Hey guys… …
Another monsoon story!!! I don't get romantically inspired, but the writer inside me surely does get inspired by the romantic rain… …Whenever I want to write a fun, simple story all I can think of is a heavy, dramatic idea, I think I am entangled in the cobweb of emotions… …this deals with the ONS, the way I would have wanted it to reach the closure…which of course our pyaari ekta maayi destroyed… …
ENJOY!!!!
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And the Rain Fell Harder… …
Vacant of all covering on a cloudless night… …
Never did the thunder roared with fright… …
Never did the lightening looked so bright… …
Black drops scoured from the black skies alight… …
And the rain fell harder… …
And the rain fell harder… …
"Truth!"She wanted to know the truth…a truth had made life a living hell, and it would only be a truth which would restore her life…it was getting painful…day after day, night after night, hour after hour, second after second to live with the weight of the truth revealed to her two months back… …The truth which shattered her entire life, the truth which shattered her faith in relationships, the truth which left her empty and devoid of any emotions… … The Truth…
And the rain fell harder…as she struggled her way to find a way…she could barely hear her own heart-beat, her own breathing over the storm…
But still…she walked… …
She glanced above, she looked around, but everything beyond arm's-length swirled from sight, washed away by the pouring rain….Scowling into the abyss, she growled defiantly…finding a flicker of light she scuttled her way towards the source of light…hailing a taxi she headed for the destination where she would find the truth…
Bani Walia's happy and content life was destroyed like a nest in a storm by none other than the two people she lived for…one her sister, Pia and the other her husband, Jai Walia… …
It was their second marriage anniversary, she remembered vividly… the night which almost consumed her dead…she was enjoying the party, she had been decorated as a new bride and all the rituals were being followed from the start, since the first time she wasn't treated like a normal bride, her loving and doting husband had surprised her by organizing everything…to the extent that he even proposed her publically… which she of course didn't refuse… …
They had cut the cake, feeding each other with pure love, the party was in full swing with music and dance, she was in her husband's arms, slowly swaying to the beats of the melodious song blushing profusely while her husband whispered to her that he couldn't wait to be alone with her… That was the happiest moment of her life… …
It wasn't easy to come back to normal after losing her child in the process to protect her husband from the evil clutches of her sister-in-law…She had gone into a state of mental shock, the agony of a child' death was something she had to cope up with, and the only thing which gave her the strength to come back to life was her husband and their undefined, unexpressed love… …He was angry with her, he wasn't talking to her, and he was away from her…but she wanted to live again for him, to tell him the truth, to tell him that she loved him immensely, to tell him that she was sorry for their child, to tell him she didn't want the divorce and that it was to save him and his hard-earned money, to tell him she only wanted to be his wife till death and nothing else…
She was still in his arms, resting her head on his chest, while his fingers played over her bare waist, this was complete, a feeling of satisfaction filled her entire being…but the happiness was eclipsed by the worry for her sister and her troubled life…she was pregnant, and the child wasn't Pushkar's and Pia wasn't divulging the name of the father…She could have never in her wildest of dreams thought that pia could stoop so low and cross all limits, but that wasn't the time to think, she needed to help her sister…
During the dinner, she had seen Pia going somewhere, leaving the party, she had quietly followed her, to her horror she saw Pia in conversation with her husband…the moment froze as she learnt the biggest truth which she was so curious about, it was her husband who was the father of her sister's unborn child…Bani Walia had died that very moment…later where she went, where she fell unconscious, and how others found her and brought her home, she still couldn't remember… …
The taxi zoomed through the drowned streets, the rain splashed over her face through the open window; she didn't make any effort to roll the window up…
She sat shivering in the backseat, waiting… …
With every passing second, she was arriving at the truth, it was nearing…
And the rain fell harder… …
But still…she sat waiting… …
