Manjha A String of Complicated Relations

The Upcoming Storm

Shambhavi was silent and so was Aniket. There was no need for words, their silence spoke volumes. They stared at each other, both leaning on opposite walls while facing each other, taking each other in. All that could be heard was the rustling wind as the train was running on the tracks and the compartments wiggling with the speed.

Shambhavi had an epiphany just a few moments back. She never thought it would be possible. She, Shambhavi Sakshi Vyas, was in love. She was bewildered, confused, heartbroken, and a million different things at that moment.

Shambhavi had always believed in her heart that she was not hardwired to fall in love. She had seen, first-hand, the misery love brought. So, the question arose, how could she fall in love? Then she thought maybe it was just infatuation, but then why did it feel like she would not be able to breathe without him?

Then she thought it was a phase, but if it was a phase, did she want it to pass, and if so, would it not have passed by now? After that, she thought about what Adhya had told her when she fell in love with Mrityunjay. How Adhya had felt was similar to what Shambhavi was feeling at the moment. But then again, Adhya had always been a romantic at heart.

It was only when he had left her personal space and went to stand on the side, did she feel a void in her heart. She noticed that she had always felt that void. The only time when she was not feeling it was when Aniket was close to her. Her heart had ached at his words and her beats were faster than the speed of a bullet train. That was when Shambhavi had finally accepted that she was indeed in love with Aniket.

After that, she had been in her own thoughts, pondering about the moment she had fallen in love, but she could not pinpoint it. She just knew it was there, though she had no idea how she got there. What was it that changed the very foundation of her life? Her belief was always against her falling in love, but here she was, too deep to ever get out.

Aniket had been observing Shambhavi, and for the first time he could not fathom what she was thinking. Her eyes were speaking to him but the expressions on her face were throwing him off. Her face was calm but her eyes were raging like a storm. But why was the storm brewing? He did not know.

He thought to ask her, but then he thought it was a good moment to ogle at her and to see her in perplexity. He was amused and concerned, though he voiced neither his amusement nor his concern. He just watched her.

"My mother had left home against everyone's wishes to get married to my dad against his family's wishes. They were in love, you see, and umm... so against everyone's wishes they got married. They were already going to have me, a part of the reason behind the marriage," Shambhavi had spoken suddenly and Aniket was flabbergasted. Shambhavi was a private person, and right now she was sharing something so personal with him. Never did he expect her to tell him her story.

"In the beginning, everything was amazing. They had me 5 months later and they were happy. But my father's father was not. He despised my mother and her family; some ancient history of rivalry between the families was to blame. So, he started putting doubts in my father's mind. He went from happy to bitter, they cleared all of it soon though," Shambhavi was talking in a controlled, detached kind of voice when in fact Aniket knew it was hurting her to talk.

"They had Adhya and then Nitya. See, Ma thought everything was good now but Father never really got away from the poison my grandfather had put in his mind. It just increased with time and he was unhappy, bitter, resentful. My father took Ma to Mumbai, saying he would come back when his family would cool down. He didn't. Instead, he just  sent the divorce papers," Aniket knew it was just part of the story but it was enough to see her agony in her eyes. It gave him immense pain.

"My mother was in a different city, with no family, no means to get money, and three daughters, all alone. She had no degree, she had left her graduation half-way for him. I know how she brought us up. I think he does not even know that she is dead. I didn't tell him," Shambhavi had continued and suddenly he felt so much anger for her father.

"I never really want to get married and if I do then I want it to be with everyone's blessings. That is why we had Adhya's wedding in Kumbhalgarh. If I ever get married, it would be on my terms. I would do what I want to, in terms of my career. I want it to be a happy marriage, not because some circumstance made me get married," Shambhavi had said. Now this was totally unexpected. He went from being angry to befuddled.

Shambhavi smiled at his baffled expression, "You had asked me that day at my home, what I thought of marriage, it wasn't a completely honest answer," she explained to him.

Aniket had remembered that night and also smiled at the memory, "I always claim in front of you that I know you, I get you, I know what you are thinking. Yet, in the very next moment, you surprise me with a new side of yourself. Then again I think I know you now but you say something and I get amazed yet again. I think you like becoming an enigma to me, a puzzle that I possibly will never be able to solve," Aniket had said with a playful voice but the words were truly what he was thinking.

"But you are the first person to understand me, more so than my own sisters," Shambhavi had told him in all honesty.

"Well, then. I would say I am a genius, I mean understanding the 'Shambhavi Skashi Vyas'. I should get a Nobel prize," Aniket said with a serious voice and face.

It sent Shambhavi into a fit of laughter. The voice was a melody of harmony, as sweet as honey. He was happy to be able to make her laugh even a little. He had gone on joking about the Shambhavi Vyas Nobel prize.

Today Aniket had learned that not only did he love the girl in front of her but he admired her determination, her strength, her ideals. He had felt a need to protect her from the world, to give her a safe haven. He wanted to be that one person who Shambhavi could turn to if she ever felt the need to vent her anger, to share her past. He wanted to be the person she came to when she was happy and when she wanted to cry.

What Aniket did not know though was he had already become that person. They were both in love with each other and they both were not going to confess, one for the fear of love and the other for the fear of losing his loved one. If they had confessed then the storm coming for them could have been deflected.