The Best of Things
(Ragya, SwaSan) Fan Fiction Series
By Bubble
Chapter 37
Kalicharan had made some dal and rice - but that was the extent of his culinary repertoire. Ragini unpacked the carrier she had brought with Lakshya hovering greedily around. Almost a week away, he was dying for some ghar ka khaana. "Dahi bhindi ki sabzi with parathas! and moong dal halwa! This is so great!"
They sent Kalicharan off to the outhouse with a portion of the food for his own dinner, and Ragini served Lakshya with a little smile, augmenting the food she had brought with the dal-chawal that was already made. Instead of sitting at the table, he took his plate over to the pool. "Ragini, bring your food, it's lovely out here," he yelled.
So they ate by the edge of the pool, sitting cross-legged on the ground as the water threw fluid reflections on everything. "Yum!" he licked his fingers. "Did you make this?"
"Hmm," she nodded.
"How did you know I was here?" he flicked her a look.
"I made Sanskaar tell me," she said.
"I should have known! He is just pathetic. I just flew in this afternoon."
He bounded off and came back with two bowls of halwa.
After they were done, Ragini washed up while Lakshya cleaned out the food into smaller fridge containers. She looked at him in amusement. Crumbs of food were caught in his beard - she leaned forward and ran her fingers over this face and hair, cleaning him up. She fixed him with a stare, "You need a shave! First thing tomorrow morning, Lakshya!"
"Yes, ma'am!" he almost saluted.
+++
Swara and Sanskaar spent quite a few hours out - dinner, followed by the movie, which was quite sweet after all, and then, because Swara didn't want to go home yet... ice cream. They ditched the car at the parking lot and walked on for a bit and Swara didn't complain about the sedate pace of their romance when Sanskaar took her hand.
"How different cities look at night, na?" she said dreamily. They mostly walked in silence, enjoying the city they loved and the occasional brush of their arms. Swara's eyelids grew heavy with sleep, so he turned her back to the car... "Chalo, let's get you home..."
It was past one when they crept quietly into Maheshwari House, trying to make as little noise as possible. The light in the puja alcove flickered and Swara slipped off her platform heels to go near and make sure the diya had oil. Sanskaar waited patiently while she fixed the baati to her satisfaction. She came out again and found to her consternation that he had picked up her heels.
"Give them to me!" she whispered.
"No, I have them," he said, and draped an arm around her, and hauled her off to tuck her into bed.
+++++
"I thought you would have called your Daadi," he said, quietly.
They were in the farmhouse bedroom. They had decided to stay on here tonight and go back home sometime tomorrow. Lakshya lay with his hands behind his head, looking at garden lights reflecting on the ceiling. The windows were open, letting in breeze and mellow light. He was glad of the fresh white kurta-pajama that Ragini had brought - fresh clothes after so many grungy days on the trek! Ragini had changed as well into a comfortable powder blue chikan kurta and white pajama... her face scrubbed clean except for a line of kohl and a touch of sindoor.
She turned on her side to face him.
He continued, "I thought there would be a big hungama when I got back, with your father baying for my blood. I thought you might've gone back to the baadi. But Sanskaar told me it was all quiet - that you hadn't probably even spoken about this to anyone in your family."
She shook her head. "I didn't want to tell anyone. I wanted to think."
"About what?" he asked, turning to look at her.
"Everything. My parents, my mother, my daadi, Sharmitha Maa... Swara..."
She looked sad. He waited.
"I realised that no matter what your upbringing a time comes when you are responsible for how you grow from there... I've reached that point... how long can I blame my childhood situation for how I react to things? I have to decide how to be... I can't carry over old hate..."
He turned to his side, propping his head on his palm, listening.
"My mother was always paranoid about Sharmishta Maa. She knew Papa and she had been in love, had been lovers and that Papa married Maa only to please his parents. And when Sharmishta Maa came back to the baadi as a widow, with Swara - there was so much tension... it was never openly acknowledged. Swara and I used to play together as neighbours but I remember my mother shouting at me for that... she hated Sharmishta Maa... was so scared of her... that she would steal Papa away from us..."
"My mother died when I was twelve... and from then on, Daadi went mad, trying to make sure that Papa and Sharmistha Maa never got together. I liked... I loved Swara so much but it eventually became like a rivalry... like a love-hate relationship. Daadi would always tell me to beware of mother and daughter... that they were both capable of kaala jadoo..."
Lakshya frowned. What a horrible situation for a young girl to find herself in!
"And then it actually happened! It came out that Swara was actually Papa's own daughter! Papa and Sharmishta Maa decided to marry. On one side, I was so delighted - there was nothing I wanted more... I had wanted Swara for my sister all my life... but Daadi... she made me see that I was now going to be the outsider in that family. Swara had both her natural parents, whereas I had one father who was too smitten with his newfound wife and daughter to support me, a step mother and a step sister who would never let me into their inner circle... I was heartbroken!"
"And then..." she stopped.
"And then, I came on the scene," he prompted.
She nodded and sat up. He followed suit and sat up as well. She held her knees and said contemplatively, "I think I fell in love with you at first sight, Lakshya! All that I told you later... that I became attached to you because we were engaged? It wasn't true. I became attached to you the minute I saw you." She swallowed. "And then, you fell in love with Swara."
There was silence.
"I knew then that what Daadi had been saying all along was right. My mother had been right. Sharmistha Maa finally got Papa. And Swara had gotten you! I tried to accept it rationally... but in the end... I couldn't."
She covered her face with her hands, memories rushing in.
"Even now, I know it's stupid, irrational but I get scared... sometimes I feel Swara is just playing a waiting game and that... sometime... she'll have you, Lakshya! I know it's stupid... Swara is not like that.. and she has moved away from you... but sometimes, I get so scared, I just want her gone!"
She lowered her face to her knees, racked with sobs.
Mannat Har Khushi Paane Ki
Cricket
