124. Recalling Arnav (Part 22-)

Part 22

“Amma, did Arnavji return home?” Khushi phoned her mother from her sweet shop.

“No, Khussi.”

“He went early in the morning,” Khushi grumbled, worried. “It is late noon now. Where is he?”

“He will come back, Khussi,” Garima consoled her.

“Pata nahi if he has had his lunch or not,” Khushi fretted. “And Gopalganj is not so far away that he needs half a day to tavel to and fro.”

“Khussi!” Garima warned her. “Don’t worry. When Arnav bitwaa finishes his work, he will return.”

“Yes,” Khushi cut the call, not really convinced.

A while later she looked at her phone. She could call Arnavji. But she didn’t have his number.

She called home again.

“Amma, is Anjaliji there?” Khushi asked. 

“Yes,”

“Can you call her to the phoone?” Khushi requested. “I need to get Arnavji’s number from her.”

Arnav’s phone rang.

“Arnav Singh Raizada here,” he said formally.

“I know it is you,” Khushi laughed. “Will Jiju pick up your phoone?”

 

“Khushi,” Arnav’s voice melted, the huskiness pronounced. It was as though she had heard his unspoken plea and touched him from miles apart.

Sunehri who was packing, looked at him, astounded at the change in his tone.

“Arnavji, is your meeting over?” Khushi asked.

“Yes,” he sighed.

“When are you coming back?” she asked.

“I have to be here for a few more hours. I will get there by night,” Arnav said.

“Did you have lunch?”

“No,”

“Arnavji!” Khushi protested.

“I will have it,” he promised.

“Promise?” she asked.  

“Promise,” he said.

“Arnavji, if I am asleep when you get back, will you wake me up?” Khushi asked.

“You want me to?” he asked.

“Yes,” she said. “Otherwise I will worry.”

Arnav swallowed. “I will,” he said softly.

“Acha, hum phoone rakhte hein,” Khushi smiled.

“I will see you tonight,” Arnav smiled.

Sunehri left the room to pack Asha’s clothes, smiling.

 “Khushi, this phone number…?” Arnav asked.

“It is my new phoone, Arnavji. Buaji said my old one is missing,” Khushi sighed. “Otherwise I could have called all the contacts in my old phoone and maybe that would have helped me remember my past.”

Arnav swallowed. “I will see you tonight.”

“Ji. Hum phoone rakte hein,” Khushi smiled.

“Who is that?” Sunehri who had returned to get a bag, asked timidly, too struck by the change in Arnav to withhold her curiosity.

Arnav smiled softly. “Khushi.”

“Your…wife?” she guessed.

“My wife,” Arnav said with conviction.

Sunehri smiled.

Arnav said, “I—I will just go out and buy lunch for all of us. Aman will be here soon.”

“I will finish packing,” Sunehri said smiling slightly.

Arnav parked his car before Gomti Sadan late at night and sat thinking.

Should he or should he not tell his family the truth about Sunehri? His instinct was to tell all, but his Nani and his Di would be very hurt. How would they react to the news of Asha’s existence?

  

He thought of everything that had happened till then, the web of lies that his father and Chacha had woven, a web that had trapped his Mama and Garima aunty…the coil that Shyam’s lies had created, lies that had almost destroyed many lives and had given indescribable pain to the victims.

‘No, no more lies,’ Arnav decided. ‘It is better to know the truth even if it bitter. What is the use of letting Di live in a dream world when the reality is waiting at her doorstep to pounce on her?’

He alighted from the car and slowly entered the courtyard on soft feet.

The Raizada ladies and the Guptas were sitting on cots, chatting. Akash, NK & Mamaji had returned to Delhi on a lightning visit.

Khushi jumped up from her seat.

“Arnavji,” she called, smiling. “Aap aa gaye! I will get dinner for you,” she ran to the kitchen.

“Khushi didn’t go to bed?” Arnav asked the others It was way past her bedtime.

“She refused to go, Nandkisore, saying that she would sleep only after you had gotten home safely,” Buaji grimaced.

“Did you meet her, Chotey?” Anjali asked, anxious.

“Yes,” Arnav drew in a deep breath to say more.

 

“Arnavji, “ Khushi called from the dining room.

“Have dinner, Chotey. We will wait here for you,” Nani said.

Arnav nodded and moved towards Khushi.

Khushi sat by him as he ate, serving him, seeing to it that he finished everything. She did not chatter, somehow sensing that he was at the end of his tether, very disturbed.

As she was about to clear the dishes, Arnav caught hold of her arm.

“Khushi,”

She looked at him, surprised.

With molten caramel eyes filled with love, he said, “Thank you,”

“For what?” she asked.

“For being you. For being with me,” he said.

Khushi stared at him.

“Khushi, my Mama killed herself,” Arnav began.

Khushi gasped, her eyes filling with empathetic tears. 

“I was 14,”

“He Devi Maiyya, so young!” Khushi whispered.

“Mama found out that P—my father was having an affair.”

Khushi could only look at him.

“It was Di’s wedding day. That is when Mama found out and sh—shot herself,” Arnav said, tired of carrying this terrible burden of painful memories.

Khushi moved towards him on fast feet and hugged him, pressing his face against her soft, warm bosom.

 Arnav let out a deep sigh of relief. He hadn’t been hugged for so long—in fact since Khushi had left. He had gotten used to being wrapped in her arms at the slightest excuse. The few months he had lived with her had made him addicted to her generous hugs. The softness and warmth of her silky-smooth body pressed against his hard one, the jasmine fragrance of her hair and skin, the heart-felt, giving cloak of her arms around his shoulders—he had missed them so.

“Khushi, come to the courtyard, please?” he murmured against her heart. “I have something to tell all of you.”

She nodded, freeing him from her arms reluctantly.

They walked together to the two families gathered in the courtyard.

At the end of his narrative, there was a shocked, teary silence.

“Chotey?” Anjali’s voice was feeble.

“Yes, Di,” Arnav answered her unspoken question.

“Poor Ratna,” Nani lamented, thinking about her daughter. “I should never have trusted Sumi when she told me that her son was the epitome of all virtues when she brought his proposal for Ratna.”

“Ek aur bacha. Woh bhi bimaar, Hello Hi Bye Bye!” Mami exclaimed.

“You had a lucky escape, Garima,” Buaji said. “Nandkisore was very kind to you.”

“Yes, Jiji. Otherwise…” Garima looked at Sasi, her eyes full of pain and tears.

“What have you planned for Asha, Chotey?” Nani asked, tired of life.

“Treatment. She needs to see a doctor in Delhi. Sunehri & she need a place to live and a means of livelihood. I need to ensure all this,” Arnav said.

