ENIGMATIC LOVE

BACKGROUND

Devayani Raizada is the stern matriarch of the Raizada family. Though a religious and superstitious lady at heart with immense affection for her loved ones, her outward tough facade helped her to exert torrential control over the family and its reputation. Despite loving both her children Ratna and Manohar equally, she carried a soft corner for the mild diffident Ratna. However, as fate would have it, Ratna turned out to be very unfortunate too. A few days before her wedding with Arvind Mallik, she lost the love of her life in an accident. Shattered though she was, Ratna soon found out that she was pregnant with Arvind Mallik's children.

Even though initially angry with Ratna for being an unwed mother, Devayani Raizada mellowed with time. She and her son Manohar Raizada supported Ratna in every way. Ratna gave birth to twins- Anjali and Arnav with Anjali being just a few minutes older to Arnav. Ratna and her kids were cherished and taken care of with love and respect by their Nani, their uncle Manohar, and his wife Manorama. Akash being the only child of Manohar, was in absolute awe of his cousins and treated them as his own siblings. Devayani Raizada, with her tremendous command ensured unity and good rapport within the family.

Anjali resembled both her parents in features whereas Arnav face was a spitting image of his mom. Devayani fondly called him 'Chote' even though Akash was younger to him. Chote, in his nature, was the complete opposite to his mom. He was strong, tough, confident and a determined young man, full of energy and vigor.

Starting AR Designs in Delhi at the young age of 27, Arnav rose to a commendable position in 2-3 years within the business world. A ruthless, shrewd and calculative businessman to the outside world, he was greatly attached to his family on the inside. He knew how his sister and himself were treasured by his Nani, Mama and Mami. He became a guide to Akash and slowly incorporated his Mama and Akash into his company rewarding them with high positions. Arnav and his company were the reason for the Raizadas currently being one of the richest and most influential families in the country.

Even though Ratna passed away when her kids were still young, Devayani made sure that she would honor the promise that Ratna had given to her friend Garima. That is how Arnav found himself married to Garima's daughter- Lavanya. It had been almost a week since he was married, but he did not get to spend any time with his new bride, not that he was intent either. Arnav was least interested in this wedding. For him, it was purely a marriage of convenience to satisfy his Nani and Di and to thwart their worry that he would remain a bachelor all his life.

Devayani Raizada, being the spiritual lady that she was, wanted to do a bunch of rituals at their ancestral home, Sheesh Mahal, in Lucknow to welcome her first grandson's wife. The Mahal had not been renovated since ages and was passed on through generations. Nani could not revamp it due to financial issues until now. So, Arnav took it upon himself to restore the Mahal to its original grandeur as a gift to his grandmother. India's most famous architects, engineers and interior decorators were called for and Arnav personally monitored the progress of the work. He had, therefore, flown into Lucknow right after his wedding while his family, including the new bride, would come in the following week.

Arnav longingly waited for his family to come to Sheesh Mahal so that he could see the wondrous look in the eyes of his loving Di and Nani.