Arshi FF – Set Me Ablaze – Prologue
Arshi FF | IPKKND| Arnav Singh Raizada| Khushi Kumari Gupta
The soulful wedding Shenai blared throughout the ancient mansion. Hot spices roasting in pure ghee suffused in the air. Puris were being fried somewhere.Vedic chants were being recited elsewhere.
Laddos were being rolled. Spices, masalas, and the lingering scent of a myriad flowers and perfumes hung thick in the hair.
“Di….” Awestruck, a fifteen year old Arnav Malik sprinted into the room and froze to the spot as he gaze at his stunning nineteen-year-old sister, Anjali, decked like a bride.
The room was decked in flowers and expensive silks. The floor covered in plush persian rugs. And his sister sat in front of the mirror surrounded by tens of girls, all laughing, giggling and chatting with each other.
“Chotey.” Blushing coyly, Anjali stretched her arms out for him.
“You look so beautiful.” He ran into her arms, like always had. She was his darling sister, yet today she looked different. She looked like his mother.
“You look like Maa.”
“Do I?” she choked.
“Where’s Maa?” He asked the little girl next to him.
“Is Nani here?” His sister asked.
“There’re caught in traffic….”
“How can they be late to my wedding chotey?”
“Don’t worry Di, they’ll be here.” He grinned. “Achcha…shall I go see Jijaji?”
He’d been teasing his sister over the past few weeks by bringing up his brother-in-law’s name. And like she always had, she bit into her lip and blushed.
“Why do you blush?” He asked with a frown.
“When you marry you’ll know.” She chided him.
“Huh! I’m not marrying. And I’m not a girl to blush.”
“Chup.”
“What am I meant to do once you leave?” He sulked at the thought of not having his sister around.
“Oye Papad ka tudka, I’m not going anywhere. I’m here in Lucknow. Just a few miles away. You can come meet me whenever you feel like it.”
“Sachchi.” His eyes lit up.
“Mucchi.”
Suddenly he heard his mother running down the stairs, her face red, her dupatta flying behind her in abandon, her eyes pouring down with tears and her hands clutching onto a dairy.
“Maa, look at Di….see she’s so pretty.” But dropping the diary in her hand, she ran past their door and down the long corridor— towards his father’s study.
Anjali got up to her feet with a frown, while Arnav ran out to see what had happened. His gaze fell on the diary and he picked it up.
The handwriting within was clearly that of his father’s. Rima, Rima, Rima, he’d scribbled everywhere. You’ve bewitched me, my darling.
“Chotey, what is it?”
“Pata nahi Di.” He handed her the diary.
And then there was a blood curdling scream. And a gun shot.
The music stopped. The giggles, the clutter, the commotion, everything came to a stop. In fact, the world around him came to a stop.
But the after a few beats of pin drop silence there was another gun shot.
“Maaaaaaa…” screaming at the top of his voice, he ran.
“Maaaaaa.” Screaming at the top of his voice, Arnav Singh Raizada snapped out of his trance. His fists were so tightly clenched, he’d cut through the skin of his palm. He heart pounded dangerously in his ears. Sweat poured down his face. But the images of that day kept flashing in front of him, again, and again and again.
“Bhai.” The man next to him placed his hand on his shoulder.
He snapped his head to him and frowned, his eyes struggling to make sense of where he was.
“You had a nightmare again.”
He glanced around, and at his black Armani suit.
He wasn’t Arnav Malik anymore. He was Arnav Singh Raizada.
Sniffling back the tears burning in his eyes, he leaned back into the seat of his top of the range BMW, and saw the world go by.
The Lucknow station disappeared next to him. And they were now driving through the Rumi Darwaza into the heart of the city, towards where the nightmare had happened fifteen years ago.
Yet it felt like as though it was only just yesterday, when he was forced to transform from a happy teenager to the ruthless cold-hearted conniving businessman he was today. All in the course of one night.
Author’s Note
Hello everyone,
Welcome to this epic Saga. This is my retelling of IPK, the way I wanted it to be told. Although, romance is at the core, there is also a crime mystery at the heart of the story. There are several new characters (All my own creation) and the story line is modern and progressive.
My Khushi is a strong willed girl who makes her choices by her will, not because she is forced or blackmailed. My Arnav too is reasonable, although he has his shades of grey.
Keep reading with an open mind. Hope you like it. It is nothing like the original, although it does follow the original plot summary of a boy who loses his parents and is forced to deal with several tragedies till he finally meets Khushi and his life changes.
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