AryLie FF - Aryan&Imlie - Epilogue Page 32 (Dt. 13 Mar) - Page 20

The Rathores - Part - II

Narmada Rathore, a.k.a Maa, a.k.a Kaki Maa, Aryan’s Mother

It’s always been said that sons are their mother’s and daughters are their father’s.

Narmada was unashamed to admit that it was the same case in the Rathore Family. Her husband adored their daughter. Meanwhile she worried over their son too much. Arpita and her father connected so much that she always got left behind. They depended on each other in a way that they never could’ve with Narmada. But Aryan, Narmada saw everything about Aryan, and her son too noticed every single thing about her. Narmada and her son depended on each other in a way they never could’ve with Aryan’s father.

They were never overboard, but it was clear, if a fight ever broke out between them, Narmada would side with Aryan while his father would side with Arpita. And it was the same other way round too. If Aryan and Arpita ever fought, then Narmada would scold Arpita and their father would scold Aryan.

Such was the dynamic between them.

Narmada loved Arpita more than anyone ever could and her husband loved Aryan more than anyone ever could. It was just the way they were made. They were a unit.

But then, then her husband died and suddenly, the dynamic had to change. Not one of her children could be without someone to depend on. Not one of her children should feel alone.

So Narmada became their both and the both became Narmada’s.

Arpita grew up, more responsible, more serious, just more.

Aryan grew up, more tamed, more silent, just more.

Narmada grew old, a partner lost, a way alone, her family amiss.

Narmada learned to connect with her daughter like her father would. Arpita learned to be there for her in a way that her father was.

Narmada learned to connect with her son like his father would. Aryan learned to be a support system for the both of them.

And they all were together again, a member lost, but still with them.

When Arpita fell in love and got married, Narmada was the happiest. She had seen how much Arpita took over when her father passed away, and Narmada was glad that she had found someone who would look after her. That Arvind would take care of her.

Arvind did.

Arvind not only took care of Arpita, he shared a burden with her son too. Her son who was young and alone despite being with the both of them, found a friend in his brother-in-law. Arvind and Aryan became thick as thieves and Narmada watched as both her children learned to laugh again. Learned to rest again.

And Narmada, for Narmada Arvind became someone she could confide in. Someone who would listen to her. Someone who would understand her. For Arvind, she was much more than a mother-in-law. She was someone who didn’t consider him a mere son-in-law. Arvind was much more than a son-in-law for Narmada.

However, her children suffered again. Arvind too left them. Arvind too passed away. And suddenly, Narmada found herself in her daughter’s place. Taking care of a grieving widow who had lost someone, who would never have that someone back.

Amidst all this she stopped seeing her son for sometime. She stopped seeing her son and all she could see was a widow who suffered through things that were never her fault. She stopped seeing that Aryan lost a brother.

And when she finally looked at him, it was well too late.

Aryan was lost. His ground shook, his sky lost.

She tried and tried and tried, but she couldn’t stop him from being alone. She couldn’t stop him from wanting to be alone. She couldn’t stop him from making himself alone.

So she learned once again, adapted once again.

She ambushed him.

With her presence. With Arpita’s presence.

It was constant, Narmada kept up with intruding in his loneliness. And she dragged Arpita along with her. She danced so he would join her. She sang so he would smile. She threw parties so he would mingle. She introduced him to girls so that he would stop thinking about his business. She pushed him to marry so that he wouldn’t be alone again.

She tried to learn English so that he would talk to her in the language he spoke.

She cried herself to sleep when she failed nonetheless.

Imlie was a ray of sunshine in her life.

One day she had come home in Aryan’s arms, and the way she was, she entered Narmada’s peripheral. And then Imlie was everywhere. On the front page of the newspaper whose company her son owned. In the temple she went to pray.

She was in Arpita’s words.

She was in Aryan’s thoughts.

And then she was in their home.

Narmada never knew the circumstances with which this little girl had fought in her life, but Narmada saw how stubborn and strong she was.

