Chapter 7
Just as Payal was about to continue, the door to Pari's room burst open. Four commandos, dressed in black stepped into the room. They have a quick look around the room before stepping out of the room and closing the door behind them.
Arnav: What the ****!!!? Payal? What the h***...(Arnav stopped talking as he saw the door to the room starting to open)
Payal stood up and smiled. A lady, dressed in white silk sari stepped in the room. She just had a white pearl necklace and pearl drops as earings. No bangles but just pearl bracelets adorned her slender wrists. She wasn't loaded with jewellery but she didn't need to. She could command respect just by looking. Her demeanour was such. The old lady stepped further into the room and closed the door behind her. Payal rushed to her and hugged her and cried.
Payal: Dadi, look at Pari...*sobbing uncontrollably*...
Just then it occurrd to Aakash and Arnav, that all this while Payal had not shed a single tear, and had bravely remained in control of the situation. She had stayed cool, calm and collected, while they were fretting with worry. Arnav's respect for Payal increased ten-fold after witnessing tonights incidence whilst Aakash became a PROUD husband.
Dadi calmed Payal down by patting her back soothingly. After that she looked at Aakash and smiled. Aakash quickly got up and touched her feet.
Dadi: God Bless you, Aakash betey. (she then turned towards Pari and headed to her bed. She lovingly touched Pari's forehead, and bestowed a butterfly kiss on her forehead.)
She then looked at Payal and said(in a stern but gentle voice): Payal, you can take Aakash into another room and explain to him why you and Pari are living under your dead friends id. I have to have a personal talk with Arnav beta. Make sure NO ONE disturbs us. And as for Pari, ONLY Dr Steve shelt be allowed into the room, ONLY when necessary. Please let the guards outside and Dr Steve know of my instructions and make sure it is adhered to.
Payal: Ji Dadi. (yes dadi) ( Aakash was shocked. Aakash (thinking): Dadi my foot!!! This Lady can give Bhai's hot temper a run for his money. I sure don't want to be in her bad books. I will make sure that next time I spend time with my dadi (Naaniji), I will let her know that she is a loving soul. She just acts tough but this Lady is tough.)
Payal, gently took hold of Aakash's hand and led him out of the room. She did everything as per Dadi's instructions and took Aakash to an adjoining room to fill him in on her history.
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Dadi went to Arnav and placed her hands on his forehead lovingly and said: Arvi beta? Maana ki hum kabhi miley nahee par humaari awaaz toh yaah hogi?
(Arvi son? I know that we never met but you must remember my voice?)
Arnav stood up with a jolt (thinking): "Arvi beta"...it sounded so familiar...her voice...he was scanning through his head, trying to place the memory but he failed miserably.
Dadi seeing his confusion said: Its ok. you have been through a lot. I will tell you everything from the very beginning, and when you start remembering me then you can stop me, ok?
Arnav just nodded, dumbfounded.
Dida: Have you ever heard of Arjun Singh Khuraana? *Arnav nodded*
As you may well know, my son, Arjun Singh Khuraana was a very well-established businessman like you. Beta, your mother and my son were best friends ever since their childhood days. It was my deepest wish that, THAT friendship should one day materialize into marriage. However, as matches are made in heaven, your mum fell in love with your dad, Mr. Malik, whereas my son fell for your mum's best friend, Sneha.
*While talking to Arnav, Dadi, calmly got up and walked to the specialist medicine cabinet in the room and took out a bandage, some antiseptics and a tablet. She then calmly went back to Arnav and set down next to him. She then took his hand delicately in hers and started to clean his wounds, all the while talking smoothly. (Arnav had a wound because he had used his palm to force the broken mirror into Shyam's shoulder and he had bruises and cuts on his fists as well) She then bandaged his hand and gave him a couple of tablets with water. Arnav took the medicine quietly, still in shock, and downed the medicines.*
Dadi (continues talking non-stop):Since your dad was an upcoming and a struggling businessman, he could barely make time to meet our family. Not even when special occasions required, and thus with time, distances between our two families increased. However, your mum and Sneha had hatched a plan when Pari was born. Your mother had been expecting too when Sneha got pregnant but your mum had a miscarriage in her second-trimester of the pregnancy. This caused your mum to further sink into her ever increasing depression which she was doing her utmost to hide from you guys. Your father was barely ever able to spend anytime with your mum and you guys. Pari was already the apple of Sneha's eyes and she couldnot give her up but she did her next best thing. She promised your mother that after 19years, she will give her daughter to you guys, as your wife. Your mother was overjoyed. So instead of feeling that she lost her child, she convinced herself that her child had been taken away and would be returned to her 19years later.
