New story : Following domestic violence track on Natasha
Natasha replied to Ram's question : Kartik
Priya was stunned at that one word. Ram turned around to look at her. The amazement in his face was reflected in Priya's face as well. Slowly however the amazement changed to disbelief and finally anger set in. Irrespective of whatever, whatever his Chhoti had done, nobody could do this to her. Questions would come later. He dragged Natasha with him and led her to the car. He didn't even bother to wait for Priya who had followed him as he'd started moving. Niharika, Sid, Shiney and Priya all reached the gate at almost the same time when they saw Ram's car pulling off the driveway at breakneck speed.
Niharika immediately shouted
for a driver
and got into the next car. She gave a look to Priya as if suggesting
that Priya stay out of this for her own good. However
Priya was also beyond caring
now. She got into the car as well and they started.
Around 5 minutes
later, their car screeched to a halt behind Ram's car, parked
at the side of the road. Shiney
was about to get out of the car when they saw Ram coming
down the steps of a chemist shop with a bottle of pills in his hand. By the time Ram reached the car, he had already
shaken out half a dozen pills or so and popped them into his mouth. Even in that scenario, in that stage of tension,
Niharika gave a slight smirk.
Nobody could save Kartik now from Ram's anger and Priya would automatically be sidelined in the process.
Priya closed her eyes for the next ten-fifteen minutes
and prayed like she had never prayed
before. Finally they reached Sharma
House at almost
the same time as Ram and Natasha.
An irrelevant thought
crossed Priya's mind as they all got into the lift '. thank God, the lift was working
'. otherwise in this mentally
agitated condition, Ram would just have popped
a dozen more pills on his way up the stairs.
Ram angrily pressed
the buzzer. Kartik
was pacing the drawing room and he hurriedly opened
the door hoping
to find Natasha
outside. However all he saw was Ram and that too, a blazing Ram ' a Ram he had never seen before.
Sudhir and Shipra
got up from the sofa ' as a long line of people made their way into the house. They were shocked
when suddenly Ram lunged towards
Kartik and challenged
him to hit him. Kartik
was already in a state of shock looking at Natasha's battered
face and he started stammering.
Ram repeated what he'd said again and then in a burst of anger,
pulled him by the collar.
Shipra : Mr. Ram ' Mr.Ram.
Sudhir : Ram beta '.
Ram was in no mood to listen.
He shook Kartik
a few more times and Shipra was afraid that Ram might even strike
Kartik. Shiney and Sid watched
from the sidelines
and enjoyed the scene. A drink ! that's what Shiney needed
now. It was as if they were sitting in the arena and watching
a bull fight.
It was just a matter
of time before
Ram, the bigger
bull, would toss Kartik up in the air and Kartik would fall down on Priya,
squashing her in the process.
Sid rubbed his hands in glee.
Niharika too was on cloud 9. She felt she could speak her heart out. Ram was in such a frame of mind that it would be very easy to manipulate him.
Niharika : Kartik,
when my daughter
wanted to marry you, I was the first one to support
this marriage inspite
of knowing that you and she belonged
to totally different
societies. In our society, there are no incidents of wife bashing
and such ugly fights.
Shiney : Haanji
'. Jhagde toh pati patni mein hote rehte hai .. aisa kaun sa ghar hai jahan jhagde
nahin hote .. ab dekho '. humne Ram aur Pirya ke kamre se bhi toh jhagde ke awaaz suna hai ' ab Ram ne Pirya par hath toh nahin uthaya !
Sid went to stand behind
Ayesha and tried to comfort
her.
Niharika : I'm sure Shipraji
' aap aur Sudhir ji mein bhi kabhi kabhi problems toh hoti hogi, par this is not the way to deal with a problem. Ram was so angry that he came down straight
here. We haven't
even gone to the doctor
till now. And every doctor
will ask for a police
report in these kind of cases. Ram's reputation will be at stake if the media get even a whiff of this news. Bhaiyya
aapko hi kuch karna padega.
Shiney : Haan, don't worry sister. Main hoon na.
Niharika : Priya,
I think its better you remain in Sharma House for some time. In case the media come to know,
it would be better if you're not in Kapoor
Mansion so that they don't hound you and try and interrogate
you. I will call you up in a few weeks and let you know when it's safe to return
back.
It was then that Priya took charge.
She remembered the slapping incident
earlier when she'd blasted Kartik
in front of everyone. But she knew very well that Kartik
would never have inflicted that kind of injury on Natasha whatever
be the circumstances. Maybe a few weeks earlier,
she would have said so at Kapoor
Mansion itself when Natasha had accused Kartik
but the incident
with Ayesha had shaken her up a lot. But now after seeing Kartik's
face, she was on sure ground once again.
Priya removed Kartik
from Ram's clutches
and moved him away from Ram.
