THE STRANGE BOND

THE STRANGE BOND(aparna) A STRANGE BOND

“Anuradha, get up, it's almost noon. I don’t understand, why do you study in the night when you have the whole day?” shouted her Bhabhimaa when she came to Anuradha’s room to give her bed tea.

Anuradha was tall, wheatish complexion, long thick hair and quite social. She was very good in her studies, a computer science wizard. Her parents had died in a car accident, her brother Vinay and her best friend and a mother to her, her bhabhi Sugandhi, had brought her up. Anuradha was fourteen years younger to Vinay. She was in the third year of college.
Vinay was also very tall, fair, and also an extrovert. He was an electronic engineer. Sugandhi came from a very wealthy family, she and Vinay were childhood friends. she was very beautiful, good natured and very religious. She loved Anu like her own child and did not have any children of her own. “Beta, are your friends coming to spend Dussera holidays?” asked Sugandhi. "Oh! Bhabhimaa, why do ask so many questions at this hour, I have still not opened my eyes," cribbed Anuradha. ”Your dear Dadabhai is waiting for you for breakfast, you know he does not have breakfast without you.” "Hmm, as though you have eaten, why take Dadabhai’s name?” Anuradha teasingly asked Sugandhi. "Okay! Okay meri maa, we both have not eaten, come on now get up or else I’ll throw cold water on you” Bhabhi told Anu.

Vinay was reading the paper when his baby sister came down. “Good Morning Dadabhai,” said Anuradha touching his feet. “Oh! God bless you beta, may you get all the happiness,” he blessed her saying this. “Anu, did you know that the circus has come to our town? why don’t you take your friends to the circus? It would be good fun”. Vinay suggested to his sister. “I’ll make all the arrangements. When are the girls coming?” “Dadabhai, in another 2 days, I suppose” Anu told him.
Anuradha and Sugandhi got busy arranging for things and doing up the house and bedrooms for the girls. They would be staying at least for a week. Sugandhi always used to look forward to Anu’s friends; she was very fond of them and vice versa.

She had made a lot of things and deep freezed them, so that she could spend time with the guests. Sugandhi loved people coming over and so did Vinay. They used to have a lot of parties and family do’s at their place.
Finally the three girls arrived and the whole house was filled with lots of laughter and lots of chatter. Vinay and Sugandhi were excellent hosts to all their guests, especially Anu’s friends, they gave her so much of love and encouragement in everything that she did not miss her parents.
Vinay, though he did not get much time, tried his best to spend as much time as he could with the girls. He knew all of them since their childhood. They all called him ‘Dadabhai’, and were extremely fond of him and respected him a great deal.

The girls were thoroughly enjoying their stay at Janki Kutir (Janaki was Anu’s mothers name and Krishna was her father).

Two days later Dadabhai arranged for the passes for the Circus, which was on the outskirts of their town in a big maidan. Sugandhi packed some sandwiches and poori kheema rolls for all of them. Anuradha and the girls were driven to the Circus by her brother who told them he would also pick them up.

The Circus had come to their town after a long time. They were all very excited. It was very well lit with colourful shamianas; lot of food stalls which were all very well decorated. It was a lovely evening, and the sun had almost set. The girls got very good seats, as they had passes. The programme started well in time. there were a lot of items. The first one was the jokers act with the elephant and then came the chimpanzee on a scooter and with a baby in the pram. In the interval they all enjoyed Sugandhi’s goodies which she had packed for them. As soon as the interval finished there was a trapeze show. They all sat on the edges of their chairs. it was very exciting and beautiful to watch. One by one the artists performed their items. Suddenly, the girls recognized the artist who was standing up and was ready to perform. he was Anu’s old friend Shekhar!! They were all shocked to see him. They all knew he had a passion for Circus, but they could never have dreamt that he would be here, because he came from a very wealthy family. His mother had passed away in his childhood and his father had remarried. His stepmother Durga was very pretty, reserved, and had a very hard face. The girls did not know anything else about her. Shekhar used to like Anuradha a lot. they were in school together. He was also very good in studies.

