AbhiGya Fan Fiction: The Revelation

~The Revelation~

Pragya stared at herself in the mirror as she fidgeted with her embroidered sea-green silk saree. She wasn't used to wearing such expensive clothes, and the Kundan jewellery Daadi had given her was really heavy. She sighed as she covered her beautiful eyes with her glasses. She knew she was making excuses. The outfit was the least of her problems...today was Purab and Alia's wedding.

The preparations had been going on for a month now. It was to be the grandest wedding the city had ever seen - everything of Alia's choice...except one. Purab had insisted on the marriage taking place in Sarla's marriage hall. Since it was the only thing he requested, Abhi had readily agreed.

Abhi...Abhi's misunderstandings about Pragya had grown stronger over the past month, seeing how increasingly upset she was - he was convinced she was a middle class gold-digger who had stolen his sister's love and his best friend and now she was paying for her mistake. Little did he know that Pragya's unhappiness had little to do with her romantic inclinations.

"What can I do? Bulbul and Purab are making such a huge sacrifice for me...My marriage was a mistake but Purab can't fix it by making another mistake..." Pragya said. She stood lost in thoughts when suddenly...she sensed Abhi enter the room.

"What? So sad on a happy day like this? Smile chasmish - aaj tumhara khel khatam hone wala hai." Abhi sneered.

"Khel khelna sirf aapko aata hai. I'm a straight forward girl, I have no reason to play games with you." Pragya turned to look at him.

"Only I know how straightforward you are, you know what, you - " Abhi was cut off by Pragya's cry. She was walking away and she almost tripped over her saree. Abhi ran forward and caught her in his arms. *cue Allah Waariyan song* The two stared at each other for some time when they heard Daadi clear her throat.

"Ahem. Yeh sab kuch baad mein bhi ho sakta hai. Everyone is waiting for you two, hurry up." She chuckled as she walked away.

Abhi quickly let go of Pragya, and headed for the washroom awkwardly. Pragya left the room, avoiding his eyes.

Alone in the washroom, Abhi took a deep breath.

"God knows what happens to me when I am with her. I know who she is, and what she is like...yet I am drawn towards her.." he thought to himself.

~ At the marriage hall ~

Purab sat beside Alia on the decorative chairs set out for the bride and groom. He couldn't help but sulk on what was supposed to be the happiest day of his life. He was getting married...in front of the girl he loved ... to someone he didn't love.

He glanced over at Bulbul - she looked so beautiful in her red and black anarkali suit. Everything about her was beautiful ... except that false smile she was using to hide her tears.

"Who are you looking at?" Alia interrupted his thoughts.

"No one...no one." Purab lied.

"You can't lie to me Purab. Look at Pragya - sorry bhabiji - as much as you want. Thodi der mein tumhe zindagi bhar sirf mujhe dekhne ki kasam khani hogi." Alia said as she glanced over at Pragya, who was busy fixing Bulbul's dupatta.  

Purab didn't reply as he was lost in thoughts again. On his way to the marriage hall, he had met an old saadhu baba. On seeing him, the baba had called him over and smiled.

"You are going to do a big job today. You hope it will make life easier for people around you. But remember, tasks done with empty hearts only end up hurting those you love." He said as he placed his hand on Purab's head.

Purab looked around at everyone in the hall. Abhi and Pragya's wedding depended on him, but if he married Alia, he would only legitimize all of Abhi's misunderstandings, it would only make things worse. He looked over at Alia and thought of how he was betraying her, she deserved a husband who loves her ... and then he looked over at Bulbul, what was her fault in all this? Why should she be punished?

His train of thought was interrupted by Daadi who requested Pragya to bring the garlands for the jai mala ceremony. Purab's mind was full of a thousand questions, his heart raced faster and faster as Pragya got close to the stage.

He watched as Pragya handed the garlands to him and Alia. The pundit-ji motioned for the ritual to start. Just as Alia was about to put the garland around his neck, he held her hand and said, "No Alia. Stop. Please." Alia stared at him in shock.

Purab turned to the crowd and hung his head, embarrassed. "I request you all to go home. There will be no wedding here today. I need to discuss something with the bride's family. I apologize for the inconvenience I caused. Please leave..."He folded his hands and ushered people to leave.

Ignoring Aila and Abhi's protests, the crows left and the hall was empty except for Purab, Alia, Abhi, Pragya and Tanu.

"What the hell is this Purab? How dare you insult me like this?" Alia yelled at Purab and turned him towards her.

"I thought you had changed, that's why I let you back in our life. But I guess you are still affected by others." Abhi said glaring first at Purab, then at Pragya.

Purab looked up at Alia and Abhi. "I'm sorry Alia, Abhi - bhai - I'm really sorry. I tried a lot to suppress my feelings and my love and marry Alia but I couldn't convince myself to do it. It's not fair to Alia to marry someone who doesn't love her, it's not fair to me and it's not fair to the girl I love..." Purab cried as he spoke. "Iss shaadi se koi khush nahi hoga. Koi nahi."

