The Nidhi Kapoor Story Page 5
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At around nine in the night, Nishant Kapoor finally came back to Ronak, almost seven years after he had left it. By the time he arrived, Naveen Verma had left for his home. Payal and Nidhi had retired to their respective bedrooms.
When Nishant saw that there wasn’t any gathering, any grand celebration to welcome him back to Ronak, he was disappointed. He consoled himself at the sight of Shankar carrying his bags and Malti towing his wheelchair. Since he did not know of the reason for his sudden move back to Ronak, he bombarded Malti and Shankar with questions. Both of them however remained noncommittal. They did fill him in about the murder of the pets. To their surprise, Nishant merely laughed out loud. He did not ask them about the safety of Nidhi or Payal.
Even though seven years seemed like a long time to him, very little had changed at Ronak. The giant solid gate at the entrance, immaculately manicured lawns, swimming pool filled with pristine water, paintings in the hall, trophies on the wall, pictures on the mantelpiece, décor of the rooms, everything was still the same. Everything was still the way it was when he had left. Everything had a distinct neatness and orderliness that was a characteristic to him and his clan.
Nishant Kapoor was overwhelmed. Ronak was his most important possession, probably more important than even Preeti or Payal. But he could not share his emotions with anyone. There was no point. They would just ignore his words as melancholic rants of a madman. He knew he was not mad but someone was determined to prove that he was; the same someone who had tried to kill him; the same someone who had proved to the world that he was insane. Now that he was back at Ronak, Nishant wanted to plot his return. He had to. There was no other way. Nishant Kapoor was a survivor and he would not go down without a fight.
While Nishant was propped up on the bed and was scribbling his thoughts in his small notebook, a shadow flickered across the window that opened to the lawn. The shadow stared keenly at Nishant.
Nishant felt a cold stare digging into his back. He wanted to look up to the window but could not gather the courage to do so. It was well past midnight and no one was expected to be up and about at this hour, especially with the beefed up security at Ronak after the incident with the pets. But if someone was indeed looking at him, was he there to hurt him? What could Nishant do about it? He couldn’t confront anyone for he had limited mobility. Yelling would be of no use, nobody heeded to him anyway. Maybe all this was figment of his imagination.
He stopped writing and was fighting this war of words with himself. It took some time but his curious brain won the battle against the rational brain and he decided to investigate. He slowly folded the notepad and clasped his hands around it. He wanted to catch the unknown gawker by surprise and thus, without making any exaggerated gestures he turned at the window with a jerk.
Much to his astonishment, there was no one at the window. Even the Ashoka trees lining the walls of the house weren’t moving. He was sure that someone was indeed looking at him. It was a struggle to climb onto the wheelchair but with much effort and noise, he managed to do so. He rolled his wheelchair hastily to the window and tried to peep out of it. He grabbed the steel frame lining the window and strained hard against it. He tried to look around but all he saw was the stillness of night. When he finally realized that there was no one, he was more angry than relieved.
In his previous avatar, he would have gulped generous pegs of neat whiskey hastily to get over the disappointment and anger of being wrong, but he had been away from alcohol and narcotics for over seven years now. He did crave for the high but he had no access to any substance that could help him.
He was furious with himself and cussed loudly for indulging his senses like that. Maybe he really was going mad and was seeing things that weren’t there. Maybe he ought to take his treatment seriously. But he decided that he would worry about it later. For the time being, he had a task at hand. To plot his comeback. And plot his revenge. Just that he did not know against whom.
He towed his chair back to the bed and opened up his notepad on the last page he was working on. The shadow on the window was back and was smiling at Nishant. Nishant paused for a beat and without turning around, cursed out loud and got back to his notepad.
Book 2. Moh
“Moh∗ is interpreted both as infatuation for or clinging to the illusory world of the senses and as illusion of worldly love and attachment. Simply put it is the… “…love of and attachment to worldly things and relations.”
