A few seconds later the lights turned on, brightening the whole house. Deafening silence filled Pandya Niwas for minutes. Slowly, Shiva, Raavi both turned around, and saw...
"HETAL?"
"DHARA DI, GAUMBI, RISHITA?" gulped Raavi. Shiva looked up shocked. His peripheral vision cleared, and he saw behind them---
"MA, MAAMI???"
They both looked at each other and said in unison "aap sab ne kitne baatein suni?"
After a moments silence, volley of voices flowed together, all over each other.
"What took you so long Raavi?"
"What happened before Graduation?"
"Did you guys really dent my bike?"
"Suman ben, aapki nayi bahu kahan hai, bhai?
"yeh kahan kya ho raha hai?"
Shiva and Raavi looked at each other, scared and irritated. Instinctively, Raavi knew if she didn't try to make a run for it, all her, no, their secrets would spill like vegetables from a torn plastic bag in front of their families. She would rather avoid that and have her hair pulled out one by one, if its all the same. Hey Bholenath, yeh kya kiya? She looked around to the shocked, curious faces around her. She mentally calculated, she could easily go to their, no Shiva, no THEIR room, get out the window, and make it back to her room in Prafulla Maasi's house and lock herself in, if she made a dash for it. Tomorrow, she would act as if they were crazy. Or pretend she banged her head somewhere and forgot last nights events. Consequences be damned. She had to act fast. She mentally counted to 5, screamed "LOOK THERE" and tried to make a run for their room.
The family was momentarily distracted, but not Hetal or Shiva. They knew her playbook too well. Hetal just yelled "Shiva, pakad", and automatically, Shiva grabbed and yanked her back by the waist. "ayy gadedhi, yeh sab raita phailake, tu bhagna chahti hai? Sehchu kahinki" whispered Shiva angrily.
Setting Raavi down, Shiva cleared his throat, and asked, "Ho-how much did you all hear?" He would work with the information they gave him.
"EVERTYHING" Dhara, Gautam and Rishita of them said in unison.
"What's all this Shiva? You and Raavi skipped school and went to see romantic movies? Pyar karta hai tu isse?" asked Suman confused, her eyes going from Shiva to Raavi trying to discern what was happening.
"Everybody, stop!!" Hetal said authoritatively which took everybody by surprise. "Pehle gale lag" pulling Shiva and Raavi into a hug. Taking a deep breath, she said, "ab bata, kya hua?"
"Excuse me, pehle aap apna introduction toh do." said Rishita, though she figured everyone to varying degrees knew Hetal.
"Oh ya, I am Hetal. Shiva, Raavi and I have been friends since Grade 9. I went away to University of Ahmedabad with Raavi to study in their first ever filmmaking program and then have been working on projects in India, USA, UK. I just came back with Raavi to Somnath." said Hetal
Happy that Hetal was back in Somnath, "Come here..." said Dhara pulling Hetal into a hug
"You know Rishita, Hetal is very passionate about filmmaking. We would depend on her to capture all of our special and even some embarrassing moments on her phone. Ab bhi wohi phone, camera laptop leke ghumti ho kya?" asked Dhara.
"Yup, still at it." chuckled Hetal. Oh Dhara Bhabhi, you don't know half of it... Hetal thought to herself. She turned to Rishita and explained "My mom was always sick due to weak immune system and couldn't participate in any events, small, or big in my life. So, after I moved to Somnath, my dad gifted me a phone, camera, laptop and told me to record everything and then show it to mom. Then that got me interested in photography and filmmaking and here I am working all over the world."
Rishita nodded and asked excitedly "Toh, tumhe inn dono ke baare sab pata hoga na? Woh school main kaise the?" This was it. She was the key that would help the family sort out issues between Shiva and Raavi. She could feel it in her bones.
Hetal laughed and said, "Bhabhi, you don't know the half of it!" She leaned in conspiratorially, and said, "Best part is that I have so many videos and photos as evidence."
Hetal turned and focused her attention back on Shiva and Raavi, and asked, "What happened? Why are you getting divorced and why are you, Shiva, getting 'engaged' or whatever you are doing?"
She hadn't met with Shiva after their fight but now looking at their miserable faces, she decided it was better to bury the hatchet and move on. To her shock, Raavi had come back to Somnath after finishing University and told her she was getting married to Dev. She had also been invited to Dev and Raavi's wedding, thanks to Raavi, but she had been on a work trip to California, and eventually found about Shiva and Raavi's accidental wedding, thru texts and videocalls.
She often pondered if it was wise of her to put distance in Shiva and her friendship, but to her 18-year-old mind, when she had to choose between Raavi and Shiva, she had put her sweet Raavi, first, who she thought needed her more. Now she wasn't sure if that been the right choice. The Shiva in front of her was more hardened, closed off and weighted down with his family's past than the person she had left behind.
Hetal wasn't technically surprised that after coming back to Somnath, Raavi ended up getting married to Shiva. Nor was she particularly shocked that they let themselves get in the way of their own happily ever after, BUT how spectacularly they had managed to foul things up, did take her by surprise.
"Iska jawab main doongi" said Suman Kaki. "Yeh dono aur yeh Dhara ney milkar pura parivaar ka naam kat diya. Yeh Raavi na Shiva se pyar karti hai, aur haar baar usko neecha dikhati hai. Aur Shiva bhi usse khaas pasand nahi karta. Aur sabke saamne yeh talak ke liye raazi bhi ho gayi. Aacha yahi hai, yeh dono apne apne raaste jaye."
"Haan bhai, yeh sahi hai. Yeh Shiva, bilkul jungli bhaloo hai. Mere phool jaise Raavi ko hamesha taang karta hai. Talak hojaye, main apne Raavi ke liye NRI ladka dhoond ke shaadi karwaungi. Padha likha gentleman hoga jo Raavi pyar se rakhega aur beech main nahi chodega" rebutted Prafulla, unable to bear her Raavi's name being slandered.
