11. OS 21. An Unwilling Passion (Part 15)

Part 15

Arnav stumbled into the house he was staying in and shut the door behind him. He felt drunk, weak, exhausted and most of all, in acute shock.

What had his father done? How could he have destroyed two families for nothing?

He sagged in a chair and buried his head in his hands.

Garima! This was the woman he had been about to destroy! Like his father, he would have thoughtlessly bulldozed his way through her life and destroyed her family. Like his father. His shoulders hunched in repudiation of the blood that flowed through his veins, the tainted, dark, criminal, adulterous blood of his father and his uncle.

He needed to leave Lucknow, move as far away as possible from Khushi. His evil presence would darken her life, poison her existence, taint her innocence. But before he left, there were a few things left to do.

His phone rang.

He lifted it to his ear with a shaking hand.

Akash.

“Bhai, when are you coming home?” Akash asked, unwilling to stay away from his brother for much longer.

“Soon,” Arnav whispered.

There was a long silence. Then Akash asked, “Kya hua, bhai?”

“I...I am so tired, Akash,” he murmured.

ASR, tired? Fear rushed through Akash. His brother was the strongest man in the world, the kind who blasted through hurdles and stood head and shoulders above ordinary people. Nothing could get him down.

“Bhai?” he inquired, his voice shaky.

“I have to settle...my father’s affairs,” Arnav managed to say. “I will be back soon.”

His father’s affairs? Akash was horrified. The man had been dead for more than a decade! Something was seriously wrong. “I am coming over, bhai.” That was all he said.

                                                                  ***

A knock sounded on the door.

Arnav dragged himself out of the chair to walk slowly to the door.

Khushi.

He blocked the passage so that she couldn’t enter the house.

“Yes?” he asked, his voice husky in the extreme.

“Arnavji, aap theek ho? Amma said you looked pale.” Khushi’s eyes were clouded by concern.

“I am fine,” he responded, his eyes running all over her in a last-ditch attempt to save her image to his brain. He would never see her again. Her pure, innocent soul wouldn’t be corrupted by his presence. He would make sure of it.

“Shall I bring tea? Without sugar?” she asked solicitously.

“No,” he replied.

Khushi frowned. “Aap sach mein theek ho?” she asked.

“Yes.”

She hesitated.

“I have work to do,” he spoke, the words falling from his lips easily after years of practice.

Khushi nodded uncertainly. “Will you call me if you need anything?” she asked anxiously.

He couldn’t make himself mouth a lie. He just nodded.

She made to leave.

He shut the door, locking himself away from her.

                                                              ***

There was a series of loud bangs on his door.

Arnav stirred from the armchair and padded to the front door. Was it Khushi again?

Akash and Aman stood there in the dark.

Before Arnav could say anything, Akash walked into him and hugged him tightly.

Arnav locked his arms around Akash’s rangy figure and rested his forehead against his shoulder. “It is a bloody mess,” he whispered.

“We will sort it out, together,” Akash reassured him.

Aman set down their bags. “The private detectives are in Lucknow right now. All you have to do is give instructions, sir. They will be done.”

“Get me info on my paternal uncle,” Arnav said with a sigh.

                                                        ***

Akash and Aman sat listening to Arnav narrate the events that Garima had described.

When Arnav came to the end of the sorry tale, Akash couldn’t contain himself. “The scoundrel!” he exclaimed. “How could he?”

Arnav sat still, the weight of his past heavy on his shoulders.

“I need to recompense Garima for the loss of her land,”  he said finally.

“Shall I locate the property she owned in Kanpur?” Aman asked. “We can buy it back.”

Arnav thought about it for a moment and then shook his head. “No, her husband is sick and she doesn’t travel alone. It will be difficult for her to manage a property in Kanpur.”

“A property in Lucknow?” Akash asked.

Arnav nodded. “Preferably Sheesh Mahal.”

Akash gasped. “You want to gift her your ancestral home?”

Arnav’s lips twisted. “But I wouldn’t wish that mausoleum on anyone. It would drain her financially to maintain it and selling a house that huge would be very difficult for her.”

Aman received a call and he moved away to take it.

The brothers remained silent till Aman returned with news. “Your chacha is up to his neck in debt. Sheesh Mahal is pledged to the hilt. You can buy it,” he announced.

Arnav thought for a moment and then declared, “I am not throwing away my hard-earned cash on that nightmare. He wanted the house to himself, which is why he threw di and me out. Now he can deal with it and go to hell in his own way.”

