WE WILL TRY...Shivika Fiction

"Did you walk out of your house today with a plan to be rolled flat as a chapati on the road"Shivay lunged for the girl before she would have harmed herself fatally. An apparition in sky blue she had just strolled onto the busy street from the sidewalk as if it was her garden. She glanced at the busy street and then focused on his mouth trying hard to squeeze her arm from his secure and snug grip.

"Unhand me this instant; you are hurting me." She whined with a scowl on her face. Shivay was expecting a thank you with an extra topping of gratitude and a smile. Instead, he got an indictment loaded with a sneer. He shook his head and then fixed the girl with a glare.

"You do realize you were about to be killed." He was not ready to let go of the girl without extracting his rightful thanks from her. She once again tried to squint at his mouth, this time he was intrigued. She lost her focus and appeared as if contemplating about something. While patience was not his virtue but this girl had strangely hooked him. He waited for her response still holding onto her arm.

"What do you want from me?" Shivay Singh Oberoi was shocked by her audacity; the heir apparent to the Oberoi group of industries along with his two brothers Om and Rudra, he never wanted for anything. He always acquired, took or achieved, after all, they were nothing short of royalty for India. A business empire established by his grand-father and nurtured by his father, Shakti Singh Oberoi. He single-handedly brought this group of industries to its present glory. Now he had taken a back seat and given the reigns of his empire to the much deserving Shivay and OM, his first and second born. His third-born Rudra was still studying and was the pampered baby of the family. She made him wonder when the last time he really wanted anything was? He always had everything that one could dream. Somehow he had an inkling that he would be left wanting for a thank you today. Not ready to give up without a fight he studied her from top to bottom. A diamond hardware Croc Hermes Birkin in Rouge, unquestionably authentic, he could recognize this bloody bag from a mile. Last month on his trip to Paris his mom had made him pick up the pre-ordered bag, and he had barely escaped a cardiac arrest when he saw the price tag of one crore thirty lakh rupees. To top it all just a few days ago his mom had suddenly understood how luxuries harmed the nature and had become an animal lover. The Pinky Singh Oberoi had become a vegan and an environmental conservationist. Gone was the crore thirty in her armoire full of bags. At least this new social fad did not cost them much.

"I think you have gathered enough wool to make a king size blanket." She blinked her eyes at him, and he withdrew his gaze from her bag.

"Umm, are you interested in my bag?" She hugged it a little closer to her chest, and Shivay's eyes were forced to behold her feminine form with masculine appreciation. Being a gentleman, he looked away the minute he came to his senses.

"Wait a minute. Do you think I am queer? Why the hell would I be interested in your bag." There she went again back to peering over his lips with microscopic focus.

"Are you a dentist? Are you looking for flaws in my teeth? I have perfectly fine teeth and have all thirty-two of them." He was about to bare his teeth at her but refrained right in the nick of time.

"You are still holding my arm."

"Anika, what are you doing here? I have been looking for you in every corner of the mall." The girl was trying to catch her breath as she pointed to the indomitable building of DLf Emporio mall, right across the street.

"Priyanka! Is she your sister? She is weird."He would have smacked his forehead for the first time in his life. Who talks like that to a woman about her sister?

"Yes she is my younger sister, and she is not weird" Priyanka responded with vehemence.

"I did not mean to upset you, but she jumped in the way of a speeding car." He tried to make repairs to his tattered image.

"You pulled her off the street?"Priyanka was more shocked than surprised at this admission SHivay was known to be condescending, rude, sarcastic, and unsocial. Generosity and kindness were not his attributes. At least that is what she knew about him.

"Of harm's way, to be precise. She had chosen that very spot for her accidental death and a blaring red speeding BMW as the vehicle for her transcendence to the otherworld" He made himself clear with a smug look and a sarcastic smile.

"Thank you Shivay." Priyanka pulled Anika's hand free of his grip with a humble thanks and walked away.

Priyanka Mehta was the daughter of Tej Singh Mehta, the leading diamond merchant of the country. Shivay never knew he had three daughters. He knew about Priyanka and Gauri, but this weird Anika was a discovery. Gauri was the one who worked along with Tej and Shivay was well acquainted with her, more so because Om had a particular interest in her. Priyanka was a jewelry designer, and the Mehtas were now ready to launch their first line of jewelry with their girls. If he believed his mother, then their catalog was already prebooked and sold out. This new find had caught his interest.

