Shackles of Love#18#MG Chapter 53 - Page 2

CHAPTER 53:

Love had always been a jinxed word in his life.

It had been proven time and again, anytime he got close to it, it blew up in his face.

Loneliness consumed Maan as he drove back the way he had come. The hope that had lighted up his journey had been extinguished, leaving not even a speck of light at the end, only an empty chasm welcoming him back to its profundity.

Once again he was shrouded in its depths, and this time with no hope of salvation.

Geet had made it clear to him that he holds no place in her life, and he couldn't blame her. It had been all his doings coming back to haunt him.

Hindsight they say is a bit**. And Maan was being eaten up by it. Remorse was a small word for the emptiness that cloaked him.

The fresh air breezing by him had no effect; he was feeling choked and suffocated. His thoughts drifted to her again as the jeep ate up more distance.

 Her silence today was so uncharacteristic of her. She had been so silent when he had watched her from the doorway. There had not been a word from her, while her cousins were talking a mile a minute. Her usual nature was her shrieking and giggling when she made her almost daily calls to Rajji and Tito. She had been in a love-relationship with her phone, he had thought then, jealous of the time she spent with it. Her free time would go either talking on it or listening to music. She was a restless soul with oodles of pent up energy. Like a whirlwind that she was, she had come into his life, shaken it up totally and now gone leaving him devastated in her wake.

 "How could she giggle so much?" He used to always wonder. But today, there wasn't even a hint of a smile in her features; every emotion had been wiped out by him.

And her family, he gritted his teeth, regretting not having punched Brij when he was making those allegations against his Geet! But no one had come to her aid; they had stood there, watching the mockery that Brij was making of their own daughter. The kids, he could understand, but couldn't her Mami stop her own son from spouting those obscenities?

Now that he thought about it, she never seemed to talk much to her other family members. With Rajji it was all about clothes and movies and songs and some stuff about her job and Rajji's school. He had however never talked to anyone in her family. His talks had been limited to Darji only that too work related. She must have understood his unwillingness because she never offered him the phone.

Well, she was back with her siblings now. Surely she would be back to her giggling soon. She seemed to be in shock right now but she would soon recover.

He felt the mangalsutra in his pocket, pain lancing through him once again, just as it had when she had removed it and given it to him. No one had intervened after her shocking actions. He himself had been blank, never having imagined that Geet could do something like this. He had been unable to speak, let alone move. But she had just stood there, her eyes dry and blank, waiting for him to leave.

He hadn't been able to think, his whole body had just frozen. He wanted to say so many things to her, to beg and plead with her, but her aloof self scared him.

He felt helpless, just like last time. It was like a movie being played all over again. She had stood with her head bowed down as he left.

He had stopped by the gate, unable to step out leaving her behind, but fighting all impulse he had left without glancing back, because he knew, if he glanced back, he would never be able to leave.

 A poem by Mari (mayyo13)

Describes Maan's POV to the T

Thanks Mari

🤗

Sang lekar chala tha jab pehla kadam

Sehmi si thi wo, sharmaayi wo

Kayi khwaab thay aankhon mein uski

Chahti thi nayi zindagi se, ik khubsurat shanasaayi wo

Dard deta raha, imtehaan leta raha main sabr ke uska

Phir bhi har baar muskaayi wo

Jab socha shuru'aat karun sang uske, ik naye safar ki

Sharma kar kadam badhaayi wo

Maazi ke gehre saaye ne di dastak toh

Pareshaan hui, ghabraayi wo

Dil dukhaya maine uska jab

Mujhe chhod kar dur chali aayi wo

Aaya main ussey ghar waapas le jaane, par na maalum tha mujhe

Ke samajhne lagi hai khud ko mujhse paraayi wo

Haar kar lautoon toh hai ik dua

Aye ooperwaale, dena har khushi har sukoon ussey

Jo na miley kabhi wo gham aur meri na-paak parchhaayi ho

Please watch the VM if you can. Bindu has made it specially for SOL.

Thanks Bindu.

 🤗

(music)

Maan was aimlessly driving, having no particular destination in mind. He was loath to go back to that empty house right now which only had her memories now.

Stopping at a corner, he leaned back, resting his head against the seat for support and closed his eyes. But still all he could see was Geet.

Her tears when she requested him to leave still piercing his soul.

Aasmaan tera mera hua

Khwaab ki tarah dhuaan dhuaan

Aasmaan tera mera hua

Saans ki tarah ruaan ruaan

Geet stood by the window, with her eyes closed, unknowingly shedding silent tears, the events of the evening coming back to her mind.

As she opened her eyes, she saw a shooting star pass by. She looked at it in pain, remembering the previous time when she had Rajji had excitedly wished upon a star.