“One more burden on hamre Arnav Bitwaa’s shoulders,” Mami said bitterly. If she could have met her brother-in-law for 5 minutes, she would have torn him to shreds with her bare hands for destroying his children’s lives. “Bura mat maanna, Saasumma. But I am glad that Anurag killed his brother. Nahi to humein unka khoon karega padi.”

“Go to sleep, Chotey. Today has been a terrible day for you,” Nani caught hold of Arnav’s hand and lovingly pressed his fingers.

Anjali nodded. “You have done everything necessary, Chotey. We can deal with the rest when we get to Delhi.”

Arnav nodded.

All stood up to go to bed. 

Khushi walked behind Arnav as he moved towards his room. As he reached his door, Khushi stopped him by tugging at his hand.

He turned around to be rewarded by a warm, Khushi hug. Standing there with his arms full of Khushi and the cool night air ruffling his locks, he felt as though he had everthing he ever wanted to live happily forever. 

Khushi lifted her head to look at him.

“Arnavji, you are such a good man,” she whispered, her breath singeing the stubble on his lean cheek.

Her arms tightened around his shoulders and her fingers caressed his back clad in formal clothing.

At that moment he felt he could be anything. Good. Noble. But not a saint.

“You made everything alright. You helped that lady and her child,” Khushi murmured. Unknowingly she pressed herself closer to his hard body.

“I owed it to her,” he managed to say through a constricted throat.

“Your mother will be so proud of you, Arnavji,” she said.

Arnav’s eyes grew moist.

Khushi leaned forward and kissed him soundly on his cheek. “Shubh Ratri.”

“Good night,” his lips brushed against her soft, smooth, creamy cheek lingeringly.

Part 23

Part 23

Buaji looked at Arnav as he sipped his bitter tea next morning.




"Bitwaa, have one more puri," she insisted, having taken over Khushi's job of stuffing Arnav with food as Khushi was away at Satwik Mistaan Bhandaar.




"No, thank you, Buaji. I am full," Arnav said, smiling.

Buaji smiled in return. "You look much better now, more like a man." She turned to Garima and the Raizada ladies, "Didn't he look like  a skeleton when he came to Lucknow?"

All laughed in agreement.

"He used to frown at food in Delhi, Buaji. I had to fight and pout and cry to get one paratha in to him," Anjali complained.




"Our Devdas was on bhook hartal, Hello Hi Bye Bye!" Mami added, laughing.

Garima smiled and pinched Arnav's chin fondly. "Don't tease him, Jiji. He has to put up with Khussi's fussing over him all the time as it is"

As the laughter died out Buaji became thoughtful. Slowly she said, "Arnav bitwaa, we tried our best to keep Khussi away from you, but... we failed. Not because we didn't try hard enough, but because her parem for you was too strong, Nandkisore."





Garima nodded. "I thought with time... but..." She shook her head. "Even with a vacuum in her memories..."

Buaji said, her voice choked, "At the hospital, when she was recuperating from the fall, she would lie looking at the door as though waiting for someone to come, Nandkisore."




Garima nodded. "We asked her for whom she was waiting."

"She had no reply to give us, but she continued to wait," Buaji sighed.

Arnav's fingers clenched on the handle of the tea cup. The pain he had put Khushi through! She had been lying alone in a hospital in Lucknow when he should have been with her. In fact, had she been with him in Delhi, he would have never let her fall down the steps. But she had been in Lucknow and he in Delhi, burning in the fire of his past, languishing in the dungeon of his loneliness, missing Khushi with every fibre of his body, every breath, every heart beat.

It was time to take the next step forward. He had to help her recall the horrendous things he had done to her, 











 
his petty cruelties, 




 
his callousness, 




 
his harsh words, 




 
his cutting put-downs, 












 
the way he had led her on on Diwali night, 








dropped her without a word of explanation and 




then rushed away to get engaged to Lavanya.

 
Arnav breathed in, deep.

His only hope was Khushi's generous heart,  her instinctive sympathy, the never-drying well of love she had for him. A love that had awakened her body's memory of his even though her mind was still in slumber, a love that had made her hug and kiss him unselfconsciously, a love that had made it impossible for her to witness his pain without absorbing some of the poison into herself.





"Khushi, let's talk about your days in AR Designs," Arnav invited.

Khushi frowned, uneasy, withdrawing mentally from him.  His single statement killed the ease between them.

 Arnav felt the loss keenly. Slowly she had been coming out of her shell, leaving behind the sister's Jetji label she had given him, letting her body's knowledge of him overpower her mind's ignorance of him, letting her instinct and her subconscious guide her, her last night's hugs and kiss being proof.

 A strange tension filled the air, making her stomach muscles cramp in pain.

"Why?" she asked.

"To make you remember more," he replied, his heart hurting at the look of panic on her face.

"Do I need to...?" she asked.

"You do," he replied after a moment.

Khushi grimaced. "What do want to know?"

"You remember Aman, don't you?" Arnav asked.

"Yes. And Pamji, Simji, Manjuji & Jiju," Khushi said.






"Were you friends with Pam & Sim?" he asked.

Khushi frowned. "Why should I be friends with them? I came to your office to work, not make friends."

Arnav ignored Khushi's attempts to block him.

"Were Pam and Sim friendly to you? Helpful?" he asked.

"No," Khushi turned away to place the newspaper tidily on the small table, hiding her face from his.

"Why? Why did they dislike you, Khushi?" he asked, trying to awaken Khushi's memories of Lavanya so that she could get more of her past back.

"How do I know why they disliked me? You should ask them these questions," Khushi frowned at him, sitting down away from him.

"Was there any reason for them to hate you, Khushi?" Arnav persisted.

Khushi jumped up from her seat. "You ask them and return, Arnavji. I will wait for you," she stated as she walked out of the room.




 
Arnav looked after her, feeling his heart sink. She had built a dam against her memories related to Lavanya. He had to shatter, break down the wall she had constructed in her head if he had to free her. But the cost to him!






A few hours later, Arnav tracked down Khushi. She was hanging clothes on the line.

"Khushi," he called.

She turned around to face him, her eyes wary, apprehensive.

Arnav inhaled deeply, trying to draw in courage along with air. Slowly he held out the phone in his hand to her.

She looked at the phone as though it were a live snake.

He moved closer to her with the phone held out.

Khushi took a step back.

"Someone wants to talk to you, Khushi," he said softly, walking towards her with measured steps.

She hesitated, some sixth sense telling her that pain was waiting for her around the corner, that recollecting her memories might not exactly be a consummation to be wished for, that ignorance perhaps had its advantages, that she had to be careful what she wished for.

Arnav pushed the phone in to her hands. Her cold fingers trembled as they took the phone to her ear, led by his hold on her arm.

"Say hello... Khushi," Arnav instructed softly.

"Hel... Hello," whispered Khushi.

