A Loveless Arranged Marriage Chapter 10. Farewell to my dear mother

  Previously, we saw that Rishi and Deepa were having a verbal fight. At the same time, Rishi's mom arrived from her native place. The next day, Arvind and Shahina arrived at Rishi's home, and they planned a trip around Mumbai. The following day, they first visited the Gateway of India and then went to Colaba Market. The next day, after Deepa came back from work, Ishwari subtly interrogated her. It became clear that Ishwari knew the truth about Rishi and Deepa's marriage. However, when Rishi returned from work, Ishwari didn't reveal anything. The next day, Ishwari left for her native place. Three days later, Rishi received a call. Let's see what happened next.

  After seeing Rishi crying, Deepa asked him, "Hey Rishi, what happened?" But Rishi didn’t say anything; his eyes were filled with tears. Deepa then grabbed his phone and asked, "Hello, who is this?" On the other side, Madan replied, "Sister-in-law, it’s me, Madan." His voice was emotional. Deepa asked him, "Hey Madan, what happened? Why is Rishi crying?" Madan replied, "Sister-in-law, Ishwari aunty passed away this morning." Deepa was shocked and asked, "Hey Madan, what are you saying?" Madan replied, "Yes, sister-in-law. This morning, one of the neighbors came to check on Ishwari aunty, and they found her dead. Right now, we are outside the hospital."

  After hearing this, Deepa started crying. Madan then asked her, "Hello, sister-in-law, are you there?" Deepa replied, "Yes, I’m here." Madan said, "Please try to come as soon as possible." Deepa responded, "Yes," and after that, she ended the call. Deepa and Rishi were so emotional that they couldn't control their tears. Five minutes later, Rishi received a call from Arvind. Arvind asked, "Hey Rishi, where are you?" Rishi replied, "Hey Arvind, mom passed away today." Arvind was shocked, and his eyes filled with tears. He said, "Okay, I will inform the office." After saying that, Arvind ended the call. He couldn’t control his emotions and took leave from work while informing the manager about Rishi's mother’s passing.

  After informing the manager, Arvind left the office. On the way, he informed Shahina, and she asked him to pick her up. So Arvind went to Shahina’s office, and from there, they left together. After half an hour, they reached Rishi’s residence. When they arrived, Hemant was already inside Rishi’s house, offering his condolences to Rishi. As Hemant was leaving, he saw Arvind. He said to Arvind in Hindi, "Hey Arvind Beta, Rishi is completely shattered. Please take care of him." Arvind replied, "I will take care of him, Hemant uncle." After hearing this, Hemant left the apartment.

 When Arvind and Shahina entered the house, they saw Deepa sitting on the sofa, her eyes filled with tears. As she noticed them, Deepa greeted them, but her voice was somber. Shahina and Deepa sat together on the sofa. Arvind asked, "Deepa, where is Rishi?" Deepa replied, "He’s in the room." Arvind then went to Rishi's room and found him sitting on the bed, looking devastated. Arvind sat beside him and called his name. Rishi responded, "Arvind, when did you come?" Arvind replied, "Just now," and they both sat in silence for a moment. Arvind then asked, "How did this happen?"

  Rishi, with tears in his eyes, replied, "This morning, one of our neighbors went to check on mom. She knocked on the door, but mom didn’t answer. The neighbor kept knocking and then asked a boy to look through the window. He saw mom lying on the floor. They called some villagers, and they broke through the door to enter. When they got to the hospital, the doctor declared... declared that mom had died." As he spoke, Rishi started crying, and Arvind, too, couldn't hold back his tears.

  Rishi continued, "Two days ago, I saw her saying goodbye to me, but I never thought that would be her last goodbye." Arvind responded, "I was shocked too. I can’t believe it. I still remember how your mom supported me during that tough time. Even when my parents and relatives turned against me, your mom stood by me. I don’t know what I would have done if she hadn’t been there. Hey, Rishi, did you book the tickets?" Rishi replied, "I’ve been trying, but I can’t because of this network problem." Arvind said, "Don’t worry, I’ll handle it."

