RAJVEER"They wanted to marry me off as soon as possible."The moment I heard Diya's words, I was shocked. How can a mother be so cruel? How can a brother claim to love her sister and then take decisions of her life without even her will?I looked at her, she looked upset and broken. And at that time, I felt only one thing. Guilt. I had pushed her away from myself yesterday, I broke her heart and then, when she reached home, she had to bear this? How can I be such a terrible man?"What? What are you saying?" I asked her.I couldn't believe what she said, so I had to double confirm."Yes," she nodded in affirmation.I left her and took a few steps back. I was horrified, I had no clue how to react at this time. I had no idea, how Diya must be feeling, all I knew, that this is terrible."But... But how can they do that? I... I mean look at you... You're... You're so...so young... How...how can they marry you off? You... You have your entire life... In front of you... Your dreams, your ca
DIYA"What? You want to purchase her?""If that's what you people think, yes."I couldn't bear anything else. I couldn't keep hearing to them while they make a bargain of me. I walked towards the door and knocked on the door with full force. I did that so they would have no other option than to open the door.And I was right, as I kept on knocking on the door rapidly with all the energy I had, my mother opened it within a minute."What's this, Diya? Don't you know how to behave?" She scolded me the moment she saw me."I have no time for your shouting," I scowled and walked out of the room.As I got out, I stood right in front of Rajveer Raichand. I saw the change in his expressions after he spotted me. His expressions became soft."Diya," he mumbled."Before I push you out of this house. I would like to say you, get out," I screamed at the top of my voice.Everyone in the room was shocked after listening to my voice. They went numb and quiet, while I kept on staring at them. I was fu
RAJVEER"No. What are you saying? Diya, please. Don't... Don't do this to me," I panicked.I wanted to hold her, stop her and even beg for her to not leave. But I couldn't do that as well, because I was so ashamed of my actions."Please. Don't make me hate you, Raj. Please," she cried and I went numb.I paused as I looked at her, motionless. Numbness encapsulated me while I thought about how to react or what else I could say to her, and that's when I realised, there is nothing I could do."Can... Can you drop me home?" She asked me and I immediately stood up."Yeah. Yeah. I will," I nodded.She got up from her seat, turned around and walked towards the jeep. I couldn't even explain how this pinched me. That the girl who used to shamelessly stare at me didn't even look at me for once.She quietly got into the car, and I too got into the driver's seat. I turned around the jeep and we progressed towards Diya's house.After a drive, when I pulled the brakes of my jeep in front of her hous
A month passed by.Diya didn't talk to Rajveer after that day, nor did she talk to her mother or brother. She was extremely hurt by their behaviour because all of them attacked her self-respect and she didn't learn to take attacks on her self respect.Her brother tried a couple of times to talk to her, to apologise to her, but she bluntly rejected all her advances. Her mother didn't talk to her, but her actions proved that she was guilty of what she did. She helped Diya with household work, something she never did after she started working at people's houses. A couple of days, she made dinner as well.Diya on the other hand went to college and focused on her studies while she took care of Ved. Ved felt like Diya is her second mother because she took care of all of his needs. She took care of everything that he wanted, his studies, his health, his happiness and everything. And Ved considered her as his best friend and more than that.Diya's health was improving too. With a proper diet
RAJVEERIt was a four hour drive from Kolkata as I was taking her to the outskirts of the city. Initially, she asked me a lot of questions about where are we going or what are my plans, but when she saw that I'm not answering her questions, she stopped asking.I was taking her to Mandarmani, a place that has my heart and which has always been an escape from all the stresses of my life. And since, Diya is stressed right now, she can really use this escape."Rajveer, you're driving for four hours. Where are you taking me?" Diya spoke out in a frustrated tone."Have you ever went out of Kolkata?" I asked her while focusing on driving."No," she replied in a sad tone."Then. Everything has its first time," I replied with a chuckle."Rajveer?" She questioned.But as we were entering our destination, she looked at the board on the side of the road. "Yeah?" I responded."Mandarmani?" She looked at me in surprise."Yeah," I responded with a smile."Rajveer, why are you doing this?" She asked
RAJVEERAs I went on my knees and confessed my feelings to her. I could see different emotions visible in her eyes and expressions. She was happy, emotional, surprised, confused, excited, nervous and so on. She was having mixed emotions and I would lie if I say that I did not feel the same.I felt the same, but in my case, the nervousness and emotional feeling were much more than her. Yes, I was nervous and somewhat scared as well. What if she rejects my pleas, what will I do? Will I ever be able to survive to the fullest without her? To enjoy every moment of my life, to be the happiest?Never in my life, I have ever thought that out of nowhere an eighteen year old girl would teach me how to live my life to the fullest when I have lived forty years of my own life.Maybe, this is what love is. Even if you're independent, strong, powerful, happy and enough for the world, but when you're in love, it completes you. A person is incomplete without their better half, without love in their li
