Presenting a new Mishbir story, short story set around inital days of the show. All characters are same as the show and it is set around Meenu asking lakshman to do background check on Mishti and Maheshwaris.
What if Meenu asked for Mishti’s hand for Abir instead? What if she got to know something about Mishti which could help her business? And what if, Mishti then asked for marital courtship with Abir? So, read on –
Part 1
Meenakshi Rajvansh was restless since morning. She had a feeling that Maheshwaris and their daughters were not good enough for Rajvansh house. But that was not her only worry. Da vansh travels, their family business was suffering recently and even though Kunal was very talented and hard-working boy, he was still young with almost no experience of running such a large business and Kaushal was too naïve to handle tricky situations. At times like these she wished her elder son Abir joined her. She had no doubt he would handle these difficult situations and be a strong support for her, kunal and Kaushal.
***********
Abir saw Kunal roaming around his own room. Abir had noticed his nanko was stressed more than usual these past few days. And it could not be just wedding talks or because holi reminded him of his breakup.
“Yo nanko, kis chakkar mein chakkar laga rahe ho yar?” He asked in his jovial style
“Come on yar bhai, aapne toh mujhe dara hi diya”
“You were already looking scared even before I walked in ok? Come on tell me what is it?”
Kunal knew Abir would be there for him and have his back.But he was not sure if his current situation was something that Abir could help with. He glanced at Abir, who was looking at him with so much care and concern,that it melted his heart. How could an elder brother love their younger sibling so much?
“Bhai, we actually are in a pickle at work. You might have heard me talking with Ma about this, our dinner table conversations for past few days have been all about this. We thought we could handle it but it seems getting difficult each passing day. And now only a miracle can save us”
***********
Mishti was not sure how to face Mr. Suresh Agarwal. Sure, he was her grandfather, but he was also father of Mr. Naman Agarwal. Could she trust him? It all started a week ago, when Badi Ma and Bade papa had called her in their room,after dinner. They only did that when they had something very serious to discuss with her. The last time it happened was when she decided to move out of Rajkot for studies. So, she was curious what was this about, though she had an inkling that it could be about her joining BP in his business or about her plans for marriage. But she least expected it to be about another Agarwal!
“Beta, wo bure insaan nahi hain. Woh tujhse itne saal dur rahe lekin kabhi bhulein nahi the, tere har birthday pe jo ek bada sa special gift ata tha aur hum kehte the hamare family friend ne bheja hain? Woh aur koi nahi tere dada ji the beta.” BM confessed.
“Haan Mishti. Aur woh humesha aapke baare mein puchte rehte the. He never missed to call and check on you, beta. Sach kahein toh aap unki amanat hain hamare pass.” BP added.
“nahi bade papa, main aap dono ki hoon. Aur kisi ki nahi”
“Haan beta, lekin fir bhi ek baar aap unse milein aisa humein lagta hain. Aage aapki marzi” Bp never forced her and she knew that. Should she give him a chance?
***********
“Benba Lakshman jiaye hain aap se milne” parul announced lakshman’s arrival.
“ji, unhe hall mein bithao, main ati hoon.” She hoped that his arrival would bring closure to at least one of her two problems.
Lakshman was her faithful acquaintance since few years. She trusted him and his skills. And the guy had contacts to grassroot levels.
“bolo Lakshman. Kya pata kiya hain tumne? Mishti ki ya Maheshwaris ki koi baatein aisi jo duniya nahi jaanti?”
“Ji Ma’m. Khabar toh hain. But acchi hai ya nahi aap decide karo. So, Mishti ka poora naam Mishti Naman Agarwal hain.Her father, Mr. Naman Agarwal was convicted of trying to kill his adoptive elder brother. He is currently out on bail. Mishti’s mother divorced him and remarried and moved to Australia. Her new name is Karishma Goyal. Mishti was sent to maheshwaris shortly after that by her grandmother Mrs. Devyani Singhania. And Mr. Vishambhar and Mrs. Rajshri Maheshwari took care of her like their own daughter.”
