Hasta-prāpya-stabaka-namito bāla-Mandāra-vṛkṣaḥ (FF) Ch. 36 p. 15 - Page 12

Last of three posts appreciating my readers and inviting everyone to follow the story in the Fan Fiction section ...

If anyone doesn't have time to read this story anymore, or you've moved on from the show, I respect that, and I hope I haven't annoyed you by playing with the new tag-10-members-per-post capability.

Of course, if anyone doesn't like the story anymore, and wants to tell me why, any feedback from readers is always welcome.

Chapters Fifteen to Eighteen covered a lot of history from the show and the characters' past. I thought, while characters are stuck in a car, or spatially separated in two different cities, I can use the time for them to share and reflect. Now that Mandar knows more about what happened in his family while he was gone, the plot can move forward.

I know what has to happen, but with all the scenes that characters need to share along the way, it takes a while to write.

Back to work now on Chapter Twenty-Two.

Originally posted by: BrhannadaArmour

Last of three posts appreciating my readers and inviting everyone to follow the story in the Fan Fiction section ...

If anyone doesn't have time to read this story anymore, or you've moved on from the show, I respect that, and I hope I haven't annoyed you by playing with the new tag-10-members-per-post capability.

Of course, if anyone doesn't like the story anymore, and wants to tell me why, any feedback from readers is always welcome.

Chapters Fifteen to Eighteen covered a lot of history from the show and the characters' past. I thought, while characters are stuck in a car, or spatially separated in two different cities, I can use the time for them to share and reflect. Now that Mandar knows more about what happened in his family while he was gone, the plot can move forward.

I know what has to happen, but with all the scenes that characters need to share along the way, it takes a while to write.

Back to work now on Chapter Twenty-Two.

Brahnnada, Bura mano ya na mano Holi hai”. You’ve been colored by Team Veeru. Please Post the following words "I've been coloured by Team Veeru" in this thread:

I would be glad if you help us..

Chapter Twenty-Two

"Pallavi, malā poçāyalā khūpa uśīra zhālā, paṇa tū malā māpha karaśīla nā?" I was delayed a lot, but you'll forgive me, won't you? Mandar asked as he stepped into Deshmukh Saree Emporium.

Seeing Pallavi's unsmiling face, Mandar felt a pang for what he hadn't asked to be forgiven. He thought, Pallavi was faithful to me. In that video, she chose to be my widow rather than Raghav's wife. I couldn't defend her then, but she resisted Raghav until he asked for a chance in my name. And how have I behaved since I remembered that I'm married? I wanted to make love with Farhad last night, while Pallavi was waiting for me to come home. How could I be so heartless?

"Mandar Dādā, Nikhil said you would be talking to Raghav for a few minutes." Krishna's face was worried. "He didn't try to fight with you, did he?"

Mandar shook his head. "No. We just talked, but Raghav had a panic attack, so I stayed with him until he felt better and his bodyguard Madan came back. Krishna, Pallavi, when Nikhil and I got home, there were reporters waiting, and they showed us the video. Did they trouble you a lot?"

Pallavi vaguely understood what Mandar was saying, but she did not respond to the question. She was thinking, how would she explain to Mandar what the video really meant?

"The reporters asked a lot of questions, but they waited outside the shop, Mandar Dādā, because we asked them not to come in," Krishna answered. "Dīdī told them that Raghav won't hurt her anymore, and that you're back home. Then Raghav arrived, and convinced the reporters to leave."

"Mandar, tumacyāśī malā kāhī mahattvāçe bolāyaçe āhe," I have something important to say to you, Pallavi blurted out.

Mandar could tell from Pallavi's expression that she wanted to speak in private. He almost suggested a walk around the block, but realized that they couldn't talk freely outdoors today. As soon as Raghav had left, passersby had begun to approach the shop. Some of them were looking in, obviously curious about Pallavi.

"Āpaṇa ātalyā kholīta zāūna bolūyā." Let's go into the inner room to talk, Mandar suggested, and led the way. He reached for Pallavi's hand, and she took it gratefully. After the intense conversation Pallavi had just had with Raghav, both of them avoiding any physical contact, touching Mandar felt normal. It was a quiet comfort to her uncertain nerves.

As soon as the storeroom door was closed behind her, Pallavi's tears overflowed. The shock of the reporters' outcry had passed ... her fury at Raghav had already erupted twice and left her chest aching ... a petrifying anticipation of notoriety - as soon as anyone would realize her inadvertent crime - had kept her face numb in front of the curious onlookers and facing the innocent concern of Krishna and Nikhil, but no more ... it gave way now to despair. What a mess her life had become! Knowing that she had done nothing to deserve this punishment, knowing that she couldn't have averted it, her mind was nevertheless searching for some logic, some agency on her own part. The past two-and-a-half years had been a merciless battle for her, and now she felt ambushed with a mortal blow.

Mandar took Pallavi in his arms and let her cry against his chest, stroking her hair. It was the first time he had ever done that. When news of Devayani's death had reached them, they hadn't been married yet; feeling shy even to hold hands, with all of Mandar's family and guests hovering over them, they had not ventured to embrace; and Siddhesh Dādā had been there to offer hugs to his grieving sister. Pallavi felt soft in Mandar's arms; her shapely body didn't invite a tight embrace in the way that Farhad's lean torso had been his buoy last night. Mandar held Pallavi tenderly and, closing his eyes, found his lips pressing against the top of her head.

"Itake raḍāyaçe kāhī viśeṣa kāraṇa āhe, kā gelyā cāra divasāṃtalyā sagaḷyāça ghaṭanā sosāyalā zarā atī zhālyā?" Is there any particular reason to cry so much, or have the events of the past four days, altogether, become a little too much to bear? Mandar inquired.

"Mandar, mī saṃkaṭāta sāṃpaḍale āhe." I am caught in trouble, Pallavi admitted, taking deep breaths to control her tears as she tried to explain. "Kāyadyāpramāṇe, Raghav-śī dusare lagna karaṇyāādhī mī svataḥ tyālā sāṅgāyalā have hote kī māzhe ādhī tumacyāśī lagna zhāle hote, āṇi mī svataḥlā vidhavā samazata hote." According to the law, before remarrying with Raghav, I should have informed him myself that I was already married to you, and I considered myself a widow. "Ase dusaryā lagnāādhī nāhī sāṅgitale, āṇi maga puḍhe pahile lagna punhā astitvāta āle, tara dvivivāhāçā gunhā māpha hota nāhī." If one doesn't tell before remarrying, and later the first marriage is reestablished, then the crime of bigamy isn't excused. "Mājhyā iccheviruddha Raghav-ne ghāīghāīta malā lagnālā ubhe kele, āṇi tyā gaḍabaḍīta mājhyā dhyānātaça āle nāhī kī Raghav-lā mājhyā paristhitīçā pattā nāhī." Raghav got me to marry him in a hurry, against my will, and in that commotion, it never occurred to me that Raghav had no clue about my situation. "Jyāçā vicāra suddhā mī kadhī manāta āṇalā navhatā, to dvivivāhāçā gunhā nusate pahilyā lagnābaddala kāhī tāsa uśīrā sāṅgitalyāmuḷe nakaḷata mājhyākaḍūna ghaḍalā, āṇi āza tyāçā hā dṛśya purāvā akkhyā Hyderabad śaharāsamora ālā." Even the thought of bigamy hadn't ever entered my mind, but that's the crime that I inadvertently committed, just by telling about my first marriage a few hours too late, and today this video evidence of it was exposed to the entire city of Hyderabad. "Hā purāvā pāhūna, Raghav-śī lagna kelyāvaraça mī tyālā mājhī paristhiti sāṅgitalī, ase koṇatyāhī nyāyādhīśālā paṭela." After seeing this evidence, any judge will be convinced that I informed Raghav of my situation only after marrying him.

Mandar felt Pallavi trembling, and adjusted his arms around her, trying to understand what was happening and find words to comfort her. "Śānta ho; mī āhe nā tujhyā pāṭhīśī ubhā?" Become calm; don't I have your back? "Tujhyāvara dvivivāhāçā āropa karāyalā pāhataṃya tarī koṇa?" Who's looking to make an accusation of bigamy against you anyway? "Āpaṇa jevhāṃ māzhā mṛtyudākhalā radda karaṇyāsāṭhī nyāyādhīśāsamora zāū, tevhāṃ āpaṇa sāṅgū kī mī jīvanta asalyāçe tulā ṭhāūkaça navhate." When we'll go before a judge to get my death certificate invalidated, then we'll explain that you didn't even know that I was living. "Muḷāta tuzhe vaidhavya khare navhate, āṇi te tū Raghav-lā phasavāyalā thoḍeça lapavalesa!" Your widowhood wasn't even real, and it's not as if you hid it to deceive Raghav!

"Nāhī, Mandar, kharaṃça kāyadyāta ase spaṣṭa lihile āhe kī malā māhīta asalelī paristhiti mī Raghav-lā lagnāādhī sāṅgāyalā havī hotī, āṇi tī na sāṅgaṇyāpāyī malā dvivivāhāçā gunhā lāgato, jyācī śikṣā mhaṇaje dravyadaṇḍa kiṃvā kamāla dahā varṣāṃçā turuṅgavāsa!" No, Mandar, really it's written in the law clearly that whatever I thought the situation was, I should have told Raghav before marriage, and by not telling it, the crime of bigamy applies to me, for which the sentence is a fine or a maximum ten years in prison! "Subhadra yāṃnī malā he ase sāṅgitale!" Subhadra explained it to me like this! As she spoke, Pallavi realized that the front of Mandar's shirt was stained with her tears, and she pulled away.

Mandar pulled his handkerchief out of his pocket, and handed it to Pallavi. She moved to wipe his shirt with it, but he caught her hand, shook his head, took back the cloth, and wiped the tears from her face with it. He found a water bottle and offered it to her.

"Asela, kāyadā tulā doṣa deta asela, paṇa tū kuṇāvara anyāya hoīla aśī vāgalī nāhīsa." It may be, the law may blame you, but you didn't behave unfairly with anyone. "Māzhā tujhyāvara viśvāsa āhe." I believe in you. "Kāhī nā kāhī upāya śodhūna āpaṇa tujhī hyā praśnātūna nirdoṣa suṭakā karū." We'll find a way, any way for you to escape this problem blamelessly. "Subhadra yāṃnī yāvara kāhī upāya suçavalā kā?" Did Subhadra suggest any way out of this?

"Tyā mhaṇālyā kī zara Raghav-barobaraçe lagna radda karaṇyāçā arza mīça nyāyālayāta kelā, tumhī jīvanta sāṃpaḍalyāçe kāraṇa sāṅgūna, tara nyāyādhīśālā dvivivāhācyā āropāçā tapāsa karāvā ase bahudhā vāṭaṇāra nāhī." She said that if I myself petition the court to invalidate my remarriage to Raghav, citing the grounds that we found you living, then the judge will probably not think that prosecution for a charge of bigamy is necessary. "Paṇa Mandar, malā śikṣā zhālī nāhī tarīhī kuṇītarī kāyadā zāṇaṇārā māṇūsa Raghav-çe āṇi māzhe he bolaṇe aikalyāvara bolela, āṇi punhā ekadā mājhī badanāmī hoīla, hyā vicārāne āza māzhā dhīraça suṭalāya." But Mandar, even if I'm not punished, some person who knows the law will hear this conversation between Raghav and me, and speak up, and once again I'll be disparaged - with this thought, today I've just run out of courage.

Pallavi was looking piteously at Mandar as she spoke. "Āpaṇa saṃsāra surū karaṇyāādhīça tumaçā apaghāta zhālā hotā, āṇi ātā sudaivāne punhā ālelī saṃdhī mī pakaḍāyalā zāteya tevaḍhyāta hī vārtāhārāñcī zhuṇḍa yete āṇi malā praśnāta pāḍate kī mājhyā nāṃvālā phasavaṇukīçā ḍāga lāgela kāya, kī mī saraḷa turuṅgātaça zāīna kāya?" Before we could even begin married life, your accident happened, and now, just as I'm trying to catch the opportunity that good luck brought again, this mob of reporters arrives and makes me question, will blame for deceit stain my name, or will I go straight to prison?

"Mī nasatānā tujhyāvara nasate āropa karaṇyāçe kāma ekaṭyā Raghav-ne nāhī, tara Sulochana Kākūne suddhā kele hote, ase āza sakāḷī mājhyā aikaṇyāta āle." When I wasn't here, not only Raghav was in the business of making outrageous accusations against you, but Sulochana Kākū did it too, so I heard this morning, Mandar said, holding both of Pallavi's hands. "Paṇa ātā mī tujhyā bāzūne ubhā āhe, taseça Āī-Bābā āṇi Kākā, Manasi, Nikhil, Amruta, sagaḷeça eka hoūna ṭhāmapaṇe ubhe asatīla." But now I'm on your side, and just the same, Āī-Bābā and Kākā, Manasi, Nikhil, Amruta, everyone will firmly stand united. "Tū ekaṭī nāhīsa ātā." You're not on your own anymore.