"Chamkili! Bhool gayi mujhe? Why didn't you call me? It has been so long," came an excited squeal from the other end.

Khushi's lips parted, trembled. No words were forthcoming. The picture of a dusky heart-shaped face with dimples rose in her mind.





"I called ASR and asked him about you. He kept on putting me off," the voice continued.





Lavanyaji. Lavanya Kashyap. 

 Pamji & Simji's friend. 




The image of Lavanyaji straightening Arnavji's tie in his office when she had gone to ask for permission to go home after the photo shoot flashed through her mind with cruel clarity.








 
Khushi's heart stopped beating for a moment.

ASR's girl friend. That is, Arnavji's girl friend.





"Lavanyaji..." Khushi whispered.

The devastation on her face rent Arnav's heart.

"Yes, Lavanyaji," Lavanya laughed. "Khushi, tum kaise ho? And why are you so silent? Remember how we used to talk and laugh when we were at RM?"






Khushi shut her eyes tight.

Janmastami. Cooking classes. Teaching Pooja vidhi. Making diyas for Diwali. A hundred pictures rushed in to Khushi's head as the dam broke.

"We used to dance on the bed, Chamkili. And drive ASR wild," Lavanya burst out in to peals of laughter.








Her heart wept. Lavanyaji wiping away the mud stain on Arnavji's cheek.

Lavanyaji, Arnavji's girlfriend. 




 
He had fought with his Nani and brought her to RM to live with him.






Nainital. Arnavji fighting the thugs for her. Returning to Delhi to find out that her Babuji had suffered a stroke in her absence.

The pungent smell of the hospital... she had run in to his arms and cried. 






His arms had not risen to hug her back. She had pulled back in horror... He had paid her hospital bill... 





...the hot tea she had flung on his face and chest...




 
She had called him character dheela and he had twisted her arm behind her back and bruised it. 





Arnavji had showered abuses on her and thrown her out of RM.



"tum jaisi larkiyan to paison keh liye..."

"OUT" 

"I said OUT"



And then come to her Buaji's house to bribe her in to returning... they had gone looking for Anjaliji together... Teej... Arnavji had broken her fast by giving her water...







...and fed Lavanyaji her prasad...








She had been blackmailed by Anjaliji in to helping them turn Lavanyaji in to the ideal wife for Arnavji... 
















Khushi tried to still the spinning of her head and the palpitation of her heart...


The phone fell from her numb fingers.


She had been instrumental in putting the idea of marriage in to Lavanyaji's head... 






She had forced Arnavji to bring Lavanyaji back to RM after she had left it... 








 
Her limbs gave way and she staggered, only to be caught in Arnav's arms.


Diwali night... Her heart quailed. She saw the triumph in Arnavji's eyes as he announced his decision to marry Lavanyaji... 




 
...the joy on Lavanyaji's face as she hugged Arnavji... 





 
...the tears of joy in Nani & Di's eyes, the pride on Mamiji's face... 




 
...while she stood outside in her borrowed finery, weeping, feeling her heart break, trying to make sense of what was happening, why Arnavji had been about to kiss her and had then thrown her away from him...




 
...Lavanyaji hugging her in gratitude for having brought her love life to this satisfactory conclusion...






Khushi fainted.

Part 24




 

Arnav sat by her as she slept fitfully, oblivion denied to her by painful memories that flooded her mind with the force of a gale.

He tried to calm her, tried curling his fingers around hers, tried to hold her down, soothe her with soft kisses on her forehead, tried calling her name and shaking her by her shoulders to distract her...but nothing worked.

Bitter poison of past tragedies ran through her frail body and she moaned and wept helplessly all night as Arnav watched helplessly, his heart filled with self-hatred.


 

It was late morning when she woke up.

Her lashes fluttered and parted to reveal Arnav sitting slumped in a chair by her bed. His head was twisted at an uncomfortable-looking angle as he tried to rest in the small chair.

Khushi looked at his exhausted face and her heart clenched.


 


Why? Why did he affect her so much? Why did one man have such a hold over her life, her hopes, her dreams, her fears, her tears, her very soul? How could one man reach her through the veils of her amnesia? How could one man be so much a part of her that even memory loss could not free her from him? Devi Maiyya had etched him on her heart with a knife, Khushi thought, to remain there forever carved, to make her bleed, to hurt, to make even breathing impossible...

She had hurt every moment she had spent with him...and she had hurt more when he rejected her for Lavanyaji. Each moment away from him, every inch that separated him had been torture, misery.

Arnav jumped up. "Khushi..." he murmured as he usually did, looking around, alert. His eyes met hers for a long moment.

"Are you...fine?" he asked softly, his fingers stroking away a strand of hair from her cheek.

Khushi nodded slightly.

"Khushi, I am sorry," he said.

"For what?" she asked tonelessly.

"For hurting you," he said softly.

She turned her gaze away from him.

"Especially...on Diwali night," Arnav bit the bullet.

Khushi surprised him by turning tearless eyes to look at him.

"You had the right to choose whom to marry...and you chose right. Lavanyaji was definitely more suited to you than me. But what were you doing by the pool with me a few moments before announcing your decision to marry her? You had no right to do that," her voice was steady.

"Khushi," he whispered. "I am sorry I hurt you. I...I tried to fight my heart."






Khushi remained silent.

"Love...I never thought it was real. I...I thought it was a weakness...that broke up families," he closed his eyes, trying to hold back his tears.

"Like it was with your father?' Khushi asked softly.

"Yes," Arnav confessed. "Something that caused more pain than pleasure, shattered families, killed...people. Something that made slaves of men and women."

"Did you love me then?" she asked conversationally.

"I did. I just didn't know what was happening between us, why I couldn't control myself..." he tried to find the right words to convey his utter bemusement at that time.
"If only you had known what you were feeling then," her lips twisted in a mocking smile. "You could have saved  many people tears and heart burn."

"Khushi," he whispered, knowing very well that she must have spent Diwali night crying her heart out.

"Lavanyaji who thought she had got a man who loved her and wanted to marry her, I who thought I had found a man worthy of my love..." she shook her head at her own folly. "You made both of us cry. You gave both of us dreams when you had no intention of following through."

Arnav could only look at her.

"Your past made you what you were and are," Khushi smiled, her eyes cold. "But we paid the price, Lavanyaji and me."

"Khushi," Arnav could only whimper.

"I hope you grovelled at her feet for her forgiveness...and I hope she refused it," Khushi said in a matter-of-fact voice.

He could only look at her.






"Had you found the courage to admit that you cared for me, had you found the nerve to face your feelings for me instead of running away to hide behind Lavanyaji's pallu, then I would have fought the world for you," Khushi said, smiling bitterly. "I would not have let any Shyam coerce me in to an engagement I did not want. I would have cut his arm off before he pushed his ring on my finger."

