AN: I know I have a FF and a SS to update. But I could not help it.
Enjoy!
- Niki
Shades of Life
There was a bitter taste in her mouth as she went on mechanically completing the necessary arrangements. Decorations, gathering the things for the rituals and heaping the gifts for the bride and her family. Her eyes flashed to her son where he stood with his soon-to-be wife and a tangy hatred speared through her.
She hated that woman. That wretched girl now stood next to him, holding his arm as she grinned around with a vicious glare of triumph in her eyes.
It was then when their gazes locked and the bride gave her a bashful smile, pretentiously dipping her eyes.
At that moment, there was no one Gurpreet Kaur Virk hated more than Jasmine Sandhu.
Swallowing hard, she took her eyes away from them and looked around the hall. The Sandhus were as usual smiling insipidly; Jasmine’s mother and her Bebe laughing around with the guests. Only her father stood some distance away; his face cold and shuttered as he looked on at the proceedings.
The Virks were on the other hand full of a variety of expressions. Bauji and Biji sat in the corner of the hall with Mahi keeping them company. Amrik, on the other hand, stood next to his brother happily taking pictures. Fateh, the groom, stood next to Jasmine, his arms around her as they posed.
Her husband, Khushveer Singh Virk did not even bother to come. She did not insist.
She dragged her eyes back to her son and her heart twisted. He was smiling slightly and nodding but kept on looking around the hall; as if his eyes searched for someone else. When he thought no one was looking, she saw his face sink into a shuttered expression, his eyes glinting like twin pools of misery.
He was unhappy and Gurpreet was sure about it.
She had confronted him about his sudden decision. In fact, the entire family had been shocked and furious when he had handed over the divorce papers to his wife and told her to sign them; announcing loudly that he was marrying his previous fiancé. They had all asked, but he had been mum on his reasons. Stubborn and decided; he had urged his wife to sign. Gurpreet had expected her to question him; to refuse. Instead, without a word, Tejo had signed the papers.
The hall was suffocating, the lush drapes in reds and pinks fluttering around as music slowly deafened her eardrums. She eyed the door and slowly slipped out of the hall; hoping for the semblance of a little peace. The garden outside was definitely a better option. She took off her sandals and her feet gently fell on the soft grass. The leaves tickled her feet and she felt a sense of respite fill in her as she breathed in the clean lush air.
As she walked across the garden, a sense of restlessness gripped her. There was definitely some reason for his sudden decision to go back to Jasmine and yet remain unhappy. Definitely, something was wrong. Maybe he was in some sort of trouble. Was Jasmine pressurizing him for the marriage? What exactly had happened between them that her Fateh was forced to marry the girl who had humiliated him and left him behind?
Questions and more questions. But no answer at all.
She saw something white in the periphery of her eyes and she froze.
Tejo sat, leaning against one of the larger trees in the garden, her eyes closed.
Gurpreet had never liked Tejo.
It was not a secret to anyone in the house.
A woman with a broken marriage; she had been forced into their family and onto Fateh. Gurpreet hated the very sight of her. Too upfront, too decisive, and too dominating; these were the hints she had gotten from her behaviour. And she was right too. Tejo had steered Fateh when they were together. He had started to function the way she wanted him to. She had literally gotten him beaten up in the match to get him out of his depressive stupor. She had held together her son when he needed her and for some time; despite her hatred, Gurpreet had thought that maybe they would be happy together.
Tejo struck her as even more unlikeable when she insisted on joining her job. The entire family objected but Fateh stood by her and this made Gurpreet feel the first semblance of hurt when her own son refused to listen to her. And slowly Tejo won that challenge too. She could not stop her from going to work just like she could not stop her from getting closer to all the elders in the family. Bauji and Biji dotted on her and Mahi worshipped her. But what grated her the most was that her husband, who had never even spared a glance of warmth towards her; loved Tejo too.
