~~~~~~~
After performing Durga Maa’s Arti everyone retired to their rooms to get ready for the ‘Dhunuchi Dance’ and evening Arti. Prerna was busy with some preparations when Anurag came to her and started reasoning out with her once again as to why they should be together. He asked to recall their moments from the last Durga Puja and how Maa has always given them her blessings. They were meant to be together.
‘Tumne Bajaj se shadi Kukki ke wajah se ki thi aur aaj Kukki ke hi hathon tumhara mangalsutra tut gaya!! Yeh bhi ek ishara hi hai Prerna! Ki abh tumhe usse chod dena chahiye!! Laut aao mere paas!!’
Prerna tried really hard to not let her tears fall from her eyes. She knew what Anurag was saying was not so easy to do. She couldn’t just leave Rishabh and go back to him. She had made a deal for Anurag’s safety that she wouldn’t go back to him. Only so that Rishabh would never harm him or his family ever again. For the sake of their future she had put her own future on stake.
‘Mat karo aisa. Baar baar mujhe aakar ek hi cheez mat kaho Anurag!! Nahi kar sakti main aisa, nahi aa sakti tumhare paas wapas!! Aur tumhe yaad nahi Rishabh ne subah kya kaha tha? Vo mangalsutra sirf humare shadi ki nishani hai, Humari shadi. Na vo iss shadi ko tutne denge aur na main isse tod sakti hun! Toh please yeh mere liye itna mushkil mat bano!! Just stop it!!’
Her voice trembled as she spoke, she was tired of this, every time they would have this conversation her heart felt heavier. It would become difficult for her to breathe. She quickly turned around and walked towards their room. As soon as she came there Rishabh walked out of the bathroom and noticed how uneasy she looked. She would get sick any moment he thought and it was as if he had read her mind because the next minute she started coughing heavily and tried to cover her mouth with her hand. He went to her and wrapping his arm around her shoulders he rushed her into the bathroom, he lead her towards the sink right in time.
Once she was done vomiting, Prerna washed her face and he passed her the small face towel that was kept in the corner. He took her back to the room by holding her with her shoulders once again and made her sit on the bed, he poured her some water to have and looked at her, making sure she was now feeling better he started speaking to her in fact he was giving her a lecture about her health and her carelessness
‘Aap janti hain ki aapka iss hal main koi bhi stress lena theek nahi hai phir bhi aap subah se kaam kiye ja rahi hain! For god's sake Prerna stop overworking yourself! You need to take rest and proper care of yourself! Aap iss tarah se apne health ko ignore nahi kar sakti!’
Prerna said nothing and just nodded her head without looking in his directions, she kept looking at the floor . She knew that he would notice her tears. He always did. She didn’t even have to say to him but he would know that she was hurt or she was in pain. It surprised her pleasantly, Rishabh Bajaj who was known for his heartlessness would always understand her. But even without looking at her Rishabh could make out that she had been crying, he bent on his knees so that now he could see her face clearly
‘Prerna…look at me!!’ He spoke softly,and gently placed his hand on hers he squeezed it slightly making her look in his direction. He saw fresh tears brimming in her eyes and were threatening to fall any minute. He quickly got up and sat next to her on the bed. He used his thumb to wipe that lone tear that had escaped her eye.
‘What’s wrong? Kisi ne aapse kuch kaha??’ He asked her softly and she nodded her head negatively at first but when he whispered her name once again she couldn’t hold back any longer. Without any indication or sign she just crashed into his chest and started crying loudly this time
‘I know aapne kaha tha ki main aapse Anurag ke bare main baat na karun, lekin phir main karun bhi toh kya karun!? Kisi ke saath main yeh baat kar bhi toh nahi sakti, kyunki sach kya hai vo sirf aap jante hain aur main janti hun! Aapse shadi maine Anurag ko bachane ke liye ki thi lekin usse yeh baat nahi bata sakti. Usse jhut bhi kaha ki maine aapke paison ke liye aapse shadi ki thi, apne aap ko uski nazron main girane ki koshish ki par phir bhi vo mujhe apni life main wapas lane ki koshish karta raha! Ek din aisa nahi jata jab vo mujhe yeh nahi kehta ki main uske paas wapas laut jaun… sab kuch itna aasan lagta hai usse! Aaj mangalsutra tut gaya tou usse Maa ka ishara bata kar mujhse ussne aapse rishta todne ko keh diya … usse lagta hai itni asaani se yeh rishta tut jayega… chali jaungi main uske paas.. lekin main Nahi ja sakti aapko chodke, Kukki ko chod ke!! Nahi laut sakti uske paas!!’