Arnav's head was reeling with shock from all this extra information. He didn't even know about his mum's miscarriage!!! He just stared ahead and listened to the calm old Lady sitting next to him.
Dadi: Your father was framed for some wrong doings and his entire empire was embezzelled along with Sheesh Mahal. Your father had an accident. He had driven off the cliff and his car burst into flames. However, NO bodies were found at the scene. THAT day was Anjali bitiya's wedding. When your mother heard of the news, she couldn't control herself and ran out. As it was a wedding, there were lots of cars coming into your carpark and your mother...*sighs*...she didn't survive the accident. After your mother's death, these other extra news started to leak into the papers that your father was having affairs and that he had gambled his empire away. That he was so ashamed of himself when he realised how he had betrayed your mum that he committed the suicide.
Arnav got up angrily: Why are you telling me all this...I know it ALL...My father and some low-class cheap woman robbed my mum of her rights...I know it all!!!
Dadi (calmly): NO you DON'T!!! (She then patted the chair next to her and indicated to Arnav to sit down. Arnav came and set down)
Dadi: Betay, you believe what people wanted you to believe. That does not mean that what you hear and see always is the truth, does it? (Dadi looked at Pari and back at Arnav, hinting. Arnav looked at Khushi and back at Dadi, finally realising the meaning of what she said. He knew He was wrong but HIS DAD???...could it be??? He calmed down and waited for Dadi to continue.)
Dadi: Arjun and Sneha refused to believe what the papers and people were saying about your dad. They started digging around for clues and information. Upon some further investigation, they found that your dads car had been tempered with. The breaks had been failed. Then they tried to trace the so called woman, but there were none. Even the PA treated your dad like her brother. Your dad loved your mum only betey. I came to you guys all those years ago but you were too angry and you refused to even listen to anything, let alone beieve it. So we left India and went to live in Britain. However, Arjun and Sneha refused to give up and let their best friends name sink through mud...
Arnav (interupting): Oh Yeah???...Then why did they stop investigating? This happened 10years ago...and in 10 years they couldn't find any clue? WHY?...I will tell you why?? Because there was no truth to dig up...whatever was said in the papers was the truth...thats why they gave up too...eventually. And after all these years you still come here to defend my dad?? I really mean you no disrespect, as you are Khushi...uhh...Pari's Dadi...but please, get your facts straight...stop seeing the world through rose tinted glasses...
Dadi(in a quiet voice): I never said Arjun and Sneha gave up. (Arnav stopped his ranting and looked at her in shock)
Dadi continues: They never did. I don't know what they found but a week after I had reached Britain with Pari and Payal, Arjun contacted me. He was very excited. He said he had found some vital piece of information that could turn everything around and that he was going to do a press release the next day.
Arnav: But there was no press release?...
Dadi: No there wasn't. Arjun and Sneha were killed in a car bomb blast that very night. Pari and Payal lost their parents, just three weeks after you guys lost yours.
**********
After that dreadful incident, we never came back. I was afraid that the people responsible may try to target me and Pari and Payal. So we let it rest. So Five years later, when my grandson, Payal & Pari's elder brother found out everything, he descided to come to India and finish what his parents had started. Dev put all his wit and energy into solving what his parents might have stumbled across. He then went undercover and joined the drug lords. Dev had been in the military prior to that and he was well trained and was one of the best. Two years!!! It took him two years to find that evidence and then he came to Britain and explained to me that we ALL needed to be extra cautious and protected. We then created our own defence force which when needed, we allow the government to borrow for extreme RED TAG Operations. Dev's business was also in the defence technology field and he created and designed weapons and special armour for the military. Thats why, with one call from Payal they came to you guys immediate assistance.
Arnav head was ringing: Dev!!!...that name...Dev...and the he remembered.
Arnav: Dev? The only Dev I remember was my Senior Professor. He used to tutor me via online classes. And I used to talk to his gradma...I used to call her...Dida!!! (Dadi smiled and chuckled)
Arnav (continued): Dida??...Are YOU DIDA?...Six YEARS...It took you Six years to come and meet me!!!!...Dida!!! (And Arnav hugged her)
(PS: Arnav has always talked to Dida/Dadi via phone only...so he knows her by her name only.)
Dida(still chuckling): Arrey Arvi betey, zara aahistaa...mein ab jawaan thori hi hoon ki tum itnaa tight hug kar rahey ho...meri saari haddiya todney ka iraadaa hai kya?
(Dida: oh Arvi son, a little lightly...I am not so young anymore that you hug me that tightly...are you planning to break my bones?)
Arnav(mischievious twinkle in his eyes): Kisney kaha aap jawan nahee hay...aap toh meri Sherni Dida hai naa?
(Arnav: whoever said that you are not young anymore...you are my Lioness Dida, yeah?)