"Aap dono sunlo, main apne Raavi aur Shiva ka talak nahi hone dungi" warned Dhara, holding her stomach dramatically.
A brief moment's strained silence later, Gautam said "Dekho, main Dhara ko koi stress naho dena chahta aise halat main." Putting an arm around Dhara and turning to Shiva and Raavi, "Dekh Shiva, tu apna issue khud sort karle, mujhe aur kaand nahi chahiye"
At that, Shiva shook his head, and said "Main kahan, Gaumbi...Woh toh yeh chipkali- "
"Where is this Disha and her family??" interrupted Dhara. Maybe she could talk to the girl and explain directly what was happening.
"Dev, Krish went to pick them up, they aren't back yet." said Gautam.
Hetal saw the back and forth between the lot of them with great interest. She had thought that the families of her clueless idiot friends would help them get their relationship on the right path, and it was so obvious that time and the stress of coping with their kaands, they didn't know the dynamics Shiva and Raavi's relationship. Kaand karne se fursat milegi tabhi toh asliyat dikhegi, Hetal mentally scoffed at the ever troublesome but lovable Pandya family. One had to look past their fights, bickering to see how they completed each other. They were raging sun and gentle breeze, raw attraction, and purest love. And what you didn't know, you couldn't understand.
"Kaki, sorry, but apne Raavi and Shiva ko samjha hi nahi. There is nobody in this world who cares about Shiva than Raavi."
Looking at Prafulla, Hetal said "Maasi, you have never been more wrong when you judge Shiva. There is no person more dependable and faithful to Raavi than our Shiva."
"Kya bakwaas hai yeh?!" Suman and Prafulla at the same time.
She ignored them, turned to Shiva and Raavi, and whacked them on their heads. "Bandar. Gadhedon. You are not in high school anymore...Yeh kya khichdi banadi apne rishte ki? Aur apne parivaar ka chain ka bhi jhaand kardiya. Saara ab mujhe theek karna padehga."
"Matlab kya hai tera? Are you trying to say something here, Hetal?" asked Dhara and then said "Dekh, abhi paheliyon main baat karne ka waqt nahi hai. If you know something, anything, that can help us knock sense into these two clueless people, now is the time to tell us. Otherwise, it might be too late."
Was Dhara Di right? Was now the right time to do something dramatic in hopes of knocking sense into Raavi and Shiva, to set their lives on the right track? As she looked from person to person, her eyes stopped at her two friends. They looked unhappy, miserable, and just sad. There were dried tear stains on Raavi's face, and Shiva...his starkly handsome face was now sporting dark circles and he was clenching his jaw tightly. In that split second, she decided to help her friends out, even if she was violating a million unsaid friendship rules and in the short run, she earned their wrath.
"I am sorry Raavi, Shiva, I have to do this," said Hetal and she turned to Dhara, "Dhara Di, yeh donon apne mooh se kabhi kuch nahi kahenge... ye Raavi apni dil ki baat samajh ke nahi bolegi, ye Shiva jo bolna chahta hai, kabhi nahi bolega. Lekin, apne abhi kaha na, I record everything?" asked Hetal
"Haan toh?"
"Well, the big reason I came back with Raavi to Somnath is that our high school is planning their 50-year anniversary celebrations next year and I am filming, editing all the footage, organizing the photo shoots, as a favor. In that process, I was looking up, organising my old videos, photos..."
"Ok, so?" interrupted Dhara, impatient to know if Hetal could help or not.
"So? SO, I have all the videos from our years at St. Mary's High. I think it will help remind themselves of the Raavi and Shiva they used to be, and for all of you to understand these two duffers" explained Hetal
All this while Shiva had been quiet. But hearing what Hetal just said, sent waves of panic through his heart. Who knew what she recorded? This was not going to end well. Mentally groaning, he ran his fingers thru this hair and quickly said "Hey Hey, Hetal, there is no need for that. Ab hum samaj gaye. No jhagda."
"Tu bhi bol na gadhedi" said Shiva, tugging Raavi's arms.
Jerking up as if she were in a trance, Raavi stammered, "Ye-Yes, No need. We are getting divorced anyways," to which Shiva smacked his head with his palm.
"Listen Hetal, are you sure? I just don't want to waste time, nor do I want Dhara to stress. You don't have to get involved in their mess." said Gautam ignoring Shiva and Raavi. The last thing he wanted was to waste his time on some silly teenage pictures and videos.
Hearing that, Hetal started laughing. Oh Gaumbi... so naïve. "Sweet, innocent Gaumbi...you are such a lovely brother, but this time, you will be surprised" said Hetal, picking out her phone from her pocket. Looking around for a second, she went to the music/video console system, hooked up her phone to the console system and the projector.
Raavi finally comprehending what her friend intended to do, raised her voice, and said "Hetal, there is no need for this. Shiva and I get it, we wont fight anymore. I agree with Shiva... from earlier!!"
"Ha-haan Hetal, rukh jaa naa, gadhedi" said Shiva, and looking around for the remote control. Just then Rishita caught his eye, grabbed the remote control by the swing and waved it at him mockingly. He just threw her an 'don't-enjoy-this-too-much' look and ran his fingers thru his hair in frustration.
Fuu****kk Shiva thought to himself and glared at Raavi. She ALWAYS got him in trouble. This wasn't new, but it was still just as annoying each time.
As Shiva started to walk towards the main switch, the ever-inconvenient Suman Pandya said, "Rukh, mujhe dekhna hai, ye jo bhi Hetal dikhana chahti hai. Maine bol diya, toh bol diya. Ayy Hetal sab kuch dikha humme."