Hey guys, Bela is back to bore you with her next update ?????
No one wants Ragini’s POVs? Guess you guys had an overdose in my previous ff ?
Let’s start with part 2………
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“Abbey hadd hai yaar, ye bachcha hai Ki aafat? Chomu kahin Ka……..kahin kone mein mil jaye, phod dunga!” Ruhaan cribbed about Ansh, our younger cousin. Apparently, that spoilt brat had soiled Ruhaan’s classic converse shoes which were quite expensive and had been let off easily as he was ‘laadla’ of his mother, our Badi Maa. Load of bull**** if you ask me!
“Chill. Bachcha hai. He is going through puberty. Rebellious and all……..” I tried pacifying him.
“Ab tu bio na jhaad! I am anyways very angry! That little piece of worthless…….” Ruhaan stopped suddenly. I turned and found Suhani standing near the door. I waved to her and asked her to come in.
She is such a sweet soul. Very cool. It is fun, talking to her. Even though she is closer in age to Ansh, she doesn’t share a good relationship with him. I do NOT wonder why.
“Guess what? I managed to take your revenge!” She chirped happily. Ruhaan looked at her with interest. “How?” He asked. “Wait and watch!” She replied.
“MAA!” Ansh’s voice rang through the mansion. We came downstairs and saw the brat throwing a major temper tantrum that his shoes were missing. He accused us of troubling him. We rolled our eyes at him and came face to face with his very angry mother, who wanted to know exactly what we had done and what our problem was.
“Their only problem is that they are unable to have a moment of peace in this house, even though they are the RIGHTFUL heirs of this house.” Swara Mausi’s voice came from behind us. We smirked. Ooh lala……………….
“Swara, don’t poke your nose in between!” Badi Maa told her. Mausi snorted.
“I am the one interfering? Then what are you doing exactly? You are supporting your son while I am supporting my children. In Ragini’s absence, their responsibility is mine. And I will not have anyone pointing their fingers at my children, just like you don’t tolerate anything against Ansh.” Swara Mausi coldly replied.
“Arrey, ye ke ho raha hai Jiji? Je log to Mahabharata rach rahe hain!” Chhoti Dadi said to Badi Dadi. The latter looked at us and asked, “Kya aap dono ne kuchh kiya?”
We shook our heads. We didn’t lie, we never did anything! Suhani did it. And how exactly was this our ‘revenge’ was what wasn’t clear to us. Until Mausi spoke next.
“Badi Maa, you know how Ansh is! He is forgetful. Ab, humara hi bachcha hai, so instead of covering up his faults, we need to correct them. Did you search your room Ansh?” She asked that kid. He scoffed at her. “What exactly would the shoes be doing in my room? Apply sense Chachi!” He retorted.
And got a tight slap. By Bade Dadu! Ooh lala returns!
“Is this a way to talk to an elder? She is your Chachi! Apologise to her. Right now!” He yelled at him.
‘Arrey abhi to party shuru hui hai……..’ Ruhaan’s voice came to my head. I controlled my smirk.
“Par Papaji, these two boys……….” Badi Maa’s whining was stopped by a fierce glare from Bade Dadu.
“Sorry. Chachi…….JI!” Ansh said to her, scowling. Swara Mausi smiled at him, fakely and replied that it was okay.
“Go and check your room. Who knows, you brought them inside?” Dadu instructed Ansh. He went to his room while Chhoti Dadi followed him.
“Asli story actually yahi she start hai.” Suhani whispered to us. And we got it finally! By proving Ansh as a careless boy, she would prove that it was because of his ‘carelessness’ that Ruhaan’s shoes got spoiled. I smiled at her widely and we both gave her side hugs. I made a mental note to gift her something grand on Raksha Bandhan.
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“Now that was fun!” Ruhaan gushed over Suhani’s plan. I had to agree. It was great, having a sister. And specially, a sister like her. We are almost like the Three Musketeers.
On finding the shoes under Ansh’s bed, Chhoti Dadi made a ruckus, saying that ‘Poor Lakshya’s children are being punished for being their father’s sons!’ Bade Dadu made Ansh apologise for blaming us unnecessarily and for spoiling Ruhaan’s shoes as well. Ruhaan, elated on getting a chance to show his theatrical skills, did the overacting of being a model elder brother whose ‘kartavya’ was to forgive his younger brother. This speech entranced the older generation who widely praised him and Mom for her ‘sanskaars’. Mausi was biting her inner cheek all the while, trying desperately to control her laughter. Suhani looked pleased with herself while Ruhaan got an extra present of a new pair of the same converse shoes as a gift by Bade Dadu.
