Hola Everyone!!!!
Arnav & Khushi have been my absolute favourite since IPK's inception and I had been meaning to write an FF based on them since a long time.Here's my sincere and an honest attempt to bring into life , these two amazing characters in an altogether different timeline.
Hope you guys like it!!!
Prologue : Pg 1
Chapter 1: Pg 1
Chapter 2: Pg 3
"TERI MERI KAHANI"-ARSHI FF(Season 1)- Prologue & Chapter 1
Prologue:
1989:A year of love;love was in the air ,breezing across the entire nation with lovebirds humming ‘dil deewana bin sajnaa ke maane na’ from Maine pyar kiya , a blockbuster movie about friendship slowly blooming into love and lovers fighting against all odds. Little did we know that ‘Maine pyar kiya’ was set to become a cult classic in the years to come setting benchmarks to every love story that was to arrive later. Salman khan rose to stardom as the chocolate boy of Indian cinema with girls fawning all over and secretly desiring a husband like Prem. Every boy wanted to be Prem and every girl Suman with love as strong as theirs. People loved love.
As waves of love swept through the country, a matchmaking of two kindred souls began under the most unusual circumstance, uniting them by the sacred thread of love and respect. An unconventional love story was about to begin where sparks did not fly, opposites did not attract and love did not happen at the very first sight. Love took its own sweet time, gradually permeating subconsciously into their lives to stay on forever. Love conquered them as they conquered love.
Chapter 1: Ek ladki ki kahani(Her Story)
May 8, 1989, Monday 9:00am
CMP Degree College
Allahabad
Students of different streams hustled around the notice board in the college corridor eagerly awaiting their results. As clock struck 9, the Principal and his man friday headed towards the notice board carrying along, the future of 3000 young lives. Results were announced and hushed murmurs soon turned into squeals of joy or bawls of disappointment and agony. Fates were sealed and in that moment many realized what exactly lay ahead for them be it good or bad. As the hubbub continued , none failed to notice the one name on top of the list. ‘Khushi Kashinath Tripathi’. Ms. Tripathi, a final year B.A(English literature) student had topped the college and the university of Allahabad not to anyone’s surprise. Khushi or Khush as fondly called by her girl gang had always aced every exam. A brilliant student since school, Khushi had chosen arts over science/commerce much to the indignation of her teachers and friends. Her mindless(as considered by her peers) choice reproved by many, was her only hope to continue her education beyond 12th. Her father had permitted her only to take up arts as he did not want Khushi to become ambitious about having a career.It was arts or no studies and Khushi had chosen the former.Khushi’s father, Mr Kashinath Tripathi, a diligent husband and a father did not believe in educating and empowering women in his family. Tripathi’s, a middle class brahmin household also included Khushi’s demure and loving mother Mrs Devaki Tripathi, her elder son Mr Kshitij Tripathi, working in the police force, his homemaker pallu clad wife Mrs Puja Tripathi, their 3 year old son Amish, and Khushi’s younger sister, Kriya Tripathi. Kashinath started his career as a gram panchayat case worker and rose to the position of office secretary to a prominent political party of the state.His political ambitions seemed to be taking a great turn with rumours afloat of him being offered a party ticket in the upcoming by elections. While his party was busy conducting rallies all over the state , Tripathi was enroute forging allies for the future. As politics was laden with lies and betrayal , Tripathi considered forming strong bonds to ensure an uninterrupted cash flow. When one such opportunity arose in the form of an alliance with the Allahabad publishing company (APC),Tripathi sealed the deal by bartering his beloved daughter in exchange for the undivided support. Khushi was to marry APC’s heir and the only son of Mr Brijnarayan Chaturvedi, Mr Chandan B Chaturvedi. Chandan, a Krishna devout ,a simple sweet boy of 25 wanted to dedicate himself to the service of mankind by offering himself to work in the Brahmin seva samithi for his entire life. This did not bode well with his father who wanted Chandan at the helm of his Company’s operations.Marriage ,or so his father thought would make Chandan a responsible man ,and he and Khushi would then give him the grandchild he desired to continue his legacy. As fathers plotted to ensure their children’s fates were intertwined, for fulfilling their own selfish motives , little did they know that their children’s fate had already been written and sealed off.
