Part
160
Armaan and Riddhima sat on the sofa and Padma
opposite them. Holding Riddhima's hand Armaan said, "you guessed right
Riddhima, main tumse kuch chupa raha tha. Lekin main abhi tumhe sab kuch sach
sach bata dena chahta hoon. Aur kyon ki yeh sach maa se bhi connected hai, main
tum dono ko saath mein batha raha hoon.
Riddhima maine kal dopahar ko tumhe manate hue bus itna
hi bataya tha ke that Mr. Kartik is not reliable, as he has a suspicious past.
And I promised you, I'll give you the whole truth very soon. You accepted my
explanation and said you trust me to do whatever is best for you. That's why I
rushed this morning itself in search of the whole truth. And for that too I
lied to you, because I wasn't sure whether I would get my answers, by the
journey that I was undertaking. I didn't want to raise your hopes,
unnecessarily."
R: Armaan mujhe kuch bhi samaj nahi aa raha hai. Can
you be more explicit?
A: Yes, I'll be as explicit as I possibly can. I had
been to Tiruppur today, not to visit any new patient, but to collect details
about your new patient, Mr. Kartik? Riddhima, Mr.Kartik did his junior college
with papa in Mumbai and then they were very good friends.
R: Haan woh to unhone bataya tha. Uske baad papa
medicine karne chale gaye aur Mr. Kartik engineering karne. He said he had even
attended papa and Smriti mom's wedding and had seen Anjie di also, as a newborn
infant.
Then Armaan face and voice fell as he said "Yes, but
he didn't tell you that he had been in love with a girl then, or that he had just
walked out of her life, when she needed him most.
At that Padma burst out crying. He stretched out his
hand, held hers and consoled her saying "maa, I'm sorry to bring back those
unhappy memories." Riddhima was looking from one to the other trying to
understand whether what she guessed from this, was correct.
R: You mean, you mean,
Putting one arm around Riddhima's and still holding
maa's hands in his other hand, he spelt out what Riddhima feared. "Haan
Riddhima, he's your biological father." Riddhima felt as if a tsunami had hit
her. Seeing her state, Armaan left Padma's hand and tried to pull Riddhima into
a close hug. But she moved away from him and that saddened him deeply. But before
she could pour out her anger on Armaan, Padma shifted and sat beside her, on
the other side, and holding her hand said, "Riddhima main usey achanak dekhkar
darr gayi thi. I didn't know how to tell you. And when I spoke to him I felt he
was upto something, once again. That's why I didn't tell him that you were his
daughter. I told him I hadn't been pregnant at all and that it was only a lie
to get him to marry me."
"Aap Armaan ko sachayi bata sakti thi par mujhe
nahi." Riddhima hollered accusing her maa.
P: Aisa nahi hai Riddhima, maine jo bhi kiya tumhare
bhalayi ke liye kiya. Actually Armaan heard me talking to him and got to know
the truth. He wanted to tell you immediately, but I stopped him from doing so. You
had suffered enough for seven years and I didn't want you to suffer anymore. I
want only happiness for you here afterwards. But he couldn't keep the truth
from you for long, so he went to gather more information about him.
When Armaan once again came next to her, Riddhima
let him hug her and he let her weep for a while. Then looking up at him she
asked "what did you find out about him? I have right to know. Whatever said and
done, I've some of his genes in me and so do my children." Seeing Armaan's face
Riddhima could make out that whatever he had to say, wasn't something pleasant.
A: Yes Riddhima, you have every right. That's why I
didn't want you to hear a distorted version from him. I went to his home town, Tiruppur,
and met his younger brother, Kannan and Kannan's wife. She also happens to be
their cousin. It seems Kartik's mother died delivering Kannan. Then their
grandmother took care of both of them. When Kartik was around 14 years old,
their grandmother too died. Their grandfather had died a few years before that.
As all the relatives compelled him, Kartik's father
agreed to remarry, so that there would be someone to look after the house and
the boys. But he wanted to marry a girl from a poor family or a widow or a divorcee.
The relatives agreed to it and found a girl who had been married for 7 years,
but then her husband had divorced her apparently because she couldn't bear him
a child. She was said to be a barren woman. They thought this would be a
perfect match, as she would take good care of the boys, being unable to have
any kids of her own.
But according to Kannan, who was just 10 years old
when his father remarried, Kartik never got along well with his stepmother.
Kartik was in the 9th Std. then. He somehow pulled along for a year.
But immediately after his 10th std. exams he went to visit his mama
in Mumbai and decided to continue his studies there. His father tried to talk
him out of it, but he was adamant. His father allowed him to join junior
college in Mumbai on condition that he would spend his vacations in Tiruppur
with them. He didn't want to be distanced from his son's life.
Kannan said his brother never used to like coming
home, and finally when he joined the engineering college, he totally cut
himself away from the family. Though the family got to know about his progress
from their uncle, he himself never bothered to communicate. A couple of years
later, their step mother eloped with a youngster who was renting the first
floor of their house. The shame and sorrow of her act, took away his father's
life.
Kartik who had completed his Engineering by then, came
home for their father's funeral, but left soon after, saying he had got a job
in the gulf. Kannan was in college then. His athai (father's sister) took him
to her house and let him complete his education. That's when he and his athai's
daughter, Valli, got close. The first thing he did after graduation was to
start a small weaving business, making towels etc. Then with the blessings of
his Athai and athimber (athai's husband) her married Valli. Kartik didn't even attend
his brother's wedding.