Dida: Chal hut badmaash...bada Dida Dida kartaa hai...ek baar bhi Dida ko phone kiya?...Itnaa badey Bussines tycoon ban gaye lekin kabhee Dida ko dhoondney ki koshish ki?...*she gently twisted Arnav's ears*
(Dida: Get lost u rascal...saying Dida, Dida...did you even once try to phone me?...You became such a big Business Tycoon but did you even try to find me?...)
Arnav laughed and looked at his wife, then all his laughter vanished. Arnav: Dida...yeh sab kya?...aur Pari khud ko Khushi kyun bataati hai...aur Dev kaha hai? What happened to Dev, almost suddenly he stopped visiting me...and then ...I thought...I thought I was meant to loose people my entire life...I started believing that people gave fake attention just to appear superior...Dev had become more of my best friend...but he never told me that he knew my family...why all the mystery? Where is Dev anyways?
Dida: Betey, Upon finishing their education, Pari and Payal walked out on the whole family fortune. They wanted to struggle and make their own names. And THEY did it. They are G & G 's proud owners. Pari and Payal and their best friends from their childhood days worked tirlessly with them. Because we were afraid that the mobsters who killed your dad and my son and daugther-in-law would come after us, I always kept tight security around. Our Head Commando had two daugthers, named Khushi and Muskaan. Pari and Payal would always do everything with them. They never separated. Then when G&G became a raging success, Pari met a guy. *Arnav's heart clenched with pain*. She got so inolved with him that she refused to acknowledge the promise that her mother had made to your mum. Just TWO years ago, Pari descided that she will personally come to India and talk to you and hoped that you would agree to forego that promise. Dev had come to the Airport to pick up the girls. As always, Khushi and Muskaan accompannied them. It had been 5years since Dev had seen his sisters so Pari and Payal descided to trick him. After clearing through the customs, they exchanged their passports and started to call each other with their own names.
Dida (in sad voice continues): Dev didn't know that one of the gang members was suspicious of him so they had been keeping tabs on him for days. That day they had attached a bomb to his van. Dev received Khushi and Muskaan. I know he would have known that they were playing a trick on him but u knew Dev, he always wanted everybody to win. So he must have pretended that Khushi and Muskaan were indeed Payal and Pari. Pari and Payal followed his van in a taxi. Just as they were driving down the winding roads. Dev's car blasted. Pari fainted and Payal contacted me. We used our own officials to carry out the investigations and found out about the bomb. We found three, badly burnt bodies. Apparently Dev had stopped his van for some reason, according to Payal, and went to check his van's front, although why, I got no idea. But thats when the bomb detonated.
Dida: When Pari regained conscious, she couldnot remember anything that had happened to her after her aspriing success. Dr Steve McCoy stated that it was partial amnesia and that with time it may come back. Pari doesn't remember anything about her boyfriend and nothing about why she came to India in the first place. We informed her that her best friends and her Dev Bhaiya died in the bomb blast. She also has trouble remembering other tids and bits from her younger years such as being trained as a sharp shooter, kung fu, other self-defence courses which Dev ensured Pari and Payal attended as mendatory. Pari forgot about you, the reason she was coming and we didn't tell her, she has forgotten her business, and all other qualifications she achieved in University. Would you believe, she attended special seminars to learn everything about human body and its blood vessel. Apparently she was trying to combine her fighting skills with her knowledge of human blood vessels to make her skills, deathly. Whatever she did, she wanted to be the best at it.
But after loosing her memory, we descided to let her stay here at one of our NRI official. Shashi Gupta is that man. He took the girls in and he and his family promised that they would ensure NO ONE found out about the girls. They stayed in hiding for 2 years until you released that video footage of Pari at your show...thats why she and Payal were moved to Delhi immediately.
Arnav: But Payal? She was going to get married that day to someone else?
Dida: No Betey...Payal was trying to be clever. She had traced some of Dev's info and she thought by getting married to that guy, who seemed to have some mafia connection, she could get to Dev's killer. Don't be fooled. Payal and Pari ONLY look harmless...but they are lethal.
Arnav: But Shyam did all that to Pari...how come she didn't do anything?...Surely she did forget whatever she learned...so she couldn't fight him off...but why didn't she ring the specialists for help????
