Next day (Sunday), 12:30 pm
Ishita took off her coat as she rolled her shoulders to release the tension from her upper back that followed the two hour long emergency surgery. She finished the last of her paperwork for the surgery and gathered her things to leave for the day and enjoy the rest of her Sunday with her family. She recalled how difficult it had been that morning to convince Ruhi to let her go to the clinic and that too on a Sunday. Thankfully, Ishita's promise to return before lunch and Amma's quick thinking to distract Ruhi with her coloring books and crayons had done the trick and allowed Ishita to make a getaway.
She couldn't help but think how she and Ruhi were both so connected to each other in such a short time span. What would ever happen if they were separated? How would Ruhi live without her mother? And how would Ishita live without her daughter? Ishita shook her head to get rid of these obnoxious thoughts. How could they ever be separated? They were legally mother and daughter now, Ishita told herself. She shouldn't even entertain such frightening thoughts, especially if they were nowhere near likely to be true.
Ishita sat in her car and started driving towards home only to be stopped again midway, as a luxurious white sedan scratched her car while trying to overtake her. She grew furious and immediately blew her horn to make the driver of the car stop as she too parked her car on the side for a confrontation. She got out of the car and slammed her door shut as she proceeded to survey the scratch on her red SUV. The driver of the other car, dressed in a driver's uniform, stepped out and began to apologize profusely.
"Sorry madam, wo mere saab ko jaldi hai na, to mai thoda fast gaadi chala raha tha. Aur aapki car ko takkar lag gayi. So sorry memsaab, maaf kar dijiye."
[Sorry madam, my boss is in a hurry, so I was driving a bit fast. And I accidentally hit your car. So sorry ma'am, please forgive me.]
But Ishita Iyer was a force to be reckoned with.
"Itni kya jaldi hai aapke saab ko bhaiya? Ki aapko kisi ki gaadi hi nahi dikhi?! Kaun hai ye saab aapke? Bulaao unko!"
[What kind of a rush is your boss in exactly, that you didn't even see such a huge car? Who is this boss of yours? Call him!]
Just then, a sauve, dashing man dressed in a black and grey suit stepped out from the back of the car. Having already figured out the situation, he removed his goggles and spoke with an air of nonchalance. "Shaant ho jao madam. Bas zara sa scratch hai jo itni door se dikhta bhi nahi hain. Aur aapki gaadi bhi kitni purani hai. Nau ki jagah ab das scratches hai. Usme kya farak padta hai?"
[Calm down madam. It's just a scratch. It's not even visible from afar. And your car is so old. Instead of nine, there are ten scratches now. What's the big deal in that?]
"How arrogant are you? Door se dikhta nahi hai to iska matlab aapke driver ne jo kiya wo sahi hai? Aur purani gaadi hai iska matlab jo jee main aaya woh karoge? Listen, you..." Ishita pointed at the man as she took a few steps forward. But her opponent was no less.
[Just because you can't see it from afar doesn't mean what your driver did is ok! And it being an old car is no excuse for you!]
"Sabse pehli baat, kisi ne kuch jaan bujhke nahi kiya. Doosri baat, mere driver ki itni galti nahi hai jitni tumhari hai. Itna dheere gaadi chala rahi thi to usne overtake kar liya tumhe. What's the big deal?"
[First of all, no one did anything on purpose. Secondly, it's your fault more than my driver's. You were driving so slowly that he overtook you.]
"What's the big deal?! You have the audacity to ask me what's the big deal? Overtake karne ka bhi tarika hota hai. Kisi ki gaadi ko thok ke overtake nahi kiya jaata. Aur ye to shukar manao ki sirf scratch laga hai. Agar zyada kuch ho jata to? Pata hai..."
[There is a proper way to overtake someone. You don't have to hit someone's car for that. And be grateful that it's only a scratch. What if something more serious would have happened?]
"Are band karo apna lecture yaar. Itna bak bak kyon kar rahi ho tum? Gaadi pe lage scratch ke liye? Kitna nuksaan hua hai tumhara, bolo. Saara main bhar dunga."
[Please stop your lecture. Why are you rambling so much? For this scratch on your car? Tell me how much the damage costs. I'll pay it in full.]
"Paiso se hazaar cheeze kharid sakte ho, lekin manners nahi kharid paaoge. Itna sab ho gaya lekin ek baar bhi tumne maafi nahi maangi. Hamare yaha drivers ka na sahi, lekin apni galti pe sorry kehne ka riwaaz hai is shahar mein."
[You can buy a thousand things with your money, but you can't buy manners. Even after all this, you haven't even apologized once. We don't have a tradition of drivers, but we do have the custom of saying sorry upon our mistake.]