In their marriage of nearly thirty-five years, her husband had given her everything she had asked for. From comfort to material possessions, she had everything. They had four beautiful children and she had a life that called for envy. But amidst all this, there was one thing that she missed – the respect and the love a husband should have for his wife.
But she was not the only one. Khushveer Singh Virk saw relationships as his duty; nothing more, nothing less. Even their children had received his portion of affection but something always fell short. However, with Tejo, everything was different. For the first time in her life, she had seen her husband love someone with everything in him. At first, she thought that he saw her merely as a replacement for Simran, their eldest daughter. It was only later that she realized that her husband saw her not as a replacement for Simran but as a replacement for himself.
He saw himself in his daughter-in-law Tejo.
And with that, the doors to his heart that had always been closed; fell open for Tejo and only Tejo to enter. Fateh, Amrik, Mahi, and even his wife were as usual; kept out of it.
It was no wonder that Gurpreet grew on to hate Tejo even more.
But right now, Gurpreet did not understand what to feel.
Her son’s ex-wife sat centimeters away from her and she felt a sense of unfamiliar hesitation creep in. She had always taunted Tejo easily, without any guilt or any hesitation. She had been an easy target to unload her frustration; someone who would just listen but never reply back. It was not that her words did not hurt. It did. She saw it clearly in her eyes but Tejo never spoke up.
And today, she felt the need to speak to her.
Her legs took her across, of their own volition and she stood in front of the sitting figure. Swallowing she crouched down and sat on the grass.
Sensing someone nearby, Tejo opened her eyes and they widened as they took her in. She blinked and look towards the hall. Gurpreet followed her glance and looked back at her.
“There is too much noise –”
“There is too much noise –”
They stopped short immediately. Gurpreet saw Tejo flush and she knew her cheeks were similarly turning red.
“How are you Tejo?” she began almost uneasily, the polite tone sounding foreign and rough in her voice.
Tejo probably felt the change too and she looked at her quietly for some time. “I am well Aunty Ji,” she replied and then asked, “How are you? How is Papa Ji?”
Gurpreet felt a quiver race through her. “I am well. You call me Aunty and call my husband Papa Ji,” she remarked.
Tejo swallowed and her eyes flitted around. “I –”
“I have not given you any reason to. I understand,” Gurpreet contemplated.
Tejo went quiet. “I am sorry if I caused you any trouble. I will be leaving soon. You will not see me again.”
The news fell on her like a sudden downpour of icy cold water. “What? Why?”
But Gurpreet knew the answer to it too. With two broken marriages, a woman cannot hope to live peacefully in a village where her former husband would live a married life with her own sister. Out of the three of them, one had to leave. And with Fateh and Jasmine soon to be wed; it was only justified that Tejo left Moga.
“Where will you go?” she asked.
Tejo shrugged. “I have not made proper plans yet. Maybe Delhi or Mumbai. I want to stay in a city. I have applied for jobs. My interviews are over. Whenever I receive the confirmation; wherever be it, I am going.”
“Hmm,” Gurpreet responded. “My husband used to say you love Punjab. Won’t you miss this place?”
Tejo looked around forlornly. “I never planned to leave but I cannot stay now, can I?” She gave a self-deprecating laugh. “There is nothing left for me here. It is better that I go. In fact, it is high time that I left.”
She had never seen Tejo so somber. While she was not as talkative as her sister, there had always been a glow about her; something bright that shone through her eyes. It was all missing today; as if something had sucked it off her; draining her and leaving her empty. And for the first time, Gurpreet felt her sadness tug at her heart.
“You will like city life,” the words fell out of her mouth. “My brother stays in Chennai and he told me that things are very fast there. Lots of work and very little time. You can also do your Ph.D. You left it incomplete, didn’t you?”
Tejo whipped around to look at her, shock flaring in her eyes. “You know about my career plans?”
Gurpreet had the grace to look down. “Your Papa Ji would always keep on repeating them in the night. He wanted to send you for another course after that too. He kept talking to people from abroad; his friends in Universities.”
