In the Maheswari house, everyone was worried about Durga Prasad's actions in his anger. Ram was continuously dialing Durga Prasad and Lakshya's number but none of them replied. Just as Ram and Aadarsh were about to go find them, Lakshya entered the house like a zombie. He just came and sat down on one of the sofas. Everyone was trying to know what happened there but he was just sitting there like a mute. After some time, Durga Prasad also returned and recapped the events of badi. Ram got angry hearing the events while Annapurna was trying to convince him to let that matter rest. On this Durga Prasad got angry, in his anger he shouted at Annapurna and talked shit about the Gadodias and Boses. This was the straw that broke the camel's back for Lakshya.
"Bas" Lakshya shouted. Everyone was stunned into silence as he had never spoken in such a tone with anyone. Even Sanskar in his rebellious phase never spoke in this tone to Durga Prasad. "Bahut hogaya aapka ye izzat aur beizzati ka khel." He continued. Aadarsh was the first to come out of the state and stop Lakshya before he could do anything that could not be rectified.
"Lakshya, kya keh raha hai tu? Chup hoja." Aadarsh said trying to stop him. He had gone up to him and had held him by his elbow to turn Lakshya to face him.
"Lakshya tumhari intni himmat ki tum humse ese baat karo."Durga Prasad retorted.
"Jo jesa karta hai usske saath wesa karna zaruri hojata hai, Mr. Durga Prasad Maheshwari, "Lakshya replied still shouting. Annapurna was shocked by his behavior, this was not the son she raised.
"Kyun acha nahi laga na ye tone sun ke? Toh Mr. Maheshwari, sochiye jinte saath aap chaubis ghante issi tone main baat karte hai unhe kesa lagta hoga!" Lakshya said.
"Lakshya! Chup raho, bakwas maat karo."Aadarsh ordered him.
"Lakshya, tum aapne papa se ese kese baat kar rahe ho? Tu unka naam le raha hai! Kya hua hai tujhe?"Annapurna also tried to stop him.
"Kya karu maa, aapke pati ko uncha sunai deta hai. Dheemi awaz sunai kahan deti hai unhe." Lakshya retorted. This shut her up because deep down she also knew this was true. Lakshya was like a raging bull and his target was Durga Prasad Maheshwari.
Then Lakshya turned to Durga Prasad and continued, "Han toh Mr. Durga Prasad Maheshwari, samajhte kya hai hai aap apne aapko? Bhagwan hai aap jo hum sab ko aapke banaye niyamon ke hisaab se saans le? Aapke usulon par chale!" This angered Durga Prasad more and he was about to slap him but Lakshya stopped him.
"Sochiye ga bhi mat Mr. Maheswari, ye adhikar aap kho chuke hai. Jab tak humare bich baap bete ka rishta tha, tab tak mene sar jhuka kar aap ka har hukum maana par ab aur nahi." Lakshya said. This shocked Durga Prasad. He lowered his hand down and fisted his hands.
"Bahut sauck hai na aap ko sach sunne ka, to suniye."Lakshya continued. He went to the wall with the family photos, brought his photo of his engagement day, and showed him. "Ye dekh rahe hai? Ye main nahin hun. Ye hai kaidi Lakshya jisse aapne aap ne jail ke kapde pehna kar khada kiya hai." Then he pointed at himself and continued. "Ye hai Lucky, jisse bahar ghumna, aapne doston ke saath mauj masti karna, aapni zindagi apni shaton pe jina pasand hai. Aur isse awaragardi nahi azadi kehte hai."
All this reminded Sujata of her son Sanskar. He also wanted to be free. Wanted to live his life according to himself with the girl he liked. She wanted to run to her room that instant but she willed herself to stand there.
"Ghar nahin hai, jail hai. Yaha rehne wala har sadasya ek kaidi aur aap hai yaha ke jailor. Jisse aapne umar kaid ki saza sunai hai. Jisse aapki kar man maani manni padti hai. Warna aap usse ghar se bahar nikal denge, jese mujhe nikala tha. Log toh yahan saans bhi aapki marzi se lete hai. Aur sach kahun toh, log yahan jee nahi rahe hai, ghut rahe hai aapke saath." Lakshya said.
