Part 18C
Tum Dena Saath Mera
Wednesday 9 September 2015
Mayur Vihar Housing Society
8.00pm
Ishita stood on the balcony of her parents apartment, watching out for Raman's car. She had spent the past hour with Ruhi, playing with her and helping her with her homework until Rinky had finally come to take her home for bedtime.
"Bhai abhi bhi nahi aaye Bhabhi" she had whispered before she left. {Bhai still hasn't come Bhabhi}
Ishita had tried calling Raman in the afternoon, but his phone had been switched off. She knew he was busy, but she worried about him in this emotional state.
"Akka" Mihika was calling out to her and Ishita reluctantly gave up her watch and went inside.
She had been ready for a grilling from Mihika when she came home on Sunday, but Mihika had been angry with Mihir for going out without her that day and so Ishita had been spared questions, happily listening to a diatribe about Mihir instead. And in the past days, Mihika had been busy with a work project, so luckily Ishita had been spared her cousins probes.
Abhi was another kettle of fish though. Since the day of her wedding to Raman, when he had agreed to wait until 1 October to get engaged to her, Abhi had been calling her up daily, but happily for Ishita, some serious issues had developed with his Singapore project, and he had had to go there for a few days.
He would be back by Friday night though, and so from Saturday, the whole rigmarole would begin again.
Abhi trying to get close to her, she trying to avoid him, his persistence, her guilt. And in all this, Raman.
She had seen Raman's vulnerability today. She had experienced his possessiveness over the weekend. How would all this work out? Hopefully the case conference would go well on Friday, and they would be able to sort out Ruhi's custody before Abhi's return. Then even if the cat did get out of the bag, it wouldn't matter. Ruhi would be with them, and they could weather their families disapproval and anger as long as they were together.
"Please Murugan" she whispered. "Let everything go well on Friday. Please let the judge see that Ruhi belongs with Raman, with us. Don't let my Raman get hurt any more. Please please Murugan"
"Akka" Mihika called again.
"Haan, coming Mikku" Ishita gave one last desperate look into the night and then walked inside.
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Khanna Mansion
9.00 pm
"Ashok, you're drunk"
"Well then what else do you expect me to be, you stupid woman"
Shagun compressed her lips into a thin line as she stared angrily at her husband. She had left for her Blunt India stylist appointment straight from court and had then gone shopping, picking up 5 new designer leopard print saris in various colours.
She had been in such a happy mood, with her new hair style and her new clothes, and then to come home to this. This drunk angry man spewing abuse at her. And that too in the presence of his lawyer.
"How dare you Ashok?" she hissed. "Ruhi wouldn't come to me. What was I supposed to do? I did what you said. I used the occasion to put the blame on Raman and his family, to show how they had turned Ruhi against me. What else could I do?"
"You could have kept your mouth shut, that's what you could have done" Ashok shouted, crashing his wine glass down on the coffee table before him. It splintered and Shagun flinched back.
"I am not going to talk to you when you're being this nasty Ashok" she shouted back. " I don't care about this case. I don't want Ruhi here all the time. Let her stay with that loser Raman and his behenji wife. I just don't care"
She gave one last furious look at both Raman and the lawyer and flounced from the room, her head held high. "God" she thought. "Ashok and his dramas. If only I hadn't signed that pre-nup, I could be rid of him and take his money too. Thank God I had my Valium prescription filled. I'm going to need it tonight."
Back in the lounge, Ashok stared at his lawyer.
"So that's still your advice is it Gupta. Withdraw the case"
"Either that or be ready to lose Mr Khanna" the lawyer responded quietly. "After the way that things went on in the case assessment today, I would be astounded if the case worker even recommended unsupervised access for Mrs Khanna, let alone custody. And if Mrs Khanna continues to be so obviously disinterested, the things will get worse."
"I told you to buy that social worker, that Mrs Singh. Why hasn't that happened?"