"Can you believe it she thought I was gay Om?"

"It is not as if it is something bad? You did call her weird which was rude though" Om chuckled at the way he had repeated the sentence thrice in the past one minute.

"I did not say that being gay is bad. She accused me of being after her bag." He tried to make his point. Om attempted to keep a straight face doing all the kinds of face yoga that he had learned while Rudra rolled on the floor.

"Even our mom has grown out of her infatuation with bags; it was so wrong of her to assume that bhaiya was after her bag," Rudra said in between his peels of laughter that seemed to drown his voice.

"On a lighter note, I will ask Gauri about her when I meet her tomorrow." Om tried to sound sincere. It was not always that the Shivay Singh Oberoi talked about a girl.

"Oh! Please, Om, I am telling you how strange that girl is, and you are talking of finding about her! I don't need assistance to be introduced to girls anyway" Well that was a truth, his blue eyes, his pleasant but mysterious appearance, his forever illusive temperament had made him the most eligible bachelor of the country. There were queues of girls ready to fall at his feet, but he was his mama's lovely son, dearest of the three. In his five years in the business, he had revolutionized the cellular network and marketing, disrupting the market with his new launch just two years ago in the niche, Oberoi cell had taken over literally every other cellular network in the country. That was not his only achievement, for the deal he was, he was grounded and humble enough, though an introvert and not viable socially. He had his secrets and imperfections, which were known only to his family.

...

"Anika how could you stroll away all by your self you know you need help." Tej roared at his daughter's rank careless behavior.

"I don't need help." She glanced at her dad from under her eyes as he signed his words. No matter how loudly he spoke or how harshly he uttered his warnings, they meant nothing to Anika now. There was a time when his voice dripped like honey and drenched her inside out. There was a time when she waited to hear him call out her name. There was a time when she expected to listen to him clap when she sang. There was a time when she could hear perfectly well but that time was gone long ago.

"You need help!" He pulled her to her feet irritated at her reluctance to accept her weakness, and she winced in pain.

"What is that? Who did this to you?" He was shocked to see finger imprints on her arm.

"Papa, Anika had stepped in the way of a speeding vehicle, and SHivay had pulled her away." Priyanka tried to allay Tej's angst at seeing his beloved daughter hurt.

A daughter who was his most cherished wish. A daughter who had every attribute of his departed mother. Not that the other two were any less, but they were not like Anika, caring, loving, giving, adjusting, pretty, not as much as Gauri and Priyanka nevertheless passable. She was the Belle of the family Gauri used to laugh at her forever kind demeanor and her habit of being buried in books.

"Next time you are not going out alone." Tej had no trace of uncertainty in his command, but he did not fail to notice a rising rebellion in Anika.

"Yes, Papa." Her tone was unnaturally sweet, and her eyes spat fire.

"You Ms. Mehta, from now on will only go outside with me. Look at it from any perspective I will always remain your father and better equipped to read your mind." He tapped his index finger on her temples as he made himself clear that he would entertain nothing at the cost of Anika's safety. She could not hear him but, she understood his warning.

"Papa I will no more be trapped in this prison. If that will need to free my self of this life..." Before she could complete her sentence, Tej dragged her to her room and bolted her in.

"Tej this is no way to deal with a grown-up girl!" Janhavi who had been a silent spectator till now could hold back no more.

"Dare you open that door. I trusted you with Anika's safety after all that had happened ten years ago, and you faltered yet again."

Tej stomped out of their living room leaving behind a shaken Janhavi. Anika had heard her father's accusation, and she succumbed to the floor under the weight of guilt. Her parents could never be the same loving couple they had been after that fateful accident. Ten years ago when Anika was just twelve Gauri was sixteen and Priyanka fourteen, life had been fun and beautiful. Exactly ten years ago on her birthday, their world was turned upside down. Instead of conviviality that every girl associates her birthday with 28 march became symbolic for perennial pain and misery for Anika. They were all set to go to Matheran for trekking she was putting all the stuff she had wanted which was just a guitar and her favorite book in their SUV. Gauri had already packed her humongous suitcase with all sorts of activewear and accessories though they were to be there for just one day. Priyanka had brought her little Barbie which she called Francesa along. Dad and mom had loaded their stock of old classics from the 80s. Beethoven's Ninth Symphony was both her mom and dad's favorite. She grew up listening to Ode to joy, while her love was Lata Mangeshkar. Many children her age hardly knew any of these names but the music was not her passion, it was her life. At the age of twelve, she could play piano and sitar with accuracy and fluidity.

