TADAP

Chapter 31 - Picture abhi baaki hai

"Milna chahega Harnoor se?" She asked softly.

"I... I..., mom..." he said in a meek voice failing miserably to form words.

He flinched the slightest bit before resuming to normalcy

"Sidharth, it's okay. Take your time baba... but pata nahi kab tak voh log India mei hai" Sidharth's mother expressed her concern, his whole family had the same concern.

Sidharth was still in a state of daze to realise anything about others at that moment. All he could think of were the unforgettable days that he faced 10 months ago.

"Montu... Agreed, there have been differences between you and Shehnaaz, Harnoor's birth may not have been conventional but voh hai toh tum dono ki hi beti na? You love them both, don't you?" Sidharth's mom caressed his face with one hand, she tried to ease him into the conversation as everyone looked on.

Sidharth held back his tears, he was overwhelmed. He didn't know what exactly to feel even. He always wanted a child of his own, he loved children. His paternal instincts were strong for the last couple of years but when Shehnaaz had stepped into his life and he realised his love for her, he wanted to have a family with her. He had thought about it. He had created one too, a strange one indeed but was deprived of fatherhood by his own choice.

He had become a bane for himself.

He hadn't seen his daughter when she was born either. So, knowing that his little one was right there in his city, it was only natural for his family to let him know about it because they knew how much he suffered for the last few months in agony.

He lifted his eyes to his mom, "Shehnaaz...woh, uh, will she be okay? Agar milna chahu toh?" He put forth his fear softly.

"Un dono se door rehne ka faisla tera tha Sidharth. Usne kabhi mana nahi kiya milne se. London bhi jaata unse milne tab bhi woh tujhe milne se rokti nahi..." Sidharth's mom said as a matter of fact.

His mother taking Shehnaaz's side didn't sit well with Sidharth though he knew that she was absolutely correct. He became numb but chose to speak out what was inside him for the past months.

"But mom, you know what she did to me right? Tum sab ko pata hai...phir bhi you guys have a soft corner towards her. Jab London chali gayi thi pichle saal tab se you all have been keeping tabs on her & Harnoor. Sab kuch pata hota hai tum logo ko unke bare mei... Lekin mein itna acha insaan nahi hu. How do you expect me to be nice to her after everything that she did?" He said in disappointment.

He was not angry. He was hurt deeply.

"Montu...hum sab bhi dukhi the uss se bacha. Seeing you like this is not easy for us too. But we realised she must have had reasons of her own to do whatever she did. Shayad hi koi ladki hogi in general jo aise sochti hogi..." Preeti put forth her views & Sidharth just stared at her blankly.

"Sidharth" Neetu sighed and everyone turned to her.

"You are mad. Tujhe pata hai na? Aur voh Sana, voh bhi kam nahi hai. Bache ho kya dono? You are not yourself, she is not herself. Tum dono khush kya normal insaan bhi nahi lag rahe ho from the last year. Is this how you plan to survive the rest of your lives?" Neetu reprimanded her brother for the first time in so many months.

He was perplexed but perhaps expecting this so he kept mum but the others in the hall were trying to stop her from going overboard but Neetu wasn't the one to stop today.

"Hum sab chup the, tujhe time aur space de rahe the iska matlab yeh nahi ki tu hum sabko for granted le Sidharth. Do you realise that this house is not the same anymore? We are not the same anymore? Yes, teri wajah se. But mein yeh hum sab k liye nahi bol rahi hu montu... Yeh sab tere liye bol rhi hu. Tu kya tha, kya ban gaya hai? I won't let my brother ruin his life like this. Either you sort your shit with Shehnaaz or move on completely. It's upto you. But god damn fix your life you idiot!"