Indu! 🤗 Hope you've had a great weekend. I've finally got caught up with Part 12 and it was such a great read! Pulling out the parts that grabbed my attention, but also trying to keep my post as succinct as possible (which can be a feat for me sometimes 😆).
Yash smiled at her bowed head. Having seen her again, all the doubts plaguing him since the previous evening just disappeared, and he was glad he had extended his stay. He just needed some time with her to completely erase any lingering doubt, which meant he had to continue playing the charade of a poor, downtrodden man for some more time. …
… Ever since he had met Aarti, his heart was giving him all the positive signals, but they still hadn't clouded his rationality. The reason was putting up a stiff fight against these hitherto unknown, overwhelming feelings that had deluged him. Up there in the mountains, he had a lot of time to contemplate and reflect about his life's priorities…Payal, family, and business, in that order. Not once had he thought he needed someone for himself. Well!! He was not so sure now. A chance encounter with a gentle, beautiful shop girl had changed all that…made him acutely aware of his lonely self.
After all what reason could he have to stay back? To test someone just to prove to himself that what he envisions is no illusion…not a figment of his imagination…not unreal? Set himself up for another disillusionment? Another heartbreak? Yet, he wanted to do just that. He wanted to stop running. He wanted her to hold him back. He wanted her to prove him wrong. He only had to close his eyes to see her….her stubborn generosity, her exquisite beauty, her nervousness, and the vacant, forlorn look that hid some great trauma. He put his head down and sighed, running his fingers through his hair in agitation. He admitted he wanted to find out more about her…know her…understand her…He wanted to see her smile, laugh, and be happy. He wanted to see those eyes dance with life, with joy, with mischief. If only he had a valid reason to stay put and make sure what he felt was not a chimera in his mind, but was as real as the air that he breathed in. If only….And the battle raged on….
Oh, Yash! ❤️ How can anyone not love this guy? I understand his dilemma here -- his attraction to Aarti/his fascination with Aarti is confronting his cynicism and practicality. He's drawn to her kindness, her sadness, her self-protection, and he wants everything he sees about her to be grounded in reality. In addition, I really, really like the way you mentioned that he really never penciled himself into his list of priorities for such a long; but, now that he's on a pursuit driven primarily by his own wants, it's adding to more layers to his dilemma. But why do I have a feeling this performance of his as the poor man will get him into trouble with Aarti down the road? But I love how one moment with Aarti -- one meeting -- challenges his reason and simultaneously amplifies his humanity.
"Yes sweetheart, I found her…but there is a problem. You see…she is from the mountains, so she stays here only. I will have to convince her to come with me to Bhopal."
"Can I come there and co..co..covins with you?"
Oh my word, Payal is so cute! You've really captured the foundation of their precious father-daughter relationship, which continues to her teen years as you've already shown us.
Now, Sameer! He's persistent one, isn't he? But he's unleashed Yash's protective instinct with Aarti. It made me remember the first time Yash intervened on her behalf. I really don't think Sameer has a clue what he just signed himself up for by pursuing her the way he has. 😆
Onto Part 13! Naanimaasi's fearlessness! 👏 She squares up with Sameer without hesitation, egging him to call her bluff! Yash's reaction to Naanimaasi, his immediate affinity with her, and then bolstering her defense without skipping a beat are priceless. I think he and Naanimasi are going to get along wonderfully. Apart from his natural chivalric nature, his defense of Aarti here also seems to reveal that any lingering doubt he might have had over her depth as a person has been washed her away following her resistance to Sameer.
Aarti went and hugged her, "With you around, who'd dare hurt me? I am fine. And you…you were fantastic. Raj nanaji would be proud of you. I love you, naanimaasi….so much."
