RAGHVI AU. Raghav, Pallavi, and Mandaar know each other from childhood and live in the same neighborhood. Janakamma stays in the same neighborhood as well and this OS of RaghVi’s relationship is told from her eyes. This method of narration was inspired by @Guntaaskaur, who wrote “A Stranger’s Perspective” on ShiVi (from Pandya Store). This AU is also kind of inspired by Shiva and Raavi’s relationship in Pandya Store but I’ve added a MHRW touch to it, I guess.
Please forgive any grammatical errors and any type of constructive feedback is welcome :)
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One day, Janakamma was people-watching when she saw the town’s most lively child, Pallavi, arguing with a boy who seemed to be her own brother’s age. Sharada had been telling her during their daily morning walks that Pallavi was starting to spend more time out of the house. She’d come by every morning, after having breakfast at her house, to greet the Deshmukh family and then skip along after Mandaar to go to school with him. Along the way, Janakamma would catch her talking to Mandaar and glaring at another boy who walked with the two kids. For at least one half of the day, Pallavi and her “enemy” would argue about everything under the sun. How Mandaar handled the both of them was beyond Janakamma’s imagination.
Years later, gone were those school days. But, Pallavi would still spend more time with the Deshmkuh family than her own brother. She would also attend the Deshmukh family’s events, claiming to be a part of their family from the very start. Sharada, happy to have a daughter-like figure in her house, was very welcoming to her behavior.
Janakamma would always hear Pallavi make claims about one day being a part of the family officially. And, soon she began to realize how she seemed to achieve that. Since their school days, Pallavi hogged Mandaar’s attention and would go out of her way to make him smile. She even fought with the kid she always glared at since it seemed to make Mandaar laugh. Soon she started making big gestures and claimed she loved Mandaar. By her twenty-fourth birthday, she had even set her eyes on marriage. But there was one obstacle in her obsession with the Deshmkuh family--her enemy since childhood, Raghav Rao.
Raghav came from a respected family and lived down the street from Pallavi’s house and right across the Deshmukhs. His father had always instilled the idea of respect for others in his mind but he couldn’t help himself from getting into physical altercations when anyone insulted his loved ones.
One day, Janakamma had seen the young boy fighting for his sister on her first day of school. Apparently, Mandaar’s best friend, Ritesh, had pushed the six-year-old down and ten-year-old Raghav happened to be walking by. Mandaar was standing silently by Ritesh, not making a move to stop him. Keerthi, Raghav’s sister, had been crying loudly and a crowd had accumulated around the kids. Raghav, not handling his sister’s pain, ended up breaking Ritesh’s arm and Mandaar’s nose when Mandaar tried to interfere that day.
But now the trio was older and Mandaar and Raghav had forgiven each other for their mistakes. But, Pallavi couldn’t. And since Pallavi didn’t seem to forget that one incident, Raghav took the liberty of maintaining their enmity.
Seeing them grow together and constantly argue provided a sense of entertainment for Janakamma. She looked forward to each new day with a hope that she’ll catch a glimpse of the two having a petty argument. And if she didn’t, Sharada would brief her on their morning walks with all the details of how much Pallavi spoke about Raghav when she came to their house the previous day.
In her heart, Janakamma knew that Pallavi and Raghav were the perfect match for one another. The two hadn’t noticed it themselves but Janakamma sure had.
Whenever the Rao family had a puja and Raghav was tasked with the job of distributing the prasad in the neighborhood, he would pack extra sheera in the box he gave to the Deshmukhs because he knew how much Pallavi loved his mother’s sheera. And, whenever Raghav was sick (which would be often) and even though they weren’t in the same grade, Pallavi would give all the assignment sheets and her brother’s lesson notes to Raghav so he wouldn’t get behind in class. She knew how much of a fuss he made if he was less than perfect in any of his classes.
Janakamma had also noticed how Raghav would fight for Pallavi as if she was his loved one and how Pallavi would tend to him whenever he got hurt. Of course, all these moments ended with an argument and glares but it didn’t take away from the main moral. And, the moral was that Pallavi and Raghav cared about each other. In fact, Janakamma believed Pallavi cared about Raghav more than Mandaar.
She still remembered how, one Monday morning, seventeen-year-old Mandaar was complaining to Pallavi about how he’d sprained his ankle while mopping the floor on the weekend. Usually Pallavi would immediately fret over him and worry for his health but that day Pallavi had said, “Oh, that’s sad! I think Raghav also sprained his ankle once...Deva, when was it, again? Oh, yes! I remember! He sprained his ankle last month. But he still scored goals for his team during their football tournament. Can you believe that?! Maybe you can ask him what to do about your sprained ankle.”
Mandaar had just given her a strained smile before limping away, annoyed with the “Raghav is the best” jaap Pallavi had been singing to him all month.
On the other hand, when Raghav had received a small cut after their sixth standard schoolmate had accidentally scratched him, Pallavi had uplifted a storm in the classroom. She had raised so much of a commotion that she was asked to stand outside the classroom for the rest of the hour. Disappointedly, according to Sharada’s narration, Raghav hadn’t even said “thank you” that day but that didn’t stop Pallavi from standing up for him in the future.
The two were made for each other but they were yet to see that and by the time they both realized, Janakamma feared it would be too late.
Pallavi was still hellbent on marrying into the Deshmukh family and Mandaar wanted Pallavi as his wife. The only one against the marriage was Raghav himself and Janakamma could see his anger from miles away. That’s why she decided to confront Raghav’s Amma, Jaya, and Sharada. She had to tell the women what their children thought of one another and where she believed their true happiness lied.
The two women did believe that Raghav and Pallavi would make a great couple but they also believed that Mandaar and Pallavi were no less. The latter seemed infatuated with one another and Pallavi had a great amount of respect for the Deshmukh family. Sharada didn’t want to break Pallavi’s naive dream by calling this marriage off.
But destiny seemed to have a trajectory that was parallel to Janakamma’s thoughts. Instead of Pallavi and Mandaar, on the day of the wedding, it was Raghav and Pallavi who had exchanged varmalas, took the seven pheras, and completed the marriage rituals. Pallavi had tears in her eyes and a broken heart while Raghav had anger in his and a heart full of hate. And, the cause of both of their states was one person; Mandaar.
Though the atmosphere was not lively from Mandaar’s pregnant ex-girlfriend coming to the altar and demanding for Mandaar to take care of his responsibility, Janakamma was still proud of the two strong adults who she’d seen grow together from the day they met. She knew that going forward, the two would respect their relationship and continue growing but now as husband and wife instead of childhood enemies.
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Just a mini intro of me: Hi! I’m Piya and one of my current favorite ITV couples is RaghVi. I predominantly write oneshots on Wattpad but have recently discovered IF so I decided to post some on here too! :)
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