"Fine. Tumhe paise nahi chahiye, tumhari marzi. But please don't make a mountain out of a molehill anymore. Chalo Suresh."
[If you don't want money, that's your choice. Let's go Suresh.]
And with that, the man sat back into his car after signalling his driver to sit back in as well. Ishita was still livid with that man's rude and arrogant behavior, but she decided that getting home to Ruhi was of more importance then. She got back into her car and immediately her mood was uplifted at the thought of her daughter -- the person with whom she had rebuilt her world.
While the woman - Dr. Ishita Iyer - was immersed in the thoughts of her little abode that she had built, the man - Mr. Raman Kumar Bhalla - was lost in the thoughts of his world that had come crashing down once again.
.....................................................................................................................
Raman, somewhere in Delhi in his car
He couldn't believe it. He was of the impression that he had already lived through hell five years ago. But he was wrong. That was definitely hell but this was no less. Five years later, he now found himself in the very same city where his family was torn apart and his world had come crashing down. He had left his city, his parents, and his siblings all to escape the blows that life had dealt him that left him bruised and battered. And now, he found himself in the very same place that he had left behind; the very same place where his family had crumbled and his world had been shattered.
Five years ago his wife -- no, his ex-wife -- Shagun Arora had walked out of his house with their son Aditya in tow for another, richer man -- his own boss, Ashok Khanna. She broke apart his family and separated him from his only child. Or so he thought. For just a few days ago, he found out that when Shagun had thrown the divorce papers in his face five years ago, she was actually pregnant with his child. His daughter. The daughter that he had yearned for ever since his son's first birthday. A daughter whom he knew he would pamper and love as his little princess. His little girl, Ruhi, was out there somewhere not even knowing what a loving family she is a part of.
Raman knew that he wasn't the same man he was before, and he probably wouldn't be the same loving father he used to be. But his parents and siblings would definitely shower all the love on his daughter; Adi had certainly been the apple of their eye and Ruhi would be just as loved if not more. So he had to get his daughter back. He wasn't going to let his own flesh and blood stay away from him. Not when her father was still alive. Even though she had already been adopted by some other woman.
"Her name is Dr. Ishita Iyer," he was told at the orphanage.
Who could she be? Would Ruhi even be properly cared for at her house? She must be a good woman, or the agency wouldn't have approved her file. What if Ruhi didn't want to leave her and come to her father? What if she left him too like Shagun and Adi had? The pain he felt every day due to being separated from Adi was hardly bearable. How would he bear the separation of his second child? How complicated had the situation become now? All because of Shagun, he thought, as he recalled the events from a few days ago that changed his life.
Flashback: Mumbai, a few days ago, at a business conference
"How could you, Ashok! What is wrong with you?!" Shagun shrieked as her boyfriend revealed his ugly act from four years ago. "Why did you get rid of that letter?"
"Because, I wasn't going to let that loser of a man win! I'm not going to let Raman win!"
"Ashok, stop with your obsession with Raman already! In all these games of yours, did you ever realize for once that a girl's life is on the line here?"
"Why do you care for her, Shagun? You're the one who left Ruhi in the orphanage, remember?"
"I know I left her there, but I didn't have a choice. I didn't feel any motherly connection with her. And you threatened to leave me if I had a baby around. Adi had gone to boarding school, but Ruhi would've required attention 24/7, which you didn't want. Plus, it was always Raman who wanted a second child and a daughter no less. So I made sure that she would reach Raman, and she would have, had you not come poking your nose into this." Shagun said exasperated.
Unsuspecting to both Ashok and Shagun, the subject of their conversation had appeared behind them and overheard them.
"A second child?" Raman questioned. "What the hell are you talking about, Shagun? Who did you make sure would reach me? Tell me the whole truth!" He demanded in a voice that brokered no argument. Shagun had no choice but to confess. And what she proceeded to say changed Raman's life forever.
Shagun explained that right after she and Raman got divorced and after Adi's custody was granted to her, she found out that she was pregnant with Raman's baby. She tried getting an abortion but that would have been fatal to her life as well. Ashok had made it clear that he wasn't going to entertain a crying baby around and if Shagun were to mother a baby, she wouldn't be welcome in his life. Adi was in a boarding school so he wasn't much trouble, but a baby would have required constant attention which he wasn't going to accept.
So Shagun delivered the baby and decided to drop her off at an orphanage. Right after her delivery, she and the baby needed time to recover. She had named her Ruhi since that was the only name on her mind; she knew that Raman had wanted to name his daughter Ruhi if he ever had one. When Ruhi was a few months old and finally healthy, Ashok took her and Shagun to Little Smiles Adoption Agency.
