28a - You are safe with me(S1)

INSIDE DADI SA'S ROOM,

Dadi Sa, Rajmata, and Bua Sa were already present, along with Dada Sa, who was engrossed in reading his books as always.

Dadi Sa called them before Prithvi.

"Why were you treating her like that, huh! How will the house workers treat her seeing you? Or leave that, will they take her as their queen, tell me," scolded Dadi Sa in a stern voice.

Both of them looked down, not uttering a single word.

"What do I do with you two?" Dadi Sa said in weary frustration.

"Maa Sa-" Bua Sa started speaking, trying to justify her actions.

But Dadi Sa cut her off, "Tu toh chup re chapali, ibb kuch matya bol," she said with a cold warning.

"Rachita, thara ko ke hua? Kya nahi sambhali ha rahi thara se Rajmata ki bhumika?" she asked, looking towards her daughter-in-law, who was behaving like a stubborn child these days.

"Maa Sa, aap bhabhi ko kyun-" bua sa tried to speak.

"Re, manne koni behas chaiye thare se!" Dadi Sa said, shutting her off again.

"Maa Sa, maaf karna, magar hum uss chori ko na hi kuch karne se rok rahe rahe or na hi hum apni raay us par thop rahe," Rajmata finally spoke. She knew it was futile to argue with her mother-in-law.

"We aren't accepting her, that's it," Rajmata said.

"You had to accept her in any way, Rachita. I will see," Dadi Sa said, her voice filled with authority.

"Then see yourself," Rajmata said.

"You said to give her shagun; we did it. That's it. Our odd gaps complete here," she stated.

"Me too, Maa Sa," Bua Sa spoke in agreement.

"Thare se pucha manne?" Dadi Sa said.

There was a huge silence in the room.

"Tell me, again what do I do with you?" Dadi Sa spoke finally.

"Suhani is much better than both of you here," Dadi Sa said, looking at the two of them.

"Do you summon us, Maa Sa?" a voice echoed in the room, happy and lively.

They all turned around to meet the new arrival, Suhani, who was glowing with happiness and confidence.

"Namaste, Maa Sa," she said, coming forward and touching her feet.

"Bua Sa, lo naam liya hazir," commented Bua Sa, looking the other way.

"Did you say something, Ashwini?" Suhani asked, looking at her.

Then she ignored her and moved towards Dada Sa, "Khama Ghani, Baba Sa," she said, touching his feet. He responded with a smile, placing his book on the side table.

"Baba Sa, app humari baat manenge nahi?" Suhani spoke like a little child, and Dada Sa responded with enthusiasm,

"Nahi mante," and chuckled.

"Are manaye, apko humne sabse jyada miss kiya," she said, making a sad face. They both were talking when Dadi Sa interrupted, asking Suhani a question.

"ibb mahare ko yeh bta tharo ko agar itna miss krna toh kathe liye tu gayi thi" Suhani got caught between Dadi Sa's question, replying while laughing, "Ha ha... woh, app bhi, Maa Sa, majak sik gayi."

Dadi Sa disagreed, saying, " na na mein majak koni kar rhi "

She again tried to change the topic, preventing any Q&A, "Arey Maa Sa, ap chodo na, Maa Sa, we bought something for you."

Dadi Sa replied with little interest but did not show it completely, "Acha."

Suhani forwarded a book towards Dadi Sa, and Bua Sa took it and read for Dadi Sa, "Maa Sa, yeh book achchhi swasth jeevan shaily aur vajan ghatana ke liye hai," and Suhani nodded proudly.

"Ke, mein thare ko kith se moti lag rahi hu?" Except for Bua Sa and Dadi Sa, everyone started laughing. Then Dadi Sa said, re-greeting what she said some time ago, that Suhani is better than her, "Na na mein galt thi, tu to inse bhi gayi gujri hai?"

"Arey, Maa Sa, hum toh apka acha soch kar," Suhani said, "Just thoda sa weight loss, then you will look perfect," pointing her finger, and Dada Sa and Rajmata both laughed.