Akash nodded. “If that’s what you want, bhai,” he responded.

“I will transfer money to Garima Gupta’s account,” Arnav announced, “enough to make up for the loss of her property.” There was no way he could make up for the way in which his father had cheated her.

“I will get her account details,” Aman added.

“And fix an appointment with my chacha,” Arnav told Aman quietly. “It is time to bury this.”

“Yes, sir.”

“I will come with you, bhai,” Akash declared. There was no way he was letting Arnav walk into Sheesh Mahal alone.

                                                                     ***

It was done.

Arnav sat back in his armchair. The meeting with his chacha had gone as planned. The bounder had admitted to stealing Garima’s land to pay creditors.

He took his chequebook to fill out a leaf for Garima. He entered a large sum as compensation for her. Payal’s face swam into his mind. Marriage cancelled at the last moment, just like his di. He added a zero to the number. Khushi. He added two more zeros to the number and continued to fill in the blanks.

He handed over the cheque to Aman.

There was a knock on the door.

Khushi. He knew it was her.

“Akash, see who it is,” he instructed, exerting superhuman control not to bound out of his chair and go running to the door. “Whoever it is, tell them I am not available.”

Akash opened the door to see Khushi standing there, a loaded tray in her hand.

“Yes?” he asked.

“Who are you?” she exclaimed. “Where is Arnavji?”

Arnavji? Interesting, Akash mused. “I am Akash, err...Arnavji’s brother. And you are?”

“Khushi,” she replied as though it were public knowledge. “Where is Arnavji?”

“Inside,” Akash said, pointing to the living room. He didn’t think bhai would lose his temper at him for letting this beautiful lady into the house. He followed Khushi in, eager to watch the interaction between Khushi and her Arnavji.

“Arnavji!” she called as she walked up to him and set down the tray on the table by his chair.

“Khushi?” Arnav sat up. “Did you get the cheque?”

“Cheque? Kaun sa cheque?” she asked, busily removing the cover of the tray to reveal pakodas and tea. “Aap kha-pi leejiye. You look very tired. I thought you would be happy that your brother has come to see you?”

“I sent Aman to your house sometime back...” Arnav began.

“Oh, that nice bhaiyya? He took amma to the bank with him.” She frowned. “Why did you send a cheque with him?”

“Err...I...my family owes her. We took property from her a long time back. The cheque is the payment,” Arnav explained.

Khushi held out a cup of tea to him, her direct gaze on him. “Are you satisfied with whatever amma had to tell you?” she asked.

“Yes, it was not her fault. It was my father’s.”

Khushi heaved a sigh of relief. “Chodiye yeh sab. It happened so long back and your parents are no more. Aap chai peejiye, pakode khaayiye.” She held out a cup of tea to Akash who accepted it gratefully.

“How is your father?” Arnav asked.

“Much better,” she replied, joy suffusing her face. “Doctor saheb said if he continues getting better, he can come home at the end of this month.”

“Good,” Arnav replied.

Her face became drawn to Akash’s interest. “Agar aap nahi hote to...I can’t even imagine...pata nahi how we would have taken him to hospital.” She turned to Akash. “I knocked on your bhaiyya’s door at midnight and he took us to the hospital in his car. Doctor saheb said that acha hua we brought him quickly, nahi to pata nahi kya ho jaata...”

Akash was very intrigued at the good Samaritan version of his bhai, the most akhdoo, khadoos person in Delhi.

“Really?” he asked, with a look at his bhai who flushed slightly.

“Really. Your bhaiyya is the best, Akashji,” Khushi averred.

Arnav stood up. “We will be leaving Lucknow today,” he declared.

Khushi’s face fell. “Aap jaa rahe ho?” she asked in dismay.

“I have been here too long,” Arnav replied, turning his face away from temptation.

“Aap wapis aayenge na?” she asked hopefully.

“No, my work here is done,” Arnav managed to say, his head still turned away from her. She had no notion of self-preservation. It was up to him to ensure her safety...from him.

Akash stood watching the strange pair and their ridiculously complicated wooing dance if he could call it that.

                                                          ***

10. OS 21. An Unwilling Passion (Part 14)

Part 14

The next few hours were very strange for an Arnav Singh Raizada who never changed his mind once he had made it or questioned his own decisions.

He paced his room, conflicting thoughts eating into his peace of mind and corroding the certainty with which he had viewed his past.

Did he want to give Garima a chance to clear her name? Would he be able to listen to the details of his father’s clandestine romance with composure? Or was it better to leave Lucknow and effect revenge from the safe environs of Delhi?

