Part 19B
Nahi Doosra Koi Aur Hai
Friday 11 September 2014
Aakash Ganga Society Community Hall
7.30 pm
Ishita stood framed in the doorway. Her glossy raven locks fell past her shoulders, her chiffon sari in Ruhi's favourite colour gave her an air of untouched innocence. But there was something else attached to her. An arm around her shoulder. Abhi's arm.
Then as she stared, Raman started to walk toward them.
"Murugan" Ishita whispered for the umpteenth time that evening. "Murugan, please, please, please, help me."
**********************************************************************************************************
"Friends, your attention please. Ruhi beta, Raman, can you come here"
The loud voice from the speakers stopped Raman in his tracks just before he reached Ishita and Abhi. Bala had desperately pushed Mihir on to the dias, pointing to Raman and the disaster about to explode before everyone. Luckily, Mihir had been able to drag his eyes away from Mihika long enough to understand the situation and had leapt into action.
He stood on the small stage now, practically yelling into the microphone and effectively pulling all eyes towards himself.
Ishita saw Raman hesitate, then with one final smouldering glance at her and Abhi, he turned on his heel and walked to the stage.
Ishita shrugged Abhi's arm from around her, and walked up to her jeeju, a worried look on her face, just as Ruhi came flying up to her, launching herself into her arms.
The next moment everything was forgotten as she picked up the excited little girl, holding her close in a hug.
"Ruhi beta, go onto the stage, go to papa" she whispered to her little daughter.
"Ishima, aap bhi chalo na" Ruhi whispered back, snuggling shyly into her mother's arms {Ishima, you come too}
"Beta, mein kaise? You go" Ishita tried to loosen Ruhi's arms from around her neck and put her down, but Ruhi had other ideas. She held on even tighter and Ishita looked helplessly at Mihir and Raman on the stage.
"Bha...I mean, Ishitaji, aap bhi aaiye please" Mihir said. "Please bring Ruhi."
Egged on by the cheers around her, but deeply aware of Raman's silence. Ishita walked onto the stage, Ruhi in her arms.
The next ten minutes were all about Ruhi. A Dora The Explorer cake was wheeled onto the stage and Ruhi was finally persuaded to get down from Ishita's arms. Ishita edged towards the edge of the stage as Ruhi cut the celebratory cake, but the next moment was dragged back by Ruhi, who after feeding a piece to her father, wanted to feed her mother too.
Then Toshiji and Mr Bhalla were also on stage, hugging their granddaughter and feeding cake to everyone. This time Ishita was able to slip away and she walked over to her jeeju, watching with tears in her eyes as her daughter was fussed over by her family.
"Ishu" Bala nudged her, noticing the tears glistening in her eyes.
"Haan jeeju" Ishita hastily blinked back her tears, turning a smiling face to her brother in law.
"Ishu, you guys have to tell everyone now. You saw how Raman reacted to Abhi. How long can you keep this up? And Ruhi needs you with her. It's too much to expect her to keep this sort of secret."
"I know jeeju, I can't do this anymore either"
"Can't do what?" Ishita gasped and turned around. Abhi had come up behind them and was standing looking at her quizzically.
"Can't do what Ishita?" He asked again, with a smile.
Abhi toh party shuru hui hai
Loud music ripped through the hall as Romi cranked up the sound system. The younger partygoers had converted the space in front of the stage into a dance floor and were dancing energetically.
The noise allowed Ishita to escape having to give Abhi an answer, and she looked gratefully towards Romi. The gratitude turned to horror moments later though, as the sight of the dancers put ideas in Abhi's head.
"Dance, Ms Iyer?" Abhi put out his hand.
"No, Abhi, sorry, I can't dance" Ishita shook her head decisively, her eyes searching for Raman.
"Why not kanna?" Mrs Iyer had materialised bedside them. "Go and dance with Abhi. You love dancing at home. Go, po po."