"Mhara acha," Dadi Sa said, coming forward to Suhani.

"Aa woh-" Suhani said, interrupted as Prithvi entered the room.

"Are, Prithvi, ap? Ghar mein?" she said, surprised.

Prithvi came forward and touched her feet.

"Welcome back," he said.

She moved backward, saying, "Oh please, I'm not old," stopping him from touching her feet.

"Then should I not?" he asked, raising one eyebrow.

"Obviously not," she said, and he smiled in response.

"A great welcome," he said, hugging her.

"Wait," she said, breaking the hug, "You had lactose in the morning, your face, Prithvi," she muttered, looking at him.

He said again, hugging back, "Shh...hide for me," he said.

She questioned, "Why?"

"It's my wife's little secret," he said, in a low voice.

"Wife?" she said in a high voice.

"Prithvi has a wife? When, how?" she said, looking towards everyone.

"Yes," Bua Sa spoke. She ignored her, starting asking Prithvi questions, then said, "You are telling me later," warning him. "I had your secret otherwise," he nodded.

"Prithvi here," Dadi Sa called him.

"I called you to inform you of something," she said.

"Ji, Dadi Sa," he said.

"Take her, her home, and complete the last tradition," she said.

"Why?" Prithvi said frustrated. "It's already so hectic to handle everything. I will do it later," he suggested.

"Do as we said," Dadi Sa spoke firmly.

"No, I'm not opposed to taking your orders," he said.

"Then take her and leave my house, live on the street. If we let you enter, that doesn't mean you can run away from tradition. If we let you enter, that means you and I made a silent deal of you following us, whatever we said," Dadi Sa said, leaving him no choice but to follow her order.

"Okay, fine, I will go, don't make it more complex," he said, finally surrendering.

"Could I go?" he said.

"Yes," Dadi Sa replied.

He left the room.

"Yuvrani, Maa Sa, can we go meet her right now?" Suhani asked Dadi Sa if she could go and meet her.

"No, next time, maybe she might be sleeping," Dadi Sa said

"Acha, hume ek joke yaad aya," Suhani started.

Everyone started getting up, leaving the room, and Dada Sa got busy with his book.

"Arey suno toh!" she said in protest.

"Okay, toh maybe next time," and she left the room with Rajmata, talking while ignoring Bua Sa, as they didn't like each other much.

***

As Prithvi entered his room to inform her, he moved towards her but found her sleeping, a note beside her on the nightstand caught his attention.

"I was waiting for you but in case I dozed off. You will find this note of gratitude. I don't know how to start; I never thanked someone like that, but it was you," he read aloud, his heart skipping a beat. His face betrayed his emotions.

"It was my first time being praised. It was my first time I felt how it feels after being praised for small things. And here is your card; it's not mine, but it belongs to you. So, I'm placing it back here. Also, thanks for eating my breakfast in the morning and not asking any questions."

"She knew it, I know. She made breakfast," he muttered, looking up from the note in her direction. He continued reading, but the words were scribbled, hesitant.

"and,

and,

and

goodnight!

Goodnight!"

As he tried to make sense of the hesitantly crossed words, a smile crept on his face without him even realizing it.

"How naive," he couldn't help but comment, looking at her again. Then the smile disappeared from his face as he muttered, "No, I'm not falling for you, right?" and went outside, closing the door.

The next morning, he entered the room, acting to be cold. "Get ready."

"F..o.or wh..a..at?" she asked.

He looked at her, realizing she had just gotten up, and she started wiping her face, as if in case she was drooling while sleeping, looking down.

He was already prepared for this confrontation, somewhere he said carefreely, "Get ready, come downstairs. Dadi Sa said we have to complete the last tradition and have to make a visit to your house."

As she took in the information and now looked a little fearful, terror started surfacing on her face.

"M..my ho..ome?"

Which he might not have noticed, he said, looking at his watch, "Please be ready in 30 minutes. I'm waiting."

"But...b.ut," she started speaking.He cut her off, saying, "Please, no further questions or delay. Sorry, but I have a limited amount of time. We have no time to waste."

And he went downstairs.

