Chapter 23

Chapter 24

And Kushal stood looking at his aunt and uncle... Faint memories flooded him. As a young boy of thirteen when he had last seen them, never ever had he imagined he would see any of his family again!! 

In no time Garima was seen wailing, hugging, kissing, cuddling Kushal. "Where were you son all this time, where were you? We searched every nook and corner of Lucknow. Looking at Shashi she exclaimed, still crying "Do you see how my nephew has grown. Devi Maiyya, tera laak laak shukkar (A thousand thanks Devi maiyya). I never thought I will see you again. Your mum would be so proud of you today!!!.

Though a grown handsome man, there was no mistaking. All his dads features were striking. While Khushi turned out to be a beautiful blend of both her mums and dads appearance, Kushal  traits and gestures were unmistakably that of dads.

Shashi was soon seen by Khushi's side holding her sideways. Both watched the scene unfold in front of them. Though Shashi knew the accident had caused Khushi to have forgotten all about her life before her parents passed away, somewhere she did remember few incidents.. That's when Shashi heard, "baba and gave her an understanding nod. He took her to her brother and stood her in front of him... 

Karan, Buaji, Payal saw with moist eyes, Khushi and Kushal hugging and crying. Both siblings meeting after fourteen years. When Kushal felt Khushi weight going heavy, he knew she was going to faint. Payal was by her side, and soon they settled her on the settee. Buaji was seen running to kitchen exclaiming, "Hai re nandkishore, Save my sanka devi... while pouring water into a glass. Next few minutes saw Khushi come and go out of consciousness and repeating "baba, baba, with the rest of the crew concerned for her. 

Kushal hugged Payal, both remembering all the frequent squabbles they had with Kushal making fun of the girly things' every time they visited each other!! And to top it, he did not now fail to mention "You girls change so much!! 

Long after, when Khushi was calm and collected, they were all settled and sat around the dining table along with Vivek and Sheela, Karan's dad and dad. When Garima had insisted on meeting the Mehtas, Karan had arranged for their visit, and soon they had come across. It was heartening to see Kushals family, who he had tried to search with all his heart. 

Vivek recounted how Kushals entry into their family had got nothing but good luck. Fourteen years ago, the  day the Mehtas were relocating to Delhi from Lucknow, they had stopped midway for refreshments, when Karan and Kunal had tried to stretch their legs, a bit too far perhaps. Hearing whimpering cries from the bushes, boys being boys, they tried to investigate. They took him to their parents, pulling him out of the bushes. After tending to the boy, Vivek had tried to get information from Kushal, but Kushal had not spoken a word and soon fainted off due to exhaustion. Not able to leave him alone they had taken him along to hand over to the police, but, soon realised he needed immediate medical assistance more than the police, with Kushal convulsing.

Once reaching Delhi, Sheela had looked after him lovingly. In the meantime Vivek had tried to reach out to the police in Lucknow about the boy they had found, but never got any reply. When days became weeks and weeks into months, the Mehtas feared if they had to let him go. All of them had taken to the boy and did not want to part with him. Soon, they decided to put him in school along with their boys Karan and Kunaal. Kushal never spoke a word. Only when they wanted to give him a name, did he mention Kushal Sharma. Very slowly Kushal started coming out of his shock, and spoke only to Vivek and even to this day Vivek recalled how reserved he was. The accident had had a great impact on the young mind.. 

Garima mentioned how they visited the accident site as soon as they heard the news. Though very saddened, their only solace was Khushi, who was with an elderly couple helping at the site. Thorough inspection of the site, approaching the police, nothing yielded to Kushal's whereabouts. The search had gone on for days and months together, eventually all loosing their hopes.  

It was a long day. When all was said and done, they gave a sigh of relief. Kushal and Khushi were stuck to each other. Life led in different paths which should have been spent under the safe umbrella of their parents love!! 

When Vivek and Karan made way to leave, Kushal too left saying he would return the next day sorting his travel arrangements. 

