Happy Diwali to all!!
Au revoir, Akash and Payal
Akash and Payal finally leave for the US. Ruby has already mentioned how important they were to the love story of Arnav and Khushi. If it hadn't been for them, there would never have been that stormy marriage. Khushi would never have agreed to marry Arnav if it wasn't to save her sister's marriage. Her sister never came to know of it. Today, that same sister and brother step out of the frame bidding a sad adieu to a family that cannot hold back its tears.
Yet in a part of my heart, I was happy for them. Not Akshay and Deepali, but for Akash and Payal. Too long, they were overshadowed by their dynamic siblings, and today those siblings were left standing along with the rest of the family, as they walked out of the door and out of our lives. We will all miss them. Another chapter closed with finality in Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon?
Temper Tantrums
Little Aarav is adjusting to life in the Raizada Mansion. On the best of days, it is a fairly dysfunctional family, that sticks together because of the bond of love despite all that has happened to them. As Arnav says, the whole family goes cuckoo during the festivals. To a little boy who has lived all his life in an ashram, this must be amazing. He is happy that he can eat all the sweets he wants, because he is not diabetic. And his new mother promises him he can eat all he wants.
He sits by a poolside painting his little cards, when his new father approaches him, and praises his work. But when he recounts that he has no knowledge of Diwali, his father is disturbed. More than anything, this is his first Diwali outside of the ashram! The sad life of a child in an orphanage, hearing about Diwali and not actually celebrating it. His father gently reminds him that now this is his home, and he will celebrate Diwali with his family, but he didn't sound very convinced.
He is playing with his toys and his mother asks him to sit with them to hear the stories of Diwali. He wants to eat laddoos that his mother is making - she has promised him, hadn't she? But then she tells him he can't have laddoos because first they need to be offered to god. He is infuriated and throws a temper tantrum, breaking a vase, and getting a scolding in the process. He has yet to form the bonds of family ties that hold a family together, and today was his first step towards being disciplined! He has felt their love, but he is still to be schooled in behavior.
Teething Troubles
Arnav and Khushi have become parents overnight to a six-year old, who, I might add, seems to have a few anger issues - remember the tantrum he threw when he wanted to meet his Dad? Today he has thrown another tantrum.
What was interesting to see was how Arnav and Khushi reacted to him. When he learns that Aarav has never experienced a family celebrating together, Arnav is disturbed. Khushi wants to spoil Aarav for his very first real Diwali. She wants to give him things that a little child enjoys at Diwali - firecrackers! (Quite oblivious of the fact that last time, she was the one who cautioned Lavanya about fire crackers at Diwali! Yes, we know the CVs are also on hiatus!). It is Arnav who brings down the disciplining hand. No. He cannot have firecrackers - unsafe, pollution etc. He wants Aarav to grow up with the values that he feels are right, and promptly shuts down Khushi's ideas and please.
But when it comes to the Laddoos, it is Arnav who wants to indulge Aarav, and let him have the sweets, while Khushi wants him to learn traditional discipline. Khushi wants to impart her values to him. She wants him to understand that Diwali is not about Laddoos and sweets only. It is also WHY Diwali is celebrated. That's why she had him sit with her and listen to Nani's stories. She wants Aarav to not grow up an atheist like Arnav, but a believer. Oh well, she made a believer out of Arnav, Aarav is still small and malleable. She will find a way!
The one thing they did do right was to not squabble in front of Aarav. Both of them want to draw the lines that Aarav cannot cross. They will have to work out first whose line will it be that Aarav will have to be bound by.
New Beginnings
Arnav and Khushi's first Diwali as a couple. Arnav doesn't want to fight with her today. He wants to celebrate with her. As she sits mumbling by the Rangoli, he comes to help her decorate it. He does his little thing with her nose, the nose that he is so enamoured off, whispers softly in her ear, 'Happy Diwali, Khushi' and kisses her slowly on her cheek, and gets a small smile in return.
A year ago, on Diwali - he'd broken her heart. He was not about to do it again. I'm celebrating my first Diwali with my Wife - he tells her. No matter how much they might disagree on raising Aarav, they will find a way to do it together. They always do. Although he does mess up her rangoli again. And so he celebrates Diwali the way she wants to.
A smaller family is gathered in the Mandir, today. As they do the aarti, Arnav stands back, dressed in the kurtas he avoided not so long ago. Now-a-days, for every festival he has no problem donning one. As a family, mother, father and child they do the aarti together. He sees the smile on her face as she helps her child learn how to do the aarti. His Diwali celebration is back on track.
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Edited by GirlOfFire - 13 years ago
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