Lost Fate - Roohi & Rohit

9. untamed

"Meenu, kabhi toh apna mooh bandh rakha karo! Har waqt bas sabse ladaai karti rehti ho!" Manoj scolded an angry Manisha.

"Manu, tum bhi mera side nahi lete ho.... Abhira ko toh lene do!" Manisha reasoned.

"Woh aaj nahi toh kal iss ghar se jaayegi! Agar Armaan ko Abhira se pyaar hojayega, phir bhi woh iss ghar mein jyada nahi jamegi!" Manoj said sighing.

Manisha glared at Manoj, disappointment evident on her face. She was termed as the "non-ideal" bahu of the Poddars. The wild, disappointment, failure bahu. She was the little girl in her household. In the sasural, her antics were never encouraged, nor was her voice. Vidya was the ideal bahu, the matured one while she was ignored as a gone case. She was loved yet never acknowledged by her surroundings.

Abhira's entry to the household brought a new position to her. All the focus was on her and her kaands, and Manisha only wished for her betterment. Abhira's immaturity and antics reminded her of her own personality, which was murdered by her sasural. In this generation, Roohi was the ideal bahu. She never loathed her, but they shared a mutual disagreement. Roohi never liked her. And she was not Manisha's favourite. Among the favouritism that flowed in the family, she favoured Abhira while Kajal favoured Roohi.

And there she was, always a fan of Abhira and the No. 1 Abhimaan shipper, somewhere flowing through her own motives, somewhere taking a sweet-revenge from the family that tied her hands.

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"Haan...haan... Bua ji! Aap aaiye, main Dadi Sa se baat karta hoon. Ji zaroor." Rohit sighed as he disconnected the call.

"Kaun hain?" Roohi, who was sitting on the bed cross-legged asked.

"Woh, Muscat wali bua! Naak mein dum karke rakha hain!" Rohit said, exasperated.

"Arrey! Yeh kaun hain? Humaari shaadi main bhi nahi aayi!" Roohi said, confused.

"Haan nahi aayi! Ek Second! Tumhe kaise pata!"

"Because I was also present at our wedding." Roohi said, mockingly.

"Acchaaa! And you know everybody present at the wedding?"

"Saare sasural wale? Yes." 

"Arrey! Even I don't know all those who came! Aur ek tum ho jisse sab kuch pata hai!"

"You men don't know anything! Tum shaadi mein apne friends ke saath baat karte rahe ya mujhe gawk rahe hote the..... Aur ek main thi, jo tumhare saare family ko samajh rahe the.... It was too tiring." Roohi said, exasperated as Rohit shrugged and the both of them smilingly, memories about the wedding flowing through their minds.

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Vidya sat near the edge of the bed, completely shattered, knowing the marital life of her sons were sinking miserably. She was completely lost in her thoughts, that she didn't even feel the presence of her youngest daughter-in-law near her. Roohi slowly placed a hand on her shoulder, which shook her from her thoughts. Roohi sat near her, placing her hands on hers.

"Mujhe pata hain, ki ab main tumhare liye paraayi ban gayi hoon...Lekin..." 

Roohi cut her words in between by saying,

"Kya maa! Aap kaise mere liye paraayi ban sakti hain?"

"Jab tum Armaan aur Rohit se apna rishta tod dogi, tab toh yeh ghar aur hum sab tere liye paraaye ban jaayenge na!" Vidya reasoned.

"Nahi maa! Kabhi nahi! Bhale hi mujhe iss ghar mein Rohit leke aaya hain aur uske through hee hamaara rishta bana, lekin aap sab mere liye apne ban gaye! Aur woh rishta koi bhi cheen nahi sakta! Rohit bhi nahi! Aur woh yeh chahega bhi nahi!" Roohi expressed her feelings.

"Phir tum kyu jaa rahi ho beta?" Vidya asked patting her cheeks.

"Kyuki, Rohit deserves better Maa! Woh mere liye wait karega, rukega.... "

"Toh tumhe yeh darr hain ki tum usse pyaar nahi kar paogi?"

"Nahi, maa. Mujhe yeh darr hain, ki agar main yaha rahoon toh mujhe usse pyaar ho jayega.... Shayad jitna woh mujhse pyaar karta hain, usse bhi zyada... Par mera pyaar hamesha kam pad gaya tha maa, ek aur baar agar mera pyaar haar jaayega, then I won't be able to tolerate it." Roohi said, tears streaming from her eyes as Vidya held her close.

"Woh tumhe heal karega, Roohi."

"Nahi maa, mera dil itni baar toot chuka hain! Ab woh repair nahi kiya jaa sakta."

They both sat in the sorrow, unknown that Rohit was standing near the door, listening to the whole conversation, determined to prove her wrong.

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"Maa, mera mann nahi lag raha hain yaha! Main kuch naya try karna chaahta hoon." Charu chimed in, while Kajal sighed.

"Batao beta, kya chahti ho tum?" 

"Maa, main baahar jaakar kaam karna chahti hoon!"

"Matlab?"

"Ek naya shahar. Maine Lucknow main ek law firm mein application send kiya tha. Woh unhone accept kiya hain. Aur woh meri career ke liye ek boost hoga! Aur main ek naye sheher main jaakar zyada independent ban jaaungi... Maa, maan jaaiye na!" 

"Lekin Charu.... Maa kabhi manegi nahin."

"Aap manaiye na! Dadi Sa aur Papa ko. Please mumma. Mere liye yeh important. Please..."

Kajal sat down, confused as her daughter pleaded for her career. Something she never had. Now she had the responsibility on her. To make her daughter independent. Or let her. And she was ready to fight the whole world for her happiness.

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SIlence engulfed the couple as they sat down, their room no less than a warfield. Books, Papers, Bedsheet, Pillow. Everything scattered across the room. Her lucky tortoise which sat on the night stand, toppled down due to the commotion.

Abhira Sharma Poddar glared daggers at her husband, Armaan Poddar. With whom she had fallen in love, just to know that his first love was Roohi Birla Poddar. The woman with whom she felt a special connection. They pretended to hate each other, but cared deeply for each other. Roohi always stood by Armaan, for a reason unknown to her till moments ago. She shattered knowing that his love was infront of his eyes, that he will never move on. 

"After knowing all this, will you still love me?" He had asked her. She never had any answer. The immature, childish Abhira now had to grow up and take a decision. She was delusional enough to believe that he had fallen in love with her. And when he did not, she got angry and left. Now that they were asked to give a second chance to their relation, she was confused. Her mother was wrong. Big decisions were not to be made by Stone-Paper-Scissors. She closed her eyes and the voice of Roohi flowed in her mind, "Abhira, number of relations does not matter, what matters is their depth. And when it comes to making decision in relationships, you should keep your hand in your chest, feel your heart, close your eyes and think. Because it knows you better than yourself." As she followed her instructions, she knew what is to be done.

"I still love you, Armaan. And we should work on our relation. I will try my best to understand the family and you should try to accept me. Maybe we can work this out." Abhira said, her voice unwavering.

Armaan smiled, seeing his wife make a right decision. And they were to forget the past, respect the boundaries and set everything right.

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I completely agree with Roohi, on what she said about Charu- Dev's relation. She is too young to handle it. Why the unnecessary hate on her?

Anyways, waiting for Rohit to comeback and I am already seeing Roohi's character progression...

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