Author's Note:
Hola, evryone! I am a silent reader of this forum and a writer whenever time permits. A past Shivi fan. Now not so sure...Fed up with whatever is happening in the show. I felt like writing a short story based on Raavi. Please note that, this will not feature #Shivi as a couple. This will be two or three part story. I don't watch this daily and don't have much idea about the relations in the show, so have assumed few things. This is a long read
Let me know if you like it. Happy Reading đ¤
Thank you
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Serendipity
noun
Meaning - Serendipity is an unplanned fortunate discovery.
"Sometimes you just have to erase the messages, delete the number and move on.
You don't have to forget who that person was to you;
Only accept that they aren't that person anymore"
People moved as a chaotic rainbow at Porbandar airport. They flowed from the check-in desks to the cafes and through the gates, each one of them heading for a destination of their own making. There was a continuous hum of happy chatter, luggage wheels softly rolling across the floor, and cell phones ringing. She gazed longingly at the cafĂŠ, wanting to make a stop for coffee but she knew she could not afford to wait anymore. Mausapa was waiting for her. As it is her flight got delayed by an hour due to covid restrictions. It was late morning when her flight landed and now it was going to take 3 or more hours to reach Somnath.
Raavi started walking towards the exit rolling a suitcase in one hand and balancing the handbag on the arm of her other. It was not hard to find her Mausapa as he waved at her with enthusiasm and a smile broke out on her face as she made a beeline to reach him.
"Mausapa!" Raavi greeted him with a broad smile.
"How are you Beta?" He asked examining her from head to toe.
"How do I look?" She counter-questioned him.
He gave her a satisfactory smile before uttering "The way you should always look happy" he nodded towards the car. "Let's hurry the driver is grumbling for a while now"
*****
They were traveling for more than an hour now. Her Mausapa had thoroughly questioned her about Mumbai, her job, her friends. In return she enquired all about her brother, her Mausi, Anita di, the groom search for her and updates on bride search for her elder brother, their neighbors, Somnath, basically everyone but Pandya Pariwar. She could sense her Mausapa wanted to discuss it but she avoided the subject by stating she was feeling sleepy. The car was silent after that for some time...
After a while, her Mausapa called her again.
"Raavi" he called out hesitantly
"Yes? Did we reach?" she woke up, it seemed she really did manage to take a small nap.
"We will reach in an hour or so" her Mausapa stated
Raavi turned to him and he was waiting for the exact moment.
"I know you don't want to talk about it. But this is important before we reach Somnath..."
Ravi sighed, she can't escape the discussion now.
"Shiva is getting married" Mausapa paused letting the words sink in. When she did not have any reaction he continued "to Disha. The same girl you know. He is engaged and the marriage date is set to 22 days from now"
"I know" she nodded calmly
"Look I have to ask you. Are you here for Shiva? Because if you are I have to let you know I disapprove of it. Now that he is..."
"Mausapa!" Raavi exclaimed. Her eyes wide "why do you think like that? I am not here because of him."
"Because you left Somnath because of him. Why did you return then?" Her Mausapa asked her frowning
"You were the one who called me back" Ravi stated surprised
"Yes, but I have been calling you back for almost 3 years. You never came. Now suddenly when he is getting engaged..."
"Mausapa. I am not here for Shiva or for Pandya Parivar" she told him firmly "I just missed you all and when you told me Masi fell down last week her hand was fractured. I could not wait anymore. I had to see Masi. You trust me right?"
He nodded giving her a small smile.
Raavi turned to look outside of the window. Cars, trees, and people were passing by...she looked at her Mausapa, who was now busy with his phone. She looked out again. Is that what everyone thinks of her now that she is returning just before his marriage? Was that the image she created for herself out there? She thought disappointed.
It's been two years ten months to be precise that she left Somnath. As usual, it was for Shiva. After proving her innocence she immediately returned back to Pandya Niwas. No-one stopped her. She again started with her efforts to win over Shiva. But one thing or other would set him off. And neither was she wholeheartedly accepted in Pandya Parivar what with one drama after another and somehow it was always linked to her.
She is staying in Pandya's house without being married, she had heard this taunt here and there from nosy aunties. It hurt, but she ignored it. Once Shiva realizes she loves him, she was bound to get married to him again. But it was taking so long. She read somewhere "Distance makes the heart grow fonder". So in desperation, she decided to vanish from Somnath. Let him search for her like he did last time when someone did kidnap her for real. Then he will definitely confess she thought gleefully.
