[Purani Haveli, Nani's room]
When a storm hits the land, it tears apart everything that comes in its way, things that had been so laboriously built up over the years. It shakes the very foundations of buildings; it demolishes homes; rips apart families. Its merciless goal of ruthless destruction is incessant until it hits a force stronger than itself. And then it stops just as abruptly as it had originated, dissipating into nothingness. The storm raging over Raizada family since the past 14 years was finally over. Now, all that was left to be done was sort through the debris and save whatever could be salvaged.
Anjali is sitting on the bed, resting her head on her grandmother's shoulders, looking exhausted. Arnav is sitting on the floor, resting his head in Nani's lap, his eyes closed. Nani is sitting on her bed, no longer teary eyed, but strong as an anchor keeping her two grandchildren stable in this emotional storm. The three Raizadas don't speak a word, each one of them clearly still absorbing the impact of the storm that they had braved not long ago. The silence that had descended in the house would have been complete save the whirring of the ancient ceiling fan above them.
Today was a day of reckoning for each one of them. The veil of lies that had been covering their eyes for 14 years had been finally lifted and the truth it revealed had shaken the three of them to their very cores. As a mother, Nani is aggrieved about her inability to have helped her daughter when she was alive. As children, Anjali and Arnav feel as if their parents have died all over again tonight.
"Vishwas nahin hota ki 14 saal tak Dadi ne hamse itni badi baat chupai," Anjali murmurs after a long silent moment, her voice still peppered with disbelief.
Arnav sits unreactive, his own thoughts submerging him in the abyss of memories. For one moment, I actually thought of him affectionately when I started reading his diary. For one moment, I felt happy that he had been actually worried about me. For one moment, I felt elated that he was was proud of me, despite of the distant and cold behaviour that he always displayed. Arnav thinks to himself regretfully. Probably his father did care for him. But all of Rajeev Mallik's affections for his children ceased to matter the moment Arnav realised that his father was truly the culprit responsible for his Maa's grief.
Nani and Anjali were still talking but he wasn't paying attention as thoughts were whirling into his brain keeping him occupied. However, he suddenly snaps out of his trance-like state when he hears the name Garima.
"Aur Garimaji ke bare mein humne jo kuch bhi suna, sab ne aankh band kar ke maan liya." Nani nods in agreement.
"Haan Anjali bitiya. Unki galti na hone ke bawajood, unke parivaar par ungli uthi, unke samaan ko tthes pahuncha," Nani adds in a tone of anguish, "keval ek jhooth ke kaaran." Arnav opens his eyes as Nani's words imprint themselves on his mind. He slowly raises his head to stare up at her. Although he gazes her, an altogether different scene plays in front of his eyes - the memory of the night of his wedding...
Him teasing his blushing bride... "Tum Khush ho?"
Dadi's announcement... "Khushi ki maasi – Garima hi woh kaaran hain ki aaj aapki maa zinda nai hain Arnav,"
Him removing Khushi's hand from his arm... " Panditji, ab yahan koi phere nai honge."
He suddenly stands up in alarm. Nani and Anjali stare at him startled.
"Chotey kya hua?" Anjali reaches for his hand concernedly. But Arnav slowly walks towards the huge window at the end of the room, not listening to them anymore. Maine Khushi se apni shaadi tod di thi because I believed Dadi. He grips the wooden frame of the window in panic. Mujhe laga ki Garima Aunty... He turns around suddenly and starts pacing the room. Nani and Anjali's eyes follow his movement bemusedly. Another memory flies back into Arnav's mind from the day right after his wedding night when he had gone to ask Khushi to reconsider marrying him.
"Arnavji agar aap sach jante hain to fir aapko hamari Amma ko maaf kar dena chahiye"
"Hum unka bachaav nahin kar rahe hain Arnavji, hum to bas ye keh rahe hain ki aap bhi jante hain aur hum bhi ki sach kya hai. To fir Amma par ungli uthana sahi nai hai."
"Aur humein to laga ki sara sach jaan ne ke baad aap hamari Amma ka dard bhi samjhenge.
Arnav abruptly stops pacing. His eyes widen and the air in his lungs feel stuck for a moment, not finding its release. He stands breathless and rigidly as realisation hits him. Khushi knew it then! Use sach pata tha! She knew the actual truth. Tabhi woh baar baar keh rahi thi ki-
Arnav immediately starts patting his pockets, searching for his phone. I'll call up Khushi right now, he decides. I need to tell her I made a huge mistake. He finds the phone, punches 2 and hits the dial button. Speed dial activates and it starts connecting. Arnav starts pacing in the room again. After a few seconds he is greeted with the message "This number is unreachable at the moment." He grinds his teeth in annoyance and hits redial. He waits for a few seconds only to hear the same message again. He looks up to see Anjali now gaping at him with her mouth slightly open, her sadness having completely disappeared seeing the sudden change in her brother's behaviour. Arnav realises he must be looking crazy right now. I don't care, he thinks dismissively.