"Tumhe esa lagta hoga."Durga Prasad retorted. His pride didn't allow him to concede any ground to Lakshya.
"Accha! Toh puchiye aapne bade bete se ki woh life main kya karna chata tha. Ussne aapke dar se commerce leli jabki woh engineer banna chata tha." Lakshya revealed.
"Lakshya! Stop it." Aadarsh shouted. He had never thought that this secret will be revealed. He had told this to Sanskar and Lakshya in confidence.
"Wahi toh kar raha hun bhai. I'm just stopping it. Inki dictatorship pe full stop lagane ki kosish kar raha hun. Han toh main kahan tha? Han aapne aapne bete se jabardashti commerce karai kyun ki ghar bada beta toh warish hota hai. Usse hin toh family business main aana hin hoga. Aakhir aage jaake sab kuch usse hin toh sambhalna hai. Family business ke alawa woh aapni life main aur kuch nahi chaha sakta." Lakshya continued. Aadarsh was trying to stop him but he had made up his mind to say everything that was inside his heart but never had the courage to say.
"Aaj mujhe koi chup nahi kara sakta." Lakshya said and then turned towards Parineeta and continued. "Ye aapki badi bahu, jisse aap apne bete ki patni nahi balki dahej ka ticket bana kar laye the iss ghar main." Parineeta perked up at this. This was news for her. All these years no one had told her anything. She was staring at Aadarsh for answers. She did not know what the questions were but she needed answers. She did not listen to what else Lakshya was saying, her constant attention was on her husband. Did he have any self-respect? She thought.
Unknown to her state, Lakshya continued with his truth bombs. "Aap ko ek achi bahu nahi, unke dad ki sau acre ki zamin chahiye thi." He then went to her and brought her attention towards him and apologized to her. "Sorry bhabi, par jo sach hai so sach hai aur sach ko ignore nahi kiya ja sakta." Annapurna tried to stop him but asked her not to waste her energy in vain as today he would only speak the truth. Then he moved on to the next person.
"Aaj sirf aap ki wajah se ye family photo complete nahi hai." Sujata was close to tears at the mention of her son. She closed her eyes to control herself. Ram did not show his emotion outwardly but he was breaking from inside.
"Yaha ek aur photo bhi thi." Lakshya continued. "Mera bhai, mera best friend Sanskar. Jo aapka bhatija aur mere chacha chachi ka eklawta beta tha. Kya galati thi uski? Ek choti si toh wish thi aap usse tak pura nahi kar paye. Uska woh haal kar diya ki woh hum sab se humesha humesha keliye dur hogaya. Ussne suicide nahi kiya tha, aapne mara tha usse. You drove him to it." Sujata could not take it anymore and rushed to Sanskar's room to find some comfort there. She maintained his room as he had left. In these five years, that room had become her source of comfort.
Meanwhile, in the hall, Annapurna had managed to stop Lakshya finally. Then he declared that he was leaving the house as he could not bring himself to stay there.
"Maa, itne saalon se main ye sab nahi keh paraha tha kyun ki mujhe ye ayash aur aaram chchin jane ka dar tha. Par aaj maine inka asali chera dekh liya hai aur ab main yahan nahi reh sakta. Mera vivek mujhe isski anumati nahi deta. I can't do this anymore, maa." Lakshya informed and proceeded to leave. Annapurna tried to stop him but Durga Prasad ordered her to let him go. He was confident that Lakshya would come crawling back to him in a few when he would need more money to survive. Lakshya then went from there to go badi and tell the truth to Kavya about everything. He would start everything with a clean slate.
After Lakshya's departure, Ram went after his wife. He found her going through Sanskars stuff for the nth time.
"Sujata" Ram called her trying to get her attention. She looked at with tears and disappointment in her eyes and turned her attention back to Sanskar's stuff. Ram sat opposite her also looking at his son's stuff. Since Sanskar went away from their lives, their relationship had developed some frost around it. After some time, Sujata broke the silence.
