"Humien divorce chahiye Ratan."
The words hit Ratan like a thunderbolt. He was shocked...It was true that he wanted her to leave him, but now that everything was out in the open, she asked him this...
Ratan did not expect this from her. He knew she loved him a lot. He also cared for her enough to spend his lifetime with her...and he was ready to do exactly that when she came to him in his office and uttered those words. She was standing right in front of his eyes, ever beautiful, ever confident...Her eyes were dry and devoid of any expression at all.
Suddenly Ratan started missing the dreamy look she had been carrying in those beautiful eyes of hers for so many days...the same eyes that used to light up on seeing him...the same light he had been trying to avoid for all these days...the same avoidance that had led him to do all sort of crazy things to make her hate him...and in the end, he was standing there...and she was saying those words that he had wanted to hear...the same words that were now feeling like molten lava sliding down his ears.
"Diya...Divorce, mager kyun? We can work this out," he said desperately.
She shook her head and for once, remorse flashed in her eyes, but she quickly hid it and said with firm determination,
"Nahi Ratan...hum aap ke sath mazeed ghalat nahi ker sakte."
Ratan started shaking his head vehemently, held her by her shoulders tightly and said,
"No no Diya...please listen to me.Mien apke sath sari zindagy guzaarne ko tayar hun. I promise mien poori koshish kerun ga ke aapko kabhi mujhse shikayat nahi ho."
Diya smiled slightly, then she laid her hand by the side of his face and said softly,
"Ratan, aap humare pyar ke liye apni khushi,apni azadi sacrifice kerne ke liye tayyar hain. Kia hum aapki khushi ke liye thori si qurbani nahi de sakte?" Then she took his hand in hers and said,
"Humara alag hona hi behter hai, apke liye bhi aur humare liye bhi. Aap humare sath rehne ki koshish tou kerein ge mager uss mien apki khushi, apki marzi shamil nahi hogy. Aur iss se aap buht frustrate hojayeinge. Apko poora haq hai ke aap apni life mien aagay barhien, apni pasand ki larki se shadi kerein...jis se apki compatibility ho.."
Ratan was about to say something when she shook her head and continued to say,
"Hum bhi aise khush nahi reh payein ge Ratan. Humien yeh guilt ke hum apke sath ghalat ker rahay hain, khush rehne nahi de ga. Iss liye hum divorce chahte hain. Aur Ratan, apko humari jab bhi yad aye ya zarurat paray, aa humien call ker sakte hain."
Ratan's heart was beating painfully in his chest now. He didn't know how to stop her...how to dissuade her. But he knew that she was right...he really couldn't keep her happy.
Diya saw reluctant understanding in his eyes and she braved a smile. She started to move towards the door of his office to leave, but turned in midway and said,
"Humne lawyer se baat ker li hai Ratan. Humare divorce papers kal tak ajayein ge. Hum sign ker ke apko de dein ge." And having said that, she left the office.
After closing the door of his office, all her facade of bravery and practicality started to crumble. She leaned against the wall outside his office tiredly. She was feeling as if she had just come out of a battle zone...her chest was heaving and her eyes were ready to spill the tears that she had managed to keep at bay until now somehow. All she wanted to do was to go back inside that office and weep her heart out on the shoulder of that one person who was incapable of loving her. Her heart was bleeding...her love had been rejected...he didn't want it...For him, her love was not a gift...it was like shackles around his ankles. She wanted to rip her chest and take her heart out, then throw it away in the deepest ocean of the world. But she had to be strong. She had to leave...Quickly.
Her decision made, she spent the whole day packing her stuff. She had decided to leave as soon as she signed the divorce papers next day. She didn't want to see Ratan...and Ratan was also locked in his office since hours. She had informed everyone in the house and except Kakimasa and Mohana, everyone was sad.But Diya had firmly resolved not to shed one more tear. She was a tigress...she did whatever was in her control to salvage her marriage...but it was just not meant to be...and she had accepted this fact.
Ratan didn't come to the room that night, and Diya was actually relieved. She didn't want to face him for the fear that her resolve would break and she would end up begging him to find a way to love her,somehow!
Early next morning, the lawyers came and handed the divorce papers to Diya. She signed them without any further thought and left them on the writing desk in the room for Ratan to sign them whenever he would see them.
Her luggage was already in the car, and everyone in the house was watching her silently leaving. She went to Kakusa and Kakimasa, touched their feet and asked for their ashirwaad. Kakimasa happily gave it to her. Kakusa was feeling sad though. He had helped Ratan to get rid of her, but now that she was actually leaving, he was feeling as if something very wrong was happening.
