Today Sakshi was getting married to Saurabh, The love of her life. A dream which they both have seen together, they were living those moments in real. What else anyone could ask for? Their love has got a name today. Pandit ji was chanting the mantras. Sakshi was looking bewitching in bright red lehanga. Holding hands in hands they took pheras. Everyone was showering flowers and blessings on this beautiful couple. Everything was just perfect. Sakshi met Saurabh in a local train. They both used to travel daily at same time in the morning and both anyways was noticing each other. Saurabh with guitar on his shoulder and earphone in his ears, singing and enjoying some tune most of the times. And Sakshi on her way to office (Sakshi was a software engineer). One day they both got seat together.  Sakshi out of curiosity asked, “Are you a singer?” “Aspiring”, he smiled. “Okay.” “Actually I’m trying for Bollywood. So wherever I see any opportunity to meet any composer, I try to be present there. Also I teach music to kids in a school for survival”, Saurabh extended their conversation. “Okay. Good to know this. I am a software engineer. Nice meeting you”, Sakshi enthusiastically shook hand with Saurabh.  “Chalo may you’ll get your big break soon. All the best. My station has come. Bye.” “Bye. Take care.” And Sakshi moved forward to get down on platform. Saurabh was waiving his hand to say bye. It was a normal meeting but they had no clue what destiny was going to unfold. Now they started saying hi, hello to each other every day and if get the chance to sit then they used to talk about Saurabh’s progress only. It was just going like this. One day Saurabh boarded the train with a teeka on his forehead and a sweet box in his hand. He was looking for Sakshi everywhere and finally he saw her. Making his way in the crowd he reached near to her. “Hi.” Saurabh voiced from her back. “Hey. Good morning.” Sakshi always with a broad and beautiful smile, full of life. Used to meet everyone with a warmth. Such a pure soul she was. “I got a chance to assist one of the biggest music composer today. His PA called me yesterday night and she called me today at their office. I am going there only.” Saurabh was too excited. He said everything just in one breath. “Wow. Congratulations. Very happy for you. Now it calls for a party.” “100%. But before that, have sweets. I’m coming from temple.” He was ecstatic & his happiness was quite visible on his face.  “Listen Sakshi, will you come to my party?” Saurabh inquired with Sakshi. “Yes, why not? You just message me date, time and venue. I will reach there”, Sakshi answered happily. In another 2 hours Saurabh had his contract letter in his hands. The biggest day of his life. He wanted to celebrate. So he called his friends and Sakshi for the party. The same evening they decided to meet at one suburban restaurant. Saurabh met with his friends. All were giving their wishes but his eyes was looking for Sakshi, who had not come yet. He waited for few more minutes and then picked out his phone to call her to check if she was coming or not. And before he could call, his phone rang,”where are you? I am at the location. But can’t see you anywhere.” Sakshi was at the other side of the call. “We are inside the restaurant. You just wait there. I’m coming.” Saurabh answered. Elated Saurabh went almost running to pick Sakshi. Party begun and they had a blast that night. After party his all friends bid adieu to Saurabh and left. Sakshi also took his leave, “Okay Saurabh, I will also take your leave. Thanks for the party. I really enjoyed a lot.” “Wait, I’ll drop you. I have bike today.” Saurabh insisted her. “Great. Let’s go then.” Saurabh took out his bike from parking, Sakshi sat on back seat and they both headed towards Sakshi’s apartment. The road was 5kms long. It took only 15 minutes them to reach there. “Chalo bye. See you. And thanks again for the party.” Sakshi said “Sakshi, will you marry me?” Saurabh asked God knows what happened to him, why he was missing her when she was not in the party, why, when, how… He was also surprised with the tsunami of feelings, he was going through. But anyways it was destined and he proposed Sakshi. Flabbergasted Sakshi thought he is up for some prank. So she laughed and tried avoiding it. But Saurabh was quite serious.  “Sakshi I damn serious. I don’t know what had happened with me in last few days. But I miss you when you are not around. I feel elated with you. I want to be with you. I think, I love you. No, no, I’m sure that I love you.” “Are you crazy? How can we decide spending our whole life like this? We hardly know each other. It is not a movie. How can you be so sure that it is love?” Sakshi intrigued Saurabh and went inside her apartment. Saurabh was keep calling to Sakshi after the party night but Sakshi was not picking up the phone. She was also not going to office via local train. Saurabh was helpless, could not understand what to do. Could not concentrate on his new job. Everything had become messy for him. A week passed on with the same situation. It was Monday morning and he was getting ready for the office and his phone rang. He picked up the phone and what he saw made him super excited. It was Sakshi’s phone. “Hello” Saurabh answered the call. “Hi. I wanna meet you. When it is possible?” Sakshi asked. Saurabh wanted to meet him the very minute but he had to go to the work so decided to meet after office, “Today evening. By 7pm. Shall I come to your place or any other place?” “No, you come to my apartment. Just give me a call before coming.” Sakshi answered and hung up the phone. Saurabh was confused but exhilarated too. Now wait for 7pm was a strenuous task for him. But anyways he had to spend the day in office. So he did the same. Sharp 6:00, he left the office to meet Sakshi. He bought one bouquet for her too. 6:45, he was there at her apartment. Wanted to call her but thought of waiting instead. Sakshi came 5 minutes late from the decided time. “Hi. Sorry I’m late. These days I’m working from home because I’m not well. So I was on call.” She clarified why she came late. “No that’s okay. This is for you.” Saurabh replied while giving bouquet to her. Sakshi took the bouquet and said “Are you sure you wanna marry me? Because I don’t believe in time-pass affairs and since the party night I’m thinking about this continuously. Like you said, even I could not understand what had happened but I was missing you. I thought deeply and also spoke to my mom about this and she said it should be my call. So I just wanted to confirm you if you are really serious about it or just time pass?” Saurabh was gazing at her and for few moments he could not believe on his ears. “You mean you too likes me? I…. I mean you too wanna marry me?”  “No… I want to confirm your feelings about me.” “What does it mean Sakshi? You are confusing me.” She started laughing and said, “Yes duffer. I love you and you please talk to our parents about us.” They both hugged there on road only and Sakshi insisted Saurabh to talk to her mother. She called and they both gave this good news to her.  Sakshi was only child to her parents. They were more like friends with each other. But on the other side Saurabh’s family was a traditional, conservative family. So it was a tough task for him to convince his parents but eventually they agreed.  So it was their wedding day. All the rituals done. “Ab aap dono sabhi bado ka aashirwad lijiye” Pandit ji instructed them. Everything was going perfect in initial days. They both were living in Mumbai far from families. Saurabh was also doing well with his music career. Initially he was assisting the renowned music director but later on he got the chance to compose music. So he left his job. Now he was composing the songs for movies and also started his own music class. Life was all set for Sakshi and Saurabh. After few months of wedding Sakshi gave one more good news to Saurabh. Now they were soon to be parents. Wow. What more they could’ve asked for?  But life has rough patches too.  Sakshi delivered a baby girl. Saurabh & Sakshi were on cloud nine. But Saurabh’s parents were not happy. They wanted a pota and not poti. So they even did not came to see them. Sakshi was all alone to look after her baby and she was finding it a little difficult. So she called her mother. She happily came to help her daughter. But could not stay there for more than a week because Sakshi’s father met with an accident and needed someone at home to look after. So her mother went back. Again Sakshi was alone with her merely 20 days old daughter. Saurabh was busy with his work so he was not lending his hand to help her. Sakshi indulged herself completely into baby and household chores. And result was, the rift between the couple. They were fighting now, spending less time together, arguments have increased, even not sleeping together. But Sakshi thought it is common problem. After sometime things will be on track. But day by day scene was becoming tougher for her. Time flies. 