Chapter 23: Chapter 23
Sandhya POV
It's Friday, 9 am. I had a very long and deep sleep. Marriage following with a reception to acknowledge warm greetings and wishes from our well-wishers, we all were really very tired. It's our new house and I am happy to start this new life with Sanjay. Equally, I am sad that Sindhu is not with me. But, it's a temporary sadness. You know what? Sindhu will live with us as soon as her college reopens. Not sure though, but it's easy for her to commute from here! This is the very first time I am seeing our house. It's a single bedroom independent house. I walk out of the house to receive the sun's rays and gain the freshness and energy for the day. I am surprised to find a neem tree and some space for a small garden. Sanjay wishes me a good morning as he walks with a briefcase and my hand bag. He is unpacking our luggage from the car. I walk up the stairs to find a room and I immediately think of Sindhu. Yup, Sindhu can use this room. There are a few pots with flower plants. Oh man, this house is beautiful... I love it! A small house which managed to find some space for gardening.
"Easiest breakfast of all, Upma. Shall I cook that?" Sanjay is standing near the stairs and asks me so. I pout out my mouth to look sad making a dramatic disappointed face saying "Upma? I don't like it."
"That's the only option we have Sandhya."
"Fine, I'll eat."
I also get down with Sanjay. He goes to the kitchen and I carry those bags to start the unpacking. I start with my handbag. As I open the innermost zip, I find a letter. I see Sindhu's handwriting. It reads:
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"Akka, you have an interesting fact to know. Sanjay has been in love with you for three years. This is a Love- Arranged marriage. Sanjay's mom happened to observe Sanjay fall in love with you and spoke to dad. Idiot Sanjay couldn't gather up the guts to propose you.
Akka, I am really upset that you didn't let out your fear with me, the fear and doubts you had about Sanjay during those initial talks. You didn't say that he secretly took your picture and so you doubted him to be a flirt kind of person. I would have questioned and clarified all your doubts. I would have given you an easier and trustworthy way to fall in love with him. Sanjay read the story and he said "This works as a love letter and a complaint letter to me."
And, stop blaming yourself for misunderstanding him. You were right Akka, he did take your picture secretly. But, he isn't a flirt. I still confidently argue, Sanjay is perfect for you. He is a good person with a beautiful soul.
You probably are good at maintaining secrets from me, but I am not Akka. The day Sanjay confessed that he did take your secret pictures and did have a crush on you, I realized you did have a man behind the story you wrote. And I was so disappointed that you lied to me about the same.
That was the same day Nikki Akka and Rekha Akka explained how you were hurt for manipulating his love into an arranged marriage. I know Akka, love marriages are very different from arranged. You find more comfort and freedom with your partner in love marriage and you wished for the same. In arranged marriages, you accept the person and then try to fall for him. But when it is a love proposal, girls get more chances to study the guy before the acceptance. Almost all guys go crazy to get that acceptance and that craziness is what we girls enjoy. That craziness is what makes us trust that he can do anything for us.
I struggled, I struggled to hide this fact from you. Look how we sisters were trapped to the extent of maintaining secrets with each other! Idiot Sanjay. He not just hid his secret love, but also made you and me have secrets. I was feeling a lot of guilt- one, for having a secret and two, for not being able to say a very important fact to you! I speak all unnecessary and necessary stuff to you, but this time, he snatched that freedom from me! In my life, no one can be your replacement Akka, and with whomever I share anything- doesn't give me the stratification of having that shared with you!
You too liked Sanjay when you realized he has a crush on you. You expected a proposal and waited. But that Idiot loved you secretly. Anyways, I know Sanjay is still the best for you and so wanted this marriage to happen. I didn't want to say this to you and see you being disturbed and doubtful during the marriage ceremony. Equally, I could not hide all of this within me. Hiding this big of a secret from you? That's just impossible!
I am writing this letter on Monday evening and placing it in a corner of your handbag. Tomorrow, Tuesday, you will have the handbag with you the whole day as you are traveling with Sanjay to the temple. Day after tomorrow, Thursday is the marriage and you would still have the handbag by your side. If not any of the days before marriage, you would get to read this on some or the other days after the marriage. Whenever you get to read this, I assume it to be the destination date you get to know the truth. Or, you might even read this after Sanjay confesses his guilt. Whatever happens, you take your revenge Akka. I will support you. Turn over the page, you will get to see the picture he secretly took.
You have a beautiful smile Akka, no wonder you had 23 guys stare at your smile!
