"Baba. When people are furious what do they do? Break things? Throw things? Slam doors? Yell? Scream? Punch? Slap? Or sometimes end up hurting themselves?

But how often do you find people who try to kill other people?
Trying to kill someone just because you are outraged, is this how normal people behave?

Yes! Now you would say that she was misunderstood, but Baba let me tell you she narrated an entirely different version of the story to Shekhar.

Now, this is the third version of the story and I don't know if even one of them is true or how many more versions we will get to hear from her in the future. All of these stories can't be true at the same time now, can they? But each time she tells a story we tend to believe in what she says. She has an incarnate ability to tell stories.

Besides, I am not asking her to take any pills. It's only the talking sessions. Please do make an appointment for her as soon as possible," Prabir whispered behind closed doors seated beside Mr. Banerjee, while everyone else had fallen asleep except Bhargavi, who was munching on some dark chocolate and making notes.

"Can't you help her out in any way Prabir?" Mr. Banerjee asked hopefully.

"That's what I am trying to do Baba," he sighed.

"Can't you make her confide in you and tell the truth? What makes you so sure that Dr. Menon would be able to help her when you can't?"

"That's not possible Baba. She will never confide in me because there is no such thing to confide in me. The only probable reason that she has been telling different stories at different times is because even she had no clues to why she did that? She isn't able to recollect or recall what exactly happened at that moment.

At one point, she's trembling with fear and shaking like a leaf...wailing and crying and at some other moment she is extremely outrageous, trying to kill a person, as if she's switching from one personality to another. Even you noticed her...slurry and rapid speech that day. I don't have the capability to help her Baba.

Baba. She admitted to me the fact that...she relished the moment,and stood there unmoved after she pushed Maa down the stairs and heard her screams."

"What if she isn't lying Prabir? When I questioned Nalini why she asked Bhawani to jump off the terrace, she didn't deny having said that."

"Yes! But she didn't admit having said that either,did she? She doesn't remember having said that but when she gets angry she becomes a completely different person who has no control over herself, so she thinks she might have said that."

Suddenly the door flung open and Bhargavi entered the room quizzing,
"Is Bhawani here?"

"Missing again?" Prabir asked a bit annoyed.

"Yeah! I'll check the terrace," she said and swiftly walked away.

Searching for her everywhere in the house, they couldn't find her. "The backyard," screamed Prabir all of a sudden.

They found her swinging to and fro in the backyard, in the dark with her hair flowing with the fast blowing wind. Relieved Bhargavi clutched her chest.

"How did you know she'll be in the backyard and she'll love to swing at this hour...in the middle of the night?" Bhargavi questioned. They heard her loud ringing laughter in complete darkness and Mr. Banerjee felt a shiver down his spine.

A chill flowed down Bhargavi's spine as well. "Is she really turning insane Prabir?" She asked in soft whispers.

Then they saw her speak to someone invisible. "An imaginary friend? At this age?" Bhargavi asked astonished.

"She's speaking to herself. She's in a different world now. And I am damn sure, she won't be able to recall any of this in the morning," Prabir sighed.

"From what we all know... she's afraid of darkness and there she is. Baba you want me to explain further or will you make an appointment with Dr. Menon?" He added a bit frustrated before walking towards the sofa and slumping down.

Mr. Banerjee and Bhargavi followed him slowly.
"Bhargu. I need your help," Prabir stated, waiting for them to sit down.

"The day you left home, I mean the day you were stabbed, a lot changed in her Bhargu. She was unable to bear the fact that you too could abandon her. You remember what Maa told?

Bhawani used to lock herself up in her room and stay in complete darkness. I had never seen her so dull and lifeless before.

Then even Maa told her all the things, she shouldn't have and that...was the final blow," Prabir said agonized. 

"Why didn't she tell you about Ishaan... whatever she told Shekhar?" Bhargavi asked hesitantly.

Laughing, he asked in return," You think I would trust her grim tale? At least she was clever enough in a way to know, I never would.

I used to drop her at Ishaan's place Bhargu. The caretaker woman would always be there. I have myself spoken to her many times. What Bhawani is telling can't be true. She's blaming her own ineptitude and failures on Ishaan.

To tell you the truth, now that I have been helping her with her studies I understand she's unable to concentrate and focus on anything at all. While Mayank quickly grasps the concept, I sometimes have to repeat the same thing thrice for her."

"Then we should meet Ishaan to find out what exactly happened," Bhargavi suggested.

"I already met him Bhargu."

"When? Why didn't you tell me?"

"I wanted to keep you away from all worries considering your mental state Bhargu.

I met Ishaan at a small restaurant, near his house right after the day you were stabbed. Bhawani seemed so downcast, my only intention was to help her.

However, what surprised me was that Bhawani was present at that moment in the restaurant, hiding her face behind the menu card. Possibly, she had been following Ishaan all own her own to beg for his forgiveness. Had she asked me to drop her at Ishaan's place, I would have come across the truth.