2 years passed on. Now Sakshi was thinking to end her sabbatical and start work again. She updated her resume on job portals and one fine day she got an interview call too. Before appearing for interview she wanted to discuss it with Saurabh. So she was waiting for him to come from office to discuss all this with him.  It was 11:30pm, she was sleepy but waiting for him. Finally he came. Opened door with his keys, assuming Sakshi might be sleeping. But to his surprise she was awaken and lying on sofa. “I was waiting for you only. Why so late?” Sakshi asked. “Arre yaar, please don’t start your shit again. I’m not in a mood to fight with you. I’m tired and going to sleep.” He shouted and headed towards the room he was sleeping these days (he started sleeping in the other room since their daughter happened because he could not sleep in noisy environment. Noisy is baby’s cry and all.) Sakshi asked him to stop for few minutes as she had to talk, “Please listen to me. Even I don’t want fight. There is something else. Actually I was thinking to start the job again. Today I got one call too. So thought to discuss it with you once.” “If you will work then who will look after Riya (their daughter)?” He asked. “We’ll sort it out. School, day care will see to it.” “No. I don’t think it will work. And why you want to work? Do you have any problem? I am capable enough to earn. You stay at home and take care of our kid.” He was not in favour of her job. Without listening to Sakshi further, he went to his room and closed the door. Sakshi thought of speaking to him in the morning. With all these thoughts she also went to her bed, cuddled her daughter and slept. Next morning she woke up a little earlier and went to Saurabh’s room. She thought of spending some quality time together. Since Riya happened they hardly had intimate time together. She could count on finger how many time they made love and that too from last 1 year it almost didn’t happened. So she went to his room and sat on the bed. She saw Saurabh’s phone was on silent but vibrating. It was some Disha’s call. She did not knew any Disha. So didn’t picked up the call. She was keeping his phone on side table, then only a text message blinked on his phone, “Jaan I was calling you to tell you that today I won’t be coming to institute. Call me (followed by a kissing emoji).” Aghast Sakshi froze for few seconds as if someone had rug swept out from under her feet. Dumbfounded she checked other messages. There were all lovey dovey conversation between them. Also few hotel booking messages. She was all shattered. Kept his phone there and came out of the room.  She could not understand what exactly was happening. But now picture was clear to her. Why Saurabh was behaving rudely, why he never spend time with her, why he is always in anger and so many other things. She packed her bag and called her mother. Briefed her entire sequence. Sakshi did not wanted to be an abala naari. Also she was broken completely. Her mother too supported her. She asked her to talk to him straight forward. But Sakshi even didn’t want to talk to him. So she just messaged him, “Saurabh I came to know about you and Disha. And now I cannot live with you. You are cheating on me since 1 year. How can you? I’m leaving your house.” And she left with Riya. While her way to her parent’s place, she was expecting Saurabh’s call. But he didn’t call her, as if he wanted the same. Since then they never spoke. Only their lawyer did. They only spoke once when they meet in a family court for divorce formalities. Sakshi never asked him about his betrayal and he never apologized for whatever he did. Apparently he even did not bothered about their daughter Riya. Sakshi was shattered, her life had taken an upside down change. Divorce separated them forever. After divorce Saurabh got married to Disha within a month. How drastically he changed. Now it was Sakshi’s turn to move on. It was difficult for her to overcome those things. But she had to. Her parents and Riya helped her overcoming that trauma. Sakshi started her job and Riya got admission in playschool. She slowly accepted it as her normal life. Time was passing on its pace. 1 year passed on. Sakshi’s mother was worried about her future. So she started forcing her for 2nd marriage, “Beta you should think on it. You are just 27. You have entire life in front of you. And what about Riya. She needs father’s love too. How long we will be with you? Eventually you will need a partner.” “No ma. Now I don’t want all the sufferings again. I and Riya are enough for each other. I don’t need anyone else in my life.” Sakshi showed her disinterest. But her parents keep on forcing her to get married again. We all are just marionette of almighty. He had decided everything for us. Same happened with Sakshi too. One of Sakshi’s colleague (Pravin) proposed her.  “I know everything about you. I really like you a lot and want to get married with you.” He said “I don’t know what made you think like this about me. But I cannot marry you. In fact I can’t marry anyone. So please don’t make it complicated now.” Sakshi refused his proposal. But it was destined. Pravin was determined. So he directly landed at her home and spoke to her parents about his feelings. Her parents was elated to know his feelings about Sakshi. Now they all started forcing her day and night. Her mother manipulated Riya. Then Riya too started asking Sakshi, “Mumma I want papa.” Sakshi didn’t know which way to go. So decided to go with the flow. She agreed for marriage. “I’m ready for marriage but my first priority is Riya and she will be always. And I expect you too to become his father.” Sakshi said to Pravin. “I understand Sakshi and I proposed you after thinking on all this. So don’t worry about Riya. She is my daughter only.” Pravin responded to her. They both tied the knot in a simple way of court marriage. Pravin’s family too was very nice. They too accepted Sakshi and Riya whole heartedly. Sakshi again started walking on the path of wedding. This time she was extra cautious and alert too. She had to make a bridge between Riya and Pravin. Though Pravin was a good guy and he was trying his best to be a good father and husband. But Sakshi didn’t wanted to leave any stone unturned.  In all this equation building activity, Sakshi got two pink lines within merely 6 months of their wedding. She was pregnant. Sakshi and Pravin they were damn happy and excited. On the other side, Sakshi was a bit afraid too because of her previous experience post-delivery.  3 months passed by, one day Pravin asked Sakshi “what do you think, is it a boy or girl?” “How it matters? I’m okay with either of it. It’s just the baby should be healthy.” Sakshi answered. “No, we have a girl already. A boy will complete our family. So I wish it should be a boy.” It was just a normal talk. But it left marks on Pravin’s encephalon. After few days he informed Sakshi that he took an appointment of a doctor to take a second opinion. Sakshi was bewildered about this appointment. But she didn’t uttered anything. They went to this new doctor. Doctor took her to sonography room and did checkup.  “It’s a girl.” Dr. said to Pravin. “Ohh” Pravin was not happy to hear this.  But Sakshi was angry to know that her husband took her to this new doctor for gender check of their unborn child,”We came here for gender check. Have you lost it? This is illegal and why you want to know if it is a boy or girl?” Pravin didn’t answered her. He looked at doctor and said, “Doctor please abort this baby. We already have a girl. I don’t want another girl now.” “What rubbish. I don’t want this abortion and this is my baby. Who the hell are you to decide this all alone?” “Father. And I don’t want a girl.” They had dire argument in clinic only. But Sakshi didn’t agreed to abort the baby and they came back home. After coming home they fought for hours. “I was right. All men are same. I should not have got married again. Again all the sufferings. I didn’t know you too have such cheap mentality.” Sakshi said. “What is cheap in this? If I want a boy. We already have a daughter. One boy will complete our family.” Pravin responded. From there only their conflicts started. Pravin wanted to get rid of this unborn child. He tried his best to do so but all in vain. Sakshi made it very clear that if he wants a boy then go to any other woman but she will not abort her baby. She had stopped talking to Pravin. His family was supporting Sakshi so she didn’t leave the home and they even helped them to resolve their problems. But things were not the same. Meanwhile he got a good opportunity from Dubai and got selected.  Now Pravin lives in Dubai and Sakshi with her kids in India. They are married but hardly speak. Problem remained forever between them.  Sakshi keep on asking to god about her destiny and her shattered dreams of life.  Penmancy gets a small share of every purchase you make through these links, and every little helps us continue bringing you the reads you love!