Chapter 4
AN:- Read the author's note at the end to know about what has been cooking in my head!
Sorry for any errors as this is not edited.
Enjoy!
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"Meri Didi ko koi bhi tang nahi karega jab tak mein unhe bahar nahi leke aata. Aur haan. Shravan Bhaiya, Pushkar jiju aur Preeti Didi aap teeno abhi issi vakt iss kamre mein aayo."
Stunned by his demand the three of them shuffle into the room in a daze and stare at him in equal parts amusement and awe and the last thing I see before he shuts the door to my room are the proud and smiling faces of Nanu and mamaji.
Daboo walks towards, grabs my hand and pulls me towards my bed, climbs on it and wipes my tears saying "Suman Didi, aap itni strong hokar ro rahe ho? Chalo rona band karo nahi toh mere friends joh aapse darte hai na phir nahi darengay. Aur phir mein aapka naam lekar unko dara bhi nahi paunga," he finishes on a cute pout.
A small genuine laugh erupts from within me and I can't help but pull this adorable little monster's cheeks. "Mere pyaare Daboo, tumhari Didi se tumhare dost humesha darengay kyuki joh bhi mere cute se bhai ko tang karega usko mein nahi chodungi. Deal yaad hai na?"
"Haan, Didi."
"Suman Didi? Ek baat bolu?"
"Haan bol."
"Didi aap kya bhage the! Full DDLJ ki Simran ki feel aa gayi." And with that all four of us end up laughing. "Arre sach mein, mera toh man tha ki bolu 'Ja Sumo ja, ji le aapni zindangi.'" By now Pushkar is howling, Preeti is sat on the sofa clutching her stomach, Shravan is trying his hardest to control himself but given by the violent shaking of his shoulders I can most definitely see he is failing and in the midst of this madness I manage to hug Daboo, appreciating his efforts to lighten the heavy atmosphere.
Once all five of us have calmed down, I hold Daboo by his shoulders and thank him for standing up for me. "Thank you so much, Daboo for standing up for me."
"It's okay, Didi," he replies cutely.
"Accha ab sun. Mujhe bahar jana hoga," I can see the protest building up on his lips and shut him down before he has to say anything. "Daboo, yaad hai na mene ek baar kya bola tha? Gir ke uthna aur phir bhaagna. Yeh problem? I fell into it aur mujhe khud uthna hoga aur phir bhaagna bhi mujhe hi hoga. Problems se bhaagne se problems toh nahi chali jaati na?" He shakes his head side to side acknowledging that he is indeed listening to what I am saying, like always. "Toh yeh bhi ek problem hai jis se mujhe ladna hai. That's it. Aur akele thodi na hu mein. Tu hai na mere saath." I grin at him to ease his mind.
"Main aur Preeti Didi aur saath mein Jiju aur Shravan Bhaiya bhi hai iss baar. Haina Shravan Bhaiya? Aap ho na meri Di ke saath?"
He comes forward and puts his hand out for Daboo to shake it. "Mein hamesha aapki Didi ka saath dunga."
Daboo grins wide at his favorite bhaiyaa and with that one statement, I knew that he meant what he said and with that realization the seed of hope took place within me that maybe, maybe after everything was revealed and a lot of perceptions, relationships and assumptions will be shattered Shravan and I would be okay. That no matter what, we will always find our way back to each other.
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Stepping out of the room everyone is present except mamiji and Nanu. Since clearing the assumptions that were made due to my silence there are two more people that I need to apologise to. Nirmala Aunty and Aditya; but I haven't seen him since I came back and I'm pretty sure he didn't want to be around the family who's daughter left him at the mandap and I don't blame him. I wouldn't want to be around them either. Walking up to the woman who I consider as a mother figure in my life, my palm begin to sweat and the butterflies return creating a having in my tummy and I realize this is the first time that I have been afraid to approach her.
"Nirmala Aunty? Kya mein aap se baat kar sakti hu?"
She looks up at me with eyes wide, that see too much but understands a little too less. I walk into my room once again and wait for her to come in before closing the door making sure that no one interrupts us.
"Aunty..."
"Suman, yeh kya tha? Tum aise?"
"Aunty, mein aapko sab kuch batati hu. Baat yeh hai ki, Aditya ne bola ki voh mujhse pyaar karta Hai par Aunty, maine toh yeh kabhi bhi nahi bola tha ki mein usse pyaar karti hu. Na Aditya se aur na hi kissi aur se; Aditya ne joh bola voh sabne maan liya. Aapne bhi."
"Toh phir beta shaadi ke liye haan..."
"Nanu ke liye."
"Tiwari ji ke liye?"
"Uss din jab aap Nanu se mere aur Aditya ke rishte ki baat kari thi, Nanu ne mujhe bulakar yahi baat batayi. Jab maine unhe koi jawab nahi diya toh voh zid karne lage aur apni dawai lene se bhi mana kar diya, bole jab tak mein is shaadi ke liye haan nahi bolungi tab tak voh koi bhi treatment nahi karvayengay."
A small gasp leaves her lips after knowing about the happenings of the day after she left from here.
"Ab aap hi batao na Aunty, main kya karti?"
"Bolti unko beta, mana kar deti."
