Chapter 4: Introspect
Abir took his diary and started writing. But he couldn't write beyond a couple of words. His thoughts were waging a war in his mind. Rarely had Abir found himself in situations where his words struggled to find a way to his thoughts. And when it did happen, it left him restless. He left his diary on the bed and walked upstairs to his loft where he had his painting materials stored. He took out his canvas and placed it on the stand. He just closed his eyes and started painting again. He threw colors, used his fingers and paint brush to shape his thoughts on the canvas. Even though his forehead was filled with creases of stress, tension and confusion, his mind was finally relaxing with each stroke Abir was applying on his canvas. He slowly opened his eyes to see his art.
His canvas had a little boy, sitting on a pavement, observing a glass half filled with water. He kept looking at his painting for a while, trying to deduce what it really meant. He sat down on the floor, supported his back on the wall and looked towards the ceiling. His hands were still covered with paints. He kept looking back and forth between his painting and his paint-covered hands. Slowly his thoughts started forming words. As he looked at his painting, phrases like “the glass is either half full or half empty” started making its way to his head. His life and its motive had always been surrounded around it. Whatever life threw on him or his family, he always made it a point to seek positives out of it and smile through it, no matter the pain it caused. Majority of his family saw the half empty glass. While he always looked for the glass that was half filled. Atleast that was his effort.
Every pain, every test, every failure taught him something. He used to leave his house whenever he felt suffocated. It was not only to look for peace but also to look for answers that his father’s sudden disappearance had left with him. His father disappeared without any trace, any pictures or anything that he could use as his father’s memory. All he had with him was the morals Mr Mehal Kapadia taught him. And those morals were his inspiration to become a better person. To become a person he thought his dad would be proud of. Even when it turned out that his dad wasn't a good person, Abir was still somewhere thankful because he was a better person than his father. He always thought that even if those teachings were meaningless for his dad, it made him see reason. It made him stronger. The morals somewhere helped him see through the manipulation that his mom caused in his house. He was able to have the strength to speak against his mom whenever needed. Even when he was the only one speaking. He was strong enough to handle that truth of his dad. Him being a nomad, him constantly having those values reverberated in his ears definitely helped him to not become a puppet to Meenakshi as his brother Kunal was.
“The glass is half full,” he said that again, nodding with his eyes closed and a smile on his face.
Abir was also a man of perspective. Someone who would always look at both the sides of the same coin. Someone who loved unconditionally, without expecting anything in return. Someone who always gave people a deserving benefit of doubt. He had never blamed God or anyone for his miseries. His father’s truth definitely hurt him beyond measures. But he came out stronger. He questioned himself whether him being a nomad cost him the relationship with his mother. Had he stayed home, would he have been able to connect with Kunal more and made sure he never became the puppet of his mom? Had he stayed home more maybe he could have made sure that Meenakshi’s wouldnt turn out to be a control freak. But once all was said and done, his biggest lesson was to be happy with what he had. He still had a family who loved him dearly. He still had his partner, standing next to him as his source of strength. And even if he had lost his own, he still had an amazing father in the form of Nanu and Bade papa. The grass was definitely greener on his side.
Abir learnt one of his most important lessons during his break up phase with Mishti. Remembering that time brought back some upsetting memories. He had a lump in his throat.
“My glass was definitely empty. I emptied it with my own bare hands.” said Abir as he looked towards his hand with tears in his eyes.
Even when he didn't want to be controlled by his mom, his mom had finally found one weakness of his that she could use to control him and get him away from his life. He closed his eyes in pain. He knew he broke her heart mercilessly. He knew he caused her immense pain. But he felt that pain 1000 times more. From being the man who had promised to always make her smile, he became the man responsible for her pain and misery and he couldn't stand that. He died a new death everyday. He cursed himself everyday for doing that to her. The one image of him snatching away her pendant haunted him every time he closed his eyes. He kept the pendant close to his heart. Not only as her memory. But also as a constant reminder of the pain he had inflicted on her and wished for the same pain on himself. He knew his need to protect his loved ones had taken over him and that was what made him choose.
If Meenakshi had given him the option to die, he would have rather chosen death than choosing between the two. He craved for her everyday. He dreamt about her everyday. He ate khichdi everyday in her memory. He wrote his entries everyday in his diary as if he just wanted to talk to her. Truth to be told, even if he had physically pushed her out of his life, he still wanted every being of her to be his. Hence, he kept all her memories engraved in his heart, soul and mind. She was, she is and she will remain Abir Rajvansh’s Jaan.
