||02||
Ruhi stormed out of the Poddar mansion, her chest heaving with frustration and hurt, her nostrils flaring in anger and eyes blood red. The biting winter air stung her cheeks but it was nothing compared to the pain in her heart.
Unlocking the car, she sat on the driver's seat. The memory of her accident that caused her to loose her baby flashed before her eyes and for a minute she froze. Shutting her eyes close, Ruhi took a deep breath and started the car without a destination in mind.
She drove through the streets keeping her emotions in control, hoping to find a place where she could simply let it out and an hour later, she found herself back at the park behind her old school. Stepping out of the car, Ruhi walked over to that old banyan tree, finally letting go of her control over her emotions.
Loud sobs wrecked through her body as the argument replayed in her mind, sharp as a broken glass.
━━━━━━━R-A━━━━━━━
"How could you be so reckless?" Ruhi shouted, her voice trembling with both anger and fear as she watched Abhira apply ointment to treat the horrible bruises on the baby Daksh's tiny body, "First you took a newborn to the court risking serious infections and diseases, then you took him out in the cold and if that wasn't enough, you performed all kinds of stunts with the baby after you put his life in danger!"
Hearing her, Abhira cries turned louder but she still had that ever defiant look in her eyes as she argued, "I didn't do anything wrong, Ruhi! I know what I am doing so stop interfering like you are his mother! You are not, I am! Daksh is my baby and not yours!"
Everybody froze hearing Abhira's response whose face changed when she was done speaking. The defiant look melted away and was replaced by guilt and sympathy that pricked Ruhi's heart more than Abhira's words.
The baby's soft cries echoes in Ruhi's ears and she looked at the fragile little being who was hurting because of fever and the bruises which were a result of Abhira's reckless actions.
She turned towards her family for support, hoping that they would understand her concerns but they dismissed them all, telling her that she was overreacting and that Abhira as Daksh's mother knows what is best for her son.
Feeling suffocated and unheard, Ruhi left the Poddar mansion to spend some time alone.
━━━━━━━R-A━━━━━━━
Ruhi fidgeted with the hem of her saree, twisting it between her fingers as she sat on the bench crying her heart out. Daksh's cries pained her heart and kept on reminding her of the baby that she lost. Also, no matter how much she hated Abhira and acted to not care about the baby, she couldn't fault that sweet child for what had happened to her.
Oh, how she wished she could go back in time and save her Matashree. If she had been with her, everything would have been fine. But she wasn't and Ruhi wasn't fine at all.
"Rough day?" a deep, familiar voice distracted her from her thoughts.
She turned to see a man, the same man from the day when she had come here to celebrate Abhir's birthday, sitting beside her. His slightly curly hair were messy yet somehow stylish, his dark eyes troubled and filled with curiosity.
His familiar yet unfamiliar presence made her restless for reasons she could not pinpoint.
"Who are you?" she asked sharply, eyeing him suspiciously.
Abhir smirked and was about to say something but Ruhi did not let him as she said, "If you are going to tell me that you are the man I gave that cake slice too a few days back, then don't because I know."
He couldn't help but chuckle thinking about how his Ruhi Chuhi hadn't changed at all, "Rudra, Rudra Sharma." Abhir used his stage name to introduce himself for he did not want to reveal his identity to Ruhi.
Ruhi frowned, suspicion still evident in her eyes, "Should I know you?"
Abhir's smirk faltered, replaced by genuine disbelief that Ruhi wasn't aware of him. Him, Rudra the rock-star, "You don't know me?"
Ruhi made a dismissive face rattling Abhir, "Ha! You really don't know who I am? Rockstar Rudra?"
Seeing that Ruhi still didn't recognize his famous, alter persona, Abhir continued, "Rudra, the main singer of the Gold Driftt Beats band?! The one and only with sold-out concerts, million fans? Ringing any bells?"
"Nope." Ruhi's curst reply only deepened his shock.
"You are kidding, right!" he said laughing lightly, "Ek Duje Ke, That's How You Do It, Riding Storms, Hamesha Forever?" he started listing his most famous songs hoping that his sister might recognize him but she did not.
"What are you saying?" Ruhi shook her head in annoyance and wiped the traces of tears from her face. "Do I have to know you?"
Abhir looked at her appalled but Ruhi continued, "Listen, sorry to burst your bubble, but I don't keep up with rock-stars. Or celebrities, for that matter."
Making a pouty face, Abhir huffed in annoyance, "How is that responsible?!"
Ruhi head him and couldn't stop the smile that curved upon her lips, "Responsible? You mean, 'possible'."
