AryLie FF - Aryan&Imlie - Epilogue Page 32 (Dt. 13 Mar) - Page 17

The Pagdandiya Clan - Part II

Nani, a.k.a Nakli Nani, Imlie’s Grand-Mother

Nani wasn't actually Imlie's Nani, she wasn't actually Meethi's mother, hence she was called Nakli Nani. But she cared about them all the same.

These both girls left in her charge have suffered much in life. She may fight with them, but she fought for them too.

First fighting with Aditya Kumar Tripathi to marry Imlie so that she wouldn't have to face the same stigma as her mother. Imlie suffered enough of it already. Oh, her intentions had been to get rid of the girl, there was no doubt about it. A girl gone, one less mouth to feed, one less person to defend and one less reason for people to taunt them.

Then fighting with Aditya Kumar Tripathi's family for their approval. Oh, she may have benefitted from marrying off Imlie, but her grand-daughter was not allowed to suffer at the hands of the people that knew nothing about her.

Then fighting with the wicked mother-daughter duo that were dead set on taking away her grandson-in-law from her grand-daughter.

Then she wanted to fight the stupid Aditya Kumar Tripathi again, this time for divorcing her grand-daughter, but that Meethi had saved him. Weak in the face of a city boy again.

She had, not so silently, fumed.

Until she had been kidnapped.

And she didn't even want to recall a time she had been so weak in the face of danger. But it was a danger she didn't know, couldn't predict and certainly wouldn't fight off. She liked to pick battles she could win. She only lost when it came to Meethi and Imlie. They didn't know it, but they were her only weaknesses.

When she had left the Tripathi Residence with Meethi, she had cursed them that when they realised the whole truth, that Aditya would go on his knees, and yet Imlie would not forgive him.

She just hoped her grand-daughter hadn't succumbed to him already.

She is weak in the face of her ex-husband and his family. Just like Meethi.

The one good thing Meethi ended up doing was marrying Satyakaam.

Who was finally free from jail.

Because her grand-daughter has exposed all of that Kalini's Kaale Karname.

With the help of her... Boss Babu?

She's not gonna lie, the mystery that was Imlie's Boss Babu lived rent free in Nani's mind. Meethi had been the first one to tell her about Aryan Singh Rathore. She had been able to contact Satyakaam because of him. Regularly.

Then the village ladies had been gossipping about the guy, the one that had not been involved in making the billboard for her grand-daughter. It went like this.

Krishna began, “Uu lamba chauda marad konu rahe Imaliya ke saath? Uu doosre Shehri Babu?(Who was the tall built man with Imlie? The other City Boy?)”

Lalita had answered, “Uuke Boss Babu rahe. Imaliya ke saath aaye rahe, apan karam chaari ko bachaye khatir.(He was her Boss Babu. He came with Imlie, to save his employees.)”

Sakhi had asked then, “Toh ka Imaliya ke Babu Saheb uu ke liye kaam karat hai?(So, Imlie’s Babu Saheb works for him?)”

And Nani had exploded, “Uu naaspeete ko Imaliya ka Babu Saheb naahi kaho. Uu humri Imaliya ko dhokha diyes hai.(Don’t call that cursed man Imlie’s Babu Saheb. He has betrayed my Imlie.)”

Two of them had shut up, but Krishna bravely said, “Hum Imaliya ke Babu Saheb ke baare maan baat naahi karat hai. Hum uuke Boss Babu ke baare maan baat karat hai.(We are not talking about Imlie’s Babu Saheb. We are talking about her Boss Babu.)”

Nani, fuming, asked, “Aur kaahe baat karat rahe tum Imaliya ke Boss Babu ke baare maan?(And just why are you talking about Imlie’s Boss Babu?)”

Sakhi had blurted out, “Uu iss baar Imaliya ke saath the naa, jhopde maan—(He was the one with Imlie that night, in the hut—)”, only to be interrupted by Lalita.