"Mr Khanna, she is a principled woman. She is well thought of, I've made enquiries about her. If we try to bribe her, she will go straight to the judge and the police. You can't buy everyone. We either withdraw this case, or we lose. I've known you for a long time , so I'm going to be frank with you. No matter how much information you have about Raman Bhalla's womanising and his drinking, they will find just as much about you. And his wife is a simple middle class girl. Her previous engagement may have been broken, but there's no scandal about her. But your wife created a scandal when she left Raman Bhalla for you. Without his second marriage we had a chance. If your wife showed any maternal feelings, we would have a chance. But now he is married, Ruhi has a stepmother, and that stepmother was more of a mother to her today than her own mother. No, there's no way around this. If we continue with this application, we will lose"
"I will not lose to Raman Bhalla again" Ashok shouted. "Not after the Malhotra debacle. This was a huge mistake Gupta. I should've known that Shagun wouldn't be able to pull this off. No, I will not lose. Withdraw the application. Tell the court that my wife is so distraught at how much her daughter has been turned against her, that she can't continue with the case right now."
"Fine Mr Khanna, I'll file the papers in court on Friday."
"There is more than one way to skin a cat Gupta" Ashok said slowly, picking up the bottle of wine before him,and swigging straight from it. "I may not be able to win this one in Court, but I'll make Raman's life hell in other ways"
"What are you planning Mr Khanna?"
"You'll find out Gupta. You'll find out. All in good time."
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Mayur Vihar Housing Society
11.00 pm
Ishita sat in the darkened lounge of her apartment, her phone in her hand. She had pretended to be asleep until she heard Mihika's even breathing signalling sleep, then had crept out of the bedroom to sit here.
She had been texting Raman all evening, but he had not responded. She had tried calling, but his phone had been switched off. Mihir had not been reachable as well, and her worries had escalated.
Now though, she felt her phone vibrate and she hurriedly looked at it. It was a text message. From him
"I'm outside"
Ishita ran to the door and threw it open.
Raman stood by the door, his eyes bloodshot, his face exhausted. Ishita swiftly closed the foot behind her and launched herself into her husbands arms. His arms closed around her as he buried his face in her hair.
Ishita pulled away. "Raman" she exclaimed. "Aap pee rahe theh?" {Raman, were you drinking?}
"Just a bit Ishita" he murmured, pulling her into the shadows of the staircase. "We were at meetings all afternoon, and then Mihir and I just... "
"Raman, aap..."
"Shhh, just hold me please" he nestled into her arms again, his hands tightening around her as she held him close.
"Is Ruhi okay?" He asked some moments later.
"Yes, Raman, she's fine. I helped her with her homework and then she went home with Rinki" She smoothed his hair, then pulled away slightly, cupping his face in her hands, kissing him gently on one cheek.
"Did she speak about ... the court, about ...Shagun" His voice was hesitant.
"Just once, to say that she didn't want to see her."
"Ishita, what if the court orders access for Shagun, or what if...what if..."
"Raman, sweetheart, nothing of the sort will happen. I have a good feeling about this. Trust me, please"
He smiled at her through his fears. "Thank you" he said, drawing her back into his arms. "For everything you did today, for keeping me together, for being there for Ruhi. I don't know what I would've done without you."
"You don't have to thank me Raman" she said against his chest. "We're a family aren't we? I'm Ruhi's mum, aren't I?"
"I don't know what's happened to me" he whispered. "I was calming you down before and now...now I just want to take Ruhi and you and escape somewhere, somewhere no one can tear her away, where we can be together. I don't know why I've become so weak today. But thank you, thank you for being my strength."
"We're each other's strength Raman" she whispered back. "And we always will be."
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Jab koi baat bigaad jaaye
Jab koi mushkil padh jaaye
Tum dena saath mera
O humnawaz
Na koi hai na koi tha
Zindagi mein tumhare siwa
Tum dena saath mera
O humnawaz
Ho chandani jab tak raat
Deta hai har koi saath
Tum magar andheron mein
Na chodna mera haath
Dil ko mere hua yakeen
Hum pehle bhi miley kahin
Silsila ye sadiyoon ka
Koi aaj ki baat nahi
Jab koi baat bigaad jaaye
Jab koi mushkil padh jaaye
Tum dena saath mera
O humnawaz
Part 18D: itti Si Hansi - pg 80
Edited by Veeann - 10 years ago
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