Chapter 1
His mind constantly kept thinking about the recent incidents especially the ugly fight they had few hours ago. Suddenly, he stood up, drove his car and rushed to Birla mansion. The urge was to see her for one last time as HIS before she left the place. He had no patience to park the car nor turn it off. He rushed to the room only to see she was gone. Ramu kaka, the caretaker of not just Birla mansion but the Birla siblings too, brought the keys that he had forgotten in the car. Looking at the shattered room and seeing Abhimanyu in despair, Ramu kaka was taken aback. He ran to the living room, dialed the number from the cordless and informed the person at the other end about the situation. “Main aa rahi hoon”… she said and hung the phone.
Abhimanyu screamed, “Aksharaaaaaa……” he cried bitterly “kyun hota hai aisa mere saath…. Ek baar dekhna tha tumhe sirf ek baar jaane se pehle. I am not lucky in love I know lekin phir bhi mujhe pyaar ho gaya tumse Akshu….” He realized that she had warned him not to call “Akshu” and she was always “Akshara Goenka” for him. He smiled at that. As he walked through the room, every little thing of the room reminded him about her. The room which once belonged only to him, where no one was even allowed to enter without his permission was no more his. Every corner of the room shouted her name. He looked at the bed where she used to throw wet towels just to irritate him knowing how much he hated it. The dressing table where she kept all her accessories scattered leaving no space for his stuff. They had innumerable fights over the messed-up dressing table. He had even tried throwing away her bangle stand irritated with their clinking sound. The wardrobe took him back to the day one post their wedding……
Akshara was busy arranging her clothes in the wardrobe while Abhimanyu, who was just out of the shower wanted to pick his clothes. Seeing her arranging the clothes in the cupboard, he commented, “tumhe kaun sa yahan hamesha ke liye rehna hai jo Tum saare kapde andar rakh rahi ho…..” Akshara remained silent. He continued, “Mujhe apni cheezen share karne ki aadat nahi hai… tum apne kapde suitcase mein hi rakh lo. Yahi teek rahega.” Akshara (sighing),”Mujhe tumhare saath rehne ka koi shauk nahi hai aur mujhe yahan zyaada din rehna bhi nahi hai. Jab tak yahan hoon tab tak ke yeh mera bhi kamra hai aur yahan ki cheezen bhi meri hai toh main wardrobe use karoongi (clicking her fingers) samjhe.” Abhimanyu was already irritated with her behaviour and on top she was ordering him. He took the clothes out and threw them on the floor. “Yahi hai tumhari asli jagah iss ghar mein…. Samajhi? Zyaada haq jataao mat baad mein pachtaaogi.” Saying so he walked away taking his clothes. But she was Akshara Goenka and she doesn’t listen to anyone except her Bade papa. She picked all her clothes put them back in the cupboard flashing a victory smile on the face.
Abhimanyu(smiling) lost in thoughts about her and her antics was snapped to reality by his elder sister, Ananya Birla. “Di, tu kab aayi?” asked an unexpected Abhimanyu, wiping the tears which refused to stop flowing. Ananya (sighing) made him sit on the bed, wiping his tears turned around to look at the room. Abhimanyu jumped in to convey her before she panicked, “Di… kuch nahi hua hai. Bas usual jhagada jo humare beech hota hai lekin zyaada ho gaya toh woh chali gayi apne ghar. Haan divorce papers sign nahi kiya lekin main leke rahoonga uske signatures.” Ananya taking a deep breath sat down beside him, taking his hands in hers, looking into his eyes, she said,
“Yeh sab tukya kar raha hai Abhi? (she was the only person who had the right to call him Abhi) kyun kar raha hai? Aaj tak tu mere liye jeeta aaya hai, meri Khushi mein apni Khushi dhoond li tune. Mere har faisle ko bina sawaal ke tune maana, meri har khaawhish poori ki. Lekin zindagi ke kuch aise bhi faisle hai jo sirf tu le sakta hai khud ke liye, teri chaah, tera pyaar ka kya. Meri zindagi aadhe se zyaada guzar chuki hai. Teri toh abhi abhi shuru hui hai na. Soch apne baare mein. Mera dard, meri takleef kab tak tu apne sarr leke ghoomta rahega. Bahut ho gaya hai ab aur nahi. Tu please chod de yeh sab main handle kar loongi.”(wiping away her tears.)
