Love that lasts

Chapter 18

"Chandu, I hope you trust me enough, even after all these years, at least on one thing. I consider marriage a sacred bond. That is why, how much ever my heart longed to see you, I never tried to meet you again, not to disturb your blissful life, as you have finally found someone you could spend the rest of your life with. And I would never ever cross my line when I am with you since you are a married woman, no matter what happened between us, all those years ago." Aryan's words held so much pain and love that Chandni replied in a gush.

"I trust you, on that for sure. I swear to god I am being honest with you Aryan! There was a time, when I was too bitter and wallowing in self-pity that I did hate everything that happened between us. But it was only for a short while. But I never thought like that again. My time with you.... it was too whirlwind and overwhelming at that time. A lot of things have gone wrong with us afterwards, some of which were beyond your or my control, and I truly believe that neither of us still understands the whole story of what happened. But I never regretted all the wonderful moments we shared, because somewhere in my heart, I still believe they were true and honest, even though my mind tells me otherwise, especially after..." She stopped herself.

Aryan's fury came down but he still looked deeply hurt, agonised that she can't openly share her feelings with him, even now.

Chandni spoke again, almost in a rush, this time to bare her heart open, as she tried to explain what was actually holding her back.

"But yes, I do pray to god to give me the ability to forget everything, because it hurts too much, whenever I remember them. But the more I try, the more strongly they have become etched in my mind and heart. I want to forget those moments, because there is no point in holding on to them. No matter how precious they were, they would only cause trouble in our current situation. We can't undo what happened, we have had some of the best moments of our lives but we have also hurt each other too much and the most painful part.... the most painful part is that it is the good memories that hurt us more than the bad ones, isn't it?" Chandni's choky whisper filled the car.

Aryan nodded his head slowly, as his eyes welled up too.

They just let the time pass by, locked in their gazes as the enclosed space within the car gave them a seclusion, oblivious to the hustle and bustle of the cars and people surrounding them.

Aryan slowly began to talk, and didn't stop till his heart finally felt unburdened.

"You asked me what happened to Miku, right? Remember all those years ago, right after Miku's birthday, we had to go to Banaras to attend my *Maasi's wedding? I remember every moment of that day so vividly, that was the last time I saw you in your piggy tails, waving goodbye at us, crying hoarsely that you too wanted to come with us, but your Maa of course wouldn't let you. Well, once the wedding finished, we stayed back for two more days, and were finally coming back home in our car. I couldn't wait to come home and tell you everything I saw at the wedding and the interesting places I have seen along the way. "Aryan paused and sighed deeply as if to gather strength to share what happened next.

"Baba was driving the car that day, when suddenly we noticed that a lorry full of thugs began to chase us on the highway; ramming from behind sometimes or blocking us in front, no matter how much Baba tried to veer out of their way. Baba got paranoid for some reason, got off the highway and quickly took a detour through a small town. The lorry still followed us. But luckily, there was a railway crossing and our car passed through before the barrier came down. There was a *Dhaba nearby and Baba asked me and Miku to get off quickly. I was confused and scared, but Baba made me swear to take Miku and hide somewhere, till he came back to find us. I wanted all of us to stay together, but he forced us both to get out of the car. He asked Maa too, but she was adamant to stay with him. I saw the train pass by and the barrier rise up, so we both ran inside the Dhaba, while Baba and Maa drove on towards the town. That was the last time I have seen them alive." Aryan couldn't stop the tears now.

Chandni slowly reached out and held his hand.

Aryan continued as if he was afraid that if he stopped now, he would have to recount the agonising moments all over again.

"There were a few families sitting out on the cots and having their dinner, and Miku started crying that he was hungry. I didn't know what to do. I had no money, and most importantly I didn't want to be seen, as I could understand the danger we were in. A young couple were sitting just on the other side of bushes where we were hiding, and the husband came over and spotted us. I was terrified. But he assured me that he meant no harm for us, and only wanted to invite us to sit with them and have dinner. I wasn't sure if I could trust him or not, but Miku was keen to join and have some food. So reluctantly, I too joined them but all the while my attention was on the road, scared that those goons might come back anytime soon.

His wife too looked kind enough, and shared her food with Miku while they ordered for more food. I refused to eat anything but let Miku eat, and urged him to finish fast.

The Husband asked me what my name was and why I was hiding behind the bushes. He explained that he saw my father dropping us earlier in the car. I slowly gathered some courage and explained how our car was chased by some goons, and my father asked us to hide here in the Dhaba till he could come back and take us back home. I introduced myself and my brother but right then, the goons in their lorry came back to the Dhaba.

I tried to grab Miku and run, but he was too hungry to listen to me and stayed put with the lady, savouring his food. I ran and hid behind the bushes again.

One of the goons, the tallest and the bulkiest, began to shout loudly calling my name and Miku's name and threatened to set light to the whole Dhaba if we didn't show ourselves. Miku looked scared but the young wife fed his mouth full so he wouldn't speak or scream in terror.

I could see a revolver poking out of the young husband's trousers and his hand itching towards it, but his wife warned him not to use it, just with her eyes. There were too many thugs and he could not have fought with them alone. Soon they began to check every corner and I saw no other place to hide myself. I began to run away and the goons spotted me. I took a bicycle parked next to the wall and rode as fast as I could, and the goons began to chase me on the lorry. Soon I came across a bridge over a river and jumped right into it and stayed under water as much as I could. One of the goons jumped into the river, but it was too dark to search for me. They still persisted but I somehow managed to escape their search and stayed hidden.

I heard them talk between themselves and their leader, the bulky one, decided that they would tell the people who hired them that I was killed. He ordered everyone to stick to the same story and they all left, one by one. I swam to the shore once they left, but I was too weak and exhausted after the long stay in the water and swim, and just collapsed on the river bank. By the time I woke up, it was broad daylight, I wasn't even sure whether it was the next day or much later, and I found a way out to walk back to the village nearby. They were talking about a car that crashed and went up in flames nearby. The description pretty much matched our car. I was devastated, but didn't even have any time to grieve for my parents as I was more worried about Miku and wanted to find him as soon as I could. Luckily for me, there were a lot of farms all around which grew Bananas and other fruits along their borders and I survived on them, stealing whenever I could. I found my way back to the Dhaba, after a few days, but there was no sign of Miku or that couple. That's when I finally broke down, once I realised that I have become an orphan, all of a sudden."

Chandni was more pained to see that Aryan's eyes have dried up now, and he spoke monotonously as if he was describing events that belonged to someone else's life.

"The Dhaba owner took pity on me and gave me food and let me call my *Nani. Nani and family picked me up from the Dhaba as soon as they could. Nani took me to her home in Mumbai, and changed my name as she was too scared that the goons and the people who hired them would hunt me down, even in Mumbai."

Aryan sighed again and slowly drew Chandni's hand into both of his. Just then they heard a loud rap on top of their Car, startling them both.

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Author Note :

Just listing meaning of some words I used here

*Maasi Mother's sister

*Dhaba Open house restaurant which is generally established along highways for travelling commuters.

*Nani Maternal grandmother

Aryan finally explained how he lost his whole family in a single day! 

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