Once upon a time….I was a movie star….

What can a woman who seemingly has everything in life, name, fame, money, looks possibly lack? A woman who is a name to reckon with in her chosen field and has people falling over each other to grab her attention, to catch her eye. She can do pretty much what she wants and when she wants, something that most people can only dream of doing. In her case all her dreams have been realised. She has reached where she wanted to. She is a star in a galaxy which has many others but she is the brightest. She can brighten up the lives of others but what about her own life? Is it as bright, as happy as it seems to be?

Raveena Kapoor, the heroine of this story was born to an extremely ambitious mother, Rama Kapoor who had aspired to be a star in her time but had not been able to make a name for herself. She had had to reconcile to just being an extra who got called whenever there was work which wasn’t very often. Her husband had deserted her once he had realised that the child they had wanted to have was a girl. Since he didn’t want any more responsibility in his life he had walked out on them. So Rama just recovering from child birth had had to face a life of extreme adversity and poverty. She had to run from pillar to post to earn enough to support herself and her daughter. Many times she had  to sleep on an empty stomach because there was no food in the house. But what got to her was to see her little daughter crying her gut out for want of milk. It angered her to a point where she wanted to kill the perpetrator of this misery. But of course he was not to be found anywhere. Many times she would end  up crying herself. But whatever she did there was no end in sight to their misery, maybe that was how it was meant to be.

She could be anything but being a defeatist was not who Rama was. She was a fighter and was not the kinds to give up. So she begged, borrowed, worked whenever she could to keep her head above water. She was determined that her daughter would never have to face what she had had to. She  would rule the world.

And the only way she could do that she knew was by getting into the world of showbiz, the world of movies.

So from the time Raveena came of age, her mother started pushing her to learn how to sing, dance and act. Though Raveena hated the idea of performing in front of others, sometimes even strangers, she had no choice but to give in. Her mother would force, cajole, persuade till Raveena gave up and gave in. For Rama acquiring these skills were far more important than any kind of education. So therefore she never encouraged her daughter to focus on her academics or anything related. Her focus had to be on the extracurriculars in school. There wasn’t a single event that could be missed. It was something like a duty for Raveena to keep track of all such events in school and make sure that she was a part of them. And if by chance Raveena was unable to do that Rama would give her hell. She would go to the extent of harassing her teachers, getting after them to include her in everything. Her actions would many times embarrass her daughter but there was no way that Rama was going to give up. She was clear in her head about what she wanted and there was no way that she was going to get stopped.

For Raveen there was  no choice but to listen to her mother, but there were times when she wished she could run away from her oppressive surroundings and be somewhere where she could breathe easily and freely. She longed for days and times when her mother would not be around but that didn’t happen very often.

Life continued in this fashion and soon Raveena was on the verge of finishing school. She was 17 by then, an age when she was young and beautiful. She had always been very good looking but now with youth also on her side she was glowing. And her mother wanted to exploit this to the fullest possible extent. She forced her to go with her and do the rounds of film studios, meet producers, directors, heroes, whoever could help in pushing her career in movies. Raveena hated sucking upto them, especially the horrible, lecherous ones whose  leering looks were enough to make her flesh crawl. The worst was when they tried to touch her  or get close to her, in a seemingly accidental manner. It sickened her and she could never understand how despite being a woman her mother could not see through all of that. But with time it dawned on her that her mother could see but chose to ignore because she wanted her to make a name in the tinsel town by hook or by crook. It disgusted Raveena no end but again there was no choice. Her mother didn’t mind sending her alone with these people as long as she got what was intended.

One day was particularly horrible. She and her mother had gone to visit a producer in his office. After a few minutes of casual chit chat her mother told her to wait there as she had to run a few errands. Before she could react her mother had walked out of the door leaving her with a 60 something sleaze ball who just couldn’t stop ogling at her. Now Raveena could do pretty much everything for her mother but sitting with that slimy old rat was not one of those. The moment Rama left Raveena could sense that the oldie was going to try and get close to her. Before he could even attempt to do that Raveena ran out of the room and the office. And for obvious reasons the man couldn’t follow her. Seeing her rush out like that the chowkidar, whose name was Bhola figured what the issue was. Taking pity on her he advised her to stay away from the producer who he knew to be not only a womaniser but someone who was involved in supplying girls to the rich. The man had been working with the producer for several years and knew him inside out. He had also known Rama for a long time and  could understand what she was trying to do. He had been seeing the two of them visit the producer many times in the last six months. He told her categorically that there was no way that he was going to help Raveena in any way. He was only going to use her and then throw her. Therefore he advised her to stay away from him.

Raveena’s gut had made her flee from the place and now the chowkidar’s words confirmed what she felt. She was glad she had taken the decision to leave before the situation got out of hand. She knew her mom would give her hell but she  knew that she would  be able to deal with it. For now she had to get away but then she suddenly realised that she had no money on her. Her mom never gave her even a penny so how was she going to get home. She decided to borrow some from Bhola who lent her enough for her to take the bus to go home.