But where to? She can't visit any of her relatives, including her brother and Mausapa because even though Mausapa decided to keep quiet, her brother won't everyone was going to inform her Mausi. Her Mausi had a habit of creating ruckus and she will surely not keep quiet knowing the reason for her departure.
She sought the help of her friend's elder sister. Bad apple of Somnath. Kajal di... Kajal di was her school friend's elder sister. She fell in love with the guy from another cast, Pravin. He was from Delhi and came here for some work. Both ran away and got married. Their parents did not accept this alliance leaving them no choice but to leave Somnath.
Many of her friends called her a bad girl. But not Raavi. She was in awe of Kajal di. She is so courageous that she ran away for love...She was not going to face any such problems because she was already going to get married to her prince charming Dev. But What a girl Kajal di...
As soon as she got access to her own internet and social media account, she sent Kajal di a friend request. Kajal di accepted it readily from then on she was in touch with her on and off...
She knew Kajal's current location was Mumbai. She messaged her that she wants to visit Mumbai and needs a place to stay for a few days asking if she will help? She dropped her phone number and waited... After three days she received a call, Kajal asked her a few questions and informed her she was welcome to stay in her home...
Raavi planned everything carefully. She packed her bags and moved to her Masi's home under the pretext of Anita's groom search and her help needed for that...
Shiva asked her to stay there forever and not to bother about returning, Suman Ma said something similar she didn't remember. She was hurt, Shiva was being so uncaring. Let me go away for a few days that will teach you a lesson, she thought...
On the fourth day, she left her home early morning. She left a note stating that she is going away on her own. And not sure when she will return. She does not blame anyone for this. Just in case her Mausi files a complaint against Shiva...
*****
She reached Mumbai. Her first impression was what a busy city. Everyone always looked in hurry. She met Kajal di and explained her story.
"But you told me you are here for traveling. You want to see Mumbai..."
"Yes di, I am going to do that. But my main reason for being here is Shiva..." Raavi beamed. She could see the disappointment on Kajal's face so she changed the subject
"So where is Pravin Jiju?"
"We got a divorce. You sit here I will bring something for a drink" Kajal left for the kitchen
Raavi turned serious and how can she make such a mistake she should have checked her relationship status...
"How will you know what's going on in Somnath if you left your old phone there?" Kajal came back with coffee
"Oh, I have a new phone and a new number. I will call Mausapa. He will help me know the situation over there and when the time is right I will go back"
*****
Easier said than done, her Mausapa was angry with her. Called her childish and threatened to inform her Mausi. She winced as he went on shouting about the mess she made. Shiva was arrested on Prafulla's complaint. Dhara found her note in her room and freed Shiva. Finally, she emotionally blackmailed him, cried some, she knew he was the soft-hearted person who can't bear her tears. He caved in after a lot of pursuing and sending him a picture of her living arrangements. She left out on the part that she was staying with Kajal di, she just informed him that she was staying with her friend's sister and cleverly avoided video call making them speak on call...
From then on her source of information about happenings in Pandya Niwas was her Mausapa and Krish plus Rishita's social media account who was quite active on these portals...
She saw Rishita's pregnancy news. A family photo. They looked happy. She missed them all. Raavi was happy for Rishita...now only if her Dhara di gets pregnant...
Krish posted a new picture frequently nowadays. He was seen with Kirti more than necessary. Raavi frowned was anyone aware of this...
The best news came from Mausapa. He saw Shiva roaming the premises of her Mausi's home. He even enquired about Raavi to Mausapa...
She had bought some cash with her so she roamed Mumbai. For starters, she will wait for Kajal to give her a tour. She feared getting lost. After a few days, she got more confident and started visiting places on her own.
*****
It had been more than a week when one evening Kajal broached a subject.
"We have a vacancy in our company for an intern. Wanna try?"
"What me? But I am not staying here for long. And I don't even know what you do? I mean website, coding I don't know that stuff"
"It's not in coding silly. The internship is for a fashion designer. I can see that you are good with clothes and accessories. If shortlisted you will get a stipend of 6 thousand rupees per month. You don't have to tell them you are leaving. Even if you decide to leave in the next 10-15 days you will have something to do. If you stay for a longer period then you can learn something."