"Sahi kiya Lakshya ne," Sujata spoke up. Seeing the turn she was taking, Ram rushed to close the door, lest someone hear her.
"Sujata" he reprimanded her but she paid no mind to him and continued.
"Na aaj mahre dil ko thandak mili hai. Bahut sukun mila aaj mahre ko. Ek sahi kiya Lakshya ne, kuch galat na kiya. Kamse kam, kissi ne toh aaj bhaisa ko aina dikhaya."
"Ye tu kya bakwas kar rahi hai. Hosh main toh ho?"
"Pure hosh main hun. Kya galat kahan maine? Sach hin toh keh rahi hun."
"Thari aankhan par mamta ki pati chadhi hui hai. Sanskar ne jo kiya woh ussi kayarta thi. Bhaisa, toh usski zindagi sawarna chahte the, koi bigadna thodi chahte the. Issme bhaisa ka kya kassur."
"Aapke bhaisa ne majbur kiya mahre sanskar ko yeh kadam uthane ko. Doshi toh woh hai. Mahre Sanskar kabhi bhi ek kadam idhar se udhar nahi kiya. Zindagi main ek baar kuch aapne man ka chaha aur dekho aapke bhaisa ne kya kiya. Aagar uss samay aapna farman jari karne se phele ek bar usse samajhne ki kosish ki hoti toh aaj mahra Sanskar mahre paas hota. Iss ghar ka toh niyam hai, ki aagar iss ghar main rehna hai toh bhaisa ke haaton ki katputli banke raho, aapke aur Aadarsh ki tarah." Sujata finished.
"Sujata, esa nahi hai."
"Esa hin hai. Par main bhaisa se kha bolun, jab aap hin usse kabhi nahi samajh paye. Sanskar humara beta tha par usski zindagi ke sare bade faisle bhaisa lete the. Shayad, issiliye ussne pure ghar main sabse aakhir main hume bataya uss ladki ke bareme. Hume batane se hum kar bhi kya lete, aakhir main toh bhaisa ki chalni thi par uss samay kuch toh kehte. Aapka naam Ram nahin Lakshman hona chahiye tha, aapne bhaisa pe aap aankh mund ke viswas karte hai aap. Aap yahan se jaiye, mujhe thodi der akela rehna hai." Sujata said wiping her tears.
Hearing her say that, Ram went out of the room. Once outside, his eyes teared up. Sujata in her anger and frustration touched a sore nerve there. Maybe, I did fail to become a father, he thought. He then wiped his own tears, then glanced back at his wife going through their son's things, one last time, and went to their room.
It was another scene in Aadarsh and Parineeta's room. Aadarsh was ranting about Lakshya's outburst but Parineeta was silent, she was still trying to process everything that Lakshya had revealed. She came out of her thoughts when Aadarsh asked her a question.
"Parineeta tumhe kya lagta hai?"Aadarsh asked her.
"Aap kuch puch rahe the?"Parineeta asked.
"Parineeta tum mujhe sun bhi rahi ho? Parineeta kya tum woh dahej ke bareme soch rahi ho?"Aadarsh asked her hesitantly.
"Aadarsh sach batayiye, kya aap iss bareme jante the?"Parineeta asked.
"Han" he replied. She sat down not being able to take all these revelations.
"Kya main sirf ek ATM hun iss ghar keliye?"
"Parineeta esa nahi hai, mujhe bhi ye pichle saal pata chala. Maine tumhe nahi bataya kyunki tumhe bura lagta. I'm sorry."
"Ab sorry bolne se kya hoga Aadarsh. I feel so worthless. Maa baap humesha aapne bachon ka acha chahate hai par woh humesha sahi nahi hote. Iss baat se hume bahut thesh pauchi hai Aadarsh. Hum abhi kuch aur baat nahi karna chahate. Please hume thoda akela chod dijiye."
"Thik hai, par Parineeta humara rishta iss cheez ka mahautaj nahin hai."Aadarsh said as he went outside their room. Parineeta took a deep breath and then called up her mother. She needed some answers from her mother and she and Aadarsh needed a long one on one conversation.
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Hindi Translations:
"Bas" ----> "Enough"
"Bahut hogaya aapka ye izzat aur beizzati ka khel." ----> "I have had enough of her reputation game."
"Lakshya, kya keh raha hai tu? Chup hoja." ----> "Lakshya, what are you saying? Shut up."
"Lakshya tumhari intni himmat ki tum humse ese baat karo." ----> "Lakshya how dare you talk to me like this."
"Jo jesa karta hai usske saath wesa karna zaruri hojata hai, Mr. Durga Prasad Maheshwari" ----> "You reap what you sow, Mr. Durga Prasad Maheshwari"
"Kyun acha nahi laga na ye tone sun ke? Toh Mr. Maheshwari, sochiye jinke saath aap chaubis ghante issi tone main baat karte hai unhe kesa lagta hoga!" ----> "Why you didn't like what you heard? So Mr. Maheswari, think about those with whom talk like this for 24 hours!"
"Lakshya! Chup raho, bakwas maat karo." ----> "Lakshya! Shut up, don't speak nonsense."
"Lakshya, tum aapne papa se ese kese baat kar rahe ho? Tu unka naam le raha hai! Kya hua hai tujhe?" ----> "Lakshya, how are you speaking to your father? You are taking his name! What has happened to you?"
"Kya karu maa, aapke pati ko uncha sunai deta hai. Dheemi awaz sunai kahan deti hai unhe." ----> "What do I do maa, your husband is hard of hearing. He can't hear low voices."
"Han toh Mr. Durga Prasad Maheshwari, samajhte kya hai hai aap apne aapko? Bhagwan hai aap jo hum sab ko aapke banaye niyamon ke hisaab se saans le? Aapke usulon par chale!" ----> "Yeah so Mr. Durga Prasad Maheshwari, what do you think of yourself? Are you god that everyone has to breathe according to your rules? Should live according to your principles!"
"Sochiye ga bhi mat Mr. Maheswari, ye adhikar aap kho chuke hai. Jab tak humare bich baap bete ka rishta tha, tab tak mene sar jhuka kar aap ka har hukum maana par ab aur nahi." ----> "Don't even think Mr. Maheshwari, you have lost the right. Till there was the father-son relationship between us I listened to everything but not anymore."
"Bahut sauck hai na aap ko sach sunne ka, to suniye." ----> "You like to hear truth right, then listen."
"Ye dekh rahe hai? Ye main nahin hun. Ye hai kaidi Lakshya jisse aapne aap ne jail ke kapde pehna kar khada kiya hai." ----> "Are you seeing this? This is not me. This is prisoner Lakshya whom you have made to stand in front of you by making him wear your prison clothes."
"Ye hai Lucky, jisse bahar ghumna, aapne doston ke saath mauj masti karna, aapni zindagi apni shaton pe jina pasand hai. Aur isse awaragardi nahi azadi kehte hai." ----> "This Lucky, who likes to spend time with his friends, likes to live his life according to himself. And this is called freedom and not wasting time."
"Ghar nahin hai, jail hai. Yaha rehne wala har sadasya ek kaidi aur aap hai yaha ke jailor. Jisse aapne umar kaid ki saza sunai hai. Jisse aapki kar man maani manni padti hai. Warna aap usse ghar se bahar nikal denge, jese mujhe nikala tha. Log toh yahan saans bhi aapki marzi se lete hai. Aur sach kahun toh, log yahan jee nahi rahe hai, ghut rahe hai aapke saath." ----> "This is not home, it's a jail. Every member of this family is a prisoner and you are the jailor. Whom you have given a life sentence. Who has to listen to you. Else you will throw them out of the house as you threw me out. People here breathe also according to you. To tell you the truth, people don't live here but are trapped here."
"Tumhe esa lagta hoga." ----> "You may feel like this."