Khushi’s face swam into his vision.

Maybe he should give Garima a chance to say her piece. It was the last time he would have to wade through the nightmarish incidents of his past. He could then leave Lucknow and return to Delhi.

Khushi’s tear-filled eyes filled his mindscape, pushing out every other thought. 

Yes, he would give Garima a chance.

                                                                           ***

Arnav knocked on the door to Gomti Sadan the next day after he had seen Garima and Khushi enter the house.

Khushi opened the door, standing absolutely astonished. She had never expected to see him again.

He felt a pull somewhere inside at the sight of her pale face and bruised eyes.

“Arnavji...aap? Aayiye na?” she invited him in. Was he here to listen to amma?

“Where is Garima?” he asked quietly.

“Aap baitiye na? I will call her,” Khushi led him to a seat, praying fervently that her amma was innocent of the crimes he had accused her of.

“How is your father?” he asked.

“Better,” she said with a sigh of relief. “It will take time for his full recovery, but doctor saheb is hopeful.”

She went away to summon Garima.

Arnav looked at the polished shine of his shoes. His time in Lucknow was coming to an end. It was time to decide the fate of Garima and her family. By tonight, her fate would be sealed.

He looked away unseeingly at the amateur efforts by Khushi and Payal to decorate the living room with their works of art and embroidery.

“Bitwaa,” Garima murmured as she came to join him.

“I want to know how you came to meet Arvind Mallik and why you came to see my parents’ corpses before the cremation,” he said curtly, briefly.

She sighed soundlessly and sat down, pulling the ghoonghat to cover her hair fully. Then she locked the fingers of both hands and looked at the floor.

“Hum aap se jo kuch bhi kehne wale hein, woh sab Payaliya’s babuji knows. Lekin I have no proof to offer you that I am speaking the truth,” she said softly before launching into her tale. “We lived in Kanpur, my babuji and I. My jiji, that is Khussi’s mother, lived with her husband and daughter in Varanasi. Our mother died when we were young.”

Arnav said nothing, just tried to tamp down the bitterness rising in his throat.

“We had a shop adjoining our house,” Garima continued, looking up to meet Arnav’s eyes. “It was by the road. Your father stopped there one afternoon to buy something. He was passing through our area. Babuji had gone out. Isliye dookan mein hum the.”

Arnav’s lips tightened. His face was a mask, expressionless.

“He came often...to buy things from the shop. He used to talk very sweetly to me. He met babuji a few times. Pata nahi woh Kanpur mein kya kar rahe the...he told babuji that he was on some business.” Garima sat lost in thought. Then she continued, “After a few months, he came with his brother to meet babuji.”

“With his brother?” Arnav asked, astonished.

“Ji,” Garima said, nodding. “They asked babuji for my hand.”

Arnav stared at her as if poleaxed. His chacha knew Arvind Mallik was married! Why on earth had he helped his brother commit bigamy?

“They said that their parents were dead and that he had only his brother to bring with him as a family to make a formal proposal,” Garima recounted quietly. “Babuji was uneasy, but had to accept that he had no other relations. He asked me if I was willing to marry Arvind Mallik. The fool that I was, I said yes. He summoned our neighbours and they fixed a date for our sagai.”

Arnav couldn’t believe his ears. He stared at Garima with wide eyes.

“Sagai was at our house with his brother and our relations and neighbours as guests. A few days later, Arvind Mallik and his brother came to visit babuji again. They said they were setting up a big factory in Kanpur and that they wanted to buy a large plot of land. They asked if babuji would sell the property on which our house and shop  stood.” Garima said with a sigh. “Babuji was torn. He didn’t want to sell, but nor could he refuse his soon-to-be-damaad.”

Arnav clenched his fists. It had all the makings of a scam.

“They asked babuji for the papers to our property. Babuji handed them over. They took the documents and left. Uske baad do mahine, there was no news of them.” Garima had to blink away tears.

Arnav felt himself flushing in shame. He belonged to a family of crooks and lechers. Yes, he did. There was no hiding from the truth.

“Babuji began to get worried. We had no way of contacting Arvind Mallik and babuji fretted day and night. Finally....” Garima’s voice died away.

Arnav sat still, immobile, feeling time stand still.

