"Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul
And sings the tune without the words
And never stops at all." -Emily Dickinson
More than days people remembered moments.For Arnav these moments revolved around Khushi, the blessed moment when she had tumbled down right into his arms and as easily into his life, when she had worn that red saree and set his fantasy to fire, when she had kissed him- that one chaste kiss on his cheek that meant so much more than any other he had, when she had cried repeatedly because of him and he had let her, when she had shattered, tired of the drama that surrounded them, dejected that he had refused to understand her, and when finally the wretched moment she had left. She had cried on his shoulder till wee hours of the morning when he had apologized, she had cried , how much she had cried because of him.He had caressed her cheek,muttering "I am sorry darling", repeatedly but she hadn't replied.In the afternoon she had left and he had let her, after all what right had he to stop her?
For days her cries had haunted his dreams, she had cried as if she were mourning for something, mourning for the loss of what could have been."If only you would trust me Arnavji."She had pleaded to him once but he had just bit out a scathing reply to hurt her.If only indeed. Tainted as he was he hadn't been able to see her innocence-hadn't been able to believe it.How could something so pure exist?But hadn't it been the exact reason that had attracted her to him in the first place? A need to protect her from the world. It was ironic then that the thing she had needed protection from was not the world but him.He had failed in his every phase of life then, the Arnav Singh Raizada who had lived all his life believing in his own invincibility had failed.He had failed to shelter his sister from Shyam, failed to differentiate the right from the wrong, failed to understand Khushi's love.How spectacularly he had failed.
He would have gladly drunken himself to death were it not for his sister.He could not leave her at such a time.For her he had to pick up all the shattered pieces of his life, of her life and move on.
But what Arnav had forgotten was that his sister had seen a lot too.She had been the witness to their parents death, she had seen her brother lose his innocence and slip on an inscrutable mask for the world to see, she had mourned for the death of their family and she had survived.Anjali wasn't as frail as she looked and even though it should have been Arnav who consoled her it was the other way round. "We only accept the love we think we deserve Arnav and I know that you deserve all the love in this world.Go after her Chottey. She will forgive you."
Arnav knew that those words were spoken by a sister who had the deepest affection for his brother.But they gave him hope, and right now he was willing to clutch it.Real tight.
Edited by seoulbeats - 13 years ago
Anupamaa
Pocket Mein Aasman
Cricket
