A/N-Hola! Thi is an OS on Jaga, my fav couple now. The OS itself is full of cliches, melodrama and intolerably long. However to those who do read it, thank you, and I would love constructive criticism😃
HELL HATH NO FURY'.
Ganga strode towards the huge oak door hands balled into fists, breath coming in short deep bursts , her whole face red with anger and frustration" Damn that man! How dare he do this to her , how DARE HE!!!" . If she had told him once she had told him a dozen times, but No he wouldn't listen to her would he, listening to other people would be demeaning, after all he was the all-powerful Dr Jagdish Singh, unsung hero of Jaitsar, savior of millions, Gandhi had nothing on him, in fact they should have crowned him as Mahatma and just be done with it.
"Yeah-RIGHT!" she snorted. " All of that exists in just one place in the world Dr Sahab and that would be your dumb mind" she said to herself (and the entire hall of servants watching her with bated breath). In real life, in Jaitsar , at home here, you are nothing more than an average ordinary doctor capable of EXTRAORDINARY STUPIDITY!!"
Her voice rose from furious screaming to an ear splitting shriek that could have halted the entire Indian army in their tracks (and did cause the new maid to swoon), as she espied the object of her fury trying to enter the house through the side door
The fact that he was being helped by her 5 yr old son didn't do anything to calm her down. " How Dare You" she ground out as she marched towards them. Both of them turned towards her wearing identical guilty expressions.
"Mom"
"Ganga"
No. Not today. Today she was a woman on a mission. Today she would speak and no one else.
"Nobody opens their mouth until I have had my say". She gritted the words out as they snapped their mouths shut immediately. She turned to her son first, figuring that she might as well dispose of smaller fry first
" What do you think you were doing?"
She watched in grim satisfaction as Mannu gulped and then darted a glance of frantic entity at the 6 foot tall dumb statue next to him who seemed to have suddenly developed problems with his voice. Good. They deserved to squirm
" Well...ah... welll ... uh... Mannu had asked me to get something from him..."
" Yes...uh...Ma you said that we could buy the new playstation that just came out so...'"
" Yes! I mean yes, the uh playstation. So I...uh...I thought I would go into town today and check it out..."Jagya's voice drained away as a basilisk glare froze him into silence, If looks could kill...
Ganga took a deep breath and then snapped out to her son" Mannu! Room-Now"
Casting an apologetic glance at Jagya, Mannu sidled away. Well now, she couldn't let him get away that easily could she?
" Oh and Mannu?" He turned around warily . Ganga smiled widely as she said
" You can forget about the playstation"
"Mooo...m" Her son wailed only to be stopped midway by her famous glare. Sensing that he was fighting a losing battle he left
Excellent. Now she was alone with the person responsible for her fury in the first place, the person who had just put her through 2 hours of worry , anger, frustration and uncertainty. The person who was about to be deep fried in boiling oil
Jagya gulped looking at the avenging angel descending on him and made his last bid for escape" You know, about the playstation..."
" SHUT UP about the play station! I am sick of play stations! I hate Play Stations! If I had my way all the Play Stations in the world would be chopped up and thrown for the dogs to eat. I want playstations to suffer!"
Wisely forbearing to point out that a playstation was a piece of machinery and therefore incapable of going through anything she had just listed out Jagya opened his mouth only to be cut off again
"And You! How could you do this to me? Do you have any idea how worried I was? Do you know what I went through when Ramu kaka told me that you had gone to Paighat ? Do you even care?"
That stung . Jagya was at Ganga's side in the next moment, enfolding her in his arms heedless of her furious attempts to free herself
Dodging a blow to his face he said" Of course I care Ganga, how can you even ask me that question?" his voice pained
She struggled free of his arms and pushed him away with a force that sent him reeling. Despite the situation he couldn't suppress a proud smile. His wife was a strong woman.
" Oh Really?!" she hissed bringing him back to the present." You care? Because it doesn't look that f***ing WAY TO ME!". Jagya winced. If this went on he and the rest of Jaitsar could start ordering hearing aids in bulk
" You knew what was the situation in Paighat . You knew that there is a police shootout going on with some dacoits hiding there. You knew how serious it was when we and the rest of the family saw it on the news yesterday that 3 people had been killed! Killed! And what do you do with all this information? You take it as a cue to march in there the very next day!"