***

BANGALORE, INDIA.

As Prithvi drove his car closer to her house, the terror on her face increased. She might be thinking about how to explain everything about her running away from home, from marriage.

The fear escalated even more as she wiped invisible sweat from her head, which he might not have seen as he was busy attending calls and driving.

When he finally stopped the car in front of her house, he said, "You could get off now," looking at her for a second.

His phone rang again, and he was about to come out from the car to see her off when he picked up the call.

She got off the car, closed the door, and looked at him, silently waiting for him while he was talking and throwing his hand in frustration.

She came to his side and looked at him.

He slid the car mirror down and asked her, "You can go inside on your own?" Confused about why he wouldn't accompany her, she didn't answer.

He put his phone on hold and said, "I will pick you up in a week, or someone else will, respectively. You can go inside now," then slid the mirror back up and drove away.

She tried to stop him, but he was already gone from his point of view. He had dropped her safely at her house, now who told him it wasn't really a home for her.

"Excuse me, a hold, I'll put my seatbelt on," he said, keeping the phone to his ear.

"Yeah, coming back. Yes, I dropped her. I'm already on my way to the airport," he said as he continued to drive

***

Meanwhile, as the day was starting to darken, she stood in front of her home, took a brief pause, and then decided to enter.

Niharika knocked on the door, and a woman in her early 30s opened it.

She looked at Niharika and said, "Oh, you're Niharika, right? We didn't meet a lot," referring to her sister-in-law, Veer's wife.

Niharika nodded, and her sister-in-law invited her inside. "I'll call the family members," she added and went to inform everyone.

As Niharika stood in her home, she felt like an unknown stranger. The family members started coming out, following her father, who happened to be at home that day.

Ekta, her cousin, came forward and said, "Niharika, are you fine? How have you been? Let's go inside. Dadi will be happy to see you," guiding Niharika inside.

However, everything came to a halt when Jairaaj, her father, spoke up, "Stop, Ekta. Leave her."

The room fell into abnormal silence as Ekta released Niharika's hand, obeying her father's unspoken command.

"Come here," Jairaj commanded Niharika.

She nervously took steps toward him, standing in front of him with her gaze fixed downward.

She began speaking, her voice filled with fear, "Dad, they told me they sent me here for-"

The room went again silent as the sound of a slap echoed in the background.

"Tauji," Ekta started.

"Stop. Stand there," he warned Ekta.

Jairaj slapped Niharika hard, causing her to almost fall back.

"For phag phera," he explained.

In fear and tears, she nodded.

He continued, "What ritual should I create for a daughter like you? They sent you here to relieve themselves of the burden, to let someone else deal with you. Unhone apne sar ka bhoj idhar bhej diya, bta koi aya tujhe chodne "

She cried and nodded again, trying to speak, "I'm so..rry, Da..d.d. I w..wasn't g...going to r..run-"

He slapped her again, and she trembled in fear.

"What were you trying to do? What stunt were you pulling? How dare you run away from the wedding? How dare you try to play with my image?" he accused.

"I w..as not... I'm so..r..rry," she stammered, tears streaming down her face.

"You are not even considered my daughter. All you ever did is keep bringing shame to us. Your whole life, now you're coming after playing with my hard-earned respect. What do you think of yourself? This is how you use the freedom I give you. You were flying high, shamelessly. Gulchare udda rhi thi , tujhe itni si bhi sharm nhi ayi ,huh? apne bhai ke business partner pr-- mujhe bolte hua bhi sharm aa rhi hein , pr tujhe karte nhi ayi , apne bhai ke partner pr doore dalte hu ,If I could have killed you the day you were born, I wouldn't have to face the humiliation I'm facing now. I wouldn't have to beg in front of others to marry you," Jairaj, Niharika's father, harshly said.

"D..dad, th..i..is is true. I r..ran away, b..b..but eve..r..r.rything else is a l..i..ie. I d...o..on't even kn..ow him. Wh.o is he?"she pleaded.

"Oh, you think I'll believe such stories? Do I look stupid to you? Or do you think you're smarter?" Jairaj scoffed.