But it was futile. The damage had been done. Nani knew now, her grand-daughter was a topic of another scandal.

She ran to find Meethi, only to find her in the post office on the phone. She was speaking to someone, someone Nani didn’t know. So she didn’t care.

She took the phone and banged it on the desk, uncaring whether it was disconnected or not and yelled, “Tohar Imaliya, waapas rangraliya manaayi. Iss baar dusre Shehri Babu ke saath, aur tu humka batayi bhi naahi.(Your Imlie, has been in another scandal. This time with another City Boy, and you didn’t tell me.)”

Meethi frowned, looking at phone and then answered irritatingly, “Kachu naahi hua humri Gudiya aur uuke Boss Babu kaa beech maan. Kaahe, aap aisan kaahe karat hai?(Nothing happened, betwee my daughter and her boss, nothing happened. Why are you like this?)”

She then reached for the phone again only for Nani toh hold her wrist and ask, “Toka kaisan pata rahe, tohar Bitiya aur uu ke Boss Babu ke alawaa konu ko kachu pata naahi rahe.(How do you know, except your daughter and her Boss Babu, no one knows what happened.)”

Meethi was irked at Nani’s behaviour, and it was visible on her face when she replied, “Pichli baar aapke kaaran humri Bitiya ko khoob takleef hui rahi, ee baar hum toka kachu ulta sulta naahi kare denge. Humka humri Bitiya aur uuke Boss Babu par pura vishwaas rahe.(Last time my daughter suffered a lot because of you, this time, I’ll not let you perform any other drama. I trust my daughter and her Boss Babu.)”

Nani scoffed and asked again, “Uu pehle Shehri Babu ki tarah, ki uu dusre Shehri Babu ki tarah? Dono kamakal naaspeete thehre. Abki baare maan ka jaanat ho tum?(Like the first City Boy, or the second? Both were brainless accursed men. What do you know of this one?)”

Meethi exclaimed, confidently, “Uu dono se bahut zyaada vishwaas rahe humka Imaliya ke Boss Babu par. Kaahe ki uu Imaliya ke khatir gaon waalon se lade rahe, aur agar uu aapse mile hote toh aapse bhi lade rahe hote.(I trust him more than I trusted the ones before him. Because he fought against the villagers for Imlie, and if he’d met you, he would’ve fought you too.)”

Nani dismissed her tall claims, and left her there. What has happened would be known within the next nine months. Now Nani knew nothing had happened between Aditya and Imlie, but then she didn’t and she hadn’t wanted to give Imlie the same pain her mother had suffered, but also she wanted Imlie to see what consequences her actions could have.

She had miscalculated last time. Because the consequences her grand-daughter suffered were far worse than her actions, which if everything that happened was a sign, were none of her fault.

But how could her grand-daughter fall into the same predicament two times and come out unscathed from one of them, while being undeniably hurt by the other.

Nani realised that the only two differing factors in both the occurrences were the men.

The first one a self-sacrificing fool, Aditya Kumar Tripathi.

The second one she didn’t know, Aryan Singh Rathore.

After that she tried to find out more about him. She, for lack of a better word, began following him. Every newspaper article on him, she would ask the post master to read it to her. Everything newsworthy about him on TV, she would be stuck, wanting to know who this man was.

And the things she found out about this man absolutely delighted her.

He was rich, something Aditya Kumar Tripathi was not.

He was young, another thing he had on Aditya Kumar Tripathi.

He could fight, but that was something Aditya Kumar Tripathi could do too.

And then she found out about the phone calls. Between Meethi and Aryan.

Oh they were few, far less than the ones between Meethi and Imlie, but they were there. And she tried to listen in the conversation, not getting a lot from the one sided conversations she could hear. One sided expressions she could see.

Meethi was not worried while talking to him, which she almost always was while talking to Aditya Kumar Tripathi.

