Reflections of Truth

Sarika, wiping her tears, goes to the kitchen and starts working while talking to herself, "People are right—no one can take the place of parents… Maa ji is a mother herself, then how can she say such things about me and my parents? Doesn't she see her own mistakes even once? Doesn't he (Adrijay) see Maa ji’s mistakes either? Am I really the one who is wrong?" Thinking about all this, she continues her work while crying.

In the evening,

Adrijay comes home early today, allowing Sarika to breathe a sigh of relief as she hands him a glass of water.

After drinking the water, Adrijay goes to his room to freshen up. A while later, as he steps out, he sees Tanishq listening to a song on his mobile. He walks up to him and asks, "Is your studying done?"

Tanishq looks at him and nods before continuing to listen to his song. Seeing this, Adrijay shakes his head disapprovingly and moves towards the mirror to fix his hair. Just then, Tanishq suddenly starts singing loudly,

"Haan tainu kyu na vichha, aise ke ki likha, maine hi tu vichhaa… husn tera tauba tauba tauba tauba!!"

Hearing the lyrics, Adrijay turns towards him and says, "What are you even singing?!"

But Tanishq has turned the volume up so high that he doesn’t hear Adrijay. Before Adrijay can say anything else, Sarika enters the room, stands in front of Tanishq, and glares at him. "What is going on, Tanu?" she demands.

Seeing her, Tanishq quickly turns off the song and lowers his head. "I was just singing, Mumma!"

Still staring at him, Sarika says, "This kind of song? Why don't you listen to good songs? Have you memorized your tables that you're listening to this?"

Tanishq pouts and replies, "Yes, I have memorized them! Why do you keep making me revise them every day? I don’t like Math! I find it boring!"

Sarika takes a deep breath, sits beside him, and gently places him on her lap. She lovingly explains, "How can you say you don't want to study Math? If you don’t study, how will you become like Papa? You want to be like Papa, right? Then you have to study everything—Math or any other subject—you have to focus and learn properly. See, I am not telling you to bring high marks. Just getting good marks is not important; what matters is how much you actually understand from what you study. That’s why, whenever you study, even if it’s for a short time, do it with full concentration. Hmm?"

Listening to her, Tanishq looks at her and nods. Sarika smiles, kisses his forehead, and says, "Alright, now go and play! And don’t listen to such songs. Watch cartoons if you want, but don’t listen to these kinds of songs. When you grow up, you can listen to them, okay?"

Tanishq nods and says, "Okay, Mumma! But will you play Ludo with me?"

Sarika gently explains, "Beta, Mumma has some work in the kitchen right now. Once I’m done, I will play Ludo with you. Until then, go play with Adhu. He has finished his studies too!"

Tanishq excitedly says, "Okay!", climbs down from her lap, jumps off the bed, and runs out of the room.

Only then does Sarika notice Adrijay, who is standing there, looking at her with an affectionate gaze. The intensity of his stare makes her heartbeat quicken. For the first time, Adrijay’s eyes have truly lingered on her, and it’s only natural for her heart to race.

Lowering her gaze and intertwining her fingers nervously, she softly asks, "Should I bring your snack here?"

Hearing her voice, Adrijay snaps out of his trance and replies, "Uh… no, I’ll come downstairs and have it there."

Sarika nods, fixes the bed, and leaves the room. After she is gone, Adrijay exhales deeply and then follows her downstairs.

Downstairs,

Sarika prepares tea and snacks for Adrijay and places them on the center table in the hall before heading back to the kitchen to continue her work.

Meanwhile, Adrijay sits in the hall, sipping his tea, lost in thought. Just then, Yamini ji comes and sits beside him, asking, "Where are you lost, Adri?"

Snapping out of his thoughts, Adrijay says, "Nowhere, Maa. Tell me, has all the preparation for the puja been done?"

Yamini ji looks at him sarcastically and says, "Yes, everything is done. Since you were so eager to come home early because of that girl, I had to ask Dev to bring all the puja and fasting supplies."

Hearing this, Adrijay frowns and says with irritation, "Maa, why are you dragging Sarika into this again? I was late because of work. How is that Sarika’s fault?"

