|| Behind The Veil Of Lies: A NiBir SS || chap 7: pg 42, 30/7 - Page 22

"Suicide?", asked a stunned Kabir. From what Nisha had told him of Dolly, she was a strong willed girl, an inspiration to Nisha.

"Yes, suicide.", Ramesh's voice was a mere whisper, a pained whisper.

"Papa, it's ok. You don't..."

"We had never expected Dolly to do something like that.", Ramesh's eyes started tearing, remembering that dreadful night, which had not just taken away their dear daughter, leaving a huge void in their lives, but had also affected Nisha unimaginably. Kabir did not interrupt him this time. He wanted to know what made a girl like Dolly commit suicide.

"Dolly was in love with her classmate, Sumit. They were in relationship for almost 4 years. Both wanted to legalise their relationship, they wanted to get married. Dolly had put all her faith and trust in Sumit, in their relationship. But, Sumit hadn't. He was with Dolly for our money/property and for his own perverted needs. Dolly did not realise this. Nor did we. How I wish I had seen through that scumbag then itself. But I didn't. The marriage rituals started. Nisha was 12 years old then. And Dolly 20. She was more of a mother to her than a sister. Since, both Lakshmi and me would be out working most of the time, it was Dolly who took care of Nisha. It wouldn't be wrong if I say, practically it was Dolly who raised Nisha. Nisha was very excited to see her dear sister get married. On the day of her mehendi, Sumit had come to meet Dolly after we all had retired to bed. He fooled Dolly saying he wanted to enjoy his last night as her boyfriend and took her to a club, intoxicated her and took advantage of her.", By this time Ramesh's eyes had turned red with anger and unshed tears. His body trembled with rage as he recounted Sumit's treachery. Kabir kept mum. He didn't know what to say as he had never seen Ramesh so angry before. However, Ramesh continued,

"The next morning Sumit's mother came home, accusing Dolly and marring her character. Dolly was clueless. She didn't have any memory of last night and she looked at Sumit for support. But, to her dismay, Sumit did not utter a word in Dolly's defence. Dolly was shattered. Sumit's mother threatened to break off the alliance. She placed her materialistic demands shamelessly. But, Dolly had none of it. She broke off the alliance and also went ahead to lodge a complaint against the mother-son duo. Though she put up a strong facade on the front, we knew how broken she was emotionally. Nisha had no clue what had happened. She was sad seeing her sister sad. It took a whole year for Dolly to recuperate. She bettered with time. Or so we thought. It was a usual day and all of us went about our daily routine. Lakshmi and me returned home late from work. Dolly and Nisha were fast asleep. We too retired for the day. A low sobbing sound woke us up. Startled, we rushed to their room and what we saw was enough to haunt us till eternity. Dolly had slit her wrist and Nisha was sitting beside her, sobbing, asking her to wake up.", Ramesh's tears refused to stop.

"How could I tell her Kabir, that her Dolly di would never wake up again! Would never help her with her projects again! Would never play with her again! Would never pamper her again! Would never speak to her again!", with this, Ramesh broke down. He had pulled himself together for his wife and daughter that day. But today, he couldn't. All the pent up emotions wanted a release. Kabir did not realise when his own tears had made their way down his cheeks. Ramesh was a father figure to him and seeing him in such a vulnerable state was painful for Kabir.

After sometime, calming himself, "Kabir, now go catch some sleep. Because you'll have a hard day tomorrow convincing Lakshmi.", joked Ramesh, trying to lighten the mood. Kabir nodded and retired to his room while Ramesh stayed back for some alone time.

*Next day*

"Papa, I know Kabir must have already told you about yesterday's events. He cannot keep secrets from you. No use warning him", said Nisha making an annoyed face. Ramesh had come to talk to Nisha about what Kabir had said yesterday, but, before he could open his mouth, Nisha had understood what he was there for.

"Then why did you warn him in the first place?", chuckled Ramesh. "Beta, you are ok na? You want me to ring up Dr.Sarla once?", asked Ramesh concerned.

"Papa I'm absolutely fine. Trust me. But papa, please don't tell maa about this! You know na she..."

"Why not Nishu? Doesn't your mother have the right to know what's happening in her daughter's life? If I hadn't overheard Ramesh and Kabir's conversation yesterday, I wouldn't have come to know about Priya at all."

Nisha gulped hard seeing a rather disappointed Lakshmi at the entrance of her room. "No maa.. I was just"

"Nishu, whatever I do is for your good na beta? Will I wish bad for you that you keep things from me?. Ok I agree, I overreact at times. But, that's a mother's concerns acting up. And that's why I don't want you to go so far from us. God forbid, if something unfortunate happens, what will you do? What will we do? Who will be by your side then?", asked Lakshmi all concerned, sitting by Nisha's side.

"What am I there for maa?", came Kabir's voice.

"Kabir? What do you mean?", asked Nisha, confused.

Kabir kneeled infront of Lakshmi and taking her hand in his, he spoke, "Maa, you remember what I had promised you the day I realised my love for Nisha? That I would be with her through thick and thin? In her ups and downs?" Lakshmi nodded in affirmative while Ramesh and Nisha looked on. "That promise still holds good maa. I am going with Nisha to Singapore and will be with her till she completes her course.", he said reassuring her.

"But, Kabir your office...", started Nisha.

"My boss has agreed for my transfer to their Singapore branch, Nisha.", he said cutting her off.

Lakshmi looked reassured and finally after a little more coaxing, she gave her approval. Nisha's happiness knew no bounds. All the four celebrated Nisha's success, making each minute a memorable one, which they would cherish for a long long time.