Niharika : Priya,
mere khayal se tum iss mein na hi shaamil
ho toh accha hoga. Your brother is at fault and'
Priya interrupted her : Please,
this is not a question
my my brother
or Ram's sister
(Niharika gave a gasp on hearing the name "Ram" from Priya's
mouth). Natasha is my husband's
sister as well as my brother's wife. She is as close to me as Ayesha.
And like I sorted out the fight between Ayesha
and Natasha, I shall take care of this issue too.
Niharika interrupted : Priya, tum apne aap ko koi mahaan counselor
agar samajh rahe ho '
It was Priya's
turn to interrupt
: No, I don't and never will think on those lines.
What is important
to me is that my family members
are hurt and apparently on account of fights/misunderstandings between
each other.
Everyone was silent for a while. This was one side of Priya which Niharika had never seen before. She always knew that Priya was a strong personality but that she would stand up against her and that too in front of Ram was something she had not imagined in her wildest dreams.
But there was so much at stake for Niharika.
If she let things go out of hand now, she would never be able to retain control
over Ram and the entire
business empire at any time in the future. She could see Ram was still furious.
It was time to emphasise
her place in the house and also time to play on Ram's love for Chhoti.
Niharika : Ram, there are certain issues
I think only you can take the best call on. Maine aapki daadi ke baton ke upar kabhie kuch nahin bola hai and I cannot
accept my daughter
in law talking
to me in this manner.
Ram, you know I treat you like my own son but if you ''
There were tears in Niharika's
eyes suddenly. Ram moved forward.
Ram : Nahin Ma, please
don't feel hurt ' I don't think p
Niharika interrupted : And after marriage , if you feel Priya is more important to you than Natasha's safety,
Natasha's respect and even Natasha's
life, then I have nothing
more to say.
The anger returned
to Ram in full flow again and he turned
towards Kartik.
Niharika : Ram, I don't think we should have expected anything
more from middle
class people. I think the only alternative
now is an immediate separation.
First things first.
Let us go home and get Natasha
treated. And I shall get divorce papers
served on Kartik
tomorrow morning. At least this time she is only injured; next time I do not want to attend her funeral in Sharma House.
I am not taking any chances with my baby.
There was a stunned silence at this, all around. Everyone was looking at each other.
Niharika had her eyes fixed on Priya,
to try and anticipate her next move. Shiney was shocked. He had not expected her sister to play her trump card so soon. Only he knew how much it would pain Niharika to have Natasha
back with her tantrums in Kapoor Mansion
again. But then, anything for money. And power. Sid still had his hands around Ayesha's
shoulders but at this statement,
she moved away a bit. Tears began to roll down Shipra's
face. At the end of the
day,
inspite of her million dramas
and dramas, she was not a bad person at heart. Sudhir
felt the beginnings
of another attack
and willed himself
to stand straight.
He could not afford to buckle down now.
Kartik was probably
the most scared
person in the room. It had been a bad day for him. He had had to go to office
for some urgent
work on a Sunday, and then had come back home to see his father lying on the floor. That had been followed by his angry words to his wife and she'd walked out of the door and refused to take his calls. And now, on opening the door, he had been shell shocked
to see her behind Ram, with a battered face. He'd thought
for a moment
that she'd been in an accident and had been totally perplexed
when Ram had collared him. It was only now that he'd finally realized
that everyone in Kapoor Mansion
believed he had hit his wife ! How could he? He loved his wife, had told her to leave the house in a fit of anger but he couldn't
live without her !. Did she not know that?
Ram was stunned
and silent as well. He slowly removed
his fingers from Kartik's collar
and kept on looking at Kartik and Chhoti alternately,
wondering what to do. And whether his mother was actually right.
Divorce did not seem the right way out to him. He looked at Priya somehow
trying to reassure
himself that Priya would set everything right,
as usual. Somehow
he had too much faith.
She would not let him down !
But Priya was not looking
at him. In fact, she was the only one who seemed
unperturbed by this threat. There was a very slight
smile in her lips and Ram knew that only he could make out that slight
smile.
Why was Priya smiling? And who was she looking
at?
Yes, it was true. Priya did have a slight
smile on her face. She was looking
intently at Natasha.
Almost forcing her mentally to look back at her. Would Natasha
understand what she was trying
to say? Would Natasha understand
the importance of what was going on?
Everyone was surprised
to see Priya and Natasha
looking at each other so intently. This ' speaking
to each other through the eyes ' continued for a mere five minutes
but to the silent spectators
surrounding them, it seemed much much longer.
Finally Natasha broke the eye contact. And she ran to Kartik and buried herself in his chest. In a trice, Kartik had his arms around her and they were enclosed in a tight hug.
Priya gave a sigh of relief. A distinct sense of dj vu gripped Ram as he tried to analyse what he'd just seen. It had been just around three months back that Priya and he had gone through the same experience ! They had been having fights and matters were brought to a dirty close by Niharika who'd given him divorce papersto hand over to Priya. Thank God Priya had saved him ! And the hug? Chhoti had run to Kartik exactly the same way Priya had walked into his arms. And he had hugged her back the same way Kartik was hugging her now. They loved each other the same way he and Priya loved each other !
