SANGINI – A NEW BEGINNING! CHAPTER 67
Recap : arshi’s wedding
The episode starts with airplane landing and all the maheshwari’s coming out of Kolkata airport. Sanskaar behaves distant from everyone and has his earphones on.
Swara ; ma, if it’s okay… can i and ragini go to baadi? Everyone will be surprised and happy seeing her..
She asked excited. Ap looks at Dp who nods. Ap allows her. Ragini smiles and looks at sanskaar, but he had his plain face on and she couldn’t read his eyes beneath the glares. Swara and ragini board a different taxi while rest all proceeds towards MM.
~~~~~~~~~~~
BAADI
Swara and Ragini enters through the main entrance. Ragini is overwhelmed. She had never ever thought that she would be back there. There are tears of happiness in her eyes. She tightly holds swara’s hand and they move inside. She recalls her moments spent in that veranda. Dida sees her. She smiles widely.
Dida ( shouts ) : ae marwaran…. come outside and see who has come….
The girls come near her and takes her blessings. Ragini asks for forgiveness but dida nods no and hugs her tightly. Ragini smiles through her tears.
Ragini : how are you, Nani Ma?
Dida : badi jaldi yaad aa gayi apni nani ma ki… ( you finally remembered me )
Ragini : sorry nani ma..
Dida ( caressing her face ) : no beta, don’t say sorry. Now everything will be fine… you also forget the old things…
Ragini nods and hugs her. Swara smiles seeing them.
The gadodia’s come outside and are so happy to see ragini back. Ragini looks at them with love and guilt.
Dadi : Laado…
She takes Ragini in her embrace, teary eyed. Ragini too hugs her tightly and sobs. They break the hug and Dadi caresses her face and kisses on her forehead and cheeks. Ragini joins her hands in front of her and bows down her head. Dadi holds her hands and nods no. She lightly hits her on the shoulder.
Dadi : khabardar, if you asked sorry one more time….
Ragini smiles through her tears. Dada ji comes forward. Ragini touches his feet, too. He blesses her.
Dada ji : beta, you took too much time to find your way back to your house. I thought i’ll die without seeing you for the last time…
Ragini : dada ji… please, don’t say like that.
Dada ji : what else should I Say? YOU literally forgot us and never looked back?
Ragini silently cries as dada ji scolds her lovingly. He hugs her and pats her head.
Dada ji : Laado, now you are not angry on us na??
Ragini nods no and wipes his tears. He blesses her. Everyone looks on, smiling. Swara wipes her tears as dida hugs her. Ragini moves towards Sharmishtha.
Shomi : Ragu, beta how are you?
Ragini nods. Shomi cups her face. She still looks down.
Shomi : beta, please forgive me. I couldn’t understand the pain behind your smile. ( Ragini cries, so does everyone ) you gave me the place of your mother but i could never be your Mom.
Everyone looks on.
Ragini : no Ma, I’m sorry for breaking your trust. I couldn’t be good sister or daughter.
Hearing this, shekhar turns around and goes inside, angrily. Everyone looks on.
Shomi : beta never say this. You are the best daughter a family could ask. And you and swara are world’s best sisters… you both are SwaRagini, right?
She looks back at SwARA, who nods and comes forwards. She side hugs Ragini.
Shomi : forget everything, beta. Everything is fine now. We all have realised our mistakes.
Ragini nods. They all move inside.
Shekhar is standing with his back towards them. Ragini keeps her hand on his shoulder.
Ragini ; pa… papa…. you wont even look at me? I’m your laado paapa…
She cries. Shekhar turns and hugs her tightly. They cry. He breaks the hug and lightly slaps on her cheeks, lightly.
Shekhar : aise karta hai kya koi?? If i said that you wont live with us then you’ll leave me without thinking?? Haan??
Ragini nods no.
“ beta, elders sometimes don’t think what they are saying in anger.. it doesn’t mean that you’ll leave them…”
“sorry papa”
“ you didn’t remembered us na?? You never called us… didn’t looked back for once also??”
