Tejo closes her eyes and smiles as she breathes in the fresh air of punjab. It had been four years since she had left punjab with broken heart but now she was back with new hopes and dreams and now her past was no longer haunting her rather it had taught her a lesson to never put anything above herself and her self respect.
” Tejo, our car has arrived” her husband tapped on her shoulder breaking her out of her musings. She turned around to see him and nods at him smilingly. The driver had taken care of their luggage and they both got settled in the passanger seats as the drive drove them, she excitedly looked out of her window gazing at the familiar streets and the roads.
” If I had known that coming back to punjab would bring such glow to your face I would have done this as soon as we had gotten married” her husband says to her and tejo turns her attention towards him.
” It’s not only punjab but you being with me also is equally responsible for this glowup” she says to him.
” Do you understand Mr Yuvraj sarna?” She asks him faking her stern expression and voice.
” I understand Mrs Tejo Yuvraj sarna and it’s a honour to be the reason of your smile” he grins and wraps his hands around her shoulder pulling her near him. Tejo smiles at his gesture and animatedly starts describing about the punjab state and all the progress it has gone through last four years. Yuvraj kept listening to his wife’s words with interest, punjab was something that had actually connected them. He still remembered how he had first seen Tejo during one of her presentations in her university and he had been chief guest of the function. Her presentation about human psychology had througly impressed him. Her confidence and her attitude throughout the presentation had mesmerized him completely. Then he had heard someone sitting behind him mentioning that she was from punjab and that only made me more intrigued about her. Born and brought up in USA by his Punjabi parents, Yuvraj had never been to india and especially to his parent’s birthplace. He had only heard stories from his parent’s about the beauty of Punjab and seen its pictures. His father was mostly busy setting up his business in USA to make time for them to visit punjab and by the time the lutra industries had fully got established, his parents had passed away by car accident leaving him and his younger brother all alone. He had completed only his MBA by then and he was left alone to handle the lutra industries. He had completely drowned himself in work and rarely had time to think about punjab or anything, he had not even bothered to think about his family’s ancestral property which was still here in Punjab but seeing the girl and knowing that she is from Punjab he felt good for some unknown reason. He had approached her soon after her presentation but she was so disinterested for associating with him for anything. It took him almost three months of pestering and irritating that she had finally agreed to a have a Cup of coffee with him. God! He had seriously thought she could have murdered him for the amount of times he had annoyed her with his constant pestering but she was kind enough not to. Their first date okay it was atleast date from his side did not go well, she was so indifferent and cold towards him and walked away paying her part of the bill and fully warning him to not trouble her again with his pestering. Her eyes were flashing with fire but she still maintained her calmness before walking away leaving him more impressed. It was that time Yuvraj realized that with Tejo he had to tread with patience and lots of softness and that’s exactly what he did. He gave up on his constant pestering and actually tried to have conversations with her whenever possible but not constantly so that she doesn’t feel uncomfortable. Though tejo had resisted and looked suspicious at first but she acknowledged him as a colleague and started to speak with him only answering to his questions but never asking and started to speak with him only answering to his questions but never asking anything about him but she tried very hard to never go personal with him. It took him six months to gain her friendship and little bit of her trust. His younger brother had once met her and could not shut up about how whipped he was for her. It actually took her like one and half year to confide him about her past and he finally understood why tejo was reluctant to open up and trust anyone easily. He felt rage and anger pelting within him for the people who were so insensitive towards her feelings. It was beyond his understanding that how someone could let tejo go away from their life. That person should be seriously blind or mad right to do such thing?! He had only known her for like for two years and he had deeply fallen in love with her character, her thoughts and her beauty. She was so different from the girls he had known and she was genuine with everything. His brother kept pestering him for months to propose her for the marriage but he kept declining it because still tejo fully opens up to him he could not move ahead and spoil all the progress they had made.
” You don’t need to sympathize with me, I’m alright” Tejo says to him in her cracked voice swallowing her hurt and he looks at her surprised by her words. He takes a moment before he clears it to her what he actually felt.
” Why should I sympathize with you rather I’m proud of you and I respect you for walking away from the place where you were not valued enough” he clarified her doubts making her look at him with a small smile. Her opening up about her past took out all the awkwardness between them and got them more closer. She had got him in connected with his punjab roots. She had made sure that he and Ishaan ( his younger brother) visits gurdwara once a week and even got them to celebrate their festivals more often in proper way. He did not know if tejo had realized it but she had become a part of his and ishaan’s life and they both did not want to part away from her. Ishaan wanted tejo as his bhabhi and was never subtle about it. Tejo first used to chide him for doing it but finally started getting flustered with constant teasing from ishaan. It finally took him another six months to ask her to marry him and she had agreed without hesitating much to his happiness. Ishaan had being the happiest one and had hosted a grant wedding and shoved them off to paris for honeymoon as soon as their reception got over. Their marriage had not been a walk of cake either, they had their fights, problems and insecurities to deal with. They were in love but Tejo had brought her own insecurities from her previous marriage. She had her suspicious gaze on him whenever a woman is so close to him, she tries so hard not to but still her mind keeps reminding her of the past betrayal.
” I try so hard not to but I don’t think I have still come over that betrayal” she had said to him once, her eyes full of unshed tears and his heart ached at her words.
” I’m disgusted with myself but I keep thinking bad about you” she whispers as a tear trickled down from her eye. He wipes her tears with his thumb, ” it’s okay we will deal with this”
” You deserve better” tejo says to him as he kissed her forehead. He shakes his head,” but I need only you”.He soothes her pain by his words as he takes her in his arms. He had taken her to psychiatrist at first and then they both had gone to couple counseling together. It took time but slowly with his help and proper treatment of her mental health she had became alright. She no longer looks at him with suspicious eyes, rather than love and respect for him here was nothing else for him either in her eyes nor in her heart. She had gotten into a stage that she held nothing else for her ex husband and her sister.
Tejo had finished her post phd studies when he had asked her opinion about going back to punjab permanently and be here, ishaan was with the same idea and tejo who decided she had enough of running away from the past agreed with her husband and brother in law. It took three months to wrap up the business here, tejo had gotten into contact with one of her friend to enquire about lutra’s ancestral property in Punjab and mailed her friend the copy of the property papers. Tejo’s friend had replied back with the locations and description of the properties. To his suprise it seemed his parents had a huge property in Punjab and they included a very big mansion and few factories which was taken care of the caretaker for years. He had immediately gotten into contact with the caretaker who was more than happy to help him out with everything. So he finally made a plan that ishaan would deal with the remaining business handling and he and tejo would leave to punjab and see the conditions of the property and handle everything. So finally, he and Tejo had landed directly to punjab.
The sound of pulling over of the car broke him out of his past memories. He looked at tejo who was glaring at him realizing that he had not listened none of her talks and was lost in his own world. He smiled sheepishly at her but she gave him an annoyed look before getting out of the car, he sighs and does the same thinking of ideas to melt his wife’s anger something which he is good at anyway.