The music had changed now, from the loud dance beats to a simple Nineties ballad.
Tu pyar hai kisi aur ka
Tujhe chahta koi aur hai
Tu pasand hai kisi aur ka
Tujhe maangta koi aur hai
"Amma please" Ishita said desperately even as Abhi grabbed her hand pulling her forcefully onto the dance floor.
"Abhi no" she was repeating as Abhi locked his hands with hers, pulling her into a waltz pose.
Kaun apna hai
Kaun begaana hai
Kya haqeeqat hai
Kya fasaana hai
Yeh zamaane mein kisne jaana hai
Ishita looked desperately around and her eyes spotted her husband.
Raman was standing a few metres away from her, his hands clutching a glass, his eyes boring into hers. As she watched, he drained his drink and gestured to a passing waiter for another.
Tu nazar mein hai kisi aur ki
Tujhe dekhta koi aur hai
Raman was seething as he watched his wife in Abhi's arms. He could sense how unhappy she was, see how uncomfortable she looked, how she struggled to keep that man away, even as her mother pushed them together. He knew this was not her fault. They had created this mess together, fuelled by their circumstances and their realities.
And yet, he felt an irrational anger towards Ishita. She was his, dammit, his alone. How could she let that Raghav touch her, dance with her. He wanted to go and wrench her out of Raghav's arms, to clasp her possessively to himself, seal her lips with his, brand her as his in front of this entire roomful of people. But this was Ruhi's night. He could not create a scene here. Not here. Not now.
Pyar mein aksar aisa hota hai
Koi hasta hai
Koi rota hai
Koi paata hai
Koi khoota hai
Tu jaan hai kisi aur ki
Tujhe jaanta koi aur hai
Ishita stood still within Abhi's arms, her eyes locked on Raman. Around them other couples danced. The excited looking Mr & Mrs Bhalla, a worried looking Bala and Vandita, Mihika and Romi and many others waltzed past.
But all Ishita could see was her husband. She could see the anger mixed with pain in his eyes, she saw the way he stood, holding himself tautly. She knew he was burning inside and she wished, she wished desperately that she could go to him, to reassure him in front if everyone that she belonged to him alone.
Sochti hoon mein chup rahoon kaise
Dard dil ka mein yeh sahoon kaise
Kashmakash mein hoon
Ye kahoon kaise
Mera humsafar bas ek tu
Nahi doosra koi aur hai
"Ishita, what's wrong?"
Abhi had been persistently questioning Ishita, but she could not move, could not dance. Her eyes stayed fixed on Raman, as he drained the second drink, then turned on his heel and left the hall.
Ishita stifled a sob, and again wrenched herself out of Abhi's arms.
"Abhi, I'm sorry" she whispered, moving rapidly away from the dance floor, towards the door.
Ruhi was busy with Shravu and the other children, and Ishita could see both Simi and Rinki fussing over her. Ruhi would be okay, it was Raman she needed to be with now.
Ishita knew she needed to talk to Raman, needed to end this charade. Granted, they hadn't been able to prepare their families for the truth, but this situation with Abhi was getting out of hand. She was Raman's wife. She was Mrs Raman Bhalla. To have Abhi hovering over her, to have her amma, her sisters throw them together, it was completely untenable. She knew her appa and amma would be very hurt by what she had done, by her deceit, but she couldn't see her husband suffer either.
She had reached the door when Abhi caught up with her.
"Ishita, what is wrong?" he demanded. "Why were you looking at Bhalla like that? What is going on?"
"Abhi, I'll explain later. Right now, I have to do something. Please let me go." Ishita brushed aside Abhi's restraining hand and ran out of the hall.
"Where did he go?" She wondered. "Raman, where are you?" The buzz of her phone interrupted her thoughts and she quickly checked the display.
"I am in my apartment. If you can spare time away from Raghav, can you come here. We need to talk."