He told me that Bhawani is completely delusional, she thinks someone is spying on her and that at times she lost touch from reality. She told him that she tried to smother his mother because she heard a man's voice asking her to do it.

Extremely distressed to be on the receiving end of this, I couldn't care less and walked out. I didn't ...rather couldn't believe any of it.

As I left he handed me the phone number of the caretaker women, present at the time of the incident, who had stopped Bhawani from hurting Ishaan's mother. Ishaan told me that even he didn't believe at first that Bhawani could do something like this.

Something might have happened between them after I left that day, which could explain his current behavior towards me."

"Did you call that woman?"

"Not until you informed me that Bhawani had pushed Maa down the stairs deliberately."

"And what did she say?"

"All of a sudden Bhawani was aggressively trying to smother Ishaan's mother and she was badly hurt in the process of trying to protect her."

They all fell silent noticing Bhawani walk in slowly and lock the door. She then ran upstairs placing her hands on her ears blocking them.

"Is she listening to some voices in her head?" Bhargavi questioned in a hushed voice.

"Yes! The voices won't stop until she does what she's asked to do. She's schizophrenic. I'll speak with Dr. Menon, she needs the right medications before things go beyond our control," Mr. Banerjee stated softly. 

"Bhargu. She trusts whatever you say. When you warned her to stay away from Ishaan, she turned him into some villain in her head unconsciously, without any fault of his. Now, you need to fix this. A person you hate, or who treats you badly is no doubt a villain for her.

My ordinary hunch tells me that Ishaan isn't a bad guy, but you must have some evidence against him to tell so confidently that he isn't the right person for Bhawani. What is it may I ask?"

"Growing up in the midst of the harshest of situations, he is a prime example of having the most hellish experience of the forever damaged. 

Yes! His father passed away two years ago, due to a cardiovascular disease as we all know and after that none of his relatives helped him with the finances but what we don't know is... he has had a terrible childhood.

His mother had given birth to a still born child and then she had turned almost insane. He has never been loved by either of his parents.

His father was extremely abusive, a much grander version of Maa, I must say. His father  insulted and humiliated him before his own friends, as well as Ishaan's friends and classmates. From what his neighbors told me, he would remove all clothing from Ishaan's body and turn him outside on the streets... in the cold, naked even when he was almost a teenager,twelve or thirteen years old.

Ishaan is almost like a hungry black hole trying to fill in his emotional needs and is ready to give back nothing in return.

He needs a strong, indifferent and unemotional type of person who isn't bothered with emotional issues. Bhawani isn't a person who can love selflessly with no expectations.

Both Bhawani and Ishaan are emotionally unstable. Ishaan is not in a mental state to empathize with Bhawani or understand her problems," Bhargavi stated morosely. "Ishaan never left home and endured all of it because he loves his mother. He couldn't abandon her. How do you expect him to behave with Bhawani, after knowing that she tried to kill his mother?"

Holding his head in his hands, Mr. Banerjee sat down resigning to the present circumstances, unable to think or say anything.

"Baba.Please don't worry! She'll be alright. I think Bhargu should spend more time with her.

Medication is not a cure, though it might be able to cure some of the symptoms such as delusions, paranoia and disordered thinking but she will have to put up with the disabling side effects - drowsiness, lack of energy, weight gain, muscular cramps.

We need to redirect her to accomplish her life goals. We will support her as best as we can. Though obviously I am not against any treatment plans suggested by a doctor if it helps bring out positive changes that helps her have a better life," Prabir mumbled sitting on the floor at Mr. Banerjee's feet, grabbing his wrists.

"Prabir. When Bhawani saw you meeting Ishaan in the restaurant. How did she confirm that you believed in what he said? Why didn't she try to justify herself then and there?" Bhargavi quizzed puzzled, with her arms crossed across her chest.

"Good question. I wasn't angry, or sad or even disappointed, mostly I was shocked.

I didn't stand up and yell, 
" What rubbish are you talking about? Or how dare you?" 

Even as I left, we were speaking to each other in a civilized manner, as he handed me the piece of paper with the phone number on it.

Had I not believed in what he said, I should have been outrageous and held him by his collar, she must have assumed ...as he was accusing her of homicide," Prabir replied casually.

"I see," she remarked after a serious consideration of wider possibilities.

After checking on Parul and Bhawani both sleeping peacefully, for the rest of the night Bhargavi stared at the ceiling, unable to sleep wondering, how happy she had been the previous night before going to bed.

Mr. Banerjee made a mental note to meet Dr. Menon in person the next day before going to bed. He was still strangely and incredibly stupefied. Could a man really strip off the clothes of his own son and throw him out on the streets? He couldn't comprehend, what kind of madness the person possessed. Wearied and tired he soon drifted off to sleep.

Pinning out a huge canvas, on his drawing board, Prabir started painting the portrait of Ziko, downstairs in the kitchen.