You hold your respect and pride Akka. Stop thinking that you misunderstood a gentleman to be a flirt. He is a good person, and a flirt only with you. Probably every guy flirts with his girl! Stop degrading yourself, because you have learned this truth. I want you to forgive him, but at the same this me wants you to take our revenge. Your take Akka!
Love you!
Your little sister,
Sindhu.
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Immediately I pick up my phone and call her up "Sindhu, I am sorry dear. I too regretted doing that, it felt like I'm doing a great sin! I didn't want to blame someone without confidence and proves. What if he isn't guilty? I even know how close you are with Sanjay and was sure you will take up this topic with him someday. I am sorry Sindhu."
"Ok, Akka!"
"Sindhu, don't you want to pick up a fight with me? Won't you scold me? Won't you shout at me?"
"Last night, I missed holding your hands and sleeping Akka. I could not fall asleep even though I was hell tired. Mom probably has some kind of an instinct, she came to help me sleep."
Tears dropped down my cheeks. "I probably didn't miss you. I didn't feel the loneliness. How could I not miss you? I feel ashamed!"
"Akka, I think Sanjay is compensating for my absence."
"Don't say that Sindhu!"
"You have him by your side. What about me? I am not so close with mom or dad. All I have had in this home is you, and you are now gone!"
"You will live here with us soon right! Meanwhile, I know how to take my revenge on Sanjay. You have a lot of entrainment ahead Sindhu."
"Yup, I am looking forward! But what is this female ego Akka? I know you are hurt, you explain to me more! "
"Ego is our pride being proven wrong. Isn't it? Coming to my female ego, my female existence always had males wagging their tails for me. But, this one single guy who liked me, and whom I liked back, who showed me a moment of magic, who gave me hope and who could continue giving me happiness, disappeared into the blue! Having dozens of bad guys being our fans does nothing to us. But having one good guy ignore us hurts our female ego! Because we long to make him ours. Does it not hurt?"
"And, how did you take it when you were having a arrange marriage with him?"
"You know that story, Sindhu! I was angry that he manipulated his love into an arranged marriage to win me easily, and then I started believing him to be innocent, and then I blamed myself to misunderstand him, and then I fell in love with him, and then I married him and now I realize what our true love story is. Right now it's time for my revenge and time for him to confess his true love for me."
"Hmmm, a good idiot Sanjay is. I have got a lot of entailment ahead!"
We sisters laugh over the phone!
"Not just you who will be entrained, I too will. And I'll enjoy irritating him while he sustains my naughtiness!"
"Akka, say more..."
"Of course I did expect this day- the day when Sanjay realizes that I had feelings for him. But this is unexpected- the fact that he loved me while I only hoped for his love. I was selfish, I was scared to be a one-sided lover. I didn't love him, I only hoped for his love. But, he wholeheartedly loved me. He didn't expect anything in return!"
"Women are bad in this way! We have to accept, men are better!"
"I convinced myself that I am the one-sided lover, and that my prayers reached god and that that god helped me clear all my doubts, insecurities, and fears I had for Sanjay, and that our god wrote our love story such that we both completely and confidently fall in love with each other. But the untold truth turns out to be that, he loved me more. I didn't love him all the while he loved him. All I did was hoping."
"Then, you should not be taking revenge! You did wrong, he too did wrong. Should you not let it go?"
"I didn't do anything wrong, Sindhu. I can't commit to a guy on whom I don't have the confidence to rely on! And that's why I didn't take my step. He always had you to know more about me, but to me, he always remained to be a stranger. So, I didn't fall for him!"
"True!"
"Remember Sindhu.. Don't start a relationship with proposal and commitment. Start it with friendship, comfort, honesty, and freedom! I could not really do this because it was arranged. But I wanted to be 200 percent sure if I were to be in such a relationship with Sanjay."
"And Sindhu, everything just turned out this way. Every story will have a villain, who plays the negative role so as to highlight the goodness of the lead character. But, in our story, no one is the villain. We ourselves are the soulful reasons for things to turn out this way, and none of them have to be blamed."
"Yes, Sanjay wanted to have a stable and settled life before asking your hand!"
"I won't treat Sanjay as my husband. I'll treat him to be a guy who loves me as a one-sided lover and who has to work really hard to impress me and win me. I will do this until he confesses his love for me. Idiot, he never proposed to me. He never got down onto his knees and said 'I Love You', but he had a love and arranged marriage with me so easily."
"I feel so happy to be able to whiteness this beautiful love story!"
"Sanjay! The game starts now!"
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