"Āza te dṛśya pāhūna malā to divasa āṭhavalā jevhāṃ Raghav-ne māzhā parābhava kelā hotā." Seeing that video today, I remembered that day when Raghav had defeated me. Pallavi felt safe with Mandar, holding his hands and talking freely. This man was her husband; whatever weakness and despair she had kept to herself until today, she could rightfully share with him. "Jevhāṃ mī tyācyāśī lagna kele, tevhāṃ tyālā tumacyābaddala sāṅgaṇe he māzhe kartavya āhe asā vicārahī mājhyā manāta ālā navhatā." When I married him, the idea that I had a responsibility to tell him about you just didn't enter my mind. "Tevhāṃ Bābā rugṇālayāta paḍale hote āṇi Nikhil -" Bābā was lying in the hospital then, and Nikhil -

Pallavi paused, thinking that Mandar didn't yet know every calamity that had befallen the family, but Mandar finished what she had almost said. "Nikhil-lā Raghav-ne aḍakavūna turuṅgāta ṭākale hote." Raghav had entrapped Nikhil and thrown him in jail. "Kāla Farhad-ne malā tī goṣṭa sāṅgitalī." Yesterday Farhad told me that story. "Nikhil-lā soḍavāyalāça tū Raghav-śī lagna mānya kelesa, āṇi tevhāṃ tujhī kāya avasthā zhālī asela te mī samazū śakato." You agreed to marry Raghav only to rescue Nikhil, and I can imagine what must have been your condition at the time.

Reassured, Pallavi released her pent-up frustration, sharing her bleakest thoughts with Mandar. "Raghav-ne malā vākavale āhe, āṇi ātā malā namavūna, mājhyā śarīrāvara hakka gāzavūna, to mājhī kāya avasthā karīla, hyā bhītine mājhyā manāta kāhī dusaryā vicārāṃsāṭhī jāgāça ṭhevalī navhatī." Raghav had bent me, and now, humbling me, asserting a claim to my body, to what condition will he bring me? This fear had left no room in my mind for any other thoughts. "Raghav-cyā aparādhāṃsāṭhī zara tyālā mī dhaḍā nāhī śikavalā tara mājhyā zagaṇyālā kasalāça artha rāhaṇāra nāhī, ase malā tyā divaśī vāṭale." If I don't teach Raghav a lesson for his offences, then no purpose will remain for me to go on living - this was how I felt that day. "Paṇa āza tyācyā aparādhāpāyī mīça kāyadyācyā phāsāta aḍakale āhe." But today, on account of his offence, I'm the one caught in a noose of the law.

Mandar was still holding Pallavi's hands and listening attentively, but Pallavi noticed that the look of sympathy on his face had changed into a troubled expression. "Kasalyā vicārāta paḍalāya?" What is troubling you? she asked.

"Pallavi, mī tulā svīkārale āhe, tyāta Raghav-barobara rāhūna tū kāya je anubhavalesa tyāçā pharaka paḍaṇāra nāhī." Pallavi, I've accepted you as mine, and whatever you experienced by living with Raghav won't change that. "Māzhā tujhyāvara viśvāsa āheça." I do trust you. "Paṇa gelyā aḍīça varṣāṃta mī aśā baryāça striyāṃnā pāhile āhe jyāñcyāvara tyāñcyā navaryāne kiṃvā mitrāne kelelā atyācāra ughaḍapaṇe disatoya, paṇa tyābaddala tyāṃnā bolāyalā zamata nāhī." But in the past two-and-a-half years, I've seen plenty of women whose abuse by a husband or a boyfriend is obvious to see, but they are unable to talk about it. "Tyāṃnā svataḥcyā apamānācī lāza vāṭate he sāhajikaça āhe, paṇa tyāmuḷe zara svataḥcyā mānasika va śārīrika ārogyākaḍe durlakṣa hota asela tara malā te paṭata nāhī." They feel ashamed of their own mistreatment, which is natural, but if their mental and physical health gets neglected for that reason, I don't like it. "Mhaṇūna mī tulā vacana deto kī zara kāhī adhika malā sāṅgūna tujhyā ārogyāvara pariṇāma barā hota asela, tara tuzhā mitra mhaṇūnaça mī tyāçā vicāra karīna." So, I promise you that if telling me anything more will be good for your health, I will think of it only as your friend.

Pallavi understood that the fear of which she had just spoken, that forcible marriage meant Raghav forcing himself on her, made sense to Mandar. And what she had told Mandar yesterday, that she never gave Raghav the privilege, was what any woman in her position might think Mandar wanted to hear. "Tumhālā vāṭataṃya kī zara Raghav māzhā chaḷa karata asatā, tara mī kāhī na bolatā to sahana karata zāīna?" You think that if Raghav was tormenting me, I would say nothing and go on enduring it? "Tumacī çūka nāhī." You're not wrong. "Krishna-ne sāṅgitalyāpramāṇe Raghav-ne māzhā aphāṭa chaḷa kelā hotā, āṇi mī Āī-Bābāṃnā, Kākāṃnā kāhīça kaḷū dile nāhī." As Krishna told you, Raghav did torment me awfully, and I didn't let Āī-Bābā or Kākā know any of it. "Paṇa tumacyāpāsūna mī kāhī lapavaṇāra nāhī." But I won't hide anything from you.

Pallavi was willing to answer, so Mandar asked her, "Raghav-ne tujhyā iccheviruddha tulā lagna karāyalā lāvale, āṇi tyāādhī ekadā tū beśuddha asatānā gharī kuṇālāhī na sāṅgatā tyāne tulā rātrabhara tyācyā gharāta ṭhevale hote." Raghav made you marry him against your will, and before that, one time when you were unconscious, he didn't tell anyone at home and he kept you in his house all night long. "Tarīhī to Rākṣasa sabhyapaṇāne tujhyāpāsūna antara ṭhevata hotā kā?" Even then, was that Rākṣasa decent enough to keep his distance from you?

"Raghav-cyā vāgaṇyāta sabhyatā kamīça āhe." Raghav's behaviour has insufficient decency, Pallavi admitted, and as she explained his faults, the sting of being incriminated by his offence didn't ache so much. "Mājhyāpāsūna tyāne antara ṭhevale ase suddhā mhaṇatā yeṇāra nāhī." I can't even say that he kept his distance from me. "Kāraṇa nasatānā to kapaḍe kāḍhūna vāvarāyaçā, āṇi mājhyāvara pariṇāma zhālyācyā apekṣene hasāyaçā." Without any reason, he would take off his clothes and walk around, and expecting that he had an effect on me, he would laugh. "Paraṃtu navarepaṇāçā hakka tyāne kadhīça māgitalā nāhī." However, he never demanded a husband's privilege. "Jevhāṃ ekā kholīta ekatra rahāyaçe āmaçe ṭharale tevhāṃ tyāne malā surakṣitateçe vacana dile, āṇi te vacana tyāne pāḷale." When we agreed to stay together in one room, he gave me a promise of safety, and he kept that promise. "Tyācyā lagnāādhīcyā maitriṇīṃśī to vegaḷā vāgata asela, paṇa mājhī maryādā āhe he tyālā samazata hote." With his girlfriends before marriage, he might behave differently, but I have a limit and he understood that. "Mī beśuddha asatānā tyāne malā kāhīça kele nasela." When I was unconscious, he wouldn't have done anything to me.

Mandar thought back to how Raghav had spoken of waiting for Pallavi to want his love. Hearing that Pallavi wasn't comfortable with Raghav's teasing was a relief; it meant that she wouldn't expect Mandar to behave forwardly with her either. Mandar wanted to believe that Raghav hadn't risked Pallavi's health, but ... "Farhad mhaṇālā kī tyā rātrī Raghav khūpa dārū pyālā hotā." Farhad said that Raghav was very drunk that night.

"Malā tyā rātrī Raghav disalā nāhī, paṇa mī tyālā pyālelyā avastheta anekadā baghitale āhe." I didn't see Raghav that night, but I've seen him drunk many times, Pallavi replied. "To besāvadhapaṇe gāḍī çālavato, samoracyā kuṇāhī māṇasāçā apamāna karato, khekasato, toḍaphoḍa karato ... paṇa dārūne tyācī vāsanā kadhī zāgī hota nāhī." He drives a car carelessly, insults whichever person is in front of him, growls, breaks and smashes things ... but his lust isn't aroused by alcohol ever. "Ekadā mī kāmāsāṭhī gharātūna rātrī nighāle hote, āṇi mājhī scooter banda paḍalī, mhaṇūna mī rastyāvara bheṭalelyā dona puruṣāñcyā gāḍīta basale." Once I left home at night for some work, and my scooter ran out, so I got in a car with two men that I met on the road. "Tyāṃnī māzhe apaharaṇa karaṇyāçā prayatna kelā, tevaḍhyāta samora Raghav ālā, āṇi tyāne tyā doghāṃnā baḍavūna malā svataḥcyā gāḍītūna surakṣitapaṇe girhāīkākaḍe āṇi gharī poçavale." They tried to abduct me, but Raghav got in front of us, beat up both of them, and took me in his car safely to the customer and then home. "Rastyāvara ādhī malā Raghav bheṭalā hotā, tevhāṃ to dārū pīta hotā, āṇi mī tyācyā gāḍīta basāyalā nākārale hote." Earlier, I had met Raghav on the road, when he was drinking alcohol, and I had refused to get in his car. "Tyā avastheta suddhā tyālā tyā dona puruṣāṃçā saṃśaya ālā hotā, āṇi tyāne malā vāçavaṇyāsāṭhī tyāṃçā pāṭhalāga kelā." Even in that state, he had felt suspicious of those two men, and he followed them to rescue me. "Āzahī Raghav vārtāhārāṃpāsūna mājhī suṭakā karāyalā āṇi malā dhīra dyāyalā ithe ālā." Even today Raghav came here to make the reporters leave me alone and to reassure me. "Tyālā svataḥcī çūka kaḷāyalā veḷa lāgato, paṇa ekadā tī kaḷalī kī to prāyaścittāpāsūna māge phirata nāhī." It takes him time to recognize his own mistake, but once he recognizes it, he doesn't turn back from penance.

"Mhaṇaje bākī kuṇīhī hyā dṛśyātalyā bātamīcī carcā kelī tarīhī Raghav svataḥlā vāçavāyalā tujhyākaḍe boṭa dākhavaṇāra nāhī." Meaning, no matter who else discusses the news from this video, Raghav won't point a finger at you to excuse himself, Mandar guessed. Pallavi nodded in agreement.

"Hyā bātamīcī āza carcā karaṇāre udyāparyanta visarūna zātīla." Those who discuss this news today will forget it by tomorrow, Mandar said with a smile. "Tū suddhā māgacyā avaghaḍa kāḷāçā vicāra soḍa, āṇi āpalyā sukhī bhaviṣyāçāça vicāra kara." You also stop thinking about that difficult time in the past, and think only about our happy future. "Lavakaraça tulā Raghav-pāsūna suṭakā miḷela, āṇi punhā tū āpalyā gharāta navarī mhaṇūna gṛhapraveśa karaśīla." Very soon, you'll be free of Raghav, and you'll enter our house again as a bride. "Toṃvara āpaṇa kuṭhe kuṭhe phirāyaçe?" Until then, where would you like to go on dates?

Pallavi laughed softly. "Citrapaṭa, maiphalī, nṛtyāçe kāryakrama, bāgāṃmadhe bhaṭakaṇe, trekking ... he sagaḷe udyāpāsūna surū karūyā." Movies, concerts, dance programs, exploring gardens, trekking ... let's start all of that from tomorrow. "Itakyāta dupāracyā jevaṇācī veḷa zhālī āhe, tara āpaṇa Āīne pāṭhavalelā ḍabā jevūna gheūyā." It's lunchtime by now, so let's eat the tiffin that Āī sent. Squeezing Mandar's hands gratefully, she let go and opened the storeroom door.

As Mandar stepped out, following Pallavi, Nikhil's and Krishna's eyes were on him. Nikhil looked confused, and a smile grew on Krishna's face until she let out a giggle. Pallavi looked at her curiously.

"Dīdī, it's good to see you smiling," Krishna said, and going up to Mandar, she whispered so that Pallavi could hear her, "Mandar Dādā, you have sindūra on your lips."

What? Mandar thought. He stood in front of a mirror and saw that it was true. When he had held Pallavi to his chest, his lips had touched the parting of her hair. Krishna and Nikhil must think that I was kissing Pallavi, he realized. He quickly wiped off the tell-tale powder, and looked at Pallavi.

