4. CHOOSING LOVE!

Sidharth:- ( crying ) dadu…. What are you saying? It’s a prank, right?  Please stop this prank here. I am getting scared.

Vishamber:- ( authoritatively ) Sidharth, I don’t want any discussion on this topic. You have to leave her ( Pointing at Shehnaaz ) and get married to Innaya. This is my final decision.

Shocked is a very underrated word to describe Sidharth’s state. He feels like someone told him to jump down from the cliff. He can’t even think about leaving Shehnaaz in his dreams and here they are separating him from his soul.

Shehnaaz is standing numb with tears falling down her eyes like a stream. The smile that she always wears is not on her lips this time. She wants all this to become her dream and when she opens her eyes everything will become fine.

Innaya smiles dangerously, seeing everyone standing against Sidharth or precisely supporting her. But her smile fades away after listening to Sidharth’s reply. 

Sidharth:- No …. The answer is a big NO dadu. Never in my dream did I think to leave Shehnaaz’s hand. ( Smiles and stood beside Shehnaaz and interweaved her hand with his tightly and gave a reassuring smile to her ) Dadu, you taught me how to love. You taught me how to develop relationships. Now you are saying that I should leave my love and move on with the girl whom I consider just a family friend. ( Smiles sarcastically ) You never taught me to give up easily no matter what, so why should I  give up on her now? Why should I cheat on her? SHE IS THE ONE WHO MY HEART WANTS. I held her hand forever, I promised her to stay with her till I am alive. ( after a brief pause ) Tell me one thing dadu, you also had a love marriage. If this happens with you then, you would leave dadi like that? Will you stay happy without your soul, without her?

Vishamber:- ( angrily ) SIDHARTH….

Sidharth:- ( smiles painfully ) see dadu, you can’t even be able to hear this. You can’t even think about a moment without dadi ( grandmom ) in your life. So how can I leave her like that? How can I live without MY LOVE?

Varsha:- Sidharth, this is the way to talk with your dadu. ( grandfather )

Sidharth:- noo…..no… completely not. I didn’t mean to insult anyone. It’s just that dadu taught me to take a stand for my loved ones and I am doing that only by standing with my love.

Varsha:- ( aggressively ) by going against your family. This is the manners which I taught you? ( With venom in eyes for Shehnaaz ) I don’t know what kind of black magic she did on you. That you can’t see how much Innaya loves you. You become blind in your so-called love, Sidharth. 

She points towards Innaya who is shedding crocodile tears. Whereas all Dixits keep standing there and glaring at Shehnaaz except the elder Mrs. Dixit. They all are accusing her for this drama. 

Sidharth:- ( Frustratingly ) maa…. Please don’t use bad words for her. There is no fault of hers, It’s my wish to be with her. And I don’t think that I sinned by loving her. I just gave my heart to its rightful owner.

Vishamber:- ( angrily ) Sidharth, you forgot your manners. Is this the way to behave with your mother? I had enough of this. Now I need a clear answer from you. ( saying this he moves behind the sofa and Turns his back towards everyone ) Now you have to choose between your love and your family. Mark my words Sidharth, if you choose YOUR LOVE then you are free to leave my house. There is no place for this girl in my home. ( pointing at Shehnaaz )

Sidharth stumbled upon Vishember’s decision. Whereas Shehnaaz felt guilty for splitting such an amazing family, her tears are unstoppable. Yashoda moves toward her husband to stop him from doing this but he doesn’t even let her speak.

Shehnaaz’s grip on Sidharth’s hands gets tight. She is scared to lose him. NO, she doesn’t have any doubt about his love but she knows how much Sidharth loves his family. How much his family matters to him. She is scared for Sidharth. She doesn’t want him to choose between her and his family but now she can’t do anything, the damage is already done.

Shehnaaz pressed Sidharth’s hand more tightly to bring him back from his shocked zone. Sidharth looked toward her in a daze while She told him to choose his family through her eyes. He smiles knowing how selfless she is. She always gives priority to others.

Vishamber:- ( still his back facing everyone ) I am waiting for your decision, Sidharth.

Innaya smiles inwardly and shows her fake tears as she knows that Sidharth cares for his family a lot. She knows that family is his priority. So, she is sure that Sidharth will choose his family and after that, he will marry her under his family’s pressure. And in the end, she will become the MRS. SIDHARTH MALHOTRA. The queen of the Malhotra empire.

