5. HOPE!

HOPE

Yashoda:- call me regularly, ok? ( while keeping her hand on Sidharth’s head ) Waheguru will keep you both happy.

Sidharth smiles and kisses her hand and bends down to take her blessing. Yashoda blessed him with a whole heart while her eyes were moist. 

Yashoda:- ( in a warning tone ) keep Shehnaaz safe and always be happy. And the most important thing, don’t trouble her more with your mood swings. ( hiding her smile ) Keep your pregnancy hormones in check.

Sidharth:- ( pouting ) dadi……… you are my grandmom. So, you should be worried about me.

Yashoda:- noo… I know that Shehnaaz would take good care of you just like I did and even better than me. 

Sidharth:- and how do you know?

Yashoda:- Experience! You can say that my face reading talent works sometimes except on your dadu.

Sidharth giggled lightly and gave one last look at his room before walking out leaving his grandma in a crying mess.

When here both grandmother and grandson are spending some quality time. At the same time, Shehnaaz is facing all the accusations which are making her more guilty. She becomes the center of everyone’s hatred. 

Varsha:- I don’t know what type of a girl she is? ( with venom for Shehnaaz ) Such an unlucky girl!! She entered sometime back and broke my family into two pieces in a blink. 

Innaya:- I know this type of girl, aunty. They just want rich guys so that they can spend their whole life smoothly.

Shehnaaz:- ( stammering ) no….. Y…ou… are….tak….ing……all…..th..i..s….in a wrong…. way……

Divya:- ( cuts her in mid ) don’t your parents teach you values?

Innaya:- bloody down market girl. I know your type of girl who has innocent faces just to make rich guys fall.

Kiran:- ( shouts ) Innaya, be within your limits! You have no right to talk to her in this way.

Innaya:- ( angrily ) wow … Just wow… What magic you know that for you, my grandma shouts at me. Great, just great!!!!!  Bloody commoner!!!!! BITCH!!!!!!!!

Suddenly a roar came from the stairs which startled everyone.

Sidharth:- ( angrily ) Innaya…….. Just keep your not-so-beautiful mouth in control. You are saying her commoner may I know why? Because she doesn’t have money just like you have or she doesn’t have a big house just like you have. Sorry to burst your bubble miss Dixit. The money, the house which you claimed as yours is not yours. You are just living on your dad’s money. It’s your dad’s hard work. And Shehnaaz is an independent girl not like you to boast herself on someone else’s money. ( proudly ) I will tell you one more thing, Miss Innaya…. ( looking at Shehnaaz ) She is more beautiful than you, inside and outside. So you are not even able to compete with her single nail. 

Divya:- Sidharth! You can’t just insult my daughter like that only because of your stupid love.

Sidharth:- I am sorry, aunty. But your daughter deserves a reality check. She just forgot that SHE IS AN ADOPTED DAUGHTER OF DIXIT’S.

Innaya:- ( yelled ) SIDHARTH!!!

Sidharth:- ( angrily ) keep your voice down, miss. Innaya. I am not your bloody servant on whom you can rule.

Saying this Sidharth clams himself and forwards his right hand towards Shehnaaz asking for her hand. Whereas she denies it while crying and speaks in a broken tone.

Shehnaaz:- this…i..s not..right Sidh…arth. This is……..not the solu..tion. We c..an talk…an.d tries to solve this…..in a matured way.

Sidharth:- ( with disappointment ) they won’t understand. Right now they all are thinking about Innaya only. They won’t understand our love. 

Not caring about anyone, Sidharth grabs her hand and walks towards the exit while dragging her. But Shehnaaz stopped him.

Shehnaaz:- ( emotionally )  at least we can take their blessing. They are our elders. 

Not wanting to break her more he agreed reluctantly. Everyone heard this small conversation. Someone was happy and satisfied whereas someone called all this fake. But the love birds walk towards Sidharth’s grandfather and bend down to take his blessing. 

Vishember neither put his hand on their head nor moved back which is a shocker for both Sidharth and Shehnaaz. This gave her HOPE that everything will get fine with time. They will accept her for Sidharth. 

When they got up, Shehnaaz saw a tear that rolled down from Vishember’s eye which made her hope stronger. 

Then they move towards Sidharth’s grandmother who blessed them with all her heart and kissed Shehnaaz’s forehead while wiping her tears.

Yashoda:- ( smilingly ) may you both live long. Always stay happy and together.

Further, both walk toward Sidharth’s parents to take their blessing but both turn their faces with disgust while looking at Shehnaaz. Then they walk towards Kiran who blesses them wholeheartedly and secretly hands over some money to Shehnaaz while whispering in her ear. 

Kiran:- take this……. Your shagun. Baba Ji will keep you away from every evil eye.

After all these Sidharth walks out of HIS HOUSE while dragging Shehnaaz with him. But She stops him in mid and points towards his dadu as if saying just talk to him once which he denied ruthlessly and left the house WITH HER, FOR HER, FOR THEIR LOVE. 

Sidharth and Shehnaaz both reached her house. During the whole drive, both are silent and no one has any words to converse as both of them are busy with their thoughts. They walked inside and seeing their state Ashok got worried.

