Dreamy Red

Episode 16 - Untold Secrets

Kamal was a sinner. He had abandoned me and my baby sister, Vichitra at the time we needed him most. Vichu was just born and our mom, Vaishnavi had left the world forever. Until then, my dad was my superhero. It was his duty to care for us. Instead, he turned us down. He got married to some other lady and boom, he was gone. I was so very frustrated that I had destroyed all his memories. I was just a little kid and so it was not a strenuous task then.

It took some time for me to compose myself. I wanted to leave. But I couldn't. Deep inside I missed my hero father. But I wasn't ready to accept it. "Bibbi", he said holding me by my arms tightly. I tried to push him away. But he was stronger than me. "Bibbi, listen to me", he said loudly. I scorned and turned my face the other way. He spoke loudly to my face still holding me by my arms, "I do not know how you are going to react to all this. I know you are not going to believe me. But you have to listen!"

"You have not listened to me all these years. At least now you should", he said boldly. I put all my force and managed to pull away from his hold. I shouted back at his face, "Is this the way you treat a woman, mister?" I knew I said it wrong. But nothing felt worse than seeing him in front of me.

Though I was rude, he didn't seem to be affected by that. It was as though he anticipated it. He heaved a sigh and said calmly, "Yes! Because otherwise, you would have left this room without even knowing what had actually happened!" Folding his hands, he added assertively, "This is how it's been happening all the time! I will not let go this time!!"

"Okay", I said sharply. I arrogantly pulled a dining chair from the dining table nearby and sat on it crossing my legs. "Ok, let me hear whatever you have to say. Anyways, I'm not evil like you!", I said coldly. I decided not to leave the place until I could hear his side of the tale. Whatever prevarication he had, I had to listen.

"Vaishnavi and I were a happily married couple", he began narrating while walking nervously across the hall. "Vaishnavi gave birth to you a year after our marriage. Everything was going good", he said looking at me. Then he sighed. "Then your mom was conceived with Vichu. All bad things started to happen after that." He sighed again as he spoke. His face was down. He continued to narrate looking at me expectantly while I kept mum and listened, "Vaishu fell off the stairs in her first month. We thought that the baby was gone. But, she was alive." What did that have to do with him leaving us, I thought to myself. I closed my eyes because I didn't want to interrupt. I was kind of losing my patience.

"We met with a Babaji after that. It was Manu Bhabhi's idea", he said sadly. By Manu Bhabhi, he must have meant Mrs Manyavathi. Bhabhi means sister-in-law. So she was my Badi Maa and Armaan, my cousin. Such a small world, I thought.

"Bhabhi was slightly traditional. She had not given birth to a child for so many years. The Babaji, Samarstan Baba was a little famous during that time and his words never failed. He proclaimed a prophecy that Manu Bhabhi will give birth to a boy child in seven years and in exactly seven years, it did happen. I named him Armaan because he was a desire. I did not believe the Babaji, but after Armaan was born, even I was forced to think that way. So when Bhabhi talked of going to the Babaji, I did not protest."

He was not coming to the point. Why did he leave us? I was swearing bad words in my mind. He heaved a sigh and said, "The Babaji proclaimed a prophecy that if Vaishu gives birth to the second baby, it will be the wrath of our family."

I could hear his sobs. I opened my eyes to look at his face. He was broken down completely. Bhairavi was sobbing on her own in a corner. What was this nonsense! They were blaming an unborn baby for things it didn't even know. Where were my senses?! He was creating fairy tales and I had been listening. So I turned around facing the walls. He was invisible to me at the moment. I didn't like to react to him.

"I reacted the same way you are doing now", he said as he walked closer to me. "The Babaji said that the only hope of getting things better was by keeping the child away from the ones it could love or it would ruin them in its own way", he said pulling another dining chair beside me and sitting opposite me.

My heart started beating faster and I started sweating profusely. Actually, his story seemed kind of true. I too lost my love because of her.

I turned to look at him. His eyes were filled up. Unknowingly, my eyes filled up too. "When Vaishu knew death was near, she forced me and Bhairavi to get married. I did not want to. But I was helpless", he said in despair. I wiped my eyes and listened to him speak. I was still not convinced. "Bhairavi's husband, Drupesh died while she was pregnant with Arpitha. After Vaishu's death, several things happened", he explained. He pressed his lips and said reluctantly, "You do know that your Vidhwaan mama is a little hot-headed. He blamed me for Vaishu's death and shooed me away." A few tears rolled down his cheeks.

I was confused. My eyes were dry. He said while wiping his tears, "Vidhwaan thought I killed her to get married to Bhairavi. It was so unfair." He put his head down rubbing his face with his palm. He was feeling miserable. And I had a blank expression on my face. I was trying to think straight.

"So I had to leave you, children, in the hands of Shamesh who was in desperate need of a family. I tried to meet you several times, but you too had the same anger that your mama had and never tried to speak with me", he frowned as he spoke. "I used to hear about you and Vichu from Shamesh and then from Kousi after you came to Jaipur. But after Kousi's death, there was no one to inform me about your whereabouts." He grieved. I listened to him without a word. He sighed and said, "I didn't want to intrude in your life. Even I tried contacting Vidhwaan. But he never responded. And now for us to reunite, my other daughter had to die." He was unable to talk anymore. And then suddenly, he was trying to catch his breath and he fainted and fell hard to the ground. Bhairavi rushed to him and pulled him up. I stood up in shock.

The young boy ran downstairs with swollen eyes. He came straight to me and shouted to my face, "Who the hell do you think you are?! Can't you see his condition?? Are you stone?! You think he is lying?! All he talks of is you and you never care!!!" He scowled at me, then ran to the kitchen, took a glass of water from the counter and sprayed a little on his father's face. Kamal got back his consciousness. The boy kept the glass on the table with a thud and walked closer to me. He held my hands just like his mother did and said in a cold voice, "See, I want my sister back! But you say that she is dead!" He got emotional as he spoke.

My eyes filled up automatically. What if he was right? What if Kamal was not making it up? Also, I remembered Kousi mami speaking on phone regularly with an anonymous person. It must have been him. People wouldn't believe it if I said I got premonitions. So he must have been in the same condition.

"If I could get two sisters in return for one sister, I wouldn't mind. I know that Arpitha is gone forever and wouldn't come back. Would you take her place and be a part of this family?", the boy implored. I was confused. My head was aching severely. It was as though I would split into two. The boy looked at me expectantly. Dad too looked at me expectantly. Did I just mention him as Dad? Perhaps it was best to forgive him. After all, he was an old man who had just lost his precious daughter.

A faint smile emerged on my face. I gave Adharv a tight hug. He was too young and spoke such high words. But I wasn't mature enough. At least for his sake, I forgave Kamal and that too, to such an extent that I started calling him dad. And ultimately became a part of their family. Duh, my family.