"I di..d.dn't do an...nything. I'm te...l..lling th..e..e tr...uth. I d..didn't play w...with your re...re...spect. Ple...a..ase b...believe me. I ..i..i b...eg you. I d..o..on't know w..h..ho he is. Wh..y did he m..a..arry me? W..h..hy is every...one ha..t..t.ting me for so..o.me unkn..o.own reason?" she cried out.

"Talk with your head down. Don't look me in the eye after causing such a scandal. Still, you're lying to your father by looking him in the eye," he ordered, and she complied, looking down.

"Pl....e..ease t..r..rrust me, Dad," she muttered.

He took her hand, leading her out of the house.

"Today onwards, you are not my daughter. Don't take my name with your dirty, impure mouth. Please, with folded hands, I implore you, vinti hein , apse devi mt lena , galti hogyi mera sa bhoot badi, I made a big mistake bringing you into this world "he said, leaving her hand and joining his palms together in a request. She cried and shook her head in refusal.

"Aj tk khudharo wali zindagi jee or teri wajah se bheekh magni padi , ki meri beti se koi shadi nhi kr raha toh tum karlo , but meri beti toh bhag gayi pure samazh ke samne example bankar, ki chahe beti na ho , magar aise kulakshit beti kise ko na ho , ja wapas, phir aa gyi yaha wapas muh utha kr. " he said, gesturing towards the exit.

While Niharika cried, Veer shouted at his father, "Dad, stop now!"

He came forward, witnessing everything, and said, "Enough. I have been your obedient son, and she did nothing wrong. Isha di was right; there's no use in being your favorite. Until now, I didn't understand a word. In front of my eyes, I created an image of you as a godly figure," Veer said, standing in between.

"Veer!" Jairaaj shouted.

Looking toward Niharika, he said, "See, because of you, aj mera beta bhi mujh hi par question krne laga , phela meri beti phir mera beta , isse meri nazaro se dur leke chale jao wrana mein kuch ulta sidha kar dunga "

Niharika cried, sitting there.

"Dad, enough. I helped her. I helped her escape from her home. In fact, mein chod kr aya tha khud, iss nark se dur" Veer admitted.

Jairaaj looked at his son in disbelief as he confessed. Veer paused, thinking, "I guess Mr. Prithvi was right; it's my time to be a big brother. I've never been one to her," Veer uttered in anger, looking toward his broken sister, realizing his mistake.

"Do not even try to lay a finger on her. I will forget you're my father, and I used to respect and worship you," Veer said, pointing his finger at his father for the first time.

"And maa how long will you keep playing the role of a silent (murti) idol, supporting your husband in all his wrongdoings?" Veer said, looking toward his mother, who was silently crying but didn't utter any words, standing like a statue.

"She won't say anything," Jairaaj said.

"Seriously, Mom?" Veer said in disbelief as their mother looked down, wiped her tears, but didn't say anything.

"Now I have started to pity you, just like Isha di," he said as he took Niharika inside, glaring at his father before leaving.

***

AFTER SOME TIME, INSIDE THE ROOM,

Niharika's POV:

I heard a lot of knocking.

Anu di? Why is she calling my name? I thought.

I got up and opened the door.

She entered the room, missing her step, almost falling, and then standing. Is she drunk? Why is she in my room when she doesn't really like to talk with us, me, and Ekta di?

"Niharika, Niharika, I thought you were a small little sister of mine. I should protect you too," she said in complete distress.

"Di... A...r..rre yo...u dr..unk?" I asked, reaching towards her.

Is she sad? Why is she drunk at home? "Stop touching me," she said, removing my hand.

"I don't like your touch," she said with disgust.

Then her face looked vulnerable, filled with insecurity, and she confessed, "You know, when you were getting married, I was so sad. I felt sad for you. My sister has to face so much," she said things she would never normally say.

She is really drunk because on other days, she is always hard, cold, and hiding her emotions, but right now.

She said, "I pity you," taking my face in her palms.

Then she removed her hand and moved backward, almost falling. But when I reached to help her, she stopped.

