Smita, 😊
Here is the interpretation for the Part 56.
VIA DOLOROSA ' the way of grief, the path of pain, the path of suffering it is.
When NK proposes again to Aarti she asks him why should she say yes. He gives her two reasons. One is he loves her and two she cares for him.
She replies that marriage is not in her agenda and she has responsibilities to take care of. Marriage need not be a hindrance and he would help her with, in fulfilling them says NK. Her reply that she is beyond help alarms him and he asks whether she has any health problems which she negates. With a firm tone she says she doesn't wish to get married.
"If you don't receive love from the ones who are meant to love you, you will never stop looking for it." ~ Robert Goolrick, The End of the World as We Know It: Scenes from a Life
NK stared at her, silent, determined to change her mind.
"And, please inform your Khushi Bhabi of your proposal and my refusal. I hope this will put an end to her attempts to make me like you."
"I don't intend to give up, Aarti.", NK warned. "And as long as I love you, my Khushi Bhabi will not stop trying to sell me to you. So that means you are stuck with both of us forever."
"A rejection is nothing more than a necessary step in the pursuit of success" ~ Bo Bennett
Even on the face of refusal we see a determined NK.
Aarti put her hands on her hips, and sighed.
NK turned and left her.
"The courses of true love never did run smooth"
~ William Shakespeare
For NK, the path of love is difficult and painful.
Aarti is unable to overcome all the terrible things she has witnessed and feels the weight of it on her shoulders.
"You can run," Dorian said in a neutral tone that did nothing to lessen the intensity of his expression, "but sooner or later, you run out of places to run to." ~ Nalini Singh, Play of Passion
She moved towards her car in a pensive, melancholic mood with drooping shoulders. This is witnessed by Arnav Singh Raizada who had come to the kitchen to fetch water for his wife. He is stunned.
"The best lightning rod for your protection is your own spine" ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
"As he watched, she straightened her frail shoulders and lifted her head. With her chin in the air, she walked to her car.."
He is reminded of his sister Anjali of the time, her marriage proposal, for which she had set her heart, got rejected. He felt Aarti too like a sister on whom he needed to keep a watchful eye. His own thought process surprised him. Why was he being protective so much? Was it the result of impending parenthood? He could not comprehend.
While bidding off the newly-weds to their honeymoon, Arnav Singh Raizada noticed that NK was not his usual cheerful self.
"He said, "Don't worry. Akash will be safe. Payal won't eat him."
NK smiled with great effort.
"It is your turn next. We will conduct your marriage as and when you wish it. Take heart!"
NK smiled wanly, and left for his room.
Arnav frowned. What was wrong with him?"
Arnav Singh Raizada was unable to understand as to what was going on!
That night when he asked Kushi as to the reason for her being so friendly with an unknown person, Aarti, she replied that she liked her very much. Moreover NK has fallen in love with her. This rendered Arnav Singh Raizada speechless once more in a single day! This he definitely did not expect! Finally when he asked whether Aarti too reciprocates, Kushi said she is unsure as Aarti had been just silent.
"Arnav thought for a moment. Aarti's face and defeated posture that he had seen that evening flashed through his mind."
The analytical mind of Arnav Singh Raizada was set into motion. He asked Kushi all about Aarti and realized not much was known. The known facts were Aarti had a mother. She was working at Mishra's as a chauffeur cum mechanic. Marital status was unknown. Looking at the meager information and connecting it with what he had witnessed Arnav Singh Raizada concluded that
"There is something wrong in Aarti's life. Something that hurts her a lot. I have no idea what it is. But, Khushi, don't push her. Let her work it out at her pace."
Khushi nodded reluctantly.
"I don't know why, Khushi, but she reminds me of Di. And maybe, myself..."
At Kushi's questioning look he tells her the story of his Di, Anjali. When Anjali was in college she fell in love with her senior Anand.
