In Abhir's Room:
Neil and Abhimanyu didn't look convinced, and Roohi tried again.
"I know aap donon kya soch rahe ho. Yeh reality show hi bahut badi headache hain apne aap mein aur uper se Akshara ma'am hongi wahan. Aap mereliye worried ho rahe ho. I get it. History hi aisi rahi hain meri.
Jahan tak mujhe yaad hain, do baar unse theek se mili main aaj tak aur donon hi baar bahut hurt hui hoon. Mere saath aap sab bhi hurt hue. Aapka worried hona jayaz hain. But ek baar meri point of view se sochke dekho na please." Roohi requested.
"Kya hain woh point of view? Jo ab tak maine suna, I am not convinced by it. So, choose your words wisely. Is mamle mein meri patience zara kam hain" Neil spoke firmly.
All of them could see the change in Neil and his body language whenever the topic of Akshara pops up. He looks a lot less approachable and a tad bit more aggressive in those situations. Because the kids weren't so used to this side of his, he looked rather intimidating to them when he puts on that attitude.
If Abhimanyu watches his words with Neil when he is in that zone, the kids will naturally feel that way about Neil's protective instincts and stance. That aura screamed respect. It is so amazing that Roohi didn't turn to Abhimanyu to try and convince him first because that would have been easier, from the looks of it.
Roohi respected her Chachu enough to not dodge him. So, Roohi gave her Chachu's words a thought, for about a minute and spoke confidently.
"Chachu! Aap sab ne unke saath time spend kiya hain. All of you have a backstory with her. No matter how that ended but you all had one. Aapki apni experience hain, opinions hain aur feelings hain.
Mera kya? Jab bhi mili hoon, galat time pe, vulnerable situation mein hi mili hoon. Pehla encounter tab ka tha jab main guilty thi of acting out on my jealousy. It ended badly. Iss baar bhi main bahut pareshan thi for the stunt I pulled.
I froze on the stage for 5 minutes and I got insulted. It again ended badly. Maine kabhi apne poore hosh mein unse interact hi nahi kiya hain. I have never been my confident self around her.
Mere jo bhi opinions the woh aap logon ki experiences pe based hain. They keep changing as I get to discover new things about her from you guys. Jaise ki aaj. Mujhe aaj hi pata chala how she behaved with Abhir jab woh itna chota tha. I had no clue.
Shayad yeh sab pata hota mujhe toh main utna bada step nahi leti. Utni bhi expectation unse nahi rakhti na?" Roohi elaborately explained her stand.
"Agar aapko chahiye ki aapko unke bare mein poori sachayi batayi jaaye, toh I am ready to disclose all the details I know of her. Good, bad, ugly, all alike. Uskeliye aapko wahan jane ki zarurat nahi hain." Neil cut her off not very gently.
Abhimanyu was about to intervene, but Roohi hugged Neil to calm his fears down. She knew how her Chachu's mind operated. He got rude and defensive only when something bothered him a lot. Neil let her seek comfort, but it was him who was in need of it.
Neil was glad for the gesture. Abhimanyu sat back relieved. He had nothing to worry when his kids cared for each other's emotions so much. He looked at Abhir and got reminded of the pain killer he got along to give him. He placed it in front of Abhir silently along with water. Abhir made a face but his father gently coaxed him into having it without acting as a distraction for Roohi and Neil.
Roohi pulled back and looked into his eyes, "Chachu! Mujhe apne aap se opinion banana hain. Let me see for myself na......woh kaisi hain in reality. Reality show mein real kuch nahin hota audience ke liye, but us show mein jo jo hain, unko toh sab reality pata hoti hain na.
Let me be a part of it. Main nahi chahti ki kal ko jab mujhe bahut gussa aye, ya fir se koi weak moment aaye meri life mein, toh aap sabko blame karne lag jaun for not letting me have my share of interaction with her..... even after having an opportunity.
I will not take it well myself agar aisa hua toh." Her words were so genuine that Neil couldn't help softening his gaze. She saw the change and pushed a bit more.
"Let me face her Chachu. I want to face her for once, when I am in my own skin, wearing my confidence like I do and with my family on my side...... having my back.
Main hamesha unke saamne vulnerable hi thi. Maine unhe mauka diya to insult me. I had expectations from her and that gave her the scope to hurt me." Roohi would have continued but Neil interjected.
"Aapko lagta hain ki is baar aisa nahi hoga? Na aap insult hongi aur nahi aap hurt hongi? Do you think you will manage to be indifferent to her behaviour all through out?" He raised a question, but it had concern written all over it.
"I wish I could say Yes Chachu. Mera case strong ho jata. But no. You are right. Main kitna bhi try karoon woh mujhe affect karengi per us public setting mein...... when she has her image to worry about, woh bhi apni limits mein rahengi na.
We all agree that she is extremely image conscious. Don't we?" Everyone nodded without a second thought.
"Agar personally main un se miloon kahi pe, woh zyada risky hain na......when compared to this. Then, she will have nothing holding her back unlike in this situation. Jo mujhe karna hain, uske liye this is the safest option.
Aur aap sab bhi toh ho na? Aapke rehte mujhe koi hurt kar sakta hain kya?" Roohi asked cheerfully and her statement exuded confidence.
"Nahin kar sakta hurt. Agar aap baat suno aur maano toh. But aap khud apne aap ke uper target paint karogi toh kaise protect karenge aapko? And you want me to allow you to do so...." Neil expressed his worry.
"I TRUST YOU ALL. Aap sab mujhe kuch bhi kar ke protect kar hi loge. Phir main chahe kaise bhi stunt pull karoon. Abhi abhi toh uska proof diya aapne. Kaise dhoond nikala mujhe...ekdum James Bond style."