  Arvind then went to the balcony and made a call. "Hey, it’s Arvind. Yes, I’m fine. Listen, can you book four plane tickets to Thiruvananthapuram? Okay, I’ll send you the details on WhatsApp. Thanks." He then went to the hall and asked Deepa, "Hey Deepa, can you give me yours and Rishi's Aadhaar cards so I can book the tickets?" Deepa replied, "Yes, just a minute. I’ll get them."

  First, she went to Rishi’s room, then to her own, but paused for a moment, thinking, "Wait, why did I come here? This might make us seem suspicious. I need to come up with a reason." She then went to the kitchen and returned with two glasses of water for Shahina and Arvind. After handing them the water, she gave Arvind the Aadhaar cards. Arvind then asked, "Deepa, did you inform your office about your leave?" Deepa replied, "Yes, Shahina helped me with that." Arvind then forwarded their details..

 After some time, Arvind received the flight tickets. He went to Rishi's room to inform him and said, "Hey Rishi, I’ve got the tickets now. The flight is at 5:45 p.m.; take a look." Arvind showed his phone to Rishi, and Rishi noticed that Arvind had booked four tickets. He asked, "Hey Arvind, have you booked four tickets?" Arvind replied, "Yeah, for you, me, Shahina, and Deepa." Rishi responded, "Okay, but are you sure about going back to your native place after what happened?" Arvind replied, "I’m damn sure. They’ve never cared about me or Shahina, so why should I bother about people who prioritize their caste and religion over human feelings?" Rishi then asked, "What about Shahina?" Arvind replied, "She’s okay with it too. If we don’t go to pay our last respects to your mom, we’ll regret it for the rest of our lives." Rishi nodded, "Okay," and then Arvind and Shahina left the house.

  At 3:45 p.m., they all arrived at the airport. After two hours, they boarded the plane. Two and a half hours later, the plane landed at Thiruvananthapuram Airport, where Jayaraj and Ashwin were waiting to receive them. When they came out, Jayaraj greeted them, and Rishi introduced Arvind and Shahina to him. They all got into the car and traveled in relative silence. Along the way, Ashwin stopped the car for dinner since they wouldn’t reach home until midnight. At first, Rishi refused, but Jayaraj insisted, so they all had dinner. Four hours later, they arrived at Rishi’s home.

 When they reached the house, only a few relatives were present. Upon seeing them, some of the relatives surrounded Rishi and began crying. Madan then informed Rishi that Ishwari's body would only be released in the morning. The next morning, Rishi, Arvind, Madan, and Jayaraj went to the hospital. At the hospital, a ward boy came with a stretcher holding a body covered in a white blanket. The ward boy asked, "Who is Ishwari’s relative here?" The four of them approached the ward boy, and he asked one of them to sign a form. Rishi signed the form, but as he reached to uncover the blanket, his hands trembled, and his heartbeat quickened. When he unveiled the blanket, he saw his mother wrapped in white cloth.

  Seeing her, Rishi’s eyes filled with tears, and the four of them began crying. Rishi, overcome with emotion, tried to call out to his mother. "Mom, mom, please wake up. Mom, please wake up. Please wake up." Rishi became emotional and collapsed near the stretcher. Arvind supported him and helped him to the car. Ishwari’s body was then transferred to an ambulance. Jayaraj, Rishi, and Arvind traveled in the car, while Madan rode in the ambulance. When they reached home, a large crowd of relatives and villagers was waiting in front of the house. As soon as the ambulance doors opened, everyone began crying. Some relatives and Madan helped carry Ishwari’s body to the front of the house.

 They placed Ishwari's body inside a stall in front of Rishi's house. Everyone was crying, and the entire atmosphere was filled with sadness. When Deepa saw Ishwari’s body, she became very emotional, her mind filled with memories of Ishwari’s words. After some time, Ishwari’s body was taken to the graveyard. At the graveyard, her body was lowered into a pit as part of the burial ritual. Rishi's head was shaved as part of the rites. After the ritual was complete, Ishwari’s body was buried in the ground. When they returned home, most of the villagers and relatives left.