“Je huyi na baat!” Ruhaan exclaimed, taking out the new pair and trying them on.
I shook my head at him fondly. I recalled the time when we landed in Kolkata.
***Flashback***
“Uhh…….out of the flight. Now, all we need to do is to take a cab to the outskirts and reach Maheshwari Mansion.” I told Ruhaan who was busy in ogling a model on the cover page of a fashion magazine. I huffed in annoyance and snatched the magazine out of his hands. He gave me an annoyed look. I glared right back.
“Look, we are new to this city. We need to stick together. Kindly cooperate.” I told him. He sighed and nodded.
We couldn’t find a taxi for quite some time so we walked a good mile or two and then took a local cab and told him that we needed to go to the outskirts of the city. Unfortunately, the poor guy understood only Bengali. So I switched on my translator and in broken Bengali, explained our destination to him.
I don’t know what he understood or what I said, but he thought that we need to go out of the city. Which was technically true. So he steered the vehicle and took us back to the airport! Because we needed to go ‘out of the city’!
After a shouting match with him, we hired an Ola cab which came in five minutes. This time, the guy understood Hindi, English and Bengali so he understood where we wanted to go and we set off.
“Explain to me again why no one could come to pick us up?” Ruhaan asked me.
“Because they don’t know that our flight is early. And I thought it would be better not to disturb them, they must be preparing for the Pooja and taking care of Dadi.” I replied.
We reached an hour later and after paying him, we turned towards the house and our jaw promptly dropped.
This was Maheshwari Mansion! Big. Oh God! This is the house we will be staying in? It is larger than quite a number of hotels we passed through. We looked at each other. This trip suddenly seemed interesting…………
We came to the gate and saw a guard looking at us with wide eyes, his face pale as if he had seen a ghost. We were confused. We were immediately allowed to enter, even without having to explain who we were. We walked through the narrow lane and entered the house.
I took out my tablet and opened the mapping software. It was a special software which I designed. If we walk a path with it open, it maps the place for us. We just need to add the extra information like the number of rooms, etc. It is basically like an architecture designing program. It was very basic, I still had to work on it. So only I used it.
We entered a hall and realised that the drawing room was down the stairs. The outline of this house was confusing me. We entered through a door and saw three stairs. One went towards our right, one towards the left and both went upstairs. One staircase went straight ahead and below. We went ahead a little and saw a large drawing room at the end of the staircase.
“Was the person who designed this house drunk while doing so? I have no idea what the structure is!” Ruhaan’s voice came in my head. ‘I don’t know as well!’ I replied. ‘Now that is a first!’ His smug voice entered my head. ‘Shut up and focus. I can see the entire family down there, having tea.’ I replied. We looked at each other and nodded. Time to meet the family! We descended from the stairs.
Everyone looked at us and went rigid with shock. The same reaction that the guard had given us. We got further confused. We looked around. I spotted Swara Mausi, as her photo had been shown to us by Mom earlier.
I looked at her and asked hesitantly, “Swara Mausi?”
She stepped forward. Something was wrong with her. She was looking at us with a strange hardness in her eyes. It was very different from what we had heard about her from Mom. She looked between us both. “Ruhaan?” She asked me. “Ranveer.” I corrected her. A woman, probably Badi Maa, asked, “The elder one?” I nodded in affirmative. Everybody looked at me with interest.
Mausi smiled and I instantly relaxed. She stepped forward and gave a hug to us both. We smiled charmingly at everyone, as we are accustomed to in front of teachers in our parents teacher’s meet.
“Haaye Jiji! These chhoras look exactly like Lakshya!” An elderly lady said.
Now before we came to Kolkata, we had a session with Mom where she explained about each family member except for the children, who she had never met. I gathered this information from that session:
There was a Bade Dadu who had no hair on his head(our biological grandfather) and was very strict. He had an annoying habit of looking at his watch and find ‘shubh muharat’ for everything.