Meethi smiled while talking to him, never had she seen her cry because of him, while she had cried multiple times while talking to Aditya on the phone, pleading for him to give her daughter a chance.

Meethi asked Aryan to take care of Imlie all the time, and instead of being disappointed at the answer as she usually had been by Aditya, she beamed at Aryan’s response to her.

She realised early on that Aditya hated Pagdandiya for a really long time, and while that hatred dimmed to an extent, the people of this place always made that hatred flare. This was not the case with Aryan. By the way Meethi talked to Aryan, it was certain that he did not hate this village and nor its people.

And then they received news of Satyakaam being released and Meethi was going back to the city and Nani wanted to know this man, this Aryan Singh Rathore and she followed Meethi.

Aryan Singh Rathore was the last thing on Nani’s mind when they finally reached the city.

The reason for that was one Aditya Kumar Tripathi.

They had been hungry, waiting for Satyakaam and Imlie to arrive to pick them up, and they decided to enjoy the streetside Bhel. The Bhel was nice. She enjoyed it. Sukha Bhel, perfect blend of sweet and spicy, perfectly crisp and soft at the same time.

She hadn’t enjoyed the paper in which the bhel was wrapped in. A condolences. For the death of the relationship of Imlie and Aditya Kumar Tripathi. For the murder Imlie had commited of the relationship of Imlie and Aditya Kumar Tripathi.

The murderous rage came back, and without even looking at Meethi, she stopped an auto-rickshaw and proceeded towards The Bhaskar Times Office.

She was enraged. At Aditya Kumar Tripathi. How dare he kill the relationship because he was undecided of whom to trust, and then put it upon her grand-daughter? How dare he humiliate her grand-daughter, his wife, like this in a daily newspaper? A newspaper that was circulated widely. The thing he had printed would have affected her grand-daughter so much, and she hadn’t even told them.

She was enraged at Aditya, but also at Imlie. How dare she not tell them about this? How dare she be humiliated like this by that guy and still try to save him? How dare she try to justify his actions? How dare she go back to that family after this? How dare she try to do anything for that family ever again?

When she finally reached the Bhaskar Times office, she quickly paid the driver, ignored the security guard and the receptionist, found the back of Aditya Kumar Tripathi’s head, and her Potli, which she had clenched in her hands, as she didn’t know who she could hit in her rage, she swung it directly to hit the guy.

And then she watched in sick fascination as Aditya startled and shifted from his seat.

Everyone watched as Aditya rubbed the back of his head and stood up, the rage clear in his eyes and turned around, his eyes flashing at his person.

Nani watched as the condescending look he always had for them returned in his eyes.

She scoffed. This person always remained the same. He may have respect in his words, but those eyes, she could read them very well. They may have shown love to Imlie at some point, maybe even today, but they had no love lost for Imlie’s family.

The rage left his eyes, but the haughtiness remained. She was unsure what he would do when he moved forward, but took a quick step back when he bent forward, with the intention of touching her feet.

The audacity of this guy.

She made it clear then, “Rehne do Damaad—-ab toh tum DamaadJi naahi rahe. Toka ee sab kare ki konu zaroorat naa hai. Humka tohar gandhe haath apan aas-paas bhi naahi chahi hai.(Let it be, son-in—now you are not even that are you? You need not do any of this. I do not want your dirty hands anywhere near me.)”

Aditya looked around with wide eyes as his colleagues began talking, gossipping as their top most senior journalist was beaten and humiliated like this.

Aditya looked at Nani again, embarrassed beyond belief, and began to ask, “Nani, aap yaha—Nani, you here—)”

But before he could complete, “Nani naahi kaho humka, naa. Humse toh tum baat naahi karo toh behtar hoga.(Don’t call me Nani, no. Don’t even talk to me, that would be better.)”

Aditya moved again, but Nani brought the piece of paper in front of him, which stopped him in his step.