It was not easy, standing up to Aryan Singh Rathore and winning an argument without actually winning one.

Everytime she shut Aryan up, Narmada was delighted. Everytime she engaged Aryan in a battle of words, Narmada was amused. Everytime she made Aryan talk more than a sentence, Narmada was impressed.

Narmada, in the beginning, did not love Imlie for Imlie, no, rather she loved Imlie because of the way she got glimpses of the Aryan that was, and all because of her.

The Aryan who would never hesitate to speak with her. The Aryan who would find her and kiss her cheek and run away. The Aryan who would sit down in front of her and demand that she stroke his hair.

But one day Aparna suggested that she could get Aryan and Imlie married, and it led to Narmada being selfish for the sake of her son. It led to Narmada making another mistake. She made the same mistake she had with Aryan. She stopped seeing Imlie.

But her son did.

That day she had created a blunder, that day she had proposed marriage to Imlie on behalf of her son. She had been shocked at Imlie’s reaction.

But later, much later, she had been more shocked by her son’s reaction too.

Her son, who only got furious with her at the topic of marriage because it involved him, who made it clear everytime that he didn’t want to marry, fought with Narmada because of Imlie.

Her son had never fought with her for the CVs she used to show him.

But that day, Aryan’s rage was on behalf of Imlie.

It was do you know what’s going on in her life, not now is not the time for me. It was do you know what has happened to her, not there is no reason for me to marry. It was do you even know if she wants to get married or not, not I don’t want to get married.

Aryan had been the one that had made her see Imlie then. Because he already saw her.

And the way he looked at her, made Narmada look at Imlie too.

She stopped hearing Arpita talking about Imlie, and began listening to what Imlie was, according to Arpita. She stopped seeing how her Aryan was affected by Imlie, rather she started seeing how Imlie affected her son.

Gradually, Narmada saw Imlie’s broken marriage. She saw Imlie’s path being lost. She saw Imlie’s constant fight. She saw Imlie’s dedication, even to people who didn’t deserve her. She saw Imlie’s weaknesses. She saw Imlie’s strength too.

Imlie brought Arpita out of her trauma. Imlie brought Aryan out of his slump.

She saw Imlie’s trauma. And she saw Imlie fight with it.

She saw her fail more than she saw her win.

The thing was, once Narmada began seeing Imlie, it was like a whole puzzle was unfolded in front of her, unsolved.

And when she began unsolving it, her son’s puzzle pieces meld into Imlie’s. And as she joined more pieces, the picture that made wasn’t separate at all.

Just like that, she could see Aryan&Imlie.

She noticed the rights Aryan gave to Imlie. She noticed the way Aryan missed Imlie. She noticed the way Aryan took care of Imlie. She noticed how Aryan smiled because of Imlie. She noticed how Aryan laughed, sang, danced and cried for Imlie.

But this wasn’t all she noticed.

She noticed the way Aryan lightened Imlie up. She noticed the way Imlie floated when Aryan was around her. She noticed how Imlie was so comfortable in her skin when Aryan was the one near her. She noticed how the fake smiles Imlie had for the other part of her world turned true when she was here with Aryan.

Except, Mata Rani never let them be happy for long.

Narmada watched as Post-Revenge debacle Aryan&Imlie turned into Aryan and Imlie.

How Imlie didn’t really leave the mansion, but she was never home. And if she ever was, she made sure Aryan wasn’t anywhere in the mansion. Aryan came home later, more later than ever before, citing meetings and dinners. Making sure he wasn’t home the same time she was too.

Although this was done with the purpose of avoiding each other, it only made them realise how interlaced their life was with each other.

The first thing was how they stopped going and coming to and from the office together, which led to their schedules being disturbed so much that they had to make new ones. Apparently, Aryan was not used to silence anymore so he began talking on the phone while driving which led him to be stopped by a traffic officer for nearly an hour. And Imlie, so used to running from the car as soon as it stopped, forgot to pay her fare on a daily basis.

