Virat is sitting in his room, Karishma brings Pakhi to his room, pushing her, closes the door from outside. Virat looks on
“Don’t worry, she will open it in the morning.”
Virat nods. Pakhi sits near him and rests her head on his shoulder
“I truly loved you, but had lost all the hopes, the day you married her…”
Virat looks towards her and moves aside
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have ruined the moment. But, I swear I only loved you in my entire life and kept every fast they asked me to keep on your name. I believed in God, that you will be mine and my wish finally got fulfilled….our promise got fulfilled, you finally married me. I still feel like this is some dream, and even if it is, I don’t want to wake up from it.”
Virat was lost in his own thoughts.
“Virat??” Pakhi shook him
“Huh?”
“I’m speaking since so long, did you even hear a single word I said?”
“I…I…did”
“You used to pay attention to every single word I said in the camp and would respond even when not needed and now you are ignoring me like I don’t exist. Do you not love me anymore?”
“Pakhi, it was a hectic day, I’m tired. Shall we sleep?”
“Yeah sure! Let’s sleep”
“You sleep on the bed, I’ll sleep on the couch”
“What the hell Virat? Are you kidding me? We are already married, we should sleep together”
“Pakhi, just sleep. I have no issues in sleeping on the couch”
“But I have! You are my husband and I’m your wife”
“And that doesn’t mean that we are obliged to sleep together. Pakhi can we argue tomorrow? I have no energy to fight anymore. Good night”
“But Virat…”
“Pakhi…”
“Fine!” She covered her face with a duvet and both slept on the respective places.
After 6 months….
“Virat, it has already been 6 months, till when are we gonna keep this distance in between us? You don’t come close to me, you don’t let me come close to you, we don’t sleep on the same bed, you don’t listen to me and most of the times you are either ignoring me or avoiding me or you are spacing out! What do you actually want? You married me on your own. Don’t you love me?”
“I had fallen for her, I’m trying hard to move on, but I don’t know what is happening to me, I hope you can understand being my life partner that I need some time.”
“Fallen for her? What do you mean by that Virat? You are telling me that you had fallen for your ex-wife that you are still trying to move on after 6 months of our marriage and you expect me to understand?? On top of that you are asking me to give you time? How much more time do you need Virat? You moved on from me in a flash and what is taking you so long to move on from her?”
“I was trying to be honest from you, I was hoping that you would understand me. I’m trying m best into this relationship and to keep you happy. Just forget I never said that. I wanted to tell you from the day 1, but it was you who never listened to me”
“Now you are blaming that on me?? Not bad. I am the victim here, so stop victimizing yourself Virat Chavan!”
The whole family gathered in the hall.
“What has gotten into Virat? Can’t he take good care of Patralekha? They literally fight every second they are together in the room. This house has literally became a fish market. Since the day that jungli mulgi entered our house, this house has never been peaceful for a single day” Bhavani said with her disgusted expression
“It has already been 6 months since she went and never came back. If someday, the electricity goes, are you gonna blame that too on my daughter vahini?” Ashwini rebuked
The loud screams of Pakhi and Virat’s fight could still be heard.
***************************
Mussourie
A girl is shown seated in front of an old man on chair.
“Try bending you knees a little more”
The man obliges and Sayi claps smiling “Yayyyy…dadu with this speed, bet you will be able to run a marathon within 3 months”
“It is just because of your love and care” he said keeping his hand on her head “May god bless you for your good deeds and you get every happiness”
“Your blessings and love are what I live for! Now close your eyes, I have something for you.”
He closes his eyes and Sayi keeps a ganesha idol in his hands. The old man gets pleased and places the idol next to him on a table. Sayi get up to go
“When will you come next”
“Dadu, the next 15 days are a bit hectic, I will come after that”
“Pakka”
“Pakka”
Saying this, Sayi left the ‘Shanti Old Age Home’
**************************
“Mohit, I’m craving for strawberry ice-cream” Karishma said with a baby bump
“I’ll get it right away” he said kissing her forehead
She picks up her phone and calls someone
“Baby! I’m missing you so much.”
……………
“I know it is just a matter of a few days, then we will be together forever…”
Mohit enters just then. She quickly cuts the call
“Did he hear something?” she thinks to herself
“I forgot my wallet. Have you seen it?”
“Oh!! Wallet??” Looking around “Here”
“Thank you. I will get your ice-cream”
“Hmm”
Mohit walks away.
************************
Sayi walks to a house, open it with a key and lies down on a couch. She falls asleep in no time.
Someone enters the house after a few minutes, covers her with a duvet and walks away. Sayi wakes up by the touch.
“Rishu? You are back? How was the day? I will cook something for you”
“Calm down!! Calm down! I will cook the dinner today, you already look so tired and look at these dark circles. You really need to sleep and stop over exhausting yourself. You have literally become a robot. Just apply this face mask and relax. I don’t have much to study, so I will cook us dinner today. Also, the exams have postponed, I think I can prepare more. I want to do better” She then orders Sayi to lie down and puts on a face mask. “Now take a nap, while I prepare us a meal!”
Rishika Rastogi was a 1st year resident doctor in the neuro department and also Sayi’s housemate. Rishika had lost her parents in an accident when she was 16, she used to stay with her aunt, who would treat her like a servant and make her do all the house chores. This affected her studies and she ran away from home, she wanted to become a doctor, because that was the one and only thing, her father had wished from her. She studied hard and bagged scholarships that were enough for her to study. The house where they live was made by her dad, because it was her favorite holiday destination. She had lost everything else, but somehow was able to save the last memory of her parents. She met Sayi at the first time in the hospital, they both developed a bond since the very first meet, Sayi trusted to tell about the past life and Rishika offered Sayi to stay with her, as she found an elder sister in Sayi.
Sayi would engross herself in work, would take up shifts for her colleagues, whenever they went on a date. She would spend her holidays at old age homes or orphanage and would soak the pillow at night. Rishika knew everything, she wanted to help Sayi, but there was nothing she could do except for giving her love.
They were both alone, they both had none in this world, they could call theirs, but they found each other and that was everything
Chahatt Khanna – Rishika