"Accha! Toh puchiye aapne bade bete se ki woh life main kya karna chata tha. Ussne aapke dar se commerce leli jabki woh engineer banna chata tha." ----> "Okay! Then ask your eldest son about what he wanted to do in his life. He took commerce due to your fear while he wanted to become an engineer."
"Wahi toh kar raha hun bhai. I'm just stopping it. Inki dictatorship pe full stop lagane ki kosish kar raha hun. Han toh main kahan tha? Han aapne aapne bete se jabardashti commerce karai kyun ki ghar bada beta toh warish hota hai. Usse hin toh family business main aana hin hoga. Aakhir aage jaake sab kuch usse hin toh sambhalna hai. Family business ke alawa woh aapni life main aur kuch nahi chaha sakta." ----> "I'm doing the same bhai. I'm just stopping it. I'm trying to end his dictatorship. Ya, so where was I? You forced him to take commerce because he is the heir. He has to come into the family business. He has to handle everything in the future. He can't do anything else in his life except family business."
"Aaj mujhe koi chup nahi kara sakta." ----> "No one can stop me today."
"Ye aapki badi bahu, jisse aap apne bete ki patni nahi balki dahej ka ticket bana kar laye the iss ghar main." ----> "This your eldest daughter-in-law, who you brought here into this family as a dowery ticket, not as your son's wife."
"Aap ko ek achi bahu nahi, unke dad ki sau acre ki zamin chahiye thi." ----> "You didn't want a good daughter-in-law but her dad's 100-acre land."
"Sorry bhabi, par jo sach hai so sach hai aur sach ko ignore nahi kiya ja sakta." ----> "Sorry bhabi, but it's the truth, and truth can't be ignored."
"Aaj sirf aap ki wajah se ye family photo complete nahi hai." ----> "Today only due to you this family photo is not complete."
"Yaha ek aur photo bhi thi." ----> "Here another photo was also there."
"Mera bhai, mera best friend Sanskar. Jo aapka bhatija aur mere chacha chachi ka eklawta beta tha. Kya galati thi uski? Ek choti si toh wish thi aap usse tak pura nahi kar paye. Uska woh haal kar diya ki woh hum sab se humesha humesha keliye dur hogaya. Ussne suicide nahi kiya tha, aapne mara tha usse. You drove him to it." ----> "My brother, my best friend Sanskar, who was your nephew and my uncle and aunt's only son. What was his fault? He had a small wish and you couldn't fulfill that also. You got to a condition that he went away from us forever. He didn't commit suicide, you murdered him. You drove him to it."
"Maa, itne saalon se main ye sab nahi keh paraha tha kyun ki mujhe ye ayash aur aaram chchin jane ka dar tha. Par aaj maine inka asali chera dekh liya hai aur ab main yahan nahi reh sakta. Mera vivek mujhe isski anumati nahi deta. I can't do this anymore, maa." ----> "Maa, I couldn't speak for so long cause because I didn't want to leave this life of luxury. But today, I saw his true face and I can't stay here any longer. My conscience doesn't permit this. I can't do this anymore, maa."
"Sahi kiya Lakshya ne," ----> "Lakshya did the right thing,"
"Na aaj mahre dil ko thandak mili hai. Bahut sukun mila aaj mahre ko. Ek sahi kiya Lakshya ne, kuch galat na kiya. Kamse kam, kissi ne toh aaj bhaisa ko aina dikhaya." ----> "Today I got peace. Lakshya did the right thing, nothing wrong. At least, someone showed the mirror to bhaisa."
"Ye tu kya bakwas kar rahi hai. Hosh main toh ho?" ----> "What are nonsense are you saying. Are you in your senses?"
"Pure hosh main hun. Kya galat kahan maine? Sach hin toh keh rahi hun." ----> "I am in my senses. What wrong did I say? I am saying the truth."