Yamini ji, equally irritated, replies, "Oh right, I forgot—you will always defend her! I shouldn’t have even mentioned it to you…"

Letting out a deep sigh, Adrijay holds her hand and tries to reason with her, "Maa, tell me something—why do you think so poorly of Sarika? Yes, I agree, that day it was her mistake. But if you look at it from another perspective, it wasn’t entirely her fault either. She manages the entire household alone. In such a situation, if she didn’t feel like doing the laundry at that moment, you shouldn’t have forced her, Maa. And now, it's been three months since Vishakha’s wedding—don’t you think she can handle some responsibilities now? Earlier, it was understandable since she was newly married, but now it has been over three months. She can take on household duties, right? So why don’t you give her any responsibilities? It’s time to teach her the ways of this house and share the responsibilities with her! Because Sarika can’t do everything alone, Maa. She also needs a companion. If Vishakha helps her even a little, Sarika will get some time to spend with the kids. She will also get some time for herself. Do you understand what I’m saying?"

Yamini Ji, shaking off his hand in anger, says,

"Oh, so that woman has finally brainwashed you enough that now you’re explaining things to me on her behalf... And as for Vishakha, I cannot make her do any household work yet because it's only been three months since her marriage. It wouldn’t be right to burden her with work so soon… So, I won’t make her do anything. Do whatever you want! And yes, tell that queen of yours that if she has any problem with the work, she should come and tell me directly instead of sending messages through you!"

Adrijay, trying to reason with her, says,

"Mom, Sarika hasn’t said anything to me! I am saying this myself… Please try to understand what I’m saying, it’s important. If we make Vishakha understand her responsibilities from now, only then will she be able to manage everything in the future, right?"

Before Yamini Ji could respond, Vishakha, who had been standing a little distance away, fuming with anger, storms in and says,

"Look, Bhaiya, if Bhabhi has so much of a problem with me, she should come and say it to my face! What’s the need to send messages through you? And anyway, didn’t she manage all the work before I came into this house? What has changed now? I married into this family—I am not a maid here to do all this work! Dev didn’t bring me into this house so I could become a servant!"

Hearing her words, Adrijay doesn’t like it at all. Standing up in anger, he says,

"What do you mean by that? Is Sarika a maid in this house? I also brought her here as my wife, not as a servant! And let me tell you something—doing household work doesn’t make anyone a maid. These are responsibilities that anyone can share, and it is a daughter-in-law’s duty to manage her home. So, what’s the harm if you also fulfill your responsibilities?"

Vishakha, getting even more furious, says,

"Bhaiya, it would be better if you don’t try to teach me all this! And what did you say? You brought Bhabhi here as your wife? But have you ever accepted this marriage? Have you ever truly considered her your wife? What kind of husband treats his wife so rudely, blindly siding with his mother without ever hearing his wife's side of the story? What kind of husband doesn’t even care about what his wife is doing or going through in the house? So, it would be better if you don’t try to teach me anything—it will be good for both of us!"

Saying this, she storms off to her room.

Yamini Ji also didn’t like the way Vishakha spoke, but before she could say anything, Vishakha had already left. She then looks at Adrijay, whose face is now filled with regret.

Sighing deeply, Yamini Ji leaves for Vishakha’s room.

Meanwhile, Adrijay stands frozen in his spot, feeling utterly lost. Just three months into her marriage, Vishakha had held up a mirror to him, showing him the truth he had always avoided. But no, he would fix his relationship—no matter what he had to do for it.

With this thought, he takes a deep breath, picks up his half-eaten breakfast, and heads to the kitchen.

Inside the kitchen, Sarika is preparing food when Adrijay enters. He places his plate on the counter and puts his empty cup in the sink. Seeing the untouched breakfast, Sarika silently takes the plate and dumps the leftover food into the dustbin. Washing her hands, she gets back to work without saying a word.

Adrijay stands there watching her, but Sarika completely ignores his presence. When he doesn’t leave for a long time, she finally asks, still focused on her work,

"Do you need something?"

Adrijay, still looking at her, replies,

"Hmm... You!"

Hearing his words, Sarika’s hands stop mid-air, and she turns to him in shock.

Adrijay, still holding her gaze, continues,

"Hmm… I need you. I mean, I need to talk to you…"

Sarika, avoiding eye contact, says,

"I can’t talk right now… I’m busy."

Adrijay sighs deeply and says,

"I know you don’t want to talk to me! And I won’t force you either… because I know the things I said to you before are not easily forgotten, and compared to that, this silent treatment is still a small punishment. So, I won’t force you—it will be your decision. But if you ever feel like it… please, talk to me once."

Saying this, he turns and walks away.

Meanwhile, Sarika, lost in thought, says to herself,

"What has suddenly happened to him? He has said hurtful things to me before too, but he never came back to talk like this. Then why now? Should I give him a chance? No, no… I shouldn’t. I don’t want my heart to break again like it did before! I don’t have the strength to keep piecing together my broken heart over and over again…"

Taking a deep breath, she calms herself down and refocuses on her work.

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