∗ Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moh
6. Sometime in the 1980s. Ronak.
Nishant and Neelima’s was a match made in heaven. As if God himself took time out to script the union. Nishant was young, handsome and was already touted as the next big thing in Bollywood. Neelima was rich, beautiful and was trying to find her foot in the industry, and like all other young women, could give an arm and a leg to get close to Nishant.
The wedding was amongst the grandest of the time. A huge pandal was erected at the Mahalaxmi Race Course. The Royal Western India Turf Club Ltd owned the racecourse and since Naveen Verma was part of the managing committee, it was not tough for him to cancel all other engagements and book it exclusively for his only sister’s wedding. Neelima chose purple as the theme for the wedding, a novelty for the time. Everything in the pandal was inspired by the eccentric color. The grand entrance to the pandal had a makeshift fountain that made intricate patterns with jet streams and light. The guests were welcomed by a troupe of shehnai maestros called specially from Lucknow. Expert chefs from all parts of the country were present to create and serve culinary delights. The entire pandal was decorated with purple tulips, imported from Europe. Who’s who of the country attended the most majestic wedding of the time. Jealous murmurs were floating around the entire pandal.
Verma had arranged the entire jamboree in less than a month. He had to. They were running out of time, for Neelima was four weeks pregnant with Nishant’s child. Nishant had initially refused to acknowledge the child and it wasn’t easy to get Nishant to own up to the baby on the way. Verma, however was an old hand at negotiations and knew the art of persuasion as well as anybody else. He was rich and powerful and had connections. His threats and coercion ensured that Nishant balked into the marriage.
Neelima couldn’t have been happier. Of all the women available to Nishant, he had chosen her as his bride, his life partner. She thought she was the luckiest woman alive to have Nishant as her lawfully wedded husband. To her, it meant that she now had an exclusive right over Nishant. All his charm, his attention now belonged to her. Little did she know that she was going to be so wrong about it.
On the night of the wedding, Nishant was characteristically late for the ceremonies. Everyone knew that he had this habit of keeping people waiting but they also knew that once he arrived he worked his ass off. So when he was late for the wedding, no one was worried. However, Neelima discovered later that Nishant was late because he was busy fucking a nameless actress in his green room behind the pandal.
Apart from industry contacts, Nishant did not have a single friend or relative at the wedding. His parents had disowned him when ran away to Mumbai to try his luck in the film industry. Even now when Nishant was famous, his family had stayed away from him. Whatever little friends and acquaintances he made while he was climbing the ladder, he had either left them behind or had cleaned his closet off the ones who could become a liability in the future. His future had no place for losers.
Right after the wedding, on their honeymoon in the Swiss Alps, Nishant talked Neelima into aborting the baby. But the abortion didn’t go well. Neelima lost a lot of blood and almost died in the process. She was recommended complete bed rest for a few months. Her Bollywood career was over even before it began.
While Neelima was recuperating, Nishant buried himself in work and was often gone for long shoot schedules. Neelima on the other hand, did not have anything else to bank her life on and she started dreaming about another baby.
; Even two years after the wedding, Nishant was still not ready for fatherhood. Neelima was always alone and miserable at home. She remained persistent and kept seducing and pushing Nishant for a baby. Eventually Neelima prevailed and she conceived. This time, before Nishant could persuade her to abort, she announced the baby to the world at an impromptu party hosted by Naveen Verma.
Neelima went to labor and gave birth to a stillborn. She couldn’t bear the tragedy and went into clinical depression. Nishant by now was sick and tired of one tragedy after another. He was also bored of Neelima; he had ravaged her in as many ways as he could. He did not lack options outside of his home to indulge in, for his stardom was now fairly established. He figured if Neelima could have a baby to divert her mind to, maybe her depression and other mood swings could get cured.
So one fine day, he came home with a baby girl and announced that he had adopted her. Payal was about eleven months old and Nishant did not give any explanation about Payal’s parents or her background. Payal was a good-looking, healthy baby and Neelima hadn’t been this happy since her wedding. She finally got something to latch onto. She now had a reason to live. She made Payal her life’s mission and was soon obsessed with her.