He quickly walks to her and stretches his hand in front of him. Anjali raises an eyebrow enquiringly. "Phone!" Arnav exclaims. She hands him her phone wordlessly. He repeats the same exercise on her phone. But it proves fruitless yet again; he groans in frustration. Slowly walking back towards the window, he hits redial. He feels a hand squeezing his shoulder gently. He turns around to see Anjali gazing at him with a worried on her face.
"Chotey? Kya hua? Tum achanak se itne tensed kyun ho gaye?" she asks him.
"Di! Khushi sach jaanti hai!" he cries out. Anjali looks surprised. "Woh sach jaanti hai aur main nahin jaanta tha. Aur maine shaadi tod di," he mumbles helplessly.
Anjali stares at Arnav who suddenly resembles the endearing frustrated little boy she remembers from her childhood. She notices how he fiddles with her phone, every inch of him screaming in aggravation. His body was vibrating with a strange nervousness which she had never seen about him before. She slowly walks next to him, holds his face with both her hands and forces him to look at her. They gaze at each other, and slowly Arnav feels his jagged nerves soothe. His panicked breathing too calms down. Anjali feels the shift in his demeanor.
"Ab batao ki hua kya hai?" Anjali repeats calmly.
"Agar is shaadi ke liye humein apni Amma se rishta todna hoga, to nahin Arnavji. Hum aapse shaadi nahin karenge."
Arnav takes a deep breath. "Mujhe Khushi se baat karni hai par uska phone nahin lag raha hai," Arnav replies back, his words crystal as if his mind has cleared the haze of emotions that was clouding his thinking up until this point. A momentary frown appears on Anjali's forehead as she senses the urgency in his voice, but then, she nods to indicate her understanding. She doesn't question him; she doesn't enquire why he needs to talk to Khushi at such a late hour. All she can decipher is that her brother wants to speak to Khushi straight away. Arnav stills as she takes her phone from his hand and presses a button.
"Unke landline par try kiya aapne?" Arnav stares at his sister, as she presses the phone to her ear. He shakes his head, immediately trying the number. Suprisingly he hears an automated voice saying "this number is temporarily out of service". He looks back to his sister, and curtly shakes his head again, indicating he can't get through. Anjali withdraws the phone from her ear as well.
"Khushi ji ka phone bhi not reachable aa raha hai." The brother sister duo stand by the window, silently thinking about how to reach Khushi. Then Arnav suddenly turns to face her.
"Di, I need to go to Delhi," he says. Anjali's eyes widen in alarm at hearing this.
"Chotey? Abhi?" she glances down at digital clock of her phone. "Raat ke 10:30 baj rahe hain. Tum abhi kaise jaoge?" Arnav doesn't answer but quickly punches 5 on his phone and hits speed dial.
"Aman? I need to return to Delhi urgently," he snaps into the phone. He remains silent as he hears Aman's reply. He suddenly tugs back the sleeve of his full length tee shirt to reveal the time on his wrist watch. "No, I won't be able to make it to the airport on time. Is that the last flight out?" Again silence as he hears Aman's response. He lets out a sigh of frustration. "Fine. Can a chartered plane be arranged?" Pause. "Ok, jitni jaldi ho sake let me know." He disconnects the call abruptly.
He walks back to the bed where Nani is now lying down. Anjali is sitting by her. He looks down at both of them.
"Mujhe abhi Delhi ke liye nikalna hoga Di. Mujhe Khushi se baat karni hai and this can not wait," he tries to explain. Anjali holds his hand and squeezes it gently.
"Humein samajh gaye Chotey," she says reassuringly. He looks at Nani worriedly. "Nani main aapko aur Di ko iss tarah akela chod ke nahin jana chahta hun," he says.
"Hum akele nahin hain Chotey," Nani replies calmly. "Humra poora parivar yahan humare saath hai. Aap kauno chinta naahi kijiye." Arnav's phone starts ringing again. He excuses himself and picks it.
"Ya Aman." Pause. "Brilliant! Kitna time lagega?" Pause. Arnav again looks at his watch as if calculating the time. "Theek hai. Tell the agent I'll be at the airport in 45 minutes." Pause. "Thanks Aman, you're a life saver!" Arnav disconnects the call.
