Here with the second part.
Enjoy reading.
*Drafted from a long time. Just completed for Lucky di ka birthday!*
Happiiee birthday lucky_lakshmi di... 😍
I know I am late but what to do I am getting time in installments.
In this story, I want you all to find optimism in everything possible, and a new character will help you to do that. We are tired of the same concept repeating everytime, arent you?
A note:- The story is about how things could have get better instead of making Ragini the villian.
Moreover the story is about Ragini's mistakes. So lets see!!
Anyways, lets move on!
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4 lives were jumbled to each other.
Swara who was clear with her thought that she had no feelings for Laksh, came to know how distance is maintained. From then, she deleted his number from her phone and blocked every way by which he might contact her. She was trying her level best to apologise to Ragini.
While Laksh, he simply forgot about his newly announced love. He was so much in guilt that nothing came into his mind except for the words of Ragini which gave him a reality check. He was vulnerable. He wanted to repent for his mistakes. His own image was led down in his eyes. He started hating himself.
When self esteem gets lowered down, that feeling is terrible. And Laksh was going through that. All day staying in home didn't help him and he joined Maheshwari Enterprises.
Sanskaar, by out of the world way came to know that he was wrong. And as expected, he had a sudden change of thoughts. He simply acted as getting normal back and resumed his life with Maheshwaris. One thing that didn't leave his mind was, Ragini suffered a lot somewhere because of him.
Hadn't he acted that way, Laksh would never had to do that.
Ragini, was still a person with wounded heart. 3 persons whom she loved and trusted so much, hurted her the most. It wasn't easy for her to cope up. And that dream, it showed how they were going to be with her in the future. That was awful. So she continued ignoring them. But being someone so soft at heart, she couldn't bare those tears.
The life was going on,
Laksh used to come to Baari everytime before Ragini used to leave for Mandir. He came to have just a glimpse of her to see the recovery of her wounds of accident which were actually given by him..
One day,
"Ragini. Please give me a last chance. I am so sorry Ragini. But trust me, I don't love him at all. Please understand, you are very important to me! I know, I know I was at mistake...I crossed my limits... Please punish me but don't ignore. "
Swara cried terribly on Ragini's door while Parvati, Shekhar and Sharmishtha were out due to some office work.
10 days had been passed since Ragini was ignoring Laksh and Swara while Sanskaar never came infront.
Swara had been apologising every single day and every single hour.
Ragini was crying too leaning on her door.
"What do you think? Am I liking all this? You know I never wanted to become a reason for someone's tears but what about me? Why all of you want to play with my feelings? Do you think am that naive? I never wanted this to happen...But even if I accept you back, will that relation be strong like before? No. It won't be....There will always be a knot in the thread of our sisterhood!"
Ragini cried. Swara's heart broke listening to that.
"A knotted thread's strength is much more than a simple thread. A relation often gets misunderstandings and fights between them but it eventually makes the relation even more stronger!! It totally depends on how you see that my gurlll!"
A third voice rang in the walls of Gadodia House which made Ragini and Swara alert.
Both immediately got up from their respective places and walked towards that voice.
"You have not changed Ragini, you are still a Bhenji!"
That was it for Swara and Ragini to identify the person out there.
"Jai Mittal! Halwai waala?? "
Swaragini's voice came unanimously.
"Cheers!!!"
He gave their answer a positive nod and came infront of them.
Seeing him, Ragini's and Swara's eyes came out of the socket.
"You are that Jai? N..nooooo...its not possible! He was a chubby ,arrogant and khau kid! "
Swara said.
"Time flies...People change...and I changed."
He replied with a sweet smile. Ragini was just looking at him shocked.
His eyes fell on Ragini and he chuckled.
"But some people took an oath before coming to this world that they will never change! She is still that bhenji."
He chuckled. Ragini fumed and marched to him.
"Shut up....Just because you have lost some weight, you dont need to fly high. You were better before, now you look like a goat whose all milk has been taken out!"
Ragini's nose flared in anger. Swara giggled while Jai just laughed.
"See...not even 0.000001% change in her."
He marked.
Jai used to be the son of Ram Halwai who had a shop near Baari, where all the children used to hang out a lot including Swara and Ragini. Jai was always present there and he used to be in fights with Ragini all the time. Eventually they became friends. But, Jai haf to leave for his further schooling to hostel.
