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He had to work later on Saturday, but this was a priority for him now. He realized he’d been careless; he certainly knew enough of Roshni’s personality to respect her for her virtue, and he’d developed some feelings towards her, but now with all of his family praising her, it certainly triggered a lot of thinking on his part. He wanted to know more about her.
This was a great positive change; however, would Roshni ever forgive him?
~ ~ ~
Deepak woke up late Saturday morning, but the thought of calling Vivek and Vaishali consumed him altogether. He wanted to talk to Roshni too! That morning he called Vivek, and Vivek was upset. Any justification from Deepak did not fly. Finally Deepak agreed to visit them that day.
Deepak called Roshni, but she was not home. Kaki picked up the phone, and she expressed her feelings of how Roshni managed in his absence and took over the entire responsibility of the house. After a few minutes of this conversation, they hung up.
The more Deepak heard of these conversations, the more they made him guilty and sad. He could not stop thinking of Roshni.
Deepak arrived at Vivek and Vaishali’s condominium. He certainly looked very tired and worried. Vivek enquired if everything was all right. Deepak could not wait to communicate the news of Sashank bhaiya’s wedding to both Vivek and Vaishali. Vivek had known Deepak’s family for a long time, so he could not wait to hear all the details. Deepak narrated the conversations he’d had with Sashank bhaiya, Roshni, Akash and Kaki. Deepak wished he could attend the wedding.
All the conversations had the same underlying theme: Roshni was instrumental in this.
After a few minutes, Deepak apologized to them. “You and Vaishali wanted to talk to me about your conversation with Roshni; my apologies, I could not get back to you both sooner.”
Vivek reprimanded Deepak for not showing any interest in this matter. Vivek paused, and Vaishali picked up the conversation.
“Roshni objected to Vivek addressing her as ‘bhabhi’, and she feels extremely guilty. She believes her father passed away because of her,” Vaishali added.
Vaishali continued to narrate how her babuji suspected she was unhappy, and he’d interrogated her. Roshni finally had to succumb to his interrogation and revealed a few facts, and her babuji could not bear this shock.
Vivek paced across the room. He looked at Deepak. “What do you think, Deepak? This woman is so strong and has so much goodness and decency. She was able to convince her father not to talk to Sashank bhaiya because Sashank bhaiya and Akash bhaiya confided in her. She did not want to ruin this credibility. She wanted to fulfill the promise she had given to her babuji, and of course, now he had passed away.
“Nobody but us knows of all that happened between you both. You did not even have the courtesy to talk to her, at least to console her as a human being, after her babuji’s death. What a shame!” Vivek expressed his anger. “She has still not gotten over this grief. She is so shattered and feels so lonely. Look at the mental trauma she is going through,” he added.
This conversation added fuel to the fire for Deepak. He was ashamed of himself, of how insensitive he was to not call and talk to her when she needed his support the most. How could he behave this way? On the other hand, she was so mature and responsible in fulfilling the promise. He had already seen the fruits of her action with Sashank bhaiya.
“This is unpardonable, Vivek. Certainly, I failed at this,” he agreed.
Vivek was not able to forget or forgive his friend for such insane behavior. He looked at him seriously. “Do you know what else she said?”
After all this stress, a cup of chai with fresh ginger and spice was refreshing for Deepak and Vivek. The steam from the chai spread the aroma of fresh ginger as they relished the beverage. Vivek sat next to Deepak on the sofa. “We asked her if she was open to changing her decision.”
Deepak was very curious. Although he did a few stupid things, certainly the thought of separation never occurred to him. It was Roshni who’d made such a quick decision to end their relationship, and Deepak eagerly waited to hear from Vivek.
Vivek continued to speak. “She has a very legitimate concern. She entered this relationship with hope and responsibility, but you did not. She believes you have preconceived notions, and because of this, no matter how much she adjusts or compromises, she will never be able to satisfy you or please you. She fears that you would expect her to compromise, but you would never make an attempt to make this relationship successful.
“Added to this is you living in the US, Deepak. Adjusting to this environment and culture itself is a challenge, and if she does not receive full cooperation from her husband, which is you, she would be lost completely. So with all these thoughts, she decided to end this relationship.”
Deepak listened to all this very patiently without interrupting Vivek.
“Do you understand why she made the decision to separate? See how balanced is her thinking. Just look at how much thought process went into her making this decision. Her decision to separate, at least we think, was not a hasty decision.” He looked at Vaishali, and she nodded her head in agreement.
“Did she at any time in this conversation talk about reconsidering this decision?” asked Deepak curiously.
“I’m not sure, Deepak, her only response was, ‘Time will tell,’ and we took it as a spark of some hope.”
“That is exactly what she said to me when I talked to her before I left.”
Vaishali explained her perspective to Deepak. “Deepak, I am a woman and went through an arranged marriage. Both Vivek and I had some adjustments to make initially, but look at us now. We are happy. I believe we will continue to have disagreements and minor arguments, but now, we know we love each other, we care for each other, and we will support each other. Each of us has that security and faith, and we developed it over time. I had to go through major adjustments to this culture. If not for all the support that Vivek showed, I would have been lost. More importantly, I believed in him to support me.” She paused and continued, “I don’t think Roshni trusts you at this time.”
“So do you see, Deepak, I think you have lost her, man, very unfortunate!” said Vivek, being disappointed.
Silence prevailed.
Vivek and Vaishali glanced at each other. Did this have any impact on Deepak? Would he take the initiative to patch things up with Roshni, or would his strong ego prevent him? The ball was in his court.