  Rishi was more emotional than anyone else. Parvathi, noticing his state, said to Deepa, "Deepa, your husband hasn’t eaten anything since morning. Ask him to have his lunch." Deepa approached Rishi and said, "Rishi, you haven't eaten anything all day. Please go have your lunch." Rishi replied, "Okay, I’ll eat after I take a bath." He then went to the bathroom, and after some time, they all had lunch.

  That night, Rishi, Deepa, Arvind, Shahina, Jayraj, Parvathi, and Ashwin were all present in the house. After dinner, they each went to their respective rooms. Rishi and Deepa shared a room, but Rishi couldn’t sleep, still grieving his mother's death. Deepa watched him, feeling deeply sad for him. Meanwhile, in another room, Arvind and Shahina were sitting together on a bed. Shahina asked Arvind, "Hey Arvind, today I saw your cousin. He was standing near the gate." Arvind replied, "I saw him too, but when he saw me, he ignored me like I was a stranger." Shahina responded, "A stranger?" Arvind sighed, "Yeah, during our childhood, we were as close as friends, but today, the way he acted made me realize one thing: caste and religion can turn people into fools."

  Shahina felt sad hearing this, and Arvind noticed. "Hey Shahina, why are you feeling sad?" he asked. She replied, "It’s because of me that you’ve become a stranger to your own family." He responded, "What about you? We loved each other with all our hearts, and that love made us strangers to both our families. We never asked for anything from them, just their love and support to accept our marriage. But we didn’t expect things to turn out like this. This is a lesson for us: we should never raise our child with such biases. Anyway, we’re here only for Rishi’s mom’s funeral, so we should ignore everything else." Arvind kissed Shahina on the forehead and said, "Now go to sleep." After that, they both went to sleep.

  In the other room, Jayraj and Parvathi were having a conversation. Parvathi said, "Dear, it was hard seeing our son-in-law today. He was shattered. Even during dinner, he looked so upset." Jayraj replied, "He broke down today. This is when he needs our support the most. He needs all our love and care." Parvathi then asked, "Dear, I also heard that Arvind’s wife is Muslim." Jayraj nodded, "Yes, Arvind is Hindu, and Shahina is Muslim. Both of their families were against their love, using caste and religion as barriers to their marriage. The only person who supported them was Rishi’s mother. That’s why they both came here today, to pay their last respects to her."

  Parvathi replied, "But it must be difficult for them to live together without the support of their families." Jayraj said, "What can they do? If their parents become enemies of their love, they have no choice. Love is a basic human feeling. Even if Ashwin comes to us one day and says he wants to marry someone he loves, as parents, we should accept it rather than oppose it."

  Parvathi was shocked and said, "What are you saying? You would let Ashwin marry a stranger just because they love each other?" Jayraj replied, "Of course. I know our children. They know how to make good decisions and handle problems. They’re not kids anymore. Would you really be okay with Ashwin hating you just because you opposed his love?"

  Parvathi responded, "No," and Jayraj said, "Exactly. We’ve taught them everything about life. Now it's in their hands. Let’s go to sleep now." After that, they both went to sleep.

 The next day, after breakfast, Rishi headed towards his mother’s room. By now, he had calmed down and was acting more like his usual self. Jayraj saw him and asked, "Where are you heading, son-in-law?" Rishi replied, "Oh, nothing, just heading to mom's room." Jayraj then asked, "Is something wrong, son-in-law?" Rishi said, "No, nothing’s wrong. I just felt a bit bored, and at the same time, I thought about reading a book. Mom had a good collection of books in her room, so I thought I might find something interesting to read. That’s all." Jayraj replied, "Alright then, go ahead." Rishi nodded and entered his mother’s room.

  When he entered, for a moment, he felt as if his mother was still there, but it was just a fleeting hallucination. He shook off the feeling and started browsing the bookshelf. While looking through the shelves, he found his mother’s diary. At first, he hesitated to touch it, but after a few moments, he decided to read it. He found a comfortable spot in the room and began reading her diary. As he read, he discovered that much of what his mother had written was about him.