"Khushi..." His call wafted on the air like  a lament.

"Had you told me of your past, of your allergy to marriage, I would not have pressurised you to marry me. Just the knowledge that you loved me would have kept me warm all my life, even if it was spent away from you, alone somewhere," Khushi swallowed her tears.

Arnav tried to kiss her fingers, blinking to get rid of his tears. Khushi looked away leaving her numb digits in his hand.

"You sent that rascal in to my life. You left me without the protection of your love so that he could override my protests and force an engagement on me. And then you dared to taunt me for getting engaged? What exactly did you expect me to do when you were planning your sagai with Lavanyaji? Sit at home and knit sweaters as sagai gifts for you?"





"Khushi, I...I didn't think..." Arnav tried to explain.

"You never do. You never do, Arnavji. You do things without thinking them through and then regret them. Always. And by the time you get to regretting your actions, they will have destroyed many lives. And you never learn from your mistakes, do you, Arnavji?" Khushi asked. "If you didn't want to marry me, you should have had the kindness to let me be, let me find happiness in my own way. But you couldn't let that happen, could you?"

"Khushi!"

"You didn't want me, but didn't want anyone else to want me too," Khushi's smile was bitter.

Arnav had no reply to make.






"You could abandon me, but Devi Maiyya couldn't. That is why I found out that Shyam was Anjaliji's husband during the Satyanarayan pooja," Khushi looked directly in to his face. "I slapped him and threw the ring at his face."

"That was why you were so upset that day when you ran in to me..." Arnav said softly.






"I wanted to tell you, but...I didn't want to hurt you by disclosing what a worm your Jiju was. I didn't want to shatter Anjaliji's dream world," Khushi grimaced. "In hindsight I should have told you everything...whether you believed me or not, found fault with me or not," Khushi smiled wryly.

"Khushi," he tried to protest.






"You sent Lavanyaji away. Poor thing! She had wasted so much time on you and all she got for her troubles were tears," Khushi's voice held anguish.






Arnav sat looking at her. There was nothing he could say to save himself.

Khushi continued, "And Akash Jiju had to fall in love with Jiji." She sighed. "I was trying to avoid the Raizadas and the Raizadas had to come right in to my family."

 She looked at him. "The sangeet...the mehendi..." She turned her face away, her hand slowly touching her cheek as she remembered his kiss by the pool.



 



"I could finally show you how much I loved you," Arnav whispered.

"Jiji's shaadi..." Khushi frowned. "When was it?" She sat up in bed, her head clutched in her hands, trying to remember.

Arnav gathered her in his arms. "It will come back to you. If you can remember all these, you will be able to remember the rest too."



Arnav contacted the detective agency that had given him the whereabouts of Sunehri.

"Get me every bit of information on Anurag Mallik you can lay your hands on. What he owns. His debts. His income. His family. What he eats. What he drinks...and where," he said, his low voice sounding menacing to the detective listening to him.

Part 25

Arnav looked at Khushi.

She was playing with the food on her plate, her eyes lowered.

"Titliyaa, kaa hua? Why are you not eating, Nandkisore?" Buaji asked, her eyes round with worry.

"I am not hungry, Buaji," Khushi smiled. "I need to go to the shop now." She got up from her seat with a smile at everyone except Arnav and went off to wash her hands.

Arnav sighed. 





She was avoiding him. She was hurting and was trying to pretend that he did not exist. How would she react when she knew the whole truth... the forced marriage, the terrible six months, the kidnapping, Dadi, the decision to remarry, his no-show at their wedding?


 







Arnav flipped the pages of the file in his hand. It held all the details of Anurag Mallik and his fortune or the lack of it.

The debts outnumbered his possessions. He was sinking... fast. Arnav drew in a deep breath. It was time to help speed up the process. He looked at the file with determined eyes. It was time to pay back Anurag Mallik for all his excesses against his family and Sunehri. He called Aman to set his plans in action.




Khushi watched Munna make jalebi, the orange-red coils dancing in the hot oil. She had made mountains of jalebi in the past, erected a new Mount Everest each time Arnavji had hurt her. But that was over now. All the jalebi in the world could not sop up the ocean of pain swirling inside her heart. 'If only I had died along with my Amma & Babuji in the accident!...' she thought. 'Or when I had fallen from the steps. I would have been spared so much heartache...'





"Khushi," came his soft call.

Khushi jerked around. Arnavji was standing at the door of Satwik Mishtan Bhandaar.

Her eyes wide in apprehension, Khushi stood where she was, her legs refusing to carry her forward or away. The muscles of her stomach cramped, sending shivers of pain to travel all over her body.

"Arnav Bhaiyya, acha hua aap aa gaye," Munna smiled. "I am going to deliver the jalebis across town and Krishna will return only by evening. Now Khushi didi won't be alone."

"I will be here," Arnav smiled at the boy who lifted a big carton on to his shoulders and left the shed.

Arnav shut the door after him.

"Why did you shut the door?" Khushi's tongue finally worked.

"We need to talk," he said softly.

"We can talk at home," Khushi retorted.

"You run away when I close to you. You look away if I look at you," he accused her.

Khushi did not try to refute him. She turned her head away.

Suddenly she felt something touch her throat and looked up at his grim face in shock. His fingers were tying something at her nape.

Khushi tried to free herself, fight him. She twisted and turned her body in panic, but there was no more need to resist him. His task was done.

She looked at his pallid face, her own ashen. She looked down at her chest.

A mangalsutra hung there.



  

Khushi fell back against him as though it were a snake coiled around her collar. As she gasped for breath, she felt his fingers smear sindoor in the parting on her forehead.





Khushi tried to move away from him, but he held on tight, his arms around her waist, knowing that she may black out.

"Chodiye hamein," Khushi whimpered.





"Khushi... Sshhh..." he tried to calm her as his arms hauled her closer to him.

Khushi struggled for a while till her head spun and her body tired of the fight. She sagged, letting his arms hold her up.

He turned her to stand in his arms, her head against his neck, her fingers clutching the soft fabric of his t-shirt.

They stood immobile for long moments, their hearts thudding against each other. Slowly hot tears leaked from Khushi's eyes and wet his t-shirt.

"Khushi," he whispered, his fingers moving against her scalp to comfort her. His other hand patted her back.

The silent tears soon turned in to gusty sobs. Arnav listened to and felt the outpouring of grief with a heavy heart. In between her attempts to stem her tears and draw breath, she whispered, "I shamed them... after they took me in... I shamed them."

"Khushi," he murmured.

"I should have...refused to marry you. But Jiji... poor Jiji... her marriage... broken again... my Buaji, Amma, Babuji... how they cried that night..."

"Khushi," his heart wept with hers.

"Ten years of care and love... and I repaid them... with humiliation and tears," she wept, her body trembling with anguish.

