CUPID’S LITTLE ARROW
PREMEER SS
Part-5
MISUNDERSTANDING
“Hey, that’s mine you can’t snatch it from me. Come here”, shouted Heer who was running behind Tanu in the garden of Juneja Mansion. It was 10.30 in the morning and they were running for almost 10 minutes for a bar of chocolate.
“I can Miss. Heer because you are my friend”, Tanu giggled.
4 days has passed since Heer came to this house for Tanu’s counseling. She handled Tanu in such a manner that no one could say that Heer was not related to Tanu by blood. Heer was trying to make her smile and take out her fear of being alone.
“Wowww! This girl had made Tanu not only smile but laugh wholeheartedly. She has got to be something in her”.
Prem’s thoughts were broken by Manohar’s voice.“Bhaiya, madam is calling”, Manohar handed over the phone to him. Why is she calling? What does she want now? Prem thought. However he put a break in his thinking process and decided to answer the call.
“Hello Ma, yes yes I am fine. You tell…why are you calling suddenly?”
“Don’t speak like that Prem. I am your mother. Can’t I call my only son for no reason and only to talk to him?” Gayatri Juneja tried to sound sweet and innocent.
“Off course you can ma. It’s just you have never done that”, Prem remarked sarcastically.
Though the sarcasm was evident in his voice,Gayatri Jueneja, being a lady of extremely calm and calculative mind, kind of ignored it and thought to get into the real topic. “Prem , Sanjana wants to talk to you in person and I want you to be nice with her”.
“What! Ma you know very well that I don’t like that girl. Why can’t you understand?” Prem argued.
“Because you are not understanding anything either. I told you to leave that child to any home or orphanage but you kept her to you”.
“She is your grandchild for God’s sake. She needs us. How many times doI have to tell you this?” Prem’s temper was rising with each moment.
“And how many times do I have to tell you that she is no one to us. She is just that middle class man’s daughter…that middle class man whom your elder sister chose to marry without caring about her status, her class and her parents”. Gayatri Juneja spat angrily.
“Fine you don’t have to accept her. Her uncle is here so I will take care of her. She may mean nothing to you but she is Kul di’s daughter so I am there for her”.
“Prem listen….” But before Gayatri Juneja could argue more, Prem cut the call and threw the phone on the bed.
“I have never known she had her grandmother”, came a voice which made him turn around and he spotted Heer standing there with so many questions visible on her face. Prem chose to ignore the remark and pretended that he had another important phone call to make but off course, Heer was not the one to let go off things like that.
“I asked you something”, she stressed each and every word.
“I am busy. We can talk about it later”, he tried to drop the topic.
“No”, she was stubborn too. “I will talk now…I need my answers”.
“What answers?” Prem asked looking straight at her folding his arms across his chest.
“If Tanu has a grandmother then why don’t you call her here? May be she can help us and then you won’t need a counselor. Family is the best support fora child”, she said.
“No I can’t do that. Besides, she won’t come here”, he replied as calmly as possible.
“Why? Look Mr. Juneja if you have any problem going on between you and your mother you can solve it later. But for now please call her. Don’t make that little girl suffer”.
“And who are you to tell me what I should do and what shouldn’t?” Prem cross questioned her with an audibly high pitch.
Heer was taken aback. “I was…I was just trying to help you and…”, before she could complete, Prem’s next words made her stop. “Look Miss. Maan, you have been assigned to do a job so please do it. No need to show your sympathy or give your opinion about things that you don’t know. It’s my personal matter and I can deal with it”.
“Excuse me! What did you just say? Personal matter… like seriously? Let me remind you Mr. Juneja that 4 days ago it was you who came to my office for your niece because you thought she needed help. It was you who were worried about her not me. And now you are telling it’s your personal matter! For your kind information when you need a counselor for your niece then it would no longer remain your personal matter. You know what you are so selfish. You are trying to show others that you can handle her alone without anyone’s support”, Heer breathed heavily after literally lashing out at him.
Prem had had enough. How dare she? Here he was trying to make things alright and she was accusing him of being selfish!