Roohi said playfully but winced when Neil held her ear in a faint grip.
"Sorry. Sorry. Main aise hi mood ko lighten karne ki try kar rahi thi. Bad joke. I agree. Chod do please." She pleaded and Neil relented. Roohi gave him puppy eyes.
Neil snickered back at her, "Don't you dare do that again. Aisa dubara kabhi phasi na...." Roohi didn't let him complete.
"No. No. Never. Aap bhul jao us baat ko. Let's not get distracted." Roohi tried bailing herself out. Neil gently whacked her and said,
"Topic kaun laya beech mein? Distract kaun kar raha hain? Main?" He scoffed.
"My bad. Abhi chod do na Chachu." Roohi calmed her Chachu down.
"Main bas bolna chah rahi thi ki aisa kuch nahi hain jis se aap mujhe protect nahi kar sakte. Yeh toh phir bhi Akshara Sharma hi hain." Roohi boasted but Neil and Abhimanyu tensed and shared a look.
"Roohi. I get your point but meri concern bhi..." Neil was about to say something but Roohi beat him to it.
"Chachu mujhe hamesha se pata tha ki woh mujhe chodke chali gayi and she never once looked back. I was also happy having just Poppy and all of you in my life.
But jab Abhir ke baare mein pata chala aur mujhe sunne mila about the lengths she went to keep him with her, mujhpe uska impact hua. Bahut hua. Woh bhi ek reason thi..... for me not accepting Abhir initially.
Mujhe lagta tha ki uske paas uski mamma hain aur mere paas mere Poppy. Equal, equal. I didn't want to share Poppy with him when I was sure I will not have his Mumma's love.
I was jealous of him. Agar uske health condition ke bare mein aur uske feelings ke bare mein Poppy mujhe nahi samjhate, I would have carried the grudge within for God knows how long."
Neil looked on as he had no clue about it. He must have been too preoccupied back then dishing trouble for his Bhaiyya when all this happened.
"Sorry Birla Boy!" Roohi apologized and Abhir gave her an 'It's not needed expression'. She shrugged and he smiled for her. Neil was deep in his thoughts when Roohi continued with her story.
"As time passed, I warmed up to Abhir. Phir hum inseparable ban gaye and the rest is history. I really understood why siblings are so special only after having him in my life." Roohi gave a flying kiss to Abhir, and he responded by grabbing it.
"But jaise jaise maine Abhir ko accept kiya aur woh hamari family ka part banta gaya, uski therapy achi chal rahi thi......and he was healing.......jaise jaise woh comfortable hua, he started speaking to me about his experiences with Akshara ma'am.
Woh upset bhi tha un se. Unhe miss bhi karta tha. Usne bahut sari happy baatein bhi share ki mujh se..... about his mother. Us phase mein kahin na kahi..... I started feeling ki I missed out on all that. Main sirf woh sun rahi thi jo mujhe sunna tha.
Sari buri cheezein maine ignore kardiya. Mujhe lagne laga tha ki....she was being partial. Ek bache ko itna pyaar aur doosri ki taraf mudke bhi nahi dekha. Hamare ghar mein itna pyaar tha ki yeh baatein bahut kam hi dimag mein aati thi.
For example..... Agar school mein Mother's Day ka card banwa rahe ho, kisi dost ne apni mom ki tareef kardi ho, Abhir ne kuch share kiya ho etc. etc. Things like that used to trigger me. Phir maine unke bare mein sochna hi band kardiya kyunki bahut hurt hota tha.
Bahut gussa tha unkeliye dil mein for leaving me behind. I carried that anger and ignored her as much as I could. I succeeded also. Abhir ne bhi unke bare mein baat karna mujhse kam kardiya tha." She paused and looked at Abhir who nodded.
"Jab maine music ko seriously lena start kiya, she was peaking in her career. I felt that it was inbuilt in me too."
Abhimanyu stiffened but no one noticed. Abhir's eyes were droopy, and his attention was diverted to him.
"Kahi na kahi mujhe lagne laga tha ki I would become a Popstar and make her proud. I wanted to be her heir and I wanted to tell people that she is my mother.
Because I was mesmerized by her voice and the way she performed. I was inspired by her and I believed that I had it in me to do something big just like her." Abhimanyu and Neil were startled by the revelation.
"Per ek dar bhi tha mere ander ki Poppy nahi manenge. I was very sure that woh mujhe professionally music kabhi nahi choose karne denge, because of his equation with her. That was a misconception, but I did think like that when I decided on my career.
Jo sare thoughts maine dabake rakhe the, music brought them out. It connected me to her unintentionally. It was slowly becoming my biggest trigger.
Phir mere 15th birthday pe mujhe pata chala ki Poppy ke divorce ke 15 years hogaye hain and it's high time, he should move on and marry someone. Unke kisi dost ne kaha tha I guess. That did a number on me.
Mujhe aise lagne laga ki meri wajah se woh Poppy ko chodke chali gayi. The timeline was too obvious to not consider. Kabhi kabhi yeh bhi lagta tha ki why she never loved me, why she never accepted me and why she couldn't stay back. Mereliye bhi nahi ruki woh.
What kind of a Mom does that and what not. Every time, something triggered me to think of her, a new conspiracy theory was born in my head. Per maine bahut ache se ignore kiya un sab ko." She stated stoically.
Abhimanyu hated the fact that he could never see through his daughter's pain. He had ignored that topic in order to not hurt her and that made her feel that these things are not something to be shared.
As a father, he failed to give her that comfort as far as this matter is concerned and that was his cross to bear.
Neil, on the other hand, had no idea about all this, and he was just coming to terms with the revelations.
To Be Continued...........