“He wanted me to do a post-Doc too?” Tejo murmured, disbelief colouring her tones. She blinked rapidly and looked down. “I will,” she answered, gathering herself, “complete my Ph.D. that is. But the first phase is to get a job. I have my references from the college. Hopefully, my call letter comes soon and I can go.”
“And till then you will have to stay here,” Gurpreet finished for her and Tejo looked at her suddenly troubled.
“I cannot leave without a job,” she whispered and finally Gurpreet saw it in her eyes. The reason that she did not argue against the divorce. That reason shone in her eyes, as it grated her insides and pained her again and again.
Tejo was in love with her son.
She took a shuddering breath as the conclusion finally hit her. All of a sudden, things were starting to make much more sense. All her actions, her efforts, her happiness, her joy, her light, her spirit; all of them were born from that one true fact. Tejo loved Fateh. Tejo, who had been the victim of a fraud marriage, had ended up in a forced one; had ultimately fallen for her husband. A husband who was getting married to her sister; without even bothering about her state.
At that moment a startling sense of empathy drew her to Tejo. There was a similarity between them; an equal ground. Tejo and Gurpreet were quite similar to each other; not only in their blind love for their younger sisters but also in their love for husbands who would never love them back.
“I have a place in Kolkata,” Gurpreet began. “My father had given it to me. A small property in the city. It has been empty for years. I have been thinking of going there for some time. You can come with me. I will leave after a few days and you can stay there till you get your job. Then you can shift permanently.”
Tejo gave her a startled look. “But my parents –”
“They don’t need to know. Neither your family nor mine,” she declared firmly. “Anyway, I don’t think your family will even bother. They are too busy with the wedding,” she ended with a barb unable to help herself. “You can come with me and get away from this place. Tell them you already got a job. They won’t bother you. In fact,” she scrunched her brow, “I will call up and get the place readied. I will text you the address and you can leave tomorrow itself. I will join you in a few days.”
Tejo swallowed and a flat smile spread on her face. “I understand. You don’t want me disturbing Fateh’s life. I assure you; I will not trouble them. Thank you but I cannot take your help.” Saying so she got up when Gurpreet held her hand.
She got up and looked straight at the younger girl. “I understand how it feels to love a man who never cares for you,” she told her straightforwardly and Tejo blinked in surprise. “Fateh is an adult and he has made his decisions. If it is Jasmine then fine: he will be happy. But I am helping you not for Fateh but for myself. There were many times when I had felt like leaving. There was no one to help me out then. But right now, I can help you and I suggest you take it.”
Tejo looked hesitant and Gurpreet went on. “I have not been the most welcoming person. I understand that you may find it hard to trust me but I don’t have any bad intentions. I just did not like you because I felt you were forced onto Fateh and I despise your family. But honestly speaking, if I am to keep a relationship with any Sandhu; I would rather it be you.”
Silence met her words and it was as if a gaping chasm was slowly closing between them.
A tear slowly welled up her eyes and trickled down her cheek. “Thank You,” Tejo whispered.
And Gurpreet, for the first time in a long time, smiled genuinely.
It was a day of many firsts for her.
That day, managed to steer the lives of the two women in a completely different direction. Kolkata was a whole different chapter for them, once Gurpreet joined Tejo in her place. Days went on and they began to bond in not just tastes but also in experiences. With Tejo, Gurpreet felt free, almost unburdened. She began to realize why Tejo had been able to heal her son; she just had an aura around her that could apply balm on the cruelest of all wounds.
Gurpreet had always wanted to wear a gown. The clothes shaped like that had ensnared her mind but it had been a far-fetched dream. In Kolkata, Tejo had persuaded her into donning one and when she had looked at herself in the mirror, it had felt like she was finally looking at herself. And Gurpreet had finally begun to live too.