The bitter truth was out and Massi had thrown out her husband, who willingly went away, he had called her everyday to apologize to her, to tell her that it was a mistake, to convince her that he loved only her, but she had stoically remained silent, because neither a single word reached her ears to listen to his countless pleas…nor a single word reached her lips to utter… …she had become a motionless statue, just surviving…living, that had stopped the day she came to know the truth… …
The taxi halted abruptly…causing her to jerk…
"Madam, the taxi can't go further…" the driver informed, dishing out a few notes she handed him the fare and tumbled out…asking him to keep the change…the taxi took a U-turn and drove away… …
Heaving a sigh, she pulled herself upward to the next ledge of the road...she could see a faint glimpse of the house, the guest house in which he had shifted. In the uncontrollable downpour she took a step, totally drenched form head to toe…As she dragged her trembling form onto the landing, she slipped, but steadied herself in time…taking careful steps she made her way…
She had come out of her delusion a few days ago, after endless visits to the psychiatrist and the repeated untiring efforts by Rano, massi, daadi, and adi uncle…but it were Karuna didi's words which infused a life into her, rekindled her senses and gave her a hope for the future… Pia had hoaxed a plan and mixed a drug in jai's drink when they were in Dubai, as pre-conceived he fell unconscious in pia's room, if something happened between them was still a mystery, but in the hearts of her heart she knew that probably it didn't because whenever jai was drunk he became completely unaware of his surroundings and slept like an non-living log… and later when she had secretly enquired pia's doctor it turned out that she was faking her pregnancy, she wasn't carrying any child at all… that was the day she felt ashamed of herself, more than hating her sister she hated herself since it was she who had raised her sister like a child, being her mother and her sister had betrayed her own mother, probably it was her fault that she overlooked all her mistakes, a mother's duty was not only to love and nurture her child but also punish when wrong and teach the difference between the good and the bad, but she had failed miserably there. Hence god had taken away her child from her womb, only to make her realize that sometimes giving was not enough, you had to take away something to show the true worth of that thing… Even after knowing the truth she was apprehensive, a doubt had seeded in her mind, and she wanted the true answer for it… …probably jai loved pia, after all he wanted to marry her…the thought sent shivers down her spine but she needed to know it no matter how difficult it was for her… …she couldn't and she wouldn't live a life of denial or compromise…neither of them deserved it nor him nor her… …
Reaching the footpath, she dragged herself; every new foothold, each step brought her closer to that truth, but at the same time, deeper into the tempest…The wind howled around…
And the rain fell harder… …
But still, she walked… …
The storm remained relentless while her legs grew wearier, her steps less sure, her breath more ragged…still... still... still...she walked… …
She could climb no more….the steep blocks… her body slumped against the wall of rock…. With the last of her strength, she dragged herself up…The storm continued hounding her, but she didn't fight---She didn't have to---for she had reached her destination…standing in front of the wooden door… Truth… that word returned… It took form about her, surrounding her, filling her, giving her a final spark…
She gasped, and groped to find the bell…she pressed it hard… …
"Bani…" a gravelly voice stated over her…
Jai Walia looked shocked to see the object of his despair standing right there, in front of him, in life and form… …but there was no zest of the original bani in her, the bani whose shy smile brightened everything, the bani whose one look made him feel special, the bani whose soft words filled him with calmness, the bani who loved him, the bani who he loved… …she was someone else, the ghost of a woman standing before him completely wet, she had lost weight, her face was pale with dark circles rounding under her vacant eyes…
"Come…come in…" he finally spoke up… …
Pushing herself slowly upright, she was confronted by her husband's swaying form, and she squinted to make out his features. There was the hair, blowing about, he looked thinner, his beautiful grey eyes greyer than the surrounding night, and his posture seemed to be slumped by years of contemplation…she walked inside only to encounter a ransacked mess…
The clothes were strewn about; unfinished plates of food were lying on the table, along with a half-empty jug of water, files dumped around, sheaf of papers stacked under the paper-weight…she stood unsure under the dim light of the lamp…