The show was very enjoyable. they all rushed out at that moment. Anuradha’s friend Meera called out to him, “Shekhu Shekhu”. he was stunned to see them and very embarrassed, because of his position as of now.
“Oh! Hello, how are you all? Nice to see all of you here,” Shekhar faintly smiled at all of them, he did not look very happy seeing all of them, especially Anu.
“What is all this Shekhar, How come you are here”? Anu worriedly asked her friend. “Ah!! I will talk to you later, I am in a hurry, please excuse me all of you, Bye and take care.” Shekhar left in a hurry.

The girls did not approve of this ignore at all. Something was afoot, why did he behave in such an odd manner?” cribbed the girls amongst themselves, except for Anuradha. She knew there was something wrong, otherwise he would never behave like this. “Anu, what are you thinking? Is your heart beating faster than regular, after seeing that stud?” Meera teasingly asked her friend. “No nothing of that sort, I was just wondering, what would be his problem? Why didn’t he speak to us?” Anu told her friends.

As they came out of the gates, Vinay waved out to them and they all went home.

That night Anu could not sleep thinking of her friend, whom she loved so dearly but could never tell him.

Next morning she narrated the whole incident to her soul mate, Sugandhi. She was also very shocked and upset on hearing about all this. “Why don’t you find out from his best friend and, “What was his name? Ah! I forgot haan… Anirudh”, Sugandhi suggested to Anu. “I wonder where he must be, I have lost touch with all these guys, and met Shekhar after 5 years” Anu told her Bhabhi. “Don’t worry dear we’ll find out about this soon,” Sugandhi consolingly told her.

Soon the friends left and once again college reopened for the final term. Everyone got busy with their studies and almost forgot about Shekhar.

One day, after college, when Anuradha was returning home, she stopped by a shop to buy some groceries, when she saw someone approaching her!! It was Shekhar, “Oh! Hello Anu,” he smiled at her. “How are you?" “Where have you been for so many days”? Anu asked him. "There is a Cafeteria just round the corner, why don’t we go and sit there and chat," Shekhar told Anuradha.

They went and sat in the cafeteria, and looked at each other. There was love in their eyes, which was speaking. “This is destiny” Anu told Shekhar. "I could have never imagined that I would ever see you again. we had lost touch”, she said. “Losing touch does not mean loosing hope. I never lost hope. I knew one day we would meet, and never separate again, because………I LOVE YOU,” Shekhar told Anu holding her hand.

“Oh! God,” She exclaimed. she could not believe that this day would ever come in her life. she had tears of ecstasy in her eyes. Her only dream had come true, Shekhar did love her. “I Love you too but could never say it, because I was not sure about your feelings.” She told him. ”I was sure about your feelings and had full trust in my love and you.” They were both lost in each other, and were very happy.

“Shekhar, why have you joined the circus?” Anu asked him.
“Ah! I knew this was coming”, he sighed. He narrated the whole story to Anuradha. “I was in the ninth standard when the problems in the house started. my mother started behaving in an odd manner. she had never behaved like this before. I was totally ignored, my father had passed away that year, and she was the only one to look after me. But soon she changed her attitude. I don’t know what went wrong. Just before my birthday, she told me to leave the house. I was shocked. I did not know what to do? Where to go? She just said one sentence before I left- 'Survival of the Fittest'. That was all I had as a blessing," he said sarcastically, "and I have survived. Soon I found out about this circus, and joined. I went through rigorous training on the trapeze bars, and I am now very successful. Strangely, my friend Anirudh has been very very helpful. every month he has been sending money and on my birthday, lovely gifts, of my liking. He is a true friend. He has appointed a man, who comes very regularly and asks about my wellbeing. He looks very fierce, but he is a nice chap. I have called up Anirudh several times but he has always been so humble and he always says- I am not doing anything”.

