Manjha A String of Complicated Relations

Endings and Beginnings

Indian Officer Training Academy was gearing up once again. But today IOTA was gearing up for a batch of cadets to graduate and take oaths as Indian Army Officers.

Everywhere one's eyes went, one could see cadets with their families. The graduation ceremony had just been wrapped up. All around the newly minted Lieutenants were being congratulated by their fellow comrades,by their family and friends.

Similarly, Lieutenant Shambhavi Vyas was being congratulated by her family.

Her family had Yash and Aarti, along with Adhya , Nitya, Raghav and Mrityunjay.

It had taken a long time but her family was not so tangled anymore. It was strong and bound by a simple thread. She smiled and looked around her once.

Anisha and Advith were talking.

"So, two months from now will be okay, right? " Advith asked Anisha and Anisha looked at him questioningly.

"For what?" she asked Advith.

"For our wedding, of course," Advith replied casually as if talking about the weather report.

Anisha looked at him incredulously. And then she sighed and shook her head in fondness, trying to hide her smile.

"The rest of my life is going to be like this, isn't it? Always so blunt and not at all romantic," Anisha said in mock disappointment. Advith's small smile grew wider.

Shambhavi also smiled at them.

Adhya was talking and Mrityunjay was with her, a bit protective of what she was drinking. When Adhya almost tripped over a railing Mrityunjay held her protectively, it grabbed everyone else's attention. Not Adhya tripping but Mrityunjay's anger.

When the couple noticed several eyes on them, they looked at each other and had a silent conversation within their eyes.

"Well it was supposed to be Tai's day hence we did not want to take the limelight away. But we might be, sort of expecting!" Adhya said in a meek but kind voice.

Everyone looked at her in silence for a few seconds before erupting in cheers.

It was truly a happy time in the world for Shambhavi Vyas.

She had just hugged the expecting couple when she noticed her so called husband standing alone on the side, watching everyone with a smile on his face.

She sneaked a peek at her family members and they all seemed busy enough for her to sneak away, but her father had noticed her and then looked towards Aniket. He winked at her and motioned her to go ahead. She did just that.

Walking towards Aniket, Shambhavi remembered the way he had defended her at her home and how he had been right to her diplomatic status as his wife. That helped them in getting swift justice in the case against Narayan.

Shambhavi assumed Aniket was too absorbed in his thoughts to notice her coming so she could probably spook him.

"I think I have told you before that I will always be able to sense you from a mile away. I do not need to look," Aniket said, startling Shambhavi instead.

Shambhavi huffed at him and Aniket chuckled at her expressions before growing serious.

"Hi," Shambhavi said and the brilliant smile on Aniket's face came back.

"Hello, Lieutenant Shambhavi Sakshi Vyas," Aniket said with pride in his voice.

"It's lieutenant Shambhavi Sakshi Vashisht-Vyas now. It changed," She informed him.

"Ah, we are hyphenating now," Aniket said nodding his head approvingly.

Shambhavi also nodded along before they burst out laughing at the silliness of their actions.

They were both awkward now. Both hesitant.

Aniket cleared his throat and Shambhavi looked at him expectantly. "So, I umm... I got the lawyers to start the process of filing for an annulment. I mean, a divorce would mean we were married but an annulment would legally erase that marriage completely."

Shambhavi thought about it for a second and looked around, standing with Aniket in compatible silence.

She saw Adhya with her husband happy and smiling, now expecting their first child, then her gaze went to her father with Choti Ma both smiling at each other, walking on a path leading to happiness.

Her eyes searched for her youngest siblings both talking with each other, playfully hitting each other when Nitya smacked into someone else. She ran into Lieutenant Shivankar Rajput. Shambhavi laughed at their comical expression and it looked like a new story was on the block.

And in that second she decided not to decide.

"What if you don't send in the papers for annulment?" Shambhavi spoke slowly and softly.

Aniket whipped his head in her direction so fast and looked at her with so much hope in eyes. It broke Shambhavi's heart to see that expression on his face.

She knew she was taking the right decision.

"What if I don't decide just yet? Don't sign the paper for annulment. Not saying that we are married but, you know, just let it be for now," Shambhavi's words were a bit unsteady as was her heartbeat.

"I could work with that, not signing any papers without permission or knowledge. And not giving value to the papers signed without knowledge." Aniket said with hope clear in his voice.

Shambhavi nodded to his words biting at her lips. "I could definitely work with that," Aniket said again, sure of himself with a goofy smile on his face.

So, she left Aniket standing there. A smile on his face, a second chance for them in his hands, and no titles attached to their relationship.

She would decide when she wanted to. For now she knew she just wanted him in her life. The rest could wait till when she would be ready.

She went to her family and they all asked what the verdict was. She shook her head and diverted everyone's attention towards Nitya's chance run-in.

Everyone laughed and smiled. Everyone celebrated togetherness.

With one last look around her, Lieutenant Shambhavi Vashisht-Vyas thought just how her entangled relationships had woven into a beautiful pattern of life, with weaves that were unentangled for the most part, woven with love and pain at times, but it was theirs and it was a beautiful tangle.