"Khushi, don't cry," he said in a low voice. "You will fall sick."

Khushi lifted her head. The sight of her devastated face and wet cheeks broke his heart.

"Why? Why did you do it?" she asked, her voice laced with tears.

"I... I saw Shyam and you on the terrace... hugging," he said.




She drew in a sharp breath, shocked.

"He said he loved you... 





...that he didn't love Di.





And you asked him to leave her," Arnav whispered against the wet, soft skin of her cheek.

"I was challenging him... because I knew he would never leave Di or her money," Khushi said.





"There was a note written in lipstick on the mirror on the landing, asking me to meet you on the terrace....







...That is, I thought you had written it. I went up to meet you...and it was he who appeared behind me."

Arnav smoothed her hair away from her wet face.

"He caught me...his arms were so strong, Arnavji. I tried to struggle once the shock wore off, but I couldn't push him away. I couldn't move even an inch," Khushi explained.






"He told me that you loved each other, threatened to tell a pregnant Di that he was going to leave her for you..." Arnav continued.




 


Khushi exclaimed, "The liar, the dhokebaaz..."

"Yes, he tricked all of us. Di, the Raizadas, the Guptas, you," Arnav said.

"Why didn't you ask me for the truth?" Khushi demanded.





Arnav shook his head, his face carrying lines of pain, "I was... scared... of your answer. What if you had said that you loved him?"

"So you assumed that I loved him and proceeded to make my life hell for six months?" Khushi did not mince words.




"Yes...I suppose," Arnav admitted. "I am sorry, Khushi."


“Again you acted without thinking things through. Again.” Khushi caught him by the neck of his t-shirt and hauled him closer to her. "Did you really think that I could smile at you, let you touch me and feel dhak dhak and acidity when you came close to me when I was in love with Shyam Manohar Jha?"

Arnav parted his lips to reply, but had nothing to say. He stood with his mouth open. When put in such words, his actions seemed very impetuous, rash.





Khushi shook him. 

“Why does your head stop working when it should? You thought that I could love such a... ghatiya animal?" she asked. "You thought I could cheat Anjaliji? That I could feel anything other than disgust for that immoral, lecherous snake?"





"Khushi..."




"Were you blind? Deaf? Dumb? You thought I was pining for him...when I was dying for you," she shook him. "...when I couldn't sleep for thinking of you...when my eyes were searching for a glimpse of you...when I could see nothing and no one but you...when being in the same room as you sent my heart beating like a drum...when a touch of yours could make me forget my name... You thought that I was thinking of him? How dare you? How could you?" she tried to rattle his bones.

Arnav pulled her in to his arms and crushed her against his hard chest.





"I love you, Khushi. More than life. More than my next breath," he whispered in to her ears, her hair.


“What is the use of such love that is not based on trust?” Khushi struggled to free herself but he held her tighter. Sighing she gave up the fight and hugged him in return, running her hands over his back, relishing the feel of his strong muscles through his t-shirt.

They stood for long minutes, their minds reliving those terrible days of pain and insecurity, jealousy and harsh words.

Then Khushi lifted her head to look at him.

She trembled, "Arnavji, how could he kidnap you? The ungrateful crook! After living off you for years..." Tears dripped down her cheeks.






"Sshh...don't cry, Khushi. It is over... and I had my own guardian angel to save me," Arnav smiled, cupping her sweet face in his hands.

Khushi looked crossly in to his face, pouting at him for making light of such a grave situation. "How I missed you, Arnavji, when you were gone," she whispered.“Every moment, every day, every night—I thought I would go mad without you.”

 "Me too, Khushi. Me too. Without you...I can't manage, Khushi...I need you, Khushi, to keep me safe. As long as you are with me, Khushi, no one can hurt me," Arnav said softly, running a loving finger down her cheek.

"Poor Anjaliji! How she cried that day after we told her the truth about that rascal! Arnavji, he didn't return after you threw him out, did he?" Khushi frowned.







"No," Arnav lied.







Khushi heaved a sigh of relief. "And Anjaliji seems happy now. Devi Maiyya ki jai ho!" she said, her hands folded in prayer.

Then she looked down at her mangalsutra.

"Arnavji," she said slowly, her voice low. "Our six months are over, arent they? Then how can I wear your mangalsutra now?"




Arnav swallowed at the look of disappointment on her face.

"Aap ko pata he, a few weeks back I was looking at myself in the mirror and thinking that something was missing, that I had forgotten to wear some piece of jewellery. I must have been thinking of my mangalsutra," she said.





She left a silent, stricken Arnav and walked away to look at her maang in the small mirror on the wall. Blood red sindoor adorned her maang. She turned to Arnav.

"Arnavji, we have to return to Gomti Sadan now," she informed him.

He nodded.

She walked to him and stood with her back to him. She drew her hair to fall over her shoulders.

"You untie it. I... I..." Khushi's voice faltered.

With trembling fingers, Arnav untied the chain and put it in to his pocket, promising her silently that one day, even if he had to wait till the end of his life, he would tie a mangalsutra around her neck that she would never have to give up.

She turned around for him to clear her maang.

He took her to the  tap, wet his hanky and wiped away the sindoor. Khushi stood, her eyes shut. Arnav kissed her maang, promising her without words that one day she would have the right to wear sindoor, his sindoor.

They walked back to Gomti Sadan together, their thoughts in the past.

Part 26

It was done.

Arnav drew in a deep breath of relief and satisfaction.

All of Anurag Mallik's possessions were in his grasp, all bought, sealed. Now the rat had no home, no roof to call his own. No income. He had sent a notice to Anurag, asking him to move out in two days. His place was now on the streets where he had tried to abandon him and his Di after killing Papa.

"Arnavji," Payal called softly.

Arnav turned to look at her, surprised.

"Someone wants to see you. A lady," Payal said.

"Here, in Gomti Sadan?" Arnav was surprised. Very few people knew where he was. And a lady wanted to meet him?

"Ji. Shall I send her in to the study?" Payal asked.

Arnav nodded bemused.





Soon a lady shuffled in to the room on slow feet and stood before him, her eager eyes running all over his face and figure with ill-concealed joy.

Ghoonghat covering her head, the body covered in a brown and green sari with a beige shawl thrown over her shoulders.

Arnav looked keenly at the middle-aged face, trying to remember where he had seen her before.





Slowly a smile bloomed on her lips.

Arnav stood like a statue. That smile...





"Arnav bitwaa," came the soft call.






He tensed. His Chachi. Anurag Mallik's wife.





He turned his head away, pushing away memories of a happy childhood he had spent in Sheesh Mahal.

Chachi running after him with a glass of milk, trying to make him drink it. Chachi feeding him with her own hands when he had hurt the fingers of his right hand. Chachi slipping him a peda when no one was looking. Chachi helping him make paper boats to float on the surface of the tank in the courtyard that always filled up after every rain...