It seemed like a lifetime ago, when she had been full of life and hope, but now she had finally faced reality. Wishing upon a star was for those who hadn't come face to face with their destiny, not for people like her, who had lost everything.

Maan, who was now gazing into the inky blankness, saw the same star.

Long ago memories of his mother telling him to wish upon a star immediately sprang to mind. Then, he had scoffed it off as being childish and unrealistic, but now it was like a talisman to him. He closed his eyes, immediately Geet's face came to him.

"Please, Geet ke Babaji, if you are listening, give her all the the happiness that she deserves. Agar apne mere hisse me thodi si bhi khushi likhi hai, wo bhi use de dena. Geet jaha bhi rahe, khush rahe, bas mujhe aur kuch nahi chahiye."

A silent tear rolled down his cheek, and he selfishly continued, "You gave me the greatest gift of my life and I, like an ignorant fool threw it away, I pushed her away.  But if there is another life, another chance, give me back my Geet. Please! I promise I will cherish and honour her……..forever."

Two people changed by destiny, hurting and in pain.

Irony was that when one stopped believing, the other started.

Ho jaaye jahaan tu jaaye

Paaye mujhe hi paaye

Saaye ye mere hain tujh mein samaaye

He remembered the night ago, when she had been in his arms and he had resolved to keep her there forever.

"Was it only one night ago?" he wondered, it seemed as if it had all happened a lifetime ago.

So much had happened that he had lost all sense of time. His life had totally changed in one night, and he was still lost, not able to get his bearings.

Saiyaara main saiyaara, Saiyaara tu saiyaara

Sitaaron ke jahaan mein milenge abb yaara

Her smile, her laughter, her tears.

It was like a kaleidoscope of images, with her in various avatars, her emotions reflecting in everything she did. Be it her anger or her love.

With the memory of her in his arms still fresh, it had taken every ounce of control on his part to put one foot in front of the other and leave from there. His body had walked out, but his heart and soul had been left behind.

With her.

Saiyaara main saiyaara, Saiyaara tu saiyaara

Sitaaron ke jahaan mein milenge abb yaara

She remembered the times he had hurt her, and then himself for it. "I hope wo kuch ulta seedha na kare ghusse me." she prayed.

(music)

He had been a fool to lose her. God had given him a chance to live again, but in his blind prejudice he had lost that too. There was only one prayer now. If there was an afterlife or more births, he wanted Geet in each and every one of them.

Tu jo mila toh yun hua

Ho gayi poori adhoori si duaa

Tu jo gaya, toh le gaya sang tere

Mere jeene ki har wajah

It wasn't that Geet was any happier. It seemed as if all happiness had been sucked right out of her life.

She had thought he was the answer to all her prayers. Babaji had given her the best life partner she could wish for, but alas, he was never hers. He had always been someone else's.

But when she closed her eyes, she saw herself in his arms. The flash of him and Sameera on the terrace kept coming back, but the moments she had spent with Maan were stronger.

Ho jaaye jahaan tu jaaye

Paaye mujhe hi paaye

Saaye ye mere hain tujh mein samaaye

She remembered their close moments, during Holi, in the bathroom, his kissing her in the car, the dance.

Everything became jumbled up in her mind, weakening her resolve, making her ache for him.

Saiyaara main saiyaara, Saiyaara tu saiyaara

Sitaaron ke jahaan mein milenge abb yaara

Saiyaara main saiyaara, Saiyaara tu saiyaara

Sitaaron ke jahaan mein milenge abb yaara

She didn't understand what was happening to her, why she was feeling so confused. Hadn't he made his wishes clear? Right from day one?

 "Nahi dena mujhe tumhara koi bhi jawab. Agar tumhe mera behavior pasand nahi aa raha hai to ye tumhari problem hai. Maan Singh Khurrana aisa hi hai, samjhi tum?"

His cruel words kept coming back to her now, intensifying her pain, until she could bear no more.

"Bas Geet! Teri hi galti hai, tune hi khwaab dekhne shuru kar diye the. Unhone tujhse kabhi kuch kaha hi nahi! Now pay the price for your folly."

"Lekin unki aankhen aur harkatein to kuch aur hi kehti thi na?" she fought with herself, trying to analyze where she had gone wrong.

"I don't consider you my wife"

It all came down to those words in the end.

(music)

Angrily she wiped her tears, gaining back her determined stance, his words echoing in her ears.

"Theek hai! Nahi maante na aap mujhe aur is rishte ko? To today I will free you forever from this shackled relation."

Jerkily she got up from the bed, and started removing the chuda, which she was still wearing. It was a symbol of something which no longer existed and she no longer had the right to wear it as such. She remembered the day she had worn the chuda. Her mamaji had made her wear it as per tradition; her heart had been full of hopes of a better life that day.

She threw the bangles down, glaring at herself in the mirror, so that her heart doesn't fall weak, the breaking bangles symbolic of her life.