"Koshish ki thi par voh kuch sunna nahi chahte the. Voh chahte the ki main aapke ghar ki bahu banu kyunki aap mujhe maa ka pyaar aur sahara dengi."
"Toh tumne haan bol diya. Isliye nahi kyuki main tumhe aapni beti manti hu par isliye kyuki Tiwari ji ne aapna ilaaj karne se mana kar diya. Maine sahi bola na, Suman?"
"Haan. Mein Nanu ko bachane ke uss vaqt kuch bhi kar sakti thi, toh maine haan bol diya."
"Tum itni Be-Gharz kyu ho?"
"Be-Gharz nahi hu, Aunty bas apno see kuch zayada hi pyaar karti hu aur unki khushi ke liye kuch bhi kar sakti hu chahe voh mere liye kuch bhi na kare."
We both are sitting side by side on the bed staring straight ahead reveling in the information that I just told her when I feel her hand hold mine softly. Turning towards her, I see an emotion in her eyes that I can't put a name on.
"Ek baat puchu toh sach sach jawab degi?"
I nod my head waiting to see what she wants to ask.
"Kya koi hai jiss se tum pyaar karti ho?"
After a beat of silence I answer her truthfully.
"Haan."
"Kaun?"
"Shravan." As I say his name I feel a tear drop from my eye as I remember the past few weeks and our equation. The ignoring, the running, the fights, inflicting pain on him.
"Shravan? Kab se?" I see a smile that lights up her face with revelation.
"Pichle 10 saalo se."
"Kya?! Beta tune kisko kuch bola Kyu nahi?"
"Kissi ne meri marzi puchi hi nahi, aur jab batana chaha toh kissi ne sunna nahi chaha. Shravan ne bhi nahi."
"Toh kya hua? Tab nahi bol payi toh ab bol de!" She says excitedly.
"Itna easy nahi hai Aunty." I relpy exhausted getting up from my spot on the bed and walking towards the window.
"Kyu nahi hai? Pyaar karti hai tu usse koi gunha thodi na kara hai."
"Aunty, pechle kuch hafto aisi bahut cheeze hui hai jo kisiko bhi nahi pata. Aapko bhi nahi aur Shravan ko toh khaskar nahi." I say, wrapping my arms around me.
"Suman? Aisa kya hua hai? Bata mujhe."
"Aunty..."
"Suman." She says sternly. "Bata kya hua."
And I tell her. I tell her everything that happened after I tried to make Shravan meet Nirmala Aunty; from my PCT shutting down to Ramnath Uncle's dislike for me and him blackmailing me to stay away from Shravan if I wanted Preeti and Pushkar's marriage to move smoothly. She listens to everything that I say, not interrupting me. Once I'm done retelling her everything a silence falls upon us, one that is contemplative.
"Aur kisiko yeh baat pata hai?"
"Haan, par apni marzi se nahi. Preeti ne Nanu aur mere beech ki baat sab sun li thi aur usko batana pada. Aur aaj pata chala ki ussne shaadi ke baad Pushkar ko bhi sab kuch bata diya."
"Aur Shravan? Shravan ko kab batana hai?"
"Aunty sawal yeh nahi hai ki Shravan ko kab batana hai. Sawal yeh hai ki agar main Shravan ko yeh sab batungi toh kya voh mera yakeen karega?"
She comes up to me and puts her hand on my shoulder, squeezing it lightly in support. "Tum jao aur usse sab kuch batao, more importantly usse apne dil ki baat batao. Ram ko main handle kar lungi."
"Par Aunty?"
"Par-var kuch nahi. Tu aaj usse sab kuch sach bateygi, bina jhijhak ke. Aur main hun na tere saath."
"Are you sure?"
She gives me an encouraging smile and nods her head.
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Walking out of my room with Nirmala Aunty behind me, I look for Shravan because I know if I don't do this now I might never be able to. After looking around for a while, something makes me climb the stairs to the terrace and I find him there his back facing me.
"Tumhari der se aane ki aadat kabhi nahi jayegi na?" He turns around and there is softness on his face that had been missing. A small, barely there smile touches his lips but his eyes are still troubled, looking at me with a desperation that wasn't there until now.
I stand beside him, looking out to the sky while he leans on the grill staring at me.
"Sabse se baat ho gayi?" He asks softly?
"Nahi."
He frowns at my answer. "Aur kaun bacha hai?"
"Tum. Tum abhi rehte ho baat karne ke liye."
"We"
"I guess it's time we have that conversation. It's time we clear out all the misunderstandings." I interrupt him. Preeti's words when she told me it was time to go to the mandap.
It's time.
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Hey, everyone! Hope you all liked this Chapter. The much awaited Shraman conversation is going to be coming in the next Chapter and after that, a few more Chapters and the story will be wrapped up!
I have another short story in the works and completely different to this one as it more on the fluff side and I can't wait to share it with you all. Titled Through the Years ~ A Shraman SS this story will be posted only after I am done writing the whole thing. Also, I would really like help from the graphic geniuses of this community because I need a certain type of Book Cover that I can't make so message me if you are interested and wanting to help. (Photoshop is not my friend at the moment. Lol!)
I really hope you have enjoyed the story so far but if there are any suggestions feel free to drop them in the comments! And as always VOTE & COMMENT!
Until the next chapter...
PS. Be-Gharz is Urdu for selfless.
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