Ragini was never offended by Jai when he used to call her Bhenji because he said that to her thoughts and not her dressing style.
"Go to hell!"
Ragini crossed her arms infront of her chest and moved in the opposite direction.
"Alright, I came after so long to meet my Bhenji but see how she asked me to go away. Alright...I am going."
He said dramatically but Ragini turned sighed her head at his oscar level acting and then smiled. She went to him and gave him a hug.
"Welcome back...."
She said. He smiled and then asked Swara to join too, who was just looking at them smiling.
They Broke the hug. But Ragini again turned from him,
"What happened?"
He asked confused.
"You still call me a Bhenji!"
She said miffed.
"Offcourse you are, you still think so emmotionally and softly. You don't act mature."
He said.
'How mean..! You know nothing."
She scrutinised.
"I know everything. And that's why I have been called here. Papa told me everything. Come lets have a talk."
Jai told her and then signed Swara that he will manage everything.
Ragini nodded and they went to the balcony. While Swara waited patiently.
"Look Ragini, you need to stop being manipulated everytime! You just listened to your Monster Dadi and ran infront of the car! Like what the hell!!"
Jai frowned.
"Stop calling my Dadi Maa that if you want to continue this talk!"
Ragini glared him.
He sighed.
"Fine. But did you hear what I said?"
"Dadi Maa didnt lie! Swara and Laksh were together in the park. Laksh loves Swara."
A lone tear passed by her eye.
"That's! That's what I am trying to say! Shut up....He loves Swara but does Swara love him?" He asked.
"Swara made him fall for her. He just didnt fall for her like that! She used to be hanging around him all the time! Did you get that! You cant simply defend her."
"I am not Ragini. Mark my words, when we are heartbroken, or there is some tension between two people, mistakes are made from both the sides. From one hand, the mistakes are much more and from the other hand mistakes are less. You are on the lesser side. Also, the tension between two people makes everything look like it was done to hurt you!! So I am just clearing the clouds away from your eyes....Listen to me quitely."
Jai said. Ragini nodded.
"According to you Swara kept hanging around him, why you never stopped her? Why? Were you waiting for the consequences? You say that she broke your trust, but regarding what? Why you let her spend time with him? He was your fiance! Why you were not possessive? You know what....you were way tooo shy....You were just to conscious to hang around him and kept running away from him. You never tried to come in his space even for once....you just tooo much emptied his surroundings which was kimd of awkward for him. Because he is a modern guy. And Swara did just the opposite, on your behalf everytime, se went to him just on your words...And from here you gave everything a start...Laksh doesnt love her, but he is just caught up of her thoughts because of her extra presence around him. That was your only mistake and the biggest mistake...! You just follow your old traditions..which are of no use now! Everything has a time limit, your traditions too had..you need to be expressive Ragini, you need to be outspoken. You were never clear about your feelings for him to him. He didnt love you, so he never made an attempt to spend time with you but you loved him right? Why didnt you give a shot to it rather giving fucking all the opportunities to Swara? Think about it!"
Ragini just realised everything. Yes, she was wrong on her part too.
"You are right. I was too much drowned in my fairyland."
She said tearing up. Jai side hugged her.
"Watching dreams is good, but not doing something for your dreams and seeing them get shattered is worst. Laksh respects you so much as a friend despite the fact that you have not spent so much of time with him. Had you given him your space too, maybe he would have been head over heels for your love."
Jai preached. Ragini nodded understanding.
"But this doesnt change the misdeeds of the three of them, Swara, Sanskaar and Laksh. Instead of just working on your words and going to Laksh everytime, Swara must have pushed you...She did all things which you were supposed to do just thinking that she was doing this all for you. She should have been in her limits but instead she got extra friendly and cringy but that was not to seduce him but to make him feel that he was a part of the family. Slowly, she accepted him as her friend and started doing things for friendship. She played super dumb on her part. I think she was just stupid. You had too much expectations from her because you thought of her to be intelligent and wise but no, she was dumb. And that too leaded us in this situation."
Jai explained.
"I am getting a reality check."
Ragini commented.
"Hahaha. That is what for I am here."