The second thing was how they stopped having lunch together. Which was a headache more for Narmada than the both of them. Narmada used to send one lunch box for the both of them, and it always came back empty. Now, when she was packing two tiffins, the rice was always uneaten in Aryan’s and anything made from all purpose flour was uneaten in Imlie’s.

The third thing was how they began losing things. Imlie’s notepads, which Aryan always made stock off, were now spread all around the house. Whereas Aryan’s pens, and she never knew her son had so many of them, were lost around the house too, because Imlie was usually the one to hand them back to him.

It wasn’t just all this, it was Aryan and Imlie’s coffee orders becoming confusing for the staff, in the way that they were both made the way Imlie liked it. It was in the way the staff never knew when they would be home and when to actually work on their rooms. It was the way they were both outdoing each other by being later than the other, but their dinner order being same, in the way that it was made how Aryan eats it.

One thing that Narmada was sure of was that this had to stop. Whatever this was, this stalemate her son and Imlie found themselves in, needed to stop.

Thankfully, an opportunity came sooner than she expected.

She found Aryan on his phone, talking to someone, when she heard Imlie’s name. She was giddy at the thought of them talking again, but lost it when she found that Aryan was talking to someone from, what, a cab agency?

Confused, she listened, and realised what was going on when she heard him say, “Yes, please make sure that it’s specified that it was appointed by the company.”

After a moment he was nodding and then he was done.

But Narmada only knew one person for whom he would book a cab at this late in the night without telling them that he was the one doing it.

Imlie.

Narmada entered her son’s room, hoping to talk to him.

She knew that Aryan being revenge driven was wrong, and that he had just fought with Arpita because of that too, but she couldn’t just stop being his mother because her son already went through a thrashing with his sister, and was now in one of the most weird peaceful war with the woman for whom he wouldn’t accept his feelings for.

So she entered his room, finally finding him, because he was too busy running these days, and Narmada was old.

So that’s what she said when he asked what she was doing here, she said, “Aru, I see you after so many days. Main toh ab old ho gayi hun. Aur you run so fast, ab tu ruka hai, so I come to talk to you.(Aru, I’m seeing you after so many days. I’ve grown old now. And you run so fast, and now that you’ve stopped for a bit, I came to talk to you.)”

She knew he was annoyed at her accusation, but she had taught him well enough to not behave disrespectfully to his elders.

He sighed and asked, “Please Maa, aap bhi nahi. Please.(Please Maa, not you too. Please.)”

Narmada perked up from where she was sitting, “Why? Why no Maa? Aru, tune joh kiya hai na, uske liye mujhe tujhse baat bhi nahi karni chahiye.(Why? Why not me? Aru, what you’ve done, I shouldn’t talk to you at all.)”

Aryan scoffed and answered, “Aap pehli thori hongi. Pehle Di, ab Imlie, next aap.(You wouldn’t be the first. First Di, now Imlie, next will be you.)”

Narmada sighed and said, “Toh galat kaha hai woh log? Dekh Imlie ke baare mein main kuch nahi bolungi. Par Arpi, Arpi ko bina bataye tujhe itna bada kadam nahi lena chahiye tha Aru.(Where are they wrong? See, I won’t say anything about Imlie. But Arpi, you shouldn’t have taken such a big step without telling Arpi, Aru.)”

Aryan looked away from her, but she continued, “Hum dono ko bina bataye tujhe apni zindagi ko aise barbaad nahi karna chahiye tha.(You shouldn’t have destroyed your life without even sharing any of it with us.)”

Aryan looked at her, and exclaimed, “Meri zindagi barbaad nahi hui hai Maa.(My life is not destroyed Maa.)”

Narmada flashed her eyes at him then, and asked, “Acha, teri zindagi barbaad nahi hui hai?(Right, your life is not destroyed?)”

Aryan pouted before saying, “Nahi!(No!)”

