Hi everyone - I have had a huge writing hiatus. The last I ever wrote was for Bepannah. I loved that show and it was so sad to see it go down the way it did whenthe channel started interfering with it for all the TRP. It's been great to see TMD get high TRPs but, I honestly believe the cost of this is the poor character growth/exposure and story. I wanted to write a OS of how I wish the Seerat exposure went. I cannot write fluently in hindi so please excuse my use of English for all the characters! Please let me know what you think!
Sahiba's ears were ringing, her body felt cold, and she felt her fingers starting to go numb as they angled the pen to the divorce papers. As the tears rushed to her eyes, she felt the water trickle down her face uncontrollably, just as she lost all control of the situation. Her legs were ready to give out, as she marked the papers with a singular letter S but instead of her legs giving out, she felt the pen being ripped from her hand just as her heart had been.
Inder: Sahiba please, let me bring Angad down. Just before Manveer could interject, Inder put his hand up to stop her as he stared her down. Think before you speak Manveer because this time, I will not let you spew your venom. Your son is not a child anymore. He has the right to make his own decisions - a right that I wish I had, and others in this house as well. Jasleen now looked to her brother, as if a weight had been lifted off her for being defended outload, in front of everyone, for the first time. Your dislike for Sahiba is deep Manveer. You think she has hurt Angad yet you cannot see your own actions that have hurt him, in the past, and now. She has always stood by you despite you being so cold hearted and negative. Time and time again, she has made sacrifices for this family. You can't forgive her yet you can forgive Seerat, who was the one behind the plan to doop this family and the one to leave your beloved son on their wedding day.
Manveer wanted to say something yet the words could not come to her tongue. She had seen the same fire in Inder's eyes when he was defending Simran. Manveer: Ind-
Inder: Stop Manveer. You want to control Angad. This is not love. This is obsession. If he is your child, he is mine as well. I will not let you ruin his life or take control of it, when it is not your place to do so.
Before Inder could continue, Bebe and Darji entered the room and exclaimed the same, now releasing Inder of the same weight Jasleen had shed earlier.
Bebe: Manveer, we always supported you and your decisions for this family. We have always been in your corner. If we must take the blame for your sense of ego, we will. How do you think we will accept your proposal to have Seerat wed to Angad? That girl is cunning. And it seems as if you are as well.
Sahiba stood there as everyone around her spoke. Staring down at the floor, she could feel her body ready to meet it. As her body gave in, so did her mind. She was exhausted. Exhausted of defending herself and of fending for herself. The months of abuse had finally caught up to her. The trauma inflicted on her by Rumi, finally trickled in. She was never given the opportunity to feel her emotions and understand her experience. She finally allowed the feeling of emptiness, dread, and pain give her a cold hug as her face met the cold floor.
Somewhere else in the house, Seerat was skipping and gleaming with joy while Angad felt uneasy and anxious. This was a true testament to the Dori that attached Sahiba and Angad. However worn down it had become, it was not broken. Seerat would be coming to the realization, that nothing attached her to Angad the same, and nothing ever would.
Unable to bear the anxiety that continued to brew, Angad shot up from his bed, somehow, someway, the same time Sahiba had fallen. As he frantically made his way out the room, ready to speak to Sahiba, he herd the frantic voices from the main room, and his anxiety was now full blown panic. Before he could take another step, darkness engulfed the home. It was as if his inner-most feelings were being reciprocated in the physical realm. That's when he saw her. Standing. Her back towards him just like the day he had confessed. But, something felt different. Something was wrong. Something told him, this was the key to solving all that had gone wrong.
He began his monologue. Exclaiming his feelings of uneasiness and anxiety, as if he were talking to Sahiba knowing it was not her. Sahiba would not turn her back to him. Things began to make sense in his mind. She had given him subtle hints but she was hesitant to speak her full truth. Now guilt began trickling in with the feeling of anxiety, causing him more pain than his shoulder wound did. She simply walked away, broken, the day his Mamma announced his pending nuptials with Seerat, turning her back to him because that would have been her breaking point with everything else that had occurred earlier. What he now suspected, she had seen earlier.