Jai hurriedly cleared the things, as much as he could to make place for bani to sit…a flash of anger and concern filled him as he saw her standing…
"What was the need to come in such heavy rain that too at night…what if something happened…" he admonished her impulsively, for a moment she felt like slouching into his arms, and cry out to her heart's content…but…
"I…I wanted to talk to you…" bani said in a cracked voice… …jai gulped down…
"Sit…I will get you a towel…" jai said as he went inside quickly…bani sat on the edge of the couch, water dripping from her body, it ended into a pool on the carpet which instantly soaked it… …
"Here…" jai handed her the towel…bani hesitantly took it drying herself…
Suddenly the windows flapped, shutting and opening due to the force of the wind…jai went and closed the windows shut…
Coming back he sat at a distance not wanting to see the acquisition and helplessness in her eyes, if at all there were any of it…
"Do you want something warm…coffee…" he asked…she nodded her head in denial…
"Truth," she mumbled, then, louder, "I…I have come for the truth…"
He gave no answer, instead he got up and stood near the closed glass window pane, resting his eye into the darkness, no words came from him, but it seemed as though he was weighing the words before he uttered them…
"Which truth...?" came his hoarse question…bani got up reaching him…
"Do you still love pia…?" she asked firmly…he remained paused for a moment, the brewing silence killed her, pierced her with thousand needles…the anticipation was choking, she felt as if she would collapse any time… …
"I never did and I never ever will love her…" came his much awaited answer… bani closed her eyes, saying his words again and again in his mind as if reassuring herself that what she heard was the truth… …
"What happened in Dubai…?" bani asked…jai turned around to face her…
He bent towards her. She felt his hot breath across her face, upon her cheek, brushing her ear, and there he whispered what she had come so far to hear… …
"The truth is," he said. "I don't know…"
"But I do know one thing bani…I can't live without you…because I don't know how to…I love you bani…I love you…please come back…I…" tears streamed down his eyes as he clogged to speak, he let out a wet wail… …
Her eyes widened, she slumped back onto the ground with a thud, and made fists on the floor. She would have screamed if she had the strength---but not because he had lied to hide his unintended adultery from her. No. She wanted to scream because tonight he gave her exactly what she had asked for. He had given her the truth…which she was seeking… …
"Pia… she was faking, she lied…she…nothing…you did nothing…" she broke down…retreating into a mound burying her face into her lap…he stood still, letting her sob, letting her take out everything she went through, letting her cry out her fears, her frustrations, her apprehensions, her hurt…everything…
"I love you…I love you Mr. Walia…" she verbalized in a mussitated voice…he bent down holding her drooped shoulders… …
Thunder cracked…
And the rain fell harder… …
She stared at her faint reflection in the mirror at a distance; she felt his palms caressing her face, his fingers running over her eyes, her cheeks, her lips…sighing deeply he lifted her falling damp hair and pushed them to the other side, he leaned against her calming her awaiting lips while his fingers tugged at the ropes tying her wet dress…she was left without any shred covering her, she moaned as his nimble hands moved all over, loving her…she spread her palms over his chest, playing with the crop of black and grey hair…"Bani…" he whispered gathering her into his encasing embrace, "Mr. Walia…"she replied with equal verve…the wait was finally over…the truth finally heard… …
Neither of them slept… …
Hours later, the rain didn't subside… …
As he lay with his head nestling between her placid breasts, she could feel the wetness of his overflowing tears, she ran her fingers through his thick hair, consoling him, quietening him, lulling him…
"I want to tell you something…" she said…he lifted his wet face to look into her eyes; his face gleamed with tears...
"What…?" he asked…she silently, took hold of his palm and placed it on her abdomen…
"Our…Krishna is back…" she said with a smile, it reached her eyes and they sparkled… …he was stumped for a second…feeling her abdomen, searching for the symbol of their love… …he cried even more…and laughed out of unimaginable happiness… …
"Together we will bring her into this world…and give her all the happiness and love…" he said caressing her womb… …
"Hmm…" she hugged him to herself… …
"I love you…" he whispered…
"I love you too…" she whispered back… …
And the rain fell harder… …
******
The End… …
God bless
Dhani