Narmada scoffed and said, “Eedhar main tujhse naraz hun, udhar tera Arpi se itna bada jhagda ho gaya. Aur Imlie, Imlie ki toh baat hi naa kare toh behtar hai.(Here I am upset with you, you had a big fight with Arpita there. And Imlie, I think it’s better if we do not talk about Imlie.)”

Aryan turned away from her and said, “Toh nahi hi karte hai naa uske baare mein baat. Karni kyun hai uske baare mein baat? Usse aaj tak kabhi kuch samajh aaya hai joh uske baare mein hum baat kare? Usse toh itna bhi samajh nahi aa raha ki main—(So let’s not talk about her. Why do we have to talk about her anyways? Has she ever understood anything that we talk about her? She doesn’t even understand that I—)”

And then he stopped talking, grinding his teeth to stop himself from continuing.

Narmada insisted when he refused to talk, using a bit of emotional blackmail, “Are, mujhe toh bata sakta hai na tu. Pehle ki tarah. Jaise hum pehle baat karte the?(You know you can tell me right? Like before. Like we used to talk to each other.)”

Narmada could see Aryan was frustrated when he caved, “It’s like woh samajhne ko taiyaar hi nahi hai. Har baar main kyun jau uske peeche? Pagdandiya mein. Tripathi’s ke ghar mein. Uski ex-husband ki shaadi mein. Maa, har baar main uske peeche gaya hun, tab usse yeh sawaal nahi aaya, ki main uske liye kya hun. Ki humaare beech kya hai. Nahi, ek baar uske Babu Saheb ko hurt kya kar diya, and suddenly, usse clear nahi hai ki hum dono ke beech kya hai. Mujhe toh samajh nahi aata ki yeh ladki akhir chahti kya hai?(It’s like she’s not ready to understand. Why do I have to always go after her? In Pagdandiya. In Tripathi’s Residence. At her ex-husband’s wedding. Maa, I’ve followed her, every time, then she didn’t think to question me, why or what am I to her. What is between us. No, I hurt her Babu Saheb one time, and suddenly she isn’t clear about the relationship between us. I don’t understand what this girl even wants.)”

Narmada said then, “Aru main tujhse sirf ek sawaal puchungi.(Aru, I’ll ask you one question.)"

Aryan watched as his mother sat down in front of him, her hand coming up to stroke his hair, and then run her fingers through it. Aryan closed his eyes. It's been so long since she’d done this with him. Narmada couldn't even remember the last time.

She ruffled his hair and then asked, “Ek insaan sabse zyada kya chahta hai?(What does a person want more than anything in their life?)”

Narmada knew her son wouldn't be able to answer. For all he must be a know-it-all, but when it came to feelings, Aryan Singh Rathore never failed to lock them away and throw away the key.

She smiled at him and said, “Joh usse life mein kabhi mila naa ho.(The things that they have never got in their life before.)”

Aryan looked at her with wide eyes, not understanding what she was saying.

Narmada chuckled, “Tune apni lifetime mein bahut akelapan dekha hai. Tune toh akelepan ko chun hi liya hai. Isiliye jab tujhe koi akela nahi rehne deta, toh tujhe acha lagta hai. Arvind ke baad—(You’ve seen so much loneliness in your life. You have chosen this loneliness. So whenever someone doesn’t let you be alone, you like it. After Arvind—)”

Narmada gulped, looking at the daze in which her son was and continued, “Arvind ke baad maine aur Arpi ne yeh nahi kiya. Par jab Imlie aayi, toh mujhe tujhe dekhne mein wapas maza aane laga. Main joh andar se chahti thi, ki tu wapas normal ho jaaye, humse baat kare, hasse, roye, naache, gaaye, joh bhi tu apne andar chupa ke rakhta tha, woh tu kissi ke saath share kare, woh sab hone laga.(After Arvind, Arpi and I couldn’t be that someone for you. But when Imlie came into our lives, I began enjoying watching you again. What I wanted within me, That you become normal again, that you talk to us, you laugh, cry, dance, sing, and do whatever it is that you hide within yourself, you share with someone, everything began happening.)”

