Ashwath's POV:
It was long time ago we both had really seen each other. Hi, I simply said to her. We went inside and sat. There comes this boy who is probably 3 years old. "Mommy" he called Siya in an English accent. Siya took him to arms and introduced us as her friends. He waved hands at both of us. Joe came there to meet us. Joe is Siya's husband, he lost his limbs in an accident and was permanently stuck in the wheel chair. Siya got juice for all of us. "Ashwath, can we talk?" Siya said suddenly. "Sure" I excused myself as Sid and Joe were looking at me. "How are you?" she asked causally.
She talked before I could answer her. "I know what you were doing in India, and that is the reason you are here now" she said. "Did you ask Sid to get me here?" I didn't expect it. "Of course, I had to do it, you are destructing yourself, I had been in constant touch with aunty and Shilpa, they are worried about you, and guess what! Tumhara drunk and drive ke baare mein mujhe Vikrant se pata chala!" Siya paused. "Vikrant tumhara bhai tha, isliye main usse kuch nahi keh paya, but what he did was wrong" I said sternly. I remember clearly how he humiliated Meera.
"Wo mera bhai hai, and it justifies what he did. Whatever he did was just to comfort me, uska tareeqe galat tha but intentions nahi" Siya, as always has Vikrant's back. I wish my sister Shilpa also supported me in the same way, but no she always found faults with me. "Answer me Ashwath, you're clearly escaping from the situation. Tumhara life sirf tumhara nahi hai, tumhara fans tumhare liye wait kar raha hai, pichle 1 saal mein not even one blockbuster, blockbuster dhoor ki baat hai, ek decent hit bhi nahi hai, aisa hi hai tho tumhara career khatam ho jayega. Apart from that, you're a son, a brother, a friend and we all want to see you the way you were before" she said angrily.
"I should have been a husband and a father, if she was with me" I sighed. "Past ko bhul jao Ashwath, Meera mar chuki hai, she is your past, kitna bhi zid karo wo kabhi wapas nahi aayegi, and don't blame yourself for her death" Siya said. "No, I don't blame myself for that, tumhe ache se pata hai whom I have to blame" I cleared her misconception. "Ok, put it aside, I want you to be normal again, please" she said not giving up. "Kya normal hoga! You married Joe because we didn't marry, you were in fact stubborn to get married to him" I asked her. "Who said I married Joe to avoid you, I have married him because I love him" Siya said. "Confidently bolne sach badal nahi jaata, you loved a married man, divorcee and a handicapped man! Even after knowing that you can never have your own children with him, utter stupidity" I always had it in my mind to ask it and today I could ask her finally.
"Ye sab mujhe shaadi se pehle pata hai, and I accepted him with all my heart. And you have nothing to say in this" she said shortly. "So you have nothing to say in between me and Meera" I snapped at her. "At least main khush tho hu Joe ke saath, tumhare tarah regret and guilt mein nahi" she left saying this. We came back to the hall. Siya showed us a room to get freshened up. Me and Sid went inside.
"Kya baat kiya Siya se?" God! He is again ready with his questions. Iske sawaal kabhi khatam hoga hi nahi. "Unlike you, she quickly understood what I wanted to say, to just avoid what I'm doing" I said to him. "Whatever others say you are going to ignore anyway" Sid seemed to be pissed off. "Hum kal jaa rahe hai na!" I wanted to clarify as I don't trust him anymore. "Sure, Siya must be already done with you" he murmured and went to sleep. I woke up early and came out. It was a pleasant morning. Nobody seems to be up at this hour. I thought of going out for a walk but then saw Siya coming out of the kitchen. "Did you sleep well?" she asked. "Yeah!" I said casually. "How! You never have a sound sleep in a new place!" she still remember about me. "Actually I tried to sleep but couldn't" I accepted.
"And how's everything going on?" she asked as she offered coffee. I sipped it. "Umm.. Coffee bahut achi bani hai" I must really compliment her as she doesn't know how to make a coffee before. "Joe ne sikhaya hai, he loves coffee and it's his recipe" she said. The little boy blinked his eyes as he saw Siya. "Mumma" he said in little words. "Bachcha bahut hi pyara hai!" I said as I took him to my arms but he struggled to go to her. "He doesn't get to see anyone other than me and Joe, so he never goes to others" she explained. Joe came out a while after she called him. Joe asked me about my films and I know how passionate was he about it. Joe was a film director by profession but he went into depression after his accident. He was completely bedridden for almost an year. Then his divorce made his health worse.
That's when I heard he is marrying Siya. Apni wife se tho main bhi dhoor ho gaya tha, so I could connect how depressed was he when Pooja divorced him. But Siya marrying him was totally unexpected. Even though, I had respect and soft corner for Joe, I can never respect this decision of Siya. It's after her marriage, they both fought for the custody of baby, in fact they need not fight as Pooja herself abandoned the child for her next marriage. Sid woke up finally and we had breakfast. "Hum ready ho kar chale jayenge!" I said as I finished having my breakfast. "Itni jaldi kya hai, rukh jao aaj" Siya said but I said that we must go. We were all engrossed in our talks and the baby went near the staircase which none of us noticed.