Life got back to being normal for the Kapoors. After a long and tumultuous relationship, they were now closer than they had ever been. And as luck would have it, the newfound closeness bore fruit. One night, after Nishant was drunk on success and Neelima drenched in the torrential downpour, things got out of hand and they ended up making love in the garden.
A few weeks later when Neelima told Nishant that she had missed her period, Nishant was aghast. He had thought that Payal would have ended all further conversations about kids. He tried talking Neelima out of the second child but Neelima wanted to bring a new life into the world.
Yet again, the delivery was a complicated one. The gynecologist wanted to do a caesarean section but that could be fatal for Neelima. A natural delivery could have gone either way. Nishant just wanted to get it over with. Neelima was resolute. Naveen Verma took the lead yet again and got the best gynecologist that he could find at the short notice to oversee the delivery. He carved a part of his house to make it into a mini-hospital. He did not want to risk anything. Most labors take between 6 and 12 hours but this one took almost 18, as if the child didn’t want to come out. But finally when it did come, she was the most beautiful thing that Neelima had ever seen.
Nidhi Kapoor. Her daughter. Her flesh. Her blood.
Nidhi was all of five pounds; underweight by a good three pounds, but she had survived the crucial first ten minutes after birth. The gynecologist, who had flown all the way from Mayo Clinic in the US, said that it was a medical miracle that both the mother and the daughter had survived.
Neelima was overjoyed. She was finally a real mother. Nishant, on the other hand, had a busy schedule to keep and any child other than Payal was as good as a pest that he couldn’t live with and yet would have to tolerate. Verma was ecstatic. Yet another strain of Verma blood was now in the world.
In just three odd years, from a desolate house where tiniest of sounds echoed in the emptiness, Ronak had transformed into a real home with two toddlers, a caring mother and a successful father. It was like a dream come true for Neelima. It had taken some time to take shape but now it was here. Neelima vowed that she would not let anyone, anything affect accord at Ronak. Nishant inadvertently had other ideas. Life to him was not about one woman and two kids. He had worked hard to achieve his fame and he was not going to give in just because he was a father now.
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Nishant would often come home drunk and reeking of perfume from other women. To keep the tranquility intact, Neelima ignored Nishant’s drunken stupors and his flings. As long as Nishant was home to the girls, Neelima was content. As long as Nishant behaved in the presence of Payal and Nidhi, Neelima was fine with whatever Nishant did at other times.
The two girls grew up together but they were very different to each other. While Nidhi was shy, reserved and socially awkward, Payal was the polar opposite. She loved attention and ensured that she got it. She actually craved for it. Just like Nishant did. At home and in school, she was the social butterfly.
At home, Payal got more of Nishant while Neelima was closer to Nidhi. Nishant would regularly ignore Nidhi and would shower Payal with dolls and dresses and things that young girls want. To ensure Nidhi did not feel left out, Neelima bought Nidhi the same things, but only the next day. To girls of that age, that tiny amount of time where Payal was made to believe that she was superior to Nidhi, felt like a lifetime. Payal was OK sharing her loot with Nidhi but every time she did, she made it a point that everyone noticed.
At school, Payal was a teacher’s pet and yet part of the notorious group of girls that was always in trouble. She was obedient, bright, tidy and everything that a teacher expects an ideal student to be. And she was insubordinate, naughty and mischievous, which made her classmates look up to her in awe and with respect. Nidhi chose to remain silent in class, sit by herself in a corner at the back and spoke only when spoken to first. She was always lost in her drawing book where she made doodles of birds flying over mountains and lakes.
Nidhi liked reading about the world around her. Payal had no such interests. And as the knowledgeable one, Nidhi had an influence over where the two of them went and what they did, but she rarely exercised it. Nidhi could see that Payal was special and craved for her affection and attention. Nidhi would often take on blame for Payal’s mischiefs and to save her from reprimands.
