Well-written post. Personally, i felt the ending was drab and not fit for the high-charged story that this one was. I had etched out something better in my mind, something that I'd love to share, if you dont mind:
Seeing Avdesh dash to the shed where Pihu is held, Bhauji in a state of panic takes off after him; and by a turn of fate, lands at the scene (Av-PJ cnfrontation) just minutes after he'd spilled her beans. Then the confession taks place in amost dramatic manner...one reminiscent of a Macbeth final scene,...Avdesh is left shell-shocked, while, behind the sheds, unaware to him some goon is creeping out with his gun aimed fixedly on Bhaiyyaji...he inches forward to close in for the kill...but BJ spots him just in time and falls on him to shove him out of range, but the bullet is let off and it hits her on the upper chest. Avdesh-Pihu-Dev rush to her and Dev offers to take her to the hospital...but Avi refuses...in his calm and weary tone, he lifts his glassy eyes to Bahuji's contorted face, and says cooly..."Bhauji, ajj apne hume bacha to lya, par aapki Avdesh Singh Thakur to Arpita ke jaane ke saath hi is duniya se chala gaya...ab hume bachake, apni zindagi dekar aap sirf ek zinda lassh ko chor gaye hain, ziske andar sirf nafrat ke alawa koi jazbaat nahi". Next, he lowers his face towards bhauji, who is struggling with her pleas to not let her die with his hatred, and says, "this is your punishment...that you die with my hatred". Bhauji, in her breathless state, manages a cracked imitation of a smile..."Apko jo bolna tha woh apne kehdiye babuaaji...par meri suniye. Aj hum, is zindagi mein aapko pa naa sake, par agli zindagi mjein, mein apki bhauji nahi, balki Arpita jaisi ek masoom, kathai-aaknkhon wali ladki hokar aaungi...jisse ap apna nazar se kabhi hatne dena na chahenge...is janam mein mujhe apka pyar naseeb nahi huya, par agle janam zarur honge...app sabhai log e prarthana kijiye ke hume narak mein zyada din rehne na pare"
With these words, she breathes her last... Avdesh leans back, teary-eyed, devastated, unable to take in the intricaties of the world before him. Draggedly, he goes up to Pihu and Dev, and apologizes to Dev for msitreating him. Dev-Pihu leave, and as they depart from the screen, Pihu looks back, for one final time, at the sight of the defeated warrior before her.
They depart. Avdesh carries himself out, in slow motion...his feet failing under the heavy sack his torso has become...he gets into the car...as he drives, he gets hit by the volley of flashback...the first time his eye met his beloved's, the way they had held on to each other tightly, the time he delicately brushed her hand while handing her the dupatta, the marriage...the hut, jungle ...Sikha's wedding..everything passes before his eyes in a jiffy, blinding him to oblivion.
Finally, he gets there...the same place where PJ had thrown off Arpita's body into the roaring waves below...destiny (music plays) brings him there, again, for a final re-union...otherworldly, perhaps?
He closes his eyes, trying to take in the fresh air...he gulps for breath, suddenly, he feels a sweet, soft sensation on his hands. A light touch, almost feathery and satin-like in its smoothness...a touch that made him, or rather, used to make him wish to get frozen in eternity, just to saviour that touch. He opens his eyes, suddenly at ease, and sees Arpita standing before him...his eyes grow wider from the previous weary shrunken state they had been... He gets his voice back, and the scene takes place which they showed on the terrace in the last. Arpita draws her hands away, afraid of restoring a false faith in him, to reassure him when she has none' fear shows in her glistening dark eyes; she cannot let go, does not WANT TO let go----of her husband, her beloved, the man that had been her life---no, who had BEEN life to her...life, that got taken away the instant she lost his faith by the cruel poison potion of fate and Villainry.
But she decides she has to go..."Hum jaa rahe hai..".she barely utters..She's Gone. Avi is left standing alone on the ridge, blank and shattered. Slowly but wearily, a faint smile creeps up on his face.
"I'll come with you, "...he jumps...his body flings forward with full force, the gravity taking in his full weight as he thrust down deeper...and then, the fateful rock finds his skull...WHAM!!!
A dark sheet of film covers his vision...unfolding in its devilish drearyness, inviting him into its depths...as the pain howls...he feels them; the demons from hell, they're here for him...and then, everything clears. He is exceptionally light. A faint fragrance enters his consciousness...he struggles to open his eyes but a deep slumber overtakes him.
He sleeps. His lifeless body rolls down the steep slopes till it meets the shore, where the current sucks it in. Up, up in the sky, the light takes on a bright blood-red, as the Sun prepares for the plunge (Its near-evening in my time).
Down, far beyond the public eyes, a bundle of wet cloth is seen floating mid-river...with a faint glimpse of a hand spotted...remains of what had once been the indomitable Bhaiyyaji. AST.
"Hum hai iss pal yahan..." plays.
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