She had taken a step back after putting her guitar in the trunk. Her foot got trapped in the pothole in their driveway, and she fell with a twisted ankle. Janhavi looked back once to check before backing the car. The last sound that Anika remembers was the horrified scream from his father who had been standing signing some documents in the driveway. After that Anika never heard another note of music, never heard the cuckoos coo, never heard her beloved sisters bicker, never heard her grandma's bell, or chants never heard anything. Her world became so quiet that she felt scared and restless. It was as if she was in a glass room where there were no windows. She could see the world but could never feel it. Anika forgot how to sleep and craved to listen to Priyanka's snores. Slowly she turned from a soft-hearted, gentle music loving girl to an uncontrollable, roaring and bellowing storm.

Two years went by in a flash so to say, but Anika felt the silence of every moment hammer nails straight into her heart. Every minute made its ticker felt with force. Tej, remained in the office most of the time. Unable to forgive himself or Janhavi he no more was the loving man he used to be. Their family broke down into a massive blame game. Her sisters blamed her for their missing dad. Their dad blamed their mom for a tormented Anika. Anika blamed the God for her never-ending plight. Janhavi was still looking for the person who had messed with the brakes of her car. Unfortunately, no one else believed her when she said that their car had been bugged. Even the police could not find any evidence of any brake failure. She had run over Anika, somehow the girl had managed to survive with a few broken ribs, a fractured leg, but the tailpipe of the car had done more damage to Anika than the wheels. It had hit her squarely on her head causing bilateral damage to the primary auditory cortex, inducing a rare kind of deafness called cortical deafness in Anika. In this conundrum, the only person who held onto her sanity and remained the pivoting factor for the otherwise breaking family was Tej's mother, Devyani Mehta.

It was Anika's fourteenth birthday two years after her accident when the monster in her had risen again. She had argued with both her sisters and then with Janhavi. When nothing had worked, she started smashing everything around her and screaming like a maniac. Unable to hear her voice she could not control its pitch. Janhavi feared that she would damage her vocal chords permanently and so in an attempt to calm her down she had physically tried to quieten her. When Tej entered the house, he saw Janhavi struggling with Anika and her palm on Anika's mouth. Anika was red with anger and had chewed onto her mother's fingers with a vengeance. Tej neither noticed Janhavi's efforts nor the violence of his daughter. All he saw was Janhavi trying to clamp Anika's mouth shut and Anika fighting back, while his other two daughters were calling onto Janhavi and screaming pointlessly. What he interpreted was that Janhavi was trying to suffocate Anika. The push and the slap that Janhavi had endured that day from Tej left a permanent imprint on Anika's heart. She never demanded anything ever again till today. She denied going anywhere and to move out of society. All her schooling was private, and she submerged herself in her books. Anika did not hide her mistake she told tej what she had been up to, yet the gap between Tej and Janhavi could never be repaired. They lived together like two parallel shores of a river. Anika's Dadi became her source of respite. She removed herself from everyone but the company of her dadi or her dad. The distance between her and her sisters only progressed with age. Neither bothered to mend it. Anika learned how to sign, but she had still not perfected the art of lipreading. Her parents had gotten so lost in their issues that the time that they should have spent in equipping Anika better to live life independently in future they wasted in their trivial blames and complains. Despite having financial means they failed to provide her with better opportunities, and that made her dependent on her interpreter, Saumya. Anika detested it and craved for independence, and she started to look for information on lipreading. With minimal resources here in India and no support from her parents, she was left to maneuver her way through the bright but remarkably silent forest on her own. She had learned to count her blessings. She thanked the Lord for her vision. At least she had parents howsoever dysfunctional they provided her with a lot more than many got in their lives. She had become quieter and more reflective. Anika had come of age by her twenty-second birthday.