Khushi’s friends Vaishnavi and Chaya were elated knowing her result, elated being an understatement in its own. Vaishnavi, a B Com grad while Chaya an arts grad in Khushi’s class,both had cleared with distinction. The threesome had gotten close since primary school owing to the proximity of their homes and practically grew up together as their families were friends.Being Brahmins, their families strictly opposed friendships with girls of other castes.As Vaishnavi and Chaya were jumping with glee, they missed having Khushi around on this day to see her beam with joy and pride at her academicfeat.They planned to surprise her at her place once the roka was over.Khushi’s roka ceremony was scheduled at 11:45 am , by the pundits who had chosen this auspicious day of Akshaya Tritiya, a day of unending prosperity.As the girls headed towards Khushi’s house to attend to the festivities and help around if needed, they did ponder on how their lives were about to change over the coming week once their best friend was wedded. College without the bubbly ,effervescent and miss smarty pants Khushi didnot appeal to them anymore.As they approached the Tripathi Niwas , Allahabad, which was a flurry of activity ,one could not stop to admire the flower décor at the entrance set up to welcome the guests.A few last minute arrangements were being sorted and the music system was being tested. Mrs Devaki Tripathi clad in a canary yellow banarasi saree was all over the place trying to put things in order while carrying around her grandchild .Men in the family had gone to the railway station to bring in Khushi’s paternal grandparents who were arriving from Varanasi to attend the wedding.As the girls proceeded upstairs, Puja Bhabhi was making her way out of Khushi’s room fully decked in a red maroon silk saree with the rasam(ritual) thali in her hands.
As they walked in, mindful to keep their results a secret surprise till the roka was over, they were bowled over to see Khushi draped in carnation pink banarasi saree adorned with matching accessories and her hair braided with a string of gajras. Khushi , all of 5 foot 4 at 22 was quintessentially a beautiful girl, of milky white complexion, with delicate features, light brown yes, dainty nose,lush pink lips ,a swan neck and a comely figure with a narrow waist. But today she was a vision to behold in the saree she wore. There was an air of purity and elegance surrounding her. She welcomed her friends with an angelic smile, her eyes though conveying a vastly contrast emotion. Khushi had succumbed to her father’s wishes giving up on her dreams of studying further. Khushi loved to read and always hoped she could do something on her own someday. May be a job or even teach kids. She had sincerely hoped to continue studying and complete her M.A in English Lit despite knowing her father would never allow her to do so. It was a big deal that her father had agreed to let her finish her B.A before her wedding. Khushi had pleaded with her father to give her two more years , but all efforts had gone in vain. A normally cheerful Khushi was all but dejected and forlorn at the prospect of getting married to a man she had never met.An avid reader that Khushi was, all her spare time was spent in reading romantic English novels. And like any other girl of her age, Khushi secretly wished for her Mr.Prince charming to appear and be swept off her feet. And with her father fixing her alliance all her hopes had come crashing down. Khushi now could only wish that her future husband Chandan was a decent, sensible man who treated his wife as an equal and not like a doormat.She was dreading her wedding day as she was being thrust into the unknown.With only a handful of days remaining to the D-day, Khushi prayed fervently to her favourite Goddess to set things right and make her wishes come true. Seeing her friends gave her a glimmer of hope and Khushi being Khushi tried to make the best of her day. In no time , the groom’s family arrived and all the rituals went on smoothly without a hitch. Khushi’s meeting with Chandan did not go as planned as Chandan didnot even lift an eye at Khushi lest utter a word. Khushi’s friends were disappointed while Khushi herself felt her heart sink . As the groom’s family departed, Khushi hid her emotions behind a veil of forced smile not wanting to disappoint her family and relatives who were congratulating her and telling her how lucky she was to have found a boy like Chandan considering his lineage and wealth being born into Chaturvedi family. Chaturvedi’s were the elite Brahmins of Allahabad and marrying into their family was a blessing for many.Khushi however did not share the same opinion. Money did not matter to Khushi ,nor the lineage.All she wanted was a cozy home, a job to keep her identity and a husband who cared and loved.All of that seemed a distant