Aryan tried to clarify, but Narmada flashed her eyes at him and asked, “Toh main wapas puchungi Aru. You like girl? You like Imlie?(So I’ll ask you again, Aru. Do you like the girl? Do you like Imlie?)”

Aryan's panic was visible in his face, but Narmada could read it anyway. This was something Aryan had to work out himself. But this was not about him alone.

This was Imlie too, so she warned him, “Abhi mujhe jawaab nahi de, chalega, par apna jawaab dhund ke rakh.(You can not answer me, that would be okay, but please, find your answer.)”

As Aryan's panic receded, she continued, “Imilie ne bahut dekha hai iss life mein. Aur mujhse zyada tu jaanta hai Imlie ki life mein kya kya hua hai. Toh tujhe pata hona chahiye ke Imlie ko life mein sabse zyada kya chahiye? Tujhe pata hona ki Imlie ko life mein kya nahi mila hain?(Imlie has seen much in her life. And you know, far better than me, what all has happened in Imlie’s life. So you should know what Imli wants the most? You should know, what is it that Imlie has never got in her life?)”

Aryan looked at his mother and answered, “Naam, rishte, aur unke maayne.(Name, relationships and their meaning.)”

Narmada smiled at her son, he was still so smart, and continued, “Toh agar woh aisa kuch tujhse maang rahi hai toh iska matlab kya hai, yeh tujhe samajh aana chahiye.(So if she’s asking something like this from you, then you should know what it means.)”

Narmada watched as a million realisations went through her son's head. He needed to understand how much Aryan&Imlie mattered to him, he needed to understand what Aryan&lmlie were to lmlie.

The both of them had come to depend so much on each other in so little time, that it was hurting them both, the way they were right now, angry with each other, trying to hurt each other, but unable to commit to it. It was taking away time, precious time, from both of their lives.

She huffed out a little chuckle and stood up, ruffling his hair more thoroughly.

She turned around before leaving the room completely, “Waise maaf nahi karungi itna aasani se.(By the way, I won’t forgive you that easily.)”

Aryan looked up at her, confused, and she continued, “Tune mujhse Aru cheen liya, itna jaldi maaf nahi karungi tujhe.(You took away my Aru from me, I won’t forgive you so soon.)”

And Aryan looked heart broken at her claim. She, not being able to watch him like this, continued, “Par jab teri life wapas track pe aajaye, tab main tujhe maaf kar dungi.(But when your life comes back on track, I’ll forgive you then.)”

Narmada smiled back when Aryan breathed a sigh of relief.

She will forgive him eventually.

Sooner rather than later it would seem.

Because that same night, when they were done with their dinners, without Imlie because she was out on an assignment, hence, Aryan was booking the cab.

When he’s done with dinner, he doesn’t leave the table. When he’s done with his meetings, he doesn’t leave the table. When he’s falling asleep, he doesn’t leave the table.

When Imlie comes, he’s still there on the table.

All Narmada can think is, is this how it’s been the past few days, him waiting, her waiting.

She watches as Imlie looks at Aryan on the table. She watches as she takes the long route to her room so that she could pass the table. Is this how they’ve been these days, trying to be near each other without being with each other?

She watches as Imlie passes him and she watches as her expression changes, something has happened, something that hasn’t happened in the past few days. She sees Imlie’s eyes close, she sees Aryan inhaling.

Aryan is holding Imlie’s hand, Imlie is letting him.

Aryan pleaded, “Paanch minute.(Five minutes.)”

Imlie turned her head, listening to him, but not looking at him, when she agreed, “Baat naahi karenge, dekhenge bhi naahi, bus paanch minute.(No talking, not even looking, just five minutes.)”

Aryan closed his eyes and nodded. Imlie sat down beside him.

He didn’t let go of her hand. She didn’t make him.

Narmada was reassured, they weren’t turning to Aryan and Imlie.

They still were Aryan&Imlie.

The puzzle pieces were just scattered a bit, more than before.