Meenu who was listening to all this intently didn’t miss anything. So, when he mentioned her grandmother, her brain started registering something.
“If Devyani Singhania is mishti’s grandmother, what about her grandfather? And why is her grandmother a Singhania and not Agarwal?” meenu enquired.
“Very good question mam. Actually Mrs. Devyani Singhania was married to Mr. Suresh Agarwal and they had 2 kids, Naman and Muskan. Few years later, they got divorced and Devyani married Mr. Rajshekhar Singhania. Mr. Suresh Agarwal didn’t remarry and after spending many years abroad, has recently moved to our city, Rajkot.”
Suresh Agarwal, why was that name so familiar, Meenu thought. She opened her phone and quickly checked. “Mr. Suresh Agarwal, CEO of Agarwal Industries moves his base to Rajkot”, first search result showed. Of course, she knew him, he was ‘The Suresh Agarwal’, heading a famous business conglomerate of India. Who wouldn’t know him? And he was mishti’s grandfather? So,her dad was a criminal but grandfather was such a reputed man? She felt dizzy thinking of all this. But Lakshman wasn’t done yet.
“He banished his son Naman after what he did and has been living in London for the past 20 years. However, there is an inside word thathe has moved to Rajkot now and he did this to be closer to his only granddaughter, Mishti. Mam, it is also to be noted that, naman being his only son and Mishti being naman’s only child, she is the Legal Heir to all his estate including Agarwal industries.” Lakshaman sure did not skip any detail.
***********
When mishti entered Hotel Fortune park’s lobby, she was determined this was her first and last meeting with Mr. Suresh Agarwal. She enquired about him in the lobby and was surprised when a middle-aged man came to escort her to Mr. Agarwal’s suite. The guy left her there and took his leave.
There stood a bespectacled man, in his sixties, his aura speaking of class and elegance. And the way he looked at her almost reminded her of her BP. She mentally kicked herself for even thinking like that, because Bade Papa was only one.
“Namaste Mr. Agarwal.” She decided to speak first, and honestly, he looked like he was frozen in the spot. Her words seem to break his trance though.
“Apni poti ko pehli baar samne dekh raha hoon Mishti, mann bhar ke dekh lene do. Waise toh tumhari sari photos hain mere pass, pehle Devyani bhej deti thi aur baad me tumhare bade papa. Par abb samne dekh raha hoon toh vishwas nahi hota.” She didn’t know what to say to that but just smiled.
He asked her to take a sit on the sofa and he also sat on one nearby.
“Sach kahoon toh I was not sure if you would want to meet me beta. Afterall you must have felt abandoned and your anger is justified. But what happened to our family, my family was unfortunate beta. And the person who most suffered because of it, is you and after that maybe I am the one. When your father, Naman and your aunt, Muskan decided to move in with Devyani, I was heartbroken beta. And so, I decided to move away from everything. I busied myself in business, in a hope that someday Naman will comeback and join me. My business was not doing well during that time and maybe that’s why Naman was obsessed with Singhania’s business. In that greed, he made a horrible mistake. I obviously could not forgive him or take him back. Then, Devyani told me that she was handing you over to Vishambhar ji and Rajshri ji and I thought that was the best for you. Sach kahoon toh mera bohot mann kiya tumhe apne sath le jaoon. Par beta, mera khud ka thikana nahi tha. Aur main akela tha while Maheshwaris were a complete family. I had busied myself so much that I was afraid you would be lonely in the house. And so, I never came to get you beta. But now, I know you are big enough to understand all this and hopefully you will give me a chance. Kyunki tum hi meri eklauti family ho beta.” When he was done, Mishti could tell his eyes were filled with tears and hic voice thick with emotions. Her own eyes got mosit too. She did not know hearing ’beta’ from someone apart from BM and BP could touch her heart.
***********
Ok, so there it is. No mishbir scene in first part but will be in next parts. This was to set the premise of the story and I guess I answered some of the questions we all had about her grandpa. Looking forward to hear from you guys. ⭐️
INDEX
Part 2 - https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/post/154882605
comment:
p_commentcount