With time, Tejo healed, slowly, but surely. She kept on having nightmares for a long time and in the initial days when Gurpreet would run to her room and wrap her shivering form in her arms; she would realize the torment that her son and his new wife had inflicted on Tejo. She realized the true extent of her heartbreak when Tejo miscarried. Even she did not know that she was pregnant and one night, her repeated nightmares and suppressed anguish had burst the dam. The nervous breakdown had been followed by sudden bleeding and Gurpreet had been terrified.
When the news of the miscarriage had been revealed to her in the hospital, Gurpreet had finally understood the reality. That day, she had wished ill on her own son; a truth that would die with her, someday. In a way, the jolt had been freeing for Tejo. There was nothing holding her back anymore and the pain of losing her child had burned in her to better herself so that no one can hurt her again.
Fateh was her first love but it is not necessary that it be the last, Gurpreet had taken to advise her. But Tejo seemed to have switched off her feelings for that side of life. Instead, she began to juggle between her job that she managed to get in Kolkata itself and her life with Gurpreet. Unknowingly for the days, Gurpreet would manage to stay with her; it was as if a mother had come to meet her child. And as such, Gurpreet had managed to become a mother to five children instead of the four that she bore herself.
Being with Tejo was peaceful but her other children were not doing much better. Mahi had left Moga a year after the wedding. She had shifted to Chennai to study and lived with her brother’s family. She rarely came home except on important occasions. Simran, as always was away, and despite a mother’s heart yearning for her eldest child; there was no possibility of her returning. It was Fateh and Amrik, however that caused more pain to her heart.
Fateh was unhappy. It was already obvious to her on his wedding day that he had hidden something inside him. And that had burst out one day. Apparently, Jasmine had threatened to kill herself, and her son who had always loved her, could not help but give in to her demands when she had cut her wrist. Frantic and scared, he had divorced Tejo and married Jasmine to supposedly save her from doing something like that again. When Gurpreet had found out; she had felt like slapping him on his face again and again. Had he let the family handle this drama; all this mess would not have happened. He would not be pining after his former wife and Tejo would still be their daughter-in-law and, her heart broke when she thought about it; her grand-child would have been alive.
It was his later actions that made the situation even worse. Fateh began to drink regularly and their already toxic marriage began to turn worse. Jasmine still wanted to go to Canada and Fateh refused point-blank. The arguments, the fights, and the anger soon began to seep out of their bedroom. Slowly the peace of her home disappeared. And one day, Fateh left.
Jasmine wailed and cried and created a whole new level of drama but her husband had enough. He joined a Trekker’s Group and disappeared into the mountains; his phone most of the time beyond the reach of signal. He would call them up a few times a year but beyond that, he was out of reach. Gurpreet just hoped he was happier now.
Amrik on the other hand had a stable life in comparison. He grew up and matured as his brother’s married life finally made him realize his youthful delusions. He joined the family business and took care of the Academy, even planning a couple of new branches in different parts of the state. He kept on travelling and a few years later; he abruptly returned home, bringing with him his new wife.
They had all been shocked but Amrik had confessed that he liked her and had already married her in secret. Her husband had been furious and so were Bauji and Biji. That was why, Amrik began to live separately, a few miles away from the Virk Mansion. They would often visit during occasions and slowly the elders too thawed towards their new daughter-in-law.
But Gurpreet could never look at Amrik in the same way, again. The day he brought his wife, their eyes had met and her son had realized what she saw. Delicately, he had avoided her eyes and she knew that she had guessed right.
Amrik’s wife was five years older than him and was a lecturer in the University. She was a slender woman with delicate features and a pointed chin; her hair wavy, flowing straight to her back. She wore long Kurtis and was often see with a bag and a file in her hand.
And when Gurpreet had finally understood, she realized that it was completely possible to hate someone’s own child. Because after all, it was not possible for Jasmine to do everything by herself, was it? In hindsight, she wished she had taken Fateh away from those long talks he had with Amrik whispering in his ears.
Maybe; maybe things would have been different then.