"My friend, but they were right," she said.

She muttered some words that made me halt in my position. "You are not innocent. You stole the person I like. You didn't even think about me, how much I liked him, how hard I was trying," she said, crying.

And I could only mutter in shock, "Y...o..ou li...k.ked hi..m?"

"Yes, I fucking liked him. I could do anything for him." she said, crying, breaking down in a way I had never seen her before.

"Yes, I'm an evil person," she said, looking down on the ground. "But you are also not a good person," she said, looking up.

Then, getting up, she said, "You must be having a good-no, no, sorry," she said.

I looked at her in confusion, wondering why people around me these days speak this way.

She paused for a minute, her face showing guilt. Did she do something wrong? But then she looked up again. "But I don't feel sorry for doing all that. You deserve that hate because you should have known, your innocent face, what you consider your weapon, can also be a curse to you," she said.

What is she speaking about? What about her not feeling guilty, and if she liked him, then why was I the one whom he married?

"I curse you. Go, go live your fucking life," she said.

Then muttered to herself, "You all are the same-selfish, all selfish," she said, nodding her head like an insane person, pulling her hair.

"D...ii," I moved towards her for help. She is losing herself. But then she again stopped me.

"Anamika, watch out your mouth, wash your fucking face," Ekta di said entering the room.

"Why the hell are you coming in between us, sister? Huh? Leave the hell out," Anu di said, shouting.

And Ekta di, looking not an inch affected, splashed water on Anu di's face, and she flinched.

I looked in shock.

Ekta di looked at me and said, "Niharika, I will take her. She has been behaving like this for a week. Don't take anything she says to heart, okay?" she said.

"Now, let's go," she said, looking at Anu di, who got more irritated.

Ekta di took her hand.

"Please stop touching me," Anu di said, removing her hand as they left.

"You disgust me. I can walk," Anu di said, missing her steps. And they closed the door behind them.

When they were gone, I couldn't help but ask myself, 'So, did Di like her?' and then, 'Why did he marry me?' and why did Dad say those words about me? I can't even repeat a single word he said to me.

I know I'm a burden on him, but until now, I was his daughter. Now? I can be anything he claims, but I can't sell my dignity.

I can't help but cry, those words not leaving my mind, like they have made a permanent plan to stay.

After a long cry session, when I felt nothing, no emotion, just drained, I felt someone picking up my dupatta.

He can't be, then who? The question came to my mind, and I looked down from my bed.

"K...Kicky," I said.She was lying down on the floor, her ears were down too, she looked sad, not speaking or making any sound.

No bark. I sat down there.

How could I forget her in all these days? She must have missed me.

She must have been abandoned; people here are all busy in their own world.

"I'm...sorry, Ki...c..cky," I said.

"I fo...o...o..rgot you," I confessed.

She started crying; her eyes were wet from the corners, like she understood human language.

I hugged her.

"N..o..o, it's ok...kay. W..e..e b..both are ab...a..andoned; w..e have ea...c..cch ot...ther only. I p..r..romise I w..won't leave you a...gain," I said and kissed her.

She started jumping in my lap, once again back to her true nature.

My smile once again came back, which was missed for days, and I started sharing my burden.

I had enough crying; I can't always cry, at least not in front of her.

She never judged me; otherwise, people here can't stop blaming me wherever I go.

The same pattern repeats, my bad luck follows me.

"It's o,,,okay, K..kicky, w...e.e are h...e..ere for E-e-ach ot..her," I said.

Although I was feeling sad, I could only remember the goodwill of him, a total stranger to me,still respecting my feelings. Yet, my family, who knows me, blames me for every bad thing.

"H..e.e hat..es m..e, K..kicky," I muttered.

"B..but he al...so a..ate m..my brea...k..kfast, w..which I made," I confessed to Kicky.

Tears escaped; I don't know; I'm in a whirlpool of emotions. Sometimes, I feel they will all drown me. I pity myself, not others. Why can't I even take a stand for myself? Why do I always have to be pathetic?

"K..kicky-" I started.