“One night, while asking me if I had any way of contacting the Malliks and worrying about the property papers that had been taken from us, he suffered a heart attack. I ran to call the neighbours and we took him to the hospital, lekin....” Garima dried wet cheeks. “Phir kya tha? Jiji and jiju came with Khussi and took me to stay with them in Kashi. I told our neighbours to inform me if Arvind Mallik came looking for me in Kanpur, but.... Two months later, jiju was transferred to Lucknow. I was relieved. I was certain I could locate Arvind Mallik and get the papers from him and get married to him.” Garima leaned back with a heavy sigh.

Arnav had to look away from her. The way her tale was going, his father was more than an adulterer. He was also a criminal. He had a very clear idea what his chacha was made of but had expected his father to be a better man. Foolish in the extreme. Welcome to reality, Arnav, he told himself. Your father and his brother were cut off the same cloth. Not much to choose between them apparently.

“We settled down in Lucknow and I began to ask around about an Arvind Mallik. Someone told me that the Malliks were a rich family living in Sheesh Mahal. I was sure that the Arvind Mallik I knew couldn’t be from such a rich family and so I sought him elsewhere. One day....” She had to pause to draw a few breaths before she could continue. “One day I saw him at the temple.” She swallowed hard before saying with her head lowered. “There was a lady with him, with sindoor in her maang. I was shocked, lekin I comforted myself thinking she might be his sister-in-law or a cousin. I tried to approach him, but the crowd.... I ran out of the temple premises to see them leave in a car. I ran after the vehicle like a mad woman, but.... A man on the road asked me why I was running after the car. When I asked him if it was Arvind Mallik, he said it was and that he lived in Sheesh Mahal with his wife and children, his brother and mother.”

Garima took a few moments to compose herself. Then she continued, “I was heartbroken. I had gotten engaged to a married man! He had taken the documents of the only property we owned and had indirectly caused babuji’s death. It took me a few days to compose myself and then I decided to confront him. The property was my jiji’s and Khussi’s too and I couldn’t beggar them through my foolishness.” Garima wiped away a tear that had escaped her eye and continued, “I decided to go to his house and meet him. No more lies, no more pretense. I went there one evening. The whole house was decorated...lights, band, baaja...sab kuch...guests all around...I just wanted to find him. He came out to join the guests and I saw him. I went up to him. He was shocked to see me and scared that the guests would notice us talking. He took me to stand in the shadows by a flight of stairs. I asked him if he was married and he said yes. He asked me to leave, saying that it was his daughter’s shaadi and that he would meet me the next day. I asked him for the papers to our property and he said he needed some time to return them. I asked him why he had gotten engaged to me when he was already married and he had no answer. He begged me to leave and I did.”

Arnav sat before her, his face ashen.

“I returned the next day.” A look of bewilderment presented itself on her face. “He was dead. So was his wife. People were going up the steps and into the house to view the bodies. I joined them and saw the corpses lying in the hall.” She sighed. “I returned home and said nothing to jiji and jiju.”

There was silence in the room. The pall of sorrow and regret was so strong that it overpowered him.

He wanted to leave, walk away from the horrible truth of what had happened years ago, but he owed her more than that. Garima Gupta was no home-wrecker. She was another victim of his family’s greed.

He made himself look at her. She sat there, her mind occupied by the tragedies of the past, her eyes wet.

“I...I am sorry,” Arnav murmured the words that had never passed his lips before.

She looked at him, her eyes revealing her confusion. “Why?”

“My family...they...they cheated you...” He could speak no more.

Garima smiled kindly at him. “Bitwaa, it was not your fault. You did nothing. I was foolish enough to believe Arvind Mallik’s lies,” she said softly.

“It was my father and my uncle who stole from you and lied to you,” he insisted.

“Yes,” Garima agreed, “they did. They were adults who lied to and cheated me. You were a child who knew nothing of what was going on. Don’t feel guilty for what they did. You are responsible only for what you do.”

Arnav felt lower than a worm. This was the woman he had tried to destroy? Humiliate?

He stood up and turned to leave. At the door, he stopped and asked her, “Did you get the documents to your property?”

She smiled wryly. “No. Apparently, the brothers had pledged the property without our knowledge. Years later our neighbours informed us of its neelami.”

His lips tightened. He left the house.

                                                           ***

9. OS 21. An Unwilling Passion (Part 13)

Part 13

There was a timid knock on the door.

Arnav frowned. Khushi had no compunction banging on his door. Who was knocking carefully?

He strode downstairs and unlocked the door to find Garima standing there.

He was taken aback for a moment, but his face showed little.

“I need to talk to you,” she said softly.

