Hi All,
I’m back! For those who are like abbe kaun hai tu, new fan...wrote something a few days ago....back again with another piece. This is a companion piece to my one shot: Shattered. While you’ll understand general plot if you read this in isolation, it is recommended that you read the other piece as well.
Do read and leave your thoughts!
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The drive to Begumpet from Jubilee Hills on an average day took around twenty minutes. Of course, he should have known there was nothing average about today.He was tempted to do a Rahul Dravid and batter those around him to clear the traffic. While “Jubilee Hills ka Gunda hoon main” was a good look on him, he probably needed all his wits on him to tackle what lay ahead. He thought back to the call he received from her.
“Raghav..”She never called him Raghav. He was Raghav Rao, Ghamandi Rao and the 30 otherversions of something Rao was more their beat.
“Raghav…woh…”she continued and then her voice broke. He hadn’t waited to hear more…he didn’t need to hear more. The heartbreak in her voice was enough for him to drop everything and rush to her.
“Pallavi…nenuvastunnanu, akkde undo. Arthamainda?”. He didn’t bother translating as he cut the call. He knew she understood him. Inexplicably they understood each other,when needed.
Funnily enough, he never called her Pallavi either (well not to her face at least). Today was not an average day.
Raghav had met this Saree ka dukaan five months ago. They had gotten off to the wrong startright from the beginning. He detested her, her righteousness and the moral high ground she always took. He was someone who believed in practicality and making the most of his street smartness in situations to suit his gain. Life had taught him that if he didn’t make the first move, it would just leave him behind. He was not averse to hard work and dedication; his parents had taught him that…but along the way, being alone he had learnt to drive maximum value out of any circumstance.
Her entry in his life and her “full time lectures” irked him beyond belief. He couldn’t believe how dense she was. It was no wonder her business was running a loss. She had not an iota of commercial sense. Once he took over the ownership of her shop’s real estate, he slowly figured that she wasn’t dense, just naïve.She saw the good in everyone. Her love for the art of saree making and the community of weavers had meant that she was being taken for granted by both suppliers and customers. Further her innocence meant she was unable to see through that.
Not him though! She was a firebrand around him, and it took him a while to admit to himself that he massively enjoyed it when she took up arms against him. It gave him a purpose to be connected to the wider world beyond his business. It didn’t help that Farhad and Harish observed it far quicker than him. However unknown to his loyal team, there was something deeper that pulled him to that Saree ka Dukan. Beyond the innocence,her banter with him, her unapologetic fights with him, was something rawer that beckoned to him. It was an emotion he couldn’t name but it shone with the same tinge of sadness that he felt at not having his family around. He wasn’t entirely sure how that was possible since she was literally his antithesis in the fact that she was always surrounded by her family and all the work that she did was for that family.
He deeply regretted his past behaviour with her. There was no excuse for the vileness of his act. He still longed to apologise to her but was afraid that if he reminded her of that period again, they would lose the weird comfort they had reached with each other. He knew enough of her now to know she would have never done anything to harm him (shockingly nice as she always was!) and he cringed at his cowardliness. But he couldn’t himself to do anything that meant she’d move away from him. He wanted the continued presence of her in his city, his life.
Her saving his life had ratcheted the respect he held for her. He couldn’t believe she had set aside everything and tended to him. She never ceased to amaze him. Thatweek when he was recovering was etched in his mind forever. She had extended a warmth that was like nothing else had experienced. It was almost like he belonged somewhere…that there was someone who was his own. She flitted around his house like it was the most normal thing, muttering unknown words and phrases in Marathi, quickly turning her head away when he quizzed her. It was also a weirdly different side of her, a free, less guarded Pallavi. One that didn’t seem to be carrying the Sisyphean burden. Like she was almost glad to have someone to care for. He was puzzled once again at that emotion he saw, someone whose life seemed to revolve only around caring for her family (well leave aside Bindi Wala Aunty, I mean ala picchi vaaltho yevaru matladanu). That week was one of the most special weeks in his life and he treasured the version they both were around each other. While they returned to being Saree ka Dukan and Ghamandi Rao soon after, he knew and felt that it was different.
What he never imagined was that they would both be stuck in a terrible predicament because of that week. Her family had twisted that relationship and using thatweek as proof turned their association into something sordid and ugly. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing at the hospital. Raghav was pro-choice and in his head, he didn’t even understand why what someone did with their body was anybody’s else’s business. However the language they were using against her was beyond terrible. He couldn’t believe that her decision to care for him waslanding her in such a mess, especially since her family were just not ready to listen. Neither were her pleas falling on their ears, nor his temper. How a father could utter these words for his daughter he didn’t know. He did not like Mr. Deshmukh, that was not news, but after this incident he was so thankful that his first impression about the man was true. He probably shouldn’t have held his collar, knowing how Saree ka dukaan would react, but nobody messes with Farhad.When she lashed out at him, he was taken aback…he couldn’t understand what had just transpired. Her family was the one unwilling to listen and trigger happy with their insults and she was blaming him.
Raghav was not a stranger to being unfairly accused. It was the single biggest truth and source of pain in his life. It was the reason why he had lost his father and brother and was estranged from his mother and sister. It was why he had panic attacks till date and why his personality had taken a turn to being more guarded, gruff and severe. Raghav knew the impact casual thoughtless commentshad and he detested the fact that “society” was so eager to blame and shame. Hence,he didn’t want this to happen to Pallavi, he didn’t want her to undergo the experience he had as a teen. He wanted to shield her from careless and hurtful speech, wanted to save her mental wellbeing. He did not understand her anger,but he knew he didn’t have time to dwell on that. He had the truth to uncover.
When he had gotten to the bottom of the story with a few well placed threats to the Doctor, he sent Farhad with the proofs to her. He knew she would not want to see him, but equally he knew he might say something awful to her father and this would not be the best time to put that Rambo in his place. It was a delicate matter, and he left it to his trusty aide to give her all that she needed to clear her name.
That had happened six hours ago. He hadn’t heard from her since then, he went about his regular day but kept glancing at his phone expecting to see a text or call from her but to no avail. He controlled his desire to call her with great difficulty. He was just mulling over what pretext to send Farhad over to her place when he saw the phone chime and the rest was a blur.
He didn’t know what had happened, but he knew it wasn’t, her voice was testament to that. He felt an acute pain when he heard her shattered voice. It meant a lot to him, that she had chosen to call him, and he hoped tonight he’d be worthy of that trust she had placed in him.
Fin
Right,this is now so far from cannon or anything happening in the show, so I am taking massive liberties with the plot and the timelines.
Translations:
- “Pallavi…nenuvastunnanu, akkde undo. Arthamainda”: I’m coming, wait right there, understand? or Main aa raha hoon *cue intense music*
- “ala picchivaaltho yevaru matladanu”: better translated into hindi as aise pagalon se koi baat nahi karta which is so true for BWA.
- Note: Since the covid times, I genuinely think SKR is translating his dialogues to telugu himself. Unfortunately the first few episodes/weeks the Telugu was more gibberish than Telugu, but it has improved massively leading me to believe that he’s telling them ki bhaiyya please! mere ko bolo kya dialogue hai,main khud Telugu mein bolega!
This was more meandering and less angsty than I had hoped to write. But hope you enjoy reading this. I will write one final part to this, kyunki hero toh who hai, aur apni non heroine ko bachane woh toh zaroor aayega.
Feedback= butterflies in my stomach. So do leave your thoughts
Cricket