His biggest lesson from their break up was that he shouldn't let his weaknesses take so much control over him. If he was wise about it, it wouldn't have brought the mess along with it. In the case of his father’s disappearance, he had no choice. But he was given a choice in the case of his breakup. And he made the wrong choice. Even though he knew what his mom did was vile, he still accepted full responsibility for the decision he made.
But yet again, he didn't have a choice when it came to their child. When he had no idea regarding the truth about his dad, he wanted to become like him. He always thought of him as an inspiration and he thought he would also leave some inspiration behind for his own child. And when he found out about his dad, he had thought to become a better version of him for his child. But, he had lost his baby that day. He had no first or last memory that he could hold on to. At least he had his dad's morals, even if they were fake. But he had nothing left with him to hold on to regarding his child. His child! The child left them even before they knew he or she existed. Just like his dad. Without any trace or a final memory. The only thing they could possibly hold on to was Mishti’s blood report. Why did that happen?
And something that astonished Abir even more was how he wasn't able to read Mishti at all. He wasn't able to see the pain she was in. This was the second time he couldn't do that. Reading Mishti and knowing her thoughts was easiest for Abir. He knew her even more than she knew herself. He trusted her more than he trusted himself. He loved her more than anything or anyone in this world. She was his happiness. She was the first person who could read his sadness beneath his smile. She was his peace. It was because of her he stopped wandering around like a nomad. She was his home. And he made the error of not reading her correctly at two critical points.
He also knew and understood why he made that error the first time. He was obsessed with his constant need to protect Kunal. He also realized how his jealousy again took the best of him and he caused more troubles, making a mess out of their life. He just wished he had handled the situation better. He wished he had noticed Mishti’s constant effort to reach out to him in a better way. But whenever he saw Nishant around, his jealousy took over and he couldn't think anything further or clear.
“Such a jerk I was.” Thought Abir to himself and smacked his hand on his head.
Kunal was more like a son to Abir than a little brother. And when he saw harm coming to his child, like any other parent, he tried doing anything and everything to protect him. That's what a parent does. Gives up their own happiness and comfort for the betterment of their child. He was already feeling guilty of choosing their father over them for years. He didn't want to cause more pain to his baby brother. There was also the fact that Kunal wasn't strong enough emotionally, but Mishti was. And he did the unthinkable. He just wished he had used Mishti’s emotional strength as a guide to this problem rather than an option to choose between Kunal and her. He knew other factors including Nishant also added their share to the mess. He knew maybe if Mishti didn't play her jealousy game, things wouldn't have stretched to that limit.
“Does it matter Abir? You started that! Why would you look for everyone else's mistake when you know all of that wouldn't have happened if you hadn't broken up that way” Abir cursed himself for that day and banged the back of his head on the wall in irritation.
But his biggest lesson was that had he not made the wrong choice earlier, the events following that wouldn't have happened. He had promised himself to never repeat that again.
But it happened again. She was right in front of him. In pain and yet he couldn't see anything beyond her care and love for him. His emotional vulnerability was a reason for his earlier mistake but what reason did he have this time? They both didn't have that chance to get even attached to the baby. And hence that wasn't the worry. But why was he not able to see the physical and mental pain she was going through? Abir never blamed his God for any of his miseries or weaknesses or failures. Infact he addressed God as his partner and he always knew his partner had something better in store for him, always. A hidden lesson in every test he took. He was always patient enough to wait for the good times during the bad times. He never begged or demanded anything from god. He kept working towards his good deeds knowing somewhere his partner will drop a hint for him.
But what was the point of this incident? Was he ever going to get any answer for this at all? Even if things were clear, they didn't look clear. Whose mistake was it? Was it his fault? Was it someone’s else? Or was it anyone’s fault at all? Was he failing as a husband? What lesson was he supposed to learn? Should he look at the glass half full or half empty? Was there any greener grass at all on any side? Which side of the coin was he supposed to look at? But what was he supposed to learn out of this? Was this for the good or for the bad?
As he was surrounded by these questions, a sweet voice distracted his attention!
“Coffee” Abir looked in that direction and saw Mishti standing next to him, extending her arm to offer a hot cup of coffee to him.
Edited by .IamShonali. - 4 years ago
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