There, she met a young intern and quickly handed her the baby saying she needed to leave her there for some personal reasons. Before the intern could call for her supervisor to come assist, or even before she could ask her for her name, Shagun merely handed her a letter and left. In that letter, she had written Raman's contact info as the baby's father, and asked the authorities of the orphanage to make sure she reached her father. But today she found out that her lovely boyfriend had seen the intern drop the letter and in that moment, had decided to tear it up into pieces and throw it away.
"So you're telling me, I have a daughter? My daughter is somewhere out there living alone even though her father is alive? Even though her grandparents, aunts and uncles are all alive?" Raman asked, trying to suppress all the anger that he felt. Seeing Shagun look away, he lost all control.
"WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU, WOMAN! HOW COULD YOU?! Did you not have the decency to come have one human conversation with me and tell me that I had a daughter! You took my son away, and today you're telling me you've kept my daughter away from me as well?!" He was rightfully livid.
"Look Raman, I included the letter just to make sure she reached you. It's not my fault that Ashok destroyed the letter. And I wasn't going to come meet you again after all the drama you and your family made during the divorce and custody trial. Plus, I had to leave on a world tour with Ashok soon after, anyway."
"A world tour, huh? That's what mattered to you more? A world tour with your boyfriend instead of a living, breathing baby whom you had given birth to? And don't tell me whose fault this is or isn't. I'm not talking to this excuse of a human being," he said gesturing to Ashok who seemed to be seething with rage by then. "How could you just leave your baby in a stranger's care? A six month old baby? She was your responsibility! How could you sleep at night without knowing if your baby was okay?"
"Enough Raman, control yourself. I never wanted a second baby. I just wanted a comfortable life with Ashok."
"Well, even if you didn't want her, you could have dropped her at my house! Not at a bloody orphanage! She's not an orphan!" Raman roared. "She must be what, four years old now? My daughter has been living alone like an orphan for four years! Where is she? Where did you drop her?! I'm going to get my daughter back to my family where she belongs. And I'll make sure to keep her away from a witch like you. And I promise you, sooner or later, Adi will know what a vicious woman you are and he'll be with me too!"
"Oh please Raman, snap out of your delusions, Adi doesn't even talk about you or your family anymore. He's happy staying away from you. And I promise, I'll give you all of Ruhi's details. Just stop overreacting."
Flashback ends: Present day in Raman's car
After the bomb Shagun had dropped, Raman made his way to Delhi on the first flight possible. In Mumbai, he hadn't given Mihir any explanation other than some urgent personal issue. No one from his family knew what this "personal issue" could be. And even though they knew he was in town again, the Bhallas knew better than to expect him to come home. They barely ever saw him in person except for on festivals when his mother forced and emotionally blackmailed him to make an appearance at their house. And even then she couldn't get him to come every year. In the past five years, Raman barely intermingled with his family, having blocked out everyone from his heart, including his parents, his sisters Simi and Rinki, his brother Romi, and Mihir.
Right after landing in Delhi, Raman asked his driver to take him to Little Smiles Adoption Agency directly from the airport. On the way, he squashed all fears that sprang up in his heart at the thought of his daughter and strengthened himself. At the agency, he managed to get a hold of Mr. Yadav himself after heftily filling up the receptionist's pockets. He explained his situation in a business-like tone and requested to see his daughter. There, he found out that his daughter had already been adopted by a dentist named Dr. Ishita Iyer a few weeks ago.
In some deep corner of his heart, Raman felt relieved. At least Ruhi was all right. She was healthy and going by Mr. Yadav's words, she was quite happy too. Yet he demanded that as the biological father, he had a right on his daughter. Mr. Yadav assured him that he would be able to meet his daughter, but before they contacted Ishita, they needed substantial proof that he was indeed her biological father. They came to a consensus that Raman and Ruhi's dental records would be matched, Raman's background would be checked by the relevant authorities, and only after that, would Mr. Yadav contact Ishita to let Ruhi meet her father. The orphanage already had Ruhi's dental records and they only needed Raman's. Raman had been satisfied with that progress and swiftly left the office to make arrangements to have his dental records sent to the orphanage.
On his way back, his day seemed to only get worse with that mad woman raving on about a measly scratch on her car. But having dealt with her, now he was on his way to his family, whom he had to face and bring on board about this situation. Once again, the complications of his life were going to trouble his family. He had kept himself away for years in order to protect them from his pain and to shield himself from their love, but alas, he was about to walk in and give them the biggest blow of their life yet.
___________________________________________________________