Living In Oblivion

54

Divit angrily rushed out of the hall, climbing back upstairs. It was his first day in the house, and there was already so much drama. He huffed and kicked the wall in frustration. From the doorway, he watched Milind and Avanti laughing over something.

Irritated by the sound, he walked up to them grumbling at Milind, "Mom is speaking such nonsense, I'm telling you. What is wrong with her—"

"—Bhai, what happened? Why are you upset?" Not understanding the gravity of the situation, Milind chuckled at his red face.

"Instead of flashing your teeth at me, go ask her—" Divit snapped with such agitation that it made Milind realize the matter was serious.

Milind knew how composed Divit usually was. He would always remain calm. So, he couldn't understand what could have made his brother lose his cool like this.

"Bhai—" Placing a hand on his shoulder, Milind tried to ask calmly.

"Go talk to Mom, Milind. Because I can't. I just can't," Divit sighed, his voice softening in helplessness before becoming enraged again. "And moreover, talk to your father too. He loves ignoring things, right? Ask him if—"

"Bhai—" Milind grew defensive, warning him to watch his tone.

"What 'bhai,' Milind?! What 'bhai'?" he exhaled. His voice softened as he questioned his brother, "What is wrong with this house? Why does everyone have to walk in the opposite direction of the other person?"

Patting his shoulder, Milind passed him a small smile. "It's your house too," he said before walking out.

Avanti, who had been a silent spectator until now, walked up to him slowly. Holding his hand, she asked softly, "Divit, what happened?"

Divit grew silent. He didn't know what to tell her. The matter or the aftermath the matter led to. Taking his hand back from her, he looked away. "Mom didn't agree to our marriage."

"Oh, so you told her?"

"About wanting to marry you?" Divit scoffed. "Avanti, my parents are not stupid. They can see it. For the first time, I brought a girl home, and... and they know it. Of course, they can sense it."

"Oh, shut up, you stupid," Avanti took his hand back, entwining their fingers together. "I was talking about you telling your parents about me."

"Of course, I had to. They deserved to know."

Avanti grew silent. Seeing Divit lose his calm like that was rare for her. He would become this reactive only when something majorly upset him. At times like these, Avanti didn't know if she should try to calm his anger or tell him what the right thing was. So, she chose what she thought was right.

"First of all, Divit, can you please stop overreacting?!"

"—I am overreacting?" he snapped as he grew defensive.

"Okay, not overreacting," Avanti immediately tried to calm the situation. "Just stop reacting like this."

Taking his hand back, Divit turned around to stare at the sky. Leaning on the railing, he exhaled, trying to calm himself down. Even he didn't know why he was angry like that. He couldn't decide if the reason was Gayatri's rejection or her assumptions. But somewhere deep inside him, his heart ached for Avanti.

For the way his mother judged her.

He was again thrown into a pool of questions that circled society. Why was it so necessary for people to reach a conclusion about someone without even knowing anything? What was the need for it?! Or maybe there was—because as humans, our hearts crave to prove the other person wrong to make ourselves feel right and superior.