The Best of Things
(RagLak, SwaSan) Fan Fiction Series
By Bubble
Chapter 28
Swara looked at him, the sheen of tears in her eyes.
He looked at her and said deliberately, "Aaj... tum jaana chahti ho, ya rukna?"
Swara swallowed. "Rukna."
He sat back, and a breath of sheer relief poured out of him. He looked at the floor and then closed his eyes for a minute as Swara looked down at him, her heart in her eyes. Then...
"Ok. That's decided. Let's go tell them." He stood up and put out a hand to her. She took it, the tears now rolling down. He took out his handkerchief, crouched before her, wiping them away carefully, and brought her to her feet.
Sanskaar opened the door for Swara to walk through and shut it behind him. Durga Prasad and Ram Prasad were standing at one of the tables quite near, talking in low tones. They turned and looked at them as they came in... Bade Papa raised his brows. Sanskaar drew Swara close and went up to the patriarch, saying in a low voice, "Bade Papa, Swara kahin nahin jaayegi!"
The elder men looked at each other and nodded in relief.
"Shabhash! I was hoping you would say that. You can work this out, beta!" Durga Prasad said, addressing both of them, "marriages are not to be cast away just like that. Swara, don't worry about your sasu-maas... woh pareshaan hain... they care for Sanskaar... please don't mind them." Swara shook her head, not trusting her voice enough to speal.
"Suniye sab log!" Durga Prasad raised his voice. "Hamari bahu kahin nahin jaayegi! Yeh uska ghar hai, aur yeh yahin rahegi!"
"Par ji...!"Annapurna went forward to protest.
Durga Prasad Maheshwari's phone rang. He peered at the screen, drew a breath, and hit answer. "Khamma ghani, Jijasa!"
Conversation in the room lowered by several decibels. Annapurna and Sujata looked at each other.
Durga Prasad moved away, murmuring. And then, raising his head, "Ji, ji... hamara saubhagya hoga! Leejiye, Annapurna se baat kijiye!" And he handed over the phone to his wife, muttering, "Lakshmi jijasa."
Annapurna received the phone with clammy hands. She stood up respectfully, adjusted her pallu on her head and fixed a determined smile on to her face, and said in a voice more high-pitched than normal, "Khamma ghani, Jijasa!" Lakshmi Devi Lahoti, the sister of Durga Prasad and Ram Prasad Maheshwari, who lived in a slightly remote principality in Nagaur, Rajasthan.
Annapurna listened to the voice on the other end, her smile flitting off and returning in painful anxiety. "Ji... ji haan! Haan, haan... bilkul... aap... ji... hum log... ji..."
Next to her Sujata clasped and unclasped her hands, eyes and ears straining for more information.
When the call ended, Annapurna was seen to have become two shades paler.
"Kya hua, jiji?" asked Sujata, dread in her very posture.
Annapurna clutched her sister-in-law's hands, "Sujata! Woh... woh... Lakshmi Jijasa.. yahan aanewali hain! Pata nahin kab... unki teerth yatra hai... aakhir mein woh Kalkatta aayengi... aur kuch din rahengi..."
"Mar gaye, jiji!" wailed Sujata.
Annapurna managed a grip on her emotions and smiled bravely at the rest of the company. "Koi baat nahin... we'll talk about this later. In the meanwhile, Sujata, Parineeta, we must see to dinner. Sharmishtaji and Shekhar babu are here... please, you must stay."
Lakshya moved forward, his hands his pockets, and said, "If Lakshmi Bua Sa is coming to stay, then I'd suggest you beg Swara to postpone her plans for leaving this house, Maa... I don't think you would like the word 'talaq' even mentioned in her presence."
Both ladies turned to each other in horror, and turned to Swara.
"Nai, nai, Swara ab nahin jaa sakti!" Annapurna said jerkily, and walked up to Swara: "Beta, jo kuch hua bhool jao. Abhi hum in sab ke baare mein nahin soch sakte! Tum aur Sanskaar aapas mein tay karlo, jo bhi hai hum baad mein dekhenge... theek hai?"
Stunned at this volte face, Swara nodded bemusedly.
Annapurna and Sujata hurried away to the kitchen to discuss this new calamity, as if they were being pursued by the Furies of Hell.
Edited by soapbubble - 9 years ago
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