Next, she looked at herself in the mirror, her bare neck with the missing mangalsutra pinching her. Ignoring her heart's cry, she moved her hand to her forehead, to wipe off the sindoor adorning her forehead.

She closed her eyes, and prayed for forbearance to Babaji to bear this pain, and tried to wipe it off. But her hand shivered, and she was unable to wipe off this last tie to Maan.

There Maan felt a sudden restlessness, as if something bad was happening. But he couldn't put a finger on it.

Geet remembered the time he had filled it in her parting, marking her as his. But it had all been a lie, a farce. She again fell down, on the ground, crying her heart out. The broken bangles pierced her skin, but the physical pain was lost in her emotional agony.

Tumpe miti tumse bani

Tumse hua hai haan khud pe yaqeen

Tu jo nahi to naa sahi

Main hoon yahaan toh tu hai yahin kahin

She was sitting there, by the dressing table, her legs folded against her chest. Her eyes were dry once more. There was no hope, no dream, no tear; they were just pools of nothingness.

Rajji had come there to console her, but Geet had sent her away, wanting to be alone. She was now waiting for Darji's return. She knew the path she had chosen was going to be tough. A woman was not allowed to take decisions in this house. She had defied not only tradition, but also her Darji's orders.

But she would see this through, she determined. The most he would do was kill her, was there anything left to live for, Geet wondered.

"Geeet…" The roar reverberated in the entire haveli.

Darji was back and Brij, who was still seething from Maan's insults, had given him a highly aggravated version of the events, enraging him further.

He stalked towards Geet's room, his footsteps making Geet tremble, but she hardened her heart and waited for the confrontation. Now was not the time to cry or keep quiet, hadn't she learnt it from Maan and her family? Fighting for what you believe in is never wrong.

The path may be tough, but if you believe in the end, you will get the courage to walk the journey borne with even thorns.

The door banged open, and there stood her Darji, red with anger.

She slowly got up, facing him bravely.

"Ye kya sun raha hu mai Geet? Kya jo Brij ne kaha wo sach hai?" he thundered, to which she just nodded, looking Darji squarely in the eyes.

"Agar Brij Veerji ne aapse ye kaha ke mai Maan ko chodke wapas aa gayee hu, to haan wo baat sach hai!" The whole family was gathered behind, gasping at her defiance.

"Oyeee, tujhe ilm bhi hai ke tu kya bol rahi hai? Humare yaha ladki ki doli jaati hai aur sirf laash wapas aati hai! Samjhi tu?"

"Accha? To kya 6 mahine me mai marne wali thi?" Geet retorted, confusing everyone, except two.

Darji and Tejji exchanged a quick glance, surprised to find that she knew the truth, when Brij intervened. He raised his hand to slap her, but Geet caught his hand, much to his astonishment.

"Aap logo ne mujhe samajh ke kya rakha hai? Gungi behri mitti ki gudia? Jab mann kiya marod liya! Kyu? Mujhe kuch mehsoos nahi hota? Mera dil nahi hai?"

Ho jaaye jahaan tu jaaye

Paaye mujhe hi paaye

Saaye ye mere hain tujh mein samaaye

Angered beyond means, Brij grabbed her by the neck, his ego smarting at Geet's defiance, "Dekha darji! Maine kaha tha na, isme itni bhi sharam nahi hai ke aapse aankhen neechi rakh ke baat kare. Us Maan ke saath rehkar kya pata kya kachra bhar gaya iske dimaag me."

He squeezed her neck tighter, "Abhi bol. Abhi to Darji bhi aa gaye hai. Tu kyu wapas aayi hai?"

Saiyaara main saiyaara, Saiyaara tu saiyaara

Sitaaron ke jahaan mein milenge abb yaara

As he was pushing her behind, Geet stepped over the broken bangle pieces. The glass pierced her legs, making them bleed, but Geet refused to give in and bow down in front of her family.

She glared at him, not giving into his demands, which only made him tighten his hands, "Itne bade ghar me shaadi karwayi Darji ne iski, phir bhi mooh kala kar ke wapas aa gayi. Kyun Geet, Darji ki beizzati gaon mein hone se pehle mai tumhari jaan hi le leta hoon. Na rahega baas, na bajegi basuri."

"Aap log aur kar bhi kya sakte ho! Aap bas apne se kamzor pe haath utha sakte ho, use apne kisi maksad ke liye istemaal kar sakte ho." She shot back.

Saiyaara main saiyaara, Saiyaara tu saiyaara

Sitaaron ke jahaan mein milenge abb yaara

Darji couldn't believe that she was talking back so freely and he raised his laathi to hit Geet.

Maan got up with a jerk, his heart telling him that something was definitely wrong.

"Geeett…….."

Precap: