Maami ki Behen ki Beti ✓

10. Shiva Pandya style

He was not the Shiva he once was.

Shiva 1.0 would never come back for anyone, never offer to help, never care about this girl as much as he does now. There was something inside him that was trembling at the thought of anything happening to Raavi, and he'd rather give up himself than see her dead. He really wanted her to stay alive, and happy, and when Raavi asked her why he was doing this, he had no answer. 

What was he supposed to tell her when he himself did not know why he was doing this.

Should he tell her that the chaotic Raavi and Shiva from the past were making him do this? Will she understand or laugh, or worse, consider him crazy? But, does she even remember those chaotic Shiva and Raavi?

How would she remember him, Shiva thought, shaking his head, she was always running behind Dev. She never noticed him and unless he fought with her, she would not have noticed him. Shiva knew that he had lashed out a lot on her in the past, some genuinely was because he hated her family, some was to get some attention and some... some was just to spend time with her.

How else would Raavi remember Shiva when Dev was around?

Dev was always the best Pandya kid amongst the three, Shiva sighed, he was brilliant in his studies, looked really smart, presentable and had so many crushes in school. He excelled in sports, in events and got so many medals, and then there was him, Shiva Pandya, suspended from three schools for his anger, hated by teachers for being rude and never had friends because they were scared of his wrath. Shiva wanted to be like his brother Gautam, help in the store, because he loved doing it, he liked helping his brother and his bhabhi, he loved making them smile, or seeing his store flourish but he still remembered how everyone had laughed when he had narrated in the essay that he wanted to be a helper in their store.

Kirane ke Dukaan

That was what everyone teased him throughout the day, until in sheer anger, Shiva broke the bench and hurt both his hands and the teacher and that was why he was suspended yet again. And he ran away to the hill, thinking of just leaving without anyone getting more embarrassed by him and that was when 10 year old Raavi had accompanied him.

She was not scared of his anger, she never name called him, she never laughed at his dreams, she just sat with him. 

And now he did the same thing, he sat with Raavi, on the side of the road, in the middle of nowhere. He had no answers why he was here, but he was with her, just like she was with him. 

He looked at the girl besides him, head on her knees, eyes shut and the wind playing with her hair. He was no Dev to speak sweet words, no Krish to crack some jokes and lighten the atmosphere, no Dhara to hug and caress her worries, no Gaumbi to guide with comforting words.

He was Shiva.

Plain old, angry, gawaar, jaahil and bewakoof Shiva.

"Tujhe sach main yaad nahi ki tujhe bike chalani thi?" He said, finally after an hour of them sitting with each other. Shiva plucked the dried grass from the side, tearing it as Raavi did not react, her head still buried in her knees. But he knew she was listening to him. "Ye Anita ki jab scooty aayi thi na, tab ki baat hai..." He narrated the tale.

"Chaabi la, jaa." 

"Kyu, main nahi laane waali."

Shiva, age 17 clenched his jaw, but he had to butter Raavi up if he wanted to ride the new scooty. "Maami ki behen ki beti, dekh, tu scooty ki chabi le aa, toh tujhe woh kesar pista khila dunga."

Raavi tsked, shaking her head, "Kesar-Pista nahi," She raised her eyebrows at the always irritated Shiva, "Somnath ki ser karayega, tere piche baitha kar?" She shrugged when he shook his head, "bhul ja scooty ko..."

Gautam had promised Shiva a bike only when he was 21 and he really wanted to ride Anita's scooty so if he wanted to fulfil his wish, he had to listen to Raavi. 

"Fine," Shiva grunted, "baith jaa, chipkali ki tarah mere picche, par aur kuch nahi karunga."

"Teri bike aayegi toh mujhe sikhayega?" She pouted, looking at the guy who was for the first time asking her a favour.

"ey gadhedi," He pointed at her, scoffing, "tujh jaisi ko toh main apne bike ko dekhne bhi na du, baithna dhur ki baat hai aur seekhna toh kabhi nahi."