Pallavi laughed spontaneously at Mandar. He looked caught, but he wasn't blushing. He smiled back shyly. He didn't mean to kiss me, of course, Pallavi thought. Does he want to? I should have hugged him back instead of just crying on his chest. Mandar is open-minded, so he won't mind if I take the initiative. How soon is it decent to kiss my husband when we're not living together yet? I should ask Devayani for advice. I'm sure she did more than talk to Rashmi when I left them alone.

Collecting herself, Pallavi noticed that Nikhil had brought out the lunch tiffin, and Mandar was already serving everyone. She could get used to a man looking after her like this. She sat down next to Mandar, and the four of them began to eat.

"Nikhil, you told me something yesterday that Pallavi deserves to know," Mandar prompted. Nikhil looked uncomfortable, but he obliged.

"Dī, the reason I chose to work for Harish was that I owed money. I was gambling online, and when I couldn't pay up, my creditors sent fake police to kidnap you and collect my debt through a ransom. Raghav had nothing to do with it. I'm sorry I never spoke up before."

It wasn't Raghav! Pallavi had felt sure it was. Only a few days before that kidnapping, Raghav had surprised her right in the Deshmukh house, overpowering her and muffling her screams, tying her up, and carrying her out to his car, to threaten her life in the middle of the road. Pallavi shuddered at the memory, as she always did. Raghav had always denied the second kidnapping, but not because he had given up the tactic. He had forced Pallavi into his car again when he had decided to marry her, and even after she had given Raghav a chance to redeem himself, he had felt entitled to gag her and carry her over his shoulder. Pallavi hated to feel this way about Raghav, having to weigh facts against her distrust of him. Already today Raghav had pleaded with her to believe that he wasn't responsible for the video, and now, for the second time today, she was revisiting the morning she had woken up in Raghav's guest room, found him performing MahāŚivarātri pūjā like an honourable man, and upbraided him in front of his guests for his outrageous attacks against her and her property.

"Dī, won't you say something?" Nikhil pleaded.

"Have you told Āī-Bābā?" Pallavi asked, and Nikhil shook his head. "Do tell them, Nikhil. Help us to protect you from gambling and any other addiction that could ruin your life." Pallavi looked at Mandar to agree with her.

"Pallavi is right, tell them," Mandar said. Then the thought came to him, last night with Farhad, I could have ruined Pallavi's life along with my own. I can't tell Āī-Bābā that I think about men compulsively, and conversion therapy isn't working. I'm a hypocrite, telling Nikhil to be honest. Not telling him to be honest isn't an option either.

"Yes, Dādā." Nikhil knew that Āī-Bābā wouldn't scold him too much if Mandar Dādā and Pallavi Dī were on his side. He returned his focus to his lunch.

Mandar changed the subject. "Pallavi, last night you said that you would tell me today how Devayani is really alive. What happened?"

"Devayani and my other friend Rashmi, Akash's sister, love each other," Pallavi explained. "Devayani was attacked by a man who wanted Rashmi to be his girlfriend. To get away from him, Devayani shifted to Bhopal with Rashmi. Devayani's father, who told me that she died, thought it was the truth because Devayani's mother was hiding her from him. They couldn't tell Devayani's father that she was with Rashmi because he didn't approve of love between women. He would have forced Devayani to come back and seek treatment from a conversion therapist - a psychiatric doctor, as if wanting to be loved is a mental illness."

Mandar's thoughts were racing as he listened. Pallavi's best friend Devayani is in a homosexual relationship, and Pallavi doesn't call it wrong. She calls it love. If she knew about my unfaithful thoughts, what would Pallavi do? Probably she would call me a traitor and a coward, tell me to find a man to love, and leave me. Nobody in our family has even had a live-in partner, never mind a homosexual lover. I can't change that! Decent people from good families get married and we stay married. I thought Pallavi believed in those values too.

"Mandar, are you all right?" Pallavi asked. "I know, I didn't tell you about Devayani and Rashmi in any of our talks before we got married. You see, Devayani's father only allowed her to go out with me because I was engaged. I used to leave her alone with Rashmi. I didn't want my prospective in-laws to find out that secret, and to think I was a bad girl who lied to my friends' parents. And I couldn't take the risk that Devayani's father would find out and keep her away from Rashmi."

"I understand, Pallavi," Mandar tried to keep his expression innocent. "I was just trying to remember if we ever talked about this topic. Even yesterday, neither of us brought it up. You really didn't know about Farhad until his Ammī-Abbū told you?"

"Mandar, you can say it. Farhad is gay." For a fleeting moment, Pallavi wondered, is Mandar not as open-minded as I had thought? He has to be! Mandar looked friendly talking to Farhad at the pūjā. After their trip to Vikarabad and back, they must be friends. Mandar believes in equal opportunities for women and men, so why wouldn't he accept a gay friend?

"Dīdī, really?" Krishna, who had been listening with fascination to the conversation, spoke up. Nikhil was listening too.

"Yes, but Farhad wasn't the one to tell me," Pallavi said. "I talked to him when he got home, the day before yesterday. He said that he never meant to hide anything from me, but just as I hadn't met his parents until I moved out of Raghav's house, I didn't know this about him either. I told Farhad, you're my friend, no matter what else you are. My idea of happiness is a respectable life and a loving family, and I want the same for you."

"A family?" Krishna asked. At home yesterday, Anuradha had made it clear to her daughter that Amruta's talk of alternative lifestyles was disgraceful and indecent, which as usual only made Krishna feel sympathy for the objects of Amma's scorn. Krishna secretly liked to imagine the lives of people who dared to be different. "But Farhad can't get married to another man, or have children with one. So how is he supposed to feel respectable?"

"Well, some countries allow gay couples to marry and share children," Nikhil pointed out. "And family and marriage aren't just legal terms, they're feelings. My Āī-Bābā didn't need adoption papers to call Pallavi Dī their daughter. And before Pallavi Dī even met Mandar Dādā in person, my Ājī and Māmā-Māmī introduced her to their friends as Dādā's vāgdatta vadhū, his promised bride. Farhad can always have a vāgdatta vara, a promised groom, even if they can't legally marry."

Nikhil's use of the word vāgdatta reminded Mandar of Raghav's vāgdānam yesterday after the Satya-Nārāyaṇa pūjā: no law and no annulment would keep him from fulfilling his promise to give Pallavi her rights and her happiness. Farhad probably has the same idea as his scofflaw boss, Mandar thought. When Farhad finds the man whose happiness is his to promise, no prohibition will bar him from being married. Farhad asked me last night if there was a chance for us. Can I hope for commitment from Farhad? Would I deserve it if I abandon Pallavi?

Pallavi also was reminded of what Raghav had said to her before the Satya-Nārāyaṇa pūjā: "You're the treasure that I aspire to earn in my life. Nothing that you do with Mandar will ever cheapen you for me. Idi Raghav Rao vāgdānam." It was a lovely feeling that someone could make her that promise. When she had been vāgdatta with Mandar three years ago, their promise had been for faithful companionship, meant to grow into love as they fulfilled each other's life. Pallavi had been and still was attracted to Mandar's values, his manners, his good looks, his personality. She hadn't thought about loving so deeply as what Raghav obviously felt for her. Of course, Pallavi didn't love Raghav, and she intended to seek an annulment, but it felt right to wait for another day or two, to make sure that Raghav's feelings had no effect on her decision.

"Pallavi, what you said in support of Farhad is just what I expected of you," Mandar said. "Farhad wants to support you too. He told me to say to you, if you need anything before you meet at his place tonight, you can call him anytime."

"That reminds me, Mandar," Pallavi said, "What happened last night in Vikarabad? You told me that Dr. Ramya is all right, but why did she need someone to watch her house while she worked in the emergency room?"

"Some relatives of Amma's patient blamed her for his condition, and threatened her. Stress makes people say things that they don't mean, you know. I thought, if Amma didn't have to worry about her house and the old lady next door, she could concentrate on her work. So I offered to stay."

Mandar spoke calmly, reassuringly, but he was thinking, Pallavi is against conversion therapy because Devayani feared it. If I ever tell Pallavi that Amma is a conversion therapist, there will be tension, and if Pallavi finds out that I talk to Amma privately, Pallavi will guess that Amma is helping me to become a good husband. How long can I keep my secret from Pallavi?

Chapter One on page 1

Chapter Two on page 2

Chapter Three on page 2

Chapter Four on page 3

Chapter Five on page 4

Chapter Six on page 4

Chapter Seven on page 5

Chapter Eight on page 5

Chapter Nine on page 7

Chapter Ten on page 7

Chapter Eleven on page 8

Chapter Twelve on page 8

Chapter Thirteen on page 8

Chapter Fourteen on page 9

Chapter Fifteen on page 10

Chapter Sixteen on page 10

Chapter Seventeen on page 11

Chapter Eighteen on page 11

Chapter Nineteen on page 11

Chapter Twenty on page 11

Chapter Twenty-One on page 11

Chapter Twenty-Three on page 12

Chapter Twenty-Four on page 12

Chapter Twenty-Five on page 12

Chapter Twenty-Six on page 13

Chapter Twenty-Seven on page 14

Chapter Twenty-Eight on page 14

Chapter Twenty-Nine on page 14

Chapter Thirty on page 14

Chapter Thirty-One on page 14

Chapter Thirty-Two on page 14

Chapter Thirty-Three on page 15

Chapter Thirty-Four on page 15

Chapter Thirty-Five on page 15

Chapter Thirty-Six on page 15

Chapter Twenty-Three

"Amma says there's a story on Raghav Rao coming up on Q Report TV," Krishna announced, and Anuradha ended their phone call, satisfied that her daughter had delivered her message to its target. "Dīdī, I know you have had a rough morning. What do you want to do?"

Nikhil looked at Pallavi, who caught Mandar's hand and nodded, so Nikhil immediately began to stream the tabloid news channel on his phone.

"Welcome back to Q Report TV, where we empower women to call shame on the men who mistreat them! Raghav Rao, owner of Jayati Jewels, still gets shoutouts on social media from the hottest models and actresses. A few months ago, he surprised us all by marrying Pallavi Deshmukh, who runs a small saree shop in Malak Peth. Q Report TV took you into their wedding reception, where Pallavi praised Raghav as a gallant man who met her family and proposed to her, a widow. It was praise that he did not deserve. Privately, here's what Pallavi was saying to Raghav that evening."

A clip from the CCTV video played: Pallavi called herself a widow, Raghav repeated, "Vidhavā?" and asked what she was saying, and Pallavi explained, "Deshmukh parivāra kī vidhavā bahū." After the clip, the reporter resumed.

"Astonishing, isn't it? The savvy business tycoon and connoisseur of imported diamonds, Raghav Rao, got married without knowing what he was getting!" A video of Sulochana speaking animatedly to reporters played without sound, as the reporter narrated, "Pallavi had a hard life as a widow, enduring taunts and abuses because her first husband had met with an accident on the wedding night. Hardly two weeks ago, Q Report TV brought you news that Raghav confessed to killing his wife's first husband, Mandar Deshmukh, in a hit-and-run, but Raghav was quickly released from jail. How could Raghav not know the tragedy of Pallavi's past, and also own the car from the accident?"

The reporter paused for dramatic effect. "Arrogance, my friends. Pursuing his lust, Raghav didn't think it was important to know Pallavi's heart. It never occurred to him that a woman has feelings, scars, and grief of her own. For Raghav Rao, a wife was mere property to be acquired and repurposed, just the way he bought Pallavi's shop space from her landlord and threatened to evict her if she resisted him. Raghav even has a disparaging name for Pallavi."

Two more clips played from the start and finish of the CCTV video: Raghav said, "Yaha kyā mazāka hai, Sārī kā Dukāna?" and "Yaha Sārī kā Dukāna Amma ko hamārā śādī kā saccāī nā batā de!" and then the reporter returned with a solemn expression.

"Utterly dehumanizing, isn't it? Regular viewers of Q Report TV know that Raghav's seduction of another young woman was exposed four months ago. So you know that he has no respect for women. What didn't he want his mother to find out? The truth of Raghav's marriage was that he told lies to stain Pallavi's reputation. He made her an outcast so that no one could protect her from him. We spoke to a friend of Pallavi's in-laws, who was present at the party where Raghav tossed money at Pallavi and pretended that it was for nightly visits."

"No, Amma!" Krishna moaned, as Anuradha's face appeared on the screen, soundlessly narrating the sordid story, while the reporter spoke in a voiceover: "Raghav Rao showed the photographs from his sex scandal to everyone, and falsely identified Pallavi as the woman whom he had seduced. Then the man whom Raghav mistook for Pallavi's father - her father-in-law - banished her from his house."