On the other end, a bleary eyed Aman is suddenly wide awake hearing "thanks" and "life saver" in the same sentence spoken by none other than ASR.
Arnav squeezes his sister's shoulder. "Di, please apna khayal rakhna." Anjali nods reassuredly. He rushes out of his Nani's room. Anjali stares at his retreating back, thinking to herself, I hope you find her Chotey.
*
ENGLISH VERSION
CHAPTER 12 Scene 3
[Purani Haveli, Nani's room]
When a storm hits the land, it tears apart everything that comes in its way, things that had been so laboriously built up over the years. It shakes the very foundations of buildings; it demolishes homes; rips apart families. Its merciless goal of ruthless destruction is incessant until it hits a force stronger than itself. And then it stops just as abruptly as it had originated, dissipating into nothingness. The storm raging over Raizada family since the past 14 years was finally over. Now, all that was left to be done was sort through the debris and save whatever could be salvaged.
Anjali is sitting on the bed, resting her head on her grandmother's shoulders, looking exhausted. Arnav is sitting on the floor, resting his head in Nani's lap, his eyes closed. Nani is sitting on her bed, no longer teary eyed, but strong as an anchor keeping her two grandchildren stable in this emotional storm. The three Raizadas don't speak a word, each one of them clearly still absorbing the impact of the storm that they had braved not long ago. The silence that had descended in the house would have been complete save the whirring of the ancient ceiling fan above them.
Today was a day of reckoning for each one of them. The veil of lies that had been covering their eyes for 14 years had been finally lifted and the truth it revealed had shaken the three of them to their very cores. As a mother, Nani is aggrieved about her inability to have helped her daughter when she was alive. As children, Anjali and Arnav feel as if their parents have died all over again tonight.
"I still can't believe it that Dadi hid such a big thing from all of us for 14 years," Anjali murmurs after a long silent moment, her voice still peppered with disbelief.
Arnav sits unreactive, his own thoughts submerging him in the abyss of memories. For one moment, I actually thought of him affectionately when I started reading his diary. For one moment, I felt happy that he had been actually worried about me. For one moment, I felt elated that he was was proud of me, despite of the distant and cold behaviour that he always displayed. Arnav thinks to himself regretfully. Probably his father did care for him. But all of Rajeev Mallik's affections for his children ceased to matter the moment Arnav realised that his father was truly the culprit responsible for his Maa's grief.
Nani and Anjali were still talking but he wasn't paying attention as thoughts were whirling into his brain keeping him occupied. However, he suddenly snaps out of his trance-like state when he hears the name Garima.
"And whatever we heard about Garima, we accepted it with blind faith." Nani nods in agreement.
"Yes Anjali bitiya. Despite her not being at fault, fingers were raised at her family, her family's respect got destroyed," Nani adds in a tone of anguish, "all for a lie." Arnav opens his eyes as Nani's words imprint themselves on his mind. He slowly raises his head to stare up at her. Although he gazes her, an altogether different scene plays in front of his eyes - the memory of the night of his wedding...
Him teasing his blushing bride... "Are you happy?"
Dadi's announcement... "Khushi's aunt - Garima is the reason why your mother isn't alive today, Arnav,"
Him removing Khushi's hand from his arm... " Panditji, there won't be any phere taking place here today."
He suddenly stands up in alarm. Nani and Anjali stare at him startled.
"Chotey what happened?" Anjali reaches for his hand concernedly. But Arnav slowly walks towards the huge window at the end of the room, not listening to them anymore. I broke my marriage to Khushi because I believed Dadi. He grips the wooden frame of the window in panic. Because I thought that Garima aunty... He turns around suddenly and starts pacing the room. Nani and Anjali's eyes follow his movement bemusedly. Another memory flies back into Arnav's mind from the day right after his wedding night when he had gone to ask Khushi to reconsider marrying him.
"Arnavji if you know the truth then you should forgive my mother"
"I'm not defending her Arnavji, I'm just saying that we both know what is the truth. Then pointing a finger at Amma isn't correct."
"And I actually thought, that since you knew the truth, you'll understand my mother's pain too.
Arnav abruptly stops pacing. His eyes widen and the air in his lungs feel stuck for a moment, not finding its release. He stands breathless and rigidly as realisation hits him. Khushi knew it then! She knew the truth! She knew the actual truth. That is why she was repeatedly saying that-
Arnav immediately starts patting his pockets, searching for his phone. I'll call up Khushi right now, he decides. I need to tell her I made a huge mistake. He finds the phone, punches 2 and hits the dial button. Speed dial activates and it starts connecting. Arnav starts pacing in the room again. After a few seconds he is greeted with the message "This number is unreachable at the moment." He grinds his teeth in annoyance and hits redial. He waits for a few seconds only to hear the same message again. He looks up to see Anjali now gaping at him with her mouth slightly open, her sadness having completely disappeared seeing the sudden change in her brother's behaviour. Arnav realises he must be looking crazy right now. I don't care, he thinks dismissively.
