Badi Dadi = Devyani (Naira and Naksh's dadi)
Dadi = Suhasini if said by Keerti or Kartik (Krish and Janhvi would call her Nani)
After the hug, she gave Akshara her hand and helped her into the car. When she lifted Akshara's arm to put the seatbelt over her, she was transported back to Naira's funeral, where she held her didi's hand one last time. Akshara's hand felt like dead weight, limp and lifeless.
Through the rearview window, she snuck glances at Akshara. Their car jumped a little over the railway tracks and croaked when she turned the ac on, but nothing got a rise out of Akshara. Akshara sat in the back of the truck, swaying with every shift and turn. What caught her eye was the lack of a mangalsutra around Akshara's neck. She remembered her Papa apologizing profusely to Nanu on behalf of their family for not attending Akshara's wedding. They were in Bengaluru at the time, attending her conference. The glint in her Maa's eyes filled her with bliss as they watched her present. The giant hug from Krish almost smothered her, but she wouldn't have it any other way.
"Maa, Badi Dadi, hum aa gaye" Akshara couldn't care what house her Di led her into. She just held onto her Di and kept her head low.
"Jhanvi, aap itni jaldi aa gayi?" Her (Devyani) badi dadi was busy setting up their dining table for dinner.
"Badi Dadi, woh-"
"Ab aap aa hi gaye ho toh palak paneer khani ho gayi koi excuses nahi," Badi Dadi said without looking up from her place at the head of the table.
"Akshu?" Maa's voice brought Akshara back to reality.
"Bhua," Akshara ran into Maa's arms and cried her heart out. She shrugged when she saw her Badi Dadi's questioning glance. I didn't know where else to take Akshara, she wanted to say.
...
Qismat ke khel bade anokhe hai. Ek waqt tha jab Keerti ka Krish Naira ke godh mein tha, aur ab, Naira ki Jhanvi Keerti ke paas.
Jhanvi Naira ki zindagi mein yaadon ki barsaat leke ayi thi. Uska toofani jazba dekh kar Naira ka bachpan, uski Tina, laut aa gaya. Agar Naira Parvati thi, toh Jhanvi bani Ganesh ji; ek pal mein Naira ko apni duniya bana diya. Aur badle mein Naira bani uski raksha kavanch.
Par jab Naira na rahi, toh Jhanvi ko Goenka's ki aag se koyi na bacha paya. Kartik kahan se koshish karta, jab uski jaan Naira ke saath iss duniya se chali gaya.
For the month after Naira's demise, Kairav and Jhanvi stood by Kartik's sides as pillars of strength. At Naira's funeral, she rested a steadying hand on Kartik's arms while Kairav took charge of Akshu. He ran to Akshu's side at her smallest whimper while Jhanvi helplessly witnessed the family scramble for strength. After that first month, everyone fell into a role to hold things together, but Kartik grew recluse. At most, Kartik could cradle Akshu or caress Kairav's hair as they grieved together. With each growing day, Jhanvi fell into the shadows, only acknowledged when Suhasini needed an outlet to burst on. Somehow, Jhanvi always did something wrong in her eyes.
"Jhanvi, theek se betho. Apna posture theek karo. Jhanvi yeh Jhanvi woh," uska jeena itna muskil kar diya ki hostel jane ke liya maan gayi.
A few months later, Krish ran into the Singhania house, carrying a bundle of balloons and a big fat envelope. "Mama, Papa, Badi Dadi, Bhabhi Maa! Sab aao!" He hollered, throwing his Dada ji's newspaper in the air.
"Kya hua Krish? Aap itna shor kyun macharahe ho?" Naksh asked.
"Papa, mujhe admission mil gayi Collin's Academy ke cricket program mein! 4 months of me in Manali! Papa, can you believe it?" Krish bounced.
"Krish, aap pure summer ke liya ghar se bahar, hume acha ni laghta" Bhabhi Maa said.
"Haan beta, tum aangon mein hi khel lo na cricket," Badi Dadi insisted.
Keerti went through the acceptance package, with Naksh glancing over her shoulder. "Krish, iss mein kuch khaas nahi-"
"This is a great idea Krish," Keerti interrupted her husband.
"What?" Her family looked at her aghast.
"Trust me," she met her husband's gaze, "this will be a great opportunity."
Krish's excitement over Manali wore off by his second week at Collin's academy. He felt defeated with no friends to call his own and an ego that prevented him from confessing to his parents. The players around him seemed to know it all. One was a program veteran who attended for the third year and was a pro with every drill. The others participated in similar elite programs making Krish feel like a novice.
"Hum yahan bait sakti hoon?" asked a sweet voice from behind. When Krish looked back, he found Jhanvi and two other girls, trays of funky canteen food in their hands.
"Of course." Jhanvi broke into a grin.
