Chapter 13 The Approval

On the way back home, we three had begun having a discussion as to why Utkarsh hadn’t told Saanvi about his relationship with his father. He was sacred of talking to him, especially about her relationship with Saanvi which had made Saanvi upset. Utkarsh had promised her that he was gonna talk with his father soon, but he wasn’t able to do so as he feared that he might not approve of their marriage. After hearing about the situation, I told them that I will talk with Utkarsh’s father on their behalf and get the approval for their marriage. It made Saanvi so much happy, but there were still a lot of things that was still going on Utkarsh’s mind. I assured him that it is going to be fine, that I’d take care of it. Happiness was waiting for Utkarsh and Saanvi. I could see it on her and Utkarsh’s face. The way they smiled and laughed with ease, how they hugged each other before they said goodbye and the way Utkarsh gave a special kiss on her forehead screamed of how love had come calling for them.

“ It’s a deal then Avi, you have to somehow get an approval from him” Saanvi said.

“Yes, I’ll do that, don’t worry I’ll definitely get an approval for both of your sake’s. Talk to you as soon as I get the approval.” I told them.

She smiled after hearing my words, but there was still confliction on Utkarsh’s mind. After we dropped her near her house. Utkarsh asked me “So, how is she?”.

“Yeah, Ofcourse I liked her, she is a very sweet girl who is filled with big dreams, kinda like you,” I said with a smirk between my lips.

“You both will be a good couple,” I said.

“Thanks man it means a lot to me. but I still a bit am worried about Dad, will he also like her.” Utkarsh said stressfully.

“Don’t worry too much brother, I know uncle will accept her as his daughter-in-law. I will go and talk to him first thing tomorrow.” I assured him.

I was getting calls from Aparna, asking me when I would be back home. It had been 3 days now, Aparna still hadn’t returned to her in-laws, since I didn’t want to bother her anymore, I told her to go back to her in-laws. I thought of spending the night at Utkarsh’s house and told Aparna to drop off dad at his house so that he’d not be lonely. She didn’t reject my wish and did as I had asked her. It was now six-thirty p.m. when we reached his home. Utkarsh’s Dad was still at work, so we decided to play a bit on his Xbox till has father arrived. His Dad reached around seven-thirty p.m., at the same time Aparna came and dropped Dad, and immediately left for her in-laws.

Utkarsh’s Dad was glad to see us there. He wanted to spend some time with us after my release. He made us us his special Paneer Lababdar for us. When we were about to have dinner, the doorbell rang. I had no idea who could come here at this time, not even Utkarsh had any idea of might have come at his time. I got up and opened the door.

“Hello Avinash, how are you?”, an elderly couple greeted me with a bouquet of red roses in their hand. At first, I didn’t know who they were, but then as I saw Chhavi and Jaghdheer Mehta standing behind them. My mind immediately recognized them; they were Chhavi’s parents.

“Oh, hello uncle, hello aunty, I am fine, how are you?” I told them with a smile.

“We had come to your house first but it was locked, so Chhavi called Aparna and she told me that you were here so we came here”, Mr. Basu replied.

“Ah yes, please do come in,” I said as I welcomed them inside the house, forgiving and forgetting every insult said by Jaghdheer.

We all assembled in the living room. I was really happy to see Chhavi’s parents after such a long time. Mr. Basu broke the ice and started talking, asking me about everything that had happened since I got released from prison and to me now working at NewsNet. While we were talking, they seemed a little hesitant, since Jaghdheer and Chhavi hadn’t uttered a word since entering. Mr. Basu kept on asking the irrelevant question, until Utkarsh asked.

“Uncle, it seems you wanted to say something, please don’t hesitate and ask away.” “No, I mean Yes, we came here to apologize for Jaghdheer’s rude behavior that day, Chhavi had told me about it, he was unaware of the circumstances. So, we thought if we came here and apologized and buried this matter we could start anew.” Mrs. Basu said.

Without even a blinking I said, “It’s okay uncle, aunty, I knew there was some type of misunderstanding, I am glad you all came here today to help clear all of it,” as I accepted their apology.

“Sorry my friend, I talked very rudely with you on that day”, Jaghdheer said as he came towards me.

“It’s all right, I didn’t think much of it,” I replied “Thanks mate. By the way, I wanted to tell you that you

are really brave.”

“Brave? How? I didn’t understand” I asked him

“Chhavi later told me in detail about you and everything that has happened in your life. Every person is born into this world to face certain types of problem, but only a few of them are special enough to overcome said problems. “ he said.

“You are right, my brother is a brave man,” said Utkarsh who was sitting beside me.

“Thanks, buddy, I just wanted to have a better life now I wish it would have happen earlier, but I’m sure I can move forward with my current one.” I told him

“Oh! It’s good to hear that, I wish you all the best for everything ahead,” He said as we shook our hands. They got up, and were about to leave, I sighed in relieve that all the misunderstanding between us were now finally taken care of.

As they were leaving Jaghdheer suddenly invited me to a dinner party that was happening tomorrow at his place. I accepted it.

After they left we returned back to the dinner table to finish our dinner. After finishing dinner, we were about to head off to our respective room and call it a day when Utkarsh reminded me about the talk, I assured him that I will and gave him a thumbs up.

“Uncle, I wanted to talk to you about something,” I told. “Sure, Avinash,” he said.

“Can we talk in private then?” I asked.

“Yes, let’s head inside then.” We went inside and began the talk, about Utkarsh and Saanvi’s relationship.

“Uncle, I wanted to talk with you about Utkarsh,” I told him.

“Okay, what happened, is everything alright with him?” Uncle asked seriously.

“Alright sir I’ll tell you but first promise me that you will not get angry.”

“What is it that you want to say, Avi?”

“You do consider me as your son, right,” I asked.

“Yes, you are like my older son, what happened. Why are you asking me questions like this,” uncle said

“Well the thing is, Utkarsh is in love with a girl and want to marry her. But he is scared to talk with you, that is why I am here to tell you on his behalf.” I just went all in and prayed that he approved of it.

There was a silence in the room and about five minutes had gone by, at first I thought that uncle would deny their relationship, but deep in my heart I had a feeling that he would agree to it. After a few more minutes of silence, uncle finally stood up and said

“Okay, I am fine with his decision, as long as it’s for Utkarsh happiness,” Uncle said.

After hearing that I got so excited and wanted to immediately tell Utkarsh but as I was about to tell him the good news Utkarsh’ Dad suddenly asked.

“ Have you even met this girl, do you know which family does she belongs to?”

“Yes, I just met her today. Her name is Saanvi. She is a nice girl, very well behaved and well mannered. By virtue, she is from Himachal, but she was born and brought up in Pune,” I told him everything I knew about her.

“So what’s her occupation?”

“She is a journalist, from my news channel,” I replied “Alright then, but first I will meet her,” uncle stated

“That’s not a problem, I will arrange the meeting tomorrow,” I said

“For sure Beta,” Uncle thanked me.

I was happy with my uncle’s decision, and I left his room and ran straight towards Utkarsh and hugged him and said,

“Congratulations buddy, we got the approval.”