Kal: A PV Story (Chapter VI, Page 23) - Page 14

Thanks samana for the pm...

That was beautiful Samana ... thanks for the PM ...🤗

Hey Sam thanks so much for your PM dear firstly...

Bad guy entry..Vikram Arora.. Indeed a bad news..😡 unexpected as well as interesting..!! 😊

Wow... very interesting shocking twist in the story loved it dear

Vikram - I like this entry simply because he's intriguing (though I do loathe his intentions towards Payal 😡).

I loved this update! I love the protective siblings I really do! I would kind of love though if Payal and this vikram character came face to face and she told him off as well, I can't imagine that any of the scindiya siblings are not strong willed, though ansh might be a little quicker to fly off the handle 😊

@Usha: You can curse the new guy all you want! For now he is nothing but a scumbag. As for baddies turning good, PV might just be changing my mind about that and showing me how it can be done properly.

As for the children not approaching parents, I think it is pretty simple. As someone who always told my parents everything, I think that a lot of kids don't because their parents don't make them feel secure that they will help them with anything. Think of it from the kid's perspective...they would rather handle the situation on their own than tell their parents, which means that the outcome they suspect from telling their parents seems worse than what they are already facing. And in my view, there has to be a reason for that from the parents' side (no offense to your friend, just saying this hypothetically). In this age when kids are growing up so fast and are exposed to the world at their fingertips, I guess parents have an added responsibility to clearly articulate that they are there for their kid, no matter what. It is not something that is taken for granted anymore and I guess that is a generational shift as much as anything.

@(r)Usha: Thank you! Well, the story couldn't keep going in the light hearted direction it was in. Now that the characters were all introduced, the drama had to begin! I will have the new part up soon.

@Inkpen: We will just have to see how Payal reacts. So far we have only seen her from the eyes of her siblings...is there something they underestimate/don't understand about her?

@Anitu, Anu, Sia, Naeema, Nina: Thanks for the appreciation, everyone! I will have the new update out soon!

Ansh could hear Palak's apologies to Tom Uncle as he slammed the door of the ice cream shop open and stormed out, walking purposefully across the road, back past the gate of the school and into parking lot where he knew the Madan, their driver, was waiting with the car. He wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. He wanted to forget what Vikram had said, words that kept repeating themselves in his head, making him tremble with rage. Yet, every time the words washed over him he wanted nothing more than to storm back into the shop and tear that b*stard apart, limb from limb. How dare he? How dare he talk about Payal like an object for his pleasure, as though she was no better than the damned red Porche he came to school in? How dare he look at her like...like...THAT?

He was pacing madly from one end of the parking lot to the other, ignoring Madan's hesitant attempts to talk to him.

Payal, his little sister, who saw only good and beauty wherever she looked, and was so ungrudging in her kindness to everyone, why did he have to choose her as his target? It was so unfair---Ansh stopped short suddenly and remembered words that drowned out Vikram's for a single moment:

"Ansh, if life and the world ever seem unfair, so wrong that it overwhelms you, just tell me. Any time, night or day, I will bring you here and we will work it out together, understood?"

Immediately, Ansh felt a sense of clarity. His anger hadn't abated, but he knew exactly what to do, the right thing to do. He pulled out his phone and punched in the number he had known by heart since he was five years old. It rang three times before he heard the deep, steady:

"Hello?"

Ansh's throat constricted as he heard the voice on the other end of the line. Suddenly he felt very small and very lost. Battling the lump that was fast forming in his throat, he managed a hoarse,

"Papa"

Even over the phone, Ansh could sense the change in Yash's demeanour at what he knew the tone of his voice had betrayed; he could imagine Yash slipping away from the rest of the family as he prepared to ask gently:

"Ansh beta, what's wrong?"

"Everything is wrong, Papa," Ansh's eyes blurred with tears, "Why are people so cruel, and why do the innocent have to suffer for it? I don't understand!" he exclaimed, his voice finally breaking, "I don't understand! I need to' I need---"

"Ansh, where are you?" Yash asked firmly.

"At school," Ansh replied, quickly wiping away his tears as he saw Palak approaching the parking lot.

