Firstly this is dedicated to Aru, my girl crush.
Because I love her. She knows it and zyada bhav khati hai
Arunabhi. :) Happy Birthday. I love you.
Shout out to Doc for medical accuracy.
And excuse me for my inadequate take on Ishita. I tried watching two videos on depression. An eight minute one out of the length of fifteen minutes and five minutes of Deepika Padukone. And I couldn't watch in fear that it would get too real for me. So I'm assuming.
And to Anusha for the name of Ishita's doctor.
And Anu for being my bundle of joy.
And Becksy and Vee. For the beta reading Raman's part in the next update.
Next update by afternoon. I just need to make them kiss and talk. The starting and ending bits. I'm not adding them with this update because having someone talk about you and then having the people the spoke about next is plain wierd
Results tomorrow. So will be on a update spree today. The real world knows. Pray for me.
C H A P T E R 1 8 B M A U L A M E R E L E LE M E R I J A A N
It was two am when Raman realised that his thoughts were futile.
That he couldn't be selfish.
He wanted forever. And he had it.
Eternity was a moment that stood forever.
And forever was a moment lost in time.
All they had to do was live well and create such beautiful moments lost time.
Love? Hadn't he been there? Hadn't she been there?
What had love got them? Nothing but heart break!
But was it love, his heart asked.
Whatever it is, it wasn't worth it. It wasn't worth it.
It was weakness. It was weakness that wasn't worth it.
They had come too far to let it all go for some some facade called love that was both exhausting and gullible.
And he too, he had lived this fantasy long enough.
No such thing was ever happening to him.
Love was a combination of companionship, communication, respect, friendship and understanding.
They didn't have the mad passionate love.
They didn't have the romantic love.
But they did have love.
They had the untainted version of it.
They had their tale at it's most beautiful point.
It had always Ishita and Ruhi's tale, and he was gladly accepted by the both of them.
How could he leave him? How could he let go of them when they were the very things he lived for?
He was selfish.
He was utterly selfish when it came to them.
And even in his moment of insanity and stupor did he not love them any less.
They were his girls. The very reason he breathed.
Without them he wouldn't be anything.
The man he was, he was lucky to be by their side
And trapping Ishita? How could he have done that?
If he thought himself to be wise. If he played his strengths.
Ishita played her weaknesses. She tricked you into submission and then had her way.
He should know that.
Ishita was human. She was no goddess his mother or their family made her to be.
She was just another mortal.
He'd have to think twice and then laugh at his stupidity if he ever considered trapping her with Ruhi.
Ruhi was what the both of them needed.
Their soul.
"Papa, it's hot. Garmi ho rahi hai," whined a sleepy Ruhi.
And Raman moved a bit only to realise that his Madrasan was hugging him in her sleep.
It took another five seconds for Ruhi to kick herself in her sleep and wake herself up.
And another minute for her to wiggle out of his embrace and sit on bed snuggled in the comforter. And when Raman got the comforter off her face he was met with his drowsy yet somewhat excited puppy.
"Ru, weren't you feeling hot. Toh, why are you wrapped in a comforter?" he asked his petulant child and she pouted at him.
Five minutes later she climbed on him and started chattering. From where she got all her topics was knowledge beyond him. Only then has he realised that for some reason Ruhi and Ishita looked alike. With their long flowing tresses, to the twinkle in their eyes and that smile that could win anyone over.
"Papa," whined Ruhi as she pushed her tiny arms against his chest, all whilst glaring at him.
And that glare.
So they sat in bed clicking pictures, going through Ruhi's baby pictures and watching videos off YouTube.
And when Ruhi suggested that they wake Ishita up, he had refused.
"Mama can't go back to bed once she wakes up," he had said.
An hour later Ruhi had started falling back to sleep when the credits of Tinkerbell started rolling. And Raman carefully moved out of Ishita's grip. And placed Ruhi in the middle of the bed as he moved away to search for the AC remote. When he successfully decreased the temperature Ruhi and Ishita had occupied the sleeping space and he had too much on his head to fall asleep either. So he walked out closing the door after him.