She broke the hug and looked at him
‘Aapke saath deal ki thi ki main jab tak aapke saath rahungi aap Anurag ko hurt nahi karenge, aur main janti hun ki aap apna yeh promise nibhaayenge, lekin abh yeh rishta bas uss deal ke wajah se nahi juda hai! Aapse mera rishta Kukki ke wajah se juda hai, meri beti hai abh vo! Anurag kaise soch sakta hai ki main apni beti ko chod ke usske paas laut jaungi?? Vo aisa soch bhi kaisa sakta hai?? Aapse pehle vo mujhe janta hai phir bhi mera dard nahi samajhta, baar baar wahi baat duhrata hai aur mujhe dard deta hai! Aur aap, mere bina kuch kahe bina ko bole mera dard samjh lete hain!’
Rishabh tried to say something but she stopped him by placing her hand on his lips and nodded her head negatively
‘Please mujhe bolne dijiye… sab ke tarah aap bhi maan sakte the ki Kukki ke haaton mangalsutra tutna apshagun hai lekin aapne mujhe yeh yakeen dilaya ki vo sirf humare rishte ki nishani hai, humara rishta nahi…itna yakeen hai aapko humare rishte par? Kyun? Kaise? Anurag ka sach jante hue bhi aap chup rahe, uske khilaf jo sabut tha vo apne destroy kar diya sirf iss liye ki usse sazaa na mile aur mujhe dard na ho… aap tab tak jail se nahi laute jab tak main nahi mang gai ki aap innocent hai …apni reputation ka bhi khayal aapne nahi rakha ...kyun?! Aise kyun hain aap??’
She removed her hand from his lips and rested her head on his shoulder and continued crying. Rishabh closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead to calm himself before he could speak. Seeing her like this, so vulnerable was distressful for him. He finally composed himself and gently cupped her face with his other hand, he wiped her tears from her face
‘Prerna, first please stop crying. Like I said a few minutes ago, it's not good for your health to stress yourself so much. So first please relax.’
He moved her head from his shoulder and signalled her to move further on the bed, until she was in a more comfortable position with her back against the rest board. He then caught her hand in his and said
‘ I know I told you to not talk about Mr. Basu with me but I didn’t mean that you can't share your pain with me! In fact, I am glad ki apne meri baat nahi suni aur aapke dil mein jo hai vo aapne mujhe kaha ! Prerna I know we can’t tell the truth about this marriage to anyone. We both had our reasons to get married to each other at that time and now it’s also true that this relationship has evolved, it’s not just about those reasons anymore. Aapke liye yeh abh ek deal nahi hai jo aapne Mr. Basu ko bachane ke liye ki thi aur naa hi mere liye abh aap sirf Kukki ki Mom hain!’
He paused when he saw her look at him in surprise but then after a second he continued
‘I know, sounds weird, to be honest, it even feels weird, aapko yaad hai jail main aapse kaha tha maine ki mere liye aap kya sochti hai yeh matter karta hai, because Prerna I can’t bare that you think anything wrong about me. I agree that you don’t know me that well and I also know what the world says about me, I won’t say that it’s all false, because I am a ruthless, arrogant and revengeful person, but only for those who wrong me or mess up with me. But even you would agree to this that I am not that person around my family, around you, because you matter to me. I can never be rude to you, I can’t think about hurting you or trying to cause you any pain. Because aapko dard main dekh kar dard mujhe bhi hota hai!’
Prerna’s eyes were glistening again, but this time the tears were of guilt and pain. She knew that Rishabh was trying to console her but his words were hurting her for she had hurt him unknowingly but misjudging him for so long. Rishabh gently wiped her tears again
‘I want you to be happy Prerna. I don’t want to hurt you or offend your feelings but I don’t think that you would be happy with Anurag even if I let you go back to him. And I am not saying this as you husband or someone who feels for you, I am saying this as a third person who has noticed the pain that he has caused you!! Aapne hi abhi kaha na ki vo jante hain unki baatein aapko dard deti hain par baar baar vahi baat doharata hain vo! Kyunki abh aap unki zidd ban gai hain Prerna. Vo aapko wapas hasil karna chahte hain, apni zindagi main aapko wapas lana chahte hain! Aur maan lijiye ki main kal aapko allow karun ki aap unke paas laut jaye, bas ek baar soch ke dekhiye ki kya aapko lagta hai aap unke sath khush reh payengi?? Mere ya Kukki ke bare main mat sochiye Prerna, bas apne bare main soch kar jawab dijiye!!’