"Wait for me; I'll be there in twenty minutes and we'll go, okay?"

"Okay."

Ansh turned back and hastily wiped away the last of his tears before he faced Palak. He knew she could tell he had been crying, but he also knew she wouldn't talk about it if he didn't want to. It was one of the things he loved most about her. She observed everything and everyone to the minutest detail, and the things she knew, just from observation, would send the school gossips into a frenzy, but she never talked about them. In fact, most of the time, she didn't even realise that she was gathering information about people as she watched them. It only became apparent when she talked about people she barely knew with uncanny insight, sometimes unaware herself of how she understood them so well.

Sure enough, she came towards Ansh with a smile on her face, but he could read the mingled relief and concern in her eyes.

"Can you believe it? Tom Uncle gave me a family pack of butterscotch before we even had a chance to order it! I swear, we spend too much time there, stuffing our faces. Maybe we should find another after-school snack. How do you feel about chaat?"

Ansh felt a surge of affection for his sister, who he knew was battling her own anger at that creep Vikram, as well as her concern after his violent outburst, to try and keep him calm. He looked at her in wordless apology.

"Palak, I called Papa. He is coming to pick me up and we are going to...uh...going for'"

"...one of your top-secret, highly confidential, father-son bonding sessions?"

Ansh could see the relief wash over Palak's face, even as she made the sardonic remark. He had given her a scare inside the shop, so he needed her to know that he was alright, that he hadn't allowed his anger to get the better of him and that he wouldn't do anything stupid. Seeing the return of a familiar, and completely genuine smirk was assurance enough that she had understood what he was trying to say, and taken comfort from it.

"Yeah, I guess so'" Ansh said, "You can go home with Madan, and I will wait for Papa here."

"I'll wait with you," she replied happily, depositing the ice cream in the air-conditioned car with Madan and dragging Ansh out of the parking lot and onto the lawn, where they both sat down.

Ansh gave her a small smile and they sat in companionable silence. He was happy she had decided to stay. Vikram's words were still playing like a broken record in his head and he didn't quite trust himself not to lose control, once he was alone, so close to where the rascal was probably still jeering at crude jokes...about his sister---

"--I still can't believe you got above 90% in English, Nangu, how on earth did you pull it off?" Palak was indefatigable, and her timing as always, impeccable.

"I guess I got lucky with the passage for the long essay," Ansh replied thoughtfully, "It was actually something I remotely understood."

"To be, or not to be, that is the question," Palak quoted loftily

"Thus conscience does make Cowards of us all,/And thus the Native hue of Resolution/Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of Thought'" Ansh replied affirmatively, unable to stop his mind from wandering back to Vikram's words and the way he had reacted to them.

This time Palak resigned herself to the silence and they simply waited together until they heard their father's car pull up. Yash smiled at both of them and asked,

"Palak, haven't you gone home yet? Your mother and Payal are trying their hand at some new-fangled cake recipe to celebrate Payal's concert and it seems they need an unbiased taster to approve it before they serve it to the family." With a frown he added, "apparently I am not unbiased."

Palak looked at her father affectionately as Ansh got into the passenger seat of the car, "Of course you are biased, Papa! You would eat glass and say it was delicious if Mumma or Payal said they made it, and with both of them cooking together? You don't stand a chance!" She mock-sighed dramatically, "The things I have to do for this family!"

"Oh really?" Yash smiled at his daughter's humour, as she waved him good bye and headed towards her ride home.

"Nangu, be home early for cake and ice cream! It's your last chance to redeem your gloating rights, since they were cut short by Payal's concert! After that, it's over!" she shouted over her shoulder as she got into the car.

Ansh tried to smile back at her and failed miserably as he turned to his father, his heart laden with anger, and his head still buzzing with Vikram's words.

"Ready to go, Ansh?"

Ansh nodded mutely, closed his eyes and leaned back. They would work it out together.

As always,splendid!I love palak and ansh's bonding and ansh and his papa's too.Both of these are absolutely adorable😃.And yashu being biased when it comes to aarti or payal,bang on!that is exactly the kind of father or husband he is.