"You may have forgotten me," came the diffident voice. "Koi baat nahi. You are entitled to. I am Chandra, Anurag Mallik's wife."

"I know," Arnav kept his face away from hers, scared to look at her for fear that his resentment and need for revenge would melt away in to nothing in face of her kind and loving face. "Why have you come to see me?"

"Your secretary sent a notice that we have to vacate the house in two days. I called him to ask if we could have a week's time. He gave me your address and asked me to contact you," Chandra said, her voice soft, soothing.

"Why? What miracle is Anurag Mallik planning to bring about in one week?" Arnav asked, his lips twisted in contempt.

"I don't know. And as I haven't bothered to find out what he is up to for decades, I don't care," she said, her voice low, sweet but with steel in it.

"Then why do you need a week?" Arnav asked.

"To shift in to a house in Kanpur that my brother transferred to my name last year," Chandra said.

Arnav turned his head to look at her. "You can have your one week. Sit down," he said.

Chandra sank in to a chair with great difficulty and pain, her swollen knees refusing to co-operate. Arnav had to steel his nerves to stop himself from helping her settle in to the chair.

"Do you believe in God, Arnav Bitwaa?" she asked, slightly short of breath.

"No," he said.

"You should," the lady smiled. "Even if no one else believes in God, you should."

Arnav looked at her, silent, his very silence  a question.

Chandra smiled.

"Anurag Mallik stole from his brother, your father. He abandoned you and Anjali bitiyaa when you needed his care and protection. And how did God repay him for his sins?" she asked.

Arnav's eyes grew more intent.

"Devi Maiyya took your parents but gave you shelter with the Raizadas, gave you a better upbringing than the Malliks could give you. And today you are in a position to beggar Anurag Mallik. Wouldn't you call that poetic justice?" Chandra asked. She continued, "And she kept Anurag Mallik childless. He has no legitimate or illegitimate children to call his own," Chandra smiled at Arnav.

Arnav stared at her.





"Did you think I am or was unaware of what the brothers were up to?" Chandra asked, her bright eyes on his pallid face. "Scoundrels, both of them." Her lips twisted in disgust. "And their mother, my Saasumma," Chandra sighed. "She believed that men could do no wrong. If our husbands strayed, it was Ratna bhabi's and my fault. If Anurag Mallik could not have a child, it was my fault. If her sons were frequenting kottas, it was the tawaifs who were to be blamed, not her sainted sons."

Arnav had to look away.

"Ratna bhabi had no idea what her husband was made of. He was atleast discreet while his brother... Ratna bhabi believed in your father and he was careful to keep her illusions intact because it made life easier for him. But my husband," Chandra smiled bitterly. "He did not believe in wasting time in subterfuge. Within a month or so of marriage, he made it clear to me what I could expect of life as his wife."

There was silence in the room for a while.

"I knew what your father was up to, but I never told her. I knew she would never be able to digest the truth. Ratna bhabi was shocked to find out the truth about your father. She couldn't bear it," Chandra said softly, looking down at her hands. "She kiled herself." Chandra looked at Arnav. "Everyone called it a tragedy, but... but I think she had a lucky escape."

Arnav stared at her.

"To live as the wife of an immoral man, a lecher... to listen to the snide remarks of people about where your husband is and with whom,  to have your husband's mistresses pointed out to you as you attend some function, to have those women come to your house for Diwali and Holi with their husbands and to have to smile at them... to have the jewellers deliver a bangle that you had ordered to be made to your husband's latest love on his orders... to find your husband ogling the maids employed in your haveli... to lead a loveless life as the object of everybody's pity... it is good that Ratna bhabi was spared all this," she said.





Arnav had nothing to say.

"Anyway, she escaped. But why did your father kill himself?" Chandra asked Arnav, her eyes direct. "Unless Anurag forced him to commit suicide... or killed him with his own hands?" Chandra said bluntly.

Arnav drew in air deep in to his lungs.





"I wouldn't really be surprised if Anurag did kill your father," Chandra mused. "Knowing him as I do, I can safely say that he is capable of worse."

"How are you?" Arnav asked finally.

Chandra smiled. "As you can see. Cursed with arthritis. And the nightmares of childish feet running up and down the stairs... and waking up to the knowledge that you and Anjali were far away from me..." The smile died away. "He waited till the doctor had administered a sedative to me before throwing you out because he knew I would not stand for it."





"When I woke up and found out... I tried to locate you. The servants told me that Devyaniji and Manoharji had come to get you. I wanted to get you back to Sheesh Mahal but... I realised that I wanted both of you to grow up away from the influence of the Malliks. The Raizadas are good people, not... not lechers and arrogant tricksters like the Malliks. A few months later, I  lied to Anurag and travelled to the Raizada house to see you both. The house was locked. The guard told me that you had shifted to Delhi. I was happy, very happy that you had gone far away from this hellhole and your uncle."

Arnav nodded. "We did not want to remain here."

Chandra nodded. "How is Anjali bitiya?"

"Happy now. She... she married a bad man and then divorced him. Now she is happy," Arnav confessed.

Chandra sighed. "My poor girl. Anyway she got rid of him. Thank God we are living in a world in which such mistakes can be corrected without the girl being blamed. In our time, we had no choice. Ratna bhabi and I... we were doomed," she said in a low voice.

"Would you like to meet her?" Arnav asked.

"Very much," Chandra said, her face lighting up with joy.

Arnav left the room and returned with all the Raizadas and the Guptas, including Sasiji.





Anjali squealed, "Chachi!" and hugged her till Chandra protested of broken ribs in a tear-filled voice.

Nani and Mami too hugged her and introduced her to Buaji, Payal, Amma & Babuji.

"This is Payaliyya, Akaas bitwaa's wife, my bahuriyaa," Mami claimed.

"Are you old enough to have a married son, Manorama?" Chandra teased her and removed a pair of gold bangles from her arms and made Payal wear them. She hugged her and pressed a fond kiss on her forehead.


"Arnav is not married yet?" Chandra asked. "I had imagined him to have a wife and many children by now."

All fell silent, looking at each other.

In to that silence came Khushi's call, "Arnavji! Where are you? Where has everyone vanished off to?"





"Khushi," Arnav called.

Chandra looked at the softness on his face and the tenderness in his voice with amazement and a heart filled with happiness.





Khushi came in smiling, looking like a bright ray of sunshine in her yellow suit. She was about to tease him when she noticed the stranger in their midst and fell silent.

"Khushi, this is my Chachi," Arnav introduced his Khushi, wondering how Chachi would greet her.

Unlike his Dadi's contempt for her when he had introduced his wife to her, overwhelming love was what Khushi got from his Chachi. As Khushi bent to touch her feet, Chandra hugged her warmly and kissed her on the forehead.

