SHOT 4
The silence in the living room was deafening.
Samrat still held the receiver in his hand.
His knuckles had turned white.
Revathi looked at him anxiously.
"What happened?"
Samrat didn't answer.
"Samrat?"
He slowly lowered the receiver.
His voice was barely audible.
"Appa..."

For a split second, joy spread across everyone's faces.
Revathi's eyes welled up.
"Any information on him?"
Samrat looked at her, unable to meet her eyes.
"He... isn't alone."
The smile on Revathi's face disappeared.
"What do you mean?"
"He has been living in Kodaikanal..."
"...with another woman."
The words shattered the room.
"No..."
Revathi whispered.
"No..."
She shook her head repeatedly.
"That's impossible."
"There must be some misunderstanding."
"My Rakesh would never..."

Her voice broke.
Samrat immediately held her shoulders.
"Amma..."
She pushed him away.
"No!"
"He wouldn't leave us."
"He loves this family."
Mohit burst into tears.
"This is a lie!"
"It has to be!"
Only Nayantara remained silent.
Not because she believed the stranger.
But because she could see everyone's hearts breaking at once.
That night, no one slept.
Revathi sat before the family temple, praying.
Samrat was on his bed.
He stared into the darkness. He couldn't sleep.
Nayantara quietly walked towards him.
She didn't speak immediately.
After a long silence she asked,
"Can I sit here?"
He nodded.
Both looked at the night sky.
Finally Samrat spoke.
"I spent three months blaming myself."

She looked at him.
"I thought maybe I wasn't capable enough."
"Maybe the pressure of the business made Appa leave."
"Maybe I should have noticed something."
He laughed bitterly.
"And now..."
"...I find out he simply walked away."
Nayantara listened quietly.
Sometimes silence comforted more than words.
The next morning, Samrat made a decision.
"I'm going to Kodaikanal."
Revathi immediately stood up.
"I'm coming too."
"No."
"I have the right to ask him why."
"So do I."
Mother and son stared at each other.
Finally Nayantara intervened.
"Both of you should go."
Revathi looked at her.
"If you both carry unanswered questions, neither of you will find peace."

Samrat nodded slowly.
She was right.
Two days later...
Samrat, Revathi and Nayantara reached Kodaikanal.
The restaurant owner recognized them immediately.
"You're Mr. Samrat?"
"Yes."
"He comes here every morning."
"He lives nearby."
The owner hesitated.
"I'm... sorry."
Samrat simply nodded.
"It's alright."
But it wasn't.
They followed the directions.
A small cottage stood among the trees.
The gate was open.
Revathi's hands trembled.
Samrat swallowed hard.
Nayantara quietly stood behind them.
Just then...
The front door opened.
A middle-aged man stepped outside.
Rakesh.
For a moment...
Nobody moved.
Revathi stared at the man she had waited months to see.

Rakesh looked equally shocked.
"Revathi..."
The next second—
Slap!
The sound echoed through the hills.
Revathi's hand shook after striking him.
"How dare you?"
Tears streamed down her face.
"We searched everywhere!"
"We filed police complaints!"
"We prayed every single day!"
"And all this time..."
"You were living here?"
Rakesh lowered his head.
"I can explain."
Revathi laughed bitterly.
"Can you explain three months of tears?"
Samrat stood frozen.
He had imagined countless reunions.
This wasn't one of them.
He walked forward slowly.
"Tell me one thing."
Rakesh looked at him hopefully.
"Samrat..."
"Did you leave willingly?"
The question hung in the air.
Rakesh closed his eyes.
"...Yes."
One word.
Just one.
It was enough.
Samrat's world collapsed.
Without another word...
He turned around and walked away.
Nayantara found him sitting alone near the lake.
He skipped stones across the water.
None reached far.
"I don't know what hurts more," he said quietly.
"The fact that he left..."
"...or the fact that he never thought we deserved an explanation."
Nayantara sat beside him.
"You don't have to defend him."
"I'm not."
She paused.
"But maybe you should hear him."
Samrat looked at Rakesh.
"Why?"
Rakesh closes his eyes.
"A year ago... I started feeling invisible."
He explains that while handling business tours, he met Madhavi, a divorced woman who constantly praised him, admired him and made him feel important.
What started as friendship slowly became emotional dependence.
He became blinded by the attention.
"I convinced myself that I deserved another chance at happiness."
Revathi's eyes fill with tears.
"So instead of speaking to your family..."

