Recap: Heartstrings - Part III
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Raavi felt restless all day! She had been trying to call Shiva and left him many messages but to no avail. She got worried for him. When she had called the store in the afternoon, kaka had told her that Shiva still hadn't come. She wanted to call home to see if he was there but she didn't want anyone to worry simply because he wasn't picking up her calls! She got mad at him for ignoring her. She stopped by the store to see him thinking he must have returned by now but to her surprise he hadn't. Just then kaka came from the back of the store and told her that Shiva had called the store and said that he wouldn't be coming as he had some important work to take care of. Raavi asked if he gave Shiva her message and kaka said that he did and that Shiva assured him that he would call her soon. Raavi thanked kaka and left for Pandya house. She felt relieved but she got mad at him even more and said, "Tu kaka ko phone kar sakta hai par mere ek bhi message ka ek chota sa reply nahi kar sakta? Tu aisa kyun hai Shiva?"
Riding in an auto-rickshaw, Shiva looked at his phone once again thinking Raavi sent another message. But she hadn't! Raavi had been calling and texting him all day. He wanted to talk to her but he decided not to until he had apologized to her for his mistakes. He had been thinking about ways to apologize to her. He knew he couldn't just walk up to her and say sorry. As he kept thinking about the way he had insulted her in front of her friends and the entire Somnath, he realized what he needed to do and started planning for his apology. When he had called kaka to let him know that he wasn't going to come to the store today, kaka had told him that Raavi was looking for him and that he needed to call her as soon as possible. Now, he took his phone out, and opened Raavi's picture from their reception. He gently ran his fingers across the screen as his heart flooded with love and longing for Raavi. "Bas ab thodi der aur! Fir sab theek ho jaaega! Aaj ke baad mein kabhi tujhe khudse alag nahi hone dunga Raavi!"
Raavi stopped at the doorstep of Pandya house. Her heart fluttered thinking that she heard Shiva call her and turned around to see him. But he wasn't there. Disappointed, she went inside. She saw Dhara sitting with Suman learning how to knit a sweater for the baby. Dhara was smiling and happily talking to Suman but Raavi saw the pain that shadowed her face through her smile. She wanted to tell her that she wasn't going to let anything happen to her but instead, she walked up to them, hugged Dhara, and picked up the spare set of knitting needles and joined them in their sweater-making session.
Couple hours passed. Everyone came back home except Shiva. Raavi's worries reached its peaks as she tried to call him again and again! Rishita saw her worriedly pacing back and forth and asked what was going on. Everyone was looking at Raavi now. She didn't want to create panic but she was so worried for Shiva that she didn't see any other option.
Dhara walked up to her and asked, "Raavi? Kya hua? Sab theek toh hai?"
Raavi hesitated and said, "Woh ... Di Shiva ... "
Dhara's heart sank! "Shiva kya? Kya hua hai? Shiva theek hai?"
Raavi didn't know what to say. Seeing Dhara so tensed, she regretted saying anything but that ship had sailed now so she said, "Di Shiva ... "
"Shiva kya?" Dhara & everyone else was in full panic mode now.
"Raavi? Shiva ka kya?" Dhara shook her. Just then Raavi's attention was drawn to the door. And there he was, the one and only Chattan Pandya, standing there calmly without any care in the world.
She walked up to him and angrily said, "Gadheda! Subah se tujhe itane calls aur messages kiye! Ek ka bhi jawaab nahi diya tune! Pata hai mein kitana tension mein aa gai thi?"
Shiva looked at her for a moment and then grabbed her hand and started dragging her out of the house. Raavi was shocked along with the entire family. They ran behind him to try and stop him. But before they could say anything, Shiva brought Raavi out of the house and let her hand go. Raavi was hurt and confused seeing his behavior. Seeing this, all the people on the street and the nearby houses stopped to witness the drama. Raavi was searching Shiva's face for a clue about what was going on with him and why he was acting like this. Gautam and family were too shocked to comprehend what was going on.
Raavi took a step towards Shiva but he instantly moved back. Raavi got hurt and her eyes teared up.
"Shiva!" She said, trying to reach out for him. But from the corner of her eyes, she saw her friends standing in a distance; the same friends that had insulted Shiva on more than one occasions. Her heart constricted thinking that they insulted Shiva once again.
She looked at Shiva and asked, "Shiva kya hua hai? Mere dosto ne fir se kuch kaha tujhse?"
She angrily looked at her friends and started walking towards them when Shiva held her hand. When she turned around, she saw Shiva kneeling with his hand folded and head bowed. Everyone around was shocked. Raavi stood still and when Shiva looked up, she couldn't stop the tears from rolling down her eyes because his eyes were so full of pain and guilt.
Before Raavi could say anything, Shiva said, "Tune sahi kaha tha. Mein hu insecure." Raavi wanted to stop him but he added, "Nahi Raavi! Kuch mat bol! Please!"
The "Please" silenced her at once and Shiva continued, "Mein hu insecure. Mujhe nahi accha lagta jab tu unke saath hasti hai aur khush rehti hai! Iss liye nahi kyun ki mujhe tujh pe bharosa nahi hai par iss liye kyun ki tu mere saath kabhi itani khush nahi thi! Aur hogi bhi kaise? Mere jaise badtameez, jaahil, aur junglee insaan ke saath kaun khush reh sakta hai?"
The whole Pandya family felt a knife stabbing their hearts. They all felt guilty for never once stopping and asking Shiva how he was doing or bothered to see if he was happy. Raavi on the other hand went blank. Her mind spiraled out of control.
