His daughters, Palak and Payal, lost their mother when they were both only 3 and 1 respectively and have been craving for a mother's love since. He noticed they have been more vocal about the absence of a mother since Palak started school that year. He recalled the day she came back home crying as their teacher wanted them to make a "Happy Mother's Day" card and she did not have a Mom. Apparently, all her classmates had something to thank their mother for and she did not even have a mother! Her friends teased her when she told her teacher that she did not have a mother and could she make a "Happy Father's Day" card instead. He did not blame her classmates as children are careless at that age but they did not know how much they have hurt his Palak. He felt like a complete failure that day! He had tried to be both a mother and father for his children since Arprita left but apparently that was not enough. He could not fill the void Arprita left. He missed Arprita even more that day. Why did she had to go away?
It was two weeks later that his parents told him about a proposal from the Dubeys. Mr Dubey was his father's childhood friend and they had bumped into each other at the Construction & Real Estate conference. Mr Dubey's family moved to Delhi when he was 18 years old and Mr Dubey had moved back to Bhopal two months ago for one of his projects. He owned a construction company and was developing the biggest shopping mall, Infion Mall, in Bhopal. He was looking for a suitable groom for his daughter-in-law, Aarti. His only son, Prashant, had passed away 5 years ago.
Initially Yash had refused the proposal, like the others before, as he did not believe in forging any relationship after Arprita left. He wished his parents would accept his decision and left him alone instead of trying to find an alliance for him. He was contented to spend the rest of his life with his two daughters. They were the reason for him to press on every single day as he had wished to stop living when Arprita left. However, his dad had reminded him of his daughters' pleas for a mother as well as the "Mother's Day" card incident and he had been forced to reconsider the proposal. That night, he had asked Palak and Payal if they wanted a Mother and they had answered yes in unison. Even though he expected that, he was still slightly offended by their eagerness for a new Mom. Perhaps he was selfish as having them in his life was enough for him yet having all his love and attention was not sufficient for them.
The next day, at the breakfast table, he had told his father that he would like to meet Aarti before deciding if he would accept the proposal. His mom had heaved a sigh of relief and he could see the smiles on his brothers' faces. He knew that his family had wanted him to move on after Arprita left and they probably thought that there was a ray of hope since he had not flat out refused the proposal, unlike the previous ones. He did not have the heart to tell them that this marriage was purely for his daughters as he did not want to deny their wish for a Mother. He was never going to be the old Yash again. The old Yash was dead the day Arprita left.
That weekend, they were supposed to visit the Dubeys so that he could meet up with Aarti. His whole family wanted to tag along - his parents, Pankaj bahiyya and Vidhi babhi, his baby brother Prateek, his aunt Bua and his two precious daughters. He could still remember the excitement and eagerness on the faces of his daughters at the prospect of meeting their new Mommy. They have been asking him a lot of questions about their new Mommy since that day Vidhi babhi told them about it. He was shocked when they had asked him about it as he had not decided if Aarti was suitable to be their mother. However, he did not have the heart to reprimand Vidhi babhi for being too presumptuous even though he was angry with her for giving hopes to his daughters. She had been helping him to take care of his daughters. For all the maternal instinct he lacked, Vidhi babhi had tried to help along with Bua and his mom.
Before they set off for Dubey's residence that weekend, Mr Dubey had called his dad that they had a family emergency that they had to attend to hence they had to postpone the meeting to the following weekend. His daughters were crestfallen ' they wanted to meet with their new Mommy.
The following weekend, when they had arrived at Dubey's place, they were informed that Aarti had brought her son, Ansh, to the hospital as he had high fever. His daughters were dejected and he was a little upset as he wanted to meet Aarti as soon as possible to decide if she was able to be the mother to his daughters. He wanted to discuss with her the circumstances of their marrige and their expectations. He could not bear to see his daughters' hopeful faces being dejected again. They have been waiting for two weeks to meet their prospective new Mommy! The Dubeys presented them with a photo album of Aarti's and Ansh's photos. He could see that his daughters were excited to see what their new Mommy looked like. And they must be happy with what they saw as they were mumbling that new Mommy was very pretty!
