World Whirled

4: Death

4: Death.

"Aaage badhiye aur Anjali ji ko Shraddhanjali dijiye." (Come ahead and offer tribute to Anjali ji.) The Pandit said, handing Arnav a handful of flower petals and rice grains. Arnav sadly stared at his beloved Di's photo in front of him.

It was so unusual that the ever bustling Raizada house was so silent and sad. Nani ji had forgotten to feed and care for Lakshmi, her favourite goat. Mama ji had cancelled all his business trips immediately. Mami ji had not cared to do any touch up since the unfortunate day. There was no Anjali roaming around with a pooja ki thaal. Arnav wasn't roaming around the house shouting at his employees over the phone. Shantivan did not seem like Shantivan anymore.

Nani ji had held this prayer meeting and Hawan to pray for Anjali. The police had stopped their search for Anjali as they had gathered enough evidences that the body trapped in the river bed was most probably Anjali Jha 's. The pressure of the water was too high for the divers to extract the body spotted. Also due to the on-going rains and storms, all the police attention had been diverted towards the people's problems instead of this case. Yet the police records had not yet declared her to be dead as you need to present a dead body for proving that the person is dead. If the body is not found for seven years after the supposed death, the person can be declared dead.

The evidence was not enough to convince Arnav that his Di was no more. He was losing his sanity day by day. He could not even exert much pressure on the police as it was their duty to help the citizens during this calamity. Arnav felt useless to not have been able to save his Di. He felt sad for not being able to see her even once. He just could not accept that his Di had left him alone in this world.

Khushi looked at Arnav tearfully as he kept staring at his sister's photo. She had witnessed the great ASR break down in front of her. He had slumped on his knees and hugged her waist keeping his head on her stomach while she was standing in front of him. This had happened last week and she could yet feel the warmth of his breath against her Kurti. She could feel his loneliness. She could feel his pain. But how could she comfort him and by what relation? What does he mean to her? What bond do they share? By what authority can she comfort him when he himself has always told her that she means nothing to him? Or does she mean something to him now...

*********

"Hello hi bye bye! Anshika bitiya, please don't cry!" Mami ji said as she held Anjali's bundle of joy in her arms. Anshika had not been keeping well since the day Anjali had disappeared. The paediatrician had diagnosed Anshika's illness to be psychological, it was completely apparent that Anshika missed her mother's touch. She had suggested extremely attentive care for the baby. This had left Nani even tenser. She was already seeing her grandson, Arnav and grandson in law, Shyam suffering from the loss of their most loved person. Arnav was not even going to office these days and Shyam was in a state of delusion and depression. Nani knew her old heart won't be able to bear to see any more suffering in the family which she had maintained with a lot of love and hard work.

However, there was one relief for Nani – Khushi. The young girl had tried her best to handle everything efficiently in her sister's would be Sasuraal. She came to Shantivan every day and made sure that everyone was having food on time. She made sure that Nani, Mama and Arnav would take their respective medicines on time. At times, she was even successful in making Anshika eat and sleep. Khushi had found her way into Nani's heart, unintentionally once again.

"Mami ji, please give Anshika to me. I shall try to make her sleep." Khushi took Anshika in her arms from Mami ji and cradled her. She started feeding her some baby food. Finally, in the comfort of Khushi's arms Anshika slept peacefully. Mami looked at Khushi with tears in her eyes.

"Thank you so much, Phatti Saree." Mami held Khushi's hand.

"Mami ji, please take care of yourself. You need to be strong, please have some food."

"Nahi, Phatti Saree. I don't feel like eating. Since Anjali bitiya has left, I don't feel like doing anything except weeping the whole time. This is the state of the whole house. Arnav Bitwa has not even spoken a single word since that day. He doesn't even go to office anymore, I am scared for him. And Damaad ji..." Manoramaswallowed her tears. "He has gone madwa. He speaks to the walls. He has not come to see Anshika even once. He does not joke around merrily anymore. I fear he is more affected that Arnav, he might go insane at this rate."Mami cried on Khushi's shoulder while Khushi looked at her empathetically. She looked towards the walls in deep thought,
Does Shyam ji really mourn Anjali ji's death? Did he really love her? Was the past really a mistake, a distraction due to negligence of Anjali ji? If yes, then doesn't he deserve my forgiveness?

Shyam observed Khushi from a distance. He had tried his best to make Khushi feel empathy towards him as a sad widower. He had pretended in front of all the family members that he had gone insane in depression. He just wished his plan would succeed and Khushi would finally become his.

Finally, it is time to execute the third part of my plan. Everything must proceed as per my plan.

*************

"Aakash ji, I have brought some food for you." Payal smiled towards an inattentive Akash who continued typing on his laptop.

"Payal ji, I told you already. I don't feel like eating right now, please don't force me." Akash said without even looking towards her.

"Akash ji you have been working continuously since the past week to compensate for Arnav ji's absence in the office. I just want to take care of your health... I am not your wife yet but we yet are fiancés ...?"Payal looked towards him with hopeful but questioning eyes.

This marriage was really important for her. If she didn't get married this time like the past two times, she did not know what she could do with her life. Unlike Khushi, Payal had not been very good at studies. She had passed twelfth standard with great difficulty and so getting her admission into any college had been a mammoth task. Shashi had no other option but to get her admitted to a private college after paying hefty donation. Matters worsened as Payal could not pass even one university exam and Shashi could not afford paying her college fees anymore.

Then Payal's parents thought that she might be able to do something good with her skills like sewing, knitting, cooking etc... but Payal did not want to join any such institute. She had agreed to Bua ji's suggestion of getting married. On the other hand, Khushi had completed Bachelors of Arts in Hindi from a government college with flying colours and was keen on pursuing a Master's degree too.

Payal was rejected as a bride by many families for various random reasons - some found her to be not fair enough, some said she was not educated enough. Finally, Sharma family from Allahabad accepted the proposal to marry their son, Abhishek to Payal. The Gupta family's happiness knew no bounds. Payal too was happy as she thought that Abhishek was a good man and that he loved her.

Alas, her happiness did not last long! Abhishek's family were a bunch of money- thirsty monsters who were hell bent on making her father bankrupt just to satisfy their greed. Payal was sort of happy that Khushi had saved her and their father from making a lifelong relation with such people by unintentionally breaking their marriage.

But Payal was also sad and heartbroken as she had dreamed of this marriage and somewhere in heart, even though she didn't want to, she blamed Khushi for her broken heart.

When Payal was going to wed Akash, she felt that her mind shall regain all the happiness she lost in the past few years. Unfortunately, Anjali went missing and most probably was dead the news said, just a few hours before her marriage. There had been no discussion about her marriage after that – she did not know if it was postponed or, god forbid, cancelled! She feared the second probability, she knew her heart was not capable of bearing any more heartbreaks and Akash has almost been neglecting her all these days.

Am I being very selfish by thinking about my state and the mental stability I need?

She asked herself inwardly as Akash continued reading a file and didn't even care to bid her a small good bye.

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This story is on hiatus.