The reporter looked confidently at her audience, and said, "False accusations against her moral character forced Pallavi to marry Raghav against her will. But never underestimate a determined and principled woman. At their wedding reception, Pallavi declared to Raghav that he must accept her identity as another man's widow, and said this to him." Another clip from the CCTV video played: Pallavi told Raghav that he had brought her down in her family's eyes, and she would do the same to him; the day was not far off when she would make the world turn away from him.

"Today is that day, friends. Today, Raghav Rao's shame is out for the whole world to see. And there is a happy ending to Pallavi's story. Mandar Deshmukh was discovered alive."

A couple of clips played of Mandar, saying, "Until Pallavi found me three days ago, I didn't know my name. I lost my memories in the accident. I was in Vikarabad the whole time. I wanted to find Pallavi, but I didn't know where. ... Raghav Rao is a gūṇḍa who harassed my wife relentlessly."

The reporter resumed, ominously, "My friends, I'm sure you're asking the same questions that I have. Did Raghav marry Pallavi, knowing that Mandar was alive? Or, was Pallavi's supposed widowhood a surprise for Raghav after their wedding?"

Next, a few clips played of Sharada, saying, "Pallavi did not want to remarry, and Raghav forced her. ... She wanted Raghav to understand what a despicable thing he had done. ... The injustices that life brought upon Pallavi are being cleared away at last. Pallavi and Mandar have a chance to be happy."

Then the reporter concluded with a self-satisfied expression: "Like Sāvitrī, whose devotion to Satyavān brought him back from death, Pallavi's devotion to her real husband brought him back to her and their family. And Raghav Rao may be sleeping alone tonight."

As if in response to that last line, they all heard a growl. It came from Damayanti, carried by Farhad as he followed Raghav, who sprang into the shop and threw Jagadish at Pallavi's feet. Madan came in next, holding a young man by the elbow.

"Pallavi, do you remember this lowlife?" Raghav roared.

"Jagadish Anna!" Mandar exclaimed, helping the man to stand up. "And you're his son, aren't you?" he asked the young man, who nodded, hanging his head.

"Mandar Deshmukh," Jagadish drawled, opening his eyes wide. "Disappeared tenant. Didn't clean out. Left no forwarding address."

"Dādā was in an accident!" Nikhil protested. "We thought he had died! We Deshmukhs don't run from our responsibilities."

"Khaccitaṅgā!" Absolutely! Jagadish replied sarcastically, raising his eyebrows for emphasis. "Your Dādā, Mandar Deshmukh, only paid rent until he disappeared. Your Bābā, Vijay Deshmukh, lost interest in his own business. Your Vahinī, Pallavi Deshmukh, could find money for everything except paying rent on time. Deadbeats! And you, Nikhil Deshmukh, came to my furniture shop, pretending to look for a keḷavaṇa gift for your Manasi Tāī. You hid behind a curtain and made a video of me repairing a table and saying that I would sell it as new. Blackmailer!"

"Enough!" Raghav snapped. "No one else is on trial here. Only you are, and Raghav Rao is your judge. Confess what you did!"

Playing with his earlobe between thumb and forefinger, Jagadish took his time with the story. "Raghav Rao, the man with bloodstains on his face. Scary! When he wanted to buy the shop, he slapped money on the table. Impatient! When he wanted answers about his Celli's dirty photos, he fired his gun next to my son's ear. Irresponsible!"

Raghav raised his fist as if to backhand Jagadish, who shrugged, and said, "Raghav Rao, widow-chaser! He made the video. I only took it to the news agency."

"Why, Jagadish Anna?" Pallavi asked. "What good was this scandal for you?"

"No good!" Jagadish waved the palm of his hand at the idea. "Pallavi Deshmukh wastes her time doing good. I settle accounts. Raghav Rao sent police to my house to question my son. Embarrassing! I sent reporters to Raghav Rao's house to question him. Idi pratikāram." It's payback.

Pallavi shook her head. "But where did you find CCTV footage from Raghav's house? Who gave it to you?"

Jagadish stood impassively, looking at Raghav, who was glaring at him. Mandar realized that Jagadish wasn't afraid of infuriating Raghav with his silence. Rather, Jagadish was aware that Raghav already had the answer, and Raghav didn't want anyone else to know.

"It must have been one of the servants," Raghav bluffed. "Farhad will sort it out. Anyway, this is the last time any of you will see Jagadish. He has to leave Hyderabad urgently."

Jagadish scowled, but said nothing. Pallavi looked at Mandar, and he understood what she was thinking.

"Nīku vinikiḍi lopaṃ undā?" Do you have hearing loss? Mandar asked the young man, who shook his head.

Raghav sighed. Once again, in his fury he had done something to frighten Pallavi, and Mandar was her sensitive hero. At least Pallavi wasn't looking at him differently. She didn't know his secret. Mandar had kept his word.

"Raghav, why don't we end the feud?" Pallavi said. "I mean, Jagadish Anna has reasons to be angry at both of us, and he got his revenge. I don't want to banish him from his home."

Raghav looked away from Pallavi, so that she wouldn't see his face lighting up. She was telling him what to do! No, he thought, I'm not that pathetic. It's mockery in my smile, for Pallavi's habit of forgiving everybody. And how dare Pallavi try to turn me soft! I rule all of Hyderabad, and there's no room for my enemies. Raghav found himself looking at Damayanti, and remembering that he had to prove to Satya-Nārāyaṇa that he was committed to his wife. Whatever would make Pallavi feel better, he could afford to do.

"Fine, Jagadish can stay in Hyderabad, but he's selling his furniture shop space to me. As of this moment, I'm his landlord. If I catch him or his son doing any more dirty work, the bulldozer will head their way."

Jagadish Anna's furniture shop - of course! Mandar remembered that Raghav had taken a call from Kirti and asked her, "What's the furniture vendor's name?" Whatever Kirti had been telling Raghav, which Mandar hadn't heard, obviously she had directed him to Jagadish, meaning that however the video from Raghav's CCTV might have reached the news agency, Kirti knew something about it.

Pushing Jagadish in front of him, Raghav left Deshmukh Saree Emporium, followed by Madan and Jagadish's son. Farhad, holding Damayanti, whispered to Mandar, "Dr. Janaki will be on call this evening. Let me take you to her. I'll be here as soon as you close the shop."

"Thank you, Farhad," Mandar replied, unable to hold back a smile.

"Amma! It's Raghav Rao!" It was the excited voice of a little girl, which Krishna thought she had heard before.

"Lata, he's busy," the girl's mother said from the entrance to the shop. "Come with me. We'll find a nice saree for Attayya."

Raghav recognized Lata, and turned back to greet her, signalling to Madan to put Jagadish and his son in the car.

As he spoke to Lata, Raghav made eye contact with her mother, who was smiling at her child's delight, but clearly not impressed by him and the way he and Madan were handling their captives. Raghav guessed that this woman, whose saree, jewelry, and gajarā conveyed impeccable good taste and respectability, hadn't caught a whiff of the tabloid news, or she wouldn't be smiling.

Lata held up a mobile phone, and waved at Raghav to come. Raghav remembered the first time he had visited Deshmukh Saree Emporium to intimidate the woman who had accosted Harish for following Kirti. He had frowned at Lata, who wanted to take his photo, but then he had taken a selfie with her. That day, Lata's smile and kiss had made his heart ache for Kirti. Today, thanks to Kirti, no mother would want her child to look up to Raghav Rao. How would he handle this?

"Lata, will you be in a special photo today?" he asked, smiling. He could do this.

Lata nodded, and Raghav motioned to her mother to go into the shop. Taking Lata by the hand, he followed.

"This is Raghav Rao's Sārī kā Dukāna!" he said, taking the phone from Lata's hand and posing her next to Pallavi. He took the photo and gave the phone back to Lata, then quickly left the shop with Farhad and Damayanti.

Mandar, watching what Raghav had just done, was trying to make sense of it. Ghaṭotkaca, who had no compassion for Amruta, had just humoured a child!

Krishna came up to Lata's mother and welcomed her back. Noticing her questioning look at Mandar and Pallavi, Krishna introduced them, "Paulomi jī, this is Pallavi Dīdī, and her husband, Mandar Dādā. Deshmukh Saree Emporium is their family business."

"Namaste," Paulomi said with a smile. "Mandar jī, pardon me for asking, but why was the news reporting that you died in a car accident?"

Mandar took a deep breath. "I survived, but I lost my memory and I didn't know where my home was. Today is just the fourth day since Pallavi found me."

"Thanks to Veṅkaṭeśvara for your safe return," Paulomi replied. "I know what you must be thinking: why am I allowing Raghav Rao to take a photo of my daughter?"

It was true; Mandar had that question, as did Nikhil, and even Krishna and Pallavi, who had observed Raghav's tenderness with children, had to admit that as a public figure, he wasn't suitable for young minds.

Paulomi stroked her daughter's hair, and Lata, listening to a children's song through earbuds, heard none of her mother's concern. "I don't pay attention to tabloid news, nor do I follow him on social media. Nevertheless, I can't avoid hearing about Raghav Rao giving someone a beating or showing up somewhere drunk. I hope I am not hurting your feelings, Pallavi jī, but when Lata is a little older, I will be able to explain to her that the man is not as pleasant as his photograph."

"Lata had Raghav's photograph in her phone when you visited us in February," Krishna remembered.

"It's not her phone; she's too young to need one, of course," Paulomi explained. "Lata's Nānna gives her his phone to play with, while he goes for exercise around the market, whenever he takes us shopping. He found Raghav Rao's photograph and kept it because he used to know this boy, years ago, in their village. He's very proud of what his student has achieved with Jayati Jewels."

His student! Pallavi thought back to the story Raghav had told her about his early life. Raghav had mentioned only one individual who had mentored him in business. It couldn't be Krishna Rao! The man who had cheated the villagers and paid Raghav for his silence, until the fury of his victims had fallen upon Raghav's father and brother ... how could that Rākṣasa be the father of this innocent child, Lata?

"Paulomi jī, what is your husband's name?" Pallavi inquired.

Chapter One on page 1

Chapter Two on page 2

Chapter Three on page 2

Chapter Four on page 3

Chapter Five on page 4

Chapter Six on page 4

Chapter Seven on page 5

Chapter Eight on page 5

Chapter Nine on page 7

Chapter Ten on page 7

Chapter Eleven on page 8

Chapter Twelve on page 8

Chapter Thirteen on page 8

Chapter Fourteen on page 9

Chapter Fifteen on page 10

Chapter Sixteen on page 10

Chapter Seventeen on page 11

Chapter Eighteen on page 11

Chapter Nineteen on page 11

Chapter Twenty on page 11

Chapter Twenty-One on page 11

Chapter Twenty-Two on page 12

Chapter Twenty-Four on page 12

Chapter Twenty-Five on page 12

Chapter Twenty-Six on page 13

Chapter Twenty-Seven on page 14

Chapter Twenty-Eight on page 14

Chapter Twenty-Nine on page 14

Chapter Thirty on page 14

Chapter Thirty-One on page 14

Chapter Thirty-Two on page 14

Chapter Thirty-Three on page 15

Chapter Thirty-Four on page 15

Chapter Thirty-Five on page 15

Chapter Thirty-Six on page 15

Chapter Twenty-Four

Throughout the afternoon, Pallavi remained acutely aware of Raghav's massive following on social media, as quite a few of his admirers ventured into Deshmukh Saree Emporium for a glimpse of the woman who had set him free.

Pallavi, Krishna, Nikhil, and Mandar altogether saw a dozen teenage girls and young women who had had no interest in sarees before the tabloids insinuated that Raghav might have a fetish. "Sārī kā Dukāna!" - they giggled at Raghav's misgendered sartorial nickname for Pallavi, which would be the hashtag for their selfies in the traditional look. Posing in exquisite handwoven creations, they imagined Hyderabad's most successful jeweler carrying them off from their families to sully their reputations with his lucre.

Married women, some accompanied by their children, also visited the shop to check Pallavi from head to toe, trying to find the mystique that made her fatally irresistible to Raghav. Sundry customers, who would think twice before purchasing the simplest ring or chain from Jayati Jewels, wondered what price Pallavi had paid to live as Raghav Rao's wife. Was she really faithful to her first husband, or did she chafe at her return to the middle class?

Pallavi felt relieved when it was time to close the shop for the day, and Farhad was waiting outside to take her home with him.

Farhad had silently observed Pallavi while Raghav was delivering Jagadish to her. Bhābhī's eyes were red; she had been crying. The news reports were embarrassing, for sure, but Farhad suspected a stronger motivation for Anna's effort to erase the CCTV footage. Was Bhābhī in trouble? He couldn't help thinking about her as Bhābhī still, although he addressed her as Pallavi jī to placate Mandar. Pallavi had been holding Mandar's hand when Farhad entered. No doubt, she found comfort in Mandar, and the longer Farhad kept Mandar's secret, the harder Pallavi's loss would be whenever she faced the truth.

