a tailspin and crashed down after it. The contest had sparked a slight friendship between Ragini and herself, who before then was just the girl next door her grandmother hated. Soon after the contest she had found out about her true parentage. She would not even have met Lakshya had she not been upset over discovering the truth and gone to find some peace to think. That was also the time the Maheswaris came into their lives and everything changed henceforth. "Yes Doctor. This was just before her and I discovered we were sisters and she became engaged."
"It seems then that Ragini's mind has reset to a time before any of her current problems were in her life. This might be a way for her mind to cope with the stress."
She heard a derisive snort, from Lakshya of course. "Let me guess," he threw in sarcastically, "we can't tell the poor girl about any of this or it will stress her delicate mind."
The doctor shot him a glare, unamused by his attitude. "This is not a TV Soap Mr. Maseshwari." He turned to address the rest of the family. "Memory loss can be tricky. It could just be temporary while her mind heals itself, if it is her mind's way of coping with the stress then once it has de-stressed her memories could return. Her memory could be triggered by anything small and will probably come back in small doses and not at once. Or her memory might not return at all."
There was a stunned silence in the room as everyone absorbed that information. But some people looked less than impressed with this news. One such person was her mother-in-law Sujata. She clicked her tongue, "This Ragini. How much more of her drama must we endure?"
The doctor, wisely, ignored that statement. "One thing I will caution you against is to force her to remember anything. You can tell her about the time she has forgotten, but putting too much pressure on her will not help her heal. Be gentle when you tell her about her life."
The doctor then wrote a prescription for some painkillers and took his leave.
"She's faking it." Lakshya announced with a careless shrug.
Swara trampled down the desire to cause him bodily harm. Sure, Ragini had done some awful things to her recently, but she had known Ragini all her life. She was a good person, she was her sister! She could become that good person again. She just needed some love and guidance. And another chance!
"Ragini is sick Lakshya. This is not the time suspect her, but the time to support her make sure she gets better." Bade Papa scolded, always the voice of reason.
The room went silent again as they heard Ragini's payals approaching. She looked around the room nervously. Swara knew she wasn't faking it because Ragini had turned into the same skittish and nervous girl she once used to be, oppressed under the thumb of her traditional household. She spotted her Dadi and went over to her. "Shall we leave Dadi? It's getting late."
"Sit down Laddo," Dadi's voice sounded tired, defeated, "we have something to tell you."
Cricket
CID
Kumkum Bhagya
Pyaar Kii Ye Ek Kahaani
Kabhi Neem Neem Kabhi Shahad Shahad