When Kartik saw the hostel's name on his screen, he freaked out, regretting the day he let his Dadi (Suhasini) send Jhanvi away. 'Yes, she was unhappy with us but was a hostel the answer?' he often asked Keerti and Naksh. Keerti tried to console him, reminding him of how Suhasini stifled her growth as children and how she lashed out at Naira. "Kartik, do you want Jhanvi to live like that? Only be loved when she's abiding by their rules? Hai Dadi ki intentions sahi nahi thee par akhir yehi uske liya better hai" Keerti insisted. To his relief, Jhanvi called about Krish. She saw him sitting in the cafeteria and rushed to the head office to get ahold of Kartik. Jhanvi and Kartik chatted every so often, and with each call, Kartik asked her to come back. She'd always say, 'it isn't the same without Didi,' and Kartik couldn't argue.
At first, Jhanvi's kindness unnerved him, for he, Kairav and Vansh left no stone unturned in making Jhanvi's life at the Goenka's impossible. They didn't want another sibling, they protested. Yet Jhanvi always fulfilled the duties of an older sibling. Jhanvi wouldn't let Krish return to his solitude, nor did he miss it. Her company at his games boosted his confidence. Whenever he missed home, she'd give him her phone booth coins to converse with Vansh and Kairav.
"Di, aap humare saath Udaipur kyun nahi aati?" Krish was packing for his ghar waapsi after tomorrow's match. They worked like a well-oiled machine; Jhanvi took his clothes out of the hangers and Krish folded them into his suitcase. "Collins mein maza hai par pura saal yahan rehna, aapko guttun nahi mehsoos hoti (don't you feel suffocated living here all year)?"
"Gutton toh mujhe wahin hoti thi," she muttered.
"Kya kaha?"
"Kuch nahi. Krish tum yeh sab finish karo main abhi aati hoon."
"Di, wait," he called after her.
It wasn't the first time Jhanvi missed dinner. Whenever Krish brought up Udaipur, Jhanvi would withdraw to herself. Like a wind-up doll, whenever Suhasini and Goenka's were present, she'd morph into someone else. She'd stiffen and straighten her back if they had a video call with the Goenkas. She'd bite her feisty tongue such that only "haanji's" and "okays" were spoken.
"Keerti ji, relax. Sab kuch theek hoga," Naksh dropped a kiss on his wife's forehead before they entered Collins. Keerti was a drummer the entire to Manali. Multiple times, Naksh had to hold Keerti's hands so she'd stop tapping the window with her knuckles in worry. "Agar aaj bhi Krish Jhanvi ko apna na paya toh?"
"Toh aaj hume pata chal jaye ga."
"Krish, you played so well. Try not to let that loss bring you down," Jhanvi consoled Krish after the match. "Haan Krish beta, you were Mama's rockstar," Keerti added.
"Match ka dukh nahi hai."
"Phir?" Keerti asked.
"Main Jhanvi di ko chod kar nahi jaana chata." Krish leap out of Keerti's grasp to hug Jhanvi. "Di, aap bhi aa jao na humare saath?"
"Krish-" Jhanvi tried to fight the idea.
"Jhanvi, Krish sahi keh raha hai. Aap Udaipur waapas aa jao aur humare saath rehna." Naksh said as he sat Krishna down beside him on Krish's bed. They were in the room getting Krish's before leaving. "Hum sab chahte hai ki tum waapas aao."
"Par Suhasini Dadi?"
Keerti sighed. "Jhanvi, Dadi dil ki buri nahi hai, bus kabhi kabhi dusron ke jazbaat samjh nahi paata. Unke aage purane thoughts ko priority deti hai. Main jaanti hoon tum kaisa mehsoos karti ho par hum hai na tumhare saath."
"Kartik Bhaiya ne kya kaha?"
"Kartik ka hi idea tha."
Agar Jhanvi chahti toh woh kab ki hostel se bhag jaati. Orphanage se bhar jaane ka har banana usne asmaya tha aur kamyaab bhi thi kyunki pinjre mein jeene waloon mein si nahi thi woh. Agar uske Kartik Bhaiya ko pata lagta, toh unka dil toot jata, aur woh nahi chahti thi ki asa ho jaye. Jab woh pehli baar Goenka's ka ghar chod kar gayi thi, tab Naira and Kartik ne jee jaan daal di thi usse dund ne ke liya. Whenever Kartik called and asked to visit her at Collins, she quickly made an excuse because if he had come and asked to bring her home, she might not resist. She ached for a home, but it would never be possible with the people there.
It took some convincing. For the first few weeks of the new semester, Jhanvi stayed at the Collins hostel, unwilling to believe that the Singhania's really wanted her. "Kartik Bhaiya ne zaroor unhe manaya hogaya warna woh kyun asa chahenge", she told her friends. But Keerti and Naksh came down every weekend and spent time with her. Krish was dejected when he couldn't come with them because of homework.
