17.2 Ranjha's Surrender

Please revisit part-1, as some changes were made from the last time you read it.

@JasmineRahul- hope you like it. Thank you for being patient with me, as I completed this long-pending request.

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The next few days were some of the most memorable days for Arnav and Khushi. They spent almost entire days together. Whether Khushi accompanying him as he took the sheep to graze or him accompanying her when she went to the rose garden to pluck her favorite flowers, they always found reasons to stay together. Without any care.

Or perhaps without realizing that they needed to be careful. Because there could always be an evil eye cast upon their love.

And that had already happened.

Ever since Khushi's eldest brother, Shyam, had witnessed them together on that rainy night, confessing their feelings for each other, feelings as pure as the rainwater falling from heaven, their love was jinxed.

It in fact started on the same night. Shyam had been so livid after seeing Arnav Razdan with his sister that he had marched inside their house and reached for a sharp axe usually reserved for cutting wood for the winters. And that was when his father, Shashi, stopped him. He knew that Shyam was the most hot-headed person in the Anand household and would get angry about trivial things.

But when he heard the reason behind his son's rage, he too felt the same anger. It was his mistake letting that gypsy Razdan boy stay under his roof. He too was going to join Shyam in eliminating Arnav, when suddenly a more vicious idea, a more sinister plan formed in his mind. A plan that would slowly kill Arnav, rather than at once. A plan that would not only ensure that the Razdan boy was out of his daughter's life, but that the entire Razdan family suffered as well.

And it was to let Arnav remain unsuspecting. Let him think he could have this happiness, that he could marry Shashidhar Anand's most precious, most beautiful daughter. And then, once he had lowered his guard completely, strike him so cruelly that he would never recover from it. And in watching him miserable and broken, the entire Razdan family would suffer, be humiliated, and become the laughingstock of all Jammu.

~

It was the night of Herath, one of the biggest and most sacred festivals of their region. Dedicated to Lord Shiva, the festival, also known as Mahashivratri, had always been Khushi's favorite. Every year, she observed the fast with complete devotion before praying for a husband as charismatic and as loving as Shiva was to Parvati.

This year, however, she was going to fast not to ask for that blessing, but to thank God for already answering her prayers by giving her Arnav.

If only she knew the turn her life was about to take, orchestrated by none other than her own father.

Arnav had dressed in one of his finest outfits, though he did not own many, having rarely been home over the past several years. Today, however, he was dressing not just for Khushi, but also for her family. The two of them had decided to slowly bring up the topic before her family first. And if they agreed, he did not care whether his own family approved or not.

.

That was why he had returned to Razdan mansion to get ready. The Razdan mansion itself was buzzing with excitement, with hordes of people gathering there to take part in one of the grandest Herath poojas in all of Jammu.

Except one of their own sons had no interest in staying back.

His father, Arvind, and his dadi did not mind his absence and did not even bother asking where he was going on the festival night. In fact, they were pleased that he would not be around, lest they be forced to answer pointed questions about their most useless son.

His mother, Ratna, did try to stop him, but he convinced her by saying that if she let him go, he would return with a bahu who would ensure he never missed the festival again. And his overjoyed mother instantly agreed.

~

Shashidhar Anand was beaming with extra joy that night. He had known what was on Arnav's mind. He had smirked hearing Arnav subtly speak of his future, promising a lavish life to his future wife. As if Shashi would ever believe the words of a man deemed worthless by his own family, a man who had neither a proper education nor the skills to run a business.

Meanwhile, oblivious to the plan for his destruction, Arnav managed to find Khushi alone, in the same place where they had first met. One of the most neglected gardens of the Anand haveli. She herself was dressed beautifully in a beige lehenga choli, with a golden-bordered dupatta draped over her shoulders, making her look even more beautiful than she was already known to be.

"Arnavji, how long will you keep me here? That too, just to look at me? Let me go please. If Shyam bhaiyya or babuji finds out..."

"Then let them. We anyway plan to tell them." He replied with a goofy smile, his eyes refusing to leave her face. The moonlight reflected off the tiny nose ring she wore, making it glint like a star in the night sky. Except this one belonged only to him.

She shook her head. "No, not like this. We have to wait a little longer, Arnavji." She hoped that once Arnav's so-called training period was over, her Babuji would give him a more respectable position in their business. And then would it be appropriate to ask for her hand.

"But I don't want to wait anymore. You know, my mother was asking me to stay home today. It was only after I promised her that I was bringing you home, and that from next year onwards I'd be home not just for Herath but every single festival, that she let me come."

"What? You told her about us?"

He frowned, thinking she wanted to hide their relationship. "Not exactly. But yes. I mean, I will tell her soon."