Jagya sighed as he stared into his very angry but still very gorgeous wife's eyes. The tears were coming fast and thick but she still refused to let them fall . That was his wife
He had known she would be worried when he had slipped out this morning. For the past one month there had been news about a ruthless dacoit gang in this part of Rajasthan . The gang would waylay buses or force their way into houses from more remote villages, robbing and assaulting everyone they could lay their hands on. The police had finally tracked them to Paighat, a small nondescript village close to Jaitsar. The dacoits had taken what few people living there as hostages. There had been some shooting and 3 people had been killed and 2 more injured. The police had tried to get a medical professional in there but unfortunately no one had volunteered.
'Are You Even Listening To Me!!!!" Jagya jumped a foot high. RIP ears he thought painfully. You will be missed
All right. Damage control mode. Slowly, cautiously he encircled his wife with his arms. She glowered at him but didn't shake them away thankfully. He breathed in a sigh of relief. A small victory, finally
" Sweetheart look at me"
She stubbornly kept admiring the carpet
" There was a child"
That caught her attention. Her shoulders stiffened though her eyes still kept willing the carpet to spontaneously combust
" There was a child injured yesterday among others. He would have died without medical attention. But nobody would go there, no one .Shiv finally called me in desperation and...and, what else could I do? They needed me"
She stared up at him, her eyes large and red ,anger and pain mixed
" Don't I need you?" Her voice was soft this time, broken , defeated. His heart suddenly felt as if it had just got caught under a truck. He had heard that tone in her voice once, 4 yrs ago , and he had promised himself then that he would never give her a chance to feel that way ever. But like everything else in his life , he had failed there too. Brilliant, Jagdish.
" Don't I need you?" she repeated insistently , her voice growing harder" Doesn't Mannu need you? Doesn't Dadisa, Bapusa, Masa need you? Doesn't'..Doesn't..." her voice broke down completely as the tears she had been holding back suddenly flowed out blinding her
Jagya held her tight, so tight, shielding her away from everything and everyone else in the world his heart aching for her as she sobbed out every single moment she had spent in agonizing anxiety over him for the past 2 hrs into his chest. Occasionally the odd bits of phrases like" hate him " " jerk" 'heartless monster" would escape her but for the most part her tirade was muffled by his chest
When the sobbing finally stopped he gently tilted her face up. She stared up at him, tear stains on her cheeks, her eyes reproaching, so vulnerable and fragile.
" I..." she began only to be shushed as her husband moved towards her, his face coming dangerously close to hers
No. She still had something to say though for the life of her she could not remember what it was , not with his face so close that she could feel his breath on her skin, hot and moist sending tingles all over her. She backed away from him as he stalked towards her , like a hunter stalking his prey, focusing solely on his target ,hypnotizing her
It was with a shock she realized that he had backed her into the corner and that she was now pressed against the wall and trapped between his hard arms. Now it was her turn to gulp
He bent forward, slowly, so slowly and suddenly he was whispering into her ear his lips skimming the delicate lobe. She gasped
" I'm sorry"
She could only sigh. He didn't seem to mind the lack of response though . Instead he seemed to take it as an invitation to lift his hands up to caress her face as he kissed her nose and made his way to her other ear
" I do care you know" This into the other ear. She managed a full nod this time and she was very proud of herself for it.
