A Right Turn

2.

After the competition, Parvati dragged Ragini out of the academy. Sobha and Kavya were following them. Ragini was continuously telling her to stop. When she said to stop on a slightly higher note, Parvati turned around and glared at her angrily.

"Aye Marwaran, apni poti ko aankh dikhane se kuch nahi hota." Sobha taunted.

"Main apni poti ko aankh dikhau ya dantu, tu bich main na bol."

"Tum na ab maan lo ki tumhari Ragini meri naatino se nahi jeet sakti. Maine apni naatino ko freedom dia hai, isiliye toh woh apna potential achieve karti hai."

"Na freedom dene ka natija dekh liya. Na beti pati ka ghar chor kar mayake baith gayi aur baadi naatin premi ke saath bhag gayi. Ye pata nahi kya gul khilayegi."

"Aye Marwaran, jo kahena hai mujhe bol. Mere mei aur naatino ko kuch mat kehna."

"Mahre kehne na kehne se kya jata hai. Kehna toh tujhe chahiye tha." Parvati retorted. They kept going back and forth in front of the music academy. Finally, Kavya intervened and stopped them. She convinced Sobha to go straight home rather than trying any of her tricks on the Gadodia's. In the evening, when Shomi returned home, she was surprised by the atmosphere of the house.

"Are kya hua? Mujhe toh baaki lecturers ne bola ki Kavi jeet gayi. Ghare me itna sannata kyu hai?" Shomi asked.

"Maa, aaj dida ne limit cross kardi. Aap jan kar anjan na bano. Mujhe samajh main nahi aata aapki aur Ragini ki dadi ke bich kya problem hai!" Kavya replied irritably.

"Tujhe janne ki jarurat nahi hai. Tum bas itna jano ki kuch padosi ek dushre ko pasand nahi karte. Aur hum logon ka unse kuch esa hin rista hai. Isiliye toh jhagadte jhagadte pachis saal hogaya." Sobha retorted.

"kya hua tha pachis saal phele?" Kavya asked, clearly distressed.

"Woh sab baad me main par abhi aapni di ko toh batao iss jeet ke bareme," Shomi said trying to distract her. "Woh raha dekh rahi hogi." She added.

"Han abhi toh jiju bhi agaye honge."

All of them settled on the sofa, Kavya got her tab and called Swara.

"Hi, Kavi." Swara greeted from the other side. "Competition ka kya hua?"

"Obviously, main jeeti. Koi shaq." Kavya chirped.

"So toh hai. Acha iska matlab next level main tum aapne college ko represent karogi, right? Toh kuch pata hai woh kahan hoga?" Swara asked.

"Abhi toh kuch nahi pata."

"hmm. Jahan bhi ho, I will accompany you."

"Oho, aagar aap mere saath aaogi, toh jiju toh mujhe koste rahenge."

"Tumhare jiju ko phele laptop se upar ki duniya ko dekhna hoga." Then she turned her head to left and while addressing her husband, Sanskaar, she said, "Kese insan se shaadi karli maine." At that statement, Sanskaar lifted his head to look at her and giggled.

"Haw, dekha dida. Mujhpe hass raha hai ye." She pouted, while Sanskaar closed his laptop and came to sit near her.

"Tum dono ka toh ye roz ka hai. Kabhi kabhi toh hairat hoti hai, panch saal ghar se dur, apno se dur, kese rehe liya tum dono ne." Shomi added.

"Aapki beti thi na har samay mere saath, saye ki tarah. Aur aap log hai toh humare saath. Kabhi kisi ki kami mehsus nahin hone di."Sanskaar replied. "Accha main kya soch raha tha. Abhi jab Kavi national level keliye jayegi, kyun na hum sab bhi uske saath jaye? Ek family vacation bhi hojayega." He proposed.

"Kya baat hai Sanskaar! Aapna ullu sidha karna isse kehte hai." Sobha complimented. Kavya in the meantime was observing their conversation. What happened today between dida and Ragini's dadi, was crossing limits. Normally, Shomi would chastise her mother and then complain about the same to her di. But, today Shomi herself is avoiding the topic. This is not normal at all. They chatted with Swara and Sanskaar for some more time and then had dinner and went to bed. Kavya went to bed still thinking about this abnormal behavior of Shomi. The next day it was business as usual, she started preparing for the nationals. Shomi got on with her job, she was a chemistry professor at the same university where Kavya studied. Shobha and Parvati were again at each other's throats, but this time it got out of hand. Parvati accused Shomi of nepotism which jeopardized Kavya's place and to take revenge, Shobha went to Shekhar's shop and accused him of cheating the customer. All these things proved to be too much for Kavya, so one day during lunch, she called Swara.