10. Kya Yahi Pyar Hai - birthday OS Dec'23

5 days ago

manjiri

@m4manju

This was written as birthday gift to one of my very special, very sweet reader Prachi ji saxena_hgt

--*--

'Trouble in paradise for India's sweethearts Arnav and Khushi?'

'Famous TV couple Arnav-Khushi who rose to fame from 'Teri Meri Prem Kahani' are heading for separation?'

Headlines like these have been hitting all leading news channels in the past few weeks.

The reason was a famous TV couple Arnav Singh Raizada and Khushi kumari Gupta, fondly called as arshi by their fans in India as well as worldwide, were rumored to be separating. And that had caused a huge wave of panic amongst their millions of fans plus given fodder gossip news portals!

The fans were fervently wishing and hoping to get a clarification from their beloved arshi quashing these rumors.

But truth was, these news weren't entirely rumors.

Something WAS wrong between them; something had come between the much-in-love couple and that something was fame!

.

.

It all started 3 years ago when Arnav and Khushi were still just two strangers to each other and to the TV world. They both belonged to different worlds, who had no chance to cross paths ever. But they had one common connection. Belonging to well-known families in Indian TV industry. Arnav's sister Anjali Jha was a famous producer and his brother-in-law, Anjali's husband, Shyam was a famous villain but an adorable guy in real life. While Khushi's deceased dad was a famous director, and her mother Kiran Gupta was a writer. However, Arnav and Khushi had no aspiration to join the TV industry. Arnav was already an MBA and working in private firm in Switzerland while Khushi was happy doing theatres.

It was, however, a last-minute replacement in Anjali's high-budget TV show "Teri Meri Prem Kahani", that she pursued Arnav to star in it, while Khushi's mom who wanted her daughter to become more social and thought glam world was perfect for her, got her to do the lead role in it.

The rest, as they say, was history!

Arnav, who played the lead role of Varun and Khushi who had played role of Sharanya were household names within months.

It was during that time when the show was at its peak of popularity, the rumors started coming that these two had fallen in love with each other in real and were dating. But they both neither confirmed it, nor denied it. However, their fans already started shipping them and were soon called 'India's sweethearts'!

Finally, after almost 2 years of TMPK, Arnav and Khushi announced their engagement in a press conference on the shoot for final episode of TMPK, and people went berserk with happiness. Their high-profile wedding a month later was in headlines throughout the weeklong celebration and rituals of it and garnered huge TRPs for all the channels.

.

.

But as the alleged notion goes, showbiz marriages are cursed. No matter how much arnav and khushi tried to not let it affect them, it had started.

After TMPK ended, both got many offers to star together in shows and separately. And they chose different TV shows. Khushi chose more serious roles while Arnav preferred youth-based shows. The result was she became critics' favorite due to acting prowess while he was popular in ladies due to his charming persona! Both were famous in their own might.

However, as much as there was good publicity, there were a few negative ones too.

Some articles for example, stated khushi was a bigger star than Arnav by winning prestigious awards for her acting thus her marrying him was a surprise, while others started saying how arnav was more popular- thanks to his huge female fanbase- and belonging to a big producer's family and that's why khushi married him to secure her future long after she's done with TV shows!

Initially, both Arnav and Khushi did not pay heed to these news.

Like when Khushi won 2nd award in a row for her show 'Ye Hausala Kaise Jhuke', and Arnav expressed his disappointment of not winning any. She had tried to reassure him then by reminding him how it was not even his chosen field of career to gauge success or failure.

"Why are you taking it to heart, Arnav? Your shows are doing so well, and it wasn't like winning an award was your dream." She said, as they both stood on the terrace of their penthouse. This place was special for them. They had spent many sweet moments here of course, but more than that, they had decided whenever either of them is angry or upset, they will solve their fights there.

He held the terrace railing firmly as he said, "Exactly, Khushi. It was not. I was an accidental actor. In fact, I became an actor because of you. If not for you, I wouldn't have chosen TMPK."

Somewhere it was true. He became an actor for her. And as it turns out, he could act so well only with her. Maybe because it wasn't acting for him at all, it was all natural as shyam had said back then. She brought out those emotions naturally from him. While it was not the same case for her. She was a natural actor, with a strong background from her theatre days. Thus, critics praised her more and she won major awards too.