possibility now that life had taken its own course. As the family started retiring into their rooms post a sumptuous lunch, Vaishnavi and Chaya couldn’t hold the secret any further.They dragged Khushi to her room and gave her the news.Khushi was overjoyed and hugged them both with all her might. In the next moment Khushi burst into tears. One would assume they were tears of joy, but her friends knew her better. This wasn’t the first time Khushi had topped in an exam and Khushi was never the one to cry. Khushi,like her name was the epitome of happiness and wherever she went happiness followed. Her friends were shocked to see her in this state and tried their best to calm her down.An hour later ,Khushi seemed to get a grip on her emotional outburst and gave a meek smile. Khushi did not know what to do with a degree or a rank as none of it mattered anymore. As Khushi wiped away her tears , she decided to get herself occupied and started to pack her belongings with her friends as planned. With only 2 days left for the wedding, her Haldi and Mehendi both being held on a single day tomorrow, she hardly had any time left. As she started placing her clothes and the toiletries into a suitcase, Kriya, Khushi’s younger sister appeared carrying a collage made of family photos as a parting gift to pack. Khushi and Kriya shared a deep bond, while Kriya adored Khushi, Khushi was fiercely protective of Kriya like a mother. Khushi packed all her study certificates,medals, identity cards and the money she had saved while tutioning neighbouring children not knowing whether these would be of any use to her in the future.As she continued to pack ,her friends tried to lighten the mood by singing and dancing to Khushi’s favourite song and reminiscing their good old days. As the day closed in and her friends bid her goodbye to see her the next day at the haldi, Khushi was consumed with sorrow knowing very well that her life was changing drastically unaware of what lay ahead.
The next day flew by with the haldi ritual being soon followed soon after with the Mehendi ki rasam.Most girls happen to get their husband’s name or initials carved on their hands as a sign of love. Khushi did not think the same as she barely knew the guy and decided to drop the idea. Her girlfriends were more interested in the colour her mehendi would achieve ,as the belief went that darker her mehendi was, deeper would be the love between Khushi and her husband. Khushi knew something was off the moment she had met Chandan during the Roka.A gut feeling told her that Chandan did not want to be married to her as much as she did not want to marry him . Both had to carry on for the sake of their parents. In the corner of her heart, she was building devilish hope that Chandan would abandon her on her wedding day or some how come up with a solution to their current plight. Whatever she hoped for, disappeared into thin air when she saw her father walk in to the hallway with arrogance and pride.Her father would ensure that nothing would go wrong and there was no way out of this. So she tried to free herself of the nefarious thoughts and focused on her Mehendi. And instantaneously Khushi remembered her Mannat to her deity Goddess once she cleared her exams with good grades. Khushi had to visit her temple to complete her mannat. With her marriage on board and the bride not allowed to go out after the haldi ritual Khushi would have to wait a long time before she could complete her mannat. As she casually metioned it to her friends, Vaishnavi and Chaya brightened up immediately at the thought of one last outing of the threesome before she bid adieu to her old life. Though the idea seemed blatantly implausible, they cajoled and cried to her mother to let them visit the temple next day. Devaki, though a stickler for rules was a kind woman at heart who loved her children fiercely.She had seen and known what Khushi was going through but as a dutiful , fearful wife she couldnot be of any help to her darling daughter. And with the wedding happening in no time at all , she thought Khushi deserved a moment to herself. So after lot of coaxing and whining, she finally gave in. Khushi would be allowed to visit the temple, both her friends would be with her throughout and that they would get back home in an hour was her condition. Girls jumped with joy and Devaki was pleased to see her daughter smile genuinely in a long time. She was willing to take this risk and receive flak from her in-laws for her baby girl’s sake. She prayed to the almighty to keep her daughter happy and safe. The girls decided to meet the next day at 10am. They would visit the temple,Khushi would offer her mannat, they would visit the Golgappa shop by the temple, have it till their fill and would head back home straight. Champak Chacha, Chaya’s driver would drive them in her car.So all was settled.
