~Choti Si Duniya~ Aadhya AU

~1~

Aadhya gazed out of the window of her new school thinking how much her life had changed. It seemed like just yesterday she was in the US winning trophiesband now here she was in this small Himalayan village school waiting for her teacher to come. It wasn't that she had never expected all of this, it was just that she had wished different and she kicked herself hard once again for forgetting that life never granted her wishes. A lone tear slipped her eye as she remembered how the man whom she had trusted so much had left her once again in a vulnerable state. Like always, he had chosen his wife scratch that... his ex-wife over her. Although, a year had passed since that fateful day, she remembered each and every moment of that day crystal clear. She remembered waiting and waiting and waiting for him to come as Shruti paced the hall restlessly decked up in her designer lehenga. At long last, he had called and informed he just couldn't do it... He was sorry, but he just couldn't. He was getting back with his wife and he wanted his daughter to come home to the Shah House where they would be remarrying. She remembered the disgust she had felt when he had gone on and on about how her mother loves her and how much she wants to see her. Shruti had said nothing throughout the call but her face had gone ashen. As Anuj cut the call with another apology to her, she had stood up and swallowed hard. Aadhya still remembered the emotionless look on her face as she had turned to her and asked her if she would get ready so that she could drop her at Shah house. She had gone with Shruti and the taxi ride had been eerily silent. They hadn't exchanged a word but as the car halted at the gate, she had noticed Shruti's lips tremble slightly. Without thinking, she had held her hand and pulled her out of the car. Not allowing her to protest, she had pulled her inside the dungeon they called Home. And just as she had thought, the taunts started the minute she stepped into the threshold with Shruti.

'How dare you bring the other woman?'

'You are a Home breaker'

'After all she is Maaya's blood what more could anyone expect?'

'A child who broke her parents marriage'

'An ADOPTED child'

'I told you Anupama not to bring the child home'

'Who knows what's the history of the child. Such children only bring disgrace.'

'Didn't I warn you?'

There was a weak 'Baa' and some soft mutterings on 'Meri Anu isn't wrong' somewhere in between the taunts but nothing big. Suddenly she had heard a loud scream

'SHUT UP!! SHUT UP... ALL OF YOU..'

She turned and felt her spirits lift as she saw Shruti's eyes blazing with anger. She grabbed Aadhya's hand and grabbed her close. Clutching her hand tightly, she said

'I won't hear another word against my daughter. You...'

She pointed to Anuj.

'I need to talk to you. Come out. I don't want the presence of these clowns in what I hope would be a civilized conversation'

'Are you going to send her alone with her?'

She saw Joshi Ben fiddle with her fingers and gave a short sarcastic laugh.

'I am not going to kidnap him. I really don't care anything about him. Oh... You can come if you want to.'

Saying so, she marched out pulling Aadhya along with her.

'What is this drama Shruti?'

'Drama? I thought you loved drama seeing the way you were enjoying them taunting my daughter.'

'Why did you come here?'

Aadhya intervened.

'I brought her in.'

'Shruti, you need to leave now. It's over between us. I love Anupama.'

'I have no intention of staying. I don't want anything between us. By the way, was there anything between us? You never were over her.'

'Shrutiji... I...'

'Don't... I don't want to talk about it. I called you out to let you know that I am calling social services to complain about the treatment Aadhya is receiving here.'

Aadhya felt her lips tugging into a small grin at the shocked face of her so called parents.

'What? Shruti... you can't... No...'

'We are her parents, things like this happen in every family, we know what's best for our daughter. We will do whatever with our daughter, Aapko Kya?'

'Well as a responsible citizen, I can report any abuse I witnessed to the police.'

'Shruti, don't cross the limit.'

'Cross what limit Anuj? You witnessed what happened inside. You know she is prone to panic attacks. Her counselor has told us many times that having so many attacks at such a young age is going to damage her permanently. You care so much about your daughter and yet you would willingly let her go through what happened inside? Why, Anuj? I really do not understand.'

'You don't need to. Aadhya, you know kiddo I love you. Come let's go.'

'No.'

'But, Aadhya...'

Aadhya turned to Shruti.