Saying so he moved back a bit, giving her an indication that he was ready to give her the space she needed, because now it would be her decision. She wanted an answer to this question herself now. Every now and then this conversation with Anurag would make her feel uneasy and she wanted to get rid of this feeling. She wanted to get a clear answer to what she wanted in her future. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes! She tried to clear her mind and picture her future. In a minute or so she opened them and saw Rishabh looking at her intensely, his expressions were blank, but his eyes, they had a fear in them, maybe it was fear of rejection or fear of losing her. She said his name in a mere whisper making him look at her.
‘Jawab mil gaya…’
She saw his body become tensed, he nodded slightly as an encouragement for her to continue
‘Anurag ke saath rehke maine shayaad khush reh sakti hun, kyunki vo mera pehla pyaar hai…’
She paused and shuffled closer to him, as soon as she placed her hand on his she saw him relax immediately
‘ Lekin utni khush nahi reh paungi jitni aapke aur Kukki ke saath reh sakti hun…’
She had spoken the last sentence in such a soft voice that Rishabh felt for a second that he had dreamt what she was saying, but when she squeezed his hand, he knew that she actually said those words. Prerna looked in his eyes and she could still see the fear in them. He was still scared, maybe he thought that she was saying this only because she for the sake of saying it and she didn’t mean it. She removed her hand from the top of his and gently cupped his cheek. Rishabh closed his eyes and savoured the moment.
‘I mean it Rishabh!!’ She whispered to him and rested her forehead against his. After a beat when Rishabh finally realised that she actually wanted to be with him and give their relationship a chance he smiled and quickly wrapped his arms around her pulling her in a hug. He inhaled her sweet fragrance and tried to calm his racing heart. It meant a lot to him that Prerna was ready to give their marriage a genuine chance and not because she was bound to this relationship because of a deal. He broke the hug and looked into her eyes, he saw that her smile reached her eyes, she was genuinely happy with him. He rested his forehead against hers once again and whispered her a ‘thank you’ for deciding to give their relationship a second chance. They sat there like this for another few minutes, until Kukki came in their room and asked them to come down for the Aarti. They smiled at her and walked downstairs, this time the three of them performed the Arti together, but before the Dhunchi dance Prerna took Rishabh in a side corner and asked him if it would be possible for them to go out somewhere, she didn’t feel like attending the dance because the smoke was making her feel uneasy. Understanding her situation, Rishabh gladly gave in to her request and escorted her outside the house after informing Masi that they were going out for sometime.
After a few minutes, Anurag noticed that neither Prerna nor Rishab were to be seen anywhere. He saw that Kukki was sitting with Rishabh’s Masi, he was about to go to her when he saw Mahesh in a corner talking to someone, he walked to Mahesh and asked him if he had seen Prerna anywhere and he came to know that she had left with Rishabh a few minutes ago. Anurag clenched his fist in anger and walked back to his room. His mood was too sour to attend the rest of the function.
—-
The next morning when everyone was seated at the breakfast table they saw Prerna and Rishabh enter the house, hand in hand, but what had caught their attention was the fact that they were still dressed in their clothes from the previous evening. Masi walked up to them and started questioning them
‘Kahan the tum dono raat bhar? Rishabh phone bhi nahi lag raha tha tum dono ka. Puri raat kitne tension mein thi main koi idea bhi hai tumhe!!’
Rishabh hugged her and calmed her down before answering her question
‘Vo actually Masi, main aur Prerna, Devi ke kuch pandal dekhne gaye the, towards the other end of the city and raste main mera phone dead hogaya, Prerna apna phone leke jana hi bhul gai thi, hum aadhe raste bhi nahi pohunch the ki gadi kharab ho gai aur raat bohut ho gai thi toh koi taxi bhi nahi mil rahi thi so we had to stay at a hotel. Main aapko itni raat ko call karke disturb nahi karna chahta tha issliye phone nahi kiya! Sorry aapko humare wajah se pareshaan hona pada!!’
