Hey Guys!!!!

The ninth chapter of the story.

Happy Reading!!

◤----------------------------------------------------------◥

Epilogue

"Dad!" A young girl's voice called. Bringing Karan out of his musings.

"Yes, Ansi. What is it?" Karan asks as he sighs getting up from where he was seated on his stupid grey couch.

"Dad! Can we go to look at Sindoor Khela?" Anshika asks her father. "Please dad! I will take Aniket bhai with me."

"No." Karan says firmly as he turns to look at the window trying to stop flashbacks, that were threatening to return before his eyes.

"But-"

"No. Even Kabir bhai won't let Aniket go." Karan cuts Anishka off.

"This is not fair, dad!" Anishka shrieks as she storms out of the room.
"And I am going!" She says on an after note.

Instantly, Karan runs out and is standing in front of the door. "If I said no, it is because of a reason Ms. Anishka Anika Rajbanshi, you are not going step out of the room, today!"

Anishka froze in the living room, she had never in 18 years of her life seen her dad so angry.
Hearing Karan's voice the whole family came there.

"What happened, putta?" (dear child) Mrs. Rajbanshi, Anishka's daadi asks Anishka.

"Dadi, I want to go to see Sindoor Khela!" Anishka whine's.
A hard look covers Mrs. Rajbnshi's face.

"If Karan is saying, no. Then let it be so." she replies, her tone hard and reserved.

"What problem do you guys have with this day?" Aniket questions.
Seeing that his father, his uncle and Grand mother, all of their aura had changed on mention of 'Sindoor Khela' and it was not the first time, he noted it.

"Say Mom, what problem is there?" Aniket questions, turning to his mother.
His mother Neha, just looks away.

What could Neha do? She herself was not aware of the strange reaction her husband and brother- in- law had on mention of this day.

"Do you know, Kajal Chachi?" (Aunt)

Kajal Rajbanshi, wife of Karan Rajbanshi shakes her head in a simple, 'no'.

"What is it, Papa?" Aniket turns to his father, Kabir Rajbanshi. "What have you both being hiding from us?"

"Nothing that you need to worry about now."

"We are not kids anymore, Bade papa!" (elder father.) Anishka cries.

"She is right, dad. We get things, you can tell us." Aniket tries to reason with his father.

"No, Aniket." His father said in a hard.

"What problem do you guys have? It is like your elder sister died today or something." Aniket said fed up of whatever his father and uncle were hiding.

"Aniket Anika Rajbanshi!" Karan shrieked angrily. "Never take those words again."

Tears pooled in Aniket's eyes. Never had till now, ever Karan raised his voice on him. Aniket's relation with his uncle was much better than that with his father and mother. He loved his uncle from bottom of his heart and knew that so did he. But he was hurt today.

But before Aniket could move out of the room to cry his heart out. or scream in anger or perhaps despair. Karan collapsed. He just simply fell on his knees.

And first time 18 years did Aniket see tears in eyes of his uncle.
Tears, that were continuously flowing down his face as if a dam broke, behind his eyes.

Instantly Kabir hugged his younger brother to his chest as he himself sniffled, remembering the un- fateful day. The day, 20 years ago, that took his Bhabhi Ma away.

"Karan! Kabir!" Mrs. Rajbanshi moved towards them, "Do not cry my son's. You know she would have scolded you, right?"

"She promised to never leave me, she did, na?" Karan sobbed. Even after all this years, it hurt him like a bit*h. He felt the pain in his heart.

"K, it hurts me too but we can't bring her back right?" Kabir rubs his brother's back.

Aniket and Anshika were frozen on their places. What was it? What made their father so vulnerable? What made them cry like this?

Kajal and Neha were surprised to also see their husband like this. They knew there was something that happened but what, they didn't know that. Very early in their married life they both realized that the brothers had that one secret and they will share it when they would be able to. They should not force it out of them.

"Let me cry, I want to honor her last wish." Karan whispers, he sounded broken.

"If you really want to honor her wishes, then tell your family about her." Mrs. Rajbanshi says. When she gets no response she turns to Aniket.

"Aniket beta, go open the second cabinet, where the wine is kept. Bring the only red wine from there." (son) She orders.

"But Dadi-" (grand mother)

"Do as I say, Beta." she says before turning to Anishka, "Go bring seven glasses, Ansi."

"Ji Dadi." Anishka nods following her Dadi's order.

"Come up, sit on the sofa." Mrs. Rajbanshi tells her sons- Kabir and Karan.

Mrs. Rajbanshi started to serve red wine to all of them. The daughter- in- laws exchange looks.

"Mom, we do not-"

"I know that neither you drink nor do your kids but just this once." Mrs. Rajbanshi handed them a glass each.

Silence prevailed as everyone sat there either staring at the glass in their hand or the ground.

"She was beautiful." Karan mumbles.

"An angel born on Earth." Mrs. Rajbanshi says.

"She never got angry." Karan says. "But she was broken and sad on the inside."

"It is my fault. I was not able to see it, even after." Mrs. Rajbanshi sobbed.

"It is not your fault Chachi." Kabir says.

The other four gasp in surprise.

"Chachi?" Neha looks at her husband.

Mrs. Rajbanshi laughed it was filled with sorrow, "My own son betrayed me in the worst way and my nephews who could have left me became my pillars."

"What Hardik can never be justified. It was all his fault. I know we are responsible too." Kabir says. "But she was an angel, Mom. She could not live in this toxic environment much."