When Shyam had returned late, seeing two new cars parked. Surprised he did not recognise them,he  had made way to the nearby bar to return late. The less people see him, the better. With things being a bit awry he wanted his much needed drink

Another soul was happy too. Karan was happy, well extremely happy  with the accidental meeting of the siblings, but for his own reasons. Cheeky though, he tried convincing Khushi to come for a sleepover to Mehta house, but the Guptas were not very keen or comfortable. Their Sanka devi needed a good sleep for all the facts to properly sink into her. Well all of them needed as well..

And another soul was happy too. Nani was happy. And extremely happy too. And why not, she had got to see that side of her chote, hidden since last 14 years. The natkat (naughty) chote, whose ears she had often given a twisting for making her run around!!  At the dining table, Nani was all praises for the hard working nature of the young girls, and Arnav's ears straightened when Nani said "especially Khushi and turned to  Arnav, who immediately turned away to hide his interest. Mami's snide remarks about their status and class was overlooked with Akash taking them all in surprise, making his Nani proud, when he said "Ma, they have always led a very respected life, what matters more!! Surely our young man did have a tongue that could speak!!! 

It was certainly a long day at Raizada mansion too. Though not very happy to relive all the moments, Arnav  was forced emotionally into revealing all the moments with Khushi, from the time she fell into his arms, though he justified his actions cleverly by citing numerous reasons, oh of course none of them included the  strong emotional turbulence she had caused to him and continued doing so.  Though the intension was bring Arnav up to date with Shyams endeavours, Akash wanted some time  to mull on all the facts. Definitely unhappy with his brothers actions leading to all the troubles the Guptas had to face, Akash could only come up with one positive outcome. Payal. Yes, his Payal. It was probably Devi Maiyya's way of bringing his Payal to him. He realised Payal's fear of involving Arnav was valid enough.  Oh what was a man to do with so many things running in my mind... 

Arnav was left puzzled, shocked and deep in thought, when Akash left with words, "Bhai, what you did  has shook the foundation of their lives. Weather for good or bad, we shall see. But there will definitely be some serious repercussions for all of us to face in the near future and hope you will honestly justify your reasons for the actions you will then take.

And yes of course, it was an even longer day for the darling daughter of the house. For the first time, she tried to come out of her dream world and face reality. After a night of troubled sleep, Anjali was walking, talking zombie. So was she preoccupied, on her way to the conference room, she bumped into Aman, and surprise of surprises, she walked on even without apologising. Though taken aback, Aman had let it off without much thought but could not let it pass when later during the day, while casually watching the street from the window of his cabin, he saw a dishevelled Anjali approaching a taxi. However, after their previous encounter, his instincts told him something was fishy.  Why would Anjali be hailing a taxi, when her car was still stood with the driver waiting? He soon ran out to call her when she was about to sit. Without giving it a second thought, he too followed her. 

And he waited. Sat in his car and waited. But how long could he wait? With each passing minute, he grew impatient. Then, abandoning his car,  surprising both the taxi driver and Anjali, he sat next to Anjali in her taxi. Giving the driver a stern look to stop questioning him, turned to Anjali and spoke in an equally stern voice, "Anjali ji, Please do you want to come and wait in my car. Please..

Already confused and troubled with what she was doing, Anjali gave him a troubled look. She had seen this young man grow along with her chote, since AR was still a small fashion house.  Could she trust him? Well, of course, but she was still confused. After what he has already seen, would he let her be on her own now? He would definitely raise his concerns with chote. There again, she did not want to loose todays opportunity of following her husband whom she had already sighted. In case he came back today, she would have to wait until his next outstation visit again!! With all these thoughts running, she asked him "Ok Aman, I will,. When  he made an attempt to pay the driver and move out, she continued, "Aman, only if you promise me, no no wait, swear on me, you will not breath a word to chote, otherwise, leave alone chote, I will make your life hell.. Oh did Aman have any doubts about where his boss got his traits from!!! ha ha 

how was it????