He had lost himself himself in the premises once after which he mapped the locations out and found his way to one of the balconies. Luckily for him, he found a freezer and stock of beer. And a stash of cigarettes.
He picked a few beer cans and a cigarette.
He plugged in Ishita's iTouch and listened to her playlists. Romi would rather run away to Rome than update Raman's iTouch for him and Raman had too much work to follow the music industry. A playlist and a few songs later Raman texted Romi, demanding that he buy a iTouch and load songs for Raman though the cash routed to him seconds. And Romi replied saying that he would and requesting bhai to go to bed before he called Bhabhi asking her if she was missing a kid somewhere. Follow by Raman texting back for updates, initialising their texting spree.
And when Raman was tempted to smoke he didn't dare to in fear that Ishita would skin him alive.
And Raman was back to having a few moments of peace to himself before life took over in a few hours. Luckily for him, it cost nothing buy a few hours of sleep.
****
"What's this Raman Bhalla's deal?" asked one of Vishwa's friends as they added more wood to the bonfire.
The Iyer balconies alternated with each room. It was a terraced balcony on the upper floor, followed by a balcony on the lower floor, and then a balcony on the upper floor as you moved along the perimeter of the mansion.
"The last time I checked he divorced his wife of six-seven years to marry a medical student. Pulled up court proceedings preventing any media coverage on her. Had a kid a few months. And now she's one of Delhi's top pediatric surgeons. If not one of the only female surgeons to graduate at the top of her class. That girl is impressive."
"She isn't impressive. She's just born right, to a family who could afford to fund her education to marrying into a family who supports her education. You can't have such fate."
"He did make a smart decision, you know. Let go of the socialite who was looked down upon in social circles. And chose the one who could hand and hand with him right before he took over the conglomerate."
"And that both his wife and ex-wife are as different as chalk and cheese. One is a media darling and the other is reclusive doctor. Like the bimbo and the smart one."
"Giving it to them, it does take alot to move from one committed relationship to another. Especially as messed up as theirs. Corporate battles and all that bullshit. And the levels of insecurity is just wow."
"But who would Ishita be if she hadn't moved away? She would be a no name married woman married to that useless Reddy guy. Like, Devyani Reddy demanded Ishita to discontinue her education and Ishita agreed? Or was she forced to agree?
"You think Raman Bhalla and Ishita don't want kids? Ishita has medical issues. You think Meri Ma was started just because Bhalla here decided to cough up cash for a social cause. Meri Ma was initialised to get over the negative press surrounding Raman Bhalla and his family life. When Raman's approval documents of terminating his wife's pregnancy surfaced, the corporate world wondered if it was the same man who stood up for numerous save the girl child campaigns was the same man who approved to terminate his fetus. He hadn't Saif a word. He didn't even clarify himself. He had just walked out. And then there were Ishita and Ruhi. And watching Ruhi interact with him it didn't feel like he was the man to discriminate between genders. So the press dig deeper, Raman Bhalla hadn't met his son in seven years. While his family couldn't stand his ex-wife they adored the Iyer girl he married. His ex-wife who then lived with her boyfriend came to know of his second marriage through the courts. Ishita couldn't stand Raman but was Shagun's ally in the divorce. And her parents finalised her alliance with the tycoon. There were rumors of an affair, of something deeper but no official statements were released. Raman's personal life which was a media circus thanks to his ex-wife was now closesly guarded. Legal documents flung at news houses. And those that had footage on him and the Iyer girl taken under his conglomerate. That simple signed document which simply said that if the pregnancy complicates further the doctors had every right to terminate it with out without the mothers consent sparked something deeper. News channels started digging deeper. Wanting to know the reason behind it, what if he had married a random girl off the streets, what if he was embarrassed of her? What if she was a nobody?"
"And then?"
