“Yumm.. Man you cook delicious! Wow!”, Swara spoke in a sloppy voice, her mouth full of pullao!
“Chotu! From now onwards you are going to be with me.. I will teach you a new game! Let THIS Cook prepare our food! What say!!!”
“Ohh madam! First of all this was just a ‘Sorry and Thank you’ token from my side! Dont set your hopes too high! I am not going to do all these things again!!!”, Sanskar said irritated making Swara burst out laughing as she watched him giving her a death glare..
The day was fading into dusk.. Swara was roaming around, exploring the house.. Whereas Sanskar sat with Chotu, playing chess..
” Wow! I must say you have a really good taste you know! I mean i always thought people in your field only know how to play cards..”, Swara smirked as she passed by them..
“Ahh well! I know how to play all your ‘gentleman’ games! Wanna try your luck?” He replied without turning his gaze from the chess board…
“Not at all interestd! Huh!” She said walking away..
Suddenly HE realized where she was heading to..
“Hey wait!”, he rushed to her and pulled her back as she tried push open a door..
“Do what ever you want but never open this door! Got it?” He mumbled nervously!
“B..but why? I mean.. Whats there on the other side?”
“No..noth..ing.. Just d..ont dont open..PLEASE!”
“Okay baba relax! I wont!” ,She assured him with a confused smile as she went into the kitchen to prepare for the dinner while Sanskar resumed his game..
It was quite late at night.. Swara was sitting with Sanskar on the terrace as he opened up his life in front of his newly found friend…
“…..i had no way out of that hell.. I trusted Jagga.. I looked upto him as a father figure.. My mother trusted him as a brother.. She handed me to him for my better future.. But he…”
Swara gently squeezed his palms as she saw him on the verge of breaking down…
“I protested.. I didnt want to join his gang.. But he stopped my education.. He locked me up in…in a store room without food.. Without water.. I kept crying but no one even cared to check if i was okay.. I even tried to run away but.. I…i was caught.. And was beaten like an animal..
Finally one day…. i GAVE UP.. I knew i wont be able to escape him.. I was going to be trapped in that hell forever.. He wouldnt even let me die.. So at last i accepted.. I buried that innocent little Sanskar deep inside my heart.. Jagga moulded me into this heartless beast.. I de…decided to guard my heart against any warm feeling that could melt those ice walls that i had built around it.. And you know what, it wasnt that difficult at that moment because there was no one who would really even care if i was alive…
I….i missed maa.. Baba… But their memories only made me weak.. I tried not to remmbr them.. B..But i failed! I couldnt sleep properly for years.. B..but..
I kept one promise i made to maa.. I never took anyone’s life.. Yet still i couldnt fulfil h..her wishes.. I couldnt become a good son.. I am the wor..”, Sanskar bursted out crying, holding his face in his plams…
It was enough for Swara.. She couldnt control herself and pulled him into a tight hug.. Tears flowed out of her eyes unnoticed to her as she tried to sooth him..
After what felt like hours, Sanskar finally calmed down.. His face was still on the crook of her neck when he realized his position and suddenly pulled away, embarassed..
“Are you okay?”, Swara asked, choked..
“Hmmm.. I think so..”, suddenly Sanskar looked at her in shock…
Her eyes were as swollen as his..
“Was she crying along with me? Ohh God!!!.. She is only making me weaker.. How can someone be so pure…”, he thought staring at her,
“You know what.. You remind me of my mother.. She also used to cry along with me when i was hurt..” He said smiling sadly as Swara looked onn..
In the morning, Swara was busy preparing breakfast and helping Chotu solve the Maths. Book that Sanskar had bought him..
“What are you doing?”, Sanskar asked coming out of his room, yawning..
“Well, working as you can see! Doing your part of work too as you were so busy, sleeping!”, Swara said sternly..
“Are yaar, today is Sunday, man!”, he replied whinning..
“Chotu, please tell your Bhai that he is not an office goer that he so desparately needs rest during weekends!”, Swara said irritated as she returned to the kitchen…
Sanskar laughed at her remark as he slowly decendd the stairs and joined her..
“So let me help you then..”, he said watching her frown..
“Okay.. Cut these..” Swara replied throwing parsley at his face..
No one spoke for a few minutes.. Swara was showing off her fake attitude, wanting him to start a convo.. While he kept quiet to tease this idiot girl!
At last Swara spoke up..
“Ach..accha Sanskar what you love the most?”
” Having someone i can call my family..” He said looking at Swara sadly..
Swara suddenly gave him a side hug, shocking HIM.. “Aww.. I am here na…” She said pulling away after a moment..
“Now tell me what you hate the most?” She said resuming her cooking..
When she got no reply she turned to look at Sanskar but he was somewhere in the middle of his own thoughts…
“Sanskar? Are you even listening? I asked…”
But He didnt let her complete…
” Lies… I hate lies.. Especially from the ones i trust… Like Jagga lied to maa.. Like he lied to me.. I hate it when someone breaks my trust!”, he said looking down at the chopping board, not wanting Swara to see him in tears..
But here Swara was lost in herslf.. She was feeling so terrible at the moment..
“Lies… God when he comes to know about me…. No no.. He will understand i did this for him.. For Rago.. Or will he? He has seen so many trust breaks… Still he is trusting a girl he rarely knows.. One blow of lies… And everything will be finished.. I dont want him to become that cold hearted beast again.. But what can i do now..”
“Hey you okay?”, Sanskar said breaking her train of thoughts…
“Yaa yaa.. Perfect..”, Swara replied faking a smile.. Trying to avoid his eyes..