Nani laughed then, and asked, “Ab kaa hua? Bolti band? Ee kare samay naahi hui rahi tumri bolti band? Haath naahi kaapat rahe, aisan kachu likhat waqat? Uu bhi tohar biwi khatir?(Now what? Cat got your tongue? You couldn’t have stopped yourself from doing this? Did your hands not shake when you wrote this? That too for your wife?)”

Aditya was moving forward to answer, his face twisted in the same way as when he was about to insult them, just as she remembered, but before he could utter a word, Imlie was there, Satyakaam and Meethi following her.

Imlie looked at the article in Nani’s hands and froze. Meethi tried to move her daughter, but her daughter remained where she was. Meanwhile, Satyakaam’s eyes were fixed on that piece of paper. The one that published the humiliation his daughter has faced at the hands of his once son-in-law.

Before any of them could do anything, there was a yell that echoed through the office.

“Everybody get back to work!”, was what Aryan Singh Rathore spoke from the door of his cabin, and that was enough to start a hustle of all the employees to get back to work.

Except Imlie who was still frozen, and Aditya, who still wanted to defend himself, and Satyakaam whose face was turning murderous, while Meethi looked like she couldn’t believe what she was seeing.

Nani watched as this new guy snapped them out of it by shouting, “Imlie, Mr. Tripathi, in my cabin, now.”

But Imlie didn’t move. She didn’t register. Aditya moved towards her, and Imlie moved back from him. Imlie’s eyes stuck on Aditya’s feet, that inched closer to her, that made her inch away from him.

And then Nani watched as Aryan came between Aditya and Imlie, in front of Imlie, his back facing Aditya, and she watched as Imlie found Aryan’s gaze.

And then she witnessed as her grand-daughter pulled herself together, stood straight, turned her gaze away, and walked purposefully to Aryan’s cabin.

Aryan didn’t even turn to look at her, no. He stood there as she walked away from him. He stood right in front of their family, met her’s, Meethi’s and finally Satyakaam’s eyes and asked them, not one look of disdain, not one word seeming like an order, but with more respect than she had first seen in Aditya’s eyes, “Aap sab bhi chaliye. Hum iske baare mein andar baat kar sakte hai.(You should come too. We should talk about this inside.)”

She heard Aditya scoff and move towards Aryan’s cabin, and she too, was dragged inside by Meethi, because she still wanted to thrash Aditya in public.

The first one to speak to Imlie as soon as they entered was Satyakaam, he kneeled beside the sofa Imlie was sitting on, her head in her hands, and he asked, “Aur kaa kaa chupawat hai tu humse Imaliya?(What more are you hiding from us Imlie?)”

Imlie looked up to him, and then her gaze turned to Aditya. This led Nani to fume, “Kaa naahi chupawat hai, uu pucho. Kabhai humka kachu khul ke batayi hai.(You should ask what she’s not hiding. Has she ever really told us anything?)”

Imlie turned her gaze sharply to her and said, “Ae Nakli Nani, abhai tum toh shuru naahi ho jaao. Ee sab jon bhi ho raha hai uu tohar kaaran ho raha hai.(Hey Nakli Nani, you don’t start now. All this is happening because of you.)”

Nani was even more enraged. This girl, this little chit of a girl, she was blaming her for making this mess. If anyone was to blame for this mess, it was her ex-husband. And Nani was quick to clear this out, “Hum? Humre kaaran? Arey tohar dimaag kharaab ho gaya hai kaa? Tu abhai bhi ee ki taraf daari karat hai? Ee toka zaleel kiye rahe, sirf tohar saamne naahi, puri duniya ke saamne, aur toka hum galat lagat hai?(I? Because of me? Have you lost your mind Imlie? You are still defending him? He humiliated you, not just in front of you, but in front of the world, and you think I’m wrong?)”

Meethi tried to calm her down, and she almost did, but then Aditya moved forward and said, “Humne wohi likha, joh humne dekha. Aap aise hum pe ilzaam naahi laga sakti hai.(I wrote what I saw. You can’t blame me like this.)”

