Kismat Connection

Part 2

Cabir observed that Manik was physically present there, but he was lost in his thoughts.

        Cabir : "Dhruv speaks less anyways, and Alya is busy in her fashion world, but what happened to you Manik? Why are you so silent?"

        Manik didn't respond, so Dhruv shook him a little and brought him out of his thoughts.

        Dhruv : "Where were you lost?"

        Manik : "I was thinking as to how I am going to manage."

        Manik sounded too low.

        Cabir : "From the way you were lost and how you are sounding, it appears as though you have a big burden on your shoulders. Did uncle ask you to leave your studies and manage the company now itself by any chance?"

        Manik : "No, it isn't that. I wouldn't have to worry in that case. I can butter up mom and she would convince dad to not burden me with it for now."

        Cabir : "So you mean to say that the issue at hand is bigger than that? I am eager to know what it is. Don't increase the suspense, spill it out."

        Manik : "Do you remember I had told you about my cousin's wedding?"

        Cabir : "The one you wanted to skip because it is in a village?"

        Hearing the word "village", Alya came out of her fashion world.

        Manik : "Hmm... Mom persuaded me to join them for the wedding."

        Alya : "What?! Why did you agree to go?"

        Manik : "What else could I do? Mom felt that my cousin wouldn't be happy if I skip the most important event of his life. His happiness is more important than the fact that I don't like going and staying there."

        Manik : "I have no idea, how I am going to manage? How I wish my cousin and his fiancée wouldn't have decided to get married in a village."

        Mukti : "Couples choose exotic places for their destination wedding. What made them choose a village as their venue for their wedding?"

        Manik : "It seems the bride's grandparents stay there and they are so old that they can't travel. They have arranged the wedding there so that her grandparents can be part of it."

        Alya : "I don't understand how your cousin's family agreed to it or how your mom managed to convince you to attend it. If I were in your place, I wouldn't have budged from my decision for anyone. Eww... it feels so disgusting to even think of going to a village, let alone staying among villagers."

        Abhi : "I agree with you. I find it irritating even to interact with a villager when I meet them here."

        Dhruv felt that Alya and Abhi's views weren't helping Manik's situation in any way, so he intervened.

        Dhruv : "He isn't feeling good about it already, don't make it worse for him by saying such things."

        Cabir : "Even I am not a fan of villages or villagers, but I agree with Dhruv. Manik can't bear to see the people he cares for unhappy. Also, he wouldn't want to go against his mom."

        Mukti : "How can a beloved son say no to his sweet mom after all? He can get his mom to convince his dad, but how will he convince his mom?"

        Cabir : "When do you have to leave? What is the name of the village?"

        Manik : "Next week. It is .. (he thinks for a while) .. I can't remember the name. Didn't pay attention to it when mom was telling me about it."

        Alya : "Must be some awful name .. that's why you don't remember."

        Dhruv diverted the topic from going back to the discussion about their views about villages and villagers.

        Dhruv : "Manik, there isn't anything you can do no matter how much you think about it. Take everything with you that you feel will make your stay there comfortable."

        Dhruv : "Before you leave, let's go on a small trip, like Cabir suggested. It will stop you from thinking about it and lift your mood too."

        Everyone agreed to go on a trip.

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        Fab6 went and came back from their trip. Soon after that the Malhotra family began their journey to the village to attend Manik's cousin's wedding and the related functions.

        Not even a day had gone by since Manik reached the village. He was talking to his mom, Nyonika in private.

        Nyonika loves her family a lot. She has pampered her family, especially Manik. She is down to earth in spite of belonging to a wealthy family, but she hasn't been able to instill the same values in her son.

        Manik : "Mom, you persuaded me to come to such a remote place. There is no wi-fi here. The mobile signal is so weak that I can't even talk to my friends without interruptions. There is no air conditioner. There is a power outage most of the time, so this fan is also useless. I am dying because of this heat. How am I going to stay here for so long?"

        Nyonika : "Don't say such things. Don't use words like dying again. People are living their entire lifetime here without any of those facilities. We have to stay here only for a few days, it will be over in no time."

        Manik : "Mom, people living here are used to it, but I am not. You don't even know how I am feeling. Not even a day is up and I have got fed up of this place. I feel this place is almost like hell on earth. I can already tell that the days here are going to be the worst days of my life."

        Nyonika : "Dear, I am your mom. I can understand how you are feeling, but there is nothing I can do about it. We will leave as soon as possible. Please manage for my sake till then."

        Manik half-heartedly made up his mind to try to survive the rest of his stay there.

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        In the early morning next day, Nyonika was at the village temple. She prayed to God and was on her way back. She was half way down the stairs when she began to feel dizzy. The humid weather along with the strenuous climb up to the temple had exhausted her. She was about to fall down, when a girl supported her and held her to keep her from falling.

        The girl is a teenager who is simple, yet naturally beautiful. She has big doe eyes, long jet black hair and a smile playing on her lips most of the time.

        Her happy demeanor doesn't mean that she has everything in life or she has no worries. She lost her parents when she was little and has been staying with her grandmother since then. Problems are a part and parcel of her life. Her current problem is that her family is planning to marry her off though she isn't interested in it. She has an ambition in life which she wants to pursue. She has hope that god will help her by giving a solution soon for this problem as well, like usual.

        She is short in height compared to our other protagonist, but has a very big heart. She is very compassionate by nature. By now, you would have figured out that she is our female protagonist. You will come to know more about her as the story progresses.