"Wait a minute, I am confused." Anishka raises her hand.

"Me too." Aniket pitches in.

"These two, Karan and Kabir or not my sons really." Mrs. Rajbanshi begins. "I started to take care of them at the age of six when they lost both their parents. I had a son of my own- Hardik."

"He was married. Married to this beautiful girl. But only for two years. She would always work around the house, she did every small and big job with no complaints. When I told her that I will hire some servants she got angry on me, used to say that what would she do if there were servants." Mrs. Rajbanshi smiled ruefully. "She had learnt everything about this house in two days, that is all she took to know us. And look at the humor of destiny, we could even know her in two years. We never knew what she felt, wanted, did and why."

"She came to this house on first day of Durga Puja when your husbands were 23, and my son 26. Beauty, knowledge, art, she had everything." Mrs. Rajbanshi continues, "Do not feel bad darlings, you both are great but not great like her. I do not have any complaints from you both but her, she was too unique. She was a candle, she burnt herself to light our life."

"Hardik ... Hardik was the worst husband. He refused to stay with her in the same room. Came late, left early. Never cared what she did, until and unless it was around him." She continues.

"He used to abuse her." Karan pitches in. "With words and slaps."

The four gasp in surprise. They never expected this to be so bad.

"It was her first birthday, I remember the day. It had been six months of the marriage. And the gift he gave was a slap in front of us, because we brother's decorated the room. And she lied to save us, if that was not enough, he purposely bumped the cake of the table." Karan says sadly.
"She was a sister to me, a guide, a friend. There was nothing I didn't tell her, girl- friends, teachers, fights with my friends. Each and single thing."

"She was a mother to me, there for me at every step. She was always there to help me, with each and every thing. There was no problem of mine that she did not know about. And if I did not teller her, she would barge in to my room, to know why I was not telling her about it." Kabir says. "I do not know how she used to learn about it but never did she ever say no to any thing we ever said. You know even if we joked about having a dish, she would make it if not the same day, then the other time we would have food."

"She died 20 years back." Karan says, through tears. "Today."

Tears flew out of the eyes of the listeners.

"She committed suicided because of my son." Mrs. Rajbanshi says.

The four of them gasp in surprise.

"She jumped into the Havan fire of Sindoor khela." Kabir said, swallowing the lump in his throat. "She had said I quote, 'I came the day you came. I will go the day you go too'."

Tears started to flow through the eyes of the two ladies and the kids.

"Why did she commit suicided?" Neha questions.

"There was some thing Hardik did and it broke her completely." Mrs. Rajbanshi questions. "She lost al her wishes and hopes."

"But what exactly did he do?" Kajal asks.

"We never learnt about it. As soon as we returned, mom threw Hardik out of the house, wordlessly." Karan answers his wife's question.
"Mom took his job and all away, so we do not know where he is exactly. But not in a good place. Or else he would have surely returned to flash it our face."

"What was her name?" Anishka asks softly.

"Anika. Anika Rajbanshi." Kabir says.

"After our middle name?" Aniket asks in surprise. "I mean our middle name is after her?"

"Not only that." Karan says.

"So, is your name." Kabir completes.

"Aniket and Anika." Karan continues.

"Anishka and Anika." And Kabir completes once again.

The kids and their mothers gasp in surprise. "Oh!"
The mothers had never protested when the brother's wanted to name their kids the names. But they had also not known the story behind the name.

"But why red wine?" Neha asks.

"Bhabhi Ma, loved it." Karan says.

"She had asked for this bottle of wine when we had gone out on the ninth puja." Kabir says.

Anishka gets up and goes to kneel in front of her father, "Dad, I am so sorry. I never knew .... that .... this ..."

"It is alright Ansi." Karan runs a soothing hand over her head.

"I am sorry, I pushed you both." Aniket says, bowing his head.

"That is alright, we just had an irrational fear." Kabir takes a deep breath.
"We are also sorry, kids."

"No more sorry. We are equal now, right kids?" Kajal asks.

"Yes." They all nod.

"You guys have given me a wonderful family." Mrs. Rajbanshi says.

"Mom, we call you that for a reason. You are too dear for us to leave you alone." Karan says.

"He is right mom. We love you, you are the only light we had in the cave we were trapped in after, Bhabhi Ma's death." Kabir says. "How could we leave you alone?"

"I love you both." Mrs. Rajbanshi wipes her flowing tears as she pulls her sons in a hug.

"Mom, do not cry, na." Karan whines.

"Yes, mom." Kabir agrees, "You do know that Bhabhi Ma, will come here to scold you if you cry any more."

Mrs. Rajbanshi smiled. And pulled them all in a big whole family hug. 

Her mere thought brought a smile on the face of people.

Some people may not get happy endings but they ensure that their loved one's are never un- happy.

But we should smile.
After all, there are no happy endings, only happy people.

And the most important thing of all,

Zindagi jinne ke do tarike hain,
ek- jo pasand hai, usse hasil karna sikh lo
dusra- Jo hasil hai, usse pasand karna sikh lo.

(There are two ways to live life,
One- learning to get hold of the thing you like
second- to like the thing you have got hold of.)

So, in life be happy and smile it is to short to be complained about everything and cried over things. 

◣----------------------------------------------------------------◢

And that is a wrap. 

Tell me how it was. 

(2185 words.)

--Sxxxxx