There was a Badi Dadi who was decked up in jewellery and a big red bindi. She was a soft creature.
There was a chhote Dadu who spoke less, other than trying to trouble his wife(cool!). He is our ‘cousin dadu’.
There is a Chhoti Dadi who is a motormouth and loves being decked up as well. I gathered that the lady who spoke right now was her.
There is a Bade Papa and Badi Maa who are genial creatures.
There is Swara Mausi and Sanskaar Bade Papa/ Mausaji. They are the ones Mom was closest to. I know Mausi by face.
There is Uttara Bua, who is married and lives nearby.
And then, there is Dad. Who we apparently resemble.
“Oh my God! Mere pote………..” Badi Dadi exclaimed happily with tears in her eyes and rushed forwards and hugged us tightly.
‘Aaaaaaa…….kabhi khushi kabhi gham!’ Ruhaan’s voice came to my head. I controlled smiling crazily.
Ruhaan and I folded our hands in a respectful namastey and touched every elder’s feet. They blessed us happily. The ‘No Hair Dadu’ even smiled at us. We smiled back and did a grand namaste to him.
“Why didn’t you tell us that you were coming? I would have arranged everything. Wait, let me bring a thhali.” Badi Dadi went off.
“Yes, why didn’t you inform that you would be arriving early?” Mausi asked us. We told them our reasons for doing so and got big smiles and blessings for being so considerate.
Badi Dadi brought a Pooja thhaal and did our aarti. We smiled as she fed us the laddoo. Yea! Laddoo!
She stroked our faces. “You must be tired. Shall I take you to your rooms?” She asked.
Ruhaan and I looked at each other. “Rooms? Are we going to stay in separate rooms?” Ruhaan asked her.
She smiled widely and nodded. “I appreciate your effort but I am sorry. We would rather stay together in a single room. We are habitual to it.” Ruhaan replied respectfully.
This statement caused the family utter happiness and joy and we were escorted to our room. Which was double in size of what we had back at home.
“Mapping ho gayi? I would get lost here!” Ruhaan asked me. I replied that I needed to see the entire house to complete the mapping.
A girl of about 14, who had escorted us to the room awkwardly held out her hand. “I am Suhani. Your cousin.” She said.
“We know! You are Swara mausi’s daughter, aren’t you? Hi, I am Ruhaan. I am the cooler twin. This is my elder twin Ranveer. Don’t mind him, he has gone after Bade Dadu!” Ruhaan said to her while she started giggling.
“Come, I will show you the entire house.” She offered and we took the opportunity and started exploring.
Midway, Ruhaan got tired and went to the drawing room to eat something. I was left alone with Suhani and carried on my exploring.
“You both look just like Chachu. Ditto.” She remarked. I nodded my head, already knowing this and too engrossed in the mapping.
“Am I disturbing you?” She asked naively. I looked up. I saw a shy girl who was afraid that she was breaching someone’s privacy. I felt for her. I smiled at her and shook my head. She smiled back. And I knew that I was definitely going to like her.
“This is the storeroom. And so, ends our tour.” She finished off. I made the notes in my software and finally, after a few seconds, the entire model of the Maheshwari Mansion was sketched in front of me. Suhani looked at it curiously. I smiled and explained to her how it works. She was listening in rapt attention.
“You are really smart!” she whispered in an awestruck manner.
“Did Ruhaan fail to mention during the intro that apart from being the cooler twin, he is also the dumber one?” I asked her. She laughed and I joined her.
We returned to the drawing hall where Ruhaan was helping himself to a plate of kachoris. He was narrating some incident to everyone and they were all happily listening to him in rapt attention.
He looked up and excused himself. I sat down beside him and stole a kachori from his plate. “Did you complete the mapping?” He asked while I nodded. “Explain the scene to me then.” He demanded.
I opened my tablet and opened the MM model. It popped up on the screen and I started:
“Maheshwari Mansion, built in 1963, belongs to the Maheshwari family who shifted here from Bikaner. Our great grandfather Shri. Vishnuprasasd Maheshwari built this house and shifted with his family of then, three. Over the years, the Maheshwaris have established themselves as the leading businessmen of the city. This house has a total of 15 rooms and a kitchen, a garden, a lawn, a swimming pool, a servants’ quarter and 14 bathrooms……….”