Khushi panicked. "Please, Arnavji, don't tell anyone right now. Until babuji agrees, let's wait."

"What if he doesn't agree?" he asked, annoyed.

Khushi remained silent.

"Tell me, Khushi. What if he says no? Whom will you choose?"

The longer she remained silent, the more restless he became. Here he was, ready to leave behind his family, his lifestyle, his entire world for her. And she could not even tell him that she would choose him over her father.

Just then, her Amma's voice echoed from inside the haveli, calling out to her.

"Humein jana hoga (I must go)." she said. And before he could stop her, Khushi had disappeared.

Why did he suddenly feel as though she was leaving not just this garden... but his life?

.

Soon, the pooja concluded, and the guests began preparing to leave for the night. And that was when Shashi's loud voice stopped them all.

Standing in the middle of the main courtyard, he addressed the gathered crowd. "Thank you, everyone, for coming here tonight. My heart is filled with gratitude for your presence. You made this celebration memorable for my family.” He said and took a brief pause. And then, smiling more widely, he uttered the words he had been waiting so long to say, “However, we have one more reason to celebrate tonight.” He turned to Khushi, “Khushi, come here."

Confused, Khushi remained rooted to her spot until Shyam led her to Shashi, holding her hand.

On Shashi's other side stood a family she had seen visiting their haveli on a few occasions.

"I have a very special announcement to make. You must have heard of the Shergil family from Lahore. They are among the most prominent business families today, and it fills me with great pride that our families shall soon be joined by a sacred bond."

Khushi's heart pounded violently against her chest, sensing something dreadful was about to happen. Across the courtyard, Arnav watched in stunned silence.

But Shashi continued, and for a moment, Arnav felt as if Shashi’s eyes were fixed upon him. "It is with immense pride that I announce the engagement of my youngest daughter, Khushi, to Samrat Singh Shergil."

The courtyard erupted in applause as Samrat was brought to stand beside Khushi.

But her eyes searched for only one man. Arnav. And she indeed found him, only to see disbelief, anger and devastation on his face…

.

Khushi had been running all around the haveli searching for him. It wasn't easy for her to slip away from the gathering, especially after that announcement. But feigning weakness because of her daylong fast, she somehow excused herself and set out in search of Arnav.

She found him in the sheep yard, sitting on the muddy ground. His expensive attire was completely ruined, but more than that, the confidence that always defined him had disappeared.

She approached him with slow, hesitant steps and gently placed a hand on his shoulder.

As though jolted awake, he stood up, making her instinctively step back in shock at the change in his demeanor. "Why are you here?" he asked bitterly. "What did you come to see? How heartbroken do I look? How much of a fool I have been?"

Khushi stared at him in disbelief. "What? What are you saying, Arnavji? I... I didn't know babuji had planned something like this. Please, trust me."

He let out a hollow laugh. "I did trust you. And you broke that trust. Now please go. Go and celebrate your engagement."

Khushi wiped away the tears that had escaped her eyes, determined to undo the damage her father had caused. "What should I do for you to believe me, Arnavji? Will you trust me if I go to babuji right now and tell him I want to marry no one but you?"

Her words finally broke through the haze of heartbreak and misunderstanding clouding his mind.

Without another word, she reached for his hand and gently pulled him towards the haveli. They had barely taken a few steps when they came face to face with Shashidhar and Shyam.

Khushi immediately rushed to her father. "Babuji… I- I wanted to tell you something. I don't want to marry anyone else. I- I have already accepted Arnavji as my husband in my heart. And- and I will marry only him."

Shashi stood perfectly still.

Hearing her words, Arnav finally realized she had known nothing about the engagement either. She was as shattered as he was. And it was his turn now to fight for their love.

So, taking a step forward, he stood before Shashi before slowly lowering himself to his knees. "Babuji, I have never bowed before anyone. I have never asked anyone for anything. But today, for the first time in my life, I ask for your daughter's hand. Please bless us. And I promise you, I shall spend the rest of my life keeping her safe, respecting her, and making her happy."

There was stunned silence for a moment. Khushi's heart was pounding so violently that she feared it would give out on her.

And then Shashi smiled.

He stepped forward and gently placed both hands on Arnav's shoulders, making Arnav and Khushi believe, for one fleeting moment, that he had accepted them.

Until, with one sharp shove, he threw Arnav backwards. "Your place is here." Shashi said looking down at him. "On the ground. At my feet. How did you even dare dream of marrying my daughter? Did working in my sheep sheds make you forget who you are?"

"Babuji!" Khushi cried, rushing forward.

