AMARANTHINE

Act II (vii) : Something's Gotta Give

"How is she, Reyansh, did you see her, talk to her?"

Reyansh felt guilty, in his concern for his brother and his selfish desire to make things normal so that he could marry Ishaani, he had forgotten about Aabha, the one who had paid the price. She had left on her own, but if she had not, they would have requested her to do so; they had been and still were scared as to what reactions her continued presence would bring about in Shaurya. Chastised, he apologised to Ishaani and disconnected the call.

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Ishaani stared at the screen of the mobile and thought back to the day she and Reyansh had decided that rather than leave things to time and destiny, maybe, they could gently nudge the scattered pieces to fall into place. It had started when Reyansh had voiced his growing concern for Shaurya and they had decided to meet Dr Chowdhary. After the meeting, they sat in that corner of the coffee shop which Aabha and Shaurya had loved and also held fond memories for her. However, then she was not sure what to do or what could be done; if Reyansh worried about Shaurya, she was distraught for Aabha.

Ishaani was wrought of a different mettle than Aabha was; Aabha was straightforward and never shied from putting forth her points and was quite capable of fighting out for her declared stance. Which was why Aabha could simply walk out of their home and stay away, busying herself in work and studies. Ishaani, on the other hand, being a motherless child for most of her life and having being brought up by her conservative grandmother, had realised early on that voicing anything which was contrary to her grandmother's stated opinion would never be well received. 

She soon developed a penchant for effectively concealing her true feelings behind a shy demeanour and managed to get what she wanted by simply-sweet talking her way out. As a child and in her adolescent years, she had always hated her inability to be an open gregarious person, the kind who could make friends easily. But as she blossomed into a beautiful woman, whose chief attraction lay in her calm serene expression, she realised that nature had indeed given her a powerful weapon; having always been in the sidelines, she had developed an acute sense of perceptiveness and could easily manipulate people into doing what she wanted them to do. It never ceased to amaze her as to how easily people could be fooled by her innocent face; she knew that she could almost get away with murder.

But apart from the visible distinctions, there was one fundamental difference between the sisters, one which, in the end, could tilt the scales in their favour. Aabha was a fighter as Ishaani had observed, but her battles were limited to the world and circumstances, she could take on people, society and life and fight for what she perceived was right, open and defiant. However, Aabha could never summon the recklessness needed to fight destiny, she would surrender; believing that after a certain point, destiny was unconquerable.

Ishaani, on the other hand, could never find the strength to openly oppose anyone, either her family or society, but did not believe in the fates ruling her life. Once she made up her mind, she would quietly go about achieving what she wanted, an open war was not her forte; she worked best from the silent shadows and she would never concede defeat to fate.

She knew that she was losing the battle at home, her Dadi was slowly wearing her down and now even her mother had joined forces with her Dadi, they were simply not going to give her much time to hold out, that very morning both of them had given her an ultimatum, Dadi was autocratic and Sharmishta was cajoling, but the gist was that within six months' time they would have her married. Preferably to Reyansh, though, if he persisted in his obstinate stand of not getting married till Shaurya did, to a person of their choosing.

Ishaani heard Reyansh fret and then laying her hand on his, said, "Reyansh, listen to me, I do not have the luxury of waiting forever. If we do not get married soon, my grandmother will ensure I am married off to someone else. I do not want that. I also know that both of us have been waiting and hoping for Shaurya to remember but as things stand, nothing is going to change between Shaurya and Aabha. I think we should have both Aabha and Shaurya in each other's constant company. Now, I know it is going to be selfish of us but there are times when we have to act rather than wait for time or destiny to help us. I am aware that everybody will be against the idea of having Aabha back and in Shaurya's constant company because they are still convinced it could be traumatic for him but then Dr Chowdhary herself said that it need not provoke any adverse reactions."

She took a pause and then plunged ahead, "I have a plan, hear me out and then let me know if it is workable. But before we go ahead, just for our own satisfaction, at least, let us see if Aabha's presence creates an issue for Shaurya. I know that Aabha regularly gives seminars to non-academic persons and her next seminar is two weeks from now. Maybe we could have Shaurya attend the same so that we can judge for ourselves that there is no harm in them meeting, most probably you might not even get a chance to talk to her but we can always know his reaction on seeing her and hearing her voice after almost three years."

And that is how Ishaani and Reyanshya had set about their desperate measures, for their siblings as much as themselves.

The first stage was deemed successful. Ishaani believed that Shaurya falling asleep on hearing Aabha's voice was a positive reaction; they set about going to the second one which involved some very intricate manoeuvres from Reyansh's side while Ishaani would emotionally blackmail her Dadi into doing what she wanted.

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Five weeks after she had been given the ultimatum, which was the time needed for Reyansh to set his stratagems in place, it was a tear-stained and sobbing Ishaani who submitted to her Dadi, saying that she had realised that waiting for Aabha was indeed a very stupid idea, that it was sensible to move on with her life, though she did not want to marry anyone else but Reyansh. Seeing that her Dadi was quite malleable at that point, Ishaani pressed on, "But Dadi, it is a little difficult for me to convince Reyansh, I mean, I did try to talk to him about it and though he sort of agrees with me, he feels that he cannot go and say the same to his family, especially after his grand stance of not marrying till Shaurya does."

Ishaani carefully looked at her grandmother from her lowered lashes and noting the contemplative look on her Dadi's face decided to play the final card. She gave a wan smile and looking suitably bashful said, "Maybe if you talk to his family..."

She knew she had won the battle and softly smiled to herself when her Dadi set her face into the very familiar frame of determination.

Lakshmi Bansal, true to her blustery nature, decided to tackle the matters head-on and marched into the grand hall of the Rathore Mansion, where, as Shaurya often declared, all the family drama was enacted. She glared at the members present, the entire family was there with the exception of Shaurya and Reyansh, which was intentional. Ishaani and Reyansh made certain that Shaurya would not be around when Dadi confronted the Rathore family.

She glared at each member and after ensuring that they appeared chastised enough, addressed Reyansh's father, "Vardhanji, this drama has proceeded far enough. It appears that our happiness has been lost along with Shaurya's memories, one granddaughter of mine has not been home for the past three years and the other one is simply sitting at home waiting for him to recover his memories because she is determined not to get married till Aabha does. But I have had enough, I am not tolerating this waiting anymore. I will convince Ishaani, you will make Reyansh see reason and agree to marry Ishaani without any delay. I have already spoken to our family priest and he says that there is an auspicious day, three months from today. I presume that should give you ample time to bring Reyansh around."

Without waiting for any affirmation, confident that her announcement would not be opposed, Lakshmi Bansal walked out, setting in motion the chain of events which had been carefully orchestrated by Ishaani and Reyansh.

And another longish update, so the next one would be short and would give a glimpse of how Aabha fared all these years and also a hint as to what the siblings planned. But coming to this update, do let me know your views.

love,
Nyna