RAJVEERI melted at her innocent face the moment she asked me to cuddle her. How can someone be so cute?And that's why I thought to tease her."What did you say?"I made a stern expression and looked at her. "No, nothing. I am sorry," she made a sad puppy face and turned around.I could bet she would close her eyes and pray to God that I don't scold her. And when I saw her doing it, I smiled blissfully. This was the innocence that I wanted her to regain again, and I was successful in returning her innocence.I walked towards her and hugged her from behind. "Of course you can cuddle me while sleeping," I responded in a soft tone.She immediately turned towards me, with her face lit up with excitement. "Really?" She asked."Yes," I slightly nodded."Oh my God! Thank you, Raj," she jumped in happiness."Hey stupid. You don't have to thank me for that. You do have certain rights on me. After all, you're my girlfriend," I winked.And the next moment, her face turned red as she shyly hi
DIYA My hands halted as I heard my mother's cries. I felt like rushing to her and hugging her. In fact, I was about to do that, but then, I realised how she had treated me till now and how she was always unaffected by my tears so I stopped. I turned around and focused on cooking. "Maa, what happened?" My brother immediately rushed to my mother and held her arms, trying to console her. I turned around, just to see, what made her cry. Because no matter however she behaves, she is one of the strongest women I have seen because I have never seen her crying. So I wanted to know, what made her cry. "I went to work... And... And they were saying another wave of covid is about... About to hit," my mother spoke while sobbing and I immediately understood what must have happened. "So... So the families... The families asked me not to come... As... As it might risk their family... Family members to covid," my mother expressed while crying. I was infuriated by the behaviour of the families
Three Years LaterRAJVEER"You don't have to worry for a single minute. Ved will take care of his sister. You just come with me," I muttered as I was convincing my wife for a dinner date."But this is wrong, Raj. We're going to eat out, and we aren't taking our kids with us," she complained."Because, this is a date between you two. Why should we interrupt between your romantic moments," Ved barged in."Ved!" She gasped."Now get out or I'll kick you both out," he teased her.The way Ved and Diya have bonded over, I love it. Ved, now a twenty year old adult, doesn't mind calling Diya as her mother and yet has a friendly bond with her. And my son adores his little sister too."Fine!" Diya rolled her eyes.I knew this woman was pretending that she isn't interested in going on a date with me but deep inside, she would be jumping of excitement."Shall we?" I winked at her."Okay!" She smiled.As I held her hand, we walked towards our car. I got the door for her and she just stared at me.
1 year later…DIYAI was looking at myself at the mirror. Adoring a bridal attire, I felt extremely nervous. A red saree, golden jewellery, bridal make up and what not. I felt like a royalty in that attire.But with that heavy attire, there was a heaviness in my heart as well. I felt extremely anxious. Today, I was getting married to Raj and I should have been the happiest, but I don't know why, I was extremely nervous and a bit scared.I have endured so much in my life, I had went through so much, and today, I don't know why, but I was getting reminded of every moment of my life. I wondered about Raj and the ups and downs we went through in our relationship. Our fights, our misunderstandings and what not. In these years, we were like every other couple, and we had our fair share of ups and downs. And today, I was having flashbacks of every moment that I had spent with Raj. "Today, I am getting married to him. I will be officially Mrs Diya Rajveer Raichand from today. Today, we will
5 years later…DIYAI was surfing on the internet on my laptop when out of a sudden an email popped on my notification bar. I immediately opened the notification, and a wide smile appeared on my lips. I immediately placed my laptop on the bed and started jumping on the bed out of happiness."Yaay... Yaay... Yaay... Finally.." I screamed in excitement.That's when Maa and Bhaiya entered the room."What happened?" Maa asked, noticing my happiness."I will tell you guys later, but first, give me a hug," I screamed and hugged them tightly.And then, three of us started jumping in excitement.It was just me who knew the reason for my happiness, while my mother and Bhaiya became happy after seeing me happy.After a while, I dialled a number and waited for him to pick it up."Where are you?" I asked, as soon as he picked up the call."At work," he replied in a serious voice."Okay," I replied and immediately hung up the call."This is going to be the best day of his life," I told myself and