"She is so beautiful," Chandra whispered, specifically for Arnav's ears.





Arnav flushed, his heart filled with joy.







Chandra removed an elaborate chain from around her neck and fastened it around Khushi's neck.

Khushi looked astonished at her. Why was Arnavji's chachi gifting her such a beautiful & priceless necklace? She turned perplexed eyes at Arnav who smiled at her.






"I have to go now," Chandra said reluctantly.

"Won't you stay for lunch, Arnavji's Chachi?" Khushi asked, beating the others to it.

Chandra smiled at the eagerness on her face. "No, not today," she pinched Khushi's cheek and tried to stand up, her swollen knees making the effort a painful one.

Arnav's hands leaped out to support her. She stood up with his help, wincing. Khushi and the others looked at her plight with sorrowful eyes.

"I want your phone number," Arnav demanded.

Chandra smiled as she gave it to him.

She turned to the whole family and bid them a fond farewell.

"Arnav bitwa, will you come with me to the car? I have something to tell you," she said.

Arnav nodded and helped her out to her car.

Chandra turned to look at him. "You have turned out well. Ratna bhabi would be proud of you. You have become successful, have kept your family together and are looking after your sister. Devi Maiyya is kind, without a doubt."

Arnav swallowed hard.

"Anurag found out a day after you visited him that he has liver cancer. The doctors have given him about 2-3 years to live," Chandra said softly.

Arnav stared at her, his eyes wide.





"God's punishments are more terrible than man's," Chandra smiled wryly. "And pain is a more terrible punishment than death. Now it is time for Anurag to pay for all his sins."

Arnav drew in a deep breath. "I will transfer all the property he had pledged and I had bought in to your name, Chachi," he offered.

"No. I don't want them," Chandra smiled. "Give me a new pair of knees if you can, but not land or houses. I have enough for my needs. My parents had given me huge cartons of jewellery and acres of land and many houses across Uttar Pradesh at the time of my marriage. Once I saw which way the wind was blowing, I began to give the income from the houses and land to my brother to invest. I also transferred some property in to his name so that Anurag could not sell them. I am safe now. I will take Anurag and shift to Kanpur within this week."





Arnav stared at her, helpless.

Chandra cupped his face in her palms. "Be happy. Where ever you are in this world, just be happy. That is all I want. You and Anjali bitiya should be happy."

Arnav hugged his Chachi, breathing in her familiar sandalwood scent. His eyes filled with tears.

"Don't punish yourself for the sins of your elders. Be happy with Khushi," she whispered.





Arnav nodded. He whispered in her ear, "Don't forget my number. Call me, especially if you need help. Any help."

Chandra nodded, wiping wet eyes dry.

"After he is gone, I want you to join us in Delhi," Arnav said.

Chandra looked at him in astonishment.

Arnav nodded in confirmation. "Don't think I will let you go again, Chachi. I want you in Delhi with me and the others."

Chandra smiled and nodded.

He helped her in to the car and shut the door. He stood waving at her till the car vanished from his sight.

Part 27

Arnav led the Raizadas and the Guptas in to the ashram.

He told the receptionist, "I am Arnav Singh Raizada. I want to see Mrs. Mallik, my Dadi."

The receptionist's face broke in to a smile. So this was the Arnav Singh Raizada who sent monthly cheques to meet Mrs. Mallik's fees and expenses here. "Please be seated in our visitors' room. I will ask her to meet you there." the girl said.

"Please tell her that her entire family has come over to see her for the last time. We will not be disturbing her after today with our presence. So kindly ask her to give us an audience," Arnav said.

The receptionist nodded smiling, and went away.





"Whom have we come to meet here, Arnavji?" Khushi asked.

Nani and the others looked at Arnav with worried eyes.

"Someone special," he said. "I want you and Payal to wait here while we meet her. Then I will call you in. It is to be a surprise," he smiled at Khushi while his eyes warned Payal.

She nodded in understanding.









"Arnav? What are you doing here?" Dadi asked. "Devyani? Anjali bitiya? And you too?" she asked Manorama.

"Ji," Mami said. "Bhere hamre Arnav Bitwaa goes, there goes Manorama Singh Raijjada," she smiled with all her teeth.

Dadi turned to look at the Guptas. "What are they doing here? Aren't they ashamed to show their faces in public after raising a daughter who is little more than a common..."





"Careful," Arnav warned her. "You are talking of my wife." His voice was pure steel.





"You married her? After all the proof I gave you?" Dadi's voice dripped poison. "Like aunt, like niece."







Garima looked at her husband, feeling hunted.

"Yes, Khushi is very much like her aunt. Moral. Upstanding. Straightforward. And most importantly, kind," Arnav said.

Dadi spit fire at him, "What?"

"You called Garima aunty to your house in Lucknow to warn her away, didn't you?" Arnav asked.

"Yes, I did. So?" Dadi asked, furious.

"You called the wrong person," Arnav said. "The real culprit was Sunehri."

"Who?"

"A dancer from a kotta that your son had housed and used for a year, and then abandoned, pregnant and homeless," Arnav said, his eyes cold.

Dadi stood shocked, her mouth open.

"Her daughter is paralysed, bedridden," Arnav said. "She had to fight to survive, make a life for her sick baby and herself. Neither of your sons helped her out," Arnav bit out.

"Why should they? A tawaif is to be used and thrown away," Dadi stated.





All gasped.

"And her child?"

"Fit only to be the mistress of some other man," Dadi proclaimed.

"Sunehri did not want her daughter to lead a similar life. That is why she did not return to the kotta after Arvind Mallik abandoned her," Arnav said.

"What does it matter?" Dadi asked.

"It matters to me. She is my half-sister," Arnav claimed.





Dadi's face filled with repugnance. "Your sister? The daughter of a wh**e?"

"I am not ashamed to claim the daughter of a wh**e for my sister," Arnav bit out. "But I am ashamed to admit that Arvind Mallik is our father."

"Arnav!" Dadi warned him.

"Garima aunty was innocent, a pawn in your son's games," Arnav said.

Dadi snorted.





"You punished her and Khushi for no mistake of theirs. It was your son's mistake. His lechery, his immorality destroyed many lives, including my mother's" Arnav blasted Dadi.





"Your mother was weak," Dadi began.

"Don't.speak.a word.about. my. Mama," Arnav warned. "You don't deserve to take her name."




"How dare you?" Dadi asked.

"I dare because I am Ratna Raizada's son," Arnav said. "How could you cheat your friend and her daughter by marrying off your good-for-nothing son to her?"

Nani nodded. "How could you, Sumi? I trusted you."





"Both sons go, went, gone they. Ek Number ke Kaminey," Mami added.

"My sons were..." Dadi began.