Farhad prayed, Yā Allāh, please sustain Pallavi Bhābhī's strength for whatever trouble can't be avoided. Please guide Mandar to be the honourable man that he wants to be. Both Bhābhī and Mandar need the Deshmukh family's love, and they both need to live respectably, so please sort it out so that no one will be hurt. You inspired Raghav Anna to change his life for Bhābhī, so please don't let his love for her go to waste.

Farhad's thoughts turned to Raghav. Anna's fury with Jagadish had subsided with a sigh, and Farhad had caught him smiling at Bhābhī. Anna had tried to change his expression to mockery, but it had been a sad smile. What had happened to the vehemence with which Raghav Rao appealed rejection and avenged betrayal? Since when did Anna let off any wrongdoer, even for Bhābhī, without arguing?

Even stranger was the way Anna had behaved with Mandar. Farhad was familiar with Raghav's short temper, and expected him to be recklessly hostile with the man who took his wife. Instead, Raghav had looked at Mandar with an expression that Farhad had never seen in Anna's eyes for any adversary before. There had been frustration on Raghav's face, but also acceptance, and even a hint of gratitude, as if Raghav somehow thought Mandar was on his side.

"Go on, Dī, I will lock up," Nikhil said. "Try to relax; you have had a rough day. Dādā, you want to go with Dī upto Farhad's place, right?"

Mandar remembered Bābā's don't-go-anywhere-alone rule. "Nikhil, tell Bābā not to worry. On my way back, if I'm on the road alone, I'll call home so that you know exactly where I am."

Mandar put his arm around Pallavi's shoulders as they walked to the car. He hadn't told her yet about Sulochana Kākū being the one who left him with Dr. Ramya, or that Farhad was about to take him to meet Dr. Janaki. He shouldn't say anything today, Mandar decided. Pallavi needed comfort and support after her ordeal, and Mandar would give it to her. She had to be his priority. He tried not to look too long at Farhad, who held open the door to the back seat for them.

"Farhad, do you mind if I video call my Dādā-Vahinī?" Pallavi asked. "I have wanted to talk to them all day, but I had to wait for work hours to be over."

"That's a good idea, Pallavi jī. It will take us some time to reach home." Farhad turned around with a smile as he pushed the ignition button.

Pallavi sent quick text messages to Siddhesh and Pavani, and as soon as they replied that they were both at home, she placed the call. Raghav had gotten her into the habit of video calling from wherever she might be, Pallavi realized. There were times when Raghav just wanted her to look at him, and he didn't care how much it cost, although on one occasion when whisky had let loose his insensitivity, he had assured her that Farhad had found the best data plan to put her middle-class mind at ease. Soon, Pallavi thought, I'll cancel my data plan and watch my spending again.

"Namaskāra, Dādā-Vahinī," Mandar said, as Siddhesh and Pavani appeared on the screen, and Pallavi put aside all other thoughts to take their blessing as she and Mandar faced them together for the first time since the wedding day.

"Tumhālā bharapūra āyuṣya lābhū de, ciraṃjīva Mandar rāva!" May you enjoy the fullest extent of lifespan, long-lived Mandar rāva! Siddhesh greeted him.

"Sukha-samādhānāne saṃsāra karā!" Have a married life of comfort and contentment! Pavani added.

"Apaghātānantara malā kāhīça āṭhavata navhate, paṇa kālapāsūna malā tumacyā āṭhavaṇī yeta rāhilyā." After the accident, I couldn't remember anything, but since yesterday I have been having memories of you, Mandar shared.

"Oḷakha paṭalī nā?" You recognize us, right? Siddhesh inquired with a mock-serious face.

"Ho, Dādā," Mandar affirmed, grinning, and Siddhesh laughed with him. Pallavi smiled. Had it really been two-and-a-half years since the last time Dādā and Mandar had bantered with each other?

"Mandar rāva, tumacyāta apaghātānantara kāhīça badala disata nāhī." Mandar rāva, you don't seem changed at all since the accident, Siddhesh remarked. "Tumhī agadī dhaḍadhākaṭa disatā, āṇi tumacī smṛti lavakaraça pūrvīsārakhī hoīla, hyācī āmhālā khātrī vāṭate." You look quite able-bodied, and we feel certain that soon your memory will become as it was before. "Gelyā aḍīça varṣāṃta Pallavi-ne je kāhī bhogale āhe, tyācī kalpanā tumhālā asela-nasela, paṇa āmhī jevaḍhā tiçā chaḷa hotānā pāhilā āhe tevaḍhā bākī kuṇālāhī asahya zhālā asatā." You may or may not have an idea of all that Pallavi has endured in the past two-and-a-half years, but as much as we have seen her being tormented, that much would have been unbearable for anyone else.

Pavani nodded in agreement, and Siddhesh continued, "Tumhālā gharāta, dukānāta pūrvīpramāṇe ruḷāyalā tī sātha deta āhe, āṇi taseça tumhī paṇa tiçe mana zapāve." While you get settled in the family and the shop as before, she is at your side, and likewise, you should also be careful of her feelings.

"Ho, Dādā, mī tumhālā vacana deto." Yes, Dādā, I give you my promise, Mandar said.

"Dādā-Vahinī, mājhyākaḍūna tumhālā dona goṣṭī sāṅgāyacyā āheta." I have two things to tell you, Pallavi began. "Eka mhaṇaje mājhī maitrīṇa Devayani, jiçā āmacyā lagnāādhīcyā āṭhavaḍyāta apaghātāta mṛtyu ghaḍalyācī bātamī Bhargav Kākāṃnī sāṅgitalī hotī, tī jīvanta āhe āṇi Bhopal-madhe rahāteya!" One is that my friend Devayani, of whose death in an accident in the week before our wedding Bhargav Uncle had informed us, is alive and living in Bhopal! "Ticyāśī mī bolale suddhā." I actually spoke to her.

"Kāya sāṅgatesa?" What are you telling me? Pavani exclaimed.

"Kharaṃça sāṅgateya." I'm just telling you the truth, Pallavi replied, smiling. "Akash āhe nā, Rashmi-çā bhāū zo Hyderabad-madhe rahāto?" You know Akash, Rashmi's brother who lives in Hyderabad? "Kāla jevhāṃ mī tyālā Ammī-Abbūṃkaḍe jevāyalā ghātale, tevhāṃ tyāne malā sagaḷe samazāvūna sāṅgitale." Yesterday, when I served him dinner at Ammī-Abbū's, he explained everything to me. "Devayani-çe Rashmi-vara prema āhe, āṇi Devayani-çe samaliṅgī svatva Bhargav Kākāṃnā paṭata nāhī, mhaṇūna Kākūṃnī tyāṃnā kaḷū dile nāhī kī Yuvaraj Holkar-ne kelelyā ṭhāra māraṇyācyā prayatnātūna Devayani vāçalī āṇi Rashmi-barobara nighūna gelī." Devayani loves Rashmi, and Bhargav Uncle doesn't agree with Devayani's homosexual identity, so Aunty didn't let him find out that Devayani survived Yuvaraj Holkar's attempt to murder her, and went away with Rashmi. "Tara tumhālā Bhargav Kākā bheṭale tara tumhī suddhā tyāṃnā kāhī sāṅgū nakā." So, if you meet Bhargav Uncle, you also don't tell anything to him.

"Svataḥcyā janmadātyā pityāpāsūna lapūna rahāve ase vāṭaṇe, he kāhī barobara nāhī." Wanting to hide from one's own life-giving father is not right at all, Siddhesh objected. "Devayani-cyā bābāṃsāṭhī tiçe samaliṅgī prema pāhaṇyāpekṣā ticyā khoṭyā maraṇāçe kamī duḥkha āhe kāya?" Is Devayani's father's grief for her fake death less than he would feel seeing her homosexual love?

Yes, Dādā, Mandar thought. If I insisted on living the way I dreamed last night, it would be worse for Bābā than the heart attack he had when he thought I had died.

"Dādā, Devayani-cyā gharātalī nātī āpalyāitakī saraḷa nāhīta." Relations in Devayani's family aren't as straightforward as in ours, Pallavi argued. "Zara ticyā bābāṃnā kaḷale kī tī Rashmi-barobara rahāteya, tara te tilā mānasika roga zhālā āhe ase samazūna saktīne ticyāvara upacāra karatīla." If her father finds out that she's living with Rashmi, then he'll assume that she has a mental illness and force her into therapy.

"Āpaṇa tyāñcyā madhe paḍū naye, paṇa hī paristhiti avaghaḍaça āhe." We shouldn't interfere between them, but this situation is really difficult, Pavani said, placing her hand on Siddhesh's shoulder.

Pallavi took Mandar's hand and he turned to smile at her. She took a deep breath and moved from her good news to her bad news.

"Malā dusarī goṣṭa sāṅgāyacī āhe, tī mhaṇaje, āza mājhyā āṇi Raghav-cyā lagnānantaracyā saṃbhāṣaṇāçā dṛśya purāvā bātamyāṃmadhe carceçā viṣaya zhālā āhe." The second thing I have to tell is that today, a video of a conversation between Raghav and me after marriage is being discussed in the news. "Dvivivāhācyā kāyadyāpramāṇe Mandar-āṃśī māzhe pahile lagna zhālyābaddala mī Raghav-lā dusaryā lagnāādhī sāṅgāyalā have hote, āṇi āza akkhyā Hyderabad śaharālā māhīta zhāle āhe kī mī tase nāhī kele." According to the bigamy law, I should have told Raghav about my first marriage to Mandar before the remarriage, and today the entire city of Hyderabad has learned that I didn't do that. "Mājhyā vakīla-bāī Subhadra yāṃçe mata āhe kī mī svataḥ Raghav-barobaraçe lagna radda karaṇyāsāṭhī nyāyālayāta arza kelā tara bahudhā mājhyāvara dvivivāhāçā āropa hoṇāra nāhī." My lady lawyer Subhadra's opinion is that if I myself petition the court to annul my remarriage to Raghav, then probably I won't be accused of bigamy. "Āza mājhyāvara anekāñcyā nazarā hotyā, tyāçā zarā trāsa zhālā, paṇa tumhī mājhī cintā karū naye." Today there were many people looking at me, which bothered me somewhat, but you don't have to worry about me.

Siddhesh and Pavani nodded sympathetically. "Pallavi, tū nirdoṣa āhesa, āṇi yāpuḍhe tujhyāvara koṇatāhī anyāya hoū naye hī āmhā sarvāñcī zabābadārī āhe." You are blameless, and making sure that no injustice is done to you hereafter is the responsibility of all of us, Siddhesh declared.

Mandar smiled in agreement. "Viśeṣataḥ mājhī." Especially mine. He looked at Pallavi resolutely. She had been loyal to his family, and he would be loyal to her.

"Lavakaraça Śrāvaṇa mahinā surū hoīla, tyāta tujhī Maṅgaḷā-Gaura sāzarī karaṇyāçā māzhā vicāra āhe, Pallavi." The month of Śrāvaṇa will begin soon, and then I intend to celebrate your Maṅgaḷā-Gaura, Pallavi, Pavani said. "Mandar rāva, tumhī Pallavi-lā gheūna yāla nā?" Mandar rāva, you'll bring Pallavi to us, won't you? "Gharacyā sarvāṃnā āmantraṇa āhe." Everyone in your family is invited.

"Ho, tumhī koṇatā Maṅgaḷavāra nivaḍatāya te kaḷavā, āṇi āmhī yeū." Yes, let us know which Tuesday you're choosing, and we'll come, Mandar agreed. "Ithe suddhā Pallavi-cī pahilī Maṅgaḷā-Gaura sāzarī karāyalā havī." Here too, we have to celebrate Pallavi's first Maṅgaḷā-Gaura.

"Dārāpāśī kuṇītarī āle āhe." There's someone at the door, Pavani said, hearing the doorbell. "Mandar rāva, tumhālā pāhūna āmhālā khūpa bare vāṭale." We were very happy to see you, Mandar rāva.

Pallavi and Mandar folded their hands to take their leave, and Pavani stood up.

"Udyā-paravā kadhītarī āpalī aśīça bheṭa hoīla, tevhāṃ āpaṇa nivāntapaṇe bolū." Tomorrow or the next day, we'll meet again like this, and then we can talk at leisure, Siddhesh said, folding his hands and ending the call.

"I hope you are feeling better now, Pallavi jī," Farhad remarked.

"Yes, I am," Pallavi assured him. "Farhad, I hope you didn't let Raghav be too rough with Jagadish Anna and his son."

Farhad blinked. "Pallavi jī, you know that when Anna is angry, he doesn't listen to anyone. He gave them a few punches. Can you blame him? When your Sulochana Kākū took photos of Kirti changing her saree and uploaded them to Photogram, she had Jagadish's son print them and deliver them to Jaya Amma, and he also went to the police to report Kirti and Jaya Amma for prostitution. And now, Jagadish and his son have stolen a video from Anna's CCTV and embarrassed you. I understand why Anna wants to punish them. I don't understand why you feel sorry."