Diya went to Nithya bua sa and she engulfed her in a hug. She was very upset, but Diya had already told her what had happened...besides she had already signed the divorce papers.Nithya bua sa knew that this time, nothing could stop Diya from leaving the Keser Mehal.
Isha jiji sa was crying but Diya hugged her and asked not to shed tears for a broken relationship. She bid goodbye to everyone else and then left the Keser Mehal ...forever...never to come back again.
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To say that he was devastated, would be an understatement. He had seen her car leaving from the premises of the Kesar Meal from his office window. Instead of relief, he was feeling remorse. He was feeling as if with Diya, his life had also slipped from his own hands!
He closed his eyes tiredly, and her vision popped in his mind.
She was looking beautiful...she was looking graceful...as ever.
Her eyes were twinkling while saying something to him and then she threw her head back and burst into laughter...He could hear the sound of her laughter...A fond smile came on his lips...but suddenly the vision of the happy girl was replaced by another vision.
The girl in this vision was not laughing. She was not happy...she was expressionless...and she was standing in front of him and asking him for divorce.
His eyes jerked open.
"Divorce"...he whispered...
"Tou Diya, aap ne mujhe divorce de dia...Congratulations Ratan Maan Singh! You finally managed to drive that one person away from you , who had loved you unconditionally...who had accepted you with all your flaws...Loag aisi devi ki pooja kerte hain, but look at you, tum tou uss devi ke pooja kerne k bhi qabil nahi thay. Chali gayee woh Diya jo mery zindagy ki roshni thy..."
He held his head in his hands. He didn't understand why he was not happy now? Why he felt as if the air around him was heavier and why it was becoming difficult for him to breath in it? He dropped his hands on his desk helplessly when his gaze fell on his engagement ring. He touched it...and tried to feel his Diya. This was the only thing he had on him that reminded him of her. This ring was precious than his own life even...
Resignedly, still trying to feel Diya through the ring, he brought it close to his lips and kissed the stone...
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Ratan was finalizing some reports in his bedroom when Yash banna entered to give him a parcel that had come from London. He was not surprised to see Ratan engrossed in official work so early in the morning. Ratan had not even realized that someone had entered his room and was now watching him silently, until Yash faked a cough. Without raising his head from the reports, Ratan extended his hand towards the coffee table and said,
"Nashta lai hain? Wahan rakh dijiye, Diya..."
Yash rolled his eyes and said in exasperation,
"Kaku sa, yeh hum hain...Diya baisa nahi hain!."
Ratan's head jerked up and he looked around him, and then realized that he had mistook Yash's presence for...Diya's... He looked sheepishly at Yash and mumbled,
"I am sorry Yash banna...woh kaam mien busy tha naa...tou ..pata nahi chala."
Yash was unable to see his best friend, his Kaku sa's condition. 3 whole months had passed since Diya's departure from Keser Mehal...but it seemed that she never departed from Ratan's life.
Yash still remembered clearly that night,3 months ago. Ratan had kept himself locked in his office for 24 hours and had refused to come back to the house where...Diya was not anymore. With great difficulty, Yash and Chhote Thakur sa managed to bring him home and the minute he entered his room, he saw those Divorce papers and had gone totally still. It was heartbreaking enough to see him gone still with shock, but what Yash could never forget was how Ratan had ended up breaking into tears. Yes, The Daata Hukum of Surajgarh had wept like a baby that night. Chhote Thakur Sa and Yash banna were there with him, but he was inconsolable. Chhote Thakur sa had nothing but regrets for that moment he had decided to help Ratan in his fiascoes...instead of putting some sense into his mind that he should not have let Diya go like this. But now nothing could be done.
Both Diya and Ratan were separated now...
It had already been 3 months..
Ratan had immersed himself in his work from then on. He hardly slept, he hardly mingled with his friends or family members . No one was allowed to touch his bed...where Diya used to sleep. He used to make their bed himself...he kept Diya's closet empty. Even on the dining table, he had forbidden everyone to sit on Diya's chair. The jewelry that she had returned before leaving was still in Ratan's safe...the password of which was Diya's date of birth. He had a picture of Diya in his office work table. He used to feel that her picture gave him strength...strength to continue living like that...living like a machine. Before taking major decisions in business, he had developed a habit of closing his eyes in solitude and think what Diya would have decided...and that had helped him become a stronger, better businessman and a smart hotelier.