Purab walked over to Pragya. "You were right Pragya Di. I can't correct one mistake by making another one. It will only make things worse." Purab hung his head in shame.

"Purab tum - wait, kya kaha tumne? What did you call her?" Abhi asked.

"Pragya ... Di.."Pruab said, turning to look Abhi straight in the eye.

"What the hell do you mean Di? Jis se tum pyaar karte the, usse tum di kaise bula sakte ho Purab? Disgusting!" Alia screamed. Tanu held her hand and tried to calm her down.

Purab said as calmly as he could, "I don''t love Pragya Di. The girl I loved - the girl I love - is someone else."

"Aisa nahi ho sakta! Alia sent me a picture of you and Pragya. You love Pragya!" Abhi yelled.

"Enough!" Pragya said loudly, she had had enough. "The girl that Purab loves is very close to me, she wanted me to approve of Purab before she agreed to marry him. That's why I was at Purab's office talking to him about marriage. Alia misunderstood the situation. And by the time we were married, your suspicions were so strong, you wouldn't believe anything I said. Besides, I didn't want the girl that Purab loves falling into trouble." Pragya said.

Abhi stared at her as she spoke, realizing what she was saying. "Purab tumse pyar nahi karta?" he said barely in a whisper. His heart sunk as Pragya shook her head, he knew she was telling the truth.

"So you love someone else? Who is she huh? Uss ki life barbad nahi kardi toh mera naam bhi Alia Mehra nahi. Kaun hai woh Purab?" Alia screeched.

"Kis kis ki life barbad karogi Alia? You have already ruined my life, is that not enough? Now you want to go after someone else? Love can't be forced. Purab doesn't love you and that is the truth. By ruining other people's lives, Purab isn't going to come any closer to you." Pragya said as she stepped between Purab and Alia.

Furious, Alia held up her hand ready to strike Pragya when she felt someone hold her back. To her shock she looked up to see Abhi step in between her and Pragya, his hand firm on hers, keeping her away from his wife.

"I think it's enough Alia." Abhi said. He turned to Purab and saw Purab's eyes full of truth, pain and suffering. "You must really love this girl huh? And you were willing to sacrifice your love for Alia and me? Pagal hai kya tu?" He asked as he pulled Purab in hug.

Tanu and Alia stared at Abhi in shock. "Abhi, what are you doing? He broke Alia's heart!" Tanu said to him.

"And Alia made me hurt Purab and a lot of other people beyond repair." He retorted, glancing at Pragya.

He turned to Alia. "Dekh Alia, Purab tujhse pyar nahi karta. Toh kya hua? Tere liye toh ladkon ki line lag jaayegi. It's better to find someone who truly loves you, you wouldn't be happy with Purab." Abhi reached out to Alia but she pushed his hand away.

"Bhai, mujhe aapse yeh umeed nahi thi." She ran off with tears in her eyes. Tanu snorted in disgust, giving Pragya a dirty look before following Alia out the door.

"Mujhe maaf karde Abhi, main -" Purab began but Abhi cut him off. "Go home. We'll talk later." He said. As the two parted, Purab knew Abhi held no grudge against him, and all was well between the two friends again.

As Purab left he squeezed Pragya's hand and mumbled a quick thank you Di, before leaving, not wanting to become a kebab main haddi.

Abhi slowly turned to Pragya. The shock at this revelation gave way to guilt as he realized what he had done. She was about to walk away when he cleared his throat, signalling for her to stop.

"So...why did you agree to marry me? Paison ke liye?" he asked her. She glared at him.

"Unbelievable. Aap mano ya na mano Mr. Abhishek Prem Mehra, duniya ki har ladki aapke paison ke peeche pagal nahi hai! I was opposed to this marriage because I thought we were too different to ever lead a life together. But when my mother found out I had said no to your proposal, she collapsed...I already had two broken proposals, she was scared no one would marry me if this proposal slipped by. I married you for her happiness. But the minute I stepped into your house as your wife, I promised myself I would try 100% to make this relationship work. Mujhe pata nahi tha na, ke jis se main zindagi bhar ka saathi samajh rahi thi woh kuch dinon ka raakshas ban ke meri zindagi mein aaya hai." She took a deep breath to calm herself down after she finished her rant.

Abhi stared at her, in disbelief of what had just happened. "Pragya main ... " he stepped towards her, but she held up her hand stopping him in his tracks.

"I think you have said and done enough. We should get home...everyone will be waiting for us. There are a lot of questions to answer." she said turning away from him.

As the events of their marriage, honeymoon and recent incidents replayed in Abhi's mind, he felt ashamed and angry at himself. He had believed Alia's words, and married an innocent girl and made her life hell. He hated her so much, and she bore it all, knowing that she deserved none of it, to save someone else. That day she talked to him about Daadi, he had seen pain and truth in her eyes but dismissed it with the silly notion of hypnotism. He was a complete fool.

"What do I do now? I can't kick her out like I wanted to, when none of this is her fault, especially with Maa's health...but how will we live together now? How will I face her? What about Tanu and me? But what about her?" Abhi stood motionless. Suddenly his knees gave way, and he dropped to the ground.