"But I was hoping I would win at least this year. My show 'Ishq Hua's YouTube clips have millions of views." He said, with a fallen face. She had then come closer to him and pecking his lips, told him,

"But you have won my heart, isn't that good enough?" her cute antics changed his mood, like every time. And the issue was temporarily buried then. Or so she thought.

On the other hand, when they went to attend the award function, the scene was total opposite. Due to Arnav's insane fan following and craze, there was a huge crowd gathered around him, asking for selfies and autographs. Khushi on the other hand, was practically ignored!

A lady approached them and asked for a photograph. After posing for a photo, she started gushing over Arnav's latest music video 'pyar hua iqraar hua'. Khushi was standing holding Arnav's hand, listening to him getting so much fawning attention from the fans. The lady did talk for some time and then another friend of hers joined them, asking for another photo. And just as Khushi straightened up, the other fan said,

"Err, can you please step aside for a minute? We want a photo just with him."

Khushi felt flustered and stepped aside.

This, however, continued throughout the function, making her get annoyed.

Later that night Arnav found her sitting on the bamboo chair on the terrace, sulking to herself. When he probed, she mentioned what had irritated her that day to Arnav, to which he laughed and said,

"You are just getting insecure because of my fans, sweetheart. But don't worry I am only yours."

He didn't even remember about it the next time they faced a similar situation, but Khushi was getting bothered.

But they also were humans after all. With thinking ability, with emotions, with egos! Things that were ignored at first, started bothering them soon.

And thus, cracks had started appearing in their relationship.

--*--

The outside world started noticing something was wrong between them when Arnav did not go to an award function where khushi was winning and he wasn't. The winners were informed beforehand thus he and khushi knew about who had won and who did not. Khushi felt hurt when he straightaway refused to go with her. Her self-respect did not allow her to tell him that he should go at least to support her, but she still tried saying he should attend for the sake of his fans who would want to see him there. However, when he didn't budge, she went alone. It pricked her that he didn't even wish her before she left home or complimented her on how pretty she looked.

When she returned home, he was neither at home nor on the terrace. However, she received a text from him that he was going to hang out with Shyam jiju that night and return late...

.

.

The family noticed the differences when they all were gathered for Kiran Gupta's 50th birthday celebration. The ever-flirty Arnav was missing that day under the guise of a straight-faced man while the ever-smiling Khushi was needed to be asked to smile at least for the photos which neither her mom Kiran nor Anjali and Shyam missed.

After they cut the cake and Kiran Gupta brought the champagne bottle and opened the bubbly, Arnav clicked a family selfie and posted it on his Instabook account. As Khushi too was following him, she saw it and how his post instantly got thousands of likes and comments. She felt the now-familiar irritation build within her and she pulled him aside and said,

"Arnav, can you take that post off from Insta?"

He knew why she was saying and honestly, he could but now he was also on a high horse, so he asked instead, "What's wrong with it? See, it got so many likes already."

She gritted her teeth as she said, "It is MY mom's birthday. At least spare this day to show off your fan following!"

And that stung pretty bad to Arnav. Having lost his parents, he always considered Kiran as his own mother who loved him likewise but when Khushi said it that way, he deleted the post and stormed off from there on the pretext of getting a call...

Kiran, Anjali, and Shyam shared a look.

The families had been aware for a while now about changed power dynamics in this young couple's life. Khushi was getting praised for her acting-rightfully so due to her formal training while Arnav was a superstar in Indian TV owing to his charming personality on and off screen. However, it seemed amongst these two, they had let these exact same things create barriers! Khushi felt jealous that Arnav was receiving so much praise from fans- something she had dreamt of as an actor but is seldom achieved in the kind of serious role she was playing. While Arnav was annoyed that he had not won a single award yet while her trophies adorned their living room! If only they could understand that each of these things were great in their own way and validated their achievements...

By then, the news of their separation had started hitting the tabloids, with their true fans worrying and praying for them while gossip mongers either deliberately spreading rumors or dividing the fans as 'Team Arnav' and 'Team Khushi.'

