FF: When Truth Prevails [Chp 46, Pg 121] 2/06 - Page 27

Khushi Kumari Gupta, a student with dreams for the future, hopes and dreams all etched out and painted in the rosy blanket of her universe, she encompasses it all in her own world and heads off to the city of Glasgow to embark on her life of a medical student. On her way there she encounters a person who she assumes to be one of the rudest people she has ever met - Arnav Singh Raizada, a business student at Glasgow University as well. They argue, he shouts at her and they go their own separate ways, hoping never to see each other again. But little do they know that this chance encounter would entwine them together for a lifetime, keeping them always a part of each others lives.

Two new characters: Aryan and Alisha.

At this point we see Khushi talking to Alisha about a guy that she had walked into at the airport, how he had told her off despite it being his fault, how he had threatened that it wouldn't be good for her if she got in his way again. And that's when she sees him again, in campus, with his own group of friends and she decides to never look at him again. What follows is a serious of encounters, the feelings of the man himself - Arnav Singh Raizada and how he gradually appears to be falling for Khushi, a girl from an entirely different universe to him. He wants to apologise to her, he regrets his outburst at the airport and quite clearly can't get her out of his mind. That's when they meet again, at a party, where she is about to be harassed by another guy and Arnav of course saves her, surprising Khushi to the core. She appears not to be able to understand him. He ends up angry at her for coming to the party in the first place and walks off. But that obviously isn't the end of it, they meet again in campus where Khushi seems to be down about the fact that she's away from home. He tries to make her feel better and unknowingly does that by saying her name, she becomes overwhelmed on understanding that he had remembered her name which she had mentioned to him in passing. They talk about family and he appears to quickly distance himself on the mention of his own and leaves again.

But of course it's never that simple so they meet again on the route that she has started taking to uni, he once again initiates the conversation and after at first telling him off, Khushi feels bad and here begins the true phase of their relationship. She feels completely drawn to him, can't stop thinking about him and despite her friends warnings against associating with him continues to crave to converse with him. However, the story here again takes another turn where he is seen to distance himself from her despite the fact that he actually can't stay away from her. He's insecure, he doesn't think he's good enough but Khushi being the person she is once again breaks through the boundaries and gives him the courage and chance to finally let go of his burdens and this is where we find out what has made him the way he is.

This is where we find out Arnav's story; how his father had cheated on her mother with another woman and how it had all been revealed on Anjali's wedding day, how this then had led to his mother murdering his father. He tells her everything, his own story in all its gory details, how he had been the first to get to her when she had committed suicide and how she had breathed her last breath in his arms. This brings the both of them closer, even though he keeps most of his walls up, it seems if she asks he wouldn't be afraid to tell her anything anymore and here begins the phase where they begin to go out with each other but even that does not last for too long.

One day Khushi suddenly gets a phone call from her mother, her father has gotten into an accident and she decides to go back to India and take care of him for a while. But before she leaves she yearns to spend one last time in his arms, even though he refuses at first, knowing that Khushi isn't thinking rationally Khushi is adamant, she doesn't know when she would come back and wants to cherish every minute with him. And so they make love to each other and he leaves for a meeting promising to come back before she leaves. But circumstances would always have it differently; her mother calls her again whilst he is away and reveals to her the true details of the situation. Her father is in hospital, he has become paralysed. Guilt engulfs Khushi completely; she thinks that while her father had been lying in hospital fighting between life and death she had been making out with Arnav craving oblivion and instead of allowing herself time to think things through properly, she leaves immediately without so much as telling him. Arnav walks back into an empty room knowing deep down that this would mean that she wouldn't be coming back.

What follows is weeks on end where he tries to contact her but she refuses to reply and in the end we see Arnav giving up and finally closing off the few walls he had broken down for her. Here we see the birth of ASR, the cold-hearted, insecure person he will then become.

4 years later...

It's four years later and they both have moved on in some way or the other; Arnav has become ASR - a ruthless business man who appears to have no emotions attached to him, whereas Khushi has become more independant and now lives life the way it flows. But this all changes when they meet again, when Khushi attends a job interview, without knowing that it will actually be held my the man himself. Here we see the story take another turn, their options seem to be closed off, Arnav's new persona instilling fear in her more than anything else. We see that Arnav has in fact moved on, he is to be married off to Lavanya. On seeing Khushi for the first time in years, the gash of what had happened still too deep for him to withhold, he storms away from her, not allowing himself so much as a second glance back at her. This hurts Khushi in more ways than one and she too decides that that chapter of her life ended many years ago and that she would not go back there again. But once again fate would have it all a different way and Khushi ends up working as Arnav's wedding planners assistant where she meets him once more. Here we see her breaking down for the first time, too overwhelmed by his constant rejections, the way in which he just seems to turn away and walk off. She's sent by the wedding planner to take his measurements and we see another crucial point in the story. The detached ASR once again turns into the caring Arnav on seeing her tears, he attempts to console her and she breaks down into his arms but this also is short lived. Lavanya witnesses this and as he breaks away to explain things Khushi leaves once again. Arnav curses himself for his weakness, for allowing her to affect him in such ways. He's supposed to have moved on, she isn't supposed to mean anything to him and yet she does. He decides to once again attempt to shove her out of his mind, returning back to his cold demeanour but of course she breaks through once more.