As Khushi lay in bed, with only only two more nights to go till her nuptials, hoping for a better tomorrow ,she could never have imagined that tonight would be her last night at her parents home for years to come. Khushi woke up to the sounds of birds chirping on a bright sunny morning and hurriedly got ready to meet up with her friends. She was going to make the best of her last day at her maayka . Tomorrow she would be a married woman.With a spring in her step Khushi descended down the stairs in a bright yellow salwar kameez ,silver jumkas,braided hair, and helped her mother make breakfast while they went on to chat about the mundane things in life. She offered her daily morning prayers and proceeded for breakfast. Breakfast was a regular affair, only this time the focus was on her as she was the bride. She fed her favourite and only nephew Ammu as she fondly called him, while she feld herself.She made monkey faces and Ammu loved seeing her do that and began to laugh. And when Ammu laughed the whole house laughed. Puja bhahi had made her favourite sweet dish- sevaiyya and Khushi gobbled all of it in a go. Her bhabhi though meek was an affectionate woman and her Kshitij bhaiya and Puja Bhabhi made for a loving couple. Though her brother was preoccupied with the police job trying to ascend the work ladder on his own merit, he never ignored his family.The siblings shared a wonderful bond and cared for each other deeply and Khushi instantaneusly knew she was going to miss all of them dearly. Her father who was busy sipping his daily dose of caffeine looked at her approvingly but did not say a word. A man of few words, her father took pride in his beliefs and ideologies. He was of the firm belief woman belonged in the household and had no role to play outside. She hoped he would change though but she did know that all hell would freeze if it happened. As plates were being cleared , Chaya and Vaishnavi arrived with Champak Chacha. Khushi bid her good byes only to be reprimanded by her grandparents for thinking of stepping out.With her mother coming to her rescue to salvage the situation and dissuading the tension, Khushi stepped out of her house ,her heart pounding to an uneasy feeling.She turned around to look at her home wondering why she did that as she would be back in an hour. Dismissing her thoughts and admonishing herself for overthinking she hopped in the car and joined her friends on their last ride together as unmarried women. Ride to the temple was over in 14 minutes to be precise and as they rode together they began humming beautiful songs over an antakshari completely ignorant of two men in a pearly white Maruti Omni sans the number plates following them right behind. As Khushi fulfilled her mannat, she prayed to her Goddess one last time to somehow make her dreams come true with her wish to study further be fulfilled. As for having a husband, she wished she hoped to have a caring and a loving one and may be a little handsome too unlike Chandan. She wished for someone stronger and brighter . Knowing she was too late in praying for things that would never happen she began to collect her thoughts and prayed for her family’s well being. She untied the mannat ka dhaga and tied a new one again with nothing to ask for.She then joined her friends and proceeded to have Golgappas as planned at their favorite stall. Having had around 20 of them and with no more space girls headed back home with .As they drove back, they decided to make a pact to meet atleast twice a year. Though Khushi would be in Allahabad for the rest of her life, Vaishnavi was moving to Delhi to do her masters in commerce once the holidays were over and Chaya would settle in Lucknow with her family. As plans were being made and programs charted, their car which had taken a turn in a narrow abandoned alley, a short cut to her home came to an abrupt halt pushing them forward. They straightened up, checked for bruises and got out to see what had caused the accident.In the moment Khushi stepped out , she was held by two strong arms from behind and her mouth covered by a palm.The shorter stouter masked man pointed a gun at the rest while the taller masked man who held her carried her forcefully and dumped her to the dicky, tied her hands and legs, and covered her mouth with a cloth before closing the door in on her. As he started the engine and steered away from the scene , the shorter one jumped onto the passenger seat,and they drove away faster from the screams of her friends. And Khushi was gone just like that.
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