He walked towards her and grabbed her upper arms tightly. Heer flinched as the grip was really tight but chose to remain still and wait for his answer. Prem looked dangerously in her eyes before venting out his anger. “What did you say? I am selfish. Ya right…absolutely right. I am selfish…I am selfish because I am trying to protect my elder sister’s daughter. I am selfish because I thought if she stayed here at least she would live with someone whom she could say her family.I am selfish because I don’t want her to go such a grandmother who doesn’t think of her(Tanu) as her own granddaughter and who was trying to get rid of her”.
Heer was really shocked at his outburst. What was he talking about? Did such grandmothers exist? “But why…I mean why is she trying to get rid of her? Isn’t Tanu her own blood?” Heer couldn’t help asking. Prem sighed and closed his eyes. He knew he shouldn’t have shouted at her like this. She was Tanu’s counselor and in away she was right that anything related to Tanu was not only his personal matter. He loosened his grip on her bare arms.
“Because Kul di”, he stopped at Heer’s questioning gaze. “My elder sister”,he cleared her confusion, “chose to marry a middle class man whom she loved dearly and who loved her whole heartedly. But my parents, especially my mom….she never liked my brother-in-law, Kiran jiju. In her opinion no one can live happily without money and because my Kul didi dn’t care about her class and status, and specially rejected the guy whom my mother had chosen for her, she(Gayatri Juneja) disown her(Kul di). And now when I told her about Tanu, she said she didn’t consider her as her own blood.”
Heer was really shocked at this discloser. She wanted to say so many things but words failed her. She just stared at him who,by now, was sitting on his bed with a picture in his hands…a childhood picture of his elder sister and him. He caressed it and put it back on the bedside table. He turned towards her to say something but stopped seeing a little figure stood at the door with tears in her eyes.
“Tanu!” he whispered. Hearing the name Heer immediately turned and froze on her spot. In their heated argument they failed to notice when Tanu came and heard everything.
“Tanu stop!” Heer called out for her when she saw her running from there crying miserably. Meanwhile Prem and Heer went behind her in concern. They came to Tanu’s room and saw it closed. Heer started knocking the door. “Tanu please open the door. What you heard is not true. Tanu…Tanu please beta open the door.”This time Prem tried. “Tanu I am sorry…I should have told you earlier. Mamu is really sorry beta. Please open the door”.
After what felt like an eternity, the door got opened and they saw her crying, holding a picture in her hands and sitting on her bed. Heer quietly sat beside her and caressed her hair. As soon as Tanu saw Heer, she hugged her tightly and burst out in crying. Heer didn’t find words to console her so she just hugged her and waited for her to stop. After sometimes when her cries turned into soft sobs Heer broke the hug and called her lovingly. “Tanu, look at me”.
Tanu looked at Heer but her eyes again filled with fresh tears. Heer nodded and wiped them. “Why doesn’t she love me?” asked Tanu suddenly. Heer was thinking ways to make her understand the situation but this sudden question caught heroff guard. “No Tanu aisa nahi hai. She loves you just…”
Heer began but before Heer could complete her sentence, Tanu cut her in middle. “No…I heard everything. She didn’t love my mother and now she doesn’t love me”, shouted Tanu. Heer thought it was best to hear her…what she had to say. “I don’t want her here”, Tanu said stubbornly.
“Ok”, replied Heer.
“Really?” asked Tanu while her eyes sparkled.
“Yes really. If you don’t want her here then she will not come”, Heer answered back. Tanu smiled and again hugged her. “Thank you Miss. Heer”. Heer hugged her back tightly. “You are welcome beta but if you want to thank someone then thank your mamu”, she said carefully not wanting to angry her more.
Tanu broke apart suddenly and looked at her with questioning eyes. Heer cupped her cheeks and answered her questions. “Tanu it was your mamu who said no to her from coming here because he doesn’t want you to go anywhere so you should thank him…right?” Heer was hoping to get any kind of angry reaction from Tanu but when she saw that Tanu was waiting patiently as if asking her to continue, she smiled and continued, “Come on say thank you to him”. Heer pointed at the door and Tanu’s gaze followed her. There was standing Prem with tears in his eyes which held his concern for his niece.
Done with this part. So will Tanu say thank you to Prem? Will there start a new relation between Prem and Tanu? You will get to know in the next chapters. Do read this Part and share your views…and don’t forget to hit the like button. Take care…bye.
Thank You,
Love,
Sunayana
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