He quickly walks to her and stretches his hand in front of him. Anjali raises an eyebrow enquiringly. "Phone!" Arnav exclaims. She hands him her phone wordlessly. He repeats the same exercise on her phone. But it proves fruitless yet again; he groans in frustration. Slowly walking back towards the window, he hits redial. He feels a hand squeezing his shoulder gently. He turns around to see Anjali gazing at him with a worried on her face.
"Chotey? What's wrong? Why have you become so tensed all of a sudden?" she asks him.
"Di! Khushi knows the truth!" he cries out. Anjali looks surprised. "She knew the truth whereas I didn't. And I broke the wedding Di," he mumbles helplessly.
Anjali stares at Arnav who suddenly resembles the endearing frustrated little boy she remembers from her childhood. She notices how he fiddles with her phone, every inch of him screaming in aggravation. His body was vibrating with a strange nervousness which she had never seen about him before. She slowly walks next to him, holds his face with both her hands and forces him to look at her. They gaze at each other, and slowly Arnav feels his jagged nerves soothe. His panicked breathing too calms down. Anjali feels the shift in his demeanor.
"Now, tell me what is wrong?" Anjali repeats calmly.
"If I have to break all ties with my mother to marry you, then no, Arnavji. I will not marry you."
Arnav takes a deep breath. "I need to speak to Khushi and I can't get through to her," Arnav replies back, his words crystal as if his mind has cleared the haze of emotions that was clouding his thinking up until this point. A momentary frown appears on Anjali's forehead as she senses the urgency in his voice, but then, she nods to indicate her understanding. She doesn't question him; she doesn't enquire why he needs to talk to Khushi at such a late hour. All she can decipher is that her brother wants to speak to Khushi straight away. Arnav stills as she takes her phone from his hand and presses a button.
"Did you try her landline?" Arnav stares at his sister, as she presses the phone to her ear. He shakes his head, immediately trying the number. Suprisingly he hears an automated voice saying "this number is temporarily out of service". He looks back to his sister, and curtly shakes his head again, indicating he can't get through. Anjali withdraws the phone from her ear as well.
"Khushi ji's phone is unreachable." The brother sister duo stand by the window, silently thinking about how to reach Khushi. Then Arnav suddenly turns to face her.
"Di, I need to go to Delhi," he says. Anjali's eyes widen in alarm at hearing this.
"Chotey? Now?" she glances down at digital clock of her phone. "It's 10:30 at night? How will you go now?" Arnav doesn't answer but quickly punches 5 on his phone and hits speed dial.
"Aman? I need to return to Delhi urgently," he snaps into the phone. He remains silent as he hears Aman's reply. He suddenly tugs back the sleeve of his full length tee shirt to reveal the time on his wrist watch. "No, I won't be able to make it to the airport on time. Is that the last flight out?" Again silence as he hears Aman's response. He lets out a sigh of frustration. "Fine. Can a chartered plane be arranged?" Pause. "Ok, let me know as soon as you can." He disconnects the call abruptly.
He walks back to the bed where Nani is now lying down. Anjali is sitting by her. He looks down at both of them.
"I'll have to leave for Delhi right away, Di. I have to talk to Khushi and this can not wait," he tries to explain. Anjali holds his hand and squeezes it gently.
"I understand Chotey," she says reassuringly. He looks at Nani worriedly. "Nani, I don't want to leave you and Di here alone like this...," he says.
"We aren't alone, Chotey," Nani replies calmly. "Our whole family is here with us. Please don't worry yourself." Arnav's phone starts ringing again. He excuses himself and picks it.
"Ya Aman." Pause. "Brilliant! How long will it take?" Pause. Arnav again looks at his watch as if calculating the time. "alright. Tell the agent I'll be at the airport in 45 minutes." Pause. "Thanks Aman, you're a life saver!" Arnav disconnects the call.
On the other end, a bleary eyed Aman is suddenly wide awake hearing "thanks" and "life saver" in the same sentence spoken by none other than ASR.
Arnav squeezes his sister's shoulder. "Di, please take care of yourself." Anjali nods reassuredly. He rushes out of his Nani's room. Anjali stares at his retreating back, thinking to herself, I hope you find her Chotey.
*
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