Arnav put up his hand , his palm facing her in a traffic policeman signal. 





"I will tell you what your sons were. Immoral. Tricksters. Cheap crooks, both of them. And do you know the best part, Dadi? Your second son, Anurag Mallik is a murderer too."

"What?" Dadi asked.

"Yes," Nani supported Arnav.

Dadi lifted her nose in the air. "He must have struck some low class worker in  a fit of rage and killed him. What is so terrible about that?"

Arnav laughed. "He shot someone dead."

"Must be some estate worker," Dadi dismissed the accusation.

"No, his own brother, Arvind Mallik," Arnav laughed.

Dadi stared at him, her eyes wide. "This is a lie."

"No, it isn't. It is the truth. One son a lecher and the other a murderer. Is this the way you brought up your sons, Sumi? " Nani asked as once Dadi had asked Buaji's about Khushi's wantonness in living with Arnav without the benefit of saat phere.

"One son killed by the other," Arnav smiled wryly. "And Anurag Mallik is so sanskari and has so much respect for his mother that he has not tried to see her even once in the past decade and  a half."

Dadi glared at him.

"Or paid her bills. He has passed on that honour to me," Arnav said.

Dadi averted her eyes.

"You refused to see me when I visited you. How many times did you turn me away from this doorstep?"

Dadi had no answer.





"And you met Shyam. And came to Delhi at his instigation to destroy me and Khushi... to get that snake back in to our house," Arnav fumed.





Dadi said, "He was Anjali bitiya's husband. And he was a good man but you couldn't see that because you were blinded by that Khushi's lies."

"No, Dadi," Anjali said. "He was a crook who married me for my money. He tried to marry Khushiji too, but she found out that he was my husband."

"Anjali bitiyaa!" Dadi tried to convince her to the contrary. "Arnav has brainwashed you..."

"Shyam confessed to his sins, Dadi, in my presence. He... he caused me to have an accident that made me lose my baby," Anjali sighed.

Dadi stared at her, astounded.

"You have been foolish, Dadi," Arnav said. " Very foolish. I will take the bangles that you wrenched from Khushi's arms on the day of your wedding."




"Arnav," Dadi bit out.

"They were Mama's and they belong to Khushi," Arnav said. "Please get them. Or I will stop paying your bills here."

Anjali, Mami and Nani nodded.

With no other go, Dadi left the room to get the bangles.





Arnav went out to the hall. Khushi and Payal were sitting on the bench there, talking.

"Khushi, Payal," Arnav called.

Both of them joined him.

"Is the surprise ready?" Khushi asked, smiling.

"Yes," Arnav swallowed.

"Is it a good surprise or a bad one?" Khushi frowned at the look on his face.

Arnav gently cupped her cheeks. "You can judge for yourself, Khushi," he said softly before leading both girls in to the visitors' room.




Dadi returned with the bangles only to stop short at the sight of Khushi in the room.

"You!" Dadi screamed. "Manhoos ladki." She threw the bangles at Khushi. 

They hit her on the chest and the stomach and fell to the ground.





Arnav caught hold of Dadi's arm. "Don't.hurt.my.Khushi," he bit out.
Khushi looked at the mottled face of the old lady and said, "Dadiji."

"I am not your Dadi. I am not the Dadi of an immoral..." Dadi began.





"Enough," Arnav shouted.





He marched up to Khushi and picked the bangles from the ground. He pushed them on to her arms slowly. Khushi looked at the bangles and at Dadi's face.





"Arnavji..." she said, feeling a thousand memories rush through her head. Di trying to kill her child... The saath phere they had not taken in their contract marriage. Arnavji carrying her around a fire he had built on the terrace to give her the saat pheres she had demanded...



















...Dadi spying on them and throwing Khushi out of the house...





...Arnavji declaring that he would marry her... 





...Shyam returning to RM. Di's accident and miscarriage...










...the roka...





...the mehendi...










...the sangeet...






...the haldi...






...the suhaag raat that happened...




the shaadi that never happened.










Khushi felt her head spin and leaned weakly against her Arnavji. Arnav pulled her snugly in to his hold and prepared to leave. His family followed him.

As they were about to leave, Arnav turned to look at Dadi, "By the way, there is some more news for you. Anurag Mallik has cancer of the liver and about 2-3 years to live. Looks like God finally caught up with him."













Arnav sat by Khushi's bed as she slept, her hand in his, dropping kisses on her forehead and cheeks at frequent intervals.





"Arnav bitwaa, " Buaji placed ginger tea and pakoras by his side. "You have been sitting here for hours, Nandkisore. Have your tea. I will sit with Titliyaa."

As he sipped his tea, Arnav asked Buaji, "What was Khushi reading as she fell from the steps, Buaji?"

"A newspaper, bitwaa. I have it here," Buaji said and went to dig in the cupboards. Soon she returned with a newspaper. "Pata nahi woh angrejji akhbar kyon padti thi, Nandkisore! She used to go to Ganga Ram's shop four streets away to get it daily."

Arnav turned the pages curiously. International news, national news, celebrities, fashion news, gourmet recipes...

"Tum pado, Nandkisore. I will go down and do tel malish for Sasi babua," Buaji said as she left.

Arnav began to read the paper, going through each and every word from page one onwards. Hours later, he came to the gossip section.


Arnav Singh Raizada, the winner of the best businessman of the year award was seen at a party last night with a pretty young thing hanging on his arm. Who is the mystery girl? Are we hearing the wedding bells ringing for the pair?


A grainy picture was given along with the news. He was standing straight, his eyes on his phone and a pretty, fashionable girl was leaning against him. But the quality of the picture was so bad that even his mother would have found it very difficult to identify him.





The newspaper fell from his hands as he looked at a sleeping Khushi's face in horror. Had she seen this picture? Had the shock caused her to fall from the steps?

He sat there stewing in his own juices for hours, his mind struggling to deal with the enormity of his discovery. He dragged his mind from his thoughts only when he realised that Khushi was stirring.





"Buaji, Garima aunty, Di, Nani, Mami, Khushi is waking up," he called.

He rushed to her bedside and caught hold of her arm.

"Khushi," he called, his voice trembling.

Khushi opened her eyes. She looked at Arnav sitting by her and then at the anxious faces of her family at the door of the room.

"Amma, Buaji..." she whispered.

All rushed to stand around the bed.

"Where is the doctor? " Khushi asked looking around, panicking.

"You are at home, Khushi," Arnav said, his throat choked with tears.

"Home? I am at home?" she asked looking around her familiar room. "Then where is my baby?" she whispered.






Thank you, my darlings for staying the course of this story (suggested by Prash_FF) with Rash and me.

We have reached the end of Part 1.

Part 2 of Recalling Arnav will begin in the first week of April. Till then, loads of love. Take care!




Smita