Sushma noticed the tensed look on Pragya's face as their driver negotiated the traffic. Pragya hadn't spoken anything to her throughout the journey – just some glances of approval and agreement were all she had given as they went through the formalities at the airports. She preferred to sleep on the flight too and apart from the pleasantries she exchanged with the flight attendants, she preferred to keep by herself. She did say something to the driver before they got into the car, but hadn't bothered to inform her what it was about, and neither did Sushma find it necessary to ask.
Pragya's silence was something she was used to, but Sushma felt concerned today. Coming back to the city where you were conspired to be killed is not something that she could empathise with, but something she wanted to help her with. And Pragya hadn't yet talked about how she plans to go about punishing her husband and his co-conspirators – the sole reason for her coming back here.
She felt good that despite the visible tension, Pragya had the same focused and sharp demeanour that she had associated with her over the past couple of years – which to her, were signs of the courage, determination, and wilfulness that she had always seen in her. It's the thing that had brought her where she is now – a very capable and successful businesswoman. But she was also aware that what she may be going through will not be pleasant for her.
She was scared of what might be in store for her daughter but was sure to be besides her, come what may. She held her hand and said, 'Pragya... don't worry. I am with you', but wondered whether she was reassuring herself or Pragya, for apart from the first few days after she had met her, where she was quite shaken and broken, Pragya never needed any reassurance from her. She felt that perhaps it's she herself who needed some reassurance that she will be with her daughter this time around – something she failed to do before.
Pragya looked at her, tightened her lips, and after a brief moment nodded, and moved her mouth to say a thank you, without actually saying it, and turned to look ahead, anticipating that the driver would turn towards Saket. Sushma noticed the pain in her eyes and wanted to comfort her, but was surprised that the car took a turn.
'Hum is raaste se kyu jaa rahe hein?' Sushma asked.
"Shortcut hai" Pragya replied.
"Shortcut?" Sushma asked and looked at Pragya, a bit surprised but taking a guess as to what's going on.
Pragya, though, was busy looking around. She tensed up a bit as they passed through the familiar neighbourhood – the Shiva temple, the grocery store, the garden and the bench where she had shared ice-cream cones with Abhi when he was unwell, the parking lot where she had to hide Abhi when he was chased by the goon moments later, the clinic, and a couple of blocks from there – the Mehra Mansion.
She patted on the drivers shoulder signalling him to stop after they passed the gate of her erstwhile home and then looked at Sushma and said, "Wahan... peeche woh... medical shop se paani lekar aati hu". Pragya got down the car, took a deep breath, and walked towards Mehra Mansion.
She had always planned to do it this way – walk straight up to Abhi and stare at his eyes. She wanted to see the fear in his eyes as she announces that she is not dead but very much alive and kicking, that too right in front of him. If he is not at home, find out where he is and do it, even if it be in the middle of a meeting for him. She didn't care how busy he was or whether he was with Alia, Tanu, or some new person in his life.
She glanced at the name plate and remembered how she had rather foolishly and religiously touched and ran her fingers over it when she had entered the home after 20 years, as if she were entering some kind of a sanctum. It used to be a sanctum for her – the place she had lived the best months of her marriage, the place where the love of her life lived. But now she couldn't help thinking how foolish she was to think so.
The gate reminded her of the day she had to force herself inside with the help of the guards – the day he had taken Meera to the temple and she wanted to stop that wedding. It made her think how foolish she was to believe Abhi wanted to marry her instead of Meera. She cursed herself under her breath for forcing herself on his life that day, for, though he may have loved her, he never wanted her in his life. And even if he did it was always painful for her. Perhaps she would've been much better off without him and he ... he'd have happier without her around.
She opened the gate and noticed nothing much had changed. But that feeling didn't last long. She noticed that the walls needed to be painted and the lawn was not as well kept as it used to be. She didn't see Abhi's car and guessed he wont be at home. Memories of her being thrown out by Alia and Tanu flashed in her mind as she took a couple of steps inside the gate. She was stopped by who she thought was the guard, but was surprised to see a plain clothed watchman.