“papa i’m sorry… please forgive me/”
“ no beta, you should forgive us…. we never understood you… we did wrong with you…”
She holds his folded hands and nods no.
“ Papa, your hands should always raise to bless me and slap me if i’m wrong.. not for this”
“earlier when i used to scold you, you would quickly make my favourite MalPua for me…. this time i kept waiting but you didn’t came with them…”
Ragini smiles through her tears recalling the old times.
“Ma, look at her… she’s smiling. I’m not going to talk to her ….”
Everyone looks on surprised. Ragini quickly goes and holds his hand.
“
no papa… you are taking me wrongly… i…i”
Swara : ragini… baba is just kidding… once you make MalPua for him all his anger will shoo away….
Shomi : shone is right ragu… after you went, he never ate that dish.
Shekhar : yes because only my Laado makes the best MalPua…
Ragini smiles and hugs him.
Ragini : i’ll make for you papa… just forgive me na…
Shekhar nods and wipes her tears. He hugs her. Shomi too hugs her from the other side.
Swara : haw… you forgot me…
She pouts. Shomi opens her arms and all 4 have a family hug. Dada, dadi and dida smiles seeing them.
Dada ji : arre if the crying session is over then let my laado rest and see her house again….
Dadi : all the things later… first let me talk to my gudiya… ( she cups her face ) haayyeee.. look how slim and weak she has become…
Ragini ( smiling through her tears ) ; dadi ma… i’m not weak.. i have become fitter…
Everyone has a hearty laugh. Dadii takes ragini to her old room while shomi and swara goes in the kitchen, dida goes back to her place, dada ji goes to temple and shekhar leaves for his work.
( PS – Here Shekhar works in a MNC at a reputed position. )
Dadi made Ragini sit on the bed and sat opposite her. She caresses her hair and just watches her daughter being in front of her after so many months. Ragini, who has missed motherly love for so much time keeps her head in dadi’s lap. She pats on her back.
Dadi : how’s my laado? You stopped calling after some months. We got worried beta….
Ragini : voh dadi ma.. there were so many things going on that’s why…..
She recalls her accident.
Dadi : acha tell me something where did you lived? How’s sanskaar? Was he there with you? What did you do?
Ragini gets up and holds her hands.
Ragini : dadi ma… don’t worry. You had trusted the right person. ( excitedly ) I lived in Delhi. Sanskaar has a very good house there. He took care of me. He gave me a separate room to sleep but if i got nightmares, he would sit by my side whole night and sing lullaby to me. Just like you dadi ma….
Dadi : that’s so nice of him… and this means you didn’t missed me at all there…
She makes faces. Ragini laughs and pulls her cheeks.
Ragini : common dadi.. his voice is not sweet as yours… you are the best…
Dadi : acha acha… don’t butter me… tell me everything…
Ragini then tells her how sanskaar helped her come out of depression, sightseeing, how he supported her, how they went for the singing competition, her job, about Pooja, Abhay, Arnav and Khushi. She told her about her trip to Goa and how they fought at the dhaba. Dadi laughs listening to her talks but also felt relieved with her decision of trusting sanskaar and sending her with him.
She told about the kids at orphanage and how they celebrated sanskaar’s birthday. Further she talked about ArShi’s marriage and how she saw Anjali who was exact replica of her mother, Janki. And last but not the least about the Maheshwari’s, how they met and how everything got resolved.
She recalls her moments spent in delhi with sanskaar. She was not sure if she should tell about her love story without discussing with sanskaar and keeping in mind their current situation.
Dadi was so happy.
Dadi : so it means you thoroughly enjoyed there, haan??
Ragini : of course dadi ma… there I felt independent and had my own identity. You know when i joined sanskaar’s office, everyone respected me because i was sanskaar’s wi…. friend.. sasnkaar’s friend but then i owned my respect by working hard and proving myself. Then everybody actually respected me whole heartedly.
She thought, everyone in delhi thinks i’m sasnkaar’s wife. If dadi ma got to know about this she would be so hurt. I cant break her trust again. I have got them after so many months, i cant lose them again. But who has to go back now. It’s over. The drama is over and if it’ll be God’s wish then i’ll be his real wife…..
