🏏T20 Asia Cup 2025: India vs Oman, 12th Match, Group A at Abu Dhabi🏏
Mannat Har Khushi Paane Ki: Episode Discussion Thread - 28
Bigg Boss 19 - Daily Discussion Topic - 20th Sep 2025 - WKV
Deepika starts shooting for King
Armaan has always been the victim
Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai Sept 20, 2025 Episode Discussion Thread
Appreciation Post for Ruheen
🏏 Asia Cup 2025: Sri Lanka vs Bangladesh, Super Four, Match 1 Dubai🏏
Anupamaa 20 -24 Sept 2025 Written Update & Daily Discussions Thread
Veer Hanuman - Chat Club #4
Singer Zubeen Garg Passes Away
Aneet replaces Kiara in Shakti Salini
Book Talk Reading Challenge & Book Bingo ~ Oct 2025 Sign up open!
Fav contestant this year?
Downfall is Real! No one even cares for SPA pics this year
Homebound - OSCARS 2026 Official Indian Entry
These were Deepika's demands for Kalki
Star Parivaar Ki Favourite Saas
“Why aren’t Bollywood actresses supporting Deepika? - Upala KBR
Akshay Kumar Is Back To Giving Hits
Part 9
Oh lordy! It's been some time, hasn't it? School has started and I'm semi-slogging again. Today (five days ago!), however, I was tempted to start writing this part.😳
The frozen rose awakens when Apollo passes by, caressing her petals with the dust of gold.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Recap: Jigar, happy because of his impending fatherhood, recalls some special moments spent with Rashi. On the other hand, Koki becomes worried about Gopi and Ahem's relationship. Agni asks Swami to accompany him to an ashram in Rajkot. When Koki asks Gopi about her promise, Gopi gives her no answer and Koki feels disappointment. A memory in Ahem's mind threatens to recover as he unintentionally breaks one of Gopi's bangles.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Is anybody here?" Agni asked.
He was at the orphanage, where the remodeling was to take place, but he hadn't seen the person he was looking for. Swami preferred to stay in the car, letting his boss do the "dirty work" as Agni put it. His friend-cum-manservant was a certified introvert!
Agni walked deeper into the mosaic gardens of the ashram, stopping by a hall. The battered door was half-open, so he let himself in. Inside, it was shabby--the rafters were kinked in places, naturally or by wood-eating insects, he couldn't tell. "Koi hai?" he asked again. No one answered.
He climbed upstairs after hearing music drifting towards him from above.
(Note: Imagine that this music starts to play as Agni is climbing upstairs. Sometimes writing makes me wonder why I majored in Psychology and English, instead of majoring in something like theater or film studies.)
[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UNaLwhJ0oA[/YOUTUBE]
The rickety staircase ended into another hall that was both wide and long.
The setting sun began to cast shadows along the pasty walls of the building. At the opposite end of where Agni stood, a petite figure, clad in a midnight blue cotton salwar kameez, was dancing. Her plaited hair followed the seamless movements of her form and he remained rooted to the floor.
Around her, a group of about thirty-five younger girls were dancing too. They were disorganized, he realized. If this was supposed to be a dance class, it wasn't a very good one.
His object of interest, oblivious to his presence, was moving towards him. She grabbed the wrists of two girls and was twirling around with them. The twirling got out of hand when the younger girls let go of their hands and she whirled into Agni's chest. His arm came around her reflexively in an attempt to steady her.
"Aap? Aap koun?" she asked, tilting her head back to see his face.
"Agni Jadeja"
Shadows hid her face and he couldn't see her. He felt her try to shift away, but he kept his hold on her.
"Zara haath hatayenge?" she said, almost slapping his hand away. He released her and she grabbed her dupatta from a nearby table. With quick movements, she knotted the dupatta at her waist.
"I think this is enough for today, girls. I'll see you all tomorrow," she told the younger group.
"Dhara, come with me," she gestured to a girl, who couldn't have been more than 8 years old. From what little he could see, the younger one looked like a smaller version of the older one and he remained fixated at the sight of them together.
Dhara eyed the tall stranger and then, smiled shyly. "Main Dhara" she told him and then, giggled. "Mahua Di, who is he?" she asked her elder sister curiously.
"Who are you?" Agni asked her back.
Mahua took Dhara's hand before Dhara could reply and marched downstairs. He trailed behind her to the first floor, where he finally saw her face clearly. Brown eyes. No, light brown eyes--almost the color of unused gold--in the shape of fat almonds. He smiled at his analogy, but she frowned back at him and then, within the next second, her right eyebrow arched in confusion. Adorable, he thought, but refrained from vocalizing it. He'd just been in Rajkot for a couple of weeks and already, he had seen two mystifying women. One, of course, he couldn't have, but this one, he had a slim chance--that is, only if she would stop looking at him like he was growing another head next to the one he already had.
"Is there a manager here, somewhere?" he wondered out loud.
"Kyun?" she demanded and then, in an irritated tone, continued "And why are you here? If you're here to purchase this ashram and turn it into some plaza, then you'll have to leave. (Loudly) Munimji? Munimji!!! Can you please, for once, instead of burying your nose in dusty papers, be here with me and handle all these businessmen? Sar utha kar yaha chale aate hai! Who comes to an orphanage dressed as if to attend a wedding? Such a peacock! Koi kayda nahi hai. (Called out) Munimji!!!!"