Sidharth:- I CHOOSE SHEHNAAZ……..

Everyone is shocked because they thought that Sidharth would choose his family. But here he chose his love over his family. Innaya’s hope shattered with his words. Her dream of ruling both Malhotras and Dixits went into the drain. 

Sidharth:- yup!!!!!! I choose Shehnaaz over everything again and again. I know that I will die when she will not be there beside me.

Shehnaaz is shocked listening to his answer. She is nodding her head in the negative as if saying “Sidharth this is wrong”. Ignoring her, Sidharth continues. 

Sidharth:- ( determined ) yes, dadu I choose Shehnaaz. Because I don’t want to lose such an innocent and selfless girl. ( Smiles towards Shehnaaz ) See, she is telling me to choose you guys, breaking her heart. She knows my happiness lies in you guys. That’s why she is telling me to choose you, but she is wrong. ( Seeing in Shehnaaz’s eyes lovingly ) She doesn’t know what would I do with this happiness when I can’t even take a single breath without her.

Varsha:- you will regret it, Sidharth.

Sidharth:- No….. I know that I won’t regret this decision of mine ever. 

Vishamber:- ( firmly ) so, this is your last decision?

Sidharth:- YES!…

Varsha:- ( crying ) What are you saying, Sidharth? You will regret this decision. I don’t know what black magic this unlucky girl did on you.

Saying this she walks toward Shehnaaz to slap her but before she does anything to her, Sidharth comes in between and hides her behind himself and stands in front of her like a shield, protecting her.

Sidharth:- ( angrily ) mom…… I can’t bear any scratch on her and I don’t want to do anything which I will regret later. So move aside, don’t you dare to come near her. 

Vishamber:- ( angrily ) Sidharth, you crossed all your limits. IF YOU CHOOSE HER THEN GET OUT OF MY HOUSE RIGHT NOW and live with your so-called love. 

Varsha:- ( crying ) what! Please dad don’t do this. How can I live without my Sidharth? ( Turning towards her husband ) Why are you not saying anything? Stop him na Parveen please ….. Stop him.

Parveen:- ( consoling his wife ) it’s his decision, Varsha. Let him do whatever he wants to do. If he thinks that this decision is good for him then let him live his life in his way. 

Sidharth moves towards his room to bring all his documents, passports, etc. Yashoda too moves towards her room to bring something important, ignoring everyone. Somewhere she is happy that Sidharth has chosen HIS LOVE above Innaya which was his best decision ever. On the other hand, she is sad too because her Sidharth wouldn’t live with them. 

Sidharth is packing his documents in a bag. At the same time, his dadi came inside with a box in her hand. Seeing her, Sidharth sat down on the bed tiredly and palmed his face with both of his hands. 

Sidharth:- dadi, did I do something wrong?

Yashoda:- you are having second thoughts about loving Shehnaaz? You are doubting your love or your decision of choosing her?

Sidharth:- ( immediately ) NO…… I didn’t mean that. I will never regret loving Shehnaaz.

Yashoda smiled in response and cupped his both cheeks, lovingly.

Yashoda:- What’s your heart says, Sidharth? 

Sidharth kept looking at her and she got her answer in a nanosecond.

Yashoda:- you did the right thing, Sidharth. I am proud of you my son, it’s very difficult to take a stand for your love after going against your whole family. It needs guts. ( To lighten the atmosphere ) By the way, I must say my soon-to-be BAHU (granddaughter-in-law) is so beautiful. You both look good together. Never leave her alone, ok? Nahi toh I will beat you with a broom. ( Both chuckled at this ) Where do you find this innocent doll? ( After a brief moment ) Sidharth always keeps her happy. I know that you do that because love for her is visible in your eyes. 

Saying this she forwards a box to him which she bought with her. Sidharth frowned and raised his eyebrows asking “what is this?”.

Yashoda:- yeah khandani bangles hai. (these are our traditional bangles ) Give it to Shehnaaz. It’s her right to wear this. It’s a ritual that elder women of the house give this to their new daughter-in-law. But in this situation, I am not able to give this to her. So, keep it as my blessings for your brighter future. 

Sidharth smiles and hugs his dadi maa. He knows no matter what his dadi always understands him and supports him too. 

To be continued…