Shoulder To Lean Upon

35. Epilogue

"Kaviiiiiii" They all shouted when they saw her pull the trigger.

Much to their relief someone pointed the gun upwards. Kavitha opened her eyes.

"Laksh"

"Why did you save me Laksh? I deserve to die. I deserve to..."

SMACK!!!

A tight slap was awarded as a gift for her stupidity.

"What do you think of yourself?  Did we tell you that we are gonna hate you for what your brother did? You were our friend and you will always be. Do you understand?" Laksh said hugging Kavitha.

"But you are going to get punished for scaring the hell out of us." Sanskar said joining the hug.

"Anything is ok with me." Kavitha said smiling.

***

"Laksh" Ragini said caressing his hairs while he was sleeping on her lap.

"You need to say something." She said again when she didn't get response.

"I was such a irresponsible brother Ragini. I couldn't protect my sister. You know what Ragini, our parents left us alone when I was just 18. She was a teenager and so was I. But I did try to manage everything... give her everything. But still I couldn't protect her. Probably if you stay with me, I cannot protect you too. I am not capable of it Ragini. Go away from me. It is better for you." Laksh said with tears.

"Laksh what are you talking? Do you understand what you are talking? You are the reason that I am alive. You are my strength. You did try to manage everything, you did try to give a good upbringing to your sister. I know how much difficult it is to give a good upbringing to a teenager. You have instilled good values and courage in your sister. She has saved mine and Swara's life at the cost of losing her own life. Is it not a sign of good upbringing? You have done your part well Laksh. You have made her a strong and brave woman. Whatever happened to her is not your fault. I know that we cannot bring her back. But you have her memories and you should be proud that you have such a sister who thought about others when when she herself is in a misery. Take some time for yourself Laksh, everything will be fine." Ragini said slowly patting his head. He slowly drifted into sleep on her lap.

***

"Why are you looking like that Sanku?" Swara asked Sanskar seriously who was starring at her continuously from the time they came to the room.

"Nothing much... Thinking about how my tiny little girlfriend became so brave." Sanskar said holding her hand.

"Time changes everything Sanskar." She said calmly.

"But I do not like this change in you." Sanskar said pouting.

"Why?" 

"Because you are being serious all the time like some IPS officer." he said.

"So, will you stop loving me if I become serious?"

"When did I say that? I was just trying to tell you that you have changed a lot these days. You don't like doing all those naughty things you used to do. And not to forget I am missing all those."

"Everything has a time Sanku, and everything has an expiry date. That phase in my life is completed. Now is the new phase of my life. The phase where I have to fulfil all my dreams, where I have to grow up, take responsibilities of my life and give everyone who loves me a reason to be proud of me." Swara said.

***

After 10 years 

Swara pov:

"So the award for Best Entrepreneurship goes to the  SLY solutions . So we request the partners of the SLY solutions to come onto the stage and receive the award." The host announced.

I clapped proudly seeing my brothers and my husband receiving the award. Ragu di, Mahi di and me were seated in the round table assigned for us right in front of stage. 

Laksh bhai, Yuvraj bhai, Sanskar and Riya di completed their graduation in the same college. But that was not my dream. I wanted to do my graduation in IIT. I applied for the exam the very next year. Kavi di also wanted a change in the environment , so she also joined with me. It was good that she accompanied me, otherwise my possessive brothers and pyara sa boyfriend would have never allowed me to go alone out of the city. 

Laksh bhai wanted Ragu di to take up IAS exam as that was her dream job. However she was stubborn to write the exam saying she did not want to invite any more problems in our lives. We tried a lot to convince her. But she was firm with her decision. She took a distance course in music as that was her hobby and passion too. After her graduation she started her own Music Academy with the help of  Laksh bhai to train budding singers.  Since then she has got a lot of offers from various production houses as a Playback Singer. She is doing well in that too. Mahi di is the administrating officer in Di's SR Music Academy. 

Riya di did her graduation and went to London as her dad had opened a new branch of their company as a part of expanding their business and also to give Riya di a chance to prove herself. With a bit of initial struggle, she finally managed to emerge her company as one of the leading companies of London. During that time, she met the love of her life and they dated for almost 5 years. They also got to know that their fathers were childhood friends. So they decided to merge the companies and work in collaboration which was warmly welcomed.

After my  graduation I wanted to go for an MBA degree and I wanted it to be in IIM. This time too Kavi di accompanied me. While rest of them did it through distance education. 

The SLY  solution stands for Sanskar, Laksh and Yuvraj. But it also stands for Success, Leadership and Youth. The three of them did not wanted to take up help from their family wealth. So they  tried a loan from the bank. The initial days were a bit crucial because they had to manage both MBA part time and business where both required equal attention. They had got a few offers with the help of some people from the companies where they worked as Interns.

After completing my MBA, I did not wanted to join any firm. I wanted to start an NGO. With the help of my brothers and sisters, I started an NGO which saves women and girl child from all kinds of abuses. We have a number of volunteers from various sources like lawyers, doctors, counsellors, psychologists and few from the business background too. The NGO is run with the help of 50% income of The SLY Solutions and 75% income of SR Music Academy. We also get donations from various sources due to the Awareness Campaigns that we conducted in various parts of the country.

Kavi di joined her family business and trying to remove all the dirty impressions that her brother has created on her family by his cruel actions. Everyone in our group had become overprotective of her ever since she tried to commit suicide. When she finally found the love of her life, the girls were very happy but the boys did a detective job day and night for almost 3 months on that boy and boy's family to make sure that she was in safe hands and that they would not end up breaking her heart again.

Ever since we all got settled with our jobs, our families have started pestering for marriage. Yes. Our families. We all got close to our in-laws so easily and they accepted us graciously. And the most blissful event of my life... My Marriage happened  3 years ago. We all got married on the same day only with the presence close ones. But the reception happened with a gap of 1 week seperately for everyone because we had a lot of people to invite.

Swara pov ends

***

"What are you thinking Biwi?" Sanskar asked pulling me out of my thoughts.

"Thinking about writing a AutoBiography on my life."

"Sure. Am I part of your AutoBiography?"

"You are the Hero..."

***