Armaan Poddar OS: Fight for Justice

One shot

Armaan was not opposed to the idea of Rohit returning to work. He was happy to see his brother take charge so soon after coming back. He had all the right to immerse himself in work, forget about the horrid few months he had spent without his family.

He was familiar with the numbness, the disconnection from emotions and vulnerability that mindless working could give you. Armaan did not necessarily want Rohit to drown himself in work to the point of exhaustion, but if that was what he needed, Armaan trusted him to take care of himself. 

Armaan knew that Rohit was not the only one who blamed him for Roohi and his relationship. He would admit on his own that he had made it complicated—- too complicated, even—- by choosing to ignore Roohi’s untoward advances.

Now, Dadi Sa was using it to have her way with him. Create more misunderstandings between Rohit and Armaan. Rohit. Their true blood was back, and now Dadi Saa didn't need him.

Roohi had been a good friend to him in the last few months. She had treated everyone in his family fairly. She had— maybe it was something he told himself, simply to justify her behavior with him.

In the last few weeks, especially after Roohi had convinced his mother to get her married to Armaan—- he realized that Roohi had been manipulative and cruel and frankly delusional.

The seeds— Armaan realized— had always been there, but the first real jolt came when Roohi came to Musoorie with the divorce papers. Roohi was selfish. He should have realized sooner when she threw Abhira and, on occasion, even Armaan under the bus, just to maintain the facade of her own innocence.

Yes, Roohi had been demure, quiet, shy. She never spoke up in front of elders. She never brought attention to herself like Abhira did. But then, maybe she didn’t have to. Poddar house was a constant struggle for Abhira, not Roohi

Roohi was the chosen daughter in law. She was the favorite from the start. She didn’t have to fight for a place in the house and in the family’s hearts. That was Abhira’s burden. She had fought for his family like they were her own.

Abhira was the one who had taken his siblings' battles upon herself. She had helped Charu get the right to get an internship and pursue a career. She had fought for Krish to make a career out of his passion. 

Roohi, to be fair to everyone and everything, only agreed with the elders, whether or not she had an opinion about something. Agreeing with the majority did not take strength. Fighting against them did. It took him a while to realize that.

Thankfully, when he did, Abhira was right there with a soothing smile, rattled by the Poddar Battlefield, but still with a lot of fight left in her. 

“Pata hai khadoosmaan, Abhir bhaiyya kehte the, ki woh mumma ke miracle baby the. Mai hamesha chid jaati thi iss baat pe. When I grew up, ek din papa ne mujhse kaha, ki mai Naira-Kartik, Akshara-Abhimanyu, Krishna Masi aur apne bade bhai Abhir ki sabse pure wishes ka result hoon”

“He believed that hum sabke ander, humaare apno ki rooh ke hisse hote hain. Mere ander, meri mumma, mere papa, bhaiyu, nana nani, masi, sabki rooh ke sabse shaandar hisse hai. Meri himmat woh log hain, toh koi meri himmat kaise tod sakta hai?”

“Why would you fight?”

“Beecause, it's important. Armaan, kabhi kabhi humaare apno ko bhi batana padta hai, ki woh humein hurt kar rahe hai. Problematic adults bhi hote hai, aur kabhi kabhi bado se apne haq ke liye ladna bhi padta hai.” 

He had never thought he would ever be inspired enough to fight for himself, his rights, and his position in the household run exclusively by the orders of Kaveri Poddar. It seems Baba had been right all along.