Nisha (sunshining), this is for you. Apt title for the OS, don’t you think?
All remains the same until Monday (March 13) episode with Abhimanyu dreaming / hallucinating Akshara and deciding to bring her back. This is a TWO PART OS. Posting the first part now.
For the ease of typing, I have kept the conversations mostly in English with a few sentences / phrases of Hindi here and there. Hope that’s OK.
Enjoy!
*****
Udaipur.
Birla Mansion
Manjari brushed Shefali aside and ran after Abhi, grabbing his arm just as he was about to get into the car. “Abhi, beta, what are you doing out of the bed? You should be resting!” she wailed. “Where are you going in this condition?”
Mahima and Anand joined them. Abhi shook his head, the bright light in his eyes and the senseless grin scaring Manjari, drawing a frown from both Anand and Mahima. “I have to go, ma. I have to get my Akshu back! She can’t go off like that, can she?”
“Abhi!” Manjari screeched, face turning red in fury. “Are you even aware of what nonsense you’re sprouting?”
“Ma, don’t worry, OK? I’ll just go and bring her back. She is my Akshu, isn’t she? How can she leave me? She can’t.” His grin widened as he opened the car door. Anand silently gestured Parth to come quick and Mahima took out her phone and stepped aside, genuine worry creasing both their faces.
“You saw, didn’t you? The way she ran towards me when I fell? I knew it! I always knew she loved me. Only me.” Abhimanyu’s laughter ended in a small hiccup. “My Akshu and I, we’re made for each other. Mad for each other. She’s probably waiting there for me to come to her.” Shaking his head to clear his dimming vision, ignoring the sweat rolling off his body, dampening the bandages he collapsed onto the driver’s seat of the car. “You don’t worry ma, I’ll just go and bring her back. Yu gaya aur yu aaya!”
Mahima gently but firmly pushed Manjari aside. Taking the loaded syringe from Parth, she made her voice as soothing as possible. “You can go wherever you want to go, Abhimanyu, none of us will stop you, OK?” Manjari paled at the childlike joy that brightened her son’s face. “But you have injuries, don’t you?” Mahima continued in the same cajoling tone. “I’ll just give you this pain med so that you can drive comfortably, OK?”
Since she injected it at the elbow, the sedative took effect almost immediately. Parth grabbed Abhimanyu before he could slide and fall off from the seat. Right on cue, the ambulance siren reached them.
“We’re taking Abhimanyu to the hospital. Parth, tell Rohan to call Dr Rashmi. She is the best psychiatrist in Udaipur and has come as a consultant to Birla hospital quite a few times. And Dr Nayak, our neurologist.”
“Tell him to keep the news contained,” Mahima interjected. “I don’t want this out in the evening news that Dr Abhimanyu Birla has become unstable. Is that understood?” Parth, already talking over the phone with Rohan, nodded and gave a thumbs up.
“Didi, kya hua mere Abhi ko?” Manjari whimpered in dawning terror.
“Relax Manjari. Let us take him to Birlas first and then I’ll let you know.”
****
Birla Hospital. Four hours later.
Abhimanyu continued to fidget, the impatience and restlessness starkly evident in his eyes even as the doctor continued his examination. “I’m fine, Nayak ji. You know I’m fine. Now let me go na,” he sighed. “You guys are too much. I’m a doctor myself. Wouldn’t I know if something is wrong with me?” Nayak, the elderly neurologist with kind, patient eyes exchanged a quick glance with the psychiatrist, a young woman with sharp, intelligent eyes before going back to checking the blood pressure. “Look, let me go and tell Akshu that I’m doing fine, I’ll come back and let you do whatever tests you want. How about that?”
Nayak smiled. “Five more minutes, Dr Birla. You’re our star doctor, after all.”
Abhimanyu groaned. “You don’t understand. Meri Akshu wait kar rahi hogi mere liye. She’s a worrywart. She’ll think something happened to me and would come running and cry…” And just like that his eyes lit up. “There you go! I told you, didn’t I? She’s panicking and has started praying for me.” He began humming an offbeat Oh kanha ab toh murli ki… “Her voice is divine, isn’t it? Any problem,” he went on, his mood and joy so hyper that even a non-doctor would frown. “Small, big, she goes to her Kanha ji. She says He takes care of her and now see, she is singing to Him, asking Him to take care of me! Pagal ladki ek dum!” He turned towards Dr Rashmi. “Do you know, I first fell in love with her voice. I hadn’t even seen her and began running towards that voice.” And his eyes lit up. He tried to get up but Nayak gently held him back. “Akshu! You’re here! I was just telling them about you.” He extended his uninjured hand in the direction of the door, his fingers closing in as if he was holding on to something. Or someone. “See, I told you, she would come running, didn’t I, Dr Rashmi?”