“Which room doesn’t have a bathroom?” Ruhaan asked.
“The storeroom.” I replied and continued:
“Seven of these rooms are currently occupied by Bade Dada- Badi Dadi, chhote dada- Chhoti Dadi, Bade Papa- Badi Maa, Mausi and Mausaji, Suhani, Ansh and Sanya. An eighth room is kept ready for Uttara Bua when she comes home, and a ninth room is kept ready for Dad whenever he comes. We are occupying the tenth of the fifteen rooms. Out of the remaining five rooms, only three are bedrooms. Out of the other two, one is the store room and other is a kind of gym. Rooms towards the left staircase lead to Mausi-Mausaji’s room and Bade Papa’s room. Even Sanya’s and Ansh’s rooms are there. Dad, Uttara Bua, Suhani and us live towards the right wing. Bade Dadu and Chhote Dadu’s rooms are on this floor. There is also a TV room just behind you and a dining table over there……………”
“Is there a basement?” Ruhaan asked again.
“Technically, you are standing in the basement itself. Remember, we had to come down to reach here? The basement has been converted into this hall, dining room, kitchen, the bedrooms and the TV room.” I told him, finishing my map.
I looked up and found the entire family gaping at me. I raised an eyebrow. “Je kya thha?” Chhoti Dadi asked me.
Suhani explained to everyone on my behalf and soon, I was being praised for my intelligence. I tried to remain calm but I was getting a bit uncomfortable with this. To add to it, Ruhaan said, “You know what? Ranveer is also a member of Mensa. He has an IQ of 146!”
Those who understood looked at me, impressed while the rest were made to understand and they joined the ‘impressed gang’. Now I was decidedly uncomfortable. I glared at Ruhaan who looked at me with a smirk.
“Are you hungry?” Mausi asked us. Ruhaan nodded eagerly while I shook my head simultaneously. Everybody looked at us, obviously amused.
“You both are very different.” A sweet girl, obviously Sanya, said. We smiled at her brilliantly. She was really cute! Ruhaan picked her up and placed her on his lap. “But I am better, right?” He asked with a pout.
“Mama says that intelligent people are very good. So I think that Ranveer Bhai is better!” She replied innocently. Ruhaan made a shocked face while I burst out laughing. I took her in my arms and said, “For your amazing choice, I have brought you a gift. Do you want it?” I asked her.
She looked at Mausi who smiled and nodded to her. Sanya turned to me and nodded sweetly. She hopped off my lap and went to Ruhaan who was sulking. She kissed him on his cheek and said, “You are just like my teddy!”
Ruhaan smiled at her brilliantly and demanded to see her teddy. She went upstairs and I went with her to fetch the gifts we had bought for our cousins from our own pocket money.
We gave everyone their gifts. Sanya was gifted a beautiful dress with a doll while Suhani received a watch and a book. We gave Ansh a basketball and a black hooded sweatshirt, both of which, he took happily. Everybody seemed very happy to see us all bonding.
Since it was already 6 pm, we went to our rooms to rest before dinner at 8:50. As I closed the door behind me, Ruhaan asked, “So what do you think of them?”
“I don’t know. They seem nice. But then, it is our first day with them and we are meeting for the first time, so…………..” I left at that.
“I like Suhani and Sanya though. I don’t know why but something about Ansh is a bit off.” Ruhaan replied.
I may have a high IQ but Ruhaan has a high EQ. He has this amazing ability to sense the vibes coming from a person. Since he is ultra sensitive, his emotional aptitude in understanding unsaid words and emotions is very acute. He is an expert in sketching out a person’s personality while I am an expert in sketching out that person’s intelligence. This is why we always stick together. I was an almost antisocial creature and Ruhaan balanced that. Ruhaan, on the other hand, could be quite impulsive and stupid at times and I balanced that. We were perfect complements to each other.
“Well, I didn’t detect anything wrong with that kid. He is growing up, maybe that is why………..in fact, when we entered, I think I detected something wrong with Mausi.” I told him, knowing that he would get to know that eventually due to our telepathy.
“I know that you have noticed that people who know Dad seem to get a shock on seeing us. Even I noticed that brief anger. What I could make of her, I think that it happened maybe because of the way we look. I don’t know why but judging by the conversation downstairs, I have developed this feeling that Mausi doesn’t like Dad much.” He said.