"Thari aankhan par mamta ki pati chadhi hui hai. Sanskar ne jo kiya woh ussi kayarta thi. Bhaisa, toh usski zindagi sawarna chahte the, koi bigadna thodi chahte the. Issme bhaisa ka kya kassur." ----> "You are blinded by motherhood. Whatever Sanskar did, it was his cowardice. Bhaisa wanted to fix everything not damage anything. What is bhaisa's fault in this."
"Aapke bhaisa ne majbur kiya mahre sanskar ko yeh kadam uthane ko. Doshi toh woh hai. Mahre Sanskar kabhi bhi ek kadam idhar se udhar nahi kiya. Zindagi main ek baar kuch aapne man ka chaha aur dekho aapke bhaisa ne kya kiya. Aagar uss samay aapna farman jari karne se phele ek bar usse samajhne ki kosish ki hoti toh aaj mahra Sanskar mahre paas hota. Iss ghar ka toh niyam hai, ki aagar iss ghar main rehna hai toh bhaisa ke haaton ki katputli banke raho, aapke aur Aadarsh ki tarah." ----> "Your brother drove my sanskar to take that step. He is the culprit. My Sanskar always toed the line. For the first time in his whole life, he wanted something and see what your brother did. If at that time, before announcing his decision he would have tried to understand him, then he would have been with us today. It is this house's rule, if you want to live in this house then you have to become bhaisa's puppet, like you and Aadarsh."
"Sujata, esa nahi hai." ----> "Sujata, it is not like that."
"Esa hin hai. Par main bhaisa se kha bolun, jab aap hin usse kabhi nahi samajh paye. Sanskar humara beta tha par usski zindagi ke sare bade faisle bhaisa lete the. Shayad, issiliye ussne pure ghar main sabse aakhir main hume bataya uss ladki ke bareme. Hume batane se hum kar bhi kya lete, aakhir main toh bhaisa ki chalni thi par uss samay kuch toh kehte. Aapka naam Ram nahin Lakshman hona chahiye tha, aapne bhaisa pe aap aankh mund ke viswas karte hai aap. Aap yahan se jaiye, mujhe thodi der akela rehna hai." ----> "It's like this only. But what do I say to bhaisa, when you could not understand him. Sanskar was our son but bhaisa took all the big decisions of his life. Maybe, that's why he told us last in the whole house about that girl. Even if he had told us about the girl what we would have been able to do, at last everything would have according to bhaisa but at least you should have said something that time. Your name should have been Lakshman instead of Ram, you believe your brother blindly. You please go from here, I want to be left alone."
"Parineeta tumhe kya lagta hai?" ----> "Parineeta what do you think?"
"Aap kuch puch rahe the?" ----> "You were asking something?"
"Parineeta tum mujhe sun bhi rahi ho? Parineeta kya tum woh dahej ke bareme soch rahi ho?" ----> "Parineeta are you listening to me? Parineeta are you thinking about the dowery?"
"Aadarsh sach batayiye, kya aap iss bareme jante the?" ----> "Aadarsh tell me the truth, did you know about this?"
"Han" ----> "Yes"
"Kya main sirf ek ATM hun iss ghar keliye?" ----> "Am I only an ATM for this house?"
"Parineeta esa nahi hai, mujhe bhi ye pichle saal pata chala. Maine tumhe nahi bataya kyunki tumhe bura lagta. I'm sorry." ----> "Parineeta it's not like that, I also got to know last year. I didn't tell you because you would have felt bad. I'm sorry."
"Ab sorry bolne se kya hoga Aadarsh. I feel so worthless. Maa baap humesha aapne bachon ka acha chahate hai par woh humesha sahi nahi hote. Iss baat se hume bahut thesh pauchi hai Aadarsh. Hum abhi kuch aur baat nahi karna chahate. Please hume thoda akela chod dijiye." ----> "It's no use to say sorry Aadarsh. I feel so worthless. Parents want good for their children but they are not always right. I'm very saddened by it, Aadarsh. I want to be alone for some time. Please leave me alone for some time."
"Thik hai, par Parineeta humara rishta iss cheez ka mahautaj nahin hai." ----> "Okay, but Parineeta our relationship is not dependent on this."