And Nani was infuriated, again, and this time she went forward to hit him even more, not with her Potli, but with her hands.

Meethi tried to stop her again, and she was successful again.

But it was not the end. Because Satyakaam was rising and walking towards Aditya. And the last time Satyakaam had that look on his face, he had beaten some goons up from another village from stealing from theirs. Nani cheered silently, hoping Satyakaam would do what she intended.

She was almost immediately disappointed.

Satyakaam entered Aditya’s space and opened his mouth, his teeth gritting, his fists clenched, his eyes set on the man in front of him only for him to address the other present there, “Aryan Babu, hum maanat rahe ki hum toka bahut naahi jaanat rahe, par humka lagat rahe ki humri Bitiya apan daftar maan surakshit hai. Ee, ee joh humare purane DamaadJi hai na, uu humri Bitiya ko iss tarah se zaleel kiye, aur aap kachu naahi kiye?(Aryan Babu, I agree that I may not know you, but I thought my daughter was safe in her office. This, my ex-son-in-law has humiliated my daughter to this extent, and you haven’t taken any action?)”

Aryan, who was leaning against his desk, watching the collision going on in his office, looked up when he was blamed for not taking action against Aditya Kumar Tripathi. He looked at Imlie at her father’s claim. Imlie too realised what her father was blaming Aryan for and immediately stood up.

“Uu kiye rahe. Uu Aditya Sir ko suspend kiye rahe, par Aditya Sir ki shaadi thi, toh—”, Imlie clarified, but was interrupted by Aryan.

Aryan cleared his throat and answered, “Of course Sir, Imlie yaha safe hai. Imlie mere saath safe—I mean to say, Imlie meri office mein safe hai. It’s just that, uss time pe main suspension ke alawa kuch nahi kar sakta tha. Because Imlie ko, yaa uske liye kissi ko complaint karni thi. Aur main Imlie ke liye complaint nahi kar sakta hun. Woh sirf meri employee hai—(Of course Sir, Imlie is safe here. Imlie is safe with me—I mean to say, Imlie is safe in my office. It’s just that, at that time. except suspension, I really couldn’t have done anything. Because Imlie, or someone, a representative for Imlie, had to file a formal complaint for me to take further action. And I couldn’t complain on behalf of Imlie. She’s just my employee—)”

But before any further explanations could take place Aditya was interrupting Aryan and saying, “Haan, aisi employee jiski aap kahin pe bhi madad karne pahunch jaate hai.(Yes, an employee for whom you could reach anywhere to help.)”

And Nani absolutely couldn’t take any more of this man. So she moved towards him, and asked, “Tumka bari jalan ho rahi hai. Kabhai khud toh naahi pahunche humri naatin ko time pe bachaye khatir. Aur ab konu aur kare toh toka jalan howat hai.(You are getting very jealous. You haven’t ever reached on time to help my grand-daughter. And now, when someone else is, you are getting jealous.)”

She was delighted when Aditya’s face twisted like he had bitten a lemon, and Aryan’s eyebrows quirked in surprise. An amusing surprise.

Aditya moved forward again, and began, “Dekhiye Nani—(See Nani—)”

But she interrupted him yet again, “Hum kahe the toka, ek din ghutno pe jaaoge humri naatin ke saamne, maafi maange khatir, par uu tohar pass waapas naa aayi hai. Maafi maange ghutno par?(I told you, one day you’ll be on your knees begging for forgiveness from my grand-daughter, but she’ll not come back to you. Did you go on your knees?)”

Aditya looked down, and Nani smirked, “Waapas naa aayi naa? Ee keliye itna zeher firaa rahe ho.(Did she come back? That’s why you are spreading this poison.)”

