Subdued - A Shiva Pandya Story

overlooked

His head felt fuzzy . He was struggling to open his eyes. Everything seemed so bright and white. Like he was in some kind of dream palace. Was he in heaven? If he was, why could he hear Rishita bhabis voice. Oh my God? If she is here then what will happen to Chukti and Dev. He sniffed like a puppy and realised that heaven smelt a lot like the hospital. Oh crap. He survived. He kind of hoped that nobody made attempts to help him live. What was the point? He was so unloved by his family and so misjudged. He was so alone in this world that he didnt want to live. At least if he died, he would have met Papa. He slowly hoisted himself up when he heard someone run to his side
" Shiva, please. Sambhal ke. Main tumhari help kar rahi hu. Yeh akele karne ki koi zarurat nahin"
" Bhabi ....aap?" He looked at Rishita and she seemed upset that he was shocked.
He backtracked by saying " mera matlab, chutki kiske paas hai"
"Shiva, agar shocked ho, tho shocked hi raho, apni feelings chupana band karo". Shiva liked this one quality the most about Rishita bhabi. She was blunt but honest. Sometimes he felt, she is what stopped the whole family from being deluded. He was in his thoughts when he heard
"Main dus saal ki thi jab maine sunna papa ki baatein. Unko beta chahe tha, jo unki naam le sakte, unki karobaar sambhal sakte, unki shaan ko bara sakte. Aur mili mein? Dont get me wrong, woh mujhe bohot pyaar karte hai lekin jo khushi ek ladka laa sakta hai, woh main nahin kar payi."
Rishita took a massive sigh and Shiva couldnt help but rub her hand in comfort. She looked up at him and tears flew down. After everything, he was still being Shiva , putting the family first.
"Isliye main maan laga kar paraye ki , har ladka ko top kiya , Dev ko bhi, yeh prove karne ke liye ki main ladki hoke woh kaam kiya jo koi nahin kar paar ya. Lekin ek din maine dekha, papa and tumhari ki laadaye . You guys were verbally fighting and I could see Papa's respect for you. Respect jo maine aaj tak mehsoos nahin kiya. Mujhe bahot gussa aaya. Itna paraye karne ke baad, woh ek bete ki ichha thi. Meri paraye ki koi value nahin thi. Jab papa ne humko dukaan diya and main competition haari, papa ki wohi chehra dikha maine. Woh afsos wali"
Shiva felt quite shocked. She was jealous? Of him? Mr Masala tel pandya?
" isliye maine tumhe hamesha taane Maari. Tumhari paraye lekar. Apne aap ko better feel karane ke liye. I'm so sorry Shiva. It's no excuse and I read the letter. Im so sorry I made you feel that bad. I wish I could undo every insult but I cant. But I promise, I will do my best to make it up to you. You may be my brother in law but I realised that's not working . I'm gonna try to see if treating you like a brother."
Shiva was slightly lighter and he smiled. He was proud of Rishita bhabi. It was hard for her to get this emotional without having a tantrum or acting like a brat.He understood her dynamics with the Seth family and Pandya family. She was playing catch up when getting attention from her father and now the same with Dev. Maybe he should give Dev a nudge. He will see but Shiva decided he will focus on himself first. He undid all of Divyas work. He needed to fix everything once and for all.