"Stop right there!" Shashi thundered before turning back to Arnav. "The day I hired you, you ceased to be Arvind Razdan's son and became my servant. A servant who cleans my sheds, counts my sheep, and lives on my charity. And today that same servant has the audacity to ask for my daughter's hand?"

Arnav got up, with his fists clenched tightly, "I may have worked here, but my love for Khushi –"

"Love?" Shashi laughed, “Men like you speak of love only when they cannot offer status. Tell me, what exactly do you possess that makes you worthy of her? Even your own father considers you a burden.”

The words struck harder than any blow and for the first time in years, Arnav found himself without an answer. He wordlessly looked at khushi, who looked just as hurt and helpless.

“Babuji, please give him one chance.” Khushi pleaded.

Shashi looked at her for a long moment. Then, as though a thought had crossed his mind, he turned back to Arnav. "Very well. Just because I love my daughter–“

“Babuji, NO!” Shyam stopped him in panic.

But Shashi held his hand, “I shall agree to your marriage... on one condition. Bring your father here. Let Arvind Razdan kneel before me exactly as you are kneeling now and ask for my daughter's hand. The day he does that; I shall bless this marriage myself."

Dead silence followed. Shyam smirked, knowing exactly how brilliantly his father had played the game. There was no way Arvind Razdan would ever bow before Shashidhar Anand. Yes, he had agreed to marry Dhruv to Ravikant Anand's daughter, but even that alliance had been used to belittle Shashi, with Ravikant himself proudly proclaiming how "the Anands" had been honored that Arvind had accepted their daughter into his family.

But Arnav had not given up. He just gave a small nod.

And then he marched straight into the Razdan mansion and told everything to his father and grandmother.

For perhaps the first time in his life, he laid his pride at his father's feet, knowing well the man had never once looked at him with an ounce of affection. "Baba, please... just this once. Please do this for me. I swear I will never ask you for anything again. I will do whatever you ask of me after this."

Genuine tears flowed down his face as the rest of the Razdan family watched in silence. His mother, siblings, stepmother, his chacha-chachi. Some with pity, some with amusement.

But Arvind remained unmoved, “You should have thought of all this before ruining my honor by becoming that Shashidhar Anand's shepherd. Or before you dragged the Razdan name through the mud. Or before you spent our money wandering across the country. You are already in my debt, son. I have paid enough for your foolishness. I certainly shall not beg before my greatest enemy for your happiness."

Arnav cried openly, hearing all his hopes die slowly. His mother came to his aid then, requesting both Subhadra and Arvind to do this as a favor on her son. But neither of them budged.

And just like that, his fate was cruelly sealed.

.

Still refusing to surrender, Arnav made one final attempt. Sending a message through Aman, who despite being Shashi's son had become Arnav's closest ally, he asked Khushi to meet him in the same garden where they had first met. He had decided to leave Jammu forever and if she still trusted him, he would take her with him.

He waited there the entire night, in the freezing cold.

But Khushi never came.

And so, with one last sorrowful smile towards the garden... towards the haveli that held every memory of her... he turned away.

~

He wandered around the country for days. Unrecognizable to his own self.

Back at the Anand haveli, preparations for Khushi's wedding continued with great enthusiasm. No one paid any heed to the pale, tearful bride who possessed none of the glow of a bride-to-be.

On what was meant to have been Khushi's wedding night, Arnav returned to Jammu only for a few brief moments. From a distance, he watched the Anand haveli illuminated by thousands of lamps.

He imagined her in a bright red bridal attire… looking as ethereal as ever.

But she couldn’t be his. While he will only and always remain hers.

Looking at what was the window of her room, he spoke to the winds, hoping they carried his message to her, “Jab jo kiya uska koi matlab nahi, jab jo kaha uska koi matlab nahi, iss pyar mein sahi aur galat ka koi matlab nahi, agar matlab hai toh sirf ye ki main hamesha, hamesha sirf tumse aur tumhi se pyar karunga… (whatever I did, meant nothing. Whatever I said meant nothing. There is no right or wrong in this love. If there is something then it is that I will always and always love you, only you)…”

[Image credit to uploaders]

And then...he turned away once more. This time, forever.

~

9 months later, Lucknow:

After months of wandering without purpose, Arnav finally arrived in Lucknow, the city of his nanihal. His mother, Ratna Razdan, born Rabiya Malik, was the daughter of the Nawab of Lucknow through one of his lesser-favored wives. Though Ratna had left the city long ago after marrying Arvind Razdan, her maternal family had never stopped considering her their own.

His nani welcomed him with tears, fussing over how lean he had become, scolding him for neglecting his health but never once questioning the life he had chosen. For the first time in months, Arnav found himself surrounded by affection instead of judgment.