The prospect sounded interesting. Working on clothes, fashion, which sounded like a dream job for her she agreed...
*****
The first day of the internship made her regret ever agreeing to join here. Her boss welcomed them quickly and left work for HR of the company. There was a batch of 10 interns. Few were snobby, few as silent as grave answered in monosyllabic and few were already a group of tight-knit friends so no scope of talking to anyone there. but there was something similar in them. All were competitive.
They were assigned with a different manager and teams on different projects. The manager assigned to her turn out to be one who believed in favoritism. She preferred another intern over her leaving her to do the smallest of tasks including bringing tape, papers, clothing samples. Complete excel sheet. Raavi was very nervous she saw others her age were well versed with technology, fluent in English.
When she shared it with Kajal, she dismissed her worries saying "that is how one should work if you want to survive in this world. But you are not going to stay here for long right? So what are you worried about?"
Kajal took her out to one of Mumbai's most happening pubs. Scared and awkward she stayed rooted in a corner whereas Kajal went on with drinking alcohol and parting with her friends. It was midnight when they returned home. Kajal went straight to her room. But she unlocked her phone to check Krish and Rishita's accounts. Three days in a row and no activity on their social media account? Hope all is okay.
Last, when she spoke with her Mausapa three days back she got to know that Shiva and Krish visited her home and scared Mausi that she might be kidnapped as no one was in touch with her. Mausi getting worried ran to the police and Mausapa had to intervene that he knew Ravi's location and was in touch with her, successfully avoiding and ignoring others' questions.
That was three days back, after which he had to leave for Ahmedabad since then she did not know anything about them.
She decided to leave this weekend but Kajal requested her to spend last weekend as they can celebrate her farewell. Plus she finally got an interesting assignment in her office. All the interns were requested to submit a design for an upcoming summer fashion show and whoever is best for their design will get a chance to go live in a fashion show to be worn by one of the models and actual experience of a fashion show from backstage. The second and third bets price were going to get a chance to work on one more project and display on the website respectively.
She wanted to participate in this. She was working on the design idea relentlessly. Submissions were on Wednesday and the winner was supposed to be announced by next week. She was not going to wait for the winner's announcement till this submission. It was just more three days. She was here for the last twenty days now, three more days won't harm anyone...
*****
Finally, she submitted her assignment. Satisfied and happy with what she had done. She had already booked her train tickets for the next day. She decided to check Krish's social media account. If she doesn't see any update now then she will personally call Dhara di or Krish or someone to make sure they were alright. Her Mausapa was supposed to return tomorrow.
She kept the laptop aside. Kajal di was kind enough to let her use her personal laptop for work. Opening her phone she scrolled to Krish's name. She smiled finally an update. But what she saw made her heart stop for a moment and tears filled her eyes...
*****
That was how Kajal found her when she returned back. After much persuasion, Raavi narrated to her the thing she saw on Krish's account. Photo of some girl with Shiva captioned 'bride hunt for my brother dearest Shiva'
Ravi was hysterical. She wanted to return back immediately. Kajal calmed her. After a cup of coffee and long silent moments, Kajal finally questioned her
"Is this the guy you want to run back to who does not even wait for a month or two after divorce and decides to get married to another?"
"It's my fault he was trying to find me. I know but could not because I came away..."
"Okay, then what about the time when you were still married to him stayed in his home but his mother brought another girl for his marriage?"
"He..he was angry and he can't refuse Suman Ma..."
Kajal looked at her pointedly "the point is Raavi, you have to decide if this is the man you want to dedicate your life to who does nothing when his family insults you? Who has so much anger that he does not think about anyone's feelings when his ego is hurt?"
"But even I made some mistakes" Ravi interrupted her
"And it's good that you accept it but does he? I have made out of one such relationship. Though our problems were far more complex. All I want to say is that you can go back anytime you want but make sure you do not run back to the life of misery and regret. Here you have a chance at a new life. You can be someone. Even though you don't say it I know you enjoy doing your internship. I am not saying you have to stay here you can go back to Somnath and work there but be careful of what you are returning to. And if you do then don't pity yourself later for any reason"
Kajal's words gave her a lot to think about her whole night went by weeping, thinking about Shiva, Dhara di, Suman Ma, how can they do this to her? The next day she did not have the energy to get up and do anything. She missed her train and office. Kajal informed on her behalf that she is unwell and can not join for two or three days.