Priya : Natasha,
Kartik ' aap dono please
mere saath andar chalo.
Natasha finally looked
up shyly : Priya dii, nahin andar nahin jaana.
I want to confess in front of everyone. Maine ek galti kiya tha.. and Kartik
also behaved badly and was rude to me. And so I did all this myself
to try and get Bhai angry with Kartik and teach him a lesson.
But dii, I was wrong.
And looking at you just now made me understand
that.
She went to Priya and hugged her.
Natasha : Meri shaadi pehli hui hai toh pehle aap mere dii bane aur baad mein bhabhi
toh agar aap bura na maano toh main bhi Kartik aur Ayesha ki tarah aapko dii bula sakti hoon?
Without waiting for an answer,
she walked to Sudhir and touched his feet : Papa, meri vajai se aapka itna bada attack
hone ki baad bhi aapne mujhe support
kiya. As always.
I promise you I'll never behave like that again.
Then she turned
to Shipra. Tears were still falling down Shipra's cheeks.
Before Natasha could say anything,
Shipra put her hands around
her and hugged
her close.
Ayesha was the only one standing a bit away from everyone.
She had been shocked to hear Niharika's
words and finally
understood how evil that woman was. It was so surprising that a single
incident which did not even involve her made her realize such an important
truth. She turned
sideways to look at Siddhant
and realized that what Natasha
and Priya had explained to her about Sid was probably all true. She would be on her guard now.
Slowly Niharika, Sid and Shiney
made their way out of the house silently. They did not even wait for the elevator and walked down the stairs,
trying their best to escape
from the place as soon as possible.
Ram took Priya's
hand and pulled
her towards the door too. Everything was all right and he felt so relaxed, so peaceful. How did Priya manage to solve anything?
He asked Priya as soon as they were safely
outside the door. But Priya only gave a mysterious
smile and did not reply.
How could she explain that it was not she but rather
Niharika who had unknowingly engineered
the happy solution
by trying to separate two people in love? Ram did not force her to reply.
He just pulled
her close as they entered
the lift. Their conversation about starting their own family
seemed to have happened ages ago and he wanted
to go home and resume
that conversation again.
They reached the ground floor and walked
out of the lift. They were hidden
from the stairs
and suddenly heard Shiney's voice as the trio were walking down the last flight of stairs.
Shiney : Sister,
now I have finally lost all my faith in you. You did not manage to bring about Ram Pirya's
divorce and you failed in this one too. The only divorce
you successfully manipulated
was around two decades ago between Amarnath
and Ram's mother.
You've lost your touch now.
They walked out oblivious to Ram and Priya. Priya had pulled
Ram to a corner as soon as she'd heard this and they watched
the trio walk out to their car and drive away.
Ram sat down on the ground. He felt his legs give way beneath
him and he sat down hurriedly. Priya sat down beside him, underneath the staircase, in the dark. It was impossible for anyone to see them unless they came specifically
looking at that place. She tried to embrace Ram to comfort
him but he pushed her away, his eyes displaying
the state of shock he was in. For so many years for as long as he could recollect, he had blamed
his own mother
for leaving him and walking
away from him and his father and now it seemed that his mother
too had fallen
into a trap ! Priya had saved his marriage
and had helped
saved Natasha's too. But maybe his parents
had not been strong enough
or maybe circumstances
had been such that they had not been able to deal with it. He knew deep in his heart that he would never have blamed
Priya if she'd chosen to walk away that day when he'd handed over the divorce
papers. Then how could he blame his mother any more?
Ram started to speak about all he had suffered,
by not having
a mother's hand over his head. How he had craved for the love and affection
of his family
and how he had always
been denied love.
Unknown to him, Priya dialled
a number and put the phone on speaker mode. Ram continued
to speak, trying
to explain his anger and anguish, trying
to release the bottled up fear and felling of being unloved
and uncared for over so many years.
But he still did not cry.
He suddenly heard "Ram beta, main hoon tumhare saath.
Main tumhe aaj bhi utna hi pyaar karti hoon aur hamesha
se karte aayi hoon jaise ki jab tum chhote
se the ". It was then that he saw the display
light on the phone in the darkness
and realized who was speaking
to him. And finally broke down; tears rushing down his face. He cried his heart out and held the phone to his ear. Priya held him close but did not speak.
Krishnaji continued to speak in a soothing
voice.
It was a long time before the call was disconnected. They had to disconnect, since there was barely
time to reach Kapoor Mansion,
pick up their passports and rush to the airport
to catch the last flight
to Australia.
They smiled at each other other when Ram raced his car down the road on his way back.
Ram : I only have one grudge
in my life now.
Priya : What?
Ram : Yeh bachche ka idea ek din ke liye postpone
karna padega. Ab aircraft mein toh'.
Priya blushed and looked out of the window. What a day it had been !
The end
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