IS LOVE ENOUGH?

Chapter-1

Mumbai. The city of dreams. So many people come here with every small and big dream they have seen in their life. Many succeed. Many do not.
In a huge mansion in this city of dreams, servants are running here and there preparing for the return of Sulakshna Devi, the matriarch of the Raichand household. Even though she is in her 60s, her personality is stern, and she rules the family with an iron fist. She is returning today from her pilgrimage, so everyone in the house is nervous and making sure everything is perfect. In the kitchen, there is one lady relentlessly cooking food and guiding servants to make the necessary arrangements. It's the younger daughter-in-law and the younger son of Sulakshna, Chetan's wife, Sandhya. She always had a meek demeanor, and the only thing she treasured was peace in her family. While she is continuing with her task, a maid comes in the kitchen with a plate full of untouched food. Seeing the plate, Sandhya's mood dampens. "Did she not eat even a little?"  asked Sandhya from the maid.
"Gudiya has not eaten anything from morning and is just standing in front of the Raichand family photo and staring at it, saying nothing." replied the maid.

Sandhya sighed and stopped working. She made a fresh plate of hot food and went to the hall where her daughter was standing staring at their family photo with an empty look in her eyes. Seeing her daughter like this, she hesitated for a moment and then said in a soft voice, "Swara? Shona, eat something, dear. You have not eaten since morning, " and the response she got was nothing. Disappointed, she tried again, "Shona, see I have made your favorite food, you love food cooked by me na. Come dear, have something. You will get sick if you don't eat anything. " Again, Sandhya didn't receive any reply, and she started worrying. She came a little closer and saw in the direction her daughter was looking at. Swara was not paying any attention to the huge family photo that is displayed in front of her. Rather, she is focusing at the corner of the photo. Being a mother, Sandhya understood her daughter's behavior. A wave of intense grief and guilt filled her eyes.  She looked at her daughter again and didn't know what to do. She again tried calling her name in a teary voice, "Swara....Sho..."This time, Swara moved her gaze from the family picture and looked at Sandhya or maybe through Sandhya. It was like there was nothing in her eyes, only a hollow shell she was. She started moving towards her mother, and for a second, Sandhya's eyes lit up when Swara took the plate from her hands and started eating from it. What she didn't notice was that Swara was eating only one bite of every food item kept on the plate. After taking a bite of every food item, she paused suddenly. She looked into her mother's eyes with no emotion, which made Sandhya nervous. Seconds passed to minutes, and Swara didn't resume eating. Seeing this, Sandhya asked Swara what was wrong. "Shona, is the food not to your liking? Did I forget something? It's ok. I'll go and get something else f..." Before she could finish her words, Swara started going from the hall along with the plate in her hands, Sandhya confused, followed her daughter, and her confusion kept growing when Swara started going towards one of the maid's daughter Laachi who was busy having her food. The maid was a widow, so she and her child lived in the servants' quarters. Since Sulakshna is too old-fashioned, she treats all servants beneath her and no one is allowed to eat and drink in the house from the same place the family eats and drink, however there is a small place allotted in the mansion where all servants eat food and right now that is where Swara was going. She entered the place, sat down in front of the little girl not older than 8 years old, and stared at her with a blank look. The little girl looked at Swara, and her brows furrowed in confusion. Even Sandhya was getting more and more confused, but her daughter's next words shocked her. "Exchange your plate with me. " said Swara to the little girl. Laachi looked at the plate in Swara's hand, and her eyes lit up, seeing so many delicious dishes, and then she looked at her plate filled only chapati and vegetables. She looked at Swara and with innocence she asked, "Are you sure?" . Swara nodded. Sandhya got scared that if anyone reported this to her husband or, worse, mother-in-law than not, even God could save Swara, so she immediately intervened. "Swara!! What are you doing?..." Laachi, who extended her hand to exchange plates, got startled and then looked at Sandhya and got scared. She immediately started to pull her plate back, but before she could, Swara stopped her and exchanged their plates. Sandhya was getting more and more terrified of any person witnessing this scene and reporting it. She again started to say something, but before that, Laachi spoke, "Why do you want to exchange plates?" . Swara's reply to that first confused Sandhya, but as she started realizing the meaning behind her words, it's like someone stabbed her with a knife in her heart and let the knife stay there.
Swara pointed to the plate in her hand and said..."It's safe," and then pointed at the plate she gave to Laachi and again said the same thing.

Now Sandhya understood what Swara was doing when she ate the food from the plate she brought, but the realization did not reduce the pain she was feeling. Laachi, still confused, looked at Swara. Suddenly, Swara sat beside her and started eating the Chapati and urged Lachi to eat the food from the given plate. As any child would do, Lachi started devouring the food on her plate. Sandhya eyes started to tear up as she kept looking at her daughter. Her eyes conveyed the yearning for forgiveness she had from her daughter, but not once did Swara look at her mother. She mechanically continued eating the food without any emotions.

All of them were unaware that it was witnessed by 2 more people in the house. These are Sandhya and Chetan's sons. The elder son Adarsh and the younger son Vaibhav. Adarsh had a somewhat angry expression, while Vaibhav's eyes depicted sadness. Adarsh  stormed where Swara was eating and stood in front of her. Sandhya didn't react to it as she was still in a painful trance and yearned for Swara to look at her with love and call her maa. However, somewhere in her heart, she knew it was just wishful thinking. Meanwhile, Adarsh ordered Lachi to go take the plate and eat in her room. Swara didn't pay attention to anything and finished what little food was there on the plate. The moment she just finished her food, suddenly Adarsh grabbed her and held her by her shoulders tightly and looked at her intensely. "What are you trying to prove, Swara?"asked Adarsh, trying to catch the glimpse of the lively girl she once was in her now soulless eyes. However, the response is for the same....Nothing. This angered Adarsh more, but before he could say something, Vaibhav intervened and urged Adarsh to leave her. "Leave her. You are hurting her brother." Adarsh left Swara, and one could see his finger marks on her shoulders due to his tight grip, but there was no response from Swara, no expression of pain on her face. It's like she has lost every feeling and emotion inside her.
Sandhya, seeing all this, had only one thought. "Will we ever get our daughter back?"

                                                                      

So, here was an introduction to our female protagonist, Swara. Hope whoever read it liked. Do let me know your views.

Also, can anyone guess what is wrong with Swara?

Let me know in the comments.