By afternoon, the palace barbers had shaved and groomed him, and after a proper bath, he walked through the mirrored corridors of the Sheesh Mahal towards the dining hall.

Only to come to a standstill. The aroma from the kitchen had made him freeze. Because it was the same aroma that the daal made by Khushi always had…prepared exactly the way she used to make it for him.

His heart began pounding. No! It couldn't be possible!

Unable to ignore the feeling, he followed the fragrance until his eyes fell upon a veiled young woman arranging silver dishes upon the dining table.

And he knew. Even before he saw her face...

Making sure no one else was nearby, he gently held her wrist and led her through a small exit behind the dining hall into the shade of an old chinar tree.

And then with trembling fingers, he slowly lifted her veil.

There she was. His Khushi.

His thirsty eyes drank in her presence. The same innocent doe-like eyes looked at him with shock and disbelief. She had grown thinner, paler. But to him, she remained as beautiful as the day he had first found her trapped in that unfinished rangoli.

“Arnavji…” she called his name in a quivering voice and he momentarily closed his eyes to soothe his wounded soul.

"A-are you really here?" she asked between tears. He nodded.

"I have been waiting for you for so long..." she complained.

He frowned, remembering that night. "Then why didn't you come to the garden? I waited for you the whole night, Khushi. And what about your m-marriage? Did you- did you not get married?"

She shook her head in denial before telling him everything. How Aman had been locked inside a room by her Babuji that entire night, making him unable to deliver Arnav's message. And by the time she received it and ran to the garden, Arnav had already left. She told him how she cried herself to sleep every night afterwards, begging her father to cancel the wedding, only for him to refuse every single time.

Then, gathering all her courage, she had gone to Samrat himself on the night of her supposed wedding, and confessed the truth. That she loved another man, and, in her heart, she had already accepted Arnav as her husband. Samrat, being the gentleman he was, called off the alliance himself.

The scandal, however, spread through Jammu's elite circles like wildfire. And so, to protect their reputation, Shashidhar sent Khushi away to her widowed buaji's house in Lucknow…

Arnav listened in silence. She had suffered so much. Just as he did. Destiny had been cruel to them. But more than that, their own birth-givers had ensured their misery.

But not anymore.

Making up his mind, he took both her hands into his. "Come with me, Khushi."

She looked at him through tear-filled eyes.

"I have nothing worthy of you today. No haveli, no wealth, no prestige, not even a home to call my own. All I possess is these two hands, and a heart that has loved only you." He smiled faintly. "But if you choose me, I promise you this, I shall spend every breath of my life trying to place the world at your feet."

Khushi smiled through her tears, before nodding, "There is no world for me without you, Arnavji."

.

Within days, they were married in a small ceremony witnessed by only a handful of people from her buaji's household and Arnav's maternal family.

And then, soon afterwards, the young couple sailed for London, determined to build a life that belonged to no one but themselves.

Back in Jammu, stories about them became more than rumors. Some claimed Khushi had taken her own life after bringing disgrace upon her family. Others swore Arnav had been seen wandering through Lahore or Bombay, still searching for her. As the years passed, people forgot the truth and chose whichever story they found more entertaining.

.

It was almost 10 years later that Jammu finally saw Arnav and Khushi again.

Only this time, they did not return as the disgraced lovers who had vanished overnight. They returned from London as a respected merchant couple whose business had spread across Europe and India alike. Seeing their success, both the Anands and the Razdans, who had suffered great losses in business over the years, tried to mend old ties, hoping to benefit from their prosperity. Especially Shashi and Arvind, who fell at Arnav and Khushi's feet, requesting them to forget old wounds and help them revive their lost glory.

But Arnav and Khushi refused to forgive them. The tears they had caused and the living hell they had pushed them into could not be forgiven.

Shashi, Arvind, Subhadra, and Shyam were left with nothing but remorse, and misery. But it was too late for them to realize what they had lost while fighting for their hollow prestige, ego, and ignorance. A gem of a man like Arnav. And the once-in-a-lifetime love he and Khushi had shared…

.

Arnav-Khushi’s love story found its happy ending. After all, Shiv ji had heard a sixteen-year-old girl's prayers on Herath. And thus, no one, not family, not pride, nor society could separate Arnav and Khushi!

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A/N – Hope you liked this version of Arnav-Khushi as an adaptation of the classic Heer-Ranjha tale. I followed the same story arc till their separation and then I had to give it a happy ending. I tried a fusion with IPK and Heer-Ranjha, with the hero being a nomad but from a wealthy family and working as heroine's father’s servant and then both families against their love. Hope you founnd it relatable. Please share your feedback as always. Thank you!

Ps. Jasmine, thank you for waiting again. And I hope I did justice to your thought.