Wherever You Will Go

Part 2 - Darkest Days

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If I could, then I would,

I'll go wherever you will go

Way up high or down low,

I'll go wherever you will go

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"Hai Rabba! What is this world coming to," Mrs. Bhalla complained as she read over the newspaper headlines.

"Kya Mummyji, what has happened?" Ishita asked, bringing juice to the table. She poured a glass for her daughter and mother-in-law and then offered some to Pragya, but Pragya declined.

Pragya munched her toast and fondly watched as Ruhi made Ishita feed her breakfast. It was her third week in Delhi with the Bhallas, and she had discovered that Ruhi had a habit of teasing her mother every morning. The little girl was perfectly able to eat on her own, but she liked to have Ishita doting on her.

"This shameless rockstar Abhi!" Mrs. Bhalla said, and Pragya stiffened. She risked a glance at the newspaper, and her heart sank as she read the headline that was upsetting Mrs. Bhalla.

Rockstar-Supermodel Baby Scandal!

Abhi's wife leaves him, Tanu to file a case?

"Chi chi chi. Maine socha tha, yeh Abhi ek changa Punjabi munda hoga. Lekin woh bhi besharam mard nikhla! He was married to a very nice girl, and now this hi-fi model is pregnant by him. Iss Abhi ko uske pariwaar aur naam ki thodi si parva bhi nahin." (Tsk tsk tsk. I had thought this Abhi was a nice Punjabi boy. But he has turned out to be just another shameless man! ...This Abhi obviously doesn't care at all about his family or his family name.)

Pragya wanted to jump in and defend Abhi's commitment to his family, but she kept silent. The Bhallas were kindly letting her stay with them until she found a teaching position in Delhi. They were old family friends, and they knew that she was coming out of a failed marriage. 

But she had not truly told them who her husband was; she had simply said that he was a singer named Abhishek Prem and their values had turned out to be incompatible. In a way that was the truth, too, but as she listened to Mrs. Bhalla lament the state of young people today, she felt guilty for not being more honest.

Mrs. Bhalla set aside the newspaper so that she could finish eating her breakfast. Ishita's husband Raman came to the table, and the topic of conversation changed to the day's dinner plans. After a few minutes, Pragya quietly picked up the paper and read the article about Abhi.

So Tanu was pregnant. Pragya found that she didn't have any reaction to this news, though it probably should have shocked and upset her. Ever since leaving Mumbai, she was just too numb to react to anything, and this was no exception.

She could almost convince herself to be happy about it. This would surely give Abhi the last push he needed to arrange those divorce papers. She had been wondering why he hadn't contacted her about that, but if he was dealing with this pregnancy situation obviously he had been distracted.

On some distant level, she felt bad that the news was in the papers. This could not be an easy time for Daadi, and probably Abhi was facing some public relations problems too. She wished she could help in some way, maybe tell the world that it was fine, Abhi hadn't done anything wrong, Tanu was likely pregnant even before their marriage.

She wondered how long Tanu had known. Had that been part of her motivation for the whole trick with Purab's letter? But then why hadn't she just said so? She could have ended their marriage in a minute by telling Abhi about the baby.