And thus, Kiran decided to talk to these two before it was too late.

"Arnav beta, Khushi, today I want to tell you something and I hope you will not misunderstand me, as a melodrama writer." She said with her typical cheeky style and they both smiled a little but nodded in response for her to go on.

"Beta, when I met Khushi's papa, Ravi, we both were young, much younger than you two or Anjali and Shyam. We both used to have too many arguments as I was a writer while he was the director, however, we both knew we had intense chemistry between us and thus, we started dating. But we would fight a lot."

"I know maa, you both were on-again-off-again couple." Khushi said, rolling her eyes.

"Haan, bilkul. But along the way, we both learnt something that I think will be useful to all of you. It is about celebrating your partner's success! It is Waheguru's mehr (God's blessing) if a husband and a wife both are high achievers but then their love needs to be stronger to cherish their success. And that is possible only when you put aside your rose-tinted glasses and self-centered goals of careers and start thinking and cheering for your partner's. Even if it is something you craved for!

"But Kiran Maa, when it comes to choosing your own desires vs their lover's dreams, it isn't an easy choice, no?" Arnav asked honestly and Kiran smiled at his genuine question. She too had faced it once a time and knew her daughter as well as son-in-law were in a similar dilemma.

"Beta, it's true that samarpan, tyag, kurbani, sacrifice are all synonyms of love and two people who love each other can give up on many things for their lover. But here, we aren't giving up anything, rather, looking at your partner's achievements as your own. I know it can be tough to do so at first, but it is worth a try, isn't it?"

Shyam found it a good moment to chime in, "I agree with Kiran mam. Do you guys know how much stress your fans are under these days? Billions of arshi fans are dreading a day would come when you announce that you guys are separating and need their support. In fact, many have started posting messages on their social media how they wish this is fake. But is it?"

Anjali pinched his arm to shut up at that point as hearing things like that itself had made Khushi almost teary and Arnav's face pale in shock. Until then, they did not see how their actions were slowly affecting their relation as well as how the world was perceiving it and it was very much possible, it could eventually lead to a bitter end.

Neither Arnav nor Khushi wanted that...

.

.

When they reached their home that night, they removed their shoes and wordlessly climbed the stairs to the terrace, hand-in-hand.

Once there, Arnav sat on the floor, resting his back against the half-wall of their sea-facing terrace while Khushi too sat down but took a seat between the cage of his legs! Her back rested against his chest; their hands joined together over her tummy.

"I am sorry, Arnav. I shouldn't have said that way about Maa, to you. It was mean. In fact, I shouldn't have felt jealous over your popularity. I promise I will become better at this..."

Arnav held her chin and slightly tilted her face to look in her eyes, "I am sorry as well, Khushi. I behaved like a jealous, low-life jerk! I missed such an important moment when you won that prestigious award. But I promise it won't happen again..."

"We both are learning, hai na?" Khushi asked.

"Yup. This fame, achievements everything is on one side but for me, you matter the most." Arnav said with sincerity.

"You are my everything." She added.

She turned within his hold at that moment and a kiss which was supposed to be just a small peck, soon turned intense. A moment after they broke for air, Arnav took his mobile and before turning the camera on, asked her,

"Can I capture this moment, please?"

She shyly nodded.

He smiled and clicked a pic while kissing her temple, something that was too chaste rather than intimate...

"Khushi, is it ok if I post this one on my Instabook account? Not for breaking records in getting likes-although I think it will- but because I want to show-off that there is a prettiest angel in this world whose achievements make me super proud, and she is mine!" His sweet boasting received an equally sweet kiss from Khushi in reply and the night as well as this tough challenge in their life ended on a happy note.

It was another matter altogether that this kiss sent the arshi fans in frenzy who trended them for the next entire week, the news portals ran headlines like "Arnav and Khushi quash all separation rumors in style", "ArShi painting the town in red" etc.

Kiran Gupta received separate calls from both Arnav and khushi thanking her for showing them the right path at the right time.

She smiled in satisfaction. This was the most beautiful love story she had written...

--*--

A/N – Hope you guys like it. This was kinda epilogue to one of my older SS in "Bikhre moti" about a celebrity couple, 'India's sweethearts'. You've probably already read it.