Baffled, Agni watched her as she marched outside with unmasked irritation. Her "Munimji" wasn't anywhere to be seen even as she clamored about the dusty pathways in his search.
"Is she your sister?" he asked Dhara and she nodded. "Be careful. Gusse waali hai," Dhara warned him in a hushed tone.
Five minutes later, a middle-aged man, with a brown ledger under his arm, hurried towards him, adjusting his white topi all the while. "Mr. Jadeja, I'm so sorry I wasn't here earlier. I hope you've been welcomed kindly by everyone here" the old man said, glaring at Mahua. Agni was amused seeing their exchange. Obviously, Munimji knew how Mahua welcomed guests to the orphanage.
"I came to give you this. Can you take a look at it tonight, so that I can come back tomorrow to see what you think about it?" Agni asked Munimji. "Why do you have to come back?" Mahua shot back. Munimji furrowed his graying eyebrows together in displeasure. Agni looked up at her, pressing his lips together to control his growing irritation.
Mahua stood there, stubbornly, with Dhara, until Munimji glared at her again. Then, she and Dhara walked away.
Wonderful, Agni thought, wryly. Loud. Check. Temper problem. Check. Nosy. Check. Beautiful. Super check.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ahem waited for Gopi at the bottom of the mandir steps. What had that brief second of memory been about? He wanted to ask Gopi, but after he'd broken her bangle, she had excused herself and had practically raced out of the room.
Nearby, a group of women clad in bright sarees and holding aarti thaalis, passed by. The array of colors distracted him. And some feet away, he saw Gopi coming towards him. She slowed down beside him, but didn't stop completely.
"Gopi--," he began.
She paused and waited, but he changed his mind. "Never mind. Let's go," he told her. They went up the stairs together, but she stayed a small pace behind him.
A gust of wind blew, forcing sindhoor and chandan powder his way. He shielded his face, but not before another memory was stoked in his mind.
Gopi ran towards their room, covering the side of her face with her hand as a haze of gulal colored the air.
Ahem turned his head towards Gopi, but she hadn't gotten the flashback. He had. He tried to focus his mind into remembering more, but nothing came.
By the darbaar, he paused behind Rashi and Jigar as they prayed together. "Thank you," Jigar whispered, giving Rashi a quick sideways glance. Rashi blushed and then, closed her eyes.
The pundit began singing a Krishna bhajan. Gopi closed her eyes too, clapping softly. Behind them, someone rang the bell by the mandir's entrance. Ahem whirled around hearing the sound resonate. Like a jolt of lightening, Ahem's mind raced with memories from holi. Things he didn't remember, in no particular order, surfaced one by one--him wishing Gopi a happy holi, her coloring him, their fall to the bed, him chasing her, their consummation...
Unable to digest the revelation, Ahem left the pooja and sat on the mandir steps.
He had...no wonder Gopi had distanced herself from him after it. He'd been a true jerk to her. He'd also been stupid. He should've at least asked her about the change in her behavior.
Throughout the rest of their stay at the mandir, Ahem tried ways of approaching Gopi, but every time he got close, one person or another came in his way. He decided to speak to her that night.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ahem waited for Gopi in his room. Ever since they'd returned from the mandir, she hadn't entered the room. He sat to do a last minute check on a briefing he had to give his employees the next day and was disturbed by a knock. His mother entered even before he could say something and he stood up. "Mom, you? Did you want something?" he asked, putting the file away.
"I wanted to speak to you. I hope I'm not disturbing." Koki told him. Ahem looked at his mother, wondering what she wanted to say. Was it about Gopi?
Koki smiled as if bracing herself before she spoke and said, "I've never been one to beat around the bush, so I'll just ask you. How are things between Gopi and you, Ahem?"
"Has Gopi said anything to you?" he asked.
Koki saw his anxious face and then, said, "I'm asking because I'm worried. You're both my children. I care about your happiness as much as I care for Gopi's happiness. And I also care for the happiness of this family."
He faltered and looked away. Ever since they had returned from Mumbai, Gopi barely shared the same breathing space as him. "We're fine, Mom. Why?" he asked. Koki knew he was lying and replied, "When Gopi vau wanted to go to Mumbai, she had said you were angry with her for not agreeing to go with you. She promised me that when you both returned, everything would be fine between you, but that didn't happen. I know that, but you have to move your relationship forward. Do you know how I feel after knowing Rashi and Jigar are soon to be parents? I am delirious for them, Ahem, but why haven't you two progressed your relationship? I also want to be a grandmother. I also want to see my Gopi vau become a mother and see you become a father. Don't you think it's time?"
Ahem didn't reply so Koki left with a request that he at least think about it. Little did they know that, next to the threshold of the room, Gopi had stood listening their conversation.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dan! Dan! Daan!
This part's a bit shorter than the average, but I think I'm allowed some leeway, right? :P Blame writer's block for the delay! There's no OTC medication for it either! 😆
Things to ponder about:
What does Agni's next visit to the ashram have in store for him? Will Mahua make it any easier for him the second time around? With the building pressure of parenthood, how will Ahem speak to Gopi about their consummation? Will he pretend that he doesn't remember? Or will he ask her for forgiveness? Will he decide to start over?
Originally posted by: Debalina_Paul
Wooh!! That was fab rachna.. Nice to see the new entry.. I hope she is Agni's compliment. And about our Gohem, why is Gopi being so nosy?? Isnt that a bit off her character??
Members Lounge
CID
