Chapter 25 - Secrets from the Past
In the office although Khushi had tried her best to concentrate on work, it was useless. She really wanted to know what Arnav and Anjali were upset about. While driving she wondered from whom she should ask about this matter, as she knew Arnav wouldn't talk to her. It was around 6pm when Khushi finally reached home. As soon as she entered the house, she was surprised by the voice she heard from the living room. It was Nani. She felt that this was not a coincidence, but an opportunity given by god. She went to the living room and took blessings from Nani. Khushi was a little worried as Lavanya was there as well.
"Nani, how come you are here?", Khushi asked in a surprised tone.
"Well, I wanted to go to the Mandir. Day after tomorrow there is a pooja at our place and Anjali had to go to the town to buy some stuff needed for the pooja. So she dropped me at the Mandir and said that she would pick me up from there. But luckily I met Lavanya at the Mandir. So she asked me to come here, until Anjali finishes her shopping list", Nani explained.
Khushi was surprised to know that Lavanya had visited the Mandir, because she rarely goes there. But these days Lavanya seemed to be giving loads of surprises for her, so she thought of concentrating about what she wanted to know.
"By the way Nani, what is the pooja for?", Khushi asked curiously, thinking it had something to do with Arnav's mood.
"Oh, didn't Arnav tell you. You should come too. It's Arnav's mother's death anniversary", Nani said, a little sadly.
Khushi was shocked to hear this. "How come Arnav never mentioned something so important?", Khushi thought to herself. Khushi then thought may be this was the reason why both the brother-sister duo were upset. Although she wanted to tell Nani about what happened in the office, she couldn't, as Lavanya was with them. Suddenly Lavanya's phone rang and she went outside to answer the phone, excusing herself.
"Nani, I want to ask you something, only if it is alright?", Khushi said a little nervously.
"Of course Khushi Beta. What is it?", Nani said, with a smile.
Before Khushi could continue, Lavanya came back.
"Nani, I have to go out to meet a friend. Is it alright if I left?", Lavanya asked politely.
"Of course, no problem. I will spend some time with Khushi Beta", Nani said.
"Ok then. I will meet you at the pooja", Lavanya said. Then she took blessings from Nani, and left while saying good bye to Khushi.
Khushi was now feeling relaxed, as there was no one else to disturb her conversation with Nani.
"Khushi Beta, what did you want to ask?", Nani asked.
"Actually Nani, today in the morning Anjali Di came to the office to meet Arnav. After that, she left the office sadly. So I went to meet Arnav and he was not in a good mood as well. When I asked what happened, he just ignored me and left the office, saying that he was not well. Now when you said that Arnav's mom's death anniversary would be day after tomorrow, I was wondering whether this was the reason for them to be upset?", Khushi said, hoping that Nani would clear her doubts.
"Beta, it is a long story. Well, I haven't talked about my daughter's death for a long time. But since you are now going to become family, I guess you should know what happened in the past", Nani said thoughtfully.
Khushi was now not sure whether she was doing the right thing by trying to find out the truth. So she said, "No Nani, it's fine. Past is the past. And I know it must be difficult for you to talk about your only daughter's death. So just forget that I asked".
"It's alright darling. I want you to know, since you are going to become Chottey's wife. My daughter, Amrita was in love with a guy when she was in her early twenties. Then after two years, the guy broke the affair. She was blinded by love at that time, that she was not ready to accept the reality. She became weak both physically and mentally. We were feeling sorry for her, but we couldn't make her feel better at all. Time passed by, and one year after the break up, Amrita got a proposal. This was Arnav's dad, Rajesh. At first my daughter was not comfortable about this, but Rajesh somehow managed to win her over. The day Amrita agreed to marry Rajesh, we felt as if god had listened to us finally. Time passed by and Amrita finally fell in love again with Rajesh. We didn't know how to thank Rajesh, because he saved a person who was on the verge of drowning. Later we gave our daughter's hand to him, and they were leading a happy married life. Two years after the marriage, Amrita and Rajesh were blessed with a child. This was one of the happiest days in our lives. But one person was not happy, and that was Rajesh. The reason for it was, he wanted his first born to be a boy, but unfortunately it was a girl. And he was not happy about it at all. My daughter tried her very best to make him accept Anjali, but her efforts were useless. At first they exchanged words of disagreement, but later, they became huge arguments", Nani continued the story in a depressed tone.