Masi laughed fakely and replied
‘Koi nahi ho jata hai…waise acha hi hai, aisa bhi pechle kuch dono se itna tension chal raha hai ...tum dono ko thoda waqt akele main spend karne mil gaya!!’
The way Rishabh looked at Prerna with a smirk on his face and the blush that crept on her cheeks was not unnoticed by anyone in the room. Anurag felt angry at the scene in front of him and got up from his chair making a loud sound grabbing everyone’s attention and walked out of the room. Prerna and Rishabh too excused themselves and went to their room to freshen up.
——
It was the second evening Aarti and just like the previous day there were many guests present there, Rishabh walked down with Kukki in his arms and saw how beautiful Prerna looked Dressed up in a Royal Blue saree draped in Bengali style. She caught his eye and he smiled at her. Kukki freed herself from Rishabh’s arms and ran to her mom. She hugged Prerna while Rishabh stood in his spot adoring the two of them. Suddenly he noticed that Prerna’s expressions had changed a little. He wondered what was wrong and walked in their direction when he heard two ladies gossiping about Prerna
‘Kal tak Basu’s ke ghar ki Bahu bane ja rahi thi, aur aaj Mrs. Bajaj ban gai hai!! Iss ladki ne pata nahi aisa konsa jadu kiya hai ki sher ke sare ameer ladke isske peeche latoo ho gaye hain!!’
Said one of them and the other replied
‘Waise pata hai, maine toh suna hai ki Bajaj ke saath toh isne shadi bhi nahi ki hai, bas usske naam ka sindoor aur mangalsutra daal leti hai taki sabko lage ki yeh dono shadi shuda hain!!’
The First Lady gasped and looked at Prerna
‘Durga!! Durga !! Kya kaliyug aagaya hai, shadi ke bina hi dono saath reh rahe hain?? Waise ho bhi sakta hai, inki shadi ki khabar bhi toh raato raat hi aa gai thi!! Kahan kisi ko pata chala tha, abh shadi ki bhi hogi ki nahi kisse pata !!’
Rishabh clenched his fist so tightly that he felt his nails biting his skin but he had to do so just to stop himself from going and slapping those two ladies for talking about Prerna that way. But he knew that he couldn’t do so, he could never raise his hand on a lady. He took a deep breath and walked towards Prerna who was trying hard to not let the words of those ladies affect her. He gently patted her on her shoulder and stretched his hand forward for her to hold it. As soon as she placed her hand in his, he took her in front of Durga Maa’s murti and made her stand there, he had done nothing else yet all eyes were on them all of a sudden. Prerna looked at him confused, trying to understand what he wanted to do. But he didn’t say a word and just slid his hand to his pocket and then showed her the mangalsutra that he had gotten for her
‘Aapse kaha tha na, ki aapke liye dusra mangalsutra banva dunga!’
He looked at her and then turned towards the idol and joined his hands in prayer. He turned back towards Prerna
‘ Main chahta hun ki aaj ek baar phir Maa ke aashirwad se, aapko yeh pehnaun. Taki Maa hamesha humari raksha kare aur humare rishte ko har buri nazar se bachae!’
Rishabh waited for Prerna to give him a signal to go ahead and with a slight nod Prerna did so, the priest had started blowing the shells as a sign of celebrating their moment and blessing them with their prayers. A lone tear slipped Prerna’s eyes as Rishabh locked the Mangalsutra behind her neck and at the same time her lips formed in a small content smile. The priest also passed him the sindoor and once again he filled her mang, Rishabh had a smile on his face as well, because he knew that this was unofficially their second marriage and this time there was no deal that binds them henceforth, it would only be their love for each other. Almost everyone in the room clapped for the couple. Some with happiness, some in awe, while some clapped in jealousy and some didn’t clap at all. Kukki ran to her parents as soon as they turned towards Durga Maa’s idol to take her blessing and joined her hands in prayer along with them. Rishabh lifted her in his arms and let her ring the bell that was tied on top with her tiny hands, making her laugh! He then wrapped his arm around Prerna and walked down the stage with his daughter and his wife. Anurag who had witnessed all this from start just couldn’t stand there anymore. Yesterday he was sure that Maa had given him and Prerna an indication to get back together but today, Prerna had let Rishabh fill her mang and tie the mangalsutra around her neck once again, she chose to be his wife rather than coming back to him. He didn’t know what had happened to her but he knew that now she would never come back to him. She would always be Mrs. Prerna Rishabh Bajaj now.
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Writer: Niyati _t
