yun hi tu mere saath rehna

Chapter Twenty Five

(Before we start this chapter, some Mishti lore for people who have not watched YRHPK or the previous generations of YRKKH :

Mishti's grandmother was the second wife of Naira's grandfather. Her parents didn't have a good marriage and her mom left them for another man. Her father got greedy and tried to kill Naitik. He was unsuccessful of course, but was arrested for attempted murder. After that happened, Mishti's grandmother asked Rajshri Maheshwari, aka Akshara's mother, to take Mishti with her because looking at Mishti reminded her of her son's betrayal. Before being forced to leave the house, Mishti had been the beloved child of the house and she was everyone's favourite. She was pampered a lot by Akshara, who raised her more than her own parents did, and she was very close to her step-cousins : Naksh, Naira, and Gayu. In fact, she played cupid for Naira and Kartik and got them together. She had a very special relationship with Kartik as well. 

However, after moving in with the Maheshwaris, the Singhanias cut off all contact and Mishti started suffering from panic attacks. Apart from Rajshri & Vishambhar, who loved her as much as they loved Akshara, none of the other Maheshwaris ever wholly accepted her as a part of the family and always reminded her that they'd done a huge favour on her by letting her be a part of their family. 

She then met Abir, fell in love with him, and got married to him after a lot of trials and tribulations, as expected of any itv heroine. But, in all the time that YRHPK was on air, we only ever saw the Singhanias 3 times that I can recall, and Mishti always held a grudge against them for abandoning her the way they had.)

Krish Singhania sighed in contentment as he sipped his green tea. Surrounded by his family as they all regaled their days, laughing and joking, he finally shed the burdens of the day and basked in their presence. There really was no place like home. 

Moving back to Udaipur after spending years in Cape Town had not been an easy decision, but he was glad he did. His parents had resisted at first, too many sad memories surrounding the city they'd once called home, but had eventually given in to his repeated pleas, and Krish was happy. 

He had not wanted his own daughter to be raised the way he had. Yes, his parents had spared no expense in making sure that he had a happy childhood away from the trauma that surrounded their family, but Cape Town had never felt home like the Singhania Mansion had. He constantly missed his cousins, his aunts, and his uncles. He missed having a home filled with family and the brightness of their love & support. Which is why, when his little girl had been born, he had made the decision to come back home. 

His daughter was now married with a child of her own, but Krish's own home was still filled with the warmth of family. Most of the Singhania clan had moved out of their ancestral home by the time Krish came back, for more lucrative prospects or to escape their own demons, but a few still remained. And of course, he had his parents and his lovely wife, Radhika. Life was good for him. 

The shrill ring of his phone broke his musings, and halted all chatter around him. “Itni raat ko kiska phone hai?” Radhika asked. “All good?”

Krish glanced at his phone and did a double take on seeing Mishti's name flash across it. He immediately picked up the phone, fumbling a little, but managed to answer nonetheless. “Bua,” he breathed into the receiver, his heart beating a million miles a minute. 

Mishti had always had a special place in his heart. Even though he had spent most of his life away from her, and they'd hardly met a handful of times in his entire life, she was still his aunt. His father always talked so fondly of his little Mishtu, and Krish had taken his cues from there, loving her just as his father did.