'Happy Birthday to you...... Happy Birthday to you...... Happy Birthday to dear Shrishti...... Happy Birthday to you.....', the crowd sang as Shrishti stood at the top of the stairs that led down to the ballroom, that her father had specifically rented for her eighteenth birthday. Shrishti grinned at the crowd and gently got down the stairs. Just as she reached the end of the stairs, her father came over and lent her his hand. Her smile widened even more as she happily placed her hand in his.
People began to approach Shrishti and wished her and Shrishti could not help but smile. She may have had lived in another future and be bogged down by the memories of those times but right now, surrounded by people wishing her happily, she felt lighter and burden free. For a while, the pain from those memories was pushed away and she was able to breathe without remembering the bad things of her past life.
Shrishti's father led her to her birthday cake and she cut it amidst a loud cheer. It was the same cake as the last time; three tiered Vanilla cake with white and bright blue icing over it. It even had figurine on the top made out of fondant that looked like Shrishti dressed in blue. Shrishti grinned as she looked at the cake topper. The blue of the figure's dress matched her blue outfit perfectly. This must be the work of her Chachi. Only she was this bit of perfectionist. Say what you want about Chachi's greedy nature and selfishness, other than that one flaw, her Kala Chachi was pretty amazing person. Shrishti pushed her old memories of Kala Chachi and focused on the present. Her relatives were not be blamed for her situation. Half of the problems in her past life were created by her naivete and sheltered life style. She swore this time would be different.
People came and gave her gifts and Shrishti happily received them. Her own family gifted her at the same time. So many people gave her gifts that it was all a blur for her. Once it was done, her father directed the staff of the hall to take the gifts to their family cars.
Just then, Shrishti felt a small body slam into her. The force was mild and did not affect her at all. But that did not stop her Dadi from shouting, 'What are you doing? Can't you see our Pari standing here? What if she had fallen? Its her birthday and you are ruining it like this!'
Her Pappa came and spoke up, 'Enough Ma. Its just a small child.'
Shrishti finally looked down and was surprised to see a twelve year old child standing beside her staring at the cake topper. The scolding had brought tears to the child's eyes but those eyes remained trained on the cake topper. Shrishti wanted to chuckle at the obvious love for the figurine in those eyes. It was clear that the child had no plans to bump into her and just wandered closer to look at the figurine.
By now, her Pappa had managed to calm her Dadi and had taken her away to get her some water. Shrishti raised her hand to touch the child, when a voice broke through her thoughts.
'I am sorry.'
Shrishti froze before looking up, right into the eyes of twenty year old Raghav. For a second, the Raghav in front of her wavered and changed into twenty seven year old Raghav, dressed in three piece black suit staring at her intensely as she screamed at him that she refused to marry him. She blinked and the vision dispersed. This Raghav in front of her wore buttoned and collared shirt and ironed trousers, a formal wear that looked out of sorts amongst the youngsters in the party. But then, when had Raghav acted like rest of the youngsters?
'I am sorry.', Raghav repeated again, his expression blank, his hand trying to grab the child by her arm. Shrishti instinctively put her arm around the child's shoulders.
Raghav blinked at her gesture but looked down and looked at the child keenly, 'Megha. Lets go.'
Shrishti took in a sharp breath. This was Megha. She had forgotten about her totally. Megha was Raghav's baby sister. From what she remembered, the kid had died in some kind of accident when she was fourteen. Right now, she was twelve, if Shrishti remembered right. Two years! This child has two years, Shrishti felt horror in her heart.
Meanwhile, Raghav managed to coax Megha away from Shrishti. Shrishti grabbed Megha's hand gently, 'Wait.'
She grabbed the knife and cut a piece before placing it on a paper plate nearby. She then gently scooped the figurine from the cake and placed it beside the piece.
'Here. Have it.', she said and the girl happily took it from her before grinning at her widely, 'Thank you, Pari Di.'
Shrishti smiled at her. She was so cute. She patted the child's head and looked up, to see Raghav stare at her. If she had not known better, she would have thought Raghav was surprised. But did Raghav even have emotions? He was as good as a robot, as far as Shrishti was concerned. As Raghav walked away with a happy Megha, her Chachi came close to her, 'Why are you so sweet with that brat? They are all blood suckers.'
