Second Chance

Chapter 1 New House

Change! Everyone experiences the moment of life, at least once that changes their whole life. It changes the direction. It changes the pace. It changes the course. It changes lives. 

That one moment decides one's destiny, one's purpose and one's whole lifetime of worth. Worth, which one has been living for others but, the moment of change makes one live it for oneself. That's how a simple moment in life turns your whole world. A simple decision replaces the existence around you. Sometimes people too. A simple moment of clarity changes the picture. 

Dev is going through that change in his life at this moment. This moment of decision will change the whole scenery for him. The one he is unaware of. Even though he was put on this stand by someone else. This day was supposed to be the most memorable day in his life and still will be. But, it will be remembered differently for a different reason, not for the one it was supposed to be. The day when Dev expected to change his life for the rest of his living. But he never expected it to happen this way. It was his wedding day. He was supposed to get married to his girlfriend. The one with whom he was in a relationship for the past 6 years.

After a whole lot of drama and convincing their families for this marriage, they were finally here to tie a knot that was supposed to remain. However, even before getting onto the pedestal of doing so, something changed, to be precise, the bride. 

Instead of getting married to his long time girlfriend, Dev gets married to Mahi. Dev and Mahi have known each other since they were kids or since Mahi's parents moved to the same city. Dev's mother, Savitri and Mahi's mother, Shree, have been the thickest of friends since their schooldays. So much so that when they moved, they became family more than friends. Dev was fourteen when he first met nine-year-old Mahi at his house. 

For Dev, Mahi has been nothing more than Shree Aunty's daughter or his mother's goddaughter. And so for Mahi Dev was. Now he is her husband.

Mahi's decision of getting married to Dev at this moment was nothing but a chance. A chance to return some of the gratitude to her Saavi Maa and her family. Saavi Maa was just not her Godmother. But a woman who was responsible for saving her life a long time ago. She didn't mind giving herself up for Saavi Maa's family. The time when they need it the most is nothing but an opportunity for Mahi to relieve herself from the burden of the same regard Saavi Maa presented in her moment of crisis. Thus, this decision of getting married to a man with whom she is not in love was somewhat easy for her. However, for her father and for Saavi Maa, this was a difficult decision to come to terms with. And they both opposed it vehemently. But despite her father's opposition, Mahi went through it. While for her mother, it was not simple but tough to understand Mahi's decision. Yet, this was somewhat acceptable to her. She always wanted Dev and Mahi to be together, even before they were born. It was like her long-drawn dream to get her precious daughter married to her best friend's son. Thus, friends becoming family in the true sense. Of course, the way it happened was never how she imagined. Yet, it did. 

Dev, in all of this, was silent. He went numb for hours. Going ahead with the wedding with Mahi without any objection or hesitation mattered less at this moment than the end of this fateful day. Eventually, it did, though marking a new beginning of his life with Mahi. 

'I have already asked them to get one of the rooms ready for you,' Dev says as they arrive at his Pune house. 

'Ok!' replies Mahi with a nod and looking around. It is her first time at Dev's Pune home. She knows the history of this house as Dev built this house himself when he started working with his father on his hotel chains business.