Abhinav

Part 31 -Storm (4)

'Dr. Birla, you have given many reasons as why your marriage with Akshara didn't work out. You said that you wanted Akshara to stay away from your messy family issues but she wouldn't listen. Husband and wife are life partners, ji. Mrs. and Mr. Birla's problems were hers too. I understand your need to protect her but somewhere your over protection forced her into that childhood loneliness again when she was away from her Goenka family. Family matters do get messy. But the segregation of your family and my family doesn't work in a marriage. You just had to trust Akshara and her way. Just because it's different from yours doesn't mean it's wrong..'

Abhimanyu snorted, 'Really, Sharma ji? Have you ever had problems with Akshara, any arguments to give this advice? Like Mom said, you are only Akshara's yes man. Ji, ji, ji. You must have heard the saying, it's easier to preach than to practice'.
'..Dr. Birla, you had a co-parenting relationship with Aarohi ji. Tell me, is it possible to raise a kid without having disagreements? But disagreements do not equal to disrespect. You have seen for yourself, even participated, in the Muskaan-Kairav issue that we had. Maybe, in your haste to defend Akshara's brother, you may have missed that neither did Akshara fully agree nor did I fully reject the alliance till we hadn't discussed things clearly between us..'

Abhimanyu threw an angry look in Abhinav's direction but Abhinav continued,
'You said next that Akshara wouldn't stop taking implusive decisions. That's her nature, Dr. Birla. Love is accepting the person as they are, not cherry picking the parts you like and trying to change the rest. Dr. Birla, didn't your impulsiveness destroy your marriage?..'

Abhimanyu interrupted,
'Of course not, Sharma ji! In our second chance at marriage, I was so careful about not hurting Akshara! I always took extra care of everything, making sure that every little thing gave her happiness. It was Akshara and Akshara alone who destroyed our marriage!'.
Abhinav continued,
'.. You were impulsive, Dr. Birla. The time when you should have been part of your brother's prayer ceremony, you were accusing Akshara instead and divorced her, causing her to leave your house and life. Had you given yourself time to grieve, time to think, things would have been different. Maybe, you would have still decided to end your relation with Akshara but you could have been with Abhir since his birth, things wouldn't be so strained..'

Abhimanyu looked taken aback. Abhinav went on, every word that Abhimanyu and Manjari had spoken against Akshara seared in his memory,
'..You mentioned the time when Akshara protected Aarohi ji but what about the times when Akshara called her out? After Neil's marriage, didn't Akshara continuously confront Aarohi ji on her wrong doings? Didn't you get blackmailed by Aarohi ji? Inspite of claiming to know her manipulations in and out?
Akshara didn't 'desert' you for a year to go for vacations, Dr. Birla! Akshara left you because she was cornered into it. That was the only way to save your hand. Wouldn't you have done the same for her?
You have lived happily after those things, as per your own words, then why keep raking up Akshara's past actions? Why does it still matter to you? It only means you have not truly moved on from those times, you haven't really forgiven Akshara for all the times you have felt her actions hurt you. Nobody is born perfect, ji, we all learn from our mistakes. You aren't perfect either, Dr. Birla, I am not sure you realise how many times everyone has forgiven you too..',

Abhinav closed his eyes, drawing all the strength left within him to say the next words,
'..Still to answer your question, God forbid, had I been in your place, had I believed that I had lost my family members because of Akshara's impulsiveness, I would have left Sharma Home, Kasauli and disappeared forever. I wouldn't pressurize Akshara, directly or indirectly, to leave the place she has built her Home in. In your place, being a human, doctor and husband; I could have never brought myself to divorce my wife, when we had just lost our baby..'.

Manjari made a snort of derision and interrupted,
'Oh really, Sharma ji! You walked in an explosive filled place to rescue Abhir and you would have just forgiven Akshara had anything happened to him? Please, Sharma ji, atleast make your lies a little believable!'.
Abhinav's eyes grew dark with anger.
'Mrs. Birla, need I remind you that Akshara entered the same place with me? Took the same risks as me. Akshara fought for her unborn twin babies right from the start when Abhimanyu had lost faith that the mother and babies could all survive. You think such a mother could purposefully hurt her kids? And when you know she wouldn't, will you still not forgive her?
Could there have been a better way to save the girls that horrible day? Maybe. But Akshara didn't anticipate that the kidnappers could turn into murderers too. Neither did Neil or he would have locked himself with Akshara in the car for unborn Ruhi and Aarohi's sake. No one expected the situation to turn violent and no one expected any life to be lost. It's a miracle that Akshara and Abhir survived that day. Once yours and Dr. Birla's emotions had settled, you both should have been grateful for that. Grateful that atleast your daughter and Dr. Birla's love-of-life survived. And later on, you all would have found out about Abhir too.
Mrs. Birla, in hindsight, everyone can find the perfect path. But when a person is panicked, stressed, they can't. It's a human shortcoming, ji. Neil was a grown up man and he chose to do a noble deed and it was unfortunate that he lost his life. I am sorry for the loss'.

Manjari gave in to tears while Abhimanyu blinked away his, the remnant of anger still in him,
'Had Aarohi been in Neil's place, would Akshara still not have called the police? Would she have taken a pregnant Aarohi to fight with the goons? Think about it, Sharma ji'.
'Akshara was pregnant herself and what a difficult pregnancy it was, you know better than me, Dr. Birla. Her intention wasn't to fight the goons but to follow them. As for waiting for the police, like I said, before, both Akshara and Neil most likely didn't think clearly because they were both in a panic. Those goons did not have a murder record, Dr. Birla, kidnappers are not commonly murderers as we learnt from the police recently. That shows us how spontaneously everyone reacted..
Dr. Birla, in a marriage, for a husband, all of his wife's family are his too and the same goes for the wife. However, it seems, you kept seeing Aarohi as Akshara's sister and Neil as your brother. The fact is that the day you lost your brother, Akshara lost her brother too. When your mother was having a breakdown, Akshara was as troubled as a daughter as you were like a son. When Aarohi ji or anyone was hurting Mrs
Birla or you or any of the Birlas, Akshara was feeling the same pain too. If you or Mrs. Birla didn't believe that somewhere deep in your heart, would you both at different times attempt to bring Akshara back in your lives?
Now, tell me Dr. Birla, do you really believe Akshara is Neil's murderer?'.
A single tear escaped from Abhimanyu's eyes and he slowly shook his head.
'No..no, Akshara didn't kill Neil'.
Manjari's silence was her approval too.

For the first time, during the argument, Abhinav felt a sense of relief, some lightness. They finally understood Akshara. They would let her be in peace now, without their pinching taunts and looks. They would understand Akshara's emotions for Abhir better now and not form a wall between them. Thank You, Akshara's Kanha ji. Thank You for getting rid of the burden that had been placed on Akshara's shoulders for the past seven years.

Abhinav looked at Akshara, who seemed unaffected by Abhimanyu and Manjari's response. He saw pride in her eyes for him and love too, for understanding her, for respecting her and for loving her. Abhinav knew he had spoken out of turn for this was Akshara's battle and her right to answer. He also knew Akshara wouldn't do that. She had truly moved past those incidents, the Birlas and what they thought about her didn't matter to her in the slightest.

Abhinav was smiling at Akshara, when Abhimanyu's words hit him from behind.
'Thank You, Mahadev, for ending all my doubts through Sharma ji. Now, AbhiRa and Abhir can be together happily forever!'.