Raavi sat quietly in her room after Anita left. Green chooriyan didn't mean marriage. Shiva was right to call her a gadheri. How could she be so dumb? Right now, she didn't even know how to react. Her mind was blank and she didn't know what to do. Her whole life had been a lie. The green chooriyan she believed in, were nothing but just green chooriyan. They didn't symbolise anything.
She felt like crying as she realised the truth. Her whole life changed because of her green bangles, but they didn't mean anything. She got out of her room. Her Maasi called her to chat but she walked out of the house. She didn't know where she was going. She just kept on walking and walking. Her mind was still numb from the shock.
Suddenly Raavi stopped. She realised that her feet had carried her to the store. Shiva was out in the front dealing with some customers. She straightaway went in and threw her arms around him, sobbing. Shiva was shocked. He tried to shoo her away, looking at the customers, but she didn't budge. Raavi didn't care she was getting weird looks from the customers, she kept on hugging him.
"Ae gadheri, kaam kar raha hu main." Shiva whispered. "Bhaag yaha se."
Raavi said something in between her sobs which Shiva couldn't hear. She kept muttering something. He again tried to pull her away, but she was stuck onto him like a leech.
"Shiva beta, main sambhal leta hu. Tu Raavi ko sambhal." Kaka came to his rescue.
Shiva nodded and took her inside. She was still crying, so he hugged her back to make her stop. She kept crying for a few minutes, then she went and sat on the chair. Shiva got her a glass of water and she drank it slowly.
"Ab batayegi bhi kya hua?" Shiva asked.
Raavi looked at Shiva. Now he was going to make fun of her for believing in Anita Di's story. "Tu sahi tha. Main galat thi." Raavi pouted.
"Woh toh main humesha hota hu. Par kis baare mein baat kar rahi hai tu?" Shiva asked.
Raavi took a long breath and decided to let it out. "Anita di ne kaha hari chooriyon ka aur shaadi ka koi connection nahi hota."
Raavi expected him to laugh but he just let out an oh. He was silent for a minute after that, then suddenly he burst out laughing like she'd expected. Raavi glared at him, so he put covered his mouth with his hand, while laughing.
"Sorry." Shiva laughed. "Main toh kab se bol raha tha. Gadheri!"
"Par Anita di ne kaha tha connection hai! Majnu ne Laila ko hari chooriyan diye the."
"Kab?" Shiva asked.
"Shaadi se pehle." Raavi said.
"Kiski shaadi?"
"Laila Majnu ki! Shiva tujhe Laila Majnu ki story nahi pata?" Raavi asked.
"Unn dono ki shaadi kaha hui thi?" Shiva asked. "Uska parivaar toh maana hi nahi. Laila ki shaadi kisi aur se karwa di gayi. Majnu pagal ho gaya aur last mein dono bicharne ke gham se marr gaye."
Raavi was aghast. "Yeh kya story suna raha hai Shiva?"
"Laila Majnu ki kahaani." Shiva said. "Tujhe sachhi yeh kahani nahi pata thi?"
Raavi screamed in frustration. Anita di had lied to her. Her favourite story ended in tragedy. They died. That was the worst ending possible. Everything she'd believed in was a lie.
"Happy ending nahi hui?" Raavi asked.
"Marr gaye toh kya happy ending?" Shiva laughed. "Toh isiliye tu hari chooriyon ko leke pari thi?"
"Haa. Aur mere papa ne bhi mummy ko shaadi se pehle hari chooriyan di thi. Toh mujhe laga shaadi hoti hai." Raavi said. "Par yeh sab Anita di ki fault hai. Mujhe jhoothi story kyu sunayi unhone?"
"Achha hai na. Ab tu free. Jisse shaadi karni hai kar." Shiva said.
"Tu kyu mujhe azaad karne pe tula hai? Koi freedom fighter hai tu?" Raavi screamed. "Pehle hi dimaag kharab ho rakha hai. Tu ab aur kharab mat kar."
