An imaginary one shot set after the party episode between Rakshit and Mahima.
“Tu Lavanya se shaadi kar le.”
“Lekin Mom-“
“Kuch lekin vekin nahi, Rakshit. Tujhe pata hai, Sunny ne Lavanya ko divorce papers bhej diye hai. Wo bechari to jaise toot hi gayi hai. Wo tujhse bohot pyar karti hai, Rakshit. Aur tu bhi to… tu bhi to uss se pyar karta hai na? Kya hua, has kyu raha hai tu?”
He suppressed his smile, looking at his mother who finally gave a halt to her continuous chant of wanting him to get married to Lavanya. “Kuch nahi. Bas kuch yaad aa gaya, to hasi aa gayi.”
Mahima Shergill sat baffled to see her son standing all cool in a situation as complicated as it was.
Sunny had cheated on Lavanya.
Lavanya was so upset.
Moreover, the poor girl had revealed that she had married Sunny just to stay close to Rakshit and even destiny seemed to be playing its game to bring Lavanya and Rakshit together.
Drishti… Drishti wasn’t the right girl for Rakshit and finally when it was the chance to make everything right that had gone wrong, her son… was finding it amusing.
Like seriously?
“Kya yaad aa gaya?”
“Yaad hai, party wali raat, jab hum baat kar rahe the… Aapne kaha tha… main Mrs. Shergill ko chahne laga hu. Aapne kaha tha aap jaanti hai ke main Mrs. Shergill ko chahne laga hu. Aur abhi aapne kaha ke mai Lavanya se pyaar karta hu to bas… hasi aa gayi.
“Rakshit tu-“
“Hum ek waqt pe do logo se pyaar nahi kar sakte hai, Mom. Kaise kar sakte hai? Kar sakte hai kya? Ya to main Mrs. Shergill se pyaar karta hoon ya fir Lavanya se. Ya fir kisi se bhi nahi. Lekin dono se? Nahi, Mom.” He strode toward the balcony in his room, gazing out at nothing in particular, waiting for his mother to put up more questions for him that he knew she would.
“Rakshit, mujhe haan ya na me jawab chahiye. Kya tu Lavanya se pyaar karta hai?” Mahima asked, standing rooted in her place.
“Nahi. Na kabhi kiya, na karta hoon aur na hi kabhi kar paunga agar koshish bhi ki to.” He did not take even ten seconds to respond.
His life was at such a point where he could not afford to hold silence for anyone’s sake.
Enough was enough.
“Iska matlab tu kisi se bhi pyaar nahi karta. To fir Lavanya se shadi karne me kya problem hai? At least wo to tujhse pyaar to karti hai aur itna pyaar karti hai ke tere liye usne Sunny se tak shaadi karli. Teri biwi ki tarah nahi, jise kisi ki koi parwah nahi hai.” She slumped down on the bed, her voice beginning to turn rough at the mention of Drishti.
He didn’t react. He had grown so used to his mother’s dislike for his wife that he had already seen it coming.
There was absolutely no point in getting shocked over the same. He turned around, walking back to where his mother sat and knelt on the floor in front of her. “Mom, ek baat puchu?”
She gave him a nod.
“Aap jab Mrs. Shergill se pehli baar mili thi, jab wo meri employee thi, aapko wo bohot pasand aayi thi na?”
She moved her head from him, to shift her gaze. “Haan aayi thi. Pasand bhi aayi thi aur maine uss par bohot bharosa bhi kiya tha jo usne tod diya. Dhokha diya.”
“Mom,” he whispered, taking her hands in his, “hum abhi bhi nahi jaante ke shaadi wale din exactly hua kya tha. Hum nahi jaante ke meri shaadi Mrs. Shergill se aur Shikhar ki Divya se kyu hui lekin, Mom… sara blame Mrs. Shergill pe hi kyu? Aapne Shikhar ko to maaf kardiya. Fir Mrs. Shergill se itni narazagi kyu?”
He dropped his head in her lap. “Mrs. Shergill ne mujhse kaha tha ke uske apne reasons the ye shadi karne ke liye aur agar usne kaha hai… to mai maanta hu ke uske reasons rahe honge. Aap mujhe Lavanya se shaadi karne ke liye keh rahi hai, uss ladki se… jo mujhe mandap mein chhod kar chali gayi thi, ye jaante hue ke agar wo shaadi nahi hui to meri jaan ko khatra hoga. Isiliye shaadi kar raha tha na mai? Wo jaanti thi, fir bhi chali gayi aur Mrs. Shergill… bhale hi kisi bhi wajah se kyu na ho, usne mujhse shaadi karke aap ke mann ko to tasalli de di. Meri shaadi ho gayi. Jab aap chahti thi ho tabhi hui aur aap chahti hai main uss ladki ko chhod du jiski wajah se meri zindagi chal rahi hai uske liye jiski wajah se wo khatm ho sakti thi?”
“Par wo Meen rashi wali ladki nahi hai -“
“Meen rashi ki to Lavanya bhi nahi hai na, Mom?”
“Hmm.” She ran her hand through his hair, caressing his head, sighing at the events that had taken place the way they weren’t expected.
He continued further, taking advantage of the moment in which she was calm. “Aapko Meen rashi ki tension hai na? Lavanya ki to pakka hi nahi hai lekin Mrs. Shergill ki to hume pata hi nahi hai. Kuch probability to hai ke uski Meen raashi ho, nahi? And if I am not wrong… uski Meen rashi hi hai Mom.”
“Tujhe kaise pata? Agar hai to usne bataya kyu nahi?”
“Pata nahi. Hogi uski apni wajah. Uski Meen rashi ho na ho, Mom,” he muttered, lifting his head to glance at her, “wo mere liye galat ladki nahi hai. Ho hi nahi sakti. Agar galat hoti to ab tak to mujhe kuch na kuch to ho hi jata aapke pandit ji ke according but look at me, I am absolutely fine. Kya matlab hua iska?”
He didn’t believe in anything that the priest said but his mother did and he had got a good chance to use that bit in helping his mother realize things that she wasn’t getting right.
Perhaps she was too overwhelmed and concerned for his life that she was refusing to accept the girl who came between him and the right girl aka his lifesaving one.
“Tum kya chahte ho mujhse?” she asked, seeing no matter what she said, her son was acting deaf to every word said against his wife.
“Pause.”
“What?”
“I want you to pause, recall the past and think, Mom. Aapko yaad hai… aap Mrs. Shergill se pehli baar mili thi to aapne kya kaha tha? Bohot pyari bacchi hai. Wo abhi bhi wahi pyari bacchi hai, Mom. Bas aap dekh nahi paa rahi hai.”
He rose to his feet and walked toward the door, to allow his mother some quality time to ponder deeply over things.
He gave a last glance at her, halting his steps near the door. “Wo aapki bohot respect karti hai, Mom aur kafi miss bhi karti hai… apni unn Mahima Ma’am ko jinhe uske khane se lekar safely ghar pohochne ki fiqr hua karti thi jab ki wo sirf unke bete ki P.A. thi. Sochna Mom. Wo abhi bhi wahi hai. Aur aap bhi wahi ho.”
Mahima Shergill sat in absolute silence after he exited the room, shutting every other noise to hear the voices in the deepest corners of her heart.
As I read this today to edit and post, I realize how strong my connect is with this one. Even today. Even after two long years.
Mahima Shergill was an absolutely frustrating character but after a point, she became ridiculously appalling and just intolerable. I had to pen this down to get my frustration out.
I hope you had a nice read with this one. Do share your feedback in the comment section.