"Two years after Anjali's was born, my daughter gave birth to a baby boy, and that was Arnav. Finally Rajesh was satisfied and he loved Arnav a lot. He changed himself to a good father and a good husband. This period was like a rainy season after a drought. Everything was going well in their lives. Rajesh finally managed to accept Anjali as well. They were a one small happy family. Everybody thought nothing could go wrong, and that's when bad luck stroke again. One Sunday I visited my daughter's house, and I was talking with Chottey. Anjali was out at a friend's place. Suddenly we both heard the fight that was taking place between Amrita and Rajesh. The words that exchanged between both of them were clearly heard, and the words we heard stabbed both our hearts. That's when we both realized the bitter truth about Rajesh. He was having an affair with another woman, and he had been hiding it from all of us for two years. And on that day he was asking for a divorce from my daughter. Arnav being the short tempered person, ran towards the room to confront his dad. But that's when we realized it was too late. My daughter had got a heart attack due to the shocking news and at that very moment she left us . From that day onwards Arnav hated his dad and so did Anjali. Rajesh is now living with that woman in USA, and he doesn't seem to be sorry at all for his actions. Since the day Amrita died, Chottey never attended the death anniversaries and we think that it's because he don't want to remember that day. I'm fine with it, because he was a child at that time. And I know how he must have felt when he saw his mother dying in front of his eyes when he was 14. But Anjali tries to make him attend the pooja. I always try to make her understand, but it's useless. She can't understand what Chottey is feeling, as she was not there when it happened. Every time on this day of the year, Arnav somehow stays out of the house and both siblings don't talk to each other on this day", Nani said, while wiping away her tears.
Khushi was feeling really sorry for the old woman in front of her right now and at the same time she felt much more respect towards her, because she felt that Nani had somehow managed to raise her grandchildren in to two wonderful personalities a midst her daughter's loss.
That night before Khushi went to sleep she wanted to talk to Arnav, but she couldn't contact him. He was not at home and nor had he called her. When she dialed his phone, it straight away went to voice mail. She didn't panic, as Nani had said that this was a usual thing during this time of every year. Before Khushi entered the dream world, she thought how Arnav had faced so many difficulties at a very young age, and yet he had managed to become one of the powerful and great personalities she had ever seen. But she wanted Arnav to accept the past and move forward along with the bitter truth, without trying to bury it.
"Well, I wanted to go to the Mandir. Day after tomorrow there is a pooja at our place and Anjali had to go to the town to buy some stuff needed for the pooja. So she dropped me at the Mandir and said that she would pick me up from there. But luckily I met Lavanya at the Mandir. So she asked me to come here, until Anjali finishes her shopping list", Nani explained.
Khushi was surprised to know that Lavanya had visited the Mandir, because she rarely goes there. But these days Lavanya seemed to be giving loads of surprises for her, so she thought of concentrating about what she wanted to know.
"By the way Nani, what is the pooja for?", Khushi asked curiously, thinking it had something to do with Arnav's mood.
"Oh, didn't Arnav tell you. You should come too. It's Arnav's mother's death anniversary", Nani said, a little sadly.
Khushi was shocked to hear this. "How come Arnav never mentioned something so important?", Khushi thought to herself. Khushi then thought may be this was the reason why both the brother-sister duo were upset. Although she wanted to tell Nani about what happened in the office, she couldn't, as Lavanya was with them. Suddenly Lavanya's phone rang and she went outside to answer the phone, excusing herself.
"Nani, I want to ask you something, only if it is alright?", Khushi said a little nervously.
"Of course Khushi Beta. What is it?", Nani said, with a smile.
Before Khushi could continue, Lavanya came back.
"Nani, I have to go out to meet a friend. Is it alright if I left?", Lavanya asked politely.
"Of course, no problem. I will spend some time with Khushi Beta", Nani said.
"Ok then. I will meet you at the pooja", Lavanya said. Then she took blessings from Nani, and left while saying good bye to Khushi.
Khushi was now feeling relaxed, as there was no one else to disturb her conversation with Nani.
"Khushi Beta, what did you want to ask?", Nani asked.