"Raman Bhalla was married to a doctor. The pediatric surgeon Delhi's medical society had their eyes on. Unlike his ex-wife she was a naive 28 year old actively involved in his circles. She had a brain of her own, and spoke where she had to. It was refreshing. Despite coming from completely opposite communities they stuck to their individual values. She stuck be being an Iyer and he to being a Punjabi. And during cultural functions did you see them mould into each other's cultures. And other than the fact that they probably exchanged families rather than married given their attachment to their respective in-laws. They were the pretty much the normal couple. They did annual days, movie dates, dinner dates, picnics and the normal stuff. There weren't high end securities or nannies. It was just Raman and his wife raising their kids. And the difference between both his kids is so visible, the elder one is a brat riding on wealth and power while the younger one is a sweetheart. Where was I? Yes. The kids. So pretty much the media had nothing on them, they we're clean as clean could get. They were just another couple in love. Another close knot family who were going to be in-laws the second time. Until on one festive night hell broke loose, the media circles in the area reported of an emergency road clearance. Specialists were being flown in, security was up again, the medical strike that night dissolved just like that. It was a high profile thing, to be on alert like that. And then flew in Geeta Sivakumar, ironically she was the one to sign the consent papers. And an unconscious Ishita Bhalla was hospitalised that night. All she had done was fasted for the function without anyone's knowledge and I haven't ever seen Raman so furious. It was as if he was blaming himself for what had happened. She was shifted to the ICCU unit under critical motoring for days together. And hungry for news we eavesdropped, she was rediagonised with what she had been six or seven years ago, hormonal imbalance and adhesions of fallopian tubes due to childhood TB which could lead to infertility. Geeta worried more about her family's reaction rather than the diagnosis, the family she was born into pushed her away the first time there were chances of the diagnosis, and now that it showed up again she was worried on how her husband and in-laws would react. Her husband didn't flinch, he just requested to start on whatever treatment was needed. All that he needed was her to be safe and out of any danger. Her in-laws signed her consent forms instead of her parents who were away. And nothing had changed between them, revelations that could tear couples together for decades apart, to be diagnosed with the same thing not once but twice despite it being a wild guess rather than a confirmed diagnosis. They took it well, other than Raman screaming at her for paying attention to superstitions rather than her health and him her smiling at him without a word said. And obviously her mother-in-law coming and pulling at Raman's ear for not giving her daughter-in-law a break even when she was sick. They were pretty much the safe. So our team followed them further, nothing had changed. Other the fact that Ishita had a security entail and doctors on call. She still kept on her inhumane work hours. Still struggled to save kids and despite that managed everything in her life. Maybe that's what kept her sane. The work, stress and security that it gave her. And then did I realise she was Vishwa's baby sister."
"It wasn't like they could split up," said another, "She was betrothed and he married when they got together. He finalised his divorce proceedings because his father had decided to gather married, and her father agreed. Their mothers weren't really supportive of the decision. It wasn't like they had a normal relationship. But then they had the kid to think about. They had a kid they were responsible for. He wasn't really the man you want your daughter to man, and she was a spitfire. They were pitting fire against fire."
"I don't think Ishita suffers from any condition, and even if she does, it's different for her. We are no Raman Kumar Bhalla to cough up lakhs or colors in the name of surrogacy."
"And don't even bring this up, true or not, Ishita is the daughter and daughter-in-law of affluent families. They won't take such allegations lightly, "
"But there is one thing, Subramanian is a huge fart, wimp of the first order. He still chases after her when she doesn't even look at him," laughed one of the ladies causing the rest of the group to laugh along.
****
And from two balconies away Vishwa spotted Raman all by himself. And as the guys and girls with him prepared to call it night, Vishwa was tempted to call Raman for a guys night. He was going to leave until he spotted his baby sister.
Ishita had walked to her husband all whilst giving him the look asking him if he was serious at the moment.
She had then proceeded to hug him around the waist as he placed a light peck on her forehead.
This was going to be one long night.
Anupamaa
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