Unmasked - A Swasan Story

34 # At Cross Roads

Darkness and silence would be apt words to describe the state of Sanskaar's room, that night. A little lamp flickered next to his bed, as he stared intently at the object in his hand.

Her mask.

There are times when he watched this mask in confusion, at times in frustration, most of the times with longing and undying hope that he would find her one day, but never in contempt filling his eyes, at that moment.

The shadow of mask lingered on the wall like a ghost, staring right back at him."You really thought you figured me out?"It was laughing at his state.

Did he ever really unmask her? Ever? He thought he did, only if had known more secrets played in shadows. Did he bid this night to be most beautiful one? Turned out to be nightmarish ...

"You shouldn't have done this, Swara," Sanskaar muttered under breath feeling equal proportions of grief and temper.

Did she really think, she could toy with his feelings? Pass him on to her sister, like some toy and expected him to adhere to her whims? His fingers curled into a tight fist around the mask, his tears turning hot with each passing moment. He made it clear, didn't he? Not to take him and his affections for granted. But she didn't bother. And no damn reason...would justify playing with his feelings. Nothing.

The mask struggled under his death grip and he wished, he could tear it apart, throw far away out of his reach, sight and mind, till it no longer troubled him.

He just couldn't.

Sanskaar closed his eyes let the last of tears flow. He had been in love for long enough, be it with a stupid mask and its owner ...to give into momentary hate. He sighed defeatedly and opened his eyes, now clear as the night sky and stared at the mask for one last time.

"Fine, Swara! We will play it your way!"

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And after 2 days Bose family received an alliance from Maheswari's asking Kavita's hand for Sanskaar.

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"Kavita? Tell me you are not serious, Sunny?"

Sanskaar looked at Laksh, then looked away, not in a mood to offer explanations. They were in his room. Laksh landed up this morning obviously upset at his move ..and took Kavita's name more than 10 times in varying degrees of shock.

"Will you speak up? What happened that night? Did you meet with an accident where parts of your brain dislocated? Did someone hit you on the head and you have this sort of amnesia? Instead of Swara, you sent a proposal for Kavita? I am 100% sure you are out of your mind. Now stop giving me those looks, Sunny and tell me I am wrong." Laksh said impatience taking over. He had been ranting for long ...but Sanskaar didn't seem to bother.

Sanskaar chose silence. He can't really blame Laksh, as his whole family concluded the same when he came up with a proposal to Kavita, that he was 'out of mind'. They vehemently opposed the idea and sought some explanations which he wasn't ready to offer.

"This is my life and I believe I have the right to choose my life partner. I made my decision." was all he said, much to the dismay of his family. His mother probed him gently that very night and had been unsuccessful in her attempts.

"You will regret your decision one day," his Dad said, making his displeasure evident. And Sanskaar wished someone else would also regret the decision they made for him.

Sunny!

Sanskaar pulled himself out of thoughts clouding his mind at the mention of his name."I am not giving any answers Lucky and I don't think I owe any explanations."