RAJVEERAs soon as I heard that, I went completely numb. I stared at the doctor and then out of a sudden, I joined my hands."Doctor, please... Please save her... I can't live without her. Please, do something," I cried out, joining my hands in front of the doctor and basically begging.The doctor immediately held my hands and rubbed my arms."Me Raichand... Please... Please be calm. We're trying our best. But the situation is so bad, that even we're helpless," the doctor spoke in a lost voice."There must be any way. Any certain way to save her," I sobbed."There is, but we aren't sure about the success rate. Also, it's the only way to save her," the doctor spoke.I looked at the doctor, and somewhat the doctor's words gave me a sigh of relief and I felt hopeful again."What's that?" I asked, getting impatient."Plasma treatment. We will need at least four units of plasma from the blood of covid recovered patients," he informed."How... How much time do I have?" I asked."Well, it wo
RAJVEERI went blank. My mind had stopped working and I couldn't discern how to react to this. I saw Diya, she was taking deep breaths, trying to control her breathing issue.And that's when just one thing came into my mind. Do heck with this Covid.I immediately put on a double mask, face shield, gloves and an upper coat which somehow acted like a PPE kit and then, I entered the room.She was lying on the bed, in the prone position, trying to struggle with her troubles, but I could see her losing and I wasn't going to let that happen.I immediately placed the oximeter on her finger and monitored her oxygen levels."Shit, 88," I spat as I panicked.Her oxygen levels were dropping. She needed to be hospitalized.I took out my phone and made a call to the doctor. "Yes, Mr Raichand?" He immediately picked up the call."Doctor, where are you?" I asked."At the hospital. What happened?" He asked, sounding concerned."Diya... Her oxygen levels have dropped to 88," I informed him."Shit!" H
RAJVEER After a few hours, I walked towards the kitchen when I saw Ved sitting silently on the dining table. I walked to him and sat beside him. "Hey champ," I greeted him with a smile. "Dad, where's Diyu? I haven't seen her for a couple of days," he spoke in a sad tone. "Son, she is sick. So she can't come to meet us right now. Let her get better, she will be with us," I replied with a mild smile. "She is sick?" Ved's demeanour turned upset at once. "Yes," I nodded. "Then we should go and meet her na. We should take care of her," he spoke in a hurried tone as he was ready to go. I felt terrible after witnessing Ved's reaction. Diya, my son loves you a lot, and you have no idea how terrible these days will be for him when he doesn't get to see you and play with you. This is going to be really tough. "She has covid, we can't meet her," I announced. There was no point in lying so the truth was the only correct way. "Covid?" He was shocked. I slightly nodded. "Will she be
RAJVEERAll of a sudden, I felt like my world fell apart. My hands started trembling while I sweated, tears pooled around my eyes and I was about to have a breakdown.I felt clueless, what to do, how to manage, how to react or even how to behave? I knew nothing about it. How would I talk to Diya about this? What will I say to her parents and brother? What will I do now? How long will it take her to be alright? How am I going to do everything?I couldn't figure out anything as I looked around. I rubbed my temples, wiped the sweat off my face, roamed around in my room in tension while trying to figure everything out. And that's when I picked up my phone and made a call to Diya's doctor.He didn't pick up my call initially. It panicked me, and I kept on calling him. After not picking up for the fourth time, he finally picked up during the fifth ring."Hello doctor," I spoke as soon as he picked up the call."Hello, Mr Raichand. Is everything okay? I am sorry I couldn't pick your call ear
RAJVEERI entered home while I kept wondering how Maa would react to my actions. I knew she would be furious, but now, when I had made my choice, she will have to make one now.The moment I stepped in, she came rushing towards me while I prepared myself to answer her allegations."Raj? What did you do?" She screamed at me and I rolled my eyes."I did what was necessary, Maa," I responded."Really? Sending Rann jail was necessary?" She scoffed."Of course," I responded and turned towards her.She was looking at me helplessly. "You loved Leena? Am I right? You cared about her like your own daughter, and now, you're asking me why did I send Ranveer to jail? When you know the fact that he had killed her," I scowled."No," she screamed at me."Ranveer isn't a good brother, I accept that. He can do anything, he can piss you off and even say the meanest things to you. But he can never kill Leena, all he can do is just bluff," she shouted."No. I had the proofs, that he had killed Leena," I
RAJVEER"Wouldn't he get justice for his mother?"I was shocked. When did the topic of Ved arise? And from where? As much as I know, I had never told her about Ranveer killing Leena. So how does this?I kept on staring at her in utter confusion when she got up from my side and sat in front of me. "For the record, I know, Ranveer has killed your ex-wife. The way he behaved with me, the way he spoke to you and the way his dream scares you, I know that" she spoke.I was astounded, I didn't know what to say anymore. I just kept on looking at her."I know, right now you're scared about losing me and you love me and you don't want to do anything wrong with me," she spoke and I kept on looking at her.The next minute, she chuckled. "Don't blankly stare at me like this. It took a lot of courage for me to finally be able to speak about this," she spoke with an uncomfortable smile."I am listening," I slightly nodded. "Okay then. I am going to be selfish for a while. Because, yeah, I don't w