But the damage was already done. Baby tried to climb the stairs but he fell back and rolled down from five steps. We heard a thud sound first and then his screams. Siya rushed to him as I held him in my arms. "Let's go to the hospital" I said and took the keys from the keyholder. I asked Sid to stay with Joe and I took Siya and baby. I gave the baby to Siya and asked her to sit back with the baby. My shirt was already stained with his blood. She applied pressure where it was bleeding in order to suppress bleeding. I went to the nearest hospital possible and called for an emergency help.
Thank god as the doctor was readily available and the baby was rescued on time. Siya went out of breath. I held her firmly by her shoulder and tried to comfort her. "Calm down! Kuch nahi hoga, take a deep breath and relax, it will help" I tried to keep her calm. She sat down and tears rolled down her cheeks. I tried to talk but the doctor came out. "The blood loss is huge, arrange for B negative blood group soon" doc said. "My blood group is B negative" I responded and doctor called me in. I asked Siya to wait and not panic. I got my basic tests done before blood transfusion. Siya waited outside and saw us from the glass cubicle while blood transfusion. The doctor said that the baby was stable after that and that was a relaxation to us. She called Joe and informed him about it.
"Thank you so much for the help Ashwath, agar tum nahi hota tho...." I think she is being formal so I stopped her. "You don't have to thank me, it's ok" I said. She smiled. "Ek baat puchu?" I asked her. "Hmm" she said in anticipation. "Tumhe abhi bhi panic attacks aa rahe hai kya?" I was terrified when I saw her in a panic attack. She always get panic attacks whenever she is in stress. The last time I knew wasn't a panic attack, it was a mild heart attack. Siya had a hole in her heart since her childhood. Heart transplant ke liye bahut try kiya tha but her body was not responsive, she always lived on medications and treatment. I was definitely a fool to break her heart, I should have told her before about my marriage. But it was too late, the heart break I gave her led to heart attack. Vikrant would never forgive me for this but I will never forgive him for what he did to Meera.
"No, this is a complete different case" she said. I don't know if I should believe her or not. Now it was nothing like before. "I forgot to ask you something!" Siya looked at me when I said that. "Lavkush" Siya said. "What! Are you kidding?" I couldn't hold back my laughter and I was very aware that it was a hospital. "Do you remember he isn't just your baby, Joe ka baby ka naam tumne Lavkush kaise rakh diya!" I burst into laughter again. "Kyunki wo mera bhi beta hai, Siya ka beta Lavkush hi hai na" she said innocently. "Lav and Kush do alag naam hai, just because you got only one son, you named him both Lavkush!" I asked her. "Because I know we can't have other baby, so I don't have a choice of name" she said sadly. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it" I was trying to be quite apologetic atleast I can act for her. She knew about it before hand so I don't feel sorry for her situation.
"So Lavkush ko kuch nahi hoga, don't worry, go home, get freshened up and meet Joe, he must be worried. You go and get him, I will take care of him, I mean your Lavkush!" I said. She glared at me when I joked about the name and I was quiet. "Please take care, I will come very soon with Joe" she said and rushed towards the exit. Lavkush may not be her biological son but she loved him same as her own. Siya ko pyar karne ke alawa kuch nahi aata aaj bhi. She was always like this, kind at heart. I waited near Lavkush until his mumma papa came. He woke up with pain and started screaming Siya's name.
"Baby, everything will be okay, mumma abhi aayegi" I tried to calm him down showing his momma's picture. It was then I realized I had none of her photos, so I opened her social media accounts hoping to find few pictures. To my surprise, Siya had actually become a private person after marriage. Her old pictures were only found there, koi baat nahi, isse bhi kaam ho jayega. I was successful in making him stop crying. In no time, he started playing and called me uncle. Yes, I know it does feel weird but if I had my own kid, I would have been called the same by his kindergarten friends. The thought made me chuckle. My baby, who was never born, Meera ne mujhse cheenke chali gayi.
"Lavkush" Joe and Siya called him in unison. Glad that he didn't leave me when he saw them. "Did you become naughty with uncle!" Siya asked Lavkush and nodded negative. Sid hid his laughter when Siya addressed me as uncle. I glared at him but he was least bothered. Joe hugged his son to his heart and thanked me.
"Sid and Ashwath, I'm sorry for asking this, please can you guys stay back for two more days! I cannot manage with both Joe and Lavkush" she asked us when Joe was playing with the baby. Siya asking me to stay back and can I not agree with her! Well it doesn't happen anyway! But I learnt something from her today, Pyar khoon ki rishte se nahi dil ka rishta se hota hai. Siya loves Lavkush with all her heart. May be I was wrong about her love and decision to marry Joe.
I was wrong in judging their relationship but was I ever right with the relationships! Because I'm a bad son who never cared about my mom, bad brother as I never granted my sister's wish, bad friend as Sid accuse me of Meera's death, bad husband and a bad father too as she left me in my own world.
Was I ever a right person?