Phoenix - Abhira Sharma's journey

Happiness

The singhania mansion was adorned with vibrant marigold and jasmine decorations. A large canopy was set up for the festivities, with twinkling fairy lights illuminating the evening. Abhira was made to sit in the centre as guests walked in. She was surprised when Meera and Kabir revealed the previous evening how they were planning a grand family reunion so that abhira gets more familiarised with the family. Abhira did not have the heart to refuse seeing kabir and meera's excitement with the planning. They were doing this for her at least, she had already disappointed enough people in the poddar house, she did not want to disappoint more. She had agreed to attend the reunion.

The guests arrived in colorful traditional attire, the air buzzed with laughter and chatter. Some familiar faces and unfamiliar faces had come to greet her happily. Some even brought and gave her expensive gifts and were quite emotional to meet her. It was new for abhira to see people being happy to meet her, people showering attention on her and warmly embracing her. She was used to disappointments, annoyance but not this. This put her in a another turmoil.
" Kya hua di" Meera asks her," apko yeh sab pasand nahi aaya?"
" Nahi meera bahut aacha preparations hai" Abhira replies back smiling a little. Meera smiles back and goes to check on Kabir. Abhira observes how different the environment in the singhania house is from the poddar house. The Elders exchanged pleasantries, while children ran around playing games, their joyful voices echoing. The aroma of delicious dishes wafted from a nearby buffet, featuring a variety of Indian delicacies: biryani, paneer tikka, and an array of sweets like gulab jamun and jalebi.

Central to the event was a ceremonial stage, beautifully decorated. Meera went on the stage accompanied by Kabir.
" Hello everyone"Meera exclaimed " Sab ka bahut sukriya ap log itna short notice pe aaya hai. Jaise aap sab jana the yeh function hum abhira di ke liye rakha hai, aaj hum abhira di ghar aane ke khushiyan Mann rahe hai. Chalo nach the hai, kuch naye aur purane yaadon ko thaza karte hai "
Everyone cheered on loud voices after meera's speech. The youngest family members had started the performance with akshara's marriage. Abhira watched interested as the story moved forward, naira falling in love with kartik. Then it finally moved to her mother getting born. They played a video clip of her mother getting grandly welcomed in the....... , abhira's breath stopped for a moment, she had a seen that place before, she had met this people manish goenka and survna were in the clip.
" Stop" Abhira shouts making everyone suprised. Kriti rushed towards her followed by mishti and meera.
" Abhira kya hua beta" kriti asks her concerned. Meera gives her water to drink still worried about what suddenly happened.
" Woh kaun hai?" Abhira asks pointing towards the clip and Manish's face.
Everyone present in the hall got angry remembering him.
" Kaun hai woh?" Abhira shouts again.
" Tumhare par nanu" Kairav who had just reached the place with muskan says moving forward towards her.
" Mere par nanu.." abhira shakes her head in disbelief.
" The same person who threw and disowned your mom in a second because of one mistake which your mom never committed" Kairav reveals in pain remembering how his sister was thrown out by that man whom you used to call his grandfather. He could not find his sister after everything was done and dusted. Guilt and regret made him break ties with goenkas and connect back to the singhanias and maheshwaris. After then, years went by and they could not find akshu. Abhir and abhimanyu's death devastated them further but akshu wasn't found no matter what they tried.
" Your mom was pregnant with you when they threw her away" kairav says, " if they did not throw her away maybe abir could have been alive, you could have a brother with you"
" A brother" Abhira cries, " I had a brother"
" Yes a brother whom you lost before you came into the world" Kairav says teary eyed recollecting the moments. His sister had only suffered if he could have stayed strong. Muskan stands near him squeezing his hands understanding his pain. She had also lost her brother.

Abhira fell down as she hugged her knees to her chest and began to cry. But the tears falling did not bring her any relief. Thinking of everything she had heard and the pain she was still hiding in her heart was enough to make her cry more. She cried for her mother, her brother whom she never had a chance to meet and herself for what she has lost. The family watched sadly and in pain as the daughter of the house cried. Kabir stood devastated, this was supposed to be a happy event for his sister. Why did it get ruined like this? His hatred for goenkas increased, his father was right for deciding to cut his ties with them.
Kriti knelt beside abhira wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her close. “You don’t have to say anything if you don’t want to. I’m here.”
Abhira leaned into her, grateful for her warmth. “I just... I feel so lost,” she finally whispered, her voice cracking. “Everything’s too much.”