"Ji madam kin se milna hai aapko?' the watchman asked.
Pragya looked at him. He wasn't a familiar face – an old guy and definitely someone who wont be employed in their erstwhile security agency. "Abhi... Abhishek Prem Mehra" she said.
"Madam woh to ab yahan nahi rehte", the guard said.
Pragya was surprised at that. "To kahan? Sainik farms wale bungalow me?"
"Nahi madam, pata nahi... Abhi sir to ..." he said after a brief hesitation, "Abhi sir to ghar choddke chale gaye... kisiko pata nahi woh kahan hai'.
"Ghar chodke chale gaye?'
"Ji... unke patni ke jaane ke baad woh yaha kabhi nahi aaye."
Pragya was surprised at that too – not just that the watchman seemed to talk a lot without asking much, but also that Tanu is now dead or did he mean left him?
"Patni? ... Tanu?"
"Nahi madam... Tanu madam to yahi hai... woh... woh koyi aur thi... kuch naam bataya tha purane watchman ne... yaad nahi."
"To yahan kaun rehte hai? Alia aur Tanu?"
"Ji madam... aur Mithali madam bhi."
"Aur Dadi?'
"Nahi... kisi dadi ko maine yahan kabhi nahi dekha.."
"Aap yaha kab se kaam kar rahe hai? Woh Ramesh nahi hai kya?"
"kuch dedh saal se... Ramesh mera rishtedaar hai. Uska to contract hai na... toh woh doosre jagah pe hai... Usine mujhe yahan aaneko kaha."
"Theek hai, Thank you" Pragya started to walk away.
"Madam ... aap kaun?"
She didn't care to look back and walked towards the car where Sushma was waiting for her. "Kya hua?" Sushma asked, "medical shop me paani nahi mila kya?"
Pragya looked at her, "Nahi woh... Actually, ye ..." she said pointing towards the gate, "ye unhi ka ghar hai..." and after a short pause "Abhi... Abhi ka".
"Mujhe pata tha ki tumhara ye short cut kis raste se jaa raha hai" Sushma said and comforted her by holding her shoulder "Pragya ... beta agar tumhe yaha aana hi tha to mein tumhe nahi rokti... tumhe mujhse jhoot bolne ki jaroorat nahi hai."
"I'm sorry" Pragya said and opened the door. She got into the car and Sushma got in after her.
"Ab office chalein?" Sushma asked.
"Nahi... Aaj nahi...actually, I am very tired... hum ghar chalte hai" Pragya replied, "aapke ghar".
"Ok... I'll cancel the meetings then..." Sushma said, "Naresh... Ghar chalo".
Pragya felt odd that she referred to Sushma's home as 'Aapka ghar'. She had always associated Mehra Mansion to be her home, even in the days when she had lived in Hoshiyarpur. Mehra Mansion, to her, was always her rightful home which she had left and later had come back to. It felt odd now, that she could have anything she wanted in the world but no place that she could call 'my home'.
Though she loved and respected Sushma and was grateful for what she has done for her, living with her was never like living in her home. For a brief moment the question lingered in her mind 'Where is my home?' and was a bit frustrated that she got images of Mehra Mansion in her mind and even more so cause those images had memories of Abhi in them.
She was aware that the CCTV cameras would have picked her talking to the watchman. But she didn't care. After all, there is nothing much Alia, Tanu, and Abhi can do to her now. She felt something odd when she thought about Abhi... 'mere accident ke baad woh ghar choddke chale gaye?' Something about that felt amiss to her... but she didn't know what.
"Beta... are you Ok" Sushma asked.
Pragya looked at her, smiled, and nodded a yes. It was a 15 min drive to Sushma's home and Pragya was lost in her own thoughts, confused, trying to make sense of the things she had learnt.