chapter 3

Words of Wisdom“How strange it is, isn’t. I have always hidden my reality from the world. Even the closest to me don’t know certain facts, but you Ravi, somehow you are the one who gets to know it all. You are still a stranger to me, yet I found a confidant in you.” She mused thoughtfully as she finished her tea. Ravi swelled with pride and happiness. “So, can you take me back to the year 2001 and continue?” “No.” His face fell at this, but she added with a smile, “I seriously think you have endured enough of my mother.”“Endured your mother, how?” he asked, bewildered. “I mean, you have already heard a lot of her stories. Why don’t I quickly summarize what happened next?” she offered.“But I want to know the details. The beauty is in the details,” he encouraged.“Yes, you will get all the relevant details. But first, let me quickly give you snippets of events that forced my future in a direction I never dreamed of…”“Ok. So, what happened?” Ravi asked, sitting on the edge of the seat.“Well, my mother happened,” she sighed and recapped a few months of her life.  “I knew that if I wanted to survive, I had to leave that house. So, I had secretly applied and won a fully-sponsored scholarship,” Ishana started thoughtfully. “Wow…” Ravi exclaimed, and Ishana beamed.“Yes, only one in the state. A few other students were given some support,” Ishana screwed up her face, and Ravi knew she was hiding something.“Well?” Ravi asked skeptically, and Ishana grimaced.“Well… I wasn’t the first choice. They chose based on merit and the fortune family held. I was the second choice. There was another girl named Ramila, her father was a sweeper, so technically she was poorer than I was…” Ishana blabbered, and goosebumps rose on Ravi’s body.“But you said you won!”“Well, due to some unforeseen circumstances, they withdrew,” Ishana laughed cynically.“Why do I smell something fishy here?” Ravi asked grimly, and Ishana shrugged.“Hope this Ramila is alive,” Ravi whispered, and Ishana sniggered. Ravi couldn’t help but cringe at this side of her.“Yeah… yeah. Actually, her maternal side was extremely wealthy, and she was the sole heir. However, they didn’t show it on the application,” Ishana informed.“So, you disclosed it?” Ravi asked, feeling relieved.“Nope. Maternal wealth doesn’t count until it is properly inherited!” Ishana sighed, and Ravi just stared shocked, wondering what she did.“Well, studying in Delhi was my only escape so I was collecting news – both good and bad – for almost two years. So, when I found that Ramila had won instead of me, I had anonymously shared those horrifying news snippets with her mother,” Ishana informed simply.“And…?” Ravi knew this was not it.“I may also have written a rather terrifying and nasty note along with it showcasing what might happen to their only daughter in a city like Delhi,” Ishana pouted naughtily.“And they withdrew their application, and you got it?” Ravi finished for her.“What can I say. Not everyone is hated by their own family. Ramila was her mother’s heart,” Ishana dismissed casually, and Ravi was speechless. He knew she was wrong, and her words terrified him. He even wondered about the contents of the note, but then recalling her final letter to Kunal, he dismissed the thought.“So, you got the scholarship. Everyone must be happy,” Ravi tried to change the topic.“Everyone, except my mother!” Ishana said venomously.“Well, it was expected. But your father and brother… err… what was his name… must have supported you?” Ravi pitched in.“Yes, my father and my brother Rakshit were over the moon. But my mother, oh she was a devil. Usually, she faked affection in front of my father, but the news of my leaving pushed her over the edge. She was just awful, and during those days, I feared she might even hurt my father in her wrath,” Ishana sighed. “However, my father was supportive. Things with my mother got so out of hands that I – unintentionally – had told my father the truth of his household. And when my mother denied beating me, I showed him the scars. That moment was my one-way ticket out of that hell-hole.”“I still cannot believe that your mother used to beat you to the level of scars,” Ravi spoke exasperatedly.Ishana snorted at this. “I still have one left. She once had beaten me with a thin wire, and it had cut through the skin. All others have healed over time, but that one left its mark forever.” Ravi wiped his face wondering about the levels of brutality of her mother. “So, you moved out… Where? What did you study? And hey, what happened with Sarv and Shiva?”“I did a B.A. in English from Mohta’s institute. It was a pretty popular university back then. I wanted to do journalism, but given my spoken English was mercifully poor, I decided to pursue my graduation in the subject. Shiva and Sarv, being my true friends, joined with me. They both aspired to do M.B.A. later.”“Why do Shiva calls herself that? Her full name was something else, isn’t it?” Ravi wondered.“Shivani,” Ishana supplied with a smile. “She was a perfect Tomboy and hated every aspect of being a girl, including her name. So, she called herself Shiva.”“And Sarv was madly in love with her?” Ravi mused.“Yes, Shiva and I were next-door neighbors, so we were practically inseparable. When Sarv became our friend, he started hanging out with us a lot because he had an unfathomable crush on her. She was just clueless, but he took every single decision of his life to be with her – including becoming our best friend, which was a blessing because he was a gem of a person,” Ishana supplied thoughtfully.“So, where are they these days? Together?” Ravi enquired, but Ishana just smirked. He couldn’t understand the hidden meaning of her expressions but knew that she would not divulge anything concerning the future of her story. Hence, coming back to her life story, he asked, “What happened at your home after you won the scholarship? Hopefully the tantrums of your monster… I mean mother didn’t reach Delhi!” Ravi stammered, but Ishana laughed.“Oh, it’s okay, she indeed was a monster,” Ishana waved casually. “She made my life hell while I was there, but in all of this one good thing happened that I cherish even to date,” she added thoughtfully.“What was it?” he asked, intrigued.“The day before I left, I got a rare chance to spend time with my father. He was a busy man and hardly had any time to spend with his beloved daughter, but that day, his every minute was just for me.” Ishana swallowed a lump that had formed in her throat at the memory of her father. “Really? Why didn’t he have any time for you?” Ravi asked curiously. He couldn’t believe how a father-daughter relationship be so distant?“Usually, he stayed at work to fulfill the endless demands of my ‘monster’ of a mother. And whenever he was at home, my mother didn’t allow us to spend time together because as per her ‘a good sanskaari girl should not interact with any male, even her father.’ I so hate her…”“That’s absolute rubbish,” Ravi exclaimed.“My sentiments exactly. Because of her, I had missed so many opportunities to spend time with him. God, I miss him so much…” Ishana choked, and Ravi gave her a moment to compose herself. “Anyways, that day we talked about a lot of things. But there were two things he said that I remember and follow to date,” she continued solemnly.“And they are…” Ravi encouraged. Her sudden pauses were making him irksome.“I still remember his exact words. They were, ‘Don’t fall for a man who is not willing to marry you. If he loves you, he will make you his own. Don’t do anything unless the promise of marriage is fulfilled.’”“Wise words. As they say, if you like someone, put a ring on it,” Ravi blushed and lifted his hand to show his engagement ring. Ishana smiled at him. “His last words of wisdom were, ‘If you do something that you cannot tell me by looking me in the eye, then don’t do it. It is morally wrong. Always make sure that you make me proud, now and forever.’”