Nany, this is for you. Not sure if this is what you wanted but... hope you like it.
*****
“Dev?” Satyavati’s face creased with worry and concern when she saw Dev trudging towards his room in the early hours. She could see the despair in every line of his tired body. “Kya hua beta? ”
Dev didn’t know where to start. He took the coffee cup his ma extended towards him gratefully and took a reviving sip. “Vidhi se baat hue?” she asked. He nodded and told her about Hari Prasad’s discharge from the hospital and Vidhi’s resignation. Albeit he downplayed and edited out parts of the kind of mudslinging he and Vidhi have been facing both but his ma seemed to fill in the blanks just fine as her face tightened in anger.
“Ma, leave it. Dogs will keep barking,” he tried to pacify her.
Satyavati wasn’t placated. “Doesn’t mean they lose the connection between their brain and tongue completely. You are not some layman or gali ka gunda who is Eve-teasing an under-age girl. You are Dev Raichand, one of the most successful businessmen this country has ever seen,” she declared, her head tilted at a proud angle. A proud mother who was seething in fury. “One of the richest. And had you wanted, you would’ve destroyed every single person who had dared to malign yours and your Vidhi’s name.”
“Ma…”
“It’s just that you are a nice human being who always strives to understand and see things from the other person’s POV. You are calm and level-headed. And those people out there know this and are taking advantage of it. Sher khamosh hain aur gali ka harr kutta bhonk raha hain. But the day that lion stands up and roars, there won't be a single dog left in the vicinity.”
Dev, with his arm around his mom’s shoulder, leads her to the couch and sits beside her. “Ma, calm down. And I’m not worried about me. These things, whatever they are saying, they don’t even touch me. You know it. I never gave a damn to any page 3 gossip. Today it’s me and tomorrow it’ll be someone else. But ma, it’s Vidhi I’m worried about.” He got up and began pacing restlessly. “Everyone is looking down, talking down, passing nasty comments… and the people in her mohalla! My God, ma, what kind of people are they! Don’t they have a life of their own? Don’t they know a damn thing about Vidhi? The kind of girl she is? Has always been? How can they even think…” He shook his head even as his jaw locked in suppressed fury. “Sab ke sab…” he bit back the rest of the words. At the end of the day, it was his mother he was talking to and he always controlled his language in front of her out of respect.
“Vidhi kaisi hain? Did she break her fast?” This time Dev’s pause was longer. More painful. He finally shook his head. “Kyu? Ab toh uske papa ghar bhi aagaye haina?”
“I-I don’t know, ma. The little time she’d been in the office, a couple of her colleagues offered her snacks and some fruit juice but she refused. Just had a glass of water and…and…left.” His voice despite his stern control of his emotions.
“Aur isiliye tu ne bhi kuch nahi khaya. Haina?” Dev’s silence was his answer. She got up, her eyes glinting in decisiveness. “OK, enough is enough. I’m going to go and talk to her parents. Right now.”
Dev sprung up from the couch. “What? Ma! No! Ma, please, listen to me. Ab tak jo tamash hua, woh kaafi hain. Aap waha jaayengi toh pata nahi kya hoga!”
“Dev, do you trust me?” Satyavati’s voice broke through his tirade.
“Ma, of course. But…”
“Then let me go. I promise you nothing will happen. If you are Dev Raichand then I’m Satyavati Raichand.”
“Ma…” Sighing in defeat, he relented. “Fine but you’re not going alone. I’m coming with you. I won’t get down from the car but I’m coming. Warna koi nahi jaayega.”
It was Satyavati’s turn to relent.
And true to his word, Dev didn’t get down from the car although the way his fist remained clenched on his thigh was a testament to how near impossible it was for him to keep his end of the bargain. Vidhi…his Vidhi was inside. Hurting. Crying. In pain. Alone. So…so… alone. He’d never felt such helpless rage ever before in his life.
Satyavati instructed the driver to bring in the basket of fruits that they’d bought on the way and walked into the house as if completely unaware of the buzz that had screeched to a halt as soon as their car stopped before resuming with stronger intensity and the peeping neighbors stepping out of their house, ready to poke their dirty noses into a business that was not theirs.
No, her eyes were on the young girl curled up and sitting in one corner, with her head buried in her lap, arms wrapped tight around her knees. Gesturing the driver to leave the fruit basket beside one of the chairs, she joined her palms in front of Milapni Devi idol. “Hey ma Milapni, aapki krupa se Hari Prasad ji se khatra tal gaya aur woh ghar wapas aagaye. Ab aap apna aashirwad unpar aise hi banaye rakhna.”
Vidhi lifted her lifeless eyes at that voice, her eyes widening in worry and fear. “Ma’am!” her voice was a mere whisper. “Ma’am yaha kyu aayi?” she shook her head rapidly. No no no. But it was too late. Hari Prasad walked in slowly with Bimla aiding him. “Aap? Aap yaha kyu aayi?”
Satyavati waited until he settled into one of the chairs before taking the second one. “I heard that you’d been discharged. So I thought I’d come and see how you’re doing.” Her answer was pleasant and polite.
“What your son did was what got my husband in the hospital in the first place. Now you’ve come to see if he has succeeded or not?” Bimla’s voice was full of angry venom.