All hell broke loose when Kakimasa started urging him to remarry. He had never misbehaved with kakimasa before, but on her suggestion, he got extremely mad at her. He blamed her for everything...for supporting him in his earlier decision to separate from Diya. He blamed her for making life difficult for Diya with her continuous badgering about their marriage.
After that, he forbade everyone to even say a single word about remarriage or settling down with someone else again...because that's when it had actually dawned on him with full force that the platonic love he thought he had for Diya had evolved into something very deep...something that was like a fire...a fire that was consuming him with each passing day.
Finally, the Intelligent Ratan Maan Singh had realized that he was not just "habitual" of Diya...he had actually fallen in the deepest, truest and the most dangerous form of Love with her...and there was no return point for him now. His whole existence depended on that one person...whom he had once said that he could never fall in love with!
Now that he was burning in her love everyday, he didn't have the courage to reach her.
3 months ago, she not only left him and his Keser Mehal, she had actually left India too.
Yash and Chhote Thakur Sa had urged him to contact Diya... to let her know about his feelings... But Ratan refused. If Diya wanted to be away from him, free from him, then he was bound to respect her wish. He had accepted this as a punishment for not understanding his own love for her and for not accepting her love for him.
But with each passing day...he was becoming more forlorn...more desolate.
It was not a one day love...it was not an infatuation...it was not a simple habit.
He had loved her since the very beginning...He had loved her even before she had fallen in love with him!
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That day, after Yash's a lot of insistence, Ratan took a break from work and decided to spend time at home. In the evening, he drove to the Kesar Mehal club. He was sitting in one dark corner in the bar where he knew no one would be able to see and recognize him.The waiter had just served him some wine. It was the "Classic's Night" in the club , the band was singing old slow and soothing evergreen songs by Bryan Adams, Roxette, Richard Marx and Elton John. Ratan never liked that kind of music before. He had always been the heavy metal, loud and head banging music lover. But Diya used to like these slow,meaningful and beautiful songs.Surprisingly, his tastes had altered now too. He was liking the songs that were being sung by the live band and despite his earlier belief, he was enjoying them too.
The last song had ended and the singer was asking the audience about the next song they would like to hear. There was a break in the music, when Ratan heard a man's voice,
"Diya darling, here,try this mock-tail from my glass !"
His fingers froze around the tumbler of wine, and his hand arrested in mid air. His heart stopped beating altogether at the mere thought that HIS DIYA was here and some other man was calling her..darling! Very slowly, he turned his head...ready to die in the spot to see HIS DIYA with someone else...ready to see someone else holding HIS DIYA'S hand...ready to feel his heart breaking into millions of pieces upon the sight of HIS DIYA with another man...
What caught his gaze made him drop the tumbler of his wine...
The girl in that black long dress,with that man whose hand was holding hers while they were sitting close and being cozy...
That girl whose name was Diya...
Was not HIS DIYA! She was someone else.
Ratan expelled a breath that he didn't even know he was holding until then.
The gush of relief on not seeing Diya in someone else's arms was beyond endurance. His heart had started to beat painfully in his chest now and he just held his head in his hands in ...relief...and a grief...that gripped him. He clenched his eyes shut with anguish. He wanted his Diya with him in that moment so badly that it brought tears in his eyes.
And that's when the live band started playing the heart melting chords of the famous song by Richard Marx..
Oceans apart, day after day
And I slowly go insane
I hear your voice on the line
But it doesn't stop the pain
If I see you next to never
How can we say forever
Wherever you go
Whatever you do
I will be right here waiting for you
Whatever it takes
Or how my heart breaks
I will be right here waiting for you...
Ratan rose his head on hearing the song. He felt as if the song was made for him...the singer was singing it especially for him...
Yes...he was also waiting for his Diya...but Diya didn't know that...
His hands trembled as he took his phone out.
Diya had said that he could call her if he needed her.
He needed her in that instant...he needed her for his life...and he needed her for his death...Yes, he wanted to live a life with her and then die a happy man in her arms.
He needed to call her now.
His hand trembled as he took out his phone and dialed her number. He had her number etched in his memories. He had not needed it to save in his phone-book.
On the first ring, she received the call...
She didn't say anything..
And he didn't say anything...
Ratan just held his phone by his ear while silent tears started rolling down his cheeks. The singer in the background was telling all his feelings to Diya on the other side of the phone.