And once again, I was left amazed at how emotionally smart my twin was. What he said made perfect sense to me now. And I can even figure out WHY she doesn’t like Dad. Because she is Mom’s sister. And Dad is Mom’s ex husband.
We texted Mom about our journey and our meeting and then took a short nap. I woke up at about 7:50 and decided to work on my investigatory project which would be marked during my practicals. I worked for about half an hour and then went downstairs. I didn’t worry about Ruhaan, he is a lazy butt who can sleep all day long but if his sub conscious mind has registered a time for food, he would wake up, come what may!
I met almost all the members downstairs, chatting. They smiled at me and started asking me about my school and all.
Ruhaan and I study in one of the elite schools of Delhi. We got in based purely on our merit. I am a Science student while Ruhaan has Commerce with Maths. He is into all sorts of activities like all sports, dance, music, debates and public speaking. I prefer MUNs, debates, chess, shooting, swimming, tech fests and quizzes. The only outdoor sport I play is badminton.
Everybody was impressed by our portfolio. I don’t know if it was because they were really good or because we were the kids of the house. Ten minutes after I came, I saw him descending the steps. Dad.
To say that I was surprised would be an understatement. I was positively shocked. For a moment, I had thought that Ruhaan had come. Then I noticed subtle differences and the attire. Ruhaan doesn’t wear such formal clothes. And this man looked a bit older. And I didn’t get the feeling that he was my brother. I had been confused and then it struck me.
This was why everybody who saw us were shocked. Because we looked exactly the same. And by exactly, I MEAN EXACTLY. The same face, same body structure(he was a bit more muscular), the same nose, same hair, same eyes, same everything. He didn’t notice me till he came downstairs fully. He sat opposite to me and didn’t pay much attention to his surroundings. He took out his phone and started working.
Mausaji cleared his throat. “Umm…..Lucky?” He said, looking at him then at me.
Dad replied without looking up. “Hmm Bhai. I am listening.”
“Look we have somebody with us today.” Mausaji tried again.
“Who? Uttara? I don’t get it why she doesn’t stay happy at her own house………” Dad said casually.
“Umm…..no Lakshya. It is someone else.”
“Who is it? Anyone important? A business client or someone?”
Swara Mausi coldly replied from behind him. “Your son.”
Dad froze. He slowly looked up and we made eye contact for the first time. A jolt of electricity passed through me. He had coal black eyes. I tried reading them. There was something in them. Something that Ruhaan would have easily understood. But I was having trouble. But what I understood was that he was as shocked as I was.
He stared at me for some time. As if searching through me. Memorising my face. We had this staring match that ended when almost five minutes later, Ruhaan walked in.
Now, I want to clarify certain things. Apart from our personalities, there are certain physical characteristics which make Ruhaan and I different. I, being the nerd who stays indoors, am a bit pale. Not white, I have inherited Dad’s complexion but I am a bit pale. I wear large square spectacles. Ruhaan, being the sporty guy, is darker and is a bit more muscular than I am. He is also more careful about his appearance. So if I had to compare, I could never deny that he looked more like Dad than I did. Even though we three practically looked the same.
So the catch was that we were seated in such a way that my back was faced to Ruhaan and he couldn’t see me. But he could see Dad as he was sitting opposite to me. Dad looked up at him and got even more shocked. Unfortunately Ruhaan, who had just woken up and was probably still sleepy, didn’t properly see Dad.
He walked up to him and plopped down beside him. Then, he slapped Dad’s head from behind and said in a sleepy voice, “Abbey Gadhe! Couldn’t you wake me up when you were coming downstairs? What if I missed dinner? Tujhe itna maarta na main!”
Dad looked shocked. Other than the fact that he had just seen his two carbon copies, he had been slapped by his son on his head and had been called a donkey! Right at that moment, I felt for him. And Ruhaan, when he would come to know the blunder he had made.
As if that wasn’t enough, Ruhaan kicked Dad’s feet aside and kept his head on his shoulder and started snoozing. Dad looked at him strangely then at me. I grimaced.
“Beta Lakshya, you are back! See, your sons have arrived. Did you meet them?” Badi Dadi came in.