She smiles with determination.
Dadi : you’ve changed a lot Laado, still you feel familiar..
Ragini : dadi ma…. only my appearance has changed nothing else…. dadi ma, you know firstly i was very angry and upset with everyone… but when i sae everyone at the wedding, it felt like all anger an d hatred have faded away….. dadi ma…. everyone has forgiven me na??
Dadi : of course Laado. We all have realised our mistakes. We were responsible for your actions. Now forget all this Laado… it’s time to make a fresh start…
Ragini nods and her mind again diverts to Delhi. She continues telling her Delhi stories until swara called them for lunch. Yes it was lunch time, they had been talking for hours now.
Dadi : laado, now baaki baatein baad mei…. First let’s go and have lunch… today I’ll make you eat by my hands….
Ragini : of course dadi ma… but you go I’ll come in 5 mins…
Dadi : what happened beta?
Ragini : nothing… you go na I’ll just come…..
Dadi nods and goes down. Ragini closes the door and looks at her mother’s portrait hanging on the wall.
Ragini : Janki Ma, I know today you’ll be very happy…. And also proud of your Laado. I miss you ma…. For a moment I felt that you are back with me when I saw Anjali Di….. she was just like you ma…. I don’t remember much of my childhood with you…. But I’m sure you must be very pretty and sweet like her……. I miss you ma….
She caresses the picture as tears form in her eyes. She smiles and wipes her tears.
Ragini : no more tears for today…… Ma, please make everything fine na…. Between me and sansku.
.. you know I can’t live without him……
She looks on thinking about her moments with Sanskaar. She then checks her phone but it was switched off. She kept the phone on charging and went downstairs as Dadi called her again.
She came down chirping happily, shekhar was back after taking half day. Whole family together have lunch after what felt like a decade.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MM
They reach MM. Sanskaar looks at the mansion emotionally. He recalls his happy moments, his departure, his come back and how he swore that he’ll never return to this place again. He got emotional. Sujata keeps her hand on his shoulder.
Sujata : chore… welcome back to your house… the walls of this house have waited long enough to hear your voice.
Sanskaar smiles. Everybody agreed. Ap asks sujata and uttara to go in first and bring the arti thaal. They happily rush inside.
Sanskaar : no need for all this badi ma…
Before ap could answer, dp spoke and it was shock for everyone except rp.
Dp ; sanskaar beta… you have returned after so long.. this has to be special for you and for everyone as well….
Sanskaar looks at him astonished. He nodded and didn’t said anything. Adarsh side hugs dp and whispers thank you in his ear. Dp stares at him and he relaxes and goes back to pari. She chuckles.
Sujata does his arti with teary eyes. Sanskaar stands at the gate awkwardly. They all enter and sat in the living area. The servants, Shankar and Shanti got water and tea for everyone. Shankar was happy seeing his sanskaar baba back.
Not knowing what to say everyone was sitting in silence. Sanskaar was on his phone while everybody else looked at each other.
Pari ; mummy ji… sanskaar has come after so long lets cook his favourite dishes for lunch…
Sujata : yes why not… today i’ll cook and feed him from my hands….
Ap : sujata… i’ll also help you.
Sujata happily agrees.
Uttara ; bade papa… if it’s okay we can call ragu di and her family for dinner. After all she’s also back now.
Sanskaar sits up straight listening this. Uttara gives a naughty smile to pari.
Pari : yes i think it’s a good idea… we didn’t had any get together for so long…. kyu devar ji??
She teasingly asked sanskaar. He looked at her in suspicion and looking at her smile he knew she knew about them. He sighed.
Dp : everyone stay calm. Ragini has just come back, i’m sure she would like to spend some time with them… we can have lunch tomorrow with them.. ram.. call shekhar ji and ask him to come over tomorrow with everyone… ( ram nods ) pari, uttara, Annapurna and sujata you guys take care of the preparations.
Everyone nods happily. Sanskaar just looks on. Dp looks at sanskaar. He didn’t felt comfortable. He stands up. Everyone looks at him.
