Unreachable Destiny- The Curse Of Your Love

Chapter-11: History Repeating Itself.

"Why are you against this idea, Maya?" Meenakshi Rajvansh is not pleased, to say the least. Maya came barging into her room with a stern face and a concrete argument to dissolve the idea of their birthday celebrations. Meenakshi, being as stubborn as she is, is not willing to lose the argument.

"Because it is not a good idea."

"If you're turning this down, you should at least give a good reason, Maya."

"I have plenty, don't you worry, Ms. Rajvansh. I have been living here for a month now. I have joined the camp for just three weeks and I am only at home on weekends. I am the least existing person in this house and even I can notice Ms. Kuhu's indifference or attitude, should I say, towards my brother who is kind enough to try to make peace with HER. I have been trying my best not to snap at her, at my brother's expense, but now you are planning his birthday with hers? And you don't expect her to try everything to overshadow him?"

"Kuhu will never do that. I will make sure of it so you don't have to worry. It is not just your brother's birthday but yours too and Kuhu loves you way more than she should. She will never do something that might upset you."

"Wow. But sharing an intimate family event with her is upsetting me enough. I don't understand. Why is there a need to celebrate our birthdays when they have already passed?"

"Because I want this family to celebrate your birthday at least once. There's no way to tell if you'll be here next year. We weren't able to celebrate even when you were born."

"Yes, because our mother was dead and the woman you're throwing a party for is responsible for that."

"Maya! How can you talk about the woman who gave birth to you like that? Can't you see our good intentions in trying to understand you and bring you closer to this family?"

"Good intentions are not the medicine for pain. You cannot compensate me for the loss I experienced. I won't be sentimental like my dad and be manipulated by your 'Good Intentions' so please stop trying. What we have between us is not distance, it's just vacuum. An infinite of space with nothing."

"Why did you grow up to become so stone-hearted?" Maya does not notice the look in Meenakshi's eyes. If she did, she would've been met with a sadness that was built with time and maybe things could've gotten better, but Meenakshi's punishment was not fulfilled yet and so the enmity between them remains.

"Because I take after you." Maya looks at Meenakshi as the latter's face straightens. They look at each other with a stern expression of their own. Maya turns around, feeling her back burn with Meenakshi's gaze, as she stomps out of the room.

One of the painters named Kishore asks another worker, Ramu to hold the Veena while he puts up the drap over the furniture. Ramu holds the Veena close to the balcony, not paying proper attention as Meenakshi enters the balcony and witnesses it.

"What are you doing? Who let you touch that? put it down." Ramu with shaky hands tries to hand over the instrument but under the laser gace of Ms. Rajvansh, no ordinary man would stand fearless, except Maya. The instrument slips out of his hand and topples over the balcony.

Ranav brings back the last dish so he can put it inside and leave as his nose is itchy with all the dust particles in the air due to the painting and the renovation. He watches as an angry woman walks out of the house, looking like she is on the verge of cursing the entire world when he sees something in his peripheral vision and turns up his eyes to find something dropping from above, right on top of the angry woman. He runs, losing the last dish in his hurry, and in a moment, he is by her side, pulling her into his arms and losing his own balance in the process. He changes the direction of their fall to avoid getting hit. They hit the ground with a thud with Ranav lying above Maya like a shield as the instrument hit the ground with an exploding noise. Ranav puts up his left arm to protect her against the impact as their eyes lock. 

It is at that moment the realization hits him as he looks into her eyes and makes out her face. She was the woman from the temple, he remembered. This also jogs his memory as to why the smell of the duppata felt so familiar as he remembers the smell from the pond. His eyes widen and everything in the background goes numb. Maya looks at him with her own eyes wide open as she looks at his arm that is lifted up to protect her and finds blood dripping over. She looks at him and then back at the hand. 

Aditya, Kuhu and Parul rush out, hearing the collision and get scared out of their wits at the spectacle outside. They immediately panic and pull Maya and Ranav apart as Aditya kneels in front of his sister, checking if she got hurt anywhere and Kuhu does the same.

"Oh my god, you are bleeding!" Parul's voice pulls their attention to Ranav who is bleeding heavily with a piece of wood sticking out of his arm. Aditya starts lifting Ranav with his arm around him and Parul supports his weight from the other side. Kuhu helps Maya up with worry written over her face but Maya's attention is elsewhere.

They take Ranav inside and sit him down on the sofa in the living room while Maya instructs Aditya to get the first aid kit in her bag and asks Parul to bring a handtowel and hold it under his arm. Thankfully the wooden piece did not dig into his skin deep and is just hanging on to the cut. Maya sits beside Ranav takes his hand into hers and pulls out the small piece before placing it on the table in front of them. The blood drips onto her trousers but she pays no heed to the poor cloth. She pours some water on the wound to prevent infection before cleaning the wound. She then applies some ointment and covers and dresses the wound firmly but carefully.

Meenakshi Rajvansh watches all that happens as the wheels in her mind turn at a rapid speed. She had the feeling of Deja vu as the Veena fell over the balcony just as it did thirty years ago. Thirty years ago, it fell when Mishti entered their house, which was the beginning of the end of their family's peace. The fact that the same instrument fell after thirty years, upon the arrival of a boy does not appear as a good omen for Meenakshi. At that moment, Meenakshi promised herself that even though she wasn't able to protect her own son from the disaster that awaited him, she would save her granddaughter from the catastrophe at any cost. But will it be an atonement for her sins? Or will her superstitious thinking get in the way of her relationships yet again? How long will it be before Meenakshi Rajvansh solves the riddle that is her mind and tells right from wrong?