She called her Mausapa and asked him about Shiva's marriage in a broken voice. His voice was grave when he informed her that he had heard a rumor and will have to confirm. But they did not have to wait for long as she heard Mausi's voice from the background shouting and Anita di trying to calm her down...
"What does she think of herself? That Suman...she tells me now that bad luck has left our home we can bring in a nice girl for our Shiva. How can she call my Raavi a stroke of bad luck? I always told her that Shiva is good for nothing...And Raavi left us because of them..."
She did not have to listen more as she disconnected the call and once again dissolved in tears...
*****
"That's it! No more crying. Today is Sunday. Let's go out somewhere" Kajal tried to wake her up.
"You leave I don't want to" Ravi pushed her head on the pillow
The bell rang. " Fine don't tell me I didn't warn you"
"Raavi" someone called out to her. She turned shocked to find her Mausapa standing there.
"I called him. I am going for a walk, will be back after some time" Kajal informed them and left
Ravi offered him tea as she sat down before him. They talked for a while. Raavi was shocked to learn that even he had somewhat similar thoughts to Kajal.
He firmly believed that as long as there is any enmity between Shiva, Suman and Prafulla. Raavi can never be accepted by them or stay happy in that house. Also if Shiva wants to move on so should you"
Finally, he left the decision on her "think wisely"
"By the way, you never said you are staying with Kajal Mukherjee" disapproval laced his voice.
She had totally forgotten about that..." she is a good girl Mausapa"
"I don't like her. But if you are comfortable..."
*****
She had to go to the office today. She can't keep crying all day long and Kajal di threatened her if she does not get out of the house she will throw her luggage out. She was still confused about whether she should go back or not? So she thought work may help her clear her mind.
She sat quietly working on some excel sheets. Her manager and other intern Tina were working on a client query. Any other day she would have minded it but today she was glad that she was left alone.
They were called to a conference room after lunch. She totally forgot that today winner was going to get announced for the assignment...
HR declared the first three winners and for the first time in the last few days, Raavi felt herself smiling a little. She won the competition...
*****
The next few days kept her so busy she hardly had time to think about what had happened to her. Her rounds to the Fashion show, backstage work, meeting the dressmakers. The days were so hectic. She passed out the moment her head hit the bed
She received her first salary or stipend as Kajal di said. This made her happy. Never had she achieved anything like this. Never had anyone praised her appreciated her like this. She even made a friend or two. She wanted to complete the internship she decided... Two months and then she will return.
Kajal di informed her that she will have to pay half the rent now if she wants to stay. They will have to take the landlord's permission.
Her Mausapa agreed to pay the rent as long as she wanted to stay.
*****
She got an offer of extension in her internship with an increased stipend which she accepted gladly. Her two-month stay turned to 6 months. Her manager whose behavior had improved considerably since her win suggested her she should pursue some course in fashion design if she wanted to move ahead in her career. Till now she never thought about it but now she wanted to achieve something. There was a passion in her that she never felt for studying for other courses.
She enrolled in the diploma. The fees were high but Kajal, her Mausapa, and her with her savings she took admission to the course.
She still wept thinking about Shiva but frequency had lessened considerably. She started attending Yoga class with Kajal di.
She passed the diploma with flying colors. Got a great job offer and then on she never looked back. She kept in touch with Mausapa. He maintained their secret and did not reveal her location to her Mausi. But their phone calls decreased due to Mausi as she started keeping watch on Mausapa. Never again did she discuss Shiva and Pandya Parivar. Neither did he mention anything about it.
Recently she got promoted to a Senior Fashion Designer. Now she works with a well know brand and handled a team of two interns.
She returned back after a considerable amount of time now. She had made a peace with her past. She even took a few counseling sessions offered by her office they helped her in a way. Now she did not feel anything for them. Once upon a time, it was her dream family. But her dream got broken and she built something beautiful out of it.
She had no ill feelings towards Shiva or his family. Yes, she still felt bad sometimes when she thinks about the bad words uttered to her and her listening to those insults just because she wanted to be like Dhara, the Pandya Bahu. But that's that.
Her return had nothing to do with Pandya's. She came here to meet her family, she truly missed them. But it was not for just that. Her Mausapa was worried about her going after Shiva again but here she was worried about his reaction once she tells them the truth which she has kept hidden for almost a year now...
*****
Note:
Please ignore errors typed on phone. Hope you enjoyed reading thisđł
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