Subdued - A Shiva Pandya Story

The Comedy train

Shiva lay in bed recalling events over the last day. He had a mixture of emotions. He felt sadness, relief , fear and even laughter all mixed into one. You would think he was cooking up some concoction. His mum and him had a long chat and his mum apologised. She said she would never truly like Raavi 100% but she promised she would not be horrid and if ever Shiva needed his mum...she would be there to listen without judgement or anger .He was glad to get to the bottom of Rishita underlying problem with him. A part of him couldnt help but feel sorry when she broke down crying
Especially when she read out Chutki letter which was
" Your mum is one of the strongest fighters I know. I admire her strength. She doesnt know how to channel that anger but if you learn to do that, you can take the world on and conquer it well. ". It felt like a decade when Rishita stopped crying. Girls are hard work man. Shiva learnt that the hard way. He internally laughed at the predicament.
Dev and Krish had lost the plot. They stormed in drunk during Rishitas visit and mayhem ensued as Dev sang
" ae tujhme puri bottle ka nasha, bottle ka nasha" whilst Krish provided the background music. Rishita was aghast.
" DEV, KRISH, yeh sab kya hai."
She looked back at Shiva and he seemed confused. He looked equally puzzled. The last time his brother drank was in college. He recalled how he, himself lost control when he was drunk. He just hope Dhara bhabi wouldn't see Dev or Krish in this state.
Dev pulled Rishita close and sang " tu item bomb hui, darling meri liye"
"Bhabi badnaam hui, ha jee ha tere liye" Krish was equally bad. Rishita ran around like a mouse trying to control both of the boys whilst Shiva couldnt help but laugh at her situation. Krish was insisting he was now superman and was trying to fly around with a towel hanging off his body.
Dev stumbled towards him
"Shiva, I'm sorry mere bhai. Main bohot bura hoon. Maine tujhe bohot daata. Main sochta tha, tu golden boy tha. Isliye main tujhe pasand nahin karta tha. Jab Rishita tujhe bura kaha, maine nahin roka. I'm sorry. Ae Rishita...shiva ko nahin daatna. Woh mera baby brother hai. "
Shiva looked up . He hadn't called him that in years.
" pata hai pata hai . Jab Shiva aaya tha...main happy tha. Mujhe baby brother mila. Pata nahin hum kab alag hue. Lekin abhi nahin. Next week main holiday jaara raha hu. Main Shiva aur Krish. Boys trip boys trip..." he lost focus and started chanting when Rishita shushed him.
" main kya bol raha tha. Ha ha...main tera bara bhai hoon..Agar koi tang kiya. Main uski chutney banana doonga. Koi tang kar raha hai"
Shiva was still stuck at baby brother. He realised how far he and his brothers had drifted over the years. It wasnt totally their fault. He had blame on his part too. His hot headed behaviour was always deflecting people away from him. He tried to change after his first panic attack and tried to be gentler but that made his outbursts worse. Dev was hovering over him and babbling gibberish about how romance dies after marriage when he held his brother by the collar.
" Dev.. bhabi se baath kar. Dil khole ke kar and sun uski baath. Shanti se.
Kabhi kabhi uski aankhen par. Tujhe bethar yeh koi nahin kar sakta"
Dev drunkenly mistook shivas action and insisted on looking into Rishitas eyes without blinking and Krish cried over him, about how sorry he was and he wished he could punch Krish for the way he treated Shiva
Shiva very gently tried to explain he was Krish when Prakash and Divya called. Everyone left and 30mins later they both turned up
" Divya I'm so sorry, we were doing so well . I dont know what happened"
There was dead silence when suddenly
"Gadhera, bewakoof" Prakash was whacking him on the arm and Divya was cheering him on. They told him off
" Shiva , if all my clients apologised after a relapse , I would be carrying a whole sack of sorries. Look we were doing well and I think I got to the bottom of your anxiety .I know what it is"
Shiva looked up curiously and asked
"Wajah kya hai"
She sighed a bit too loudly and said
" Raavi".