  She wrote about how proud she was when he finished his graduation and how happy she felt, but at the same time, she missed her husband, who wasn’t there to witness it. When Rishi bought a house in Mumbai, she felt proud of him but also sad that she couldn’t stay there for long. One of the most striking entries was about his marriage. She even mentioned her doubts, wondering if Rishi was in love with someone else. However, when Rishi got married, she felt she had made the right decision for him.

  While reading, Rishi came across a letter tucked inside the diary. Curious, he set the diary aside and unfolded the letter. It turned out the letter had been written by his mother before her death.

 The letter read:
"Dear husband,
Today, I can’t express how I feel. I am ashamed of myself as a mother. I failed to understand my son's feelings, and because of that, I trapped him and Deepa in a cage in the name of marriage. I feel an immense sense of guilt for this. I failed as a mother today, but even after everything, our son Rishi never expressed any hatred or anger towards me. That made me feel like I had died inside. And Deepa, I feel so sorry for her. I don’t know what dreams she had for her married life, but I shattered them because of my own selfishness. I thought I was doing the right thing for them, but instead, I did something terrible to both of them. From now on, I will never stand in the way of any decisions they make. Whatever choices they have in their hearts, I will leave it in their hands. In the end, I just want to say that I deeply regret my actions. I don’t know how I will ever atone for this sin, and I don’t know how many days I’ll continue living with this pain. But it won’t be for long. I love my son dearly, and I will always say he is the best son."

  As Rishi finished reading the letter, he sat there quietly, absorbing the weight of his mother's words.

  After reading the letter, Rishi couldn't hold back his emotions. Tears streamed down his face as he whispered in pain, "The truth I tried so hard to hide from my mother... she found out in the end. And this truth is what killed her." Meanwhile, outside the room, Jayraj grew concerned about how long Rishi had been inside. He turned to Deepa and said, "Deepa, can you go check on Rishi in your mother-in-law's room? It's been a while now. Please go and see if everything is alright." Deepa nodded, "Okay, dad," and made her way to Ishwari's room.

  When she entered, she found Rishi sitting there, his face wet with tears. She immediately asked, "Rishi, what's wrong? What happened?" But Rishi said nothing. Instead, he silently handed her the letter. As Deepa read through the letter, her eyes widened in shock. She turned to Rishi, her voice trembling, "Rishi... your mom..." Before she could finish, Rishi interrupted, "She discovered the truth about us. I still can't believe how she figured it out. And because of that... she died. I’ve failed as a son. I accepted this marriage only for her, and now it's the reason she’s gone."

  Deepa, emotional herself, tried to console him, "Rishi, you didn’t fail as a son. You did everything you could to make her happy. Even in the letter, she acknowledged that. Don’t dwell on it anymore. Your mom even asked me about it, but I didn’t tell her the truth. There’s nothing we can change now. We need to move on." Rishi, visibly shocked, asked, "What did you just say?" Deepa replied softly, "There’s nothing we can do about it now. We need to move on." But Rishi pressed, "No, before that. What did you say before?" Deepa hesitated, "Your mom asked me the same thing, but I denied it." Confused and now more anxious, Rishi asked, "What did my mom ask you?" Deepa, now nervous, admitted, "She asked me if we were living as a married couple or not. But I told her yes, nothing more." Rishi’s mind raced as he recalled the events of the past few days. "When did this happen?" he asked. "Six days ago," Deepa confessed. Rishi paused, putting the pieces together. "So... that’s why you were upset that day."

  Deepa nodded, "Yes." Rishi's expression turned into a mixture of frustration and hurt. "Why didn’t you tell me this earlier? You should’ve told me that my mom asked you such a question." Deepa, taken aback, replied, "I didn’t think it was important..." Rishi, his voice filled with anger and pain, said, "Oh, really? If you had told me earlier, I might have been able to save her. I’m not blaming you for her death... but I’ll never forgive you for this." With that, Rishi stormed out of the room, leaving Deepa standing there, stunned and emotional.

  Let's see what happened next in the upcoming. Until then stay tuned.