Her Old Wounds! MishBir Short Story

Chapter 3- "The Final Apology"

"You should forgive your dadi, Mishti" said Abir and shocked Mishti totally. Mishti took her hand out of Abir's hold and stared at him with confusion. Abir tried to give Mishti as much time as possible for her to digest and constantly looked at her with nervousness.

Meanwhile in Maheshwari house, Kuhu woke up in her room, surprised to not find Kunal on the bed. She looked around, checked the bathroom and he was nowhere to be found. She stepped out of the room and found him in Abir Mishti's room. Kunal wasn't able to sleep after what had transpired today. The thought of him being a jerk to both the girls was leaving him restless. As Kuhu knocked on the door, he came back from the chain of his thoughts. He signalled Kuhu to stay there and decided to go outside. He didn't want to disturb the kids. He again tucked pillows around them and quietly walked out.

"Kunal, what are you doing here? And where are Abir bro and Mishti?" asked Kuhu with a lot of confusion and irritation. Kunal was in two minds. He knew Abir had specifically asked him to not tell anything to Kuhu. He also somewhere knew the reason behind that. Since Kuhu was asleep when all the events happened, he thought he might not have to come up with any excuses. And before she would wake up, Abir Mishti would be back home. But there she was. And he had no idea what he would tell her.

Unable to judge Kunal's actions and understanding that he was trying to hide something, Kuhu started on with her chants against Mishti. "I know what it is. Mishti would have again started her drama and Abir bro would have to tend to her non stop crying. I seriously cannot understand what Abir bro saw in her. She is such a drama queen I tell you Kunal" and Kunal had enough. He didn't want to get angry at her as he knew she might just again blame Mishti for ruining their first ghanguar. He just requested Kuhu to go and sleep while he would stay with the boys until Mishti Abir returned. Kuhu, annoyed with the way Kunal responded to her, just walked away.

After thinking and rethinking about the matter, Kunal somewhere understood he really had to handle the issues between Mishti and Kuhu with a lot of care. He somewhere also blamed himself for causing stress or increasing tensions between the girls which already existed. Had he not been as ass to both of them, things would have been slightly different! Whatever it was, he knew he needed to have a chat with Kuhu. But for that, he needed a clear mind and a lot of patience. He sighs and goes into the room and retires on the sofa.

Back at Rajvansh house, Abir was still giving some time for Mishti to grasp what he had just suggested. Mishti finally stood up and tried walking away. Abir held her hand in order to stop her and reminded her of how they had decided to not walk out on eachother during a discussion or an argument. Mishti closed her eyes and sighed deeply. She took a moment to understand, turned towards Abir and responded,

"Abir! I am not walking away. I just. I just don't understand why you are saying this? You of all people? You know what I have felt about it. You know what happened today and still?"

Abir got up from the floor, walked towards Mishti and held her lightly by her shoulders and turned her facing towards him. "Yes! I know everything and that is why I am saying what I just did." Mishti again nodded her head in confusion and kept staring in Abir's eyes for answers. "Mish! I know whatever I am asking from you right now is too much. It is 14 years of your pain. I know it's not a joke. And in no way, I am trying to force you into this. It is just a suggestion. It will be entirely up to you whether you want to forgive her or not."

Mishti looked away from Abir, still standing strong on his hold. "But why?" She asked again.

"Mishti, in our customs, we often give our parents and grandparents the place of gods. We are made to believe that they are perfect. They will not make any mistakes ever. Even they try to act perfect and portray that they are the best examples of life that we will have in front of us. We are expected to learn from them. But the truth of the matter is, they are no gods. They are humans who will make mistakes. You and I both share something very common about our biological parents. Our fathers, who are bad and criminals. Our mothers, who are ignorant to the best of their capacity. But life didn't let us dwell into negativity because we have some amazing examples in front of our eyes. For you, it is Badi Maa and Bade Papa. And for me, it is Nanu and Parul Maasi. I got them because I was born into this house. You got Badi Ma and Bade papa because your dadi sent you to them. Mishti, what I am trying to say is that your dadi isn't a bad person. She isn't a criminal like our dads. If she were that bad, she would have given you up to some orphanage or some unknown family or worst yet to your father. God knows what would have happened then. Yes, I agree the way she probably gave you up was wrong. IS WRONG. The way she probably handled the situation was wrong. And that left a really bad scar on your life. You lost 14 years of your life crying about this. Are you willing to suffer and cry for the next 14 years of your life as well?" Mishti suddenly looked in Abir's eyes as Abir continued to speak.