❤️ Just a simple, beautiful moment. It's no surprise Aarti is able to reciprocate this to her so effortlessly now, and I love Naanimaasi's reaction to Aarti's "I love you." Aarti is proud of her Naanimaasi, but also clearly had no doubt that Naanimaasi would stand up for her. That surety is something Naanimaasi has earned. Aarti's had wonderful people like Radha, the Pandit, and others who were rays of hope, yet there was never a guarantee that any of them would stay in her life forever. I love how you've made Naanimaasi the sure, patient, affectionate matriarch Aarti needed and it's made a difference. Aarti is not fully free from the scars of the past, but she's not fully bound by them either.
Aarti put an icepack on her hand and sat on the dining table to finish her work. After giving her the icepack, naanimaasi had disappeared. It was almost lunchtime when she heard laughter and then saw naanimaasi enter the kitchen through the back door along with Yash Scindia. He bent down and whispered something and her grandmother giggled merrily. Aarti stood up in mystification at such ease between the two people who had just met. Naanimaasi breezed into the room and announced, "Aarti, what a wonderful person Yash is. He also mended that gap in the fence …and he has promised to come back tomorrow and look at the attic staircase and see what to do about that branch that's almost entering through your room window. And now…(she rubbed her hands in happy satisfaction) we are going to have lunch…together. You know Aarti, he wasn't coming in; it's only when I said you would also wish the same as it is already lunch time that he agreed. Yash, the washroom is at the end of the corridor. Why don't you go and wash your hands?"
Love it! I had a feeling Yash and Naanimaasi would get along beautifully. She's such an openhearted woman. In fact, I was pleasantly surprised to read that she and Aarti didn't judge or make assumptions about Yash having a daughter when he told them about her.
I also really love the throwback to PV's Yash and Aarti with the heads' bumping and his takeaway was the smell of her hair. 😛
Yash had just passed the last bit of remark offhandedly, just to stay within the image…although why he was still carrying the charade he wasn't sure. There was a transparency in the two souls who sat there that could not be denied, yet he wasn't able to completely let go off his bitter past…especially his wrong choices. He hadn't met such genuineness in a long time….absolutely no pretense, and certainly no duplicity, although he was pretty sure by now that Aarti's life hid some grave misery. Yash was finding it unable to justify his actions to himself
….Was he expecting her to falter? Or, was he just apprehensive that she will distance herself more if she knew he wasn't who she thought he was? He saw how straightforward she was with that Singhania guy. He was brought out of his reverie as he heard a sudden gasp come from his side. He looked at Aarti, who was looking at her grandmother as if she had said something that was totally unexpected. He realized that naanimaasi in fact had said something to him.
Interesting moral bind he's sort of created for himself with this "poor man" role he's taken up. He was using duplicity to test Aarti's transparency. But now, with confirmation that she and even her Naanimaasi are pure hearted, does he risk losing her trust by continuing his charade? I must admit, though, the offer/acceptance to stay with them for awhile will allow him to cement what he already feels about Aarti, to learn more about the lingering, haunting pain that he senses within her. I'm intrigued to see where things go from here.
In the end Yash had agreed. He had to. How could he say no to those earnest, kind, trusting eyes? She was clearly worried about Payal. He had no idea where this was going. Twenty-four hours back he was not even aware of the existence of Aarti…and now, as he sat sipping a cup of coffee in the hotel balcony, he accepted that he cannot let her go, not even if….
No, he shook his head; he will not think negative. This time it felt right in a different way…in a very personal way. It was as if all his life he was waiting for her to show herself. Isn't this what dadima also told him on Payal's birthday? He still recalled her words clearly: "You will find her…when the time is right. She is waiting for you." He closed his eyes and felt this peace surge through him in a long, long time. Even though he knew next to nothing about her, yet he was profoundly aware of her essence. This awareness was warming him from within…inspiring him to break out of his shell.
Oh, this undeniable emotional pull between them! These two! The ending is great with her journal and his attachment to her words. I'd love to see the moment when he gets affirmation that she's indeed the journal writer he's been hoping to meet. You're keeping me on the edge as you take us through their love journey, Indu. *happy sigh* I'll catch up with your newest installment -- Part 14 -- during the course of this week. 😃
Kabhi Neem Neem Kabhi Shahad Shahad