Rashmi nodded with a smile before excusing herself and stepping out of the VIP room.
“What do you think, Rashmi?” Mahima was the first to ask.
“He is definitely hallucinating.”
Anand couldn’t hide his worry. “Auditory or visual?”
“No sir. He sees her, hears her, feels her presence and touch… so it’s tactile and presence too. Vitals are normal. No fever or dehydration. He doesn’t seem to be under the influence of alcohol or drugs either.”
Manjari looked on, panicked and confused. “What are you saying? My Abhi would never do any of those things. He never did.”
Mahima sighed impatiently. “And everyone knows that, Manjari. But we have to rule out every aspect.” Turning back to the doctor she asked, “Could it be because of the head injury?”
“His MRI is clear so no.”
Just then Dr Nayak too stepped out of the room and joined them in the corridor. “I’ve administered another sedative for now. He is resting.” He halted Manjari who looked ready to barge in. “Ma’am please. You need to leave him alone for some time. Let him rest.”
“But…”
Mahima gestured Parth who cajoled and led a reluctant Manjari away. Dr Nayak looked at the founding members of the Birla hospital. “I’ve known your family and Abhimanyu for a very long time now. Since I know your history, I can rule out drugs or any other neuro-related causes for these hallucinations.”
“He is not psychotic and I don’t see any signs of schizophrenia either,” Dr Rashmi added. “It has to be some kind of trauma or severe grief. Is he under any medications?”
Anand nodded. “Anti-anxiety pills. I’ll dig up the prescription.”
“That could have added to the whole thing. He needs to be admitted and put on anti-psychotic meds at the earliest.”
“No!” Mahima’s denial was instinctive. “News gets out that Dr Abhimanyu Birla has gone crazy…”
“He is not crazy,” Anand snapped furiously.
“Yes, but people don’t know all this medical terminology. They see a person in psych ward and stamp him as mad. We can’t take the chance here. We need to get him somewhere else and continue his treatment there.”
“It’s not a bad idea, actually,” Dr Rashmi agreed. “Dr Feroz lives in Shimla. I’ll refer this case there. His hospital is closer to the mountains, a very pleasant environment. A change in place would help too. And Feroz is an expert in these cases.”
Both Anand and Mahima accepted. “But who will go with Abhimanyu? We can’t leave the hospital, Manjari needs to stay with Ruhi, the kid has slight temperature. Arohi…”
Anand negated. “Under the circumstances Arohi is not a good idea. It’ll go from bad to worse. We need to take him there at the earliest, that much is obvious. Let me see what I can do.”
****
Kasauli:
“Abhinav, I’ve added the money into the account. So please pay Abhir’s school fee today.” Akshara reminded as she handed over his lunch box to him.
“Ji. Akshara?”
“Ji?”
“Thank you.” When she frowned in confusion, he elaborated. “I know you wanted to give the marriage a chance but I was the one who said no.” His smile was both sad and content. “I genuinely feel that unless you get some kind of closure for your past you won’t be able to step into the future wholeheartedly. But when I said that a part of me was terrified that you would take Abhir away from me.”
Akshara smiled. “Our relationship is based on mutual respect, Abhinav. So if you say something, I will listen and try to understand just like how you do when I talk. And as for Abhir, he will always be your son and you, his super papa.” She smiled and he grinned back.
Would I ever see her eyes smile and laugh, he thought. Whoever said eyes are the index of the soul had been absolutely right. Initially her eyes had been dead. She had been like a living dead body, the life inside her the only thing forcing her to breathe, eat and survive. Then his Nikki ji came into this world and Akshara’s lips relearnt how to smile for her son. But even the love of that innocent angel couldn’t get rid of the ocean of grief in those eyes. Now, ever since they returned from Udaipur, even that smile seemed to be artificial. Forced. Akshara ke Kanha ji, please help her.
With a sigh, he grabbed his car keys and opened the door, coming face to face with a tall, distinguished looking elderly man who had his hand raised as if to knock. Behind him stood Manish, Kairav and Muskaan. His frown transformed into a smile of welcome. A quick exchange of hugs, greetings and blessings later, Akshara introduced the stranger.