"I feel sorry because Raghav, who created this situation, is punishing those who exposed what he did to me," Pallavi replied. "Jagadish Anna was decent to me. When I failed to pay rent for five months, he didn't evict me or tell Bābā. He told me I had forty-eight hours, and when I got the money just as my time ran out, he agreed to wait overnight. Then I spent the money and asked him for more time, and he allowed me another three days. How can I not defend him?"

"Bhābhī, I mean Pallavi jī, that Jagadish and his son did whatever dirty work your Sulochana Kākū paid them to do!" Farhad protested.

"Look at it this way, Farhad. I have had two landlords in Hyderabad. One of them sent a bulldozer, stole my wares, made a baseless complaint against my business, sent me an illegal eviction notice, padlocked my shop, occupied the rented space himself, and publicly announced that I was his conquest. Jagadish Anna was the other one. I am not going to waste my life wishing harm upon either of them."

Mandar quietly applauded Pallavi's point, and Farhad drove in silence until they reached his flat. Whatever Anna might do next, now that he was Jagadish's landlord, Farhad was sure that Bhābhī wouldn't like it.

"Pallavi jī, you go on in. I have to go somewhere, and I'll take Mandar home," Farhad said, as he pulled up to the apartment building.

"Farhad, you can leave now if you must, but Mandar, won't you come in for some tea?" Pallavi asked, getting out of the car.

Mandar did not know how he could refuse without telling Pallavi about Dr. Janaki. He was about to tell her when Jaya's voice interrupted them.

"Pallavi, beṭā! Could I talk to you? Please?"

"Amma, what are you doing here?" Pallavi asked. Farhad wondered the same.

"I brought you some phiranī ... and an apology. May I talk to Pallavi alone, Farhad? Please?" Jaya sounded desperate.

"Kāhī harakata nāhī." There's no issue, Mandar assured Pallavi. "Mī nighato ātā, āṇi āpaṇa rātrī phone-vara bolū." I'll leave now, and we'll talk by phone tonight.

"Of course, Amma. My Ammī and Abbū are not home yet, I expect. Pallavi jī, you have your key, right?" Farhad inwardly thanked Allāh for sending Jaya Amma so that Mandar could leave with him.

Meanwhile, at Pooswami Old Age Home, Raghav's mood had improved, as it always did in the company of people who accepted him as Ramaswami. The doctor had told him to rest after his panic attack, but Raghav hadn't listened for long; he had jumped into his car as soon as Farhad had located Jagadish. After dealing with that issue, Raghav had gone home again, but feeling restless, he had decided to visit the place that brought him peace of mind, where he could forget who he was and only think of others. Here, no one knew about Raghav Rao's infamy of the day. Everyone was genuinely happy to see Ramaswami, and blessed him sincerely.

When it was time to go home, Raghav got up, ready to pick up Damayanti from the exercise ground, where she had the attention of a group of elderly people. He was about to go into the front office where Maria sat, to inform her that he was leaving, when he froze.

Krishna was sitting with her back to him, across from Maria. What was she doing here? Had Pallavi sent her? Yesterday morning at the pūjā, when he had mentioned Ramaswami, Pallavi hadn't reacted. Did she really not know that Raghav Rao used the name Ramaswami for philanthropy? Raghav stood by the open door, hidden by a wall, and listened.

"All of these men's clothes are in very good condition. They will certainly be useful. Thank you for the donation," Maria was saying. "This one saree, though ... even the oldest widows here don't wear borderless white sarees, and with this red splotch ... I am sorry, but I don't think anyone will want to wear this."

"Actually, the reason Amma decided to donate Nānna's old clothes today was to get rid of this saree too," Krishna admitted. "She thinks it's bad luck because she made a woman wear it while her husband was still alive."

"Excuse me?" Maria was incredulous.

"You see, one night in February, my friend Pallavi Dīdī and I got drenched in the rain, and Amma gave us dry clothes. At the time, everyone believed that Pallavi Dīdī was a widow because Mandar Dādā had been in an accident and a dead body was identified as him. So, Amma made Dīdī wear this white saree. Then, as Dīdī was walking home, someone tossed a jar of sindūra into the air, and the saree got stained red."

Raghav's breathing quickened. He knew very well that he was the one who had tossed that sindūra on Pallavi. When Pallavi had catered the dinner for Pooswami Old Age Home, Raghav had recognized her as the same woman whose reflective green eyes he had liked that morning at the Jayati Jewels showroom, when they had been trapped in the security cage together. He had been speechless for once, marvelling that the woman whom he blamed for his smuggling difficulties, for standing between him and Kirti, for challenging him in front of all of Hyderabad, for provoking Amma to wish him and herself dead, was the woman in whose eyes he trusted. In that moment, seeing the sindūra covering Ramaswami's face and not recognizing him as Raghav, Pallavi had remarked that on a rainy night a few days before, someone had thrown colour on her too. The memory of that night had been fresh for Raghav, and he had guessed right away: the marital symbol that he had carelessly discarded, thinking that he would never find a woman who deserved it, had landed on this woman who was thanking him for the chance to earn money after spurning his show of largesse. At the time, Raghav had hidden himself in Ramaswami's office, watching Pallavi and admiring her kindness, but refusing her request to serve Ramaswami his dinner so as not to spoil his benevolent mood with another confrontation. He had sent Pallavi a thank-you note along with a gift, a keychain that had the initial R for Ramaswami. The next morning, he had accepted her repayment for Manasi's keḷavaṇa gifts without any argument, smiling in anticipation of friendship and how she would respond when she realized that he was Ramaswami. They had never reached that point due to his stupid revenge schemes following a misunderstanding, and now, Raghav realized that he had never told Pallavi about the sindūra incident either.

"Whoever that litterer was that threw sindūra, he also splattered Dīdī with mud from his car," Krishna was saying. "When Sharada Aunty - Mandar Dādā's mother - returned the saree to Amma the next day, she was so angry! She said that her daughter came home looking like a destitute person, and she wouldn't forgive Amma for that. Pallavi Dīdī had tried her best to get the stains out of the saree, but this red splotch remained, so Aunty told Amma to take it as a lesson and never advertise anyone's misfortune again." Krishna was venting after a stressful day because Anuradha had once again reopened a wound by describing Raghav's humiliation of Pallavi to reporters.

Raghav pulled out his phone and sent Maria a text: "I want the white saree." He was thinking about yesterday morning, when he had found out that the kalāvā on his wrist came from Pallavi. Jaya had called it a sign that Satya-Nārāyaṇa was paying attention to Raghav's faith in his marriage to Pallavi. This saree was another sign that Raghav was meant to marry Pallavi, even before they had met.

When Krishna had finished explaining to Maria how they had found Mandar Dādā four days ago, she departed, and Raghav strolled into Maria's office to pick up the saree. It was an ugly garment, unworthy of Pallavi, but she had accepted it for a short time when she had had no alternative, just as she had accepted Raghav and his ugly treatment of her. Soon, Pallavi's own clothes that she had left behind with Raghav would go to the Deshmukh house to wait for her return to Mandar, but Raghav could always keep this saree in which she could have been his.

Raghav unfolded the saree and examined the red splotch. It was an oddly symmetrical shape: two long legs, two widespread wings, and two heads. He imagined a man holding a bird that was trying to fly away.

Chapter One on page 1

Chapter Two on page 2

Chapter Three on page 2

Chapter Four on page 3

Chapter Five on page 4

Chapter Six on page 4

Chapter Seven on page 5

Chapter Eight on page 5

Chapter Nine on page 7

Chapter Ten on page 7

Chapter Eleven on page 8

Chapter Twelve on page 8

Chapter Thirteen on page 8

Chapter Fourteen on page 9

Chapter Fifteen on page 10

Chapter Sixteen on page 10

Chapter Seventeen on page 11

Chapter Eighteen on page 11

Chapter Nineteen on page 11

Chapter Twenty on page 11

Chapter Twenty-One on page 11

Chapter Twenty-Two on page 12

Chapter Twenty-Three on page 12

Chapter Twenty-Five on page 12

Chapter Twenty-Six on page 13

Chapter Twenty-Seven on page 14

Chapter Twenty-Eight on page 14

Chapter Twenty-Nine on page 14

Chapter Thirty on page 14

Chapter Thirty-One on page 14

Chapter Thirty-Two on page 14

Chapter Thirty-Three on page 15

Chapter Thirty-Four on page 15

Chapter Thirty-Five on page 15

Chapter Thirty-Six on page 15

Chapter Twenty-Five

Farhad felt excited as he drove to S. K. Venkatesh Criticare Hospital with Mandar sitting next to him. They were alone for the first time since last night in Dr. Ramya's guest room. Farhad wanted to unburden Mandar, to bring him closer, but after watching Mandar with Pallavi, Farhad was uneasy too.

Mandar kept his hands on his knees, not knowing what to say to the man whom he desired, and who desired him too. The silence between them was burdensome, although it hadn't even been five minutes since Pallavi was with them. Feeling his arms tense up, Mandar rolled his shoulders. He dared not turn his neck. If he looked at Farhad, would he forget about self-control and ask for what he had no right to ask? His lips were dry; he licked them.

"Do you trust me, Mandar?" Farhad wanted to know, observing Mandar's nervousness. Those powerful shoulders, those full lips ... did Mandar have any idea what he was doing to Farhad?

"Yes, Farhad, I do." It was himself that Mandar didn't trust. Throughout the day, memories of being touched by Farhad had thrilled him. Farhad's support as he faced the reporters ... hugging Farhad in his excitement ... He had to remind himself that he had held Pallavi in his arms, he had promised to look after her ... or he would find himself remembering how Farhad had listened to his experiences, understood him, wanted a chance with him ...

"Then help me to be a trustworthy friend to Pallavi jī. She deserves to know what I know about you, that you're not made for her. I don't want to hurt you, Mandar, by telling her myself. I know that it should be your choice to come out, and you don't think there's a place for your truth in your family. I want your place to be with me, and Pallavi jī would never choose to be in our way. She knows that I'm a gay man, and she is supportive. And her friend Devayani is a lesbian woman, isn't that right?"

"Yes, Devayani and Rashmi are a couple, and Pallavi supports them totally. She even used to help them to meet secretly." Mandar could not argue against anything that Farhad had said. He knew that Dr. Ramya would not approve of him giving Farhad a chance to persuade him. He should be talking to Amma, or to Vishnu, his sponsor. Yet he wanted his place to be with Farhad too, immoral though it would be. What if he could go back on his word to Pallavi without embarrassing himself and her in front of the whole world? If he asked, would Farhad agree to meet secretly?

"Pallavi jī was badly embarrassed today," Farhad spoke again after several minutes of silence. "I know that she has been crying, and you comforted her. I don't want to deprive her of you when she needs you and your family. If she feels like crying again tonight, I will listen too. Mandar, tell me, how should I feel, listening to Pallavi jī and living with her day by day as she develops a habit of relying upon you? Do you know what I felt today, watching you holding her hand, and putting your arm around her, and chatting with her elders, as if you can be happy with her?"

Farhad realized that his choice of words made his concern for Pallavi sound more like jealousy. Well, he admitted, he was jealous! Farhad ached to make Mandar feel more intensely than whatever he was experiencing with Pallavi. Of course, Farhad didn't resent Pallavi; she had suffered enough, and she only wanted to reunite her family. Yā Allāh, he prayed, please forgive my selfishness, and give Pallavi Bhābhī a better reward than whatever I want to take away from her.

"I'm sorry, Farhad," Mandar said, looking with fascination at the stormy expression on his friend's face. He had counted on Farhad for wisdom and comfort and unruffled competence, but it was wrong to take him for granted. Farhad had emotional needs too, and seeing him agitated, Mandar wanted to satisfy him and make that kissable frown melt away. "I don't want you to lie for me. I want to be a brave man like you. I just don't think I can live like you."

"We're almost at the hospital," Farhad said, "and we're not going to come to an agreement easily, so let's drop the subject for now. Mandar, no matter what happens when we meet Dr. Janaki, it's very important that you trust me. Remember, if Sulochana Kākū finds out how much we know, she may strike back dangerously."

"I trust you, Farhad," Mandar answered. "I will follow your lead."

Moments later, Farhad was saying to the receptionist, "My name is Farhad Nawaz. I need to see Dr. Janaki urgently. Please tell her that it concerns Pushkar Online Casino." Mandar wondered why Farhad had chosen to say this, and what his plan could be.

The receptionist made a call, and very soon, a woman with curly black hair approached them hurriedly, halting as she caught sight of Mandar's face. Farhad walked the remaining distance between them, and said, "You are Dr. Janaki, obviously." She nodded, trembling. "I am sure you would rather have this conversation in private," Farhad remarked. "Your office, perhaps?"