“We thought your son was God's reincarnation. But he turned out to be nothing but a…”
“Ma’am!” Vidhi’s loud, panicked voice cut through Hari Prasad’s rant. She got up, strode up to Satyavati, grabbed her arm and tugged her out of her chair. “Ma’am, please go. Please, a-aap ch-chale jaayiye y-yaha se. A-aap y-yaha aaye kyu ma’am. P-please leave!”
Satyavati tried to cup Vidhi’s cheek. Vidhi shook her head rapidly. “No. No. Please leave. I…I saw a lot in the last few days. A lot. I saw my papa disowning me, declaring me dead. I-I saw my mom calling me names. I-I saw every single person I thought was my friend, my neighbor, my well-wisher treat me like I had plague.”
She kept tugging Satyavati’s arm, hustling her out of the door. Watching both his mom and Vidhi step out, Dev got down from the car. But Vidhi seemed completely unaware of her surroundings. Her eyes had lost their blank look. They were filled with tears of agony so profound that Dev felt his heart being dug out of his chest. “Vidhi!”
He went closer but Vidhi was too busy in her determination to get Satyavati out of the house. She continued talking. “F-forget me, ma’am, I stood by and watched D-Dev sir get insulted. I-I…N-no. N-no. Aap Dev sir ki ma hain. A-aap sir ki ma hain. Agar aap ko koi k-kuch…aap ko m-meri wajah se baaten sunni padi toh…” she shook her head again. “N-no. Nahi. Ma’am, aap jaayiye. Please jaayiye!”
“Vidhi beta…” Satyavati’s voice was full of kindness and love.
And that kindness tore through Vidhi’s mind and heart. Breaking her to pieces. She fell down on her knees. “No! No! No!” she cried, closing her ears. Dev’s instinctive shout of, “Vidhi!” fell on deaf ears.
“I-I know what y-you’ve come to t-talk, ma’am,” she hiccupped. “B-but trust me, no one here will listen to you. I tried. I tried to talk too. But I wasn’t even given a chance. Even my mom didn’t give me a chance to explain. Jitna bharosa woh baahar waalon pe karte hain, mujhpar nahi karte, ma’am. Nahi karte! Meri nahi suni toh aapki kya sunenge?”
“Actually, galti na… galti meri hi hain. Meine hi unka bharosa thoda. Mein maanti hoon. Maanti hoon mein. They had so many hopes and dreams about me and I brought them all crashing down. Lekin ma’am, mein unko batana chahti thi.” And she started laughing. “Mein ek dum…woh kya kehte hain…silly. Silly hoon. Dev sir ne kaha bhi tha. Nahi Vidhi. Koi ummeed mat rakho. Iss rishte ka koi bhavishy nahi hain. Tum apni zindagi mein aage bado. Kaha tha sir ne. Lekin mein silly Vidhi yeh soch baiti ma papa love me. They’d at least listen when I talk. They’d give me a chance to explain. Sir ne phir kaha. Tumhaare parents nahi maanenge. Tum nahi sunn paogi logon ke taane. Tamache ki tarah roz tumpe padti rahegi.” She laughed again. “Mein silly Vidhi…I underestimated. Actually I overestimated. I thought…my family, my well-wishers, my friends. They might get angry but they’d understand. I’d be patient until they understand.”
Wiping her eyes with the back of her hand, she got up, once again grabbing Satyavati’s hand, leading her towards the car door. “A-aap jayiye please ma’am. Bahut kuch dekha hain meine. Bahut kuch suna hain meine. Par aap ko koi kuch kahe…” she shook her head, left Satyavati’s hand and started walking backwards.
But this time, it was Satyavati who held Vidhi’s hand. “You’re not wrong, Vidhi. You’re not wrong in thinking, in hoping that your family would trust you. Would at least listen to you. And you’re not wrong in thinking that members of family, irrespective of what issues they have among themselves, would never let outsiders point fingers at any of them.” Her eyes met and held Bimla’s as she said those words. “That’s what a family is supposed to do.”
Vidhi shook her head. “Meine unka bharosa thoda hain ma’am… Papa ki tabiyat ab bhi poori tarah teek nahi hain. Aap jayiye please. A-aap aaye…thank you. Thank you so much.”
Satyavati nodded. “Just remember one thing, Vidhi. Be it family or someone else, there’s a difference between trust and blind trust. Love and blind love. One is your strength. The other would be your weakness. Take care, beta.”
Dev remained standing near the bonnet of the car as if his feet got rooted to the spot, eyes never leaving Vidhi even for a nano second. Slight tremors wracked his body as his heart battled with his mind. I need to touch her once, hug her just once, his heart pleaded with him. Don’t worsen the situation. Walk away, his mind ordered. Vidhi, please look at me once, his entire being screamed. As if she heard it, Vidhi’s tear drenched eyes met his pouring out all the love in her heart that she couldn't hide until it seemed to surround him.
Kuch Reet Jagat Ki Aisi Hai… Har Ek Subah Ki Shaam Hui
Tu Kaun Hai, Tera Naam Hai Kya… Seeta Bhi Yahn Badnaam Hui
Phir Kyun Sansaar Ki Baato Se… Bheeg Gaye Tere Naina
Kuch toh log Kahenge… Logo Ka Kaam Hai Kehna
*****
I’m stopping it at this point. Dev will leave, drop his mom at home and go to the office where the media circus will happen. That’s how I want it to be.
comment:
p_commentcount