"Actually Nani, today in the morning Anjali Di came to the office to meet Arnav. After that, she left the office sadly. So I went to meet Arnav and he was not in a good mood as well. When I asked what happened, he just ignored me and left the office, saying that he was not well. Now when you said that Arnav's mom's death anniversary would be day after tomorrow, I was wondering whether this was the reason for them to be upset?", Khushi said, hoping that Nani would clear her doubts.
"Beta, it is a long story. Well, I haven't talked about my daughter's death for a long time. But since you are now going to become family, I guess you should know what happened in the past", Nani said thoughtfully.
Khushi was now not sure whether she was doing the right thing by trying to find out the truth. So she said, "No Nani, it's fine. Past is the past. And I know it must be difficult for you to talk about your only daughter's death. So just forget that I asked".
"It's alright darling. I want you to know, since you are going to become Chottey's wife. My daughter, Amrita was in love with a guy when she was in her early twenties. Then after two years, the guy broke the affair. She was blinded by love at that time, that she was not ready to accept the reality. She became weak both physically and mentally. We were feeling sorry for her, but we couldn't make her feel better at all. Time passed by, and one year after the break up, Amrita got a proposal. This was Arnav's dad, Rajesh. At first my daughter was not comfortable about this, but Rajesh somehow managed to win her over. The day Amrita agreed to marry Rajesh, we felt as if god had listened to us finally. Time passed by and Amrita finally fell in love again with Rajesh. We didn't know how to thank Rajesh, because he saved a person who was on the verge of drowning. Later we gave our daughter's hand to him, and they were leading a happy married life. Two years after the marriage, Amrita and Rajesh were blessed with a child. This was one of the happiest days in our lives. But one person was not happy, and that was Rajesh. The reason for it was, he wanted his first born to be a boy, but unfortunately it was a girl. And he was not happy about it at all. My daughter tried her very best to make him accept Anjali, but her efforts were useless. At first they exchanged words of disagreement, but later, they became huge arguments", Nani continued the story in a depressed tone.
"Two years after Anjali's was born, my daughter gave birth to a baby boy, and that was Arnav. Finally Rajesh was satisfied and he loved Arnav a lot. He changed himself to a good father and a good husband. This period was like a rainy season after a drought. Everything was going well in their lives. Rajesh finally managed to accept Anjali as well. They were a one small happy family. Everybody thought nothing could go wrong, and that's when bad luck stroke again. One Sunday I visited my daughter's house, and I was talking with Chottey. Anjali was out at a friend's place. Suddenly we both heard the fight that was taking place between Amrita and Rajesh. The words that exchanged between both of them were clearly heard, and the words we heard stabbed both our hearts. That's when we both realized the bitter truth about Rajesh. He was having an affair with another woman, and he had been hiding it from all of us for two years. And on that day he was asking for a divorce from my daughter. Arnav being the short tempered person, ran towards the room to confront his dad. But that's when we realized it was too late. My daughter had got a heart attack due to the shocking news and at that very moment she left us . From that day onwards Arnav hated his dad and so did Anjali. Rajesh is now living with that woman in USA, and he doesn't seem to be sorry at all for his actions. Since the day Amrita died, Chottey never attended the death anniversaries and we think that it's because he don't want to remember that day. I'm fine with it, because he was a child at that time. And I know how he must have felt when he saw his mother dying in front of his eyes when he was 14. But Anjali tries to make him attend the pooja. I always try to make her understand, but it's useless. She can't understand what Chottey is feeling, as she was not there when it happened. Every time on this day of the year, Arnav somehow stays out of the house and both siblings don't talk to each other on this day", Nani said, while wiping away her tears.
Khushi was feeling really sorry for the old woman in front of her right now and at the same time she felt much more respect towards her, because she felt that Nani had somehow managed to raise her grandchildren in to two wonderful personalities a midst her daughter's loss.
That night before Khushi went to sleep she wanted to talk to Arnav, but she couldn't contact him. He was not at home and nor had he called her. When she dialed his phone, it straight away went to voice mail. She didn't panic, as Nani had said that this was a usual thing during this time of every year. Before Khushi entered the dream world, she thought how Arnav had faced so many difficulties at a very young age, and yet he had managed to become one of the powerful and great personalities she had ever seen. But she wanted Arnav to accept the past and move forward along with the bitter truth, without trying to bury it.
Where is Arnav? Will Arnav listen to Khushi? Will Arnav attend his mother's death anniversary?
No comments:
Post a Comment