It had been
two weeks now, a couple of very uncomfortable and confusing weeks. Dhruv had
returned almost two weeks ago on Holi, and so had Arnav, only to give rise to very
uncomfortable and ambiguous dynamics among the family. Arnav had surprisingly
not at all reacted to Dhruv’s return, in any manner expected. Given the kind of
animosity he had shown every time Dhruv’s name had been mentioned, or linked
with Khushi’s, everybody had expected a very aggressive and angry reaction from
him. However, he was just as unfazed and unaffected as he usually was, and had embraced
the return of his brother as a welcome change. And this was only the beginning of
the unusual happenings around Shantivan. Not only did Arnav appear to no more
have any issues with Khushi and Dhruv’s relationship, he was also okay with
their sharing the same room and reprimanded Dhruv for leaving his ‘wife’ alone
in such a delicate condition. Not only did this confuse everybody, but also
alarmed them on a certain level.
If
everybody else was alarmed and confused, Khushi didn’t even know what to feel
anymore. On a level she was confused and worried, and on another level, deeply
anguished by Arnav’s indifference. The love, the care was gone. Instead, he now
treated her just the way he’d treat his brother’s pregnant wife. The passionate
lover as though never existed. Even after his memory loss that unnamed bond had
existed between them. He had never ceased to feel that invisible string that
bound their hearts and their souls together. But now, as if the bond, the
string had never existed. Starved of her husband’s love, Khushi didn’t know
what to do anymore but just go along with it. There was his health to take care
of, and then his out of ordinary behavior. It was just all too much for her to
understand and work around, and she frankly did not have the energy anymore. So she just decided to let things take their
course, and leave everything to her Devi Maiyya, now it was her goddess’s to
take care of things. She needed to take a break from everything. Living under
the same roof with the man she loved more than her life, and being unable to
claim him as hers, was taking its toll on her. being called someone else’s wife
hadn’t turned out to be as simple as it had seemed.