Dr. Janaki led the way. As soon as the door was closed, she asked, "Did the casino send you?"

"No, Dr. Janaki," Farhad replied. "You know very well that this is Mandar Deshmukh, and I want answers for him."

"I don't recognize this man." Dr. Janaki spoke quickly. Mandar looked at her intently, hoping to recall any memory of being treated by this doctor, so that he might say with conviction that she was lying,

Farhad laughed. "Sulochana Deshmukh would be pleased with you for saying that. We know about her phone call to you. And I know about your payment to Pushkar Online Casino on 3rd December, 2018, two days after Mandar was brought to this hospital and treated by you. Sulochana paid you in cash to help her abduct Mandar, and with that money, you paid a debt to the casino."

"I don't know any Sulochana Deshmukh, and I don't remember treating this man," Dr. Janaki insisted. "Hospital records are confidential, so I am not going to discuss any patients with you. Please leave now."

"My name is Farhad Nawaz and I work for Raghav Rao. Why didn't you invoke confidentiality on the morning of 2nd December, 2018, when you called Raghav Anna to say that Rajiv Dev's family had taken him home? A few weeks ago, you gave Raghav Anna specific details, that Rajiv Dev confirmed his name as Parijat Padhye and left willingly with his sister, Suhasini Joshi. You forgot about confidentiality, Dr. Janaki, when you wanted to mislead the man who paid the hospital bills. I've come here to tell you that Raghav Rao is not kind to anyone who lies to him. This is Mandar Deshmukh, your patient himself who has every right to see his own records."

Dr. Janaki did a search on her computer. "There is no record in the name of Mandar Deshmukh."

Farhad banged his hand on Dr. Janaki's desk. "Don't test my patience, Dr. Janaki! You know that Mandar was admitted under the name of Rajiv Dev."

"I was known as Rajiv Dev from 2nd December, 2018, until three days ago," Mandar added. "It's my name. And Ved Pillai, who knows me and Raghav, recognized both of us at the scene of my accident. You can't deny treating me."

"Suppose that I only find a record in the name of Parijat Padhye. Do you have proof that you are he?" Dr. Janaki was obstinate.

Farhad let out a sigh, pulled out his phone, and placed a call. "Dr. Kanika, please come to Dr. Janaki's office now."

"Why are you calling my colleague?" Dr. Janaki demanded. "Both of us have responsibilities, and we can't spend our time talking to you about whatever conspiracy you imagine."

"You will find out quite soon, Dr. Janaki." Farhad opened the door, and Dr. Kanika Tirkey walked in with a sober expression on her face. "Dr. Kanika, what is your experience with Raghav Rao?"

"I first met Mr. Rao two years ago," Dr. Kanika began, "when I treated a young man for a concussion and other injuries. Mr. Rao, who had brought the patient to the hospital, took me aside, put cash in my hand, and said, 'This is for you to make a statement to the police detailing this boy's injuries. When the case goes to court, you will make time to testify, and call me to collect the rest of your reward.' Like you, Dr. Janaki, I have a busy schedule of hospital duties, and I wouldn't have participated in a police investigation without the incentive from Mr. Rao."

"Who was the patient?" Mandar asked. "One of the boys who carry packages for Raghav?" He looked at Farhad, thinking resentfully of how Raghav had used Nikhil for his smuggling.

"The young man was a boyfriend for hire," Dr. Kanika replied. "His client had been rough with him. The police don't usually arrest anyone for this sort of crime, but this time they had orders from Mr. Rao."

This answer would have been impossible for Mandar to imagine. Why would Raghav even notice a male sex worker, let alone seek justice for one? Only yesterday, Raghav had spoken disparagingly of gay men when Amruta made fun of him. Raghav, who hadn't waited for the police or the courts to punish Jagadish Anna, and had even fired his gun to make a point - why would he wait for this case to go to trial? Dr. Kanika might have mixed up her patients, Mandar thought.

"In March this year," Dr. Kanika recalled, "I gave my testimony at the abusive client's trial, and the next time I saw Mr. Rao here at the hospital, I reported to him that I had done everything perfectly, so that he would have no problem obtaining a conviction. He immediately paid me well for keeping the boyfriend case in mind, and thanked me for ensuring that what he wanted was what would happen. He said that he would remember my favour all his life, and to let him know if I needed money."

Sensing Mandar's eyes on him, Farhad turned to him and said, "It's all true. As I told you this morning, Pallavi jī found Raghav Anna in Dr. Kanika's office, and thought that he was bribing her to lie about the abortion, when the money that Anna handed to Dr. Kanika was actually for this boyfriend case."

"As Mr. Nawaz has said," Dr. Kanika resumed, "I lied to Pallavi Deshmukh's family that her visit to me was for an abortion and not a stomach infection. I did it for Sulochana Deshmukh because she is a friend of my Āī, and she helped us to pay off my education loan. When Pallavi accused me of conspiring with Raghav Rao, he called her crazy, and asked me if I had any idea why she said that. I said, I didn't know. I lied, thinking that Mr. Rao despised Pallavi as much as Sulochana jī did. That was a mistake. When Mr. Rao found out that he was accused of impregnating Pallavi, I saw another avatāra of him."

Farhad nodded, and Dr. Kanika described her experience. "Mr. Rao and Mr. Nawaz paid off my driver and got into my car with me. They abducted me and Mr. Rao drove fast, threatening to throw me out of the moving car if I let the driver's cap fall off my head. He demanded to know the truth about the abortion. We were headed for a cliff, and Mr. Nawaz said that Mr. Rao carries out his threats. I agreed to tell the truth, and Mr. Rao hit the brakes just as we reached the edge. Don't endanger your life for Sulochana Deshmukh, Dr. Janaki. The police will do nothing against Raghav Rao. If you tell Mr. Nawaz the truth, Mr. Rao may spare your career, but if you are caught lying to him, your life will be over."

Mandar, listening to this story, felt uneasy in his stomach, thinking, Farhad is threatening Dr. Janaki's life! This is wrong! Raghav said that he would remember Dr. Kanika's favour all his life, and then he was ready to kill her. Raghav would have killed Farhad and himself if she hadn't cracked. I shouldn't go along with this!

Farhad took Mandar's hand in his, and squeezed, reminding him, trust me. "Thank you, Dr. Kanika, you may go now," he said.

When Dr. Kanika had left, Dr. Janaki printed out a record and showed it to Mandar. "As you know, you were brought to the emergency room on the night of 1st December, 2018, by Raghav Rao. You had lost consciousness due to a concussion, but the bleeding had stopped and your injuries were not life-threatening. Mr. Rao insisted that he would pay your hospital bills, but he didn't know your name, so he called you Rajiv Dev. After Mr. Rao went home, you regained consciousness, and I asked you some questions. You were unable to recall your name or address. I medicated you so that you could sleep and the brain injury could heal. Then the receptionist informed me that Sulochana Deshmukh had called to ask if Raghav Rao had brought Mandar Deshmukh to our hospital."

"Would that phone conversation have been recorded?" Farhad asked, and when Dr. Janaki affirmed it, he said, "I want it as evidence: the audio, the date and time, the name of the receptionist." Dr. Janaki made a phone call and relayed the request.

"How did Sulochana Kākū know that I was with Raghav?" Mandar asked.

"When I called her back to say that an unidentified patient had been brought in, and to ask her to bring us proof of your identity," Dr. Janaki explained, "she said, there's a hotel watchman who informs her whenever celebrities are staying at the Hotel Crosto, so that she can show up with her daughters. This time, the watchman called her to say that he had witnessed a car hitting a pedestrian, and someone at the scene had said, 'That's Raghav Rao, and he's lifting Mandar Deshmukh into his car!' So, Mrs. Deshmukh called the hospital nearest to the hotel, which was S. K. Venkatesh Criticare."

"Why didn't Kākū tell my family what had happened to me?" Mandar wondered. "Was she already planning to make me disappear?"

"At first, I think she was planning to use your accident as a pretext for her daughters to meet Raghav Rao to thank him," Dr. Janaki replied. "When I told her that Raghav Rao was already gone, she said that she would find a way to meet him tomorrow. I asked, 'What about the patient? Don't you want to see him?' She said, 'No, even if his Āī-Bābā and navarī go to him at this hour, they'll make noise and I won't get my beauty sleep. If he's not dying, what's the rush?' I explained that you hadn't been able to tell us your name, and if you had memory loss, familiar faces might help your recovery. Then Mrs. Deshmukh said that she would come right away, and I shouldn't tell anyone about you; she would reward me."

"I want this call as evidence too, and any CCTV footage of Sulochana Deshmukh at the hospital," Farhad said, and Dr. Janaki made another phone call to relay his request.

"So, Dr. Janaki, how much was this reward that my Kākū gave you to make me disappear?" Mandar demanded bitterly.

"Mr. Deshmukh, there is no excuse for what I did, but the money wasn't for me. As Mr. Nawaz is aware, I had to pay a debt to Pushkar Online Casino. They were holding my sister hostage. It was her husband's gambling habit. Mrs. Deshmukh offered me Rs. 2 lakh, I helped her, and I was able to get my sister safely home within a couple of days."

Mandar looked at Farhad, remembering Nikhil's online gambling creditors who had kidnapped Pallavi. Farhad, who had never let go of Mandar's hand, gave him a reassuring smile and a nod.

"As you see here in the record," Dr. Janaki said, "I changed your name from Rajiv Dev to Parijat Padhye, and noted that you had confirmed your name and relationship to your sister, Suhasini Joshi, who had signed you out. The truth is that I kept you drugged while Mrs. Deshmukh put you in a taxi. What happened to you after that, I never knew."

"Thank you for telling us the truth, Dr. Janaki," Farhad said. "Mandar, please take out your phone and show your Sulochana Kākū's photograph to Dr. Janaki." Mandar did so. Farhad got Dr. Janaki to confirm that the woman who had paid her was Sulochana. Then Farhad informed Dr. Janaki that the pen camera in his shirt pocket had recorded her entire confession.

Meanwhile, at Farhad's flat, Jaya hugged Pallavi and said, "I have to say sorry, Pallavi, beṭā, for what happened today. Watching the news, I was reminded of how much I hurt you by telling Raghav to marry you. You never said a word to blame me, but it is my fault. If you are angry with me today, beṭā, I am ready to listen."

"Amma, I am not angry with you," Pallavi lied. "You didn't know that Raghav was tormenting Nikhil to force me." Pallavi had let out her anger at Raghav, and felt relieved after recounting Raghav's faults to Mandar, but she never liked to burden her elders with her problems.

"You want to forgive me," Jaya observed, "and it's true that I didn't expect Raghav to force you. I told him to take back his lies about you, and ask your forgiveness. I thought he would propose to you only after that, and ask your parents for their blessing. Still, you might question my values. Why did I think that my immoral son should marry a decent girl like you?"

Pallavi had pondered why she had begun life as an orphan, why an accident had taken Devayani's life, why marrying Mandar had left her a widow, why Sulochana Kākū couldn't stand her, why Raghav had made it his mission to hurt her ... Those were unanswered questions about the course of her life. As for Amma's idea that Raghav had to marry Pallavi because Āī wanted her to be married and happy, Pallavi had thought that her reasoning was obvious. In Jaya Rao's eyes, Pallavi was disgraced after Raghav boasted of having her. No other man would want to marry her, and so it had to be Raghav who bought what he had damaged and gave Pallavi a veneer of dignity. Of course, Amma had said none of that out loud; she had suggested that Pallavi's discipline could reform Raghav ...

"I told myself that it was for your welfare, that you could be happy with Raghav because you made him a better man, but the truth is that my own defeat was the reason I tied Raghav to you," Jaya admitted. "As soon as Raghav had started on the wrong path, I had disowned him, just so that Kirti could have a respectable life. And then, after years of telling Raghav that I shouldn't have brought him into the world, a time came when Kirti could not leave the house without men catcalling at her. Then I knew that we had no alternative. We would have to live with Raghav. I was about to tell Raghav so, when you told me just how depraved my son was."

"Amma, I didn't want to hurt you -"

"You did nothing wrong, beṭā. My son had misbehaved publicly, and I would hear about it soon, as always. I knew that Raghav is a criminal, he is violent, he gets drunk, he insults people ... I even thought that he deceived girls ... but nothing was like the shame of hearing that my son boasted about sin to lie about a girl's character. When Raghav showed those photos of his nakedness, he didn't care about his reputation, knowing that society expects boys to be impure, but the innocent girl whose name he spoke would lose everything. I was that man's mother. I had tried to reject his existence, but I was responsible for raising a boy who believed that women pay and men walk away."

Jaya was weeping and sighing as she spoke. Pallavi patted her hand, trying to console her.