Ananya Birla, Chairman of Birla group of companies was Abhimanyu’s elder sister. She was elder to Abhimanyu by 12 years. Abhimanyu was brought up by his sister post their parents’ demise. All he knew as a child was his sister fell in love with a person who was her college senior while she was doing her undergraduate course and he left her only to get married to someone else of his parent's choice. He grew up seeing his sister suffer after being betrayed by the person whom she loved immensely. For him, she was his everything. There is nothing beyond her for him. The only thing that he had instilled in his mind even as a child was to take revenge from the people who were the reason behind his sister’s sufferings, who made her life miserable and because of whom she is all alone now.
Abhimanyu getting down from the bed sat on the floor and resting his head on her lap, “Di…. Tu mujhe khud se alag kaise kar sakti hai. Tera dard, teri takleef aur mera kuch nahi???Main aaj jo bhi hoon teri wajah se hoon. Maa aur papa dono ka pyaar diya hai tune.Tujhse badh kar kuch nahi hai mere liye. Mera sirf ek hi maqsat hai Di jisne teri zindagi barbaad kiya, tujhe zindagi bhar ka dukh aur dard diya usko sabak sikhana (his eyes turned red with rage). Meri zindagi mein pyaar ke liye koi jagah nahi hai (gritting his teeth).”
Ananya caressing his hair strands, “Par tere dil mein toh Akshara ke liye pyaar haina?”
Abhimanyu lifting his head to look at her, “Nahi aisa kuch nahi hai. Tu uske baare mein soch rahi aur woh tujh par shaq karti hai. Jis insaan ko meri Ananya Di pasand nahi uss insaan ka koi jagaah nahi hai na mere dil mein aur na hi meri zindagi mein. Hum dono ke beech koi nahi aa sakta. Aur toh aur yeh pyaar, mohabbat sab bekaar ki baatein hai. Pyaar sirf dard deta hai. Bas mujhe ek cheez samajh mein nahi aaya ki tune uss divorce papers mein kyun aise grounds likhe jo ki galat hai, jhoot hai.”
Getting up from the bed and clearing her side,she said, “Dekh Abhi, tera jo faisla hoga mujhe Manzoor hai. Tu Akshara ke saath aage badnaa chahta hai toh sabse badi Khushi mujhe hogi. Aage teri marzi. Aur haan maine aisa kuch nahi kiya aur naa hi karne ko kaha. Mere lawyer ne bataya ki shaadi ke 6 mahine baad hi hum mutual consent ke liye apply kar sakte hai. Par tujhe toh jaldi thi aur maine sirf apne terms and conditions clear kiya tha unse. Mujhe nahi pata uss ne kya grounds likhe hai.” Saying so, she headed towards her room asking him to join her for dinner in sometime leaving a confused Abhimanyu.
Abhimanyu, though had denied his feelings blatantly before Ananya, his heart longed for Akshara. He wanted to see her one last time. It is true that he wanted her to go away from his life, but he never wanted her to be called a FRAUD. He knew that Akshara would have consented for the divorce had the clauses been very straightforward. Though he wanted to change every word written on those papers, still he did not go ahead with it as he only wanted her to hate him more than before and forever.
"Koi toh hamdard ho....
jiska dard mere jaisa ho..."
P.S. Hope you guys like it!!! Hope I was able to get the details right in slowly unfolding the story. Waiting for your comments. Kindly tag anyone whom you think would be interested in reading.
Love,
Ashu
Kabhi Neem Neem Kabhi Shahad Shahad
Shiv Shakti
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