“Abhinav, this is Harshvardhan Birla. Abhimanyu ke papa.”
“Oh! Namaste ji. Please come in.”
“How are you, Akshara?” Harsh asked, trying to cover his awkwardness.
“Ji. I’m fine. You?” Harsh merely nodded with another awkward smile.
Realizing whatever they needed to say couldn’t be said in his presence, Abhinav gestured to Akshara and left.
The Akshara Harsh knew would have been warm, welcoming with a ready smile on her face and a deep desire to help. This one merely stood quietly, refusing to meet his eyes, waiting for him to speak. “Akshara, I need your help,” he blurted out. He had never been good at polite talk.
“Ji?”
“Abhimanyu is not well. He is…not well. His mind is not in a good place. He has been admitted in a hospital in Shimla a few days back but there’s been no improvement. The psychiatrist there thinks you…you can help him. That he-he would be able to recover with-with your help.”
He stumbled to a halt as emotions clogged his throat. He had been a monster in the past but a monster who loved his son unconditionally. So when Anand had called him in Mumbai and told him about Abhimanyu, he couldn’t believe. He had caught the next flight to Udaipur. He had accompanied Abhimanyu to Shimla. Seeing his Abhimanyu, his smart, handsome, intelligent son thrashing on his bed screaming Akshu, Akshu, calming down only when her songs were played in the music system, talking to an imaginary Akshu every waking moment had not been easy.
“H-help him, Akshara! Help my son! Please!”
And stood there, waiting for her to speak. To show some emotion. But she just stood there, face a tight mask, all her thoughts internalized. Finally, she swallowed and spoke. “You lost one son because of me. If you think I can help in saving Abhimanyu, I’ll do whatever you tell me to do. Shimla is two hours from here. Please give me a few minutes. I’ll come along with you.”
It took Harsh a few seconds to come out of the shock at her words. “Akshara!”
About to step into her bedroom to change, Akshara halted. Although she didn’t turn. “Ji?”
For probably the first time in his life, Harshvardhan Birla searched for words. “Neel…” he swallowed and resumed. “Neel had been more your brother than my son, Akshara. You were his bhabhi. His best friend. Even my cynical eyes could see that. You were a lot of things to him but you’re not responsible for his death. Please don’t ever say or think that.”
The shuddering breath huffing out of her and the slightly quivering shoulders were the only indication of her battle with the emotions hitting her from all directions. She took one step, stumbled, righted herself and walked into her room like an old woman, closing the door softly behind her.
Manish, as if unable to stay still, walked out of the house with Kairav right behind him and ended up unintentionally eavesdropping on Muskaan and Neelamma.
“I don’t want to go back to Udaipur,” Muskaan declared. “And even if I go, I’m not going to stay with these people. I made good friends over there and we’ll share an apartment or something.”
“Why? What happened? Did they not treat you well? Did someone say something?”
“Oh except for Akshara bhabhi they treat everyone extremely well,” Muskaan, never one to mince words, snapped. “And that Kairav Bhairav! What kind of a brother doesn’t talk to his sister, amma? Forget talking, he didn’t even look at her properly in all the time she stayed there. When he stayed away from Abhir, I thought he didn’t like kids or something but no. Nothing like that. He was so loving towards his niece. What did Abhir do wrong, you tell me? I tell you, their parents up above would have thought the brother will take care of their princess like daughter. And if they see him now...they'd die all over again…”
“Muskaan!” Neelamma tried to chastise. But Muskaan was in no mood to slow down.
“You know, when I saw them with Akshara bhabhi, I’m reminded of our old neighbor and their dog. Remember? They used to have that pet dog? And whenever their son came home, because he didn’t like dogs, they used to kick it out. That poor thing used to sit outside, waiting to be called inside. It’s like that. Bhabhi can stay as long as Arohi is OK with it. Bhabhi when returning said, I’ll never come to this house again. Not one of them said, please don’t say that, it’s your house. We’re your family. Tcha! What’s the use of having all that money and those big big houses when…”
She halted as she caught sight of Manish and Kairav. Flushing guiltily but refusing to apologize, she walked away leaving behind Manish and Kairav who looked like they wanted to die in shame and guilt.
“Wow!” Harsh drawled, his tone dripping with derision. “And I thought I was a monster and an abuser!”
The silence that followed finally broke with Akshara’s, “I’m ready. What do I need to do there?”
Feedback / comments most welcome!!
Part Two - Page 5
Hindi TV Shows
Anupamaa
CID
16