"Tu bohot acchi hai Raavi! Tu dil ki itani saaf hai, itani khubsoorat hai, sabse pyaar karti hai! Teri zindagi khushiyon se bhari honi chahiye, ek aise insaan ke saath jo tujhse pyaar se baat kare, tujhe khush rakhe, tera har armaan pura kare. Mujhe laga ke mere jaise insaan ke saath teri zindagi barbaad ho jaaegi! Aur issi frustration mein aake maine tujhe sabke saamne beizzat kiya! Tu aisi nahi hai, mein jaanta hu tu aisi nahi hai. Tera dil bohot saaf hai! Maine tujhe chaahe kitana bhi dur kyu na dhakela ho tune fir bhi iss rishte ko nibhaane ki dil se koshish ki. Tu toh yeh rishta shuru se shuru karna chahti thi; beeti baatein bhula ke ek nayi shuruaat karna chahti thi par maine tujhe ek bhi mauka nahi diya! Mujhe nahi pata ke mein maafi ke laayak hu bhi ya nahi, par fir bhi agar ho sake toh please mujhe maaf kar de Raavi! I am sorry. I am so sorry!"
And then Shiva got up and walked to her friends and apologized to them as well for fighting with them. Her friends felt shameful and asked him not to apologize to them because they were the ones who disrespected him. Shiva turned around walked up to Raavi and just stood in front of her with his hands folded. Raavi stood like a statue for a few seconds and then knelt before him and folded her hands.
"Ab meri baari!" She said. Shiva was shocked and the family just stood there dumbfounded.
Shiva started bending down towards her but she raised her hand and scolded him lightly, "Jab tu bol raha tha toh main khadi thi na chup-chaap? Ab tu bhi muh bandh karke khada reh!" Shiva reluctantly straightened.
"Tujhe lagta hai tune mere saath badtameezi ki hai?" Raavi continued. "Maine toh kabhi teri izzat hi nahi ki! Kabhi tujhe samjhne ki ya jaan ne ki koshish nahi ki! Tu ladta tha toh mein bhi saamne ladne baith jaati thi. Ek baar bhi yeh nahi socha ki tu mujhse itana naraaz kyu rehta hai? Tujhe jaan ke, samajh ke, hamaare problems ko solve karna chodo maine unhe aur uljha diya." She cried!
Shiva couldn't take this anymore so he knelt down in front of her and held her folded hands. "Raavi ... " But she cut him off and said, "Shiva! Please please mujhe maaf kar de! Mein tujhe samjh nahi paayi! Maine teri itani insult ki, tujhe kya kya sunaaya! Ek baar bhi nahi socha ke tujhe kitana bura lagta hoga. I am sorry Shiva! I am so sorry!" She dropped her head on his hands and cried as he gathered her in his arms.
"Galat hum dono the Raavi! Tu please aise matt ro!" Shiva said and tried to calm Raavi down.
She looked up and said, "Sahi kaha tune! Galat hum dono the par tu mujhse zyaada galat tha. Tune mujhe bataaya kyun nahi ke tu mujhse pyaar karta hai?" Shiva was surprised hearing this because he hadn't told her that he loved her and yet she understood. He hesitated a bit!
"Waise toh har baat pe chillata hai phir yeh baat kaise nahi boli tune? Khud se decide kar liya ke mein tere saath khush nahi hu aur mujhe khudse aise alag kar diya!?" Raavi's guilt now gave way to anger and Shiva braced himself once again for her emotional roller coaster.
"Agar tujhe aisa laga bhi ke mein tere saath khush nahi hu toh tujhe mujhse puchna tha ke "Raavi tu khush hai? Raavi mein tujhe khush kaise rakhu?" Par nahi! Tune toh seedhe divorce notice bhej di! Puri duniya ko Gadheda-Gadhedi kehta firta hai! Sabse bada Gadheda toh tu khud hai. Stupid! Idiot!" She vented out her frustration and hit him on the arm.
Shiva let her finish and held her face! He wiped her tears and asked, "Raavi, tu mere saath khush hai?"
Raavi looked into his eyes full of love for her and took his hands in hers. She kissed his hands and said, "Mein tere saath bohot khush hu! Mujhe tujhse alag nahi hona! I love you Shiva!"
Shiva couldn't hold back now! He kissed her on the forehead and hugged her and replied, "I love you, too Raavi! I love you!"
Still on their knees, Shiva and Raavi stayed like that for a long moment before realizing that they were out on the street and in front of EVERYONE! A bit embarrassed, the let go of each other and got up. They looked at their family and saw wide smiles on their faces. Shiva looked down and Raavi partially hid behind Shiva. Krish couldn't contain his happiness and ran to them and hugged them both! Soon Rishita and Dev joined them as well. When the trio released them, they went to Suman and took her blessings and hugged Dhara and Gautam. Raavi saw the "I told you so!" look on Dhara's face and hugged her along with Shiva as they both silently promised to do whatever they could to protect Dhara and the baby.
Everyone witnessing this in the street started clapping for Shiva and Raavi and both of their friends cheered on! Seeing Raavi so happy, Prafulla walked up to her and Shiva. Raavi got tensed as Shiva stiffened next to her. The Pandyas got ready for another showdown between Mami and Shiva but to their surprise, Prafulla kissed Raavi's forehead and looking at Shiva she said, "Hamesha khush raho!" A shocked Raavi looked on but Shiva held her hand and bent down with her to take Mami's blessings. And for the first time in her life, Mami genuinely blessed Shiva and finally accepted him as her son-in-law, for Raavi's sake. The Pandyas were shocked and didn't know how long the truce between Prafulla and Shiva would last but they decided to just be happy for Shiva and Raavi for now!