She never confessed about these discoveries to Tejo but had become obsessed with settling her life. She needed to have Tejo move on with her life; have a husband who would care for her and a family to protect her. Her search had taken her to a man who finally became her Tejo’s husband. As broken as she was but just as strong, he had been dealing with the sudden loss of his wife and child in an accident. When they met, Gurpreet had sensed the immediate connection between them and prayed to God to finally bring some brightness to Tejo’s life.
Tejo’s marriage had been her crowning jewel. She had planned everything from the rituals to the other celebrations. It was then that both the families had realized the bond that Gurpreet shared with her former daughter-in-law. Her husband had been amazed at her and Gurpreet had actually preened under his gaze. Because he had watched her in awe after a long time and it had definitely soothed many ruffled edges.
The Sandhus as usual came with their own brand of drama but Gurpreet felt the sadistic pleasure when the groom’s family would only come up to her to talk. Tejo too would rush to her instead of her own mother. In a way, Gurpreet had single-handedly replaced the Sandhus and this was a definite win in her book. Her best victory was of course when she had managed to throw Jasmine out before she could create a mess. Despite the protests of her mother and Bebe, Gurpreet had felt the vindictive pleasure in feeding her lies about Fateh’s arrival and sending her away to Haryana to intercept him. Her new daughter-in-law was adept in booking the tickets; happy to be finally rid of her. She got along well with Tejo too; being of similar natures and having similar tastes.
However, while some things went as per her plans, there were many issues that she had to balance. One was Amrik, who had come to attend the marriage and moved around casting a shadow everywhere he went. He avoided her, ducking under the stairs or by the corridor, whenever they would be in each other’s line of sight. But what he did not stop doing, was fixating on the bride whenever she was in sight. Thankfully Mahi came and like Gurpreet understood her brother’s gaze very well. And so began the charade where Mahi would always plant herself right next to him and to Gurpreet’s relief, Amrik was taken care of.
Fateh’s arrival set her BP skyrocketing. Tejo for all her strength had frozen in shock, and uneasiness had spread in the entire ambience. Gurpreet had cursed loudly, much to her husband’s shock because Fateh did not come alone. He was informed about the wedding by her sister Nimmo and she decided to tag along with Fateh too.
Unlike her expectations, however, Fateh was quiet; almost subdued. He did not make any active plans to disrupt the marriage and she decided to court Biji to her side to keep a check on Nimmo. Problems somewhat settled, the marriage began and Gurpreet heaved a sigh of relief when it ended without much drama.
Fifteen years had passed since that day.
Bauji had passed away six years ago and Biji had soon followed. Being the only elders in the family now, Khushveer often drifted towards her companionship and slowly they began to rebuild their relationship again.
The best fact in these years was that Fateh and Jasmine had finally divorced each other too. Gurpreet counted that as a blessing. Now, Fateh was much happier and while he was still quieter than before, he was healing too. A few times Gurpreet hinted about him marrying again but apparently, his previous experiences had burnt him off it completely. He refused to marry ever again but soon adopted two young boys from an orphanage. And in their innocent smiles, he began to thrive.
Amrik had a daughter and a son. Her grandchildren were the best part of her new life. Yet, Amrik and her never saw eye to eye again. Unknown to almost all, she knew what lay in his heart, and it had never diminished with years. While he adored his wife and kept her happy; he also named his daughter Tejaswini. Gurpreet did not hold onto false hopes after that.
Mahi and Tejo were the happiest. Tejo’s wedding also birthed another relationship between them for Mahi ended up marrying Tejo’s husband’s younger brother. They lived in the same family home and Mahi finally got Tejo as her sister; this time forever. Their children would spread laughter and shrieks around the house as they kept on playing and running around; their mothers often staring at them as they sat together, reminiscing the past.
And then one day Simran returned to them and her family completed.
Gurpreet Kaur Virk, thus, died a happy woman.
Bade Achche Lagte Hain Naya Season
Bigg Boss 19
Real Estate