"Accha," Raavi smirked, flipping her hair, "toh jab teri bike aayegi na, tab chalana, abh bas sapne dekhte re..." With that she was about to leave, but Shiva held her hand, running his hand through his hair, frustrated.

"Sun, theek hai," He groaned, really wanting to ride the new scooty, "chabbi le aa, seekha dunga tujhe apni bike, khush?"

"Aur Somnath ki ser?" Raavi chirped, smiling and raising her eyebrows.

"Haan meri maa, woh bhi."

Raavi chuckled, "Toh ye le." She removed the scooty keys from her pocket, startling Shiva.

"Tere paas hi thi kab se?"

"Haan, Raavi hai hi fast-forward, pata tha aata tu, chaabi maangne." Raavi tilted her head, winking at him while he glared at her, "abh chale!"

Raavi had been listening to him intently, raising her head and looking at him while he narrated their old tale. Now that he said it, she did remember the incident, and she also remembered that while they had taken the scooty out, they could not take it on a ride because they got into an accident mid-way and Raavi took the blame of the scooty to herself, taking all the beatings and the scolding from her massi as she let Shiva escape.

"Arrey haan," Raavi said, nodding, "tune na Somnath ki ser karayi aur na mujhe teri bike chalani di," She said, while Shiva smiled, "aur mujhe maar padhi, woh alag." She frowned, making Shiva chuckle, "hadd hai."

"tune kaha tu ilzaam le legi..."

"haan, aur tu toh bhaag gaya, choro ki tarah..."

"Main chor?" Shiva turned towards her.

She tilted her head, looking at him, "aur nahi toh kya? pata hai kitna maara tha maasi-maa ne mujhe aur Anita dii ne toh ek hafte tak baat hi nahi ki."

"Toh aaya tha na raat ko, marhaam dene?" He said, throwing the grass in the air, "usska kya?"

"Tu nahi, Dev aaya tha."

"Dev nahi tha, main tha," He said, shaking his head, "woh mujhe aacha nahi lag raha tha, issliye Dev ko bola maine aur main niche khada tha. Saari dawaai maine Dhara bhabhi ke room se uthayi thi, aur sab tere liye."

Raavi furrowed her eyebrows, "mujhe laga Dev tha."

"Tujhe Dev ke aalwa koi dikha kaha hai." He chuckled, smiling at her, "anyway, abh bhi time hai,"

"Kiske liye?" Raavi asked, relaxing.

"Ser kara du Somnath ki?" 

Raavi stretched her legs, resting her arms on the dusty ground, "not before you give me a reason why you are doing this." 

Shiva looked at her, meeting her eyes, "nahi pata mujhe," He shrugged, "sacchi nahi pata, bas itna pata hai ki Raavi, tere samne teri puri zindagi padhi hai aur ek hadsa teri zindagi ko badal sakta hai, par khatam nahi kar sakta." He said, averting his gaze and now looked blankly ahead, "tujhe nahi pata Raavi, kitna pyaar karte hai sab tujhe, teri massi, tere massa, Anita, Dhara bhabhi aur Gaumbi aur..." 

"Aur?" She asked, seeking answers she was not yet ready to hear.

"Aur kitne log chahiye tujhe," He looked at her again, "itne kaafi hai."

"Aur tu?" She asked, gulping, "tu toh mujhse nafrat karta hai, toh kyu kar raha hai?"

Shiva got up, dusting his clothes and forwarded his hand towards her, "nahi pata," He said yet again, "bas ye samaj le, ki tujhpe taras nahi kha raha. Aur tu bhi khana bandh karde." She took his hand, standing up, "stop pitying yourself, and start living. Jo hogaya, woh koi badal nahi sakta, par jaaney se pehle ye vaada hai, tujhe Somnath se vidaa karna hai toh Shiva Pandya ke style mein."

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