Rolling his eyes, Abhir mimicked the way Ruhi used to respond at such times, "Wahi, wahi." earning a surprised glance from Ruhi before she burst into peals of laughter.
Instead of feeling offended, Abhir smiled happily seeing his Ruhi Chuhi laugh, "Wow! You are a rare find, you know. Not many people can bruise my ego like that."
"Well, glad to be of service." responded Ruhi while laughing.
"Ah!" she sighed and stopped laughing but the smile on her face did not vanish. The banter felt oddly comfortable, almost sibling-like, almost like she and Abhir used to share. For a moment, it distracted her from the weight pressing on her heart.
"So," Abhir said after a beat, his tone soft and gentle, "What's got you so upset?"
Ruhi glanced at him before turning her head away, remaining silent so Abhir continued, "I am not going to force you to tell me anything but I just wanna say that I am a stranger and I would not judge you over anything. I am here to listen to your side of story so you can vent if you want."
"Why?" asked Ruhi after a few seconds of silence to which Abhir responded with, "No particular reason."
As she looked at him hoping for an actual explanation, Abhir said, "Isn't this how humanity works? I mean shouldn't we all help each other out and -"
Ruhi let out a chuckle on listening to his explanation. It sounded lame but genuine at the same time. She hesitated for a second but something about his genuine expression coaxed her up to speak.
"It's complicated. Family stuff." her voice was barely above a whisper.
"Family's always complicated." commented Abhir in a low and understanding voice, "So, what happened?"
Ruhi sighed, the dam of her emotions cracking as she began telling him her story. She told him about how she had lost her father before she was born and how her Maatashree and Poppy raised her with love and care.
Abhir continued to listen to her with a fond and nostalgic smile on his face as she told him about her Akshu maasi and Billa Boy. But that smile vanished the moment Ruhi started recalling Aarohi's death and the events that followed.
He hated that Ruhi still blamed his mother for the accident but continued to listen to her side of story as he had promised.
"Could you even call that an accident when it clearly happened because of Akshu maasi's negligence? She herself accepted that she is responsible for my Maatshree's death so how could I not hold her responsible and hate her?" Ruhi cried.
"She and Poppy had promised my Maatashree that they would take care of me, look after me but both of them left me the very next day!" Abhir wanted to say something but kept quiet while Ruhi continued despite her initial hesitation.
"People think that I still had my family members with me but can great-grandparents fill that emptiness in one's life that is created after a child looses their parents?!" Ruhi questioned, "Maasi didn't just leave, she took my Poppy and my brother with her. How is that fair?"
Now that he was older, a mature adult man, Abhir could understand what Ruhi must have felt at that time. He understood her anger because it was similar to his own. If he can hold his Buddy for the death of his parents and his younger sibling then Ruhi's hate towards Akshu was reasonable too.
"They abandoned me and I am expected to forgive them. Ha!" Ruhi chuckled mirthlessly, "And you know what? My Akshu maasi had been alive all this time, living not too far away but never dared to come back. She didn't even try to meet me or P-Nanu and Nani when we went to Mussoorie last year."
Abhir's eyes widened as he raised his head to look at Ruhi, "We all went to Mussoorie last year and stayed in the resort that Akshu maasi owned. She saw us, she knew that we were there but she stayed hidden."
"What are you saying?!" he could not believe his ears that his mother whom he believed to be dead for the past 23 years was actually alive.
Ruhi sniffled, "Yeah. She was there and so was her daughter, my so called cousin and now sister-in-law, Abhira."
Abhir’s hands clenched into fists. He felt a strange mix of horror and rage as the last memories that he had of Akshu, the horrible memories of his life so far that he had spent mourning and grieving played like a movie in front of his eyes and in a loop while Ruhi continued, "She passed away last year though."
Unaware of the storm raging inside Abhir, Ruhi revealed, "Armaan, my husband's brother, was there when Akshu maasi passed away. She had Armaan and Abhira get married."
The revelation hit Abhir like a thunderclap, shaking the very foundation of his existence. For years, he had mourned the death of his mother, carrying the weight of that loss with him, never once questioning the finality of her absence.
But now, after listening to the truth, everything he had known to be real crumbled beneath him. His mother had been alive all this time, raising another child, his half-sister, in the warmth of her motherly embrace while he was left to survive alone. The revelation hit him like a cold gust of wind, seeping into his bones, freezing him in place.
that was so sweet she celebrates abhirs bday and refuse to think hes dead.
In this one I am taking the same Abhir that the makers gave us
Hindi TV Shows
28