Ishita sprinted towards the stairs, unmindful of Abhi watching her.
Raman needed her. And she needed to see him. To tell him what she wanted. That the whole world know their truth. That she was Mrs Bhalla. Mrs Raman Bhalla.
*****************************************************************************************************************
Mihika had been dancing with Romi but her eyes had as always been searching for Mihir's reactions.
He had been watching her with a puppy dog face earlier, but then he had suddenly jumped onto the stage, and it wasn't until the formalities were over that she was able to manoeuvre herself back into his sphere again.
She watched him now as he stood near Raman Bhalla, who was gulping back drink after drink. "Periamma is right" Mihika thought, wrinkling her nose in disgust. "That guy is a drunk. Who is he looking at so intently though?"
She turned around in Romis arms and was shocked to see that Raman Bhalla"s eyes were fixed on her akka. And Ishu akka was staring back at him. As Mihika watched, Raman Bhalla gave a last anguished look at her akka and then stalked out of the hall.
Mihika looked on in horror as her akka also ran out of the hall, Abhi jeeju behind her. She pushed Romi away and ran to the door, in time to see her akka disappear around the corner, Abhi jeeju staring after her, perplexed.
"Jeeju, what happened?" She asked.
"Mihika, I don't know. Ishu said she would tell me later. I think she went after Bhalla. Mihika, I'm worried about her. I don't know why she's behaving like this..."
"Jeeju, don't worry. Akka hates that Raman Bhalla. I'm sure it's something about Ruhi. He must've done something again and Akka must know about it. You don't worry. I'll go and talk to her."
And Mihika also walked out of the hall.
**********************************************************************************************************
Mihir had walked off the stage after the formalities had ended, one eye looking for Mihika, the other fixed on his Bhai.
Bala had told him what the problem was. That Abhi. He just hoped that Raman Bhai didn't do anything stupid in front of everyone, but he knew, had seen just how much in love Bhai was with Ishita Bhabhi, and he could understand the jealousy that Raman Bhai must be feeling. It was the same sort of feeling that he had whenever he saw Mihika flirting with that idiot Romi.
Mihir spotted his Bhai standing in a corner and went to stand next to him. His Bhai was watching the couples on the dance floor, and as he had feared, Ishita Bhabhi was dancing too, with Abhi. Or actually, Ishita Bhabhi was standing still on the dance floor staring back at Bhai, while Abhi attempted to dance with her.
He was just moving to speak to his Bhai when the persistent ring of the telephone interrupted him. It was Mr Mehta's assistant. Mihir was still speaking to him when he saw Raman storm off, followed by Ishita, and then Mihika.
As he disconnected the call, he too rushed off. There was an emergency. He and Bhai would have to leave for Mumbai now. But before that he wanted Raman and Ishita to have some time together, to resolve the anguish he saw in both their faces. That meant he had to head off Mihika.
And so Mihir too rushed off out the door.
**********************************************************************************************************
Tu pyar hai kisi aur ka
Tujhe chahta koi aur hai
Tu pasand hai kisi aur ka
Tujhe maangta koi aur hai
Kaun apna hai
Kaun begaana hai
Kya haqeeqat hai
Kya fasaana hai
Yeh zamaane mein kisne jaana hai
Tu nazar mein hai kisi aur ki
Tujhe dekhta koi aur hai
Pyar mein aksar aisa hota hai
Koi Hasta hai
Koi rota hai
Koi paata hai
Koi khoota hai
Tu jaan hai kisi aur ki
Tujhe jaanta koi aur hai
Sochti hoon mein chup rahoon kaise
Dard dil ka mein yeh sahoon kaise
Kashmakash mein hoon
Ye kahoon kaise
Mera humsafar bas ek tu
Nahi doosra koi aur hai
Part 19C: Aaj Phir Tumpe Pyar Aaya Hai
Edited by Veeann - 10 years ago
Arjun
Sensational South
Current Affairs
4