Strangers- Part 10

Hii all thank u so so much for ur comments. This is my 10th episode this is possible only with ur support. Thank u guys now to the expected past of pragya.. hehe hope u all like it..

Pragya’s narration

She was the only child of Sarla Arora and Raghuveer Arora. Born out of wed-lock she grew up being teased and ridiculed for not knowing her father’s name. She was branded an ‘illegitimate’ child although she never understood the term till date. What was illegitimate about a child? Is it the fault of the child for being born into this world? If anything, it is the parents of the child who are illegitimate for violating social norms but society attached the stigma to the innocent child. While she did not understand the full implication of the term then, she felt hurt that she was the butt of people’s jokes. Soon after her eighth birthday her mother succumbed to tuberculosis and for a few months she was in an orphanage till she was ‘adopted’ by Raghuveer Arora and Amrita Mehta.

Raghuveer was a renowned diamond merchant in Surat and Pragya ended up living in a palatial house, a vast transformation from the humble dwellings she had lived in before that. Although Raghuveer doted on her and treated her as a princess, Amrita and their ten-year old son Nikhil, absolutely hated her and made her life miserable. They physically abused her in Raghuveer’s absence and threatened her with dire consequences if she dared to complain about their deeds to Raghuveer. When she was around twelve years old Raghuveer died of a massive heart attack. It is only after his death that Pragya came to know that Raghuveer was her real father and the reason she was ill-treated by her step-mother and half brother was because Raghuveer had loved her mother more than he ever loved Amrita whom he had married only for money. Amrita had fallen in love with the handsome diamond cutter who worked in her father’s diamond factory. Mr.Shiv Shankar Mehta who bought everything that his daughter desired managed to buy Raghuveer too.

Raghuveer abandoned his lover Sarla and married Amrita but he was never happy in the marriage. Amrita’s constant nagging had led him to seek the solace of Sarla and Pragya was a result of their union. Amrita found out about their relationship and threatened to complain to her father if Raghuveer did not give up Sarla. Fearing the old man’s wrath Raghuveer stopped visiting Sarla but was financially supporting her and their daughter. When he came to know of Sarla’s death, he hunted out his daughter in the orphanage and forced Amrita to accept her. As her father was dead by then, Amrita could not use him to threaten Raghuveer but she saw to it that Pragya paid dearly for the mistakes of her father.

The torture meted out to Pragya redoubled after her father’s death as both mother and brother were emboldened by the absence of any support for her. When she was fourteen her brother even tried to force her into an incestuous relationship with him. Hearing her wails, the servant in the house called up an NGO who got Nikhil locked up in a juvenile delinquents home for a year. This had only infuriated Amrita further who, holding her responsible for her son’s plight, found novel ways to torment her, including starving her and making her slave as a servant. It was during this difficult phase of her life that she developed friendship with Neev, Neev Shergill her classmate in school. She could confide all her problems in him and he always managed to cheer her up. Their friendship turned to love as they grew older. He was the only person she could trust.

In the meantime, Nikhil who had been released, took over his father’s business. Between them the mother and son had ruined the business and they were riddled in debt. As they were on the verge of filing for bankruptcy, they were suddenly given a solution out of their problem. One of the leading diamond merchants of the town, Mr.Dalal, had taken a fancy to Pragya when he spotted her in one of the lavish parties hosted by Amrita. The man was a widower more than twice her age and had three children, all of whom were older than her. He offered to help Amrita out of her financial problems if she gave Pragya’s hand in marriage. The avaricious lady readily agreed and fixed up her marriage to the old man in a week’s time.

The day Pragya came to know of the wedding arrangement, she was hit by another bombshell- she was carrying Neev’s child. Neev, who had taken up a job in a stock broking firm in Mumbai after his studies, had come on vacation a month and a half before. One emotionally stressful night, in a moment of weakness she had given in to his demands for physical intimacy. Soon after she realized the magnitude of what they had done and she wallowed in guilt having done the very same thing her mother had done – sleep with a man without wedding him. Neev assured her that they will get married as soon as he gets established in his job and left the next day. Now that she was faced with the prospect of a wedding to a much older man and her pregnancy with another man, she was in a quandary. She panicked and called up Neev in Mumbai who promised to rescue her. He asked her to run away on the wedding day and take a train to Mumbai. He was to meet her at VT station and together they were to come to Pune where he had said that they will get married in the presence of his only living relative, an uncle. He had also said that he will take up a job with his uncle and stay back in Pune as Amrita and company may hunt him down in Mumbai, being aware of his whereabouts. He had sent her two tickets – one from Surat to Mumbai and the other, from Mumbai to Pune.

As planned, Pragya absconded on her wedding day and took the train to Mumbai. While waiting for Neev, she spotted Mr.Dalal’s men and fearing of getting caught she took the nearest train and got off at Kalyan station. She tried calling Neev to inform him that she was waiting for him at Kalyan station but was not getting through to him. So she sent him an SMS. When the train they were to board to Pune pulled into Kalyan station she decided to board it in the hope of finding Neev there. It was only after she boarded that she received an SMS from Neev asking her to forget him. He cannot marry her as he was engaged to marry his boss’s daughter. She tried to speak to him but he had switched off his cell. For a long while she stood frozen at the entrance of the train. Finally the full import of her precarious condition hit her. It was as if history was repeating itself. The man she had loved had ditched her for money and she was saddled with his child in her womb, much like her mother. Having gone through the ignominy of being branded an illegitimate child herself, she did not want the same for her baby. Her guilt and fear pushed her over the edge and throwing away the cell, she prepared to jump to her death when she felt someone pull her in.

The rest of her story Abhi was aware of.
When she finally finished her long monologue amidst sobs, Abhi was aghast. His heart wept for the woman he loved. The poor woman had been through quite a lot in her short life. No wonder she was in such an emotionally vulnerable state on the day he met her and has still not fully come to terms with her past. He held her hands and pressed them reassuringly. He wiped away her tears and assured her that he was always there to extend whatever help he can. She can always count on him. He then gently wrapped his arms around her shoulder and pressed her head against his chest. The thumping of his heartbeat seemed to calm Pragya down. Just then they heard Baba calling out to them for breakfast. Abhi looked at the clock and realized it was already 8.30 am. He called his office to inform them that he will be late and took Pragya down for breakfast..

So here is the past of pragya which u all waited for. Hope u all liked it. I am so sorry if I bored u all. Next update will be tomorrow until then stay tuned to know how love blossoms between abhi and pragya. Love u folks good bye and a happy Sunday