Payal was very happy to have such a devout friend, ally and partner in Nidhi. She thus reciprocated and helped Nidhi when she was stuck. Despite the differences in their personalities, over time, the two Kapoor sisters stuck together and grew thick. They became each other’s best friends.
Things would have been great for the Kapoors if only Nishant and Neelima could sort their differences.
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Today, the spat had turned too ugly. Basheer, Nishant’s bodyguard, had just dropped him home. Nishant was coming from a meeting where a top builder had offered an astronomical sum for Ronak. The builder wanted to mow it down and erect a high-rise instead. When the builder made his offer, Nishant laughed in his face. When the builder showed hints of anger, Nishant nodded at Basheer. It was a signal as clear as any for the 6 feet 5, 130 kgs, more-muscle-than-fat Basheer. He grabbed the builder, locked his arms behind his back and stuck a thick forearm across his neck. The builder couldn’t move an inch and Nishant spat on the builder’s face before he left.
When Nishant reached home, he was drunk as usual. Both on alcohol and pride. Before he slept, he often went to Payal’s room to check on her. Today, when he did not find Payal in her room, he panicked. He looked around the entire house and finally found her sleeping with Nidhi. He lost it at the sight of his daughter sleeping with Neelima’s. He snatched Payal away from Nidhi’s bed and put her back in her room. Once Payal was back asleep, he sneaked into Neelima’s room. She was still asleep when the first blow hit her and Nishant’s belt ripped the skin off her. Nishant continued to belt her and she never got an opportunity to get up from the bed.
Her hysterical moans woke up everyone in the house. The commotion made Nishant angrier and more brutal. Neelima somehow dragged herself on the floor and Nishant started to kick her instead.
The first to reach their bedroom was Payal. She stood at the door, clung onto the doorjamb. She saw her father beating her mother mercilessly and yet she remained quiet. Malti had reached the room by now. She hugged onto Payal and covered her eyes. Shankar was on the doorsill and was pleading at Nishant to stop. Nishant hurled nonstop abuses at him and kept on beating Neelima. Out of nowhere, Nidhi appeared and she ran towards Neelima. Shankar tried to stop her but she was nimble and fast. She draped herself over Neelima hoping that Nishant would stop. It turned out to be a serious mistake.
Nishant was infused with more anger at the interruption. He tore Nidhi away f
rom Neelima. He pulled at her hair and dragged her to the door where Payal, Malti and Shankar were standing frozen with horror. He was too strong for the twelve-year-old Nidhi and he carried her like a featherweight pillow. Neelima crawled behind them. Nishant stammered, “If… if anyone dares to interrupt me, or stop me, he or she will go through the same treatment as this bitch.”
Neelima could tolerate any amount of physical pain but she could not let the monster hurt Nidhi. She mustered whatever little strength that was left in her and stumbled after him as he raced away towards the door of the house, still dragging Nidhi with her hair. Nidhi was falling, crawling, stumbling behind Nishant.
Nishant took Nidhi to the swimming pool in the garden. He was about to hurl Nidhi in the pool when Neelima finally caught his legs. She said, “No… Nishu… please…”
Nishant looked at her and laughed deviously. “What, no?”
“Please Nishu, don’t hurt her. I would do anything you say… please…”
“Anything?”
“Yes. Anything. Please don’t hurt her.”
“OK. Strip.” He said plainly. Devoid of any emotion.
“What?” Neelima could not comprehend.
“I want you to strip. Is that difficult to understand?” Nishant said in a slow measured tone. He was oblivious to Neelima’s injuries, the ones that he himself had inflicted upon her.
Neelima remained silent for a minute but then meekly obeyed. She was in a long tee shirt and it wasn’t difficult to remove.
“You’re so beautiful Neelima,” Nishant quipped and started to laugh hysterically.
Neelima was speechless. Physical abuse was something, but this, this was worse. She was naked and in the open. She folded her arms across her chest. She tried talking, “Nishant… so sorry… please…”
Nishant interrupted her. “What’s the matter, Neelima? You don’t love me or what? Why did you fold your hands? Are you feeling cold or something?”