"Nahi hote maths humse. Kya fayda hai Pythagoras jaan kar? Baato. Aur humari sir bhi khadoos hai. Kabhi humari help nahi karte," Jhanvi whined on one weekend.
"Jhanvi, ase nahi kehte, bade hai na woh", Keerti rebuked her.
"Main aapke karta hoon maths mein" said Naksh.
"Sachi!" Naksh nodded.
"Par Naksh, agar Jhanvi yahaan hai aur hum Udaipur mein, toh aap kaise help karoge uske homework mein?"
"Keerti aunty," Jhanvi grew rosy as she knew what was coming. She wasn't used to being wanted, not since Naira left.
"You're right. But if Jhanvi comes with us, I can help her whenever she wants aur... Krish ke school ke teachers bhi bade ache hai. Bachon ko aquarium aur museum ko field trips pe leke jaate hai."
"Jhanvi, aap kabhi aquarium gayi ho?"
She shook her head.
"Jhanvi, aa jao humare ghar. Dadi tumhe kuch nahi kahegi aur agar baat bhoj (burden) ki hai toh humare saath aa ke tum hume nuksaan (damage) se bacha rahi ho."
"Woh kaise?" Jhanvi asked.
"Jitne paise hum har hafte yaha aane mein lagate hai, uss mein hum kitna kuch aur kar sakte hain," Naksh and Keerti lashed a tickle attack on Jhanvi until she relented.
The next weekend she was in their house with them, and soon it became her home. Kartik handed over Jhanvi's custody to the Singhania's but he was always there for her big moments.
One night, Kartik and the kids were over at the Singhania's for dinner when a package arrived. Jhanvi ran to the door and danced with the package held tightly to her chest.
"Di, kya aya hai?" Kairav asked, rushing to her side, but she held the paper high.
"Kairav tum nahi khol sakte ise". She ran behind the elders, dodging Kairav's attempts before handing Kartik the envelope. "Kartik Bhaiya, can you please open it?"
Everyone looked at Kartik with anticipation.
"Papa jaldi!" Kairav pestered.
Kartik's eyes grew moist as he read the papers and so did Jhanvi's. "Jannu," he affectionately called out before tightly embracing her. "I love you, beta." The elders smiled in the room, but the children were lost. Jhanvi smiled through her tears before handing Krish the papers.
"I miss her," Jhanvi told Kartik later that night.
"I miss her too."
The papers featured a legal name change certificate where Jhanvi changed her name to Jhanvi Krishna Singhania, with Krishna being the name Naira picked out for her before her first adoption. They couldn't finalize it then, but maybe that was for the best. This time, her identity featured her entire family: her Didi and Bhaiya, who taught her what family felt like and her Keerti Maa and Naksh Papa, that gave her a home forever.
. . .
It wasn't long until Akshara fell asleep in the guest bedroom. Jhanvi took the opportunity to recount how she found Akshara on the streets, leaving the Singhania shocked.
"Naksh, calm down," Keerti snatched her husband's phone before he dialled the Goenka's and unleashed his rage.
"Kaise? Pehle Jhanvi aur ab Akshu ke saath ye salog (treatment)?" Although the Singhania-Goenka relations were rocky in the last decade, Naksh and Keerti trusted them to keep Akshara and Kairav safe.
"Pehle Abhimanyu se baat kar leti hai?" Dadi proposed.
"Nahi. Abhimanyu se koi nahi baat karega," Akshara roared. Akshara could hear her relatives storming in the other room but didn't have the will to move until she heard his name.
"Akshara woh tumhara pati hai"
"Woh mera kuch nahi hai," taking the floors out of the vase and pouring the water over her face. The sindoor washed away like a bloody river, and she smeared the rest off forcefully.
Jai Shri Krishna everyone. Krishna is a beautiful name for so many reasons but with Krish being her new adopted brother, it was getting tiring to write so I decided to make that her middle name instead of her adopted name (in the show, her name went from bittu to chori to Krishna).
So I'm trying to write more in Hindi (or well Hindi with English characters and English) so it's taking me a while to find my groove.
With ITV having so many episodes, they sometimes leave many tracks open and it bothers me quite a bit so this chapter was more for me. It was a way for me to write Krishna's story because we never quite learned what happened to her after Naira's death nor did we see the Singhania's. So with this chapter and exploring her bond with Akshu (should I continue), I get to explain that in my way which is exciting :)
in the show, they kind of forced Krishna on the Kairav and the rest of the boys, rather than let their bond grow organically. In my opinion that was a terrible approach and while mine isn't the best with Jhanvi and Krish, I wanted to give them more time without any expectations. Krish didn't know that Keerti agreed for the camp so he could bond with Jhanvi and thus, facilitate a later adoption.
Do comment your thoughts and I'll do my best to deliver in the future.
Pati Patni Aur Panga
Kumkum Bhagya
4