"When Raghav brought you back to Manasi's saṃgīta, Pallavi, I slapped him, thinking that he had taken you by force. And he said that he only followed you to keep you safe, and I was wrong to doubt how I raised him, but he was sorry. I wanted to believe in Raghav then; he wouldn't ruin a girl again, not after those photos almost killed me. A few days later, Raghav was so excited to tell me that he had proved that you didn't have the abortion. Farhad let me know that Raghav told your family that he didn't care if people accused him of a scandal, but his Amma would care, so he would disprove it. I thought, Raghav is selfish, but he wants to be honourable with girls for my sake, and maybe he cares about Pallavi. Imagine, Pallavi, how disappointed I was to hear from you that Raghav said in front of everyone that he enjoys you without commitment! His respect for my values was forgotten as soon as he wanted to ruin you!"

"Amma, you are getting upset, and that's not healthy."

"No, Pallavi, today I have to admit everything to you. You deserve to know why I sacrificed your life. You know by now that Raghav thought that you had taken those photos of Kirti and had us arrested; that was why he attacked your character. I told Raghav that it was impossible for you to do such a thing. I sent him to ask your forgiveness, and then you didn't come back to our house that night. Kirti went out with Harish to look for you, and I called Raghav to ask if he had done something to you. Then he told me not to worry; you must have left Hyderabad after he gave you Rs. 5 lakh, because he wasn't going to apologize to you for slandering you the way you had slandered Kirti and him too. He said that a woman named Anjali took those photos of him with herself after you drugged his food. I didn't believe that either. I argued that if you had known the woman in the photos, you would have named her when Raghav said that she was you. And I asked Raghav why he hadn't said to me before that he did nothing with that woman. In the hospital, when I was shouting at Raghav that I would rather die than let him pay to save my life, he never said that he was innocent. He knew how much I wanted my son to be honourable, but even when Raghav disguised himself as a taxi driver, just to see me, he didn't defend himself. Why?"

Pallavi had figured out long ago that Raghav was Ramaswami. Anjali, the woman who had bumped into Pallavi at the news agency office, had said that she worked at the old age home. According to Raghav, Pallavi had drugged Ramaswami's food and Anjali had given Pallavi the photos that caused his scandal. Given this information, Pallavi had conjectured that Raghav's employee Anjali had caught him in bed with some woman, and had taken those photos. Now, listening to Jaya, Pallavi realized that Anjali was the woman in the photos, and if she had also taken the photos, Raghav might really have been drugged!

"Pallavi, beṭā, this is what my son said to me. 'Amma, I didn't do what you saw in those photos, but it isn't wrong. Why won't you accept me? I go out with girls because I like their attention. If a girl had liked me for my body, I would have done it all by now, because I'm never going to get married. But all of these girls are after my money. That's the reason I haven't done with any girl what I said I did with Pallavi. Even that Anjali - I showed her husband-to-be that she was chasing me, and that's why she got Pallavi to drug me and took those photos.' When Raghav said this to me, beṭā, I thought, my son doesn't value his own purity, so how can he understand what he has done by lying about Pallavi's? He will forget Pallavi's shame, and enjoy himself freely, and surely change his mind about marriage someday, unless I keep his sin in front of him. If I don't awaken my son's conscience now, if I don't make him feel shame for what he did to Pallavi, he will be lost forever. And then, when Sharada jī told me that you were Mandar's widow, I knew what I could do."

Jaya's words were flowing fast, and Pallavi was listening, but she was thinking, Raghav told Amma that he hasn't done with any girl ... is it possible? When Raghav brags about his success with women, is it make-believe? Raghav is proud that money can buy him luxury, respect, revenge, blessings, impunity ... he says that everyone has a price, so why does it offend him that girls like his money more than his body?

"I respected you, Pallavi, ever since the day I saw you slapping Raghav in the marketplace," Jaya was saying. "I knew that you could control him. You deserved his wealth as compensation for everything that he did to harass you, and he didn't deserve a chance to marry anyone else. As a widow, I thought you might understand him. Beṭā, you know, I am not comparing Raghav's past work to your first marriage; I am just saying that I thought you might accept him with his stains."

"Raghav's past work? Amma, are you talking about his karma?" Pallavi was confused.

Jaya looked troubled and was silent for a moment. At last, she said, "Pallavi, beṭā, I thought that when Raghav agreed to share a bedroom with you, he would have told you everything before you got closer."

"Amma, I don't know what you mean."

"I am sorry, beṭā. You have had so much stress today."

"I am all right, Amma. I want to know what Raghav did. He told me that after you left the village and came to Hyderabad, he did all sorts of work, big or little, right or wrong, to support you and Kirti. So, you didn't reject Raghav right after the tragedy that took his father and brother from you. It makes sense; you would have thought that Krishna Rao fooled Raghav along with everyone else, right?"

"Pallavi, beṭā, we didn't perform the Satya-Nārāyaṇa pūjā after your wedding, and when you moved out, I told Raghav that he could make up for it by proving his commitment to you. Satya-Nārāyaṇa is truth itself, and He gave us a sign yesterday with the kalāvā, so I am going to trust that I should tell you the truth. A few months after we moved to Hyderabad, Raghav came home in the middle of the day, and as he was washing up, I picked up his bag and found a report from a sexual health clinic. I read it; fortunately, Raghav didn't have any STD, but I confronted him. He admitted that he was selling his body for quick money."

Jaya was looking at Pallavi steadily as she relived the moment when she and her child had parted ways. Her allusions made sense to Pallavi now. She thought of how difficult it had been for Raghav to tell her about his past, and understood why he had left out this part of the story. "Why would Raghav need to do that work?" Pallavi asked.

"He said that Ved Pillai was starting a business, and if he could bring in enough capital, he would be a partner. I cried and told Raghav, we don't need that kind of money; we are getting by. And Raghav shouted at me, 'No, we're not getting by! I'm an eighteen-year-old college dropout, and I can't get any job that pays well. Every month, I'm taking money out of the bank.' I hadn't known. I asked him what money he had in the bank, because the commission that Krishna Rao had paid him had been spent on treatment for his Nānna's lung problems, and starting my dance academy, and a gift for Prasaha."

Prasaha! A few hours ago, Pallavi had heard that name from Paulomi, while helping to choose a saree for Lata's aunt, Prasaha. Paulomi had said that her husband, Puruhut Dasari, had taught Raghav to work out, strengthen his body, and defend himself against bullies. She hadn't said that Prasaha knew Raghav. Why had Raghav bought a gift for Prasaha ten years ago? Did Raghav know that Puruhut's family, including his sister Prasaha, was living in Hyderabad right now?

These queries left Pallavi's mind as she noticed that Jaya was crying again. "Raghav admitted that Krishna Rao gave him extra money to keep quiet! He knew that that Rākṣasa was going to take the chit fund money and run away! Raghav knew for two months, and still he went around collecting contributions from our neighbours who trusted his character. My husband and my son Arjun died because Raghav sold his honour! The day I found out, Pallavi, I had no pity for Raghav. He had learned nothing. He was still selling himself. I threw him out, with his bloodstained bank account and his sinful capital for his business. I had to do it to protect Kirti, my last innocent child. And it was for Kirti's safety that I eventually returned to Raghav and tried to save whatever was left of my son."

Pallavi took Jaya into her arms and held her. "Amma, Amma ... I don't blame you. You did what you thought was right."

Jaya wiped her eyes. "I did wrong to you, Pallavi, but I hope today is the last day you will suffer for it. You have decided to return to Mandar, and I respect your choice. Nevertheless, I'm grateful to you for passing through Raghav's life. Thanks to you, I recognize my son again. Raghav is still grieving for you, Pallavi, but he's not drinking anymore. The day after you moved out, Raghav who never listens to anyone listened to you and got a dog. Raghav who says 'Idi Raghav Rao vāgdānam' to feel powerful is remembering his broken promises and fixing his mistakes. Raghav had promised that he would look after the blood donor who saved my life, but he didn't; he never found out who it was. He thinks that is why he failed in his promise to reunite you with your family. So, he prays that when he looks after Damayanti every day, Satya-Nārāyaṇa should accept it as his effort to look after my blood donor, whoever that is. The embarrassment that Raghav and I caused you today will fade, but Raghav's conscience is here to stay, and that means you won the war, beṭā."

Chapter One on page 1

Chapter Two on page 2

Chapter Three on page 2

Chapter Four on page 3

Chapter Five on page 4

Chapter Six on page 4

Chapter Seven on page 5

Chapter Eight on page 5

Chapter Nine on page 7

Chapter Ten on page 7

Chapter Eleven on page 8

Chapter Twelve on page 8

Chapter Thirteen on page 8

Chapter Fourteen on page 9

Chapter Fifteen on page 10

Chapter Sixteen on page 10

Chapter Seventeen on page 11

Chapter Eighteen on page 11

Chapter Nineteen on page 11

Chapter Twenty on page 11

Chapter Twenty-One on page 11

Chapter Twenty-Two on page 12

Chapter Twenty-Three on page 12

Chapter Twenty-Four on page 12

Chapter Twenty-Six on page 13

Chapter Twenty-Seven on page 14

Chapter Twenty-Eight on page 14

Chapter Twenty-Nine on page 14

Chapter Thirty on page 14

Chapter Thirty-One on page 14

Chapter Thirty-Two on page 14

Chapter Thirty-Three on page 15

Chapter Thirty-Four on page 15

Chapter Thirty-Five on page 15

Chapter Thirty-Six on page 15

Post 1 of 3; please read all three posts.

Question for my Followers: did you get notifications when I added Chapters Twenty-Two through Twenty-Five?

You are listed as a Follower of this story in the Fan Fiction section. So, I thought you would get a notification whenever I added a new chapter, and I stopped tagging you in this thread.

I've noticed that members who follow me voluntarily are listed in my profile under My Followers, and two of them have been giving Likes on my latest chapters in the Fan Fiction section. Members like you, who were automatically added as Followers of this story, aren't listed in my profile. Although you used to comment or react in this thread, you haven't done so lately, and only one of you gave a Like on one of the last four chapters.

I know that the chapters are long, so maybe you haven't made time to read them, or you might have lost interest in this story. No problem, this is only for fun. However, if you could take the time to tell me: did you get notifications, yes or no, I would appreciate it.

Post 2 of 3; please read all three posts.

I would love to know what my readers think about some details from the show that I used in this story. Do my interpretations make sense, or do you have other ideas?

1. In the February 27 episode, suddenly Pallavi had a video of Jagadish repairing a table to sell. I wondered, who made the video, and how did Pallavi get it?

2. In the February 17 episode, I was intrigued by Lata's mother's body language. When Lata said, "Phone-vālā Raghav Rao!" her mother obviously didn't admire Raghav. She didn't look at Raghav, she looked at the phone, smiled at her daughter's excitement, and stopped smiling as she looked at Raghav. So, whose phone did Lata have, and why would a seven-or-eight-year-old child, too young for jewelry and bachelors, know Raghav Rao's name and want to photograph him?

3. The red mark on the white saree in the February 16 episode - what was its symbolism?

4. In the April 9 episode, why did Raghav thank Dr. Kanika for keeping the "boyfriend case" in mind, and say that he would remember her favour all his life? What did Dr. Kanika do perfectly so that Raghav would have no problem? Why did Raghav say that now, with her very big help, only what he wanted to happen would happen?

5. Why did Jaya have a severe panic attack about Raghav's sexual activity, and why did she say that Raghav's money was stained with an innocent's honour? When Jaya's will to live depended on Raghav's character, why didn't Raghav tell Jaya or Kirti that the scandal wasn't true? He told the Deshmukhs that he would disprove an accusation because it mattered to his Ammā, but then he announced his sexual activity at a party. In the February 15 (first) episode, Raghav said that his car was worth more than the woman, love is fatal, marriage isn't for him, and he doesn't want to see the face of a woman who would spend a night with him because he's rich. So, what was he doing on a dinner date?

Post 3 of 3; please read all three posts.

If anyone wants to know when I post a new chapter, please follow this story in the Fan Fiction section by clicking the green button: Add To My Library.

https://www.indiaforums.com/fanfiction/1763

I would be grateful to any Telugu person who could confirm this so that I can reference it correctly in my story ...

The bamboo pole pūjā ceremony that occurred on the March 16 episode of Mehandī Hai Racanevālī among Manasi's wedding events is a Tamiḻ tradition (pantakkāl naṭutal), not a Telugu tradition at all, correct?

Would a Telugu family in Hyderabad, like Rahul and Asha, typically include this event in a wedding?

On the March 15 episode, Milind explained it using a name that sounded like paṇḍharī guñjā pūjā, which I probably misheard because I can't find it on the internet. I know that pantal is a Tamiḻ word for the wedding maṇḍapa and kuñja is a Marāṭhī (and Saṃskṛta) word for arbour.