I took for granted, all the times
That I thought would last somehow
I hear the laughter, I taste the tears
But I can't get near you now
Oh, can't you see it baby
You've got me going crazy
Wherever you go
Whatever you do
I will be right here waiting for you
Whatever it takes
Or how my heart breaks
I will be right here waiting for you
That's when he heard an anguished sob on the other side...she whispered,
'Ratan.."
He released a sigh and continued to stay silent and let the singer do the talking for him.
I wonder how we can survive
This romance
But in the end if I'm with you
I'll take the chance
Oh, can't you see it baby
You've got me going crazy
Wherever you go
Whatever you do
I will be right here waiting for you
Whatever it takes
Or how my heart breaks
I will be right here waiting for you
Waiting for you...
And then he released a heavy breath and spoke brokenly in the phone,
"Diya...I am waiting for you. Please come back."
And Diya disconnected the call...without saying anything at all!
Ratan was devastated. She didn't even respond to his request. He knew he deserved just that kind of treatment from her. He knew he didn't deserve her...yet he had made that call...and disturbed her with his nonsense.
He just wanted to die in that moment. He had lost her...and there was no way she was coming back now.
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He didn't know how much he drank that night...or how he ever reached his home. All he knew was when he woke up with a splitting headache because of a bad case of hangover, he found himself in his bed.
He was holding his head in his hands and was groaning in pain when he heard a soft voice from his left side,
"Ratan...aap theek hain?"
He jerked his head towards the direction where that voice came from, and at the same time, groaned aloud with pain because of the sudden movement of his head...but what he saw, made him forget everything.
There she was...HIS DIYA...standing right next to his bed...
"Diya..." he croaked. His voice was raspy and Diya quickly handed him Aspirin tablet and Orange juice.
"Yeh lijiye Ratan..."
Ratan was in a trance. He took the medicine and the juice and gulped it all down in one go. Then he quickly returned his gaze to where she was...he was afraid that she was just a vision...a figment of his imagination...
But no...His lucky stars were smiling down on him.
She was actually there...waiting for him to get better...waiting for him so that she could hug him fiercely...as she had been aching to do since he had called her last night.
Diya had spent two months out of country to go as far away from him as possible. She had tried hard to forget him...but it didn't work. She returned to India 15 days ago and had spent each day waiting for him to call her... and when he finally did, it was her undoing. She called up Yash and told him everything. It was not hard for Yash to locate a stinkingly drunk and totally oblivious Ratan and bring him home safely. He had then sent his car to pick her up from her father's place.
Now that his headache was slightly better and his vision had cleared too, he looked at her carefully.
She was wringing her hands and was looking at him nervously.
He slowly got up from his bed and staggered in the process. Diya quickly held his arm to stabilize him. He straightened up and looked in her eyes deeply. She was standing so close to him...He could see her eyes shining with un-shed tears...tears of love...tears of longing...tears of yearning.
His hand touched her face slowly...tentatively...as if he was savoring her feel.
Then he dropped his hand and looked at his engagement ring... he used to kiss the stone whenever he wanted to feel Diya. He brought his hand close to his mouth and his lips touched the stone.
Diya was watching him closely. Tears had started to roll down her cheeks and she desperately took his hand away from his mouth.
"Ratan..." was all she could manage to say.
And Ratan crushed her to his chest...He was not letting her go now...She was his and he was hers...forever. After a while, when his heart started to beat a little less painfully, he realized that his chest was feeling wet. He looked down and saw that she had been crying silently in his chest. He straightened her up and held her face closely. It was time to seal his fate.
He laid his lips on her left eye first. He was kissing away her tears now. Then his lips landed on her right eye...and once her tears stopped falling completely, his mouth found hers in a deep, earth shattering kiss.
Finally, Ratan Maan Singh was able to feel his Diya again!
After an eternity later, when they emerged out of their own haze of passion and love, and when their mingled breaths started to cool down, Diya separated herself from him and said dejectedly,
"We can't do this Ratan. We are divorced..."
Ratan tugged her from her waist and brought her back in his warm embrace with force. He nuzzled her neck like a drug addict, inhaling her scent and feeling her soft body against his hard one, he mumbled,
"We were never divorced Diya. I never signed those papers. You are still mine...and I am not letting you go away."
Diya's heart danced with happiness, and she did what her heart told her to do to celebrate her joy.
She attacked his mouth with hers fiercely and the impact made them fall on the bed...but Oh well...Who cares...They were meant to land in that bed anyway!😉😆
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