Kannan's business was going on smoothly and he earned
enough to make both ends meet. They had a daughter. Soon, powerlooms came into
vogue while he continued with the handloom. He continued to struggle but
couldn't hold on much further. By then Kartik had finished 20 years service in
the gulf and had retired as per their rules. So he returned to his hometown.
Till then they had had absolutely no touch with him. Though they used to hear
about his philandering ways from other people of their town, who worked in the
same city as him, in the gulf.
So when he came back, Valli didn't want him at their
home, as her only daughter, Prema, who was then of marriageable age, was very
pretty. She didn't trust Kartik. But they couldn't deny him a share in the
family property. So they let him stay in the upstairs apartment, alone. He used
to get food from outside and also drank a lot.
But he volunteered to help Kannan in his business,
by investing in it. They bought powerlooms and started off in a big way, but
Kartik didn't leave alone the women working on the looms either. So the
townspeople boycotted them and they had to shut it down. After that Kartik took
to drinking, very heavily.
Prema got married recently and is residing in Kochi.
It was from her in-laws that they came to know about MSHC. Kartik had got drunk
and created a scene at her wedding also. He had started weeping when she was
about to leave with her in-laws, saying that he couldn't live without his niece,
as she was the only person who loved and cared for him. Luckily for them, her
in-laws had been understanding people and did not blame Prema or her parents
for Kartik's behaviour. Now Kannan doesn't want Kartik back at any rate. He
says he'll sell off all the machinery and pay his hospital expenses, but begged
me to keep him in MSHC."
Rivulets of tears were pouring from both the ladies
eyes, listening to all that Armaan had narrated. "I know how much it must hurt
both of you hearing all this about him," Armaan continued, "but I didn't want
to hide anything. I wish I could have brought some good report about him, I'm
sorry."
P: beta tum kyon maafi maang rahe ho? Maafi to mujhe
maangni chahiye.
Riddhima was too dumbstruck by everything she had
heard, to speak anything. Padma hugged Riddhima and burst out saying, "meri saari
galatiyon ki saza meri bachchi ko bugatna pad raha hai. Maloom nahi kiss mooh
se tumse maafi maangoon. Aur tum log mujhe kabhi maaf bhi mat karna. Na main
apne aap ko us shaitaan ke hawale karti, na humey yeh din dekhna padta. Mere
paapon ki wajah se sabko saza mil rahi hai. Main khud usey apne haaton se maar
daaloongi taki woh kabhie tumhari sachayi nahi jaan paye aur mujhe bhi apne
kiye ki sahi saza mil jaayegi."
Seeing no response from Riddhima, Armaan protested,
"maa aap aisi baatein kyon kar rahi ho? Aap ko mujpar bharosa hai na? I'll take
care of everything. Don't worry. If I had a choice I wouldn't have told either
of you anything about all this. But I know if ever you get to know about it in
future, you would never forgive me. I only wish I could have brought some better
news but.."
P: Ismein tumhari kya galti hai beta. Mere kismet
mein yeh sab likha tha, warna itne saal baad usey main phirse kyon milti? I
wish I hadn't come here in the first place. It's only me he recognized at the
party. I really feel like killing myself for putting you all in such a mess.
Hearing that Riddhima came out of her silence. Hugging
her mother, she consoled her, "Please maa don't blame yourself. It was your
fate as well as mine that we should see this day. But if there's anyone who can
make all this ok, it's Armaan. You know he'll never let any harm come to me or
any of our family members or for that matter even friends." When Padma stopped
crying, Riddhima turned around and putting her arms around him and hugging him
tight, she said "As long as I have you beside me, I have nothing to worry."
His heart swelled with pride at her confidence. He
held her close in his embrace and assured her, "I'll take care of everything
sweetheart, I only need your co-operation." Looking him in his eyes she said,
"Armaan tum jaisa kahoge, main waise karne ke liye tayyar hoon. I know how
painful it must have been for you to tell me this truth about the person
responsible for my birth. But I'm glad that you didn't hide anything from me."
A: On the drive back from Tiruppur, I was thinking how
come papa had such a friend. Then I thought perhaps papa never knew about this
side of his character. Then the psychiatrist in me started analyzing. I thought
before we come to any conclusion we should hear Mr. Kartik's side of the story
too. Coming from such a good family he couldn't have turned out to be such a
person, unless some incident of his life had affected him adversely. I plan to
handle his case myself and slowly win his confidence. Then he'll tell me the
truth about his life. Till then I want you both to be patient and calm. Can you
both promise me that?
R: Sure Armaan, you have my promise.
Padma asked dejectedly "Do we even have a choice?"
To change their mood Armaan immediately said "Let's
put all this behind us for some time and remember that we have a lot of preparations
to be done for Akshu betu's birthday. So ladies let's see you million dollar
smile, before we call it a day." Both of them gave a week smile. Armaan knew it
wouldn't be easy for either of them to sleep that night, so he said to Padma "maa
aap Riddhima ke saath so jao, main betu ke room mein sota hoon." But Padma thought
Riddhima would want to be with Armaan at that moment. So she said "Nahi beta, uski
koi zaroorat nahi hai, main theek hoon." Riddhima stood up and pulling her by
the hand said "aap mere room mein chaliye maa."
At that tears poured from Padma's eyes. "I don't
deserve your love and concern beta, it makes me feel all the more guilty. I've
been so selfish, how can you forgive me?"
Riddhima hugged her maa and consoling her said "please
forget everything, maa. Armaan always says "Que sera sera, meaning whatever
will be, will be. I've also started believing in it now. So let destiny take
its course and we'll take each day as it comes."
With that Riddhima and Padma went to sleep in AR's
room while Armaan joined his betu.
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