His hands were now cupping her face. He looked her straight in the eyes , the same look that could pierce through all her defenses and bare her to him completely
Ganga groaned giving up on the losing battle, all her resistance draining away as she leaned into him . He didn't take his eyes off hers as he said quietly, each word nevertheless hitting her hard" I do care about Dadisa , Bapusa, and Masa. I do care about our Mannu. I do care about our little life growing in here" caressing the small bump on her stomach. She felt tears prick her eyes once again but this time for a very different reason
He looked up at her again" And I care about you. So very very much"
The lump in her throat grew bigger
" But I had to go. Because every time something like this happens all I can think is 'What if that had been my family there? What if the old woman being hurt was my Dadisa or god forbid the child being hurt was our Mann..". She clapped her hands over his mouth shutting him up immediately. She couldn't even bear to think of that now. She clung to him tighter
His hands caressing her he said again" That's one reason Ganga . And the other..." he swallowed unable to look at her. But this was his Ganga. She wouldn't let something like this just pass
Her hands came around him, hugging him back, giving him strength to speak. He took a deep breath and continued" The other reason is that I want to help them. I want to do what I can to reduce their suffering because that's the only way I can in a small measure pay for my sins"
Silence. He waited but she didn't say anything. He continued , his voice devoid of emotion, stating the facts of his disgusting life before her baldly" I was a bad person Ganga. Not just bad, I was a horrible person. I hurt my family. I destroyed Anandi's life. I have done things which no man should do. Before you came into my life I had fallen into the worst sort of hell and was a fitting inmate of it too" he gave a grim smile
She still stared up at him steadily, her gaze unwavering, no hint of disgust or compassion or any other emotion in it
"But then you came and I had a way to climb out. I wanted to be a better person before you, but you showed me how to. And now I try to do whatever I can to atone for my past Ganga. Nothing I do can make up for even a fraction of my sins but at least I can try"
He stared at her desperately, hoping that she wound understand, terrified that she did and hated him for it, scared and confused until two small familiar hands came up and held his face the same way he held the face to which they belonged to, but less gently as if they were staking claim on him. He didn't mind . In fact all he wanted from life was to be claimed by these hands forever
The hands forced him to look down into her eyes. Very clearly, enunciating each word carefully she said " Doctor Saab, you are an idiot"
Well that wasn't what he expected. She didn't give him time to talk however, but went on
" Whatever you did in your past, whatever you claim yourself to be guilty of has been atoned for more than required. You might have wrecked Anandiji's life but you saved mine . You might have hurt your family but you have made them so happy these past years that the hurt doesn't matter anymore. You might have ruined and hurt people but you have also helped and saved many many more people. You can no longer reproach yourself Doctor Saab, you have done everything to wash away your past"
He stared at her taking this in, absorbing her words but most of all just savoring the comfort she gave him and the feel of her against him, channeling strength to him
Ganga's gaze softened and she stroked his face tenderly, pushing away a lock of his dark hair
" Even Anandiji has moved on and is happy now ,Doctor Saab. You have to stop feeling guilty now. I understand why you do what you do and I love and honour you for it. But when you do terrifying things, like today, I get so scared. I can't lose you Doctor Saab. I can't. For me, Mannu , our unborn child, you are our world and I just can't lose you. I have handled everything life has thrown at me but I can't handle not having you with me. Do You Understand?"
She held her breath until he nodded a small smile spreading across his face and flooding her body with relief
"I'll try" he promised
She smiled back at him, happy, relieved and so very glad that he was with her , a far contrast from what she had been 20 minutes ago, a quivering angry mess.
"Pregnancy hormones" he teased guessing what she was thinking
She merely laughed and giving him a quick peck on his cheek, tried to disentangle herself from him. He held her tighter
" Whoa, not so fast. Where is my makeup session?" giving her his special, turn her into a jelly smirk
" You'll have to wait Dr Saab, I have a very important phone call to make" she smirked back
"Oh really? And what is this very important phone call about? Should I be worried?" Jagya whispered , his voice husky as he ran his hands up her arms
Ganga had to repeat the alphabets in her mind thrice to tamp down the urge to drag her husband upstairs then and there. She had a phone call to make, she had a phone call to make...
"I have to call Shivji" she gasped out as Jagya ran his hands through her hair
Jagya lifted his head and stared at her quizzically
" I would like to know what he means by sending my husband off into such dangerous territory" she said loudly, her mind a little clear now that he had stopped his...um...work on her
Jagya laughed and said
" I don't think that's necessary Jaan. Shiv had a feeling that this phone call might be coming so the poor man unfortunately asked Anandi to screen any calls from you. When Anandi asked why, he was foolish enough to give the reason. I believe he is right now on his way with his baggage to the nearest hotel in Udaipur, directed there by both Choti maa and Anadi for having endangered his life and mine in the bargain"
Ganga gurgled with laughter along with Jagya until Jagya suddenly trapped her against the wall again
"Ganga" he said huskily . She closed her eyes, waiting, anticipating knowing what he was about to do even as he drew closer
They were so close, his lips were on her cheek , he opened his mouth and
"So can we buy that playstation now?"
Her eyes flew open immediately and she stared at her husband outraged, whose wicked smirk gave way to unrestrained laughter as he took in her expression. Ohhh!
She stood straight , gave him her sweetest smile and said" Well I'll think it over this week when you'll be spending your nights on the new divan in Dadisa's room" before sauntering off leaving her horrorstricken husband behind with his mouth hanging open
Cricket