'Shru, I love you. Will you take me? I can't be a perfect daughter but I promise to stick with you and never run away.'

Shruti looked at her and gave a warm smile and that moment she knew no matter what happened, Shruti won't let her go.

And so, amidst pleas and tears from her so called parents, she had left that night. And there was no turning back for both of them. Shruti had applied for custody and after a 6 month court battle, she had won. The proof of abuse and Aadhya's testimony were enough for the judge to grant her custody. The two of them had then met with a counselor seeking help as they were both recovering from really hard circumstances. The counselor had suggested travel together for more bonding and so they had traveled for the next 6 months throughout India letting go of grief pain little by little with every new city they visited. By the end of six months, they had decided to settle in this tiny mountain village they had loved so much in there travels. The picturesque countryside had helped Shruti restart her career and on their hikes together to capture wildlife, Aadhya's sketches had come to life again.

She gave a contented sigh. Life was just perfect. Although a part of her missed the man she had long called father, she knew nothing can beat the life she was living now and she had no wishes to trade it with her previous one at all. Shru could never cook a meal as tasty as the woman she once adored as her mother could but she knew that now she could eat every meal peacefully without wondering if the next meal she would have a mother or not. Yup, this was all she had ever wanted, she said to herself as she opened her mathematics textbook. She really didn't need anything else... no scratch that, she didn't need anyone else. She, Shru and their choti si duniya... They were just perfect.

'Good morning, class. Welcome to a new school year. Oh, we have a new student... Hello... Would you like to introduce yourself?'

Aadhya stood up and beamed around the class.

'Hello everyone, I am Aadhya... Aadhya Sehgal, daughter of Shruti Sehgal. My mother is a wildlife photographer and we moved here last month. Hope we will all be good friends.'

She looked at her teacher who looked back at her blankly.

'Shru.. Shruti Seh.. Sehgal?'

*****

~2~

https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/post/164936424

I love this peaceful choti si duniya. Thank you TiaMaa for this beautiful piece

This was very satisfying to read. The characters of Anupamaa and Anuj, being the spineless enablers of Leela and Anupamaa respectively, are depicted so well

Only 50 percent of this story will come true. Anuj would definitely leave S at the altar to her Vanraj's wife. But, S ain't gonna adopt Aadhya. Instead, she will make Aadhya her accomplice and both will scheme and plot to break the lower couple's marriage.

~2~

'She was adopted by Shruti Sehgal officially last month, sir. Shruti's location is currently unknown. But cheer up, there's good news, she is a photographer, she has a blog which she hasn't updated over the past year but I am sure she would do it soon. I heard she was about to marry Mr. Kapadia who then had her custody and their wedding broke. So maybe she is taking some time off. We need to wait just a little longer sir.'