Hearing the statement, Ruhaan’s eyes flew open and he looked at Dad. “Bhai Papa aa gaye! Oh Teri! I must be looking like a fright! Wait, let me at least comb my hair……..” He stood up and then, finally saw me. And froze.
While all this had been happening, everybody had been looking on with mixed reactions. Some were scared, some were amused and some were sympathetic. And I was a mixture of all three.
“Hi bro.” I managed lamely. I looked at him awkwardly. I switched on my telepathy. ‘Bhai……WO Dad hain.’ I told him through the telepathy.
‘What? Dad? That is Dad?’ He asked me. While we had been having our telepathic communication, we had been looking at each other. I nodded to him to confirm. He made a face and slowly turned towards Dad who was looking at him, dazed.
“So, I did that with YOU?” He asked sheepishly, fiddling with his fingers. Dad nodded, still in a daze. Ruhaan grimaced. “Oh Shit!” He exclaimed and then, passed out!
I quickly rushed to him while everybody surrounded us. I called for water in panic. Somebody handed it to me and I took a handful and sprinkled it on his face. Ruhaan’s eyes fluttered a bit. With some help, I carried him to the sofa and laid him on it. I rubbed his hands, asking him to open his eyes.
‘Abbey saale, I am acting!’ his voice came to my head. I stopped in shock. Everybody was so busy in trying to revive him that no body noticed my inaction.
‘How do I face him after this fiasco? So I fainted. It will give me time to think about a way.’
I rolled my eyes. ‘This fake fainting is enough redemption bro. If you wake up and apologise, nothing is gonna happen. After all, you did it by mistake!’ I told him.
Ruhaan fluttered his eyes open and looked around. Everyone stared at him, worriedly. I decided to start the thing. With my best effort, I asked him, “Are you feeling fine bro?”
He nodded, still looking around. ‘Abbey where is Dad?’ He asked me through telepathy. ‘Behind you.’ I replied. Ruhaan looked behind him and found Dad looking down at him, with concern on his face.
Ruhaan plastered his best smile on his face. “Hi Dad. Ruhaan here.” He said genially. “Hi Ruhaan. Dad here.” Dad replied. I smiled in amusement. Oh he has got sarcasm all right!
“And you are……………..” Dad looked at me and asked. “Ranveer.” I said. He looked at us both. “Twins……….who is the elder one?”
Ruhaan pointed towards me. “Ranveer. By two minutes.” Dad nodded.
“Oh Lakshya beta, they look exactly like you! When I saw them for the first time, I was moved to tears!” Badi Dadi said. Dad smiled at her lightly.
“But as much as I have observed them, they are not like you in any other way. And I am glad.” Bade Dadu said to Papa, in a contemptuous voice.
“I gathered as much. If they had been like me, I doubt you would have allowed them to stay for even a minute!” Dad replied in a steely voice.
‘Oh Teri! Dadu v/s Dad wars!’ Ruhaan’s voice came to me. I looked at him in a way which clearly said ‘Shut Up!’
“They could never be like you. Ragini has brought them up. I am sure she would never want her sons to follow their father’s footsteps.” Mausi told him. Dad looked at her with a sneer.
“As if Ragini’s qualities are lovely! If they follow HER footsteps, I am sure they would be really happy!” Dad said venomously.
Something about the way he said it made me snap. How dare he talk about my mother like that? I was about to retort but was beat to it by Ruhaan.
“Whatever she is like, at least she brought us up. SHE didn’t ditch us!” He said quietly in a cold voice. Dad turned towards him and looked at him. “And what made you think that I didn’t want you both?” He asked us.
“Stop lying to your children! I am sure that Ragini didn’t tell them what had happened but that doesn’t mean you can lie so blatantly to them. You drove Ragini away!” Mausi screeched at him.
“Swara, that would be enough!” Mausaji told her sternly. Mausi glared at him and stalked off. I rubbed my temples. The drama has begun.
“How about we make a deal? You don’t insult our mother, we will be as nice to you as we are to her!” I told Dad. He looked at us. “I want to know you both.” He said.
“And we came here to know you as well Dad. Not to cause fights.” Ruhaan said. Dad smiled at him.
“So what grade are you in……………?”
From there, everything went up. We chatted over dinner and learnt a lot about him. He, in turn, asked us questions too. Everything seemed brilliant.
