chapter 4

When Lightning Strikes!Ravi sighed loudly at those words. “Those were some beautiful words,” he remarked, and Ishana smiled a bit.“So, what happened next?” he asked, trying to move on from the sad topic of her parents.“Now let me take you to my college life, and if I have to define it in one word, it was ‘horrible’,” Ishana muttered sardonically. “Really?” Ravi was shocked.“Yes. I won’t bore you with details but know that given how I was, old-school, dressed in my mother’s hand-me-downs, I was ragged horribly. My seniors called me ‘Sag-Doll’, short for sagging personality. And I hated them for it. Shiva and Sarv supported me a lot, but it was I who had to endure endless misery,” Ishana chortled.“Why are you laughing?” Ravi was confused.“Because, at that time I thought life couldn’t get worse, but I was wrong… so wrong… my life did get uglier, and on the sixteenth day of my college, it turned upside down.”“What happened?” Ravi stammered.“The worst!”  “My brother Rakshit was my lifeline. I used to talk to him every day, and as expected, my mother had issues with that too,” Ishana sighed. “Once she took my call in his absence and scolded me for ruining his life! I was thunderstruck. When I retorted, she barked, ‘I am cutting off all your expenses, either come back or die of hunger there…’‘Father wants me to live my life, and he pays for my expenses, not you. I am not going to come back to play Cinderella and do all your chores,’ I yelled. Do you know what her exact response to this was?” she questioned. Ravi just stared at her wide-eyed. “Her exact words were, ‘And neither are you ever going to get a prince charming like her. Happy endings are only in fiction my daughter, in real life, it is only brutal truth.’  I couldn’t believe her words. How could a mother wish for a horrific life for her own flesh-and-blood? I still wonder if I was her real daughter!” “Anyways,” Ishana continued, “She declared that she would ensure that I don’t get any money from home and suggested to beg, borrow, steal or even sell myself… In short, she swore to make me financially handicapped.” Sell yourself? Ravi was speechless to this. He too wondered if she was adopted?“Nevertheless, back then I thought she was just bullying me. I felt she was just jealous because she never got the opportunities I did, but I was wrong… so wrong!”“Wrong? How?” Ravi asked nervously.“I mean, she…” Ishana paused to inhale deeply, “She did the worst to me.” “As in?” Ravi was now dreading what was to come next.“Rakshit and I used to talk in secret, but then suddenly, my brother, my only source of happiness, disappeared from the face of the Earth.” Tears welled up in Ishana’s eyes as she recalled the unnatural fear that had gripped her when Rakshit had vanished from her life.“What?” Ravi was speechless.“Yes, I had never been so worried in my whole life. Shiva’s parents were visiting some relatives at that time, so they were clueless too. I tried to contact him for a week, but when all my efforts were fruitless, I rushed back home…”Ishana paused to find words to explain her condition.“Well, I had no home anymore, all that remained in that town were the ruins of my old life,” Ishana sobbed softly. “They say that lightning never strikes at the same place twice, but it did in my life!”Wiping her beautiful face, she whispered, “My father, my only true parent, had died of a heart attack a week before. My brother, my lifeline, had tried to commit suicide due to some unknown reasons. And my mother, the heinous villain, had packed up everything overnight and moved!”Goosebumps covered Ravi’s body. He waited for the news to sink in, and then after a long sad pause, he spoke, “Rakshit just left you?” Ishana shook her head solemnly, “So much happened in one week, but I was not in the know. My mother must have manipulated him horribly, I still wonder why he attempted suicide.” Ishana’s face was now glistening with tears. “This is unbelievable,” Ravi whispered in shock.“Call it my ill-fate, but within one month my one-way ticket to happiness had transformed into a lifetime of misery and loneliness.”“I am so sorry to hear it,” Ravi didn’t know what else to say. “Did you ever try to find him?” he asked carefully.“Ravi, everything I ever did in my life was to find him. I spent the next two months in my hometown in search of him. I stayed at Shiva’s home – her parents were kind enough. I searched even the neighboring towns, I even sought police’s help, I tried everything, but it was like Rakshit had never existed. I was about to quit college and take up a job at a small restaurant when Shiva and Sarv dragged me back. They knew if I stayed longer, I would have committed suicide.”“I am glad they did…” Ravi couldn’t help but appreciate the friends she had. “So, I came back… alone, miserable, and an ‘Orphan’!”   “I still miss Rakshit, you know. I lost everything when I lost him.” Ravi just stared at her. His eyes were moist too. “Do you ever wonder why I am telling you everything?” she continued, and Ravi nodded. He had a big lump stuck in his throat and was finding it really hard to speak.“You and Rakshit have an uncanny resemblance. When I saw you the first time, a kindle of hope had lit in my heart. I had felt that you are Rakshit. But then you told me your name and that tiny flicker extinguished. However, I am very sure that he must look just like you now… all grown up and handsome.” Ishana smiled at him, and he placed his face in his hands. “What do you think happened to Rakshit then? Did you ever look for him after those two months?” he enquired with a weak façade. “Did I?” she mocked. “I still look for him, but now deep in my heart I know it is futile,” she finished with a grim look. “You think he is dead?” he asked wide-eyed.“No, never. Not even in my dreams can I ever imagine that my Rakshit is no more. I don’t think I can even endure that thought. But what I do believe is that he believes I am dead. Not literally, but metaphorically,” she sighed.“What do you mean?” her words astounded him.“Do you think that any man in India has not seen my face?” she asked, exasperated. She was right. She was very popular, and even the remotest villages had her face plastered on its walls. “I have not changed much, you see. Anybody who knew me back then can recognize me instantly. Every assistant I ever hired was always on an alert for the name ‘Rakshit’. If he contacted me ever, I would have known. But he never did. Why do you think that is?” she asked gravely.“I never read anywhere that you are looking for him,” he spoke thoughtfully.“I never mentioned about him to the media because I didn’t want false leads. Do you have any idea about the lengths men would go just to see me, shake my hands, touch me, or even do worse?” she asked with arched eyebrows. “I didn’t want my search to be corrupted. If I had revealed that I indeed am looking for my brother, then every second man would have posed as him, and I would have run amuck a goose chase.” Ravi hung his head at her words. She was right.“Why do you think he never contacted you?” Ravi asked cautiously.“I believe that somehow my mother got to him and made him believe that I truly was evil. He is ignoring me because he hates me now, and for him, I am as good as dead.” Ishana’s words rose something in Ravi. He wanted to shout at her, accuse her but didn’t. “Before his disappearance, were you able to find the true reasons behind your mother’s behavior?” Ravi digressed. Ishana screwed up her eyes and spoke, “NO!” Her expressions and tone said she was lying, but Ravi didn’t insist upon it. Yes, he wanted to know the truth of her mother, but he was more scared than curious. He didn’t dare pursue topics she didn’t want to indulge in.“So, what happened next?” Ravi composed himself and asked solemnly.“The disappearance of Rakshit closed the chapter of my family, and I was on my own. Now, let me take you to my college years when I had finally started living my life again.” Â