"Love is like a butterfly, it settles upon you when you least expect it"
"Arnav and mamji took the marriage proposal to Anand's family, but Anand rejected saying he never thought Anjali in that sense. Moreover he had responsibilities to shoulder, complete his education, get a good job, settle his three sisters well, that were his top priority and not his marriage. He would be thinking about it only when he is in his thirties and not before. He needed to supplement his father's earnings as a school master for all these things to happen. He had even refused help from the Raizadas'"
"Snape's patronus was a doe,' said Harry, 'the same as my mother's because he loved her for nearly all of his life, from when they were children." ~ J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
His Di never married and had refused every proposal and this happened ten years back and now his Di was thirty. This brought tears into Kushi's eyes.
"Khushi, I didn't mean to make you cry. I just wanted you to understand that may be Aarti is hiding a lot of pain in her heart. Maybe she needs time to come out of it. Maybe she needs to do it by herself, and we shouldn't push her."
Khushi nodded.
"I am not saying that you shouldn't meet her or be friends with her. I am just saying that you should take this carefully and slow."
Kushi agreed to abide by the request of her husband and said she just wanted both NK and Aarti to be happy. The wise counsel of Arnav Singh Raizada made Kushi understand that Aarti needs time and Aarti herself has to overcome her demons.
Did this give her a whiff of something else that could be done? That we'll wait to know'.
Reminding her of having to tell the family the arrival of the newest addition to their family he diverts her attention. He doesn't like to see his Kushi, an effervescent person spreading happiness everywhere, pensive and gloomy.
PICK OF THE DAY
NK stared at her, silent, determined to change her mind.
"And, please inform your Khushi Bhabi of your proposal and my refusal. I hope this will put an end to her attempts to make me like you."
"I don't intend to give up, Aarti.", NK warned. "And as long as I love you, my Khushi Bhabi will not stop trying to sell me to you. So that means you are stuck with both of us for ever."
"Without a struggle, there can be no progress."
Aarti stood there in the dim light, her mind in the past... the face of her sister as she lay dead...the helplessness she had felt each time her father had taunted their mother in their presence and the effort it had taken not to let it show...the terrible, terrible years her family had spent...the plight of her mother now...
Slowly, she began walking to the car.
"The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials"
NK smiled with great effort.
"It is your turn next. We will conduct your marriage as and when you wish it. Take heart!"
NK smiled wanly, and left for his room.
"Even the longest journey begins with the first step" ~ Chinese Proverb.
"Di never married...She still loves him?", Khushi whispered.
Arnav sighed. "Over the years, many people brought proposals for her. She refused them all. Now she is 30. I don't know..."
Khushi hugged him tight.
"Each time I took a proposal to her, she would look at me in such a way that... I... I saw how devastated she was when Anand rejected her. Even today, ten years later, I can see the same pain in her eyes when I talk of her marriage. I think she still... Khushi, why are you crying? Khushi, don't cry...Please don't cry..." Arnav was upset.
"Love is not finding someone to live with, It's finding someone you can't live without"
~ Rafael Ortiz
In all the four instances, we find they are treading the path of pain, path of grief. They are walking along the route they would normally prefer not to, but are made to.
"In each family a story is playing itself out, and each family's story embodies its hope and despair"
~ Auguste Napier
We see Nanda Kishore, Aarti Mishra and Anjali Singh Raizada treading the difficult path of grief, path of pain, path of suffering. We even see how both Arnav Singh Raizada as well as Kushi Singh Raizada feel the pain. Arnav is taken down the memory lane. He treads the path of ten years back, the path of pain that he experienced for his Di, the path of grief with him helpless to assuage her wounds. Though Arnav Singh Raizada bears it stoically, Kushi is unable to. She bursts into tears thinking of the pain its giving all those whom she loves, Arnav, NK, Aarti and Anjali. She too is treading the path of suffering, suffering for what they are feeling!
That is why this is termed as VIA DOLOROSA.
Thats it for today. Hope you enjoy it!
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