Other than the fact that Ruhaan kept on glancing at Badi Maa at regular intervals, with a suspicious look in his eyes.
***End of Flashback***
“Ruhaan, why were you looking at Badi Maa suspiciously when we had our first dinner with everybody?” I asked him curiously. I had planned on asking him later but it slipped my mind.
“Uhh…..nothing. I was just getting the wrong vibes. That’s it.” He replied.
I knew he was lying. He was looking away and stammering. He was hiding something. I pestered him for a few minutes and he eventually gave in.
“Have you noticed Ranveer that Badi Maa has a problem with us?” He asked me.
I shook my head. “Why would she have a problem with us?”
“Because we are the rightful heirs of the Maheshwari wealth. Something we weren’t till a month back. We were named heirs after we came here. I think you would have no issue in making out who was to inherit this property before we entered the scene.”
Ansh. Badi Maa’s son and the lone grandson till we came. So is that why Ansh changed so suddenly?
“Yes. When you were researching on the Maheshwari family’s history and other intelligent stuff, I researched in what interests me. The business and the economics of this family. I found that mainly, the property is divided equally among the male children and the wealth between all the children, including the girls. But the Mansion itself is named after the eldest son. That is why it is on Bade Dadu’s name. After him, Bade papa will take over. And after him, you will inherit the mansion.”
“What about you Ruhaan? We are twins. So technically, it should be divided between us.”
“Nah bro! When we came inside this house, since the beginning a thing struck me odd. Rather than asking us about ourselves, the first question we were asked was who is the elder one amongst us. Everybody had been curious to know. Even Dad asked this question. It is clear that despite being twins, only one would inherit. The one who was born first. You.”
“So Ansh’s irritation with us is because of the property? What the heck? He is just a child! He should not be thinking of such stuff!”
“That is exactly where Badi Maa came in. I found her suspicious that night because she looked angry whenever we were being praised or pampered. I realised that it is SHE who has a problem. Mausaji and Mausi already know that the Mansion wouldn’t pass to their children. I know it is rather sick and s*xist but the battle was always between us three. Actually, it started because we came here. Ansh was always supposed to inherit because we were missing. Now that we are back, there is no question who would get this mansion. It will be you. And Badi Maa has serious issues with that. So I think that she is instigating him against us. She is trying to make us leave from here and never return so that Ansh gets the house.”
“That is……….sick! She is using her child! And here I thought that she was a gentle and unassuming lady who is just overprotective of her son!”
Ruhaan looked at me. I realised that there was something else going on in his mind. His next words shocked me.
“There is a great mystery behind how we came here and how Mom went missing.”
I looked at him strangely. Wasn’t this field of expertise mine? I asked him to elaborate his statement.
“Remember what Mom said? Badi Dadi suddenly got to know from somewhere that Mausi was in contact with Maa. For sixteen years, nobody knew this. So suddenly, how did this come out? Somebody leaked this information on purpose. To get us here. And since we have been here, how many times have you had an accident Ranveer?”
My blood went cold. I realised that he was right. Since I landed in Kolkata and came to this house, I have suffered small accidents. I would slip on the floor, get burnt near the diya at the mandir, get food poisoning etc. All of this didn’t have any connection with what was going on, has it? I asked Ruhaan about it.
“I don’t know about that. But one thing disturbs me. HOW Mom went missing. The guard had said that some men came in dressed as policemen and took her on the pretext of taking her to the hospital where apparently we both had been admitted after an accident. Now who would do such a thing? One could be Mr. Basu who wants Mom out of the picture so that Dad focusses on Nivedita. Who else?” Ruhaan asked me, with a tensed expression on his face.
And that is when the bulb of my mind finally glowed. He didn’t know the answer. But I did.
“Somebody who wants us to go far away from here and never even turn back. Someone who wants us away from this place. Someone who wants us to hate this place for stealing our mother from us. Someone who gains a lot from our departure.”
Ruhaan and I looked at each other in shock and said simultaneously, “Badi Maa!”
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
There, there. The kids are just like their Mom and Mausi. Born Jasoos! Now, the story starts. Part 2 focussed on Ranveer and Ruhaan’s memories and the realisations they come to. Part 3 would focus on Lakshya’s memories and the realisation he comes across. Picture abhi baaki hai…………????
Up Next: Lakshya’s POV continues. He realises something.