Both chuckled.
"Does that mean Laksh was not at all on fault?"
She said confused.
"He was.....He offcourse was. But all he did was not in his actual senses. Alike you, his mind was manipulated too by some not so trustworthy friends who showed him the wrong path. Swara had too much indulged onto his mind that he thought it was love. He is impulsive, immature, play boy and most importantly a rebellious son. He didnt want to marry you not because you are not of his type, thats a mere excuse but just because you are his father's choice..! He had accounted that excuse so many times that it seemed as a reality to him and when his friends tried to accomodate Swara into his false reality, he could easily do that. Its so complex! You know what Ragini, you cannot expect maturity from a guy like Laksh who was a carefree dude. His mistake was he judged you too quickly and trusted his friends. Had he shared everything with his mom, the equation would have been different. Its just about the guidance he got in his delicate point of time."
Jai was bringing out the best possible thimgs which made Ragini's heart lighter every time. She was less burdened by now.
"And coming to Sanskaar, I think he hasnt done anything to you till now, so why are you angry on him. He had personal reasons Ragini...why you are so affected? Whats there which you arent sharing with me?"
Jai said confused.
"He broke my trust!"
She said.
"To save you from dying..He didnt care about an instant for his plan just to save you...Look how important you are to him!"
Jai smiled and told her.
"He had a motive behind to befriend me! He actually geared up Swara and Laksh more to each other and I was too blind to see all that because what I was busy in was taking care of him. "
Ragini said defeatedly.
"He played with his own brother...ruined your love for Swara and degraded her character in front of everyone by showing Swara a fiance chor! A backstabber! Swara losted you...so....!! He didnt only break your trust...but you are affected too much because you are very sensitive! He is wrong, definitely wrong but you took it too much on yourself."
Jai explained.
"He came to brainwash me against Swara and Laksh!"
She argued.
'You exactly know the right word, BRAINWASH, which means you werent going to get. You would have been strong on your thoughts."
Jai said.
"Its very easy to say all this, but I might have got into the trap of his words. I was at a very delicate state. My mind was retalliating. I was under an emmotional break down! Let me be honest to you, the reason why I am not forgiving any of the three is the horrendous Nightmare I ever saw. They would have got so much against me in the future that I couldnt have bare the hate just because of my some stupidities."
She answered.
Jai looked confused at her. He asked Ragini to narrate the dream and so did she.
Jai was shocked. That was surely a nightmare. He had no reaction over this. But somewhere he needed to comfort Ragini, if his words were helping, he could do the best to help her reduce her pain. Afterall it was just a dream!
"It is just a dream Ragini cmon! But if you want, I can tell you that what else could have got better! This is not going to happen at all!! Just pen down my words!"
"A part had got true. Sanskaar was acting."
Ragini answered stubborn.
"You need to handle the situation. That dream was a warning to you to not go on the bad side. And moreover, warnings are always much dangerous than what happens actually. What you saw was extreme....that means had you took the wrong path on your deciding point that when Sanskaar came to meet you, then something like that less horrible was goimg to happen with you...because you were going to create folds in your life yourself. Why you needed to push Swara to make her fall in love with Laksh and actually made him too close to her. He isnt that much close to her right now but you were doing that in your dream..And do you really thimk that character assassination was required? By ginving drugs? How would you justify giving drugs to a girl? Why not someone would hate you for that? You turned into a murderer for the guy who never loved you? Why? Self respect girl!? You have many other fruitful things to do in life rather than planning and plotting like that!! Cmon Ragu.....That dream was just shit...and useless!!! Neither you were going to do all that shit nor you will be in that position ever because everyone trusts you so much including me that you are a pious soul! None would expect something like that from you....So stop thimking about that nightmare because you werenot a good person in that and all were villians. That was a sign from youR Khatu Shyam ji who refrained you to walk on wrong path. Consider yourself lucky!"
Jai was logical, reasonable and intelligent. Ragini was actually coming out of the pool of her guilt which she thought was uselessly getting dragged by her father and Dadi who werent ready to listen other side of the story.
But Jai made her see the other side too. She identified her faults and soon realized that the situation was not that much big which was being created.
Clearly, Jai had made her mind a lot more positive and opinionated. Her soul set free.