Raavi stormed out of the store. She walked back to her house, but she couldn't go in. So she took a u-turn and went to the market to get some ice-cream. Chocolate ice-cream could help her get over this trauma. Then she headed to Pandya house.
***
Krish had no idea what Raavi was doing. She was sobbing and eating ice-cream. No one was home so he had to entertain her. The girl wouldn't even share her ice-cream with him. She kept saying something about green bangles but he drowned out her voice as he didn't understand most of what she was saying. He wanted to get back to his video game, but she just wouldn't leave.
Raavi came to Pandya house hoping for Dhara di to talk to, but she had gone to the market. Krish was useless. He didn't even care about her, and all he was doing was eyeing her ice-cream greedily. Raavi had finished half of the tub in fifteen minutes. She looked at the clock. Dhara di wasn't going to come home any time soon. So Krish was her only option.
"Maine zindagi mein sirf ek cheez seriously li thi. Woh bhi jhooth nikli! Baro ko na bachho se jhooth nahi bolna chahiye." Raavi said.
"Baat toh sahi hai." Krish said absent-mindedly.
"Ab main kya karu?" Raavi whined. "Hari chooriyan wali logic bhi fail kar gayi."
"Jo mann kare woh kar." Krish said.
"Krish tu thik se meri baat sunn nahi raha hai." Raavi said. "Main confusion ke ocean mein doobti jaa rahi hu aur koi lifeboat nahi dikh raha mujhe."
Krish shook his head sympathetically. "Mere saath bhi bohot baar hua hai aisa, aur mujhe toh swimming bhi nahi aati."
"Phir tu kya karta hai?" Raavi asked.
"Main toh Dev ya Shiva ke paas chala jata hu. Woh mere liye lifeboat bhej hi dete hai." Krish said.
"Gayi thi gadhere ke paas. Par woh gadhera useless nikla." Raavi said. "Aur mujhe nahi lagta Dev meri help kar sakta hai iss baat pe."
Krish sighed. "Itni bhi badi problem kya ho gayi mujhe toh yeh samajh hi nahi aa raha. Laila Majnu ki story tragedy mein end hoti hai isse tujhe kya? Tu Laila hai kya?"
"Banna toh chahti thi." Raavi pouted. "Hari chooriyon ko leke kitne sapne dekhe the. Jo bhi mujhe woh chooriyan dega woh mujhe princess ki tarah treat karega. Mujhse bepanah pyaar karega. Sab jhooth."
"Par inn sab mein hari chooriyon ka kya connection? Koi aise bhi toh kar sakta hai tujhse pyaar." Krish said.
Raavi thought for a while. "Baat toh sahi hai." She was about to get up, but she flung her spoon by mistake, and when she bent down to pick it up, Shiva's locket fell out. Krish shouted when he saw it, shocking Raavi, who fell down on the floor. She got up and hit Krish on the arm.
"Pagal ho gaya hai Krish? Aise pagalo ki tarah chilla kyu raha hai?" Raavi asked.
Krish pointed to her pendant. "Tune Shiva ki locket churayi! Tu toh blackmailer ke saath chor bhi nikli."
Raavi gasped. "Tujhe main chor dikhti hu? Shiva ne khud mujhe apni locket di."
"Par usne kaha locket kahi gir gayi hai." Krish said. "Woh tujhe kyu dega? Kisi ko chune bhi nahi deta woh."
"Kyuki main uski hone waali-" Raavi gasped. Now that the green bangles were out of the picture, their whole marriage turned out to be a sham. "Ab kya?"
"Kya kya? Usne tujhe locket di kaise? Tum dono ka kya sachhi koi scene chal raha hai?" Krish asked.
"Mujhe nahi pata." Raavi said. "Meri confusion ko aur mat bara Krish. Ab main pakka doob jaungi. Good bye!"
Saying this, she finally went to her house to sleep it off.