Mrs Dubey explained to them that Aarti was an orphan and had married Prashant straight after college and was like a daughter to them. After Prashant's demise 5 years ago, they had accepted Aarti as their daughter. They only started looking for a match for Aarti as Ansh had been asking for a father. They wanted someone who was willing to accept Ansh as his son. Apparently, his and Aarti's union was perfect as they were the missing piece in the other's jigsaw puzzle.
"Then Aarti is perfect for you. She is the perfect mother! She has been taking care of Ansh so well and she would have no problem taking care of your two daughters. What's their names again? Payal and Pali? She has been taking care of us so well as well. Am I not right Shoba? " Mr Dubey had answered him.
"Yes. Aarti is really selfless. She loves children and shares a very close bond with Ansh. I am sure she would be a perfect mother for your daughters. She is a great cook as well. She can cook anything you kids want, Palak and Payal! And Gayathriji, Aarti is very respectful of the elders. She has never been disrespectful to us. You will not find any issues with her. In fact, I am sad to see her go into another family as I am too used to having her and Ansh around. " Mrs Dubey had added.
His mom had told the Dubeys that all she wanted was someone who would accept her granddaughters as her own and take care of her son. She does not have any other expectation but she must be conservative as she is marrying into a family who values traditions. Mrs Dubey had assured his mother that Aarti possessed all the qualities to be a perfect daughter-in-law for the influential Scindias.
" So, Pratap, are we agreeable to this union?" Mr Dubey had asked his dad.
Yash was shocked. How was he to make the decision when he had not met Aarti. He had asked them when Aarti would be back from the hospital. Mr Dubey then made a phone call to Aarti and informed them that Ansh's fever had subsided but they were still at the hospital as Ansh was under observation. He had offered to visit Aarti at the hospital to discuss their impending union and he thought Mr and Mrs Dubey were flabbergasted. They had assured him that Aarti was agreeable to the union and they were only waiting for him to give his consent. He had told them that he needed to meet Aarti first before deciding.
He could tell that his family was disappointed with his answer. His father had asked him why he wanted to meet Aarti since he had found out all about her from the Dubeys. Even the Dubeys had told him to ask them any further questions he had. His daughters were pestering him to say yes so that they could bring their new Mommy home! In their innocence, they were just elated to see that their new Mommy is pretty and heard that she could cook whatever they wanted. He needed more time to make the decision. He knew he had to ensure both he and Aarti had the same expectation of this marriage. However, he could sense that everyone in that room wanted him to make the decision then. Reluctantly, he said yes. He still did not know what made him said yes'Perhaps it was the pressure from his family, perhaps it was the pestering from his daughters for a new Mom or perhaps it was divine intervention.
Their wedding was fixed two weeks later. He was a little surprised that the wedding was happening so fast but since it was their Punar Vivah, it was not going to be grand. They will get married at the temple and hold a small reception after that for close family members. He thought it was ironic that no lavish reception was being held to celebrate the union of the top two influential families in Bhopal.
On the way home from Dubeys, he recalled telling Prateek that he felt something was amiss. The Dubeys did not even once check on Aarti and Ansh until he had enquired if he could visit them at the hospital but Prateek had brushed it off as perhaps Ansh's fever was not that high and they were just too excited to meet their prospective son-in-law. He was also a little perplexed as to why the Dubeys could not give him Aarti's mobile number so that he could at least talk to her before the wedding. Mr Dubey had told him to call their house number if he needed to speak to her. Not that he ever did manage to speak to her since she was always either not around or engaged in some matters. The Dubeys never ever did pass the phone to her.
The first time he met Aarti was on their wedding day and the first time he spoke to her was on their wedding night!
Kabhi Neem Neem Kabhi Shahad Shahad