"Thank you....Thank you soo much Jai...I cannot thank you enough. I was judging everyone on the basis of a dream which never was true and neglected desperateness of everyone for me. You are a true friend. I owe you a big time Jai! A big time."
She said and hugged him. He chuckled and then said...
"Alright, its time for me to leave. "
He said.
"But you just came!"
Ragini sobbed.
"I am sorry Ragu....But I need to go. I have some important work. Thank God I got a chance to meet you orelse I dont know would I have ever been able to meet you! But now I have to go...I am glad that I got my friend's back in her hard times."
He said getting emmotional.
"You know I was remembering you a few days before hahaha....And You are here. We have got a connection.."
Ragini laughed and Jai chuckled.
"Chalo...I need to catch my flight back. I am just a call away..."
He said.
"Hmmm....But can we exchange numbers?"
Ragini said with a hope.
"Sure..."
He said and then took a notepad and pen from the study and wrote down his number and kept that back to her study. She smiled.
"We will meet soon right?"
She asked.
"Yes...we will. Lets hope."
He smiled and then bidded her a bye. She smiled too and let him go.
While going, Jai looked at Swara who was sleeping on the sofa. He smiled and patted on her head then went. She was his friend too.
Ragini's heart felt hollowed as he left. But then, she geared up. Atleast she could give him a bye gift.
She immediately went to the kitchen and started preparing chena paayish. In an hour or two, she was done and then she headed towards Ram Halwaii's home which she hasnt visited in years as since he locked up his shop, Ram distanced himself from everyone. He would not talk to anyone. Everyone wondered the reason, but none knew.
She pressed the doorbell.
In a few minutes, an old man came up to open a door who had a blank expressionless face. He was confused to see Ragini on his door.
"Ragini bitiya?"
"Namastey Uncle....."
"Namastey beta...kaho kya baat hai?"
"Woh uncle Jai jaa raha hai toh main uske liye chena paayish banakar laayi hoon. Kya main andar aa sakti hoon?"
"Haan zarror aayo..."
They both went inside and Ragini looked everywhere to find a dark house with no hope of happiness.
"Why are you here dear?"
Ram asked.
"I brought this for Jai. He came to meet me."
Ragini answered.
"Huh....What are you sayimg?"
He asked with teary red eyes.
"I want to give this to Jai..."
She answered a lil stuttered.
"How can you give that to my son? Is that a joke!!!"
He lost his cool.
"Joke?"
She asked confused.
"Yes Joke!! Its been 4 years since Jai has passed!! Look at this!! My son went after leaving his dad alone!"
Ram cried terribly. The pain he had soaked in his heart for so long came out infront of Ragini.
Shock was a less of a word for her...Her world turned upside down in seconds.
"Jaaaiii....Bu....t hoo...w?"
Her tears were more than her words.
"He was coming back to India but was shot in the hijack! We didnt even recieve his bodyyyyy........"
Ram cried and cried. He felt on his knees and cried.
"I had been strong enough because I feel that he is always around me but not in my front. Why God? Why you made me face such harsh time!!!"
Ram cried more. Ragini bent to him and let him take out his all emmotions. She was numb but right now Jai's father wanted support.
And there behind the door, Jai's soul stood crying seeing his father's condition. He stepped on Earth to enlighten his father's life back but also saw how his childhood friend came from the mouth of death. And as a respinsible son, he took up his responsibility as a good son and a good friend.
"Sorry Papa, I cannot come infront of you because it will only increase your pain. You would long for me more and thats against the nature's cycle thar I come back to you. I came here to reduce your pain and not to increase it more. Thank you Ragini. Thank you so much for this."
Ram kept crying his heart out while Ragini kept consoling him while her eyes were red too. Her heart just sank down...like it was reforming.
While Jai (soul) kept looking at them.
Screen freezes...
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It was a very unexpected chapter for me to write. So the story has got extended by 1-2 chapters more which I will complete cuz I have free time in these days...
So, I think next new story will be that last story of this book as it will complete 15 stories. If I ever got some new idea, I'll pen it down but officially it would be completed.
Wait for the next part, I am sorry for no Laksh scenes but I promise to give the best of Raglak scenes in further os.
Thanks!