Chapter 55: chapter 55

Biji sat on the couch looking at the photograph of her late husband. He had been her pillar of strength for the longest time possible and today she needed him to be here with her to sort out the mess that had happened in this house but he wasn't there to help. She was getting tired of the things the rest of her family constantly came short of handling. Simrit had gone too far this time. What she had done today had become a permanent blot on the family name. Biji was so ashamed of her. Of course relatives had been talking getting a kick out of it some had even come to console her or pass snide remarks. And she could do nothing but listen. They were right. Who wouldn't cast aspersions on a family with a daughter like Simrit? Not that they had spared Mowri. But it wasn't so much Mowri's fault. Despite constant warnings Simrit had refused to listen. Biji shook her head sadly. Someone knocked on her door but even before she could answer the door opened and Arnab  walked in. One look at his face and biji knew why he was here.She sighed and gestured for him to sit, he came closer but did not sit down."Preeti told me you were back," Biji said unsteadily.This was the first time Arnab  had heard biji's voice waver. He looked closely. She seemed as if she had cried a little while ago. Maybe he shouldn't push her but he wanted answers and he wasn't sure who else to ask."What happened?" he asked her tightly."Mowri didn't tell you," biji replied."She was not in the state of mind to tell me anything," Arnab  replied tightly. He did not want to be rude but at this point he was past caring."What is she doing now?" biji asked again.Arnab  looked at the older woman she looked haggard too. And he knew she was not at all happy with things as they were right now but he needed answers and not questions. Despite that he complied she was after all an elderly person and Mowri's grandmother. "Sleeping," Arnab  replied trying to sound even, "she was exhausted with all the crying she did," he told her."I am sorry Arnab ," biji said quietly, "I really am. If you and Mowri can forgive me I would be grateful. I should have intervened, I should have thrown Simrit out the second she started talking foully but..." she said and paused as if she was blaming herself."So why didn't you?" Arnab  asked."Because I never thought it would escalate to the level it did," biji said and rose with difficulty from where she sat and slowly walked towards the wall lined with photographs of her gurus and elders. "I should have intervened a long time ago. I should have seen where it would all lead maybe I did but at the time I had other things that needed more attention than Simrit's vanity. With my experience and age I should have made sure she was punished at the right time so we could have prevented what happened today or even what she has become," she said sadly. "I don't know what Mowri told you or if she told you anything about her and Simrit..." biji said and looked at Arnab  for confirmation."All she told me was that Simrit was in some way responsible for her broken engagement and that she had always wanted what Mowri had," Arnab  said, "but not in so much detail," he told her."And you never asked?" biji asked."No, she told me about herself on her own and that is what I wanted," Arnab  explained, "for her to open up and trust me. Maybe not to the extent I wanted her to but that is alright," Arnab  said."I don't know if it is the right thing to do to give you those details but I can tell you how Simrit is," biji replied, "she had always been a pretty child and Roop indulged her. Since she was very young there was this strange need for her to take everything that belonged to Mowri. She never respected her either. We always thought it was just sibling rivalry between two sisters and then Preeti came along, she was a beautiful baby too. But she was not the same as Simrit. In fact Mowri indulged Preeti a lot. She would give her toys, her things to her but Simrit would want them too. It didn't matter that Preeti was small or that Simrit was old enough to not play with them. She would throw tantrums, cry and fight and Roop and Amardeep gave in every single time so much so she knew she could get away with murder using the right tools to manipulate them. And she did get away with everything. Her selfishness, her false sense of pride, her narcissism increased by dozens as she grew. Mowri always dealt with her with patience and I could see the questions in her eyes. She didn't voice it but she wanted to know why the difference. She was a daughter of this family too and yet the way she and the rest of the kids were treated and the way Simrit was treated was totally different. Nimmi and Nihal egged Simrit on. There was no stopping her for anything. The word 'no' didn't even exist in her dictionary. I warned them and tried to intervene every other time but I had my limits. My late husband was very particular about these things. He always told me to not interfere too much as they had their parents to look after them. I had to keep shut most times. Once he passed away the responsibility of keeping this family together fell on my shoulders and I did what I could," she said helplessly, "I had warned Roop to keep Simrit in check but she didn't listen the result Simrit broke Mowri's engagement," she said and shook her head sadly at the events that were responsible for today's outburst.Arnab  listened. He had wanted to intervene and ask biji about what had taken place today but it seemed without a background he wouldn't understand. And so he had let her talk. What she was describing sounded familiar. Nisha. Isn't that how he had likened Simrit to her during their first meeting itself? He could now begin to understand why Mowri hated Simrit with such intensity. He already knew she had a hard time forgiving people maybe Simrit had been a cause for that too."Do you know when Mowri's engagement had broken?" biji asked sadly.Arnab  shook his head negatively remembering the conversation he had had with Mowri a few days back when she had told him partially of what had happened."Half an hour before she was to be married," biji said and took in a deep breath.Every time she thought about it she felt guilty. She blamed herself for what had happened that day. How could she have been blind to what was going on right under her nose? How could she not have foreseen the events? How? How had she not been able to judge the character of the boy they had chosen for Mowri? So when Mowri did not trust her judgment completely she was not at fault. She had suffered the consequences because of biji's laxity somewhere and biji hadn't forgiven herself for that till this day. She watched shock register on Arnab 's face. And she smiled sadly. He hadn't known. She understood how difficult it must have been for Mowri to talk about it. She hadn't even talked to her or Preeti about that day ever."Mowri was to come down to the marriage hall when the groom's parents called and cancelled the engagement," biji said."Why?" Arnab  whispered not trusting himself to speak right now."Because their son had married another," biji said with a twist to her lips that seemed as if she had a bad taste in her mouth, "because he had married a more prettier and better girl than Mowri," biji said, "do you know who he had married?" she asked.Arnab  suddenly knew what biji was going to say. All the things she had told him about Simrit he knew but he wanted to hear the words."Because their son had married another," biji said with a twist to her lips that seemed as if she had a bad taste in her mouth, "because he had married a more prettier and better girl than Mowri," biji said, "do you know who he had married?" she asked.Arnab  suddenly knew what biji was going to say. All the things she had told him about Simrit he knew but he wanted to hear the words."Simrit had married Mowri's fiancé," biji said, "Simrit had married Varun," she said and felt tears run down her cheeks as Arnab  looked on.Biji had no idea if she had done the right thing in telling him about Varun before Mowri had had that chance but she had to. He wouldn't understand anything otherwise. She just hoped that by telling him the truth she hadn't messed up. But then she had yet to get to know Arnab  properly.****************