Hasta-prāpya-stabaka-namito bāla-Mandāra-vṛkṣaḥ

Chapter Thirty-One

Mandar had turned to Pallavi as soon as they were seated in the rickshaw, on their way to the Aqua Legacy restaurant for their lunch date. "Malā Vikarabad-madhe śodhūna kāḍhalyāpāsūna tujhyā manāta praśna ālā asela kī mī rugṇālayātūna tithaparyanta kasā poçalo." Ever since you discovered me in Vikarabad, you must be wondering how I reached there from the hospital.

"Ho, paṇa tumhālā jyā prasaṅgāñcī āṭhavaṇa nāhī, tyāṃçā ūhāpoha karaṇyāādhī tumhālā āpalyā māṇasāṃta punhā ruḷāyalā veḷa dyāvā, ase malā vāṭale." Yes, but before analyzing events that you don't remember, I wanted to give you time to settle in with our family again, Pallavi had replied, taking Mandar's hand in hers.

Mandar liked Pallavi's considerate nature. She deserved to know all about the events that had taken her husband from her, and she had pressed the police for answers for over two years, but now, when she had the chance to ask him about every detail, she was being patient, allowing him to adjust to the upheavals in his old life before pursuing her curiosity. Pallavi's remarriage against her will, Bābā's health issues and self-mortification, Ājī's death, Nikhil's risky choices, Amruta's disrepute and Manasi's lost love ... so much was different now! He was lucky to have a wife who put his needs before her own.

"Kāla Farhad-ne malā tyā rugṇālayāta punhā nele jithe Raghav-ne mājhyāvara upacāra karavūna ghetale hote." Yesterday Farhad took me back to that hospital where Raghav had gotten treatment for me. "Malā tyā Dr. Janaki bheṭalyā, jyāṃnī mājhī smṛti naṣṭa zhālyāçe oḷakhūna malā guṅgīçe auṣadha dilyāvara ekā vyaktīkaḍūna lāça gheūna māzhe apaharaṇa karaṇyāta madata kelī hotī." I met that Dr. Janaki, who had diagnosed my memory loss, given me a sedative, taken a bribe and helped a certain someone to abduct me. "Dr. Janaki-īṃnī he sagaḷe kabūla kele, āṇi Farhad-ne tyā rātrīçe CCTV dṛśya āṇi phone-varacī mudrita saṃbhāṣaṇe ase sagaḷe purāve goḷā kele." Dr. Janaki admitted it all, and Farhad gathered all the proof like that night's CCTV video and recorded phone conversations.

"Tumaçe apaharaṇa karaṇāryā vyaktīçe nāṃva sāṅgitale kyā tyāṃnī?" Did she tell you the name of the person who abducted you? Pallavi's voice had been unsteady and she had begun to tremble. The thought of Mandar having an enemy disturbed her; even if Sunny Ahuja didn't go to prison for the hit-and-run, whoever had deliberately taken Mandar from his family - from her - had to pay!

"Te tara malā ādhīça māhīta hote." Well, I already knew that. "Sulochana Kākūne malā taxi-īta basavūna Ammacyā davākhānyāparyanta āṇale hote." Sulochana Kākū had brought me to Amma's clinic in a taxi. "Tyā avastheta malā tilā oḷakhatā āle navhate, paṇa Vikarabad-hūna malā gharī āṇatānā jevhāṃ tū malā tiçā photo dākhavalāsa tyāça kṣaṇī malā kaḷale kī Sulochana Kākūne tumhā sarvāṃpāsūna malā dūra ṭhevaṇyāsāṭhī Vikarabad-madhe malā lapavale hote." In my condition at the time, I hadn't been able to recognize her, but when you were bringing me home from Vikarabad and you showed me her photo, I instantly knew that Sulochana Kākū had hidden me in Vikarabad to keep me far away from all of you. "Mī jīvanta asalyāçe māhīta asūna suddhā tine tuzhā vidhavā mhaṇūna chaḷa kelā." She knew that I was alive and still she tormented you as a widow. "Ātā āpalyākaḍe tine raçalelyā kaṭāçe purāve āheta, sākṣīdāra āheta, paṇa mī tulā vicāra karāyalā veḷa dilyāvaraça āpaṇa doghe police-āṃkaḍe takrāra karaṇyāçā nirṇaya gheū." Now we have proofs of her plot, we have witnesses, but only after I give you time to think, the two of us will make a decision about making a complaint to the police.