Shrishti blinked, shocked by the vitriol coming from her Chachi's mouth. Then she remembered. Since her childhood, her Chachi, Bua and Dadi, all had disliked the Malhotra siblings; Raghav, Arpit and Megha. As far as her female relatives were concerned, the trio of siblings wanted her father's money and Shrishti needed to stay away from them. Shrishti had actually believed them and that had colored many of her interactions between her and the siblings. But that was a naïve Shrishti from other life. In this life, Shrishti was well versed with her relatives' nature and now she refused to believe anything they said and would take whatever they said with a grain of salt.
But that did not mean Shrishti felt warmth towards those siblings. She still remembered her past with Raghav. Her reasons for hating Raghav may have changed but she still hated him. But her stance towards his siblings had changed. Gone was the hatred she had for Megha and Arpit, thinking of them as people after her money. Now she felt neutral towards them. Megha had never done anything wrong towards Shrishti. And whatever the actions Arpit had taken towards her, many of them were repercussions of her own actions. This life, Shrishti swore to stay away from those siblings unless her father wanted her to get close to them.
Just as Shrishti made her decision, Arpit came right in front of her. He was here to grab a piece of the cake. Her family had already scattered by then and she was left alone.
The boy smirked at her, 'How are you? I thought you were sick or something.' His words may sound as if he was concerned about her unless one noticed the tone. He was mocking her.
She frowned, 'Why? What do you mean?'
'Shrishti Rai! Missing the college on her birthday!', he gasped, 'That was so shocking. Especially when every year you never missed to come on this day, to see your beloved Sharad.'
Shrishti felt a slight pain at that name but did not show it on her face, 'What is it to you, whether I go or not?'
Arpit shrugged, 'I just missed the yearly drama. You know the one where you stare at him and he ignores you and then you stalk him all over the college and he still ignores you and then he gets fed up and leaves college taking a half day because he would rather miss class than see you and then his friends would gang up and mock you! I miss that yearly tamasha today. Why did you not come?', the boy fluttered his lashes at her, trying to look innocent.
Shrishti turned away and stormed off, ignoring him. But for once, she was not angry at his words. No. Her anger was towards her. Was she so bad? Was she just a laughing stock in front of her college? Did other students too mocked her and made fun of her behind her back every year? Had she become a joke due to her obsession? How low had she fallen!
Shrishti reached the balcony and stormed outside. She leaned on the balcony and took in a gulp of air. She cannot afford to get angry today. It was her birthday. It was also the day she lost her mother. But it was something her father never let her remember and he made it a mission to never see her sad on this day. So she cannot be sad. She took another deep breath. No more. No more will she become a clown for people's amusement. Her relatives, her classmates, everyone saw her as a joke. Not anymore. She will from now on focus on herself and nobody else.
Just then, once again a small body slammed into her, this time with a little bit more force. Shrishti looked down and felt a smile stretch on her face. It was Megha and this time, she was grinning at Shrishti. Shrishti smiled back. Shrishti may have come to past with recent memories but due to that, all the older memories from her childhood had faded from her brain. So she could not remember, how her relationship with Megha was before Megha's death. Infact, she could not even remember if she even met Megha before this.
And that is why, Shrishti was welcoming towards the child. Although, calling her child was a bit of a stretch. She was a preteen now. But she still had a doll like face with a childlike innocence on it. And she barely came up to Shrishti's waist. Shrishti could not help but think of her as a child.
'Di. Why are you sad?', Megha asked, with confusion on her face.
'Di is not sad.'
'Di is sad.', Megha looked like she would stomp her feet next as she pouted at Shrishti.
Shrishti could not help but laugh at that.
'Di laughed. Di is happy.', Megha grinned at her happily.
Shrishti nodded, 'Yes. Megha made Di happy.'
'Good.'
'If you are not sad, then why are you here?', Megha asked next.
'Why? I cannot come here?', Shrishti retorted.