Then, she turned to look at Imlie, “Aur tu, tohar kaa dimaag kharaab ho gaya hai? Arey karamjali, toka samajh naahi aawat hai ki toka eeko dho teen jhaapad maare khatir ee bahut hi badiya avsar rahe hai, aur tu uuka gawa diyes.(And you, have you lost your mind? You ill-fated girl, you don’t understand that you had the opportunity to slap him a couple of times, and you let it go?)”

And just like that, her grand-daughter, who was tearing up a moment ago, was snorting again.

But the smile did not stay when she turned to look at her Amma and Dadda.

Her Amma smiled at her, not with happiness, but with the realisation that her daughter had learned to keep things from her. Her Dadda was angry, but not with her, but her incapability to do justice by her.

She watched as her grand-daughter looked at the new man, the mystery that she had come here to solve in the first place, and she saw the looks they shared.

The way they looked at each other was reminiscent of the way Meethi and Satyakaam had looked at each other, before that City Boy had destroyed their chance at happiness.

Nani, not really wanting her grand-daughter to be involved in another mess with another man so soon, asked Aryan, “Aur tum, tum humri Imaliya ko Atank se bacha diye, gaon waalon se bacha diye, toh abhai tak ee naaspeete se kaahe naahi bachaye ho.(And you, you saved my Imlie from Atank, you saved my Imlie from the villagers, so why have you not saved her from this accursed man yet?)”

Imlie began tugging her halfway, and Nani made her let go of her. She watched as Aryan with , a pained, but definitely not unhappy, look in his eyes answered, “Imlie ko meri zaroorat nahi hai apna khyaal rakhne ke liye. Yeh uska decision hai, ki woh kya karna chahti hai.(Imlie doesn’t need me to take care of herself. It should be her own decision, what she wants to do.)”

Nani was floored. A rich man, a man who could fight, a man who was young enough, a man who could make Meethi happy, who could stand up to Satyakaam and still respect him. All this and the man liked Imlie. She was incandescently happy at this turn of events.

She watched in happiness as Aditya Kumar Tripathi fumed in anger. This man was much better than him. She had always liked him less, tolerated him because of Imlie, but if this new man was more than what they wanted people to see, more than what they wanted to hide, she didn’t mind him.

After all, the way they talked without talking, the way he stood by Imlie, stood up for Imlie, the way Imlie tried to defend Aryan in front of her father, rather reminded her of Satyakaam&Meethi.

Only, they were Aryan&Imlie.

Oh she was still angry at Aditya, still so mad, but looking at her grand-daughter’s laughing face, she wanted to forget about it for a moment. She wanted to forget about filing a formal complaint against this man. She wanted to forget about wanting to thrash the man. She wanted to forget about teaching him a lesson.

But now, at this very moment, she wanted her grand-daughter’s happiness.

Which she could see in Aryan&Imlie.

And she couldn’t wait for the result of the night they were together, that too for nine months.

Now, she had to get them married.

Her resolve got stronger when Meethi and Satyakaam, with the help of Aryan, filed a complaint against Aditya, and they guy just stalked off.

She was even more determined when after, while leaving, Aryan looked at her with an amused glance, and then looked to Imlie and said, “Main dekh sakta hun, ke tumhaari life mein ek aur strong presence hai, jiski wajah se tum kissi se bhi ladne mein peeche nahi hat ti.(I can see, you have another strong presence in your life, because of whom you do not ever back away from a fight.)”

She looked as her grand-daughter blushed.

Aryan got up then, joined his hands in front of him, and said to her, “Thank you, uss naaspeete ko maarne ke liye. Main yeh bhi dekh sakta hun ke Imlie ko apni nautanki kaha se mili.(Thank you for beating up that accursed man. I can also see where Imlie gets her drama from.)”

And did Nani mention handsome, because this man was handsome also.

Nani grinned an evil smile when he left the room, and Imlie looked at her in fright.

Oh, Nani was so pleasantly amused by these turn of events.

By Aryan&Imlie.