Here Shyam is also introduced, how he has entered Khushi's house as a paying guest and his desires to marry Khushi are also revealed. Whilst on the other hand Arnav has finally given up trying to ignore her and gathers up the courage to call and ask her to meet him. They finally meet and we witness exactly how comfortable they are with each other, how strong their bond must be. Khushi tries to back away, she doesn't want to be the one to break off Arnav's relationship with Lavanya but Arnav is adamant, he doesn't want to hear any of it. Khushi accuses him of being selfish, she states that he has moved on and that now it is better if she lets him go. This enrages him completely, he says she is the one that left him, that he tried to forget her but couldn't, what else was he supposed to do but move on? He wants an explanation. "Do I not even deserve an explanation Khushi?" She tries to say more, to explain that she does not want to get in the way when he quietens her with a harsh kiss which slowly transforms into a softer one, their passions colliding, years of suppressed desire finally spilling out. She doesn't actually offer him an explanation however and he doesn't ask her for one, his need for her to be by his side stronger. They decide to move on with their relationship, leaving the events of their past to be explained later on.

This is when Shyam's story comes to the forefront. He is seen to continue lusting over Khushi and whilst Arnav and Khushi seem to now be getting on well, buaji is of the misconception that this happiness of Khushi's is because she has accepted the proposal she had asked Garima to present to Khushi on Shyam's behalf. Whist Shyam on the other hand has tried to get Lavanya to support him in his plans to ruin Arnav and have Khushi to himself at the same time. But Lavanya has not agreed and instead tells Arnav that his brother-in-law is a cheat and then Khushi that he is a married man and leaves.

This is when the biggest twist comes - the terrace scene; where as all of you know Arnav sees Khushi hugging Shyam and misunderstands her and forces her to marry him. She agrees because she wants to prove to him that she is not wrong. Shyam is quick to fill Arnav's mind with poison and he refuses to listen to Khushi's side of the story, even though his love for her constantly overshadows his hate, the pang of pain that she may have deliberately cheated on him causes him to hurt her...

And then you know what happens and how the prequel ends.

My lil explanations:

This story thrives on the pure love that Arnav and Khushi have for each other. Although Khushi's unexplained abandonment of Arnav is what leads to the beginning of this misunderstand it is Arnav's insecurities that propels it forward. His past has caused him to build many walls around himself and when he finally let's her in and she leaves he builds newer, stronger ones around himself. Although he then perceives himself to be stronger he isn't. In fact he is emotionally much more vulnerable. Although they love each other, their relationship is weak, although the foundations are pure their lack of explanations leaves the seams of their bond weak. And that is how Shyam takes advantage of it.

If you do actually read through the whole FF again you will realise the subtle differences that have arisen in Arnav's character over time. At first it wasn't too difficult for her to get him to open up to her but after the four years he refuses to let her in. At first he is always willing to listen to her side of things, support her whenever something happens but this time round he wouldn't even give her the chance to talk to him. All of this is due to his insecurities and nothing else. Arnav as a person never believes that she deserves someone as broken and closed off as him and the situations that he is faced with only increases that insecurity.

Khushi on the other hand although it has not been clearly written jumps to decisions too quickly. When she is put in front of a problem she solves it irrationally and this is what leads to further problems for her. She leaves Arnav at first because she feels guilty for being with him whilst her father was fighting for his life, she agrees to get married to him because she thinks this can fix things and then when he finally asks her to leave, she leaves when if she had stayed she probably could have gotten through to him.

These character traits of theirs will not change and they will remain the biggest obstacle in their relationship.

In the end however I do not blame Khushi's character for anything and unlike in the show nor will she blame herself for anything that has happened because at the end of the day it really is Arnav's fault. At the end of the prequel he was given the choice of standing up and rectifying his mistakes; he knows Khushi well enough to know that he still has a chance with her. But he is too cowardly to accept that he has gone about ruining her life for a mistake that she had not committed. Although he has realised the truth he is afraid to hear it from her own mouth.

This is the story so far and I know it's taken ages to update, I do hope to not take as long with the updates now that I am back at uni and will attempt to get an update up at least every weekend.

I'll try and get the next chapter up by tomorrow 😉.

Thanks for sticking through this! x