Evanescing The Facade

3. Escaping reality

"What is night for all beings is the time of awakening for the self-controlled; and time of awakening for all beings is the night for introspective sage"

Abir was known to be a man of perspective, someone who could gaze beyond the translucence that blinded others, the only one who would never succumb to the vile manipulations of his mother. Being the euphony of his own instrumental beliefs, he always looked at what seemed to be the bigger picture to him and paved his own paths. But what he misconstrued was that "perspective is the appearance of things relative to one another as determined by their distance from the viewer." Not that he denied lending an ear but sometimes he reacts impulsively out of his obsessive need to be the one responsible for maintaining peace and sanity in the house.

"In a toxic family system, a black sheep is often just the person who sees through other's fraility of ideas. Perpetuating peace should be a collective effort and not at the cost of one's peace of mind. The love has to be reciprocated by heart and not calculated by brains of breathing skeletons."
    -Niharika

Rajvansh Sadan for Abir has been nothing but a computer system working with mathematical equations controlled and contracted by his mother. He found his ephemeral solitude in his Nanu and nanko until he got into his usual contretemps with Meenakshi Rajvansh. His way of dealing with problems has been to escape the forced institution of being "home" with people you call family while he felt anything but homely. The gypsy found solace in the eyes that sparkled behind rectangular framed glasses. Mishti is his HOME. She managed to give stability to the wanderer, a pause to the vagabond and nirvana to the distraught. Undoubtedly Abir did love her more than his life but maybe not enough to prioritize or may be he just failed to see what was tearing her psyche. She who loved him unconditionally wasn't experiencing the same tenderness. He loved her enough to protect her life but he failed to protect what was oxygen to her existence....her self respect. Even though he always says that it's only because of Mishti that he knows what it's like to stay and to be stayed for but he never protested against anybody who said otherwise.

"Let today be the day where you take nothing for granted. For life is fleeting, fragile and precious and can change on a whim. Let today be the day you twirl on the rhapsody of your own love songs and let her feel how cherished she is 'cause maybe today is the last tomorrow you will live"
 

                                  -Niharika

Thousands of unnerving thoughts crossed his mind at the memory of watching mishti slumping to the ground, his breathe hitched as a mere possibility of him being responsible transversed his mind. He couldn't help but let a stream of guilt seep in as he tried to erase the feeling of lifting a limp mishti in his arms. Just a day back they were musing about stepping into a beautiful new phase of their lives, just a day back he wanted to love her the way nobody else will ever have the right to, just a day back he could narrate an opus of ballads and poetry but here he was sitting beside his enlightenment of life, who seemed so drained of light.

As soon as the doctor enlisted the possibilities behind her sudden crumple, badi ma strictly ordered everybody except bade papa and Abir to stay away from her room until she is fine. Even though the doctor informed that Mishti would be asleep for the next 6 hours due to the effects of medicine he injected, Badi Ma was skeptical about everybody's presence around her gudiya raani.

"Be sure you taste your own words before you spit them out. Hurting someone can be as easy as throwing a stone in the river but you have no idea how deep the stone could possibly sink in."