He sat in the staff room with his head in his hands recalling the long conversation he had with his private detective. He recalled the despair he had felt then. It had been greater than the day the doctors had told him that they would have to amputate his left leg and that he will no longer be able to serve the country. But today, it was all gone, replaced with a joy he could not comprehend. His daughter... Maaya's child... their child was sitting in the room next to his. He remembered when he had met Maaya for the first time and fallen hard for her. Her innocence and charm drew him to her like a moth to a fire. He had no control over his feelings or hers either and within few days they had confessed. Maaya's parents were dead and her aunt was very abusive and she had found her refuge in him. His mother dead and his aging father in his deathbed, he had found solace in her. They had been inseparable until the day he had received his appointment order to serve the military. That night amidst sobs she had pleaded him to stay the night with her and he had agreed. A week later he had left promising he would be back in 8 months and he had kept his promise but she had disappeared. He had tried in vain searching for her but it looked like she had vanished into thin air. His father was weaker than before and he had to stop searching for her to look after him. In a month, his father was dead and he was all alone in a huge Mansion that now belonged to him. One fine day, few days after his father's death, he had met her aunt in the market who had made it a point to describe elaborately the wedding she had areanged for her niece and how happily her niece had gotten married. Unable to stay alone and accepting that she would never come back, he had gone back to the military and worked hard until he had rushed into a land mine to save his friend. That had put an end to his career. Knowing he could never go back to the place where they had dreamed happily together, he had come here and accepted a teaching job at the local school. Life had continued in a monotonous routine until one fine day, he had heard on the news about the death of her... His Maaya... The news channel had chosen to tell her story of how she lived in a brothel and escaped only to save many like her. The news shook him and he had rushed to Mumbai and had hired a private detective. He had to know how she ended up in a brothel. Luckily his detective had been able to recover her bank locker key using his connections with the police. The locker had a letter addressed to him where she had written everything that had happened post his departure. That fateful night together, had been fruitful. She had become pregnant and she had been overjoyed but her aunt had found out she was pregnant and to hide her from society, she had sold her to a brothel. Being pregnant, she had been scared, disgusted and had decided to end her life but had pulled along for the sake of their child... his only memory. The day she gave birth to their daughter and looked at his eyes looking back at her from the tiny body, she had decided that come what may, she would never let harm come to the baby and so she had run away. With no means to provide for the child and no assurance of safety, she had left the kid in an orphanage, hoping that one day, she would be able to get their child back and give her a good future. The letter ended with her pleading for forgiveness from him for being away. She had written that she had no courage to search for him after being with so many others. With that the letter had ended. As she had not mentioned the name of the orphanage, it had been a very difficult task for his private detective and him to find the orphanage. By the time they had reached the orphanage, they had learnt that tha child had moved to the US. He had tried hard to locate her but had finally given up. Every call with his detective had ended like the one he had had just two weeks ago informing him about Shruti and Aadhya. But it seemed today that all of his prayers had been heard. His daughter... the child he had so longed to see.... was... A soft knock interrupted him. He looked up to see a young woman with gorgeous curls walking in.

'Mr. Raghav Singhania?'

'Yes, and you are....?'

'Shruti... Shruti Sehgal, Aadhya's mother. You called two hours back and wanted to meet me?'

'Yes, yes... I... uh... please sit...'

'Oh no, did my daughter do any Mischief on her first day here? Sir, I apologize on her behalf.... My daughter...'

'No... no.. it's not my dau... I mean your dau... I need to tell you something Ms. Sehgal'

'Yes...'

He put his hand into his pocket and fished out the overly carressed, often read, fully memorized letter and placed it in her hand. Giving him a strange look, she read the letter and realization slowly dawned on her face.

'So you are.. '

'I am her father. Yes.'

Shruti took in a deep breath and looked at him.

'Mr. Singhania. I am happy to know that. But you see, we just created our choti si duniya and we are not willing to break it apart.'

'Break it?'

'I mean, Mr. Singhania, my daughter has been through a lot and finally feels secure and I will not let anyone make her feel any less secure... Not even someone who claims to be her father.'

She got up to leave when he said

'I understand Ms. Sehgal. I heard from my detective that her previous family was not a good one. I will prove that she is my daughter.... oh and I don't want break your choti si duniya... Just give me some glimpses of it... I will be more than happy'

She looked at him, confused.

'So, you don't want her custody?'

'No... she has the best mother she could ask for... I read the court case... all I want is for her to know that she has a father who loves her truly and is willing to do everything a father ought to do for his daughter...'

'You don't want to take her with you?'

'No why should I? She is happy in your choti si duniya and that's all that matters. But I do yearn to talk to her as a father would.... with your permission... of course.'

'Of course... I will think about it.'

'Thank you...'

In his heart he hoped that he could dare to be happy again.

~la fin~

A/N: Something sprang in my mind while thinking of Aadhya's origins. And yes, I know Anuj is supposed to love his daughter and Anupama is supposed to be the best mother in the show. But to me they both failed as parents. So this is my take on an Alternate Universe story.

Originally posted by: MOTHERHOOD

Only 50 percent of this story will come true. Anuj would definitely leave S at the altar to her Vanraj's wife. But, S ain't gonna adopt Aadhya. Instead, she will make Aadhya her accomplice and both will scheme and plot to break the lower couple's marriage.

The story will never come true... It's an alternate universe story....Anupamaaverse will never have a story that will show their lead wrong

Read both parts... so beautiful and heart-touching... 🥰🥰🥰

Alaukik, Abhootpoorv, amazing.