*****************************
A week passed…
Though Sanskar was still her kidnapper and Swara still in his cage….. But the boundaries were all forgotten… Friendship was blooming between Sanskar and Swara.. They had got closer..
In Swara, HE had found a friend to cry his heart out to, a partner to play pranks on helpless Chotu, a non stop entertainment channel for when he was bored… And most importantly, a family he could expect care from..
But for Swara, it was a different feeling alltogether.. Yes, she was falling for him! Although she was unaware for it herself, she had started to cherish every second she spent with her Sanskar…
There Ragini and Laksh had tried whatever they could to find Swara out, but everything went in vain… Ragini had withdrawn herself from everyone, her guilt that Swara was bearing her part of torture, was killing her from within.. No matter how much Laksh or Durga Prasad tried, they couldnt help her out of this mess..
Here the day was about to dawn, when Swara came with a cup of tea for Sanskar..
Swara had developed a habit of getting up first in the morning and then waking up both the kids, Ahh she called Him a kid as well, handing them their cups..
But today Sanskar was not in his room..
“Wow today this sleepyhead is up without my kicks? Impressive! But where the hell is he! Sanskarrrr…”
Swara checked the whole room but he was no where to be found..
“Chotu!! Have you seen Sanskar?”
“No di.. But he must have gone to meet Munna dada.. Today is dada’s birthday na!”, came the reply from chotu’s room..
“What!!! And this idiot didnt even have the courtesy to inform me! Wait let him return! “, she murmured frowning as she went back to resume her chores..
She was dusting the house when as she crossed THE room, something caught her eye.. Yes, the same room, Sanskar had warned her about..
It wasnt padlocked as it used to be ,always.. She suddenly remmbrd his behaviour the night before..
“Last night did Sanskar come here, into this room.. Yes he came, i saw.. But why? He told there’s nothing inside.. Yesterday He was upset too.. Though he ignored my questions but there is something.. Definately he is hiding something from me!! But what!
I think i should check whats inside! Hey but he told me not to… Oh God! What shall i do now! No! I will do this! If i can uplift his mood, get answers to his problems inside this room, i am ready to bear any punishment he gives me..”, Swara took a deep breathe and smiled determindly as she pushed open the door..
She was taken aback as she looked around.. The room was filled with paintings.. Paintings of Sanskar with his family.. In his mothers lap.. On his fathers shoulders.. Paintings of the riot.. Paintings of his parents in blood.. Paintings of young sanskar in tears.. Paintings of the torture he bore under Jagga.. Paintings which showed his struggles with life, his pain.. And Paintings which showed THEIR friendship.. Their first handshake.. Their first hug..
Her eyes were filled with tears.. She felt as if the paintings themselves were speaking of misery and pains he had bore..
“Sanskar… Whenever i feel i have understood you.. You prove me wrong… Your Pain… The extent of your pain.. It peirces my heart..”, She was in tears when she noticed a weird stack kept hidden in between other paintings..
“What’s this!”, she mumbled as she removed it from the shelf..
It had pictures of a few weird looking men drawn over it..
She was still confused when suddenly she heard a loud bang..
Sanskar was standing at the door.. His hands drawn into fists.. His veins throbbing..
As she looked into his eyes, she DIDNT find HER friend there..
No! This was the monster.. The same one she had unleashed upon herself the day she tried to flee..
“How dare you enter this room!”, HE said gritting his teeth…
“Sanskar…”, Swara was shocked.. No! She was scared.. Litrally scared..
“I said how dare you enter this room!!!! I had warned you not to, right? Hah! Well.. Its my fault! You tried to trap me and i so easily got carried away! I am seriously a fool! ” He clenched his jaws, slamming his fists on the wall..
“What are you saying Sanska..”
“Oh just SHUT UP! So tell me whose plan it was? You are such a big MP’s daughter, you mustnt be doing this for money! Or are you? Playing with my emotions? Making me weak and then stabbing at my back?”, he said fuming..
“Just shut up Sanskar! I thought you were upset yesterday.. I just thought i might help you out.. I saw you coming here last night.. So.. Just.. I..i!”
“Ohh God! LIES LIES LIES! And you speak them so naturally you know! So were you spying on me under the cover of being my friend? How are you related to these men? What was your plan! Tell me!”, Sanskar shouted as Swara looked at him confused.. “Which men?”
“Ohh please! Stop this game right now! The ones whose photos you are having in your hands at this moment! The same ones who KILLED MY parents! Were you here to destroy these pictures?”, his eyes were enough to tell Swara he was death raged..
“Sannss..karr i..i.. Dont know them.. Please trust me!”, Swara was shivering.. No tears came out of her eyes.. She was still in shock at the turn of the events..
“ENOUGH! I dont need to listen to YOU anymore! You know what! I had been searching for them all my life! When i saw one of them yesterday.. I was disturbed.. I wanted to share this with you.. I wanted to share my pain.. But i saw you sleeping and i came back.. I thought today i will surprise you by bringing you here.. This devil’s little heaven.. I will share my memories with you! But Wow! I am myself surprised dear!” His said looking into her eyes.. The veins in his eyes were popping out.. But he was more broken than angry..
Suddenly he grabbed her arms and dragged her with him..
“Chotu!!!!! Come out!” He shouted..
“Dii..”, Chotu was shocked to see Swara being dragged, in tears…
“Shut up! She is not ur di! She is my target! If you dare open the door i will skin you alive..”, Sanskar shouted at him as he pushed Swara inside her room and locked her…
Swara kept crying out her innocense but Sanskar walked away wiping the tears off his eyes..
Precap- “I am sorry Sanskar.. I know how hard it is for you to trust people.. I know i have broken your trust.. But i..i just wanted to see you smile..”, Swara mumbled sobbing..