'No. Raghav Bhaiyya said you are sad, that's why you are here. He even scolded Arpit Bhaiyya because he said something bad to you.', Megha narrated.
Shrishti blinked, a little shocked. Raghav scolded his brother for her? She did not expect that. Before she could say anything though, Raghav came out.
'Megha. Don't bother others.', his tone was flat because of which it sounded more of demand and less of a request.
Shrishti narrowed her eyes, 'Let her be.', she sounded harsh too but she did not care.
Raghav's eyes flickered from his sister to her, 'I don't want her to bother you.'
Once again his tone was flat which made him sound curt. She huffed, 'She is not bothering me.', her tone became curt and sharp too.
Raghav stared at her for a second before nodding and walking away.
Shrishti clenched her fists. He did not even fight with her. This is what she hated the most about him. He never aired his displeasure. What is wrong with fighting it out instead of silently showing his displeasure? Cruel man!
'Don't be angry, Pari Di.', Megha smiled at her.
'I am not angry.', Shrishti huffed.
'Di lies a lot.', Megha commented.
Shrishti looked at the child incredulously but then she could not help and burst out laughing.
'Di laughed because of me', Megha preened and Shrishti continued to chuckle. Why did she not spend more time with Megha in her last life? She was a delight. Only six years younger to her! Megha would have made a good friend to young Shrishti.
Just then someone stomped towards them and grabbed Megha by hand, 'Lets go, Megha.'
It was Arpit.
'Arre! Why be so rude? Let her be if she wants to be.', Shrishti barked.
Arpit glared at her, 'Oh. Why? So that you could later take away things from her just because your father gave it to her and then make her cry?'
'When did I.....', Shrishti trailed off as she finally remembered why she never spent time with Megha as a kid. Growing up, Shrishti was very possessive about her father and when her Pappa brought over three kids, one older to her, one her age and one a toddler, he spent a lot of time helping Raghav take care of three year old Megha. At first, Shrishti spent a lot of time with the three siblings. But her Dadi's poisonous words took root and her own possessive nature did not let her enjoy having three more people in the house. She felt as if her Pappa's attention was being taken away from her. The matter soured enough that Shrishti started resenting them and many times tried to take away any toys that her Pappa gave to her. Raghav never complained but Arpit resented her for it and always fought with her while Megha would simply cry and Raghav would coax her. After few years, her father simply bought the neighbouring house and installed Raghav and his siblings there with a caretaker. Since then, the family lived there and once Raghav turned eighteen, he took over his siblings' custody and raised Megha singlehandedly.
And this was why, Shrishti never spent time with Megha once she was old enough to go to school. She had resented her. Shrishti felt anger at herself. Who hates children? But then she was a child too who was taught wrong things by her own family. She sighed. She always thought the only person she wronged in her past life was her father. But it seemed there were more than one person.
'Now you remember!', Arpit snarled at her.
Shrishti took a deep breath, 'That was then. This is now. Then I was a child who knew nothing. Now I am older. I am an adult. And I have no problem with Megha. Megha! Do you have any problem with me?', she looked down at the child and Megha shook her head, 'I like Pari Di.' She turned to Arpit and pouted at him, 'Let me be with Pari Di, na?'
Arpit sighed and dropped Megha's hand, 'Fine. But don't come crying to me later on.', he glared at Megha who simple scoffed. Arpit stormed away.
Arpit was Shrishti's classmate in college and also the one person who was not a big fan of Sharad. She did not know what the reason was behind their animosity. But Arpit always competed with Sharad in every class event since their Junior College days and after almost three years of rivalry, Shrishti stopped questioning it and assumed that it was because Sharad was Shrishti's crush and Arpit hated her. But now as a teenager but with brain of someone who lived till the age of twenty five, she wondered if there was something else that her teenage self did not notice. Whatever! She did not care. She never liked Arpit because of his aggressive nature and even now she had no positive or negative feelings towards him whatsoever!
'Pari Di. Now you are angry again.', Megha declared.
'Your brothers annoy me.', Shrishti replied childishly.
Its ok.', Megha patted her hand, 'They annoy me sometimes too.'