Dida: Because with the loss of her memory, Pari became scared. She is not sure of anything anymore and we had forbade them to contact us unless it was a matter of life and death...Plus we have been keeping an eye on that Shyam. He fights dirty and he does have some wierd connections...so if Pari got any help, it would have alerted him of her true identity. Then whoever killed Dev would have been after your entire family...so Pari descided to take the blow from Shyam...She would not have let him do anything to her...she would have killed herself before that. Only her name has been changed, but her bubbliness is the same. I see you fell for her too...(Dida started chuckling)
Arnav: Dev...he is dead...and ...my Jijaji has "connections"...Di is pregnant...Pari has lost her memory...(just then at that thought, cold fear got a hard grip of Arnav's heart)
Arnav: Dida?...What if...what if this time when she wakes up...its Pari...then...she will leave me...I...what...(Arnav's words had stopped making sense as the reality of loosing Pari paralysed his ability to think and react)
Dida: Arvi Betey...isi liye hum yahan aaye hai...taaki tumhe sara such hum khud bataay...aur ek wada bhee maangna hai?
(Dida: Arvi son...thats why I came here...so that I can tell you the entire truth...and I want a promise as well?)
Arnav: waada?...kaisa waada, Dida?
(Arnav: Promise?...what sort of promise, Dida?)
Dida: That horrid man Pari is involed with is only after her money...he is something like your Jija ji...so I want you to woo and win Pari...afterall it was your mothers wish too...and I heard that Arnav Singh Raizada never looses any challenge...so what do you say? Win Pari's heart beta...save her from that man and use Pari's help to save your sister...and then you all get together and remove that tarnish which was placed on your dads name?
Arnav was speechless...he didn't know what to make of this twisted fate. Khushi, who had loved him endlessly was a mirage, lost, Pari was the reality and she loved someone else. Does he have the rights to interfere in her life?
Arnav: Dida, you don't know what I have done to Pari in the last 6 months...in another 6 days...(Dida interupted him)
Dida: NOT 6 but 5...
Arnav: what?
Dida: Not 6 days but 5 days are left...look the sun is coming up. You have 5 days left before your contract marriage is over...
Arnav: Dida you knew?...and you never interfered?...never tried to contact me and set me straight?
Dida: Arvi Betey, your actions may have been wrong but your heart was in the right place. I have a couple of spies who come to your house from time to time and they told me about this...and it didn't take me long to connect the dots...I quickly figured that you married Pari to separate Shyam and her...truth always shines out in the end...and Pari was so in love with you...plus you are always there to protect her from evil...so I didn't need to worry. As to what little fights and revenge schemes you two took out on each other, I don't want to know...plus knowing Pari, once she regains her memory, I can assure you, she will make you pay for it. So I am warning you in advance...I can see love for her in your eyes...so I am giving you till the sunset today to make up your mind. If Pari regains her memory, do you want to let her go...or are you going to fight for her? If you descide to fight for her then I will help you...
Dida(continued): OK betey, I have to go now and meet your Naniji too. I have to let her know about Pari's condition, but only her, Aakash and you are going to know of the whole truth. For everybody else she will remain as khushi, even for your Di. Only when time is right, we will let your Diin on the plans, ok?
Arnav nods his affirmation. Dadi: So see you today at sunset Arvi betey...hope you don't disappoint me? (saying that Dida/Dadi left)
Arnav(thinking): How can I claim Pari's love when it was already somebody elses?...Maybe I should just talk to the guy that Pari is involved with and threaten him...maybe he will come to his senses...Arnav who the hell are you kidding?...Just look at her...You threatened Shyam and gave him a chance to take the right path...look what it did to Pari...BUT Pari does not love me...and Khushi may not be there when her eyes opens next time.
Arnav: If only I had told Khushi I loved her...I lost my chance...and Pari will never love me...who in their right sense will, after what I did to Khushi...I have to let her go...I am sure Dida can handle that guy...or they can always get rid of him...whats the special forces for anyway...but what about my Maa's last wish...No I have to let her go...even Maa would have agreed with me if she had seen how I tortured Khushi endlessly, called her names and snubbed at her...I have to let her go...I will tell Dida that today Arnav Singh Raizada has lost...I can not do this...I have cheated Khushi off her happiness already...now I can't cheat Pari as well...I love her, I want her to be happy...I have to let her go...
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Pre-cap:
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Arnav: Dida, I have made up my mind. I can't. I can't do this to Pari. If its Pari who wakes up, please take her away with you...she deserves better...
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Pari: Rahul?...Dida where is Rahul? Didn't he come with you?
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
By the way what ever happened between Dev & Arnav, happened when he was balancing the empire and his education, so he would have been around 22 when he met Dev...Dev had come to India 5 years later, and in between he kept in touch with ASR...HE TUTORED Arnav via internet video.
Comments and bashing time now...lol...probably some chappals coming my way too...maybe some rotten tomatoes and eggs are to expected as well...lol...thats ok. The story is in the mystery. Trust me ...and please, please, don't forget to press "like"...comments...well do post a comment if only you really liked it and want me to conitnue...
Edited by s-576 - 13 years ago
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