He stepped back but took care to leave the front door open. There was no way he wanted to get embroiled in a sordid scandal with a middle-aged lady.

Garima stepped into his house and without being invited to sit down, sat in a chair, her legs weak. Spending hours at the hospital worrying about her husband and wrestling with nightmarish memories from the past had taken their toll on her.

Arnav said nothing; he just joined her. He took a chair across from her.

They sat looking at each other in silence.

Finally, Garima mused, “Khussi said your name is Arnav Singh.”

Arnav said nothing.

“Did you lie to her?” Garima asked, tired.

“I am Arnav Singh Raizada,” he replied coldly.

“Raijjada?” Garima frowned. “Not Mallik?”

“No. You and my father made it impossible to live honourably in Lucknow with the surname Mallik,” Arnav replied, his tone cutting.

Garima paled further, looking down at her clasped hands. Then she drew in a deep breath and lifting her head to meet his eyes, asked, “Why did you come here, to Lucknow?”

“For revenge.”

Her face became as drawn as a corpse’s.

Then she said querulously, her voice breaking, “Bitwaa, please spare my children. They are innocent.”

“Did you spare my di and me?” Arnav asked, his eyes filled with rage and anguish. “And what was my mother guilty of?”

Garima had no reply. All she could do was sob.

Arnav turned away and said coldly, “There is no excuse for having an affair with a married man and destroying his family. My father got what he deserved. Now it is your turn.”

He turned towards her to blast her but stopped in shock. Khushi was standing at the door and it was evident from her wounded eyes and wan face that she had heard most of the exchange.

Garima turned her head to see what it was that had caught Arnav’s interest and gaped at the sight of Khushi.

Arnav was too stupefied to speak and Garima got up from her seat and brushed past Khushi on her way out.

                                                          ***

Khushi walked towards him and came to stand by the chair in which Garima had sat. Her fingers clutched its back as she tried to get over the shock of what she had heard from Arnavji’s mouth.

“Kh...khushi...” Arnav whispered.

She was too tired to fight, too exhausted to hate. “Yeh...yeh sab kya he, A..Arnavji?” she asked, hoping she hadn’t heard what she had heard.

He looked into her guileless, honest eyes. Only the truth would do this time. He took a deep breath and began, “Garima Gupta, your amma, aunt, whatever,” he made a slashing movement with his hand, “had an affair with my father, a married man with two kids.”

Khushi gulped, her eyes locked on his face.

“My mother found out about the affair when Garima visited our home, Sheeshmahal in Lucknow, on the evening of my di’s wedding.” He looked directly into her eyes and his words hit her like bullets. “My mother shot herself with papa’s pistol in the library. Papa shot himself a couple of hours after her body was found. The wedding was cancelled and a day after the cremation, my chacha threw us out of the house.”

Khushi quickly sat down for fear that she would fall down.

His lips twisted. “But Garima was nothing but kind. She took the effort to visit us when our parents’ corpses lay in our living room for the public to pay their respects.”

Her bloodless fingers clutched the arms of her chair.

He tried to drum up all the hate he had displayed to Garima. “I want revenge, Khushi. I will destroy Garima and her family just like she destroyed mine.”

Khushi gulped.

He laid down the cards, making her aware of whom she was dealing with and how futile it would be to try to escape him.

“I own AR Designs. My firm purchased your father’s loan papers from Tiwari and pressed for immediate repayment,” he stated.

Khushi’s mouth fell open.

“I have more money and power than you can imagine, Khushi. I can....” he paused to think of words that would make her understand how powerful he was. “I can buy the whole of Lucknow and not feel the pinch. I am Arnav Singh Raizada.” His quiet words carried assurance. “I am a bad enemy and your amma/aunt is doomed.”

He waited for her response. Would she beg him to spare Garima? If she did, what would he do? Could he give up his need for vengeance for Khushi?

After a long moment, all she did was blink away the tears in her eyes and say, “I...I didn’t know...matlab I was a child...I have no idea what happened between your father and amma...You were a child too.” She shook her head to clear it. “I am sorry...ki aap ko yeh sab sehna pada...I am so sorry.” She drew in a deep breath to control her sobs. “All I know is the amma I have lived with for the past decade. She is so careful of our reputation that we aren’t permitted to visit our friends for more than a few minutes. Woh khud akeli ghar se bahar nahi jaati. I don’t know how she could be the person who helped to destroy your family.” A sob escaped her iron control.

Arnav turned away, a frown on his face.

When he turned back after a long moment, she was gone.

                                                         ***