Reaching the hospital, the doctor informs everyone that Aradhana was in a critical state as she had suffered from a post-traumatic stroke and needed to be operated soon.
Already plied with debt because of home loan and wedding expenses, arranging finances was going to be a tedious task for Tara. The only priced possession she had was their house. But what'd happen to their state of accommodation if they sold it off as well.
The doctor arrives and asks them to arrange the money as says he'll begin the initial processes, but can't proceed without the payment. Suddenly priorities change and the focus of the duo is entirely on arranging finances.
"Par ghar bechne ke alawa koi aur rasta nahi hai Neel! Mujhe pata hai, Tumhari haalat bhi zyaada acchi nahi hai, gaon ki zameen ko lekar jo court mein case hai usme tumhare saare paise chale gaye, haan case jeet gaye ho par tumhari mehnat ko is operation ke liye main barbaad nahi hone de sakti "
Neel: "Par Tara, Dost kis din ke liye hote hain"
Tara: "Bas bahut ho gaya, ye ghar to abhi aaya hai, koi khaas lagaav nahi hai isse. Maa thik ho jaaye to doosra ban jayega"
The doctor comes out and declares, "I am sorry, case bahut critical tha, Aradhana ji coma mein chali gayi hain"
This enraged her further, adding fuel to the fire of revenge within her. Instead of breaking into tears, she wiped them off and made a determined expression to get back at every ill-treatment meted out to her. She moves to the pedestal at the end of the hospital corridor where an idol of goddess Durga was placed and she bursts out, "Kya galti thi meri? Jo itni saari sazaayein ek saath de di aapne? Un logon ko aise kaise jaane de sakti hain aap? Agar meri takleef mein zaraa si bhi sacchayi hai, to un sab se badla lene ka raasta aap hi mujhe dikhayengi"
The next morning comes and Neel and Tara prepare for their Aditya and Nandini's last rites. They visit the hospital where the doctor instructs that Aradhana should stay at the hospital only on life-support and not get discharged right now.
Suddenly Neel notices her and calls out to her from behind asking "Are ye locket kahan se aaya tumhare paas? Kya tum Shekhawat parivar ko jaanti ho?"
Tara was stunned to hear that. She puts her hand down turns back towards Neel asking "Kaun Shekhawat?"
Tumhe pata hai, jo mere zameen ko lekar problem chal rahi thi, inhone hi to solve karaayi thi. Sabki madad karte hain wo.
Apne niyam aur usoolon ke ye itne pakke hain ki unke aage aur kisi cheez ya insaan ki koi keemat nahi inke liye. Koi bhi galat ho sakta hai par inke baare mein kabhi koi baat nahi galat ho sakti. Ghar ke har sadasya ke gale mein unke pushtaini (ancestral) nishaan ka locket hota hai. Jo locket abhi tumhare paas hai na, kuch waisa hi. Par tumhe ye kahan se mila?"
The last question breaks Tara's trance, she decides to change the topic and not reveal her plan, "Are ye unka kaise ho sakta hai? Koi ittefaq hoga. Ye to hume humari ek dost ne gift diya tha ka..."
He tries to keep it back but Tara stops him, "Nahi Neel, ye to kaafi interesting hai. Kitni mazedar baat hai na ki mera locket un logo ke pushtaini nishan jaisa hai, jinhone tumhari itni madad ki"
They catch the train from Bhopal to Govindnagar, which was Neel's village. On their way Tara puts forward a seemingly innocent query, "Kuch aur batao na Shekhawats ke baare mein"
"Haan haan pata hai, Tumhari zameen dilane mein bhi unhone madad ki thi, pata hai" Tara interrupts in a disinterested tone "Ye batao ki unke pariwaar mein hai kaun kaun?"
Then Neel explains, "Ghar ke mukhiya Rudra Pratap Shekhawat aur unke do bete hain Ranvijay aur Mrityunjay.
Ghar ki saari zimmedari unki Daadi Kalavati Devi sambhalti hain. Badi sakht mizaaj ki hain wo, koi galti bardasht nahi hoti unse."
Tara's hunger for introspection isn't satisfied yet, "Par Neel ye to batao ki ye sab log kaise hain, matlab Daadi ka to samajh gaye aur baaki?"
Neel: "Ranvijay ka kya batayein, choti umar se apne pita ki kaam mein madad karta hai to uska bartav kaafi gusse waala hai ho gaya hai, saara gaon darta hai uske gusse se.
Aur haan, unke maali ki beti bhi rehti hai unke saath, naam hai Radha... Radha ka to kya batau tumhe Tara..."
We see a sudden glee on Neel's face when he is about to describe but is stopped by Tara
Neel: "Aur kaun? Mrityunjay? uske baare mein jaan kar kya karogi?"
sab use pyare hai,
muskurata hai to lagta hai din bhar ki thakan pal mein gayab ho gayi aur hazaaron phool khil gaye.
Par wo kehte hain na gulab ke phool ke saath kaante bhi hote hain,
jaane kya ho gaya ki uske gharwalon ne use band kar diya ghar ke ek kamre mein..."
A calm listener Tara was surprised at the last statement, "Kyun?"
Neel: "Keh rahe the paagal ho gaya hai, usse milne nahi diya gaya kisi bahar waale ko mahino tak, ab to saara gaon taras gaya use dekhne ko..."
The train halts and who gets off the train is a more confused Tara, plied with more questions instead of answers. She spends a sleepless night recollecting what Neel had told her and trying to draw conclusions. The next morning she gets up and takes a walk in the village.
It was pretty early and Tara was strolling in Neel's apple-orchard and there weren't too many people around. Suddenly she heard a tree shake. Turning towards it she advances towards it trying to find out. She stood below the tree and tried to gaze through the branches to find the source of shaking. And then, she spotted that it was a human. A guy had climbed up the tree and was plucking apples. Realizing that, she got alarmed and screamed to raise alarm and call the guard of the orchard "Chor chor chor..."
The thief got scared and let go of the apples, all of which fell on Tara's head like rain. Infuriated she shouted, "kaun hai!!! Abhi ke abhi neeche utaro!!" The thief tried to pay heed, but a branch broke, and he suffered the same fate as the apples, and before they knew it, Tara was lying on the ground with apples all around the guy over her π
LINK TO EPISODE 3
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