"...you chose another woman?"
Rakesh lowers his head.
"Yes."
He admits that he left voluntarily without informing anyone because he was too much of a coward to face them.
Rakesh continues.
"In the beginning everything felt exciting."
"But excitement doesn't last forever."
Within weeks he realized Madhavi wasn't interested in him.
She enjoyed the expensive gifts.
The vacations.
The lifestyle.
As his savings reduced, so did her affection.
One morning she simply asked him to leave.
"I lost my family..."
"...for someone who never loved me."
He breaks down.
"I wanted to return many times."
"But after what I had done..."
"I couldn't gather the courage."
Samrat walks towards his father.
He quietly asks,
"Did you ever think about Amma?"
Rakesh cannot answer.
"Did you think about Mohit?"
Silence.
"Did you think about me?"
Still silence.
Samrat nods.
"I understand now."
Rakesh looks up hopefully.
Samrat continues,
"You didn't leave because you found love."
"You left because you stopped valuing the love you already had."
Those words hit harder than any slap.
As everyone prepares to leave, Nayantara quietly says,
"Can I say something?"

Nobody speaks.
She looks at Rakesh.
"When chocolate is being tempered, it reaches a stage where it starts looking ruined."
"You feel like throwing it away."
"But if you're patient..."
"...it becomes stronger than before."
Everyone listens.
She continues,
"Families are like that too."
"You broke yours."
"Whether it becomes strong again depends on what you do from today."
She then looks at Samrat.
"And forgiveness..."
"...is not forgetting."
"It's choosing not to let someone else's mistake decide who you become."
Samrat takes a deep breath.
He isn't ready to forgive.
But he also doesn't want to become bitter.
Revathi walks up to Rakesh.
"I cannot forgive you today."
"Maybe not tomorrow."
"But I refuse to hate you."
"Hate will only punish me."
She removes her mangalsutra.
Places it in Rakesh's palm.

"Our marriage ended the day you walked away."
"But you're still the father of my children."
"If you truly regret your actions..."
"...earn back their respect."
She walks away.
Samrat and Mohit follow.
Rakesh falls to his knees crying.
Home
Life slowly returns to normal.
Rakesh does not move back into the house. Rakesh handed the company to Samrat.
Instead, he chooses the path of spirituality which he believed to provide some clarity to his life.
***
A week later...
Television blares through the living room.
"India's Biggest Home Chef – Season 5! Auditions Open!"
Nayantara quickly changes the channel.
Revathi notices.
"You still dream about it, don't you?"
Nayantara smiles sadly.
"Some dreams don't dream about us."

Samrat quietly remembers every rejection she had spoken about before marriage.
That night...
Without telling anyone...
He fills out her application.
The Audition
Several weeks later, Nayantara receives a call.
She rushes into the living room.
"Someone has submitted my application!"
Everyone slowly turns towards Samrat.
He whistles innocently.
Nayantara folds her arms.
"You."

He smiles.
"Guilty."
She tries to stay angry.
Fails.
Chennai
The First Round
Hundreds of contestants wait nervously.
Nayantara carries a neatly packed box.
Inside are her signature Dark Chocolate Orange Cookies.
One preliminary screener barely glances at her.
"Next."
He doesn't even taste her food.
Another whispers,
"She's talented..."
"...but television needs attractive faces."
Nayantara hears every word.
Her smile slowly disappears.

Just then...
A voice echoes across the room.
"Has anyone actually tasted her dish?"
Everyone turns.
Three celebrity judges have arrived unexpectedly to observe the auditions.
Chef Sitara Sharma.

Chef Sonakshi Bose.

Chef Gauri Oberoi.

Sitara walks straight to Nayantara.
"Did you make these?"
"Yes, ma'am."
She breaks a cookie.
The crisp sound echoes.
She tastes it.
Then looks at Sonakshi.
Without speaking...
She passes the cookie.
Sonakshi tastes it.
Her eyebrows rise.
She immediately passes it to Gauri.
Gauri closes her eyes after the first bite.
The room becomes silent.
Sitara turns to the screening panel.
"Who rejected her?"
Nobody answers.
She asks again.
"Who?"
One assistant nervously raises his hand.
Sitara folds her arms.
"On what basis?"
He hesitates.
"Ma'am... she doesn't have..."
He cannot complete the sentence.
Sonakshi finishes it for him.
"...the fairness required for television?"
The room falls silent.
Gauri places the remaining cookie on the table.
Then calmly says,
"If viewers only wanted fair faces..."
"...they wouldn't be watching a cooking competition."
"They're here to watch extraordinary food."
Sitara smiles at Nayantara.
"Congratulations."
"You've just earned your white apron."
Nayantara cannot believe it.
For the first time in years...
Someone chose her because of her talent.
Not despite her appearance.
Outside the audition hall, Samrat is waiting anxiously.
The doors open.
Nayantara runs towards him with tears in her eyes.
For a terrifying second, Samrat thinks she has been rejected again.
Then she hugs him tightly.
"I got selected."
Samrat laughs with relief.

"I knew you would."
She smiles through her tears.
"No..."
She looks back at the audition hall.
"For the first time..."
"...someone else believed it too."
To be continued...
19