Shrishti burst out laughing at that comment.
After that, Shrishti and Megha spent a while in the balcony talking about stars and moon. Afterwards if you asked Shrishti what they spoke about, she would not be able to tell you. All she could tell you was that she had fun and she made a new friend.
Soon, Shrishti's father came to call her in to meet and greet guests. He was surprised to see her with Megha but shook away the surprise and brought Megha with them when they went to meet her guests. Shrishti had fun meeting all the Uncle and Aunties that she knew all those years ago. Most of them stopped talking to her once the scandal erupted. So she had missed them a lot. But she did not begrudge them for staying away from her. They had children and businesses too. Associating with her would have brought bad reputation into their life too. At that time, Shrishti had not cared. Her reputation did not matter to her. Even now it did not matter to her. But she knew her father had worked hard to build up his reputation and she refused to harm him this time.
It took an hour before the dinner was served and Shrishti and Megha happily went through the buffet offers, took some food, grabbed a corner to sit and munched on their meals. Throughout this time, Shrishti felt Raghav's eyes on them. But she ignored it. After all, she understood why he was laser focused on them. He was used to her mistreating his siblings either by sharp words in case of Arpit or by showing open dislike when it came to Megha. Arpit could defend himself but Megha could not. Hence, Raghav was keeping an eye on them. But Shrishti did not care. She had a blast spending time with Megha. Ronnie and Ishita came once or twice to talk to her but they went away after a while to do their own thing as they always did in such parties.
After dinner, the guests started to leave and Shrishti had to go and stand with her Pappa to greet them goodbye. Her Dadi had already left a while ago in another car and other than the Malhotra siblings and their immediate family, rest of guests dispersed.
Finally, the Malhotra siblings went away after some kind words from her Pappa. Shrishti just nodded at the brothers and did not say anything. She did hug Megha and Megha made her promise to spend more time with her some other day. Shrishti was delighted to make the promise which made her Pappa smile.
Then it was her Chacha, Chachi's turn to leave and after that, Shrishti, her Pappa, her Bua and Ishita piled into their car and headed to their home. They reached a while after Raghav and his siblings reached and she could see the lights still on in their house when she got out of the car. She was delighted when one of the windows opened and Megha leaned out to wave at her before someone pulled her in and shut the window. Shrishti chuckled.
'Ah yes. The charity case.', her Bua hissed, 'You do not need to get that close to them, Pari. They are your father's dead friend's children. They have nothing to do with you.'
'Radhika!', her Pappa hissed back, 'If Shrishti is getting close to them, then let her.'
'They are after your money, Bhaiyya. Don't you see? Plus, what is their status and what is yours? If you had not found them and brought them over, they would have lived in that orphanage after their parents' death. And now they are trying to win you over through Shrishti and soon they will take over all your money.', her voice was loud and Shrishti winced as she realised that there is a good chance the neighbours must have heard it. Pappa must have thought the same as he urged his family to get in right away.
Once inside, Pappa glared at Bua, 'Next time, don't talk about such things. It was Raghav's father who gave me the capital for my business. What I am is because of him. And taking care of his orphaned children is the least I could do. Understand? Now stop doubting my decisions and go to sleep.'
Her Bua huffed and stormed away and Ishita followed her. Her father placed a hand on his forehead. He hated fighting and it always triggered his headache. Shrishti patted her father's arm, 'You too go and sleep, Pappa. You must be tired.'
He looked at her and a smile came to his face, 'My little fairy. I am so proud of you today.'
Shrishti blinked, surprised by sudden praise, 'Why so?'
'Today, you let go of old grudges and befriended little Megha. I liked that.'
Shrishti grinned, 'I am not child anymore. I am a grown up. I understand a lot. And I know that I was being petty and childish towards Megha. From now on, that will not happen.'
Her Pappa's smile widened too and he hugged her gently before kissing her head. Shrishti was happy. She made her Pappa happy. Isn't that why she had come to the past? From now on, she swore she would do anything and everything to keep her Pappa happy and healthy. And if that meant forgetting Sharad and focusing on her dad's friend's youngest child, then so be it.