Seerat stood there, as the feeling of restlessness replaced her happy ones. Should she tell him? Should she run? She was gathering her thoughts when she felt a hand on her shoulder, that was not inviting or welcoming.
As Angad turned Seerat around, his heart and his body told him - it was not Sahiba. Tears welled in his eyes and he felt his body turning hot from the anger. The lights flickered back on just like the light bulb in his head went off and the inner-alarms began to blare.
Angad: It was you? That day when I confessed my feelings to Sahiba, it was you? You didn't even turn around that day, and nor were you going to today. You fueled the misunderstanding between Sahiba and I, but I also gave you the space to do so. I continued to avoid Sahiba's warnings, thinking you weren't like this. I gave you the opportunity to correct yourself not realizing you were too cunning and vile to ever do that. Angad felt his heart beating through his chest, as if it were going to explode with the anger that engulfed him. At the same time, he felt his heart ach for Sahiba, who had suffered so much pain because of him as well. He may have spoken the words I love you for her but, his actions did not match those words.
Angad spoke almost shouting at Seerat: Today, in front of everyone, you are going to let them know what you did.
He grabbed her arm, angry, while being disgusted he had to touch her.
Meanwhile in the living room, Inder & Veer had helped a lifeless Sahiba up, placing her on the sofa. They tried to talking to her but she stared at them both one by one, with empty eyes. While everyone looked at her with empathy and a faint hint of guilt in their eyes, including Jassi, Manveer was seething in her own ego and anger. Suddenly, everyone's gaze was diverted to Angad who had thrown Seerat from his grasp into the middle of the room.
Angad felt his heart drop, and his anger dissipate the second his eyes broke from Seerat's, locking with Sahiba. Although she was looking at him, there was nothing behind that gaze. He felt a pit in stomach. He had seen her broken before, upset, but, nothing like this. His body and mind ached to hold her in his arms. To apologize to her and comfort her with a warm embrace and a kiss on her pillow-soft skin. He wanted to hold her and tell her everything was going to be okay. Before he can continue his train of thought, his Mamma interrupted.
Manveer: Angad, I never taught you to treat women like this. Why did you bring Seerat down like this?
Just as Manveer began pacifying Seerat, his anger that had disappeared, came back even stronger and worse. It was no longer just for Seerat, it was for his mother as well.
Angad in a taunting voice exclaimed: Where was this concern for Sahiba when I treated her like an animal? You encouraged it then, why not now?
Manveer: Angad, behave yourself. This is not how I raised you.
Angad: No, actually it is how you raised me. You blinded me with so much hate, ego, that I could not see myself committing such grave mistakes. Before continuing, Angad slowly walked towards Sahiba, who finally had a confused expression instead of lifeless one. He bent on his knees in front of her, and he took her hands that were ice-cold. He began rubbing them, as one would to bring someone back to consciousness. Sahiba could feel her heart running again. She yearned for him yet, she was confused about his tone towards his mother and the way he had brought Seerat in.
Angad: Sahiba, I am so sorry. I know what happened that day. The day I professed my feelings to you. Instead of you standing there, it was Seerat. It happened again today. I thought I was talking to you but it was her again. She fueled our misunderstanding but I also gave it air. When I failed to tell you what happened between us, when I failed to heed to your warnings, when I failed to draw strict boundaries, when I failed to acknowledge your intuition and I labelled it as Veham, I failed you. His voice cracked as he exclaimed this to her. Sahiba, sat there recalling his proposal she had mistakenly believed was for Seerat. It began to make her heart feel warm, her body regained some energy, and she felt his love professed to her, fill her soul. His apology also ringed in her. His acknowledgement of his failures. As she felt all these things, her hands tight around his, released themselves and found them cradling his face. Both of them were covered in each others tears. She wanted to have a fuller release but she had to hold her composure, as everyone around them stared both in shock and in relief.
Sahiba: Angad, I am sorry to. Instead of asking you what was going on, I left the house that day, unable to bear it anymore. When I asked you before, you never gave me the closure or sense of belief that I needed. And once it reached the point of the proposal, I had come to my breaking point.
Angad: Sahiba, it's okay. Before you continue. I want Seerat to let everyone know what's going on.
