Kolhapur Chronicles

11. peace

"Yes Farhad, I mean she hasn't forgiven me yet, but she is not totally stone-cold towards me. I can sense the progress, I can see it in her eyes that she is trying to understand me and my efforts. And I think that is enough for now, this is Pallavi we are talking about, eventually, she will understand completely."

Farhad on the other side of the phone was very happy. He knew Raghav for over 8 years now and never had he thought that Raghav had the conscience to understand others. Raghav had made a mistake once, and for the rest of his life, he faced its consequences and made more mistakes in the process of covering the original one.

It is complicated.

Understanding Raghav Rao is a concept that did not exist. Farhad maybe his closest confidant, his brother and someone who knew him as he is, but there are more than a couple of moments every single day where even Farhad is confused as to why Raghav did what he did. His decisions and actions are solely based on what he thinks now, he doesn't have a pattern, and no matter how hard Farhad tries to decode how Raghav's brain works, he falls more into this never-ending pit of questions which do not have answers.

But now Farhad has answers.

It has been a week since Raghav was in Kolhapur, and even though he and Pallavi had a rough start, things are progressing. In the words of Raghav himself, eventually, Pallavi will understand him. And there is no doubt in that. She has seen him in his worst, and yet she has allowed him to prove himself.

And that is something the world, not even his Amma, had ever done.

Maybe this is what was missing in Raghav's life. Someone who would listen to him without prior prejudices, without any conclusions. Someone who would give him a chance to show what he is. Everyone Raghav met or has lived with, be it business deals, his one night stands or his mother and sister, everyone just judged him on what they have heard and directly made up an image of him in their minds, something which they did not bother to change even when the person in front of them changed. Hence Raghav decided to adopt this I-don't-give-a-fuck attitude, and that is what is missing in Kolhapur.

The Sawant's are people who need to be protected at all costs.

No matter what.

"Yes anna, bhabhi will understand, don't worry!" Farhad cheered.

"Okay calm down, why are YOU so happy?" Somewhere Raghav was also glad to hear the happiness in Farhad's voice, but he is never going to admit that.

Never.

"Anna, you are happy meaning your mood is nice, so I, along with the other staff would be spared from your temper and mood swings!" Farhad chuckled. On other days, saying something remotely close to this would have landed him a series of scoldings, but today, he knew Raghav won't take him seriously.

"Enough now, it's Sunday today, you rest at home. This week has been hectic for you because of my absence and the next one would be harder I guess. Also, I wanted to say something, and I will say it  only once, I am grateful for you Farhad." Raghav could feel himself being choked on his own words because it has always been impossible for him to express himself. But now, at this moment, it just felt right to do so.

"Anna now you are making me emotional," Farhad could never imagine Raghav telling this to him. After discussing how to manage the upcoming week, the potential meetings and the safety of Amma and Keerti, they hung up.

The phone call had him in a good mood. It is the first time something right is happening, and even though Raghav knows there is a 100% chance that everything can go wrong in a snap and he can mess everything up, he still has hopes he doesn't. As he went to search for others, he could hear faint voices from the lawn. Walking outside, he saw everyone surrounded by the mango tree. They were all throwing stones at it, in an attempt to remove all the ripe mangoes, and the aim was so perfect the mangoes fell right on their feet. Sona was seated on her small chair with a pretty hat on her head, monitoring and observing everyone, making sure they hit the mango she wanted them to hit.