Kismat

Chapter 2: The Phone Call

Walking into the small dhaba, Shourya is hit with the smell of his favourite biriyani. He closes his eyes for a minute and lets the nostalgia take over.

"Shourya baba, aaye aaye." An old man says as he ushers the father-son duo over to the back table, where they've been sitting since Shourya can remember.

(please come in.)

"Chotu, do plate biriyani, saath mein raita bhi lana. Aur do chai bhi, ekdam khadak lana!" The old man shouts, "baba, kuch aur?"

(Chotu, two plates biriyani, with curd. and two teas. . . . . Anything else?)

"Uncle appko to mera order muh zubaani yaad hai" Shourya says, "nahi, aur kuch nahi."

(Uncle, you remember my order off by heart. . . . that will be all thank you.)

"Yaad kese nahi hoga. Jab se aap chote hai, tabse aate hai aur hamesh aapko biriyani hi chaye hoti hai."

(Why would I not remember? you have been coming here since you were a child and you have always wanted biriyani.) 

"Uncle, 4 plate biriyani aur raita pack kr dena please. Saath mein 2 plate channe bhature bhi."

(Uncle, please pack 4 plates of biriyani and curd. as well as two plates of  channe bhature.)

Shourya says before the old man walks away to see their order.

"Dad, aaj sab ke liye biriyani le jaayenge."

(we'll take biriyani for everyone today.)

Raj smiles at his son, feeling satisfied with his son's happy face.

He knows how important this dhaba is for them as a family. This is where Suman told him about both pregnancies, this is where he would bring her to calm down her mood swings and pacify her, this is where he would bring her to feed her cravings, this is where Shourya and the twins told their parents about all their achievements. This is where they came to celebrate. A small, local Dhaba.

Just as they were about to stuff their faces with biriyani, Raj got a phone call from Neel. Shourya fills his mouth with the divine food as he watched his father's face change from calm to frantic. And just like that, the atmosphere changed too, something was wrong.

Shourya called over a waiter got their food packed and collected the rest of the food for the others at the counter where he paid and said bye to the old man. Raj had already gotten up and was moving towards the car. Everything happened so fast, Shourya's mind filled with questions, but he knew it wasn't time to ask them.

Throughout the drive, Shourya kept stealing glances at his father, looking for answers. His father had his elbow on the window, and hand covering his mouth, eyes unfocused, clearly distressed. This worried Shourya. They drove in silence, until they got to the gates of their mansion.

As the gates open, Shourya finally said, "Dad?"

"He got married."

"Wha-"

"Rohan. He came home married to a girl named Priya."

Shourya's eyes widened. His first thoughts were "What about . . . . . ."

They looked at each other, before Shourya gave his father's arm a light, reassuring squeeze. He knew his father had a soft spot for that girl.

Raj and Shourya were about to enter when they heard a voice behind them.

"So it's true! I thought Riya was joking."

It was Aarav, Riya's twin. His black hair is messy, suggesting he didn't wear his helmet on his motorbike. Shourya will talk to him about that later.

The three men stand at the door as they wait as the housekeeper, Sheela, opened the door. The men take a step forward into the house, they see everyone in the living room. Shourya takes in the sight of his chachu's angry face and his chachi's back facing towards him. She's sitting next to her son's bride, Shourya can see the blue dupatta hanging on her head.

He looks over at Rohan, face down standing behind their grandmother. His grandmother holding Rohan's hand, eyes red, she's clearly been crying, which angers Shourya. His eyes wander more to the left, where he sees his mother sitting on the sofa and Riya sitting near their mother's feet. Shourya walks closer to see the white bandage on her foot, and Riya packing up the first aid box.

"Maa." Shourya says, drawing attention towards him. "What happened?" His voice comes out rough, you can see the anger in his eyes and the way his hands are clenched.

(Mom)

Riya moves away from them, not wanting to be in the middle of the crossfire that's about to take place.

"Nothing beta, I accidentally stepped on the glass," Suman whispers softly, wanting to calm her son. "It's not too deep, it'll heal in a bit."

Shourya kneels next to his mum, takes her foot and placed it on his knee. Examining it quietly, Raj comes close and holds his wife's hand and Aarav wraps his arm around his sister.

"Maa lets go upstairs," Shourya says as calmly as he can, completely ignoring anyone else there. He picks his mother up before exiting their huge living room and walking up the stairs to take his mother to her room.

"Aarav, why don't you call a doctor to come to look at your mother's foot properly," says Raj.