Dp : i’m going to office. Will come back by lunch…
Ram : bhaisaab wait.. i’ll also come with you..
Dp : no ram.. you stay here. Spend time with sanskaar..
He smiles a little which no one notices and goes from there. Everyone looks on shocked.
Uttara ; ma… he was our bade papa only na??
Everybody looks at each other and burst out laughing. Sanskaar also smiles and thinks looking at the door.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Ram comes and sits beside sanskaar. He keeps his hand on his head.
Ram : chore…. i didn’t do anything intentionally… but still if i have hurt you please forgive me…
Sanskaar : papa, i know you don’t want to hurt me,…. i just wished you would have told me about your arrival… but let it be now. I don’t want to dig into the past…
Ram : i just wanted to say…. i just want you to be happy, beta. We have waited very long to get our son back… and we don’t want to lose you again..
Sujata, who came there with pakoras for sanskaar sat beside him and fed him with her own hands.
Sujata : absolutely right ji… now i’ll not let you go anywhere… every time you run away… this time you won’t get that chance…. keh deti hun main….
Sanskaar : mom.. ouch.. they are hot. And i don’t run away okay?
Sujata : whatever chore… now you will not go anywhere…
Sanskaar sighs and looks at his parents. He takes a deep breath.
Ram : beta, how’s everything else? Sab thik hai na??
He asked in context of Ragini. Sanskaar understood but didn’t reacted to that.
Sanskaar : yes papa. Everything is fine….
Sujata again stuffed ht pakoras in his mouth which made him get up and moan in pain. Pari and ap came there hearing his shout. Adarsh and laksh too came out of study. Seeing sanskar jumping, they coudn’t stop themselves from laughing.
Adarsh ; sanskaar what happened?
Sujata : chore are you okay?
Sanskaar gulped down the pakora and after that cold water.
Sanskaar : mom, give me these…. i’ll eat them after they cool down.
Sujata ( cutely ) : were they that hot?
Sanskaar melts seeing his mom’s cute face. He nods but hugs her later. Everyone nods their heads in disbelief.
Laksh : chachi… now bhai has come and he won’t go anywhere…. make him eat as much as you want.. but don’t burn his mouth.
He chuckles. Sujata hits him.
Ram : sanskaar, now you go and take some rest.
Sujaat : but my pakoras…
Sanskaar : don’t worry mom.. i’ll eat them.
Sanskaar gets up, takes the plate from sujata and starts moving towards the guest room on the ground floor.
Laksh : bhai where are you going?
Sanskaar : actually i wanted to take some rest.. i haven’t slept from two days…
Adarsh ; so go to your room na where are you going?
Uttara ; it seems bhai has forgotten the way to his room…
Everyone chuckles.
Sanskaar ; no choti.. i haven’t forgotten anything. I know i’m going to the guest room
Ap : but why beta?
Sanskaar : because badi ma i’m here for just a few days as a guest… i’ll leave for delhi
Rp ; what are you saying sanskaar? This is your house, you cant live in guest room
Sujata ; i wont let you go away again sanskaar
Sanskaar: mom but i have to go back.. i have my business to handle there…
Rp : but sanskaar ……
Sanskaar ; papa.. i came here because all of you wanted me to come and… and because now i know the truth…. but i can’t stay here forever…. now my home is in Delhi….
Ap ; but beta……
Sanskaar ; arre don’t worry you guys… i’ll come whenever i can. But that is also important for me. Already i was away for two weeks…
Rp ; okay beta.. i don’t know what else to say but my son will not live in the guest room in his own house. Adarsh .. laksh take him to his room. And no more discussion. Sanskaar go to your room.
He compiles and goes with laksh and adarsh. Rp sits on the sofa with a thud. Sujata goes to comfort him. He cries. Pari, uttara and ap looks on.
Rp : sujata it seems we don’t have the luck of getting our son’s love. We are so unlucky sujata.. even after having our son we cant get his love and care…
He cries. Uttara and Sujata hugs him from either side. Ap goes from there crying. Pari goes after her.
The episode ends with the crying faces of ram, sujata and uttara.
Xoxo
Richa