Ashok:- kya hua? Shehnaaz…. Tumhari aankhen itni kyu sooji hui h? ( what happened, Shehnaaz?… Why are your eyes swollen? )

Shehnaaz runs and hugs him tightly while crying in his embrace like a baby. Seeing her state, Sidharth told everything to him, making him shocked.

Ashok:- ( shocked ) yeh kya kar diya tumne, Sidharth? Yeah sahi tarika nahi tha is situation ko sambhalne ka. ( What have you done, Sidharth? This was not the solution to this problem.)

Sidharth:- mujhe pata hai, kaka. Lekin woh log meri koi baat samajh hi nahi rahe thai na hi mere pyaar ko samajhne ki koshish kar rahe thai. ( I know that, kaka. But they were not in a state to hear me or to understand my love )

Ashok:- thik hai abhi tum dono rest karo baad mai sochte hai ki aage kya karegai. ( ok, for now, you guys take a rest. We will think about what we can do next? )

Saying this he wipes Shehnaaz’s tears lovingly and tells her to take Sidharth to her room and rest for some time which would calm and lessen their stress to some extent. 

Sidharth silently enters Shehnaaz’s room only to find her standing near the window, looking outside. Her tears are unstoppable because she is accusing herself of separating Sidharth from his family. He knows about her inner turmoil that’s why he walks toward her and faces her. Her tear-stringed face stabs his heart a million times. Somewhere he finds himself responsible for her tears. With a calm posture, he wipes her tears lovingly. 

Sidharth:- Why are you crying, Shehnaaz? You don’t take tension, I will make everything right. Give me some time. 

Shehnaaz:- ( crying ) Sidharth,  Why did you leave your family for me? They are more important to you than me. Never in my life, I get my parents’ love but you got a beautiful family. Why did you choose me? Sidharth, leave me and go back to your family, please. I will take care of myself……… I don’t take this guilt anymore. You know people always call me unlucky but I never take this seriously…… but right now I realized that they were correct. I am unlucky, Sidharth, that’s why all this happened because of me. You left your family because of me. Please, Sidharth leave me and go back. You will regret it.

Till now Sidharth listened to her patiently but when she said the last line he lost his temper and was ready to blast on her but stopped after seeing her tearful eyes and cheeks which got wet with her tears again. He calms himself knowing that right now he has to handle her with care and love. 

Sidharth:- keh liya jo kehna tha? Ya aur kuch rehta hai? ( Are you done? Or you want to say more? )

Sidharth looks at her lovingly and again wipes her tears which pinches his heart. 

Sidharth:- ( sincerely ) nothing happened because of you. I am the one who chooses you and will choose you every time. You are not just a girl whom I love. You are like oxygen to me which I need every damn second. You are my soul Shehnaaz if you are not with me then I would love to die the next second. 

Shehnaaz kept her hand on his lips, stopping him to say further. 

Shehnaaz:- please, don’t say this. You know na…..I hate whenever you talk about death. I have only you and Kaka beside me and trust me I don’t want to lose either of you.

Sidharth smiles in return and caresses her hair, making her smile in tears. He holds her cheeks and pulls her towards himself and hugs her. She kept her head on his chest and relaxed. This is the thing which both of them need at this moment. 

Shehnaaz:- Why do you love me so much?

Sidharth:- ( teasingly ) because I have no brain. 

Shehnaaz punched his arm and broke the hug while Sidharth giggled seeing her balloon-like face. 

Shehnaaz:- ( with narrowed eyes ) this is not the answer to my question.

Sidharth:- umm…… I know! There is always a stupid answer for every stupid question.

Shehnaaz nods her head in disbelief. 

Shehnaaz:- tumhara kuch nahi ho sakta. ( you are hopeless, Sidharth. )

Sidharth:- ( proudly ) I know that too!!!

Shehnaaz:- ( getting serious ) Sidharth, now what will we do?

Sidharth:- ( tries to divert her mind ) What about a dance with your soon-to-be husband?

Saying this he bent down and asked for her hand like a gentleman. This instantly brought a smile to her lips and she placed her hand on his without a second thought. She encircles her hands around his neck and both start moving slowly-slowly without any music. The gloomy atmosphere is changing into a peaceful romantic one with their presence. Both the love birds drowned themselves in each other’s eyes.

Being tired of all the happenings Shehnaaz placed her head on his chest to calm her racing heart while moving slowly with him. 

Sidharth:- don’t stress yourself, Shehnaaz. Just trust me I will make everything alright and give you everything which you deserve.

Shehnaaz:- I don’t need anything, Sidharth if you are beside me. Just stay like this for some time.

Saying this she hugs him tightly while wrapping her hands around his waist seeking his presence. The day’s events are cruel to her innocent heart. But she is finally at peace with HER SIDHARTH. 

Sidharth smiles and pulls her closer grabbing the back of her neck and fusing his lips with hers. He sucked her lips so softly as if confessing his love again. After receiving so much love and care from him, a tear slipped down her eye that she never dreamt of. 

Sidharth kisses her tenderly and breaks it after 2 minutes but before detaching himself from her, he pecks her lips several times. 

Sidharth:- I LOVE YOU SHEHNAAZ.  I LOVE YOU SO MUCH. 

Shehnaaz:- I LOVE YOU TOO SIDHARTH.

Sidharth again takes her in his arms and hides her from every evil with a determination to start their life from scratch. 

To be continued…