“So sweet and modest he is!” Anuradha told Shekhar after the whole story. “Don’t worry Shekhar, I am with you now and always will be by your side.”

Anuradha came home and narrated the whole incident to Sugandhi, who was very happy to know about both of them, but a little disturbed about Shekhar’s past. Sugandhi tells Vinay also about this incident and asks him for a solution.

Days passed by, Shekhar and Anu met regularly. Love grew, but Anu was worried about Shekhar, who never looked as happy as he used to. The sadness could be seen in his eyes. Anu wanted to be of some help to Shekhar, but she was unable to think of what to do.

“Why don’t you meet Anirudh, maybe he could be of some help and give us some idea of what can be done”, Sugandhi suggested to Anu.
“I don’t know his whereabouts, and cannot ask Shekhar, because he will ask me for a reason” she told Sugandhi.

One day when she returned home, she heard voices coming from the house. she thought that some relatives or some friends had dropped in as usual. As she entered, she saw a young man and an old lady sitting and chatting to Vinay and Sugandhi.

“Come Anu, meet the guests” Vinay told his sister. “Do you remember Anirudh?" "Shekhar’s friend!?" Anu asked in a shocked tone. “Yes, yes you are right. I am Anirudh, Shekhu’s best friend. Hello! Good to see you after a long long time”.
“Hello!” Anu smiled at him and asked “Is she your mother?”
Before Anirudh could say anything Anu greeted her “Namaste! Aunty.”
“No no, Anu, she is not Anirudh’s mother” Sugandhi told Anu and to her shock she was Shekhar’s mother Mrs. Durga Sen. Anu was speechless on hearing this. She could not believe her eyes and ears. Several questions came to her mind. why had she come here? What did she want now? How did she know our address? And why had Anirudh come with her? Was he also playing with Shekhar’s feelings? If Shekhar came to know about all this the poor guy would be shattered.

“Anu,” Durga broke into her thoughts. “yes, I have been living with a big burden and guilt all these years. I had to play this cheap and dirty game with my Shekhu! After his fathers death Shekhar’s maternal uncle (his mother’s brother), threatened to kill his nephew and take all his wealth. I had sleepless nights thinking how to protect our son from that man. The only solution was to become villainous and degrade myself and save his life. All these years I have lived under heavy pressure and pain, and a longing for my child. After he left home, I contacted Anirudh, and also appointed a man through whom I would send money and gifts to Shekhar, and he was a bodyguard as well. Anirudh not only helped me a great deal, but also kept this secret for so many years. Raghuvir told us (Durga and Anirudh) about your relationship with Shekhar and has been following you. that’s how I got your address and I came here so that, with your help, I could meet my dear son.”

On hearing the whole story Anu and Sugandhi were in tears. they had misunderstood her completely. They were not aware of the true story.
“But where is the uncle now?” Anu asked Durga.
“HE IS DEAD and the dark clouds in our lives have passed away. He died recently, that’s why I came here without wasting any more time”. Durga told them. “Anu, will you help me meet my son? Can you come with me?”
“We will all come with you” Vinay told Durga.

They all went to the circus. On reaching there they were told that the trapeze artists were practicing, so they were asked to wait for some time.
Durga was impatient, as she was dying to see Shekhar. It was a wait of 8 long years, since she had seen him. She was also worried whether he would accept her or not. It was a long wait.

Suddenly, she saw a man coming out of the tent, the man was her son Shekhar! He was shocked to see her and others with her. “Hello! Beta” she greeted him in a choked voice. She could not say anything else, as she broke-down.

Anu narrated the whole incident to Shekhar, who was stunned to hear that his step mother did all this to save him. After hearing the whole story, he was in tears. He embarrassed his mother, who was not a step mother, but a mother in the true sense of the word. It was a tearful reunion.

Shekhar and Anu’s marriage was fixed… They were all very happy.

As they say, all is well that ends well….


Well folks, see you soon, BUT PLEASE DO NOT REVEAL THE END…OR ELSE!!!!!!