Seerat: Angad, why are you bringing up old things. Let it go na, I'm sorry for everything.
Angad's tone got angrier: Now, Seerat. I do not accept your apology nor will I ever accept your apology for what you have put Sahiba and I through, but, especially Sahiba. Why don't you tell everyone how you kept making advances at me? How you fueled my anger for Sahiba when she left this house? How you wanted me to forget her? How you tried to blame everything gone wrong in my life on her when you were the one to bring us together in the first place, when you ran away from our wedding? How you put on her dress that I had gifted her? How you changed my room? Many of these things, I did not condemn you when I should have but I realize that now. Why don't you also tell everyone how you said I love you to me, and when I told you to stay away, you did the exact opposite?
Seerat stood there, stunned, unable to utter a word. She looked to Angad's mother, who was now looking away as if she had done nothing. As if she did not support her. Rage filled inside of her for being insulted in front of everyone. She was mad at everyone but herself.
Seerat: I'm sorry I fell in love. It's not my fault. I just felt so alone and you were there for me. It's okay for me to feel this way. This wasn't on purpose and I didn't do much.
Sahiba was now seething at her teeth, becoming the woman she once was, before she entered this house and before all this chaos with Seerat had begun: You're my older sister? We may share common blood but we no longer have any relationship. You continued to taunt me, making me think Angad was in love with you when that was clearly not the case. You followed me to my dorm room to question my character. You skipped happily today as you, and Manveer Maam tried to convince me to sign the divorce papers. You are no sister of mine.
Angad looked between Seerat and his mother, and he could no longer see a difference between them.
As the family stepped in to support Sahiba and Angad, they both had eyes just for each other. Angad, for the first time, could see a reflection of love in them, a sense of longing mixed with sadness and pain. Sahiba could see his eyes reflect guilt and remorse, while also having that same longing and love. They gravitated towards each other, tuning out everyone else. It was as if their invisible Dhor was pulling them together. Angad, turned to his mother and Seerat.
Angad: Seerat, I would ask you to apologize to Sahiba, not me, but, it will make no difference unless you feel like you have done something wrong. Mamma, I feel torn today because of you. I don't even have the words to describe how little you have made me feel.
Seerat: So I'm the villain now right? The same wife you are here defending and loving, is the one who was about to sign these divorce papers?
Before Angad could begin processing this new information, Inder and Daarji interjected.
Inder: Angad, your mother was forcing Sahiba to sign. Puttar, don't you think, after hearing everything you have, that Sahiba was cornered to make that decision rather than it being a willing one? You saw her condition when you came here. What you didn't see was her fall to the ground, as if she was no longer on this world. You didn't see the pain that took over her. She kept pleading to talk to you before making any decision but your mother would not hear it. It wasn't until me and Daarji said something, that we were able to a put a pause on things.
Angad could not think straight. Now his mind was spinning but it wasn't going to spun by Seerat again. He closed his eyes, and he felt Sahiba's hand pulsing in his. He opened his eyes to find her staring into his. The love he had seen earlier, was still there, the sadness and pain too, and now, a sense of exhaustion too. She had defended herself too many times in this same spot. She was put to the test again and again. This time, it was his test.
Angad: What Sahiba did or didn't do, still comes down to what you did Seerat and what I did. This cannot be a battle of broken trust. Sahiba and I no longer have the energy or will to fight. Instead, we can channel our energy to sort our issues. You really won't learn your lesson, will you Seerat?
Before Seerat could respond, Angad held Sahiba's hand even firmer, and he began to guide them to their room. He was tired, and he could imagine, Sahiba was even more. While everyone rallied around him to take care of his needs, no one had done that for Sahiba.
As they entered the room, their room, Angad shut the door as quickly as he could and he wrapped Sahiba in his arms. He held her as if he were to mistakenly let go, he would lose her, both physically and mentally. Sahiba melted into his arms. She felt his heart beat in her soul, awakening her and healing her. They sobbed in their embrace. They stayed wrapped around each other, and as they stared into each other's eyes, all else melted away as their love come to the surface. They were healing, and their dori was ready to be repaired.
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