Arnav-Khushi Saga: Journey to a destination called ...Soul: Chapter 2

Jai Singh Rathode had married Saanvika at an age of 20 and they were an elegant pair together. Their calm and serene composure and simple disposition belied their ancestry of Royal Rajput background . Hailing from a royal family didn't make the life easy for either of them but they had pulled through fine with much difficulty which was being reflected in their life style.Their life turned a tragedy when Jai Singh had major setback in his business and had succumbed to the intense pressure. The casualty of the struggle to keep up the facade of royalty was Arnav. Having to send to a residential school in their home town of Jaipur, little Arnav felt betrayed. The royal trust fund which was being held for Arnav by his forefathers, was sufficient only to afford the best education for him.

Reluctantly leaving her son to complete the education in the best possible schools, Saanvika moved to Delhi with her brother-in-laws family.They were taken care by Manohar Singh Rathode who managed a five star hotel.

 Manorama was happily married to Manohar Singh Rathode and she bore him Akash who is a very pleasant boy of 14 years. NK was Manorama's sister's son. NK was a complimentary companion to Akash who were of the same age and got along well. Manorama hailed from a middle class family and her's was a love marriage. Born into a middle class family and wedded to a royal family, she had her insecurities. She made all efforts to match the style and sophistication of a royal daughter-in-law. Knowing her good heart and the earnestness of her efforts, the family stood by her efforts though these efforts were most of the times embarrassing or hilarious ranging from her overly loud makeup, her choice of colours for her dressing and her desperate attempt on speaking English.

Nani was the mother of Saanvika. A serene composure, elegant disposition, strong family values, an eye for detail and identifying people, an open mind ready to accept new ideologies, she was everything a new granny could be. Loving her grandchildren to the core , she was their good friend too.

Shantivan was the new two storied residence of the Rathode's away from Jaipur .
Arnav,Akash and NK came back from school on their respective bicycles .Akash and NK was talking all the way while Arnav remained the silent participant. Reaching home , Arnav proceeded to his room upstairs to freshen up while Akash and NK remained on the first floor talking to Manorama. Saanvika was busy instructing the house helps on preparing the favorites of her son and his cousins for the evening tea.
Akash and NK were driven off by Manorama to change for tea. Later NK and Akash completed the tea, did their studies, spend some time on the recreation room watching their shows and retired to bed later after howling their good nights to Arnav.
Arnav was still trying to adjust to the new environment which was his home now. He was back from Jaipur only two weeks back to his new residence. He had been away too long to have any kind of attachment to any of them except his mother. She had made sure while she was away at Delhi to visit him every month and call him every day. But she knew the pain he might have felt from early on having to be left on his own devices at a very tender age. The pain and resentment simply won't go away and he hid it behind a very hard exterior which he carried with pride. He wouldn't let anyone come near him. He believed if you do not have anything to lose you would never have to be afraid of hurt.
So he had a different routine than his cousins. He had tea and went back to his room to complete his studies, spend some time in the gym ,had his dinner in silence at the table with his mother beside him, heard the Business news and world news and retired to bed. His mother had come to bid her good night as he was getting ready for bed. She tried to ask him about his school and his activities for which he responded in monosyllable. He didn't even bother to return the goodnight from his cousins.
Saanvika regretted every day for her decision to leave Arnav in Jaipur. She lost him to himself. But she was determined not to give up on her son and was also determined not to intrude on him much. She understood he is going to take a lot of time to come around but her patience had no bounds where he was concerned.