When she reached home she was horrified to see her mom sitting and having tea. What about her errands that had been so sudden and so urgent? She wanted to ask her mother why she had left her there. She was livid with her. She had always known her mother to be pushy and over bearing but had never expected her to betray her confidence in this way. In a way the interaction with Bhola had opened Raveena’s eyes to what her mother really wanted. It disgusted her, sickened her and she knew that she would never agree to what her mother wanted her to do. But she also wanted to know what her mother had to say about why she had left her with that sleaze ball.  But before she could say anything her mother saw her come in and asked her, her voice full of concern as to how come she was home so early. Raveena  looked at her with and expression full of incredulity and disgust. She was furious with her but decided to go to her room to cool off. Now it wasn’t as if they lived in a palace where they could stay away from each other for too long. After a few hours she had to step out for her meal which her mother had cooked. She didn’t want to touch the food but knew that if she behaved in this way her mother would get after her. And as a last resort if movies was the only career option for her, she knew that she didn’t want to go about it in the manner her mother wanted her to.  It was all very confusing and so she decided to sleep over it.

And then all of a sudden her mother came charging into the room screaming and shouting . For a moment Raveena was taken aback but then she realised what had happened. Her mother had got to know that she had run  away from the producer’s office and as a result now he was angry with them and so obviously would not oblige them. Raveena kept listening and then she decided that she wasn’t going to listen anymore. She started shouting back at her mother telling her that she knew what exactly she wanted her to do. She told her mother that she no longer trusted her and would never accompany her anywhere. She wasn’t interested in getting a role and would rather go ahead and join college or pick up a job somewhere. She made it clear that she wasn’t prepared to compromise in any way. Seeing Raveena react in such a volatile manner shocked Rama because she had never seen her react this way ever. She was smart enough to realise that there was no point in getting after her daughter any more.

She walked out of the room wondering how she would deal with the situation. But she knew that for now it was best to keep quiet. The next day she woke up having decided that she would not rake up the issue again and let things cool down a bit. But then to her surprise she saw Raveena all set to step out of the house. On asking where she was going, she got no answer and Raveena just walked out. Rama was dying to know where she was headed but realised that she wouldn’t be able to get an answer.

The thing was that Rama had always kept her daughter isolated from the rest of the world and as a result the girl had no friends. Even if she had ever tried to make some it had never happened because her mother had somehow never allowed any one to come close to her. But despite all that Raveena had manged to befriend Saba who lived just a few streets away. They had studied in the same school where Saba had been her senior. They had bumped into each other in school and many times had come back together. They  had become good friends and shared many things with each other. Though they could never meet on a regular basis still they had a bond. Saba had finished college and was now working in a school. Somewhere Raveena had always admired her and wanted to be like her. She too harboured the ambition of studying further and teaching in a school.  And although Rama knew about Saba  she didn’t know how close the two girls were. And she had no idea where she lived. Taking advantage of that Raveena decided to go to Saba’s house and consult her on what she could do.

She walked out of the house and reached Saba’s house but on reaching there realised that she was at work. But her mother was there who also knew Raveena.  She sensed that Raveena seemed disturbed and so  she invited her to sit and wait for Saba to get back. Saba’s mother was a very nice and pleasant person. She offered Raveena a cup of tea and then they got talking. And when they did Raveena couldn’t help but share the details of what had happened the previous day and all other days before that . Saba’s mother was quite shocked at  Raveena’s revelations. She couldn’t comprehend as to how a mother could do that to her daughter. She offered a lot of solace and comfort to Raveena. Meanwhile Saba came back from school and joined in the conversation. Raveena spent the rest of the day with them and went back only in the evening. Rama was hugely relieved to see her but though she tried to find out where she had been, Raveena refused to tell her anything. This continued for the next few days. Raveena would leave in the morning, go to Saba’s house ,spend time with her mother and then keep sitting there till Saba got back. Saba had promised to help her get admission in a college. With her help Raveena was able to apply to a few colleges and was hopeful of securing admission somewhere.

But of course this wasn’t meant to last forever. Eventually Rama lost patience and one day decided to follow her daughter to know what she was upto. And as was obvious she realised that she was visiting a friend. Though she didn’t confront her daughter at that time but once Raveena reached home all hell broke loose. The mother and daughter had a huge showdown with both of them sticking to their stands. If Rama was stubborn her daughter was no less. She refused to listen to her mother and refused to accompany her for anymore visits to studios or anywhere else. And no matter how hard her mother tried to convince her she just wouldn’t listen. Raveena was clear that she wanted to study further and was not going to relent whatsoever. Ultimately Rama had to relent and  as a result Raveena was able to join college much to her delight and relief. The next two years went off as per Raveena’s wishes and she could lead the life of a normal girl. But Rama was burning with ambition for her daughter and was just biding her time. Though on the face of it she had relented but whenever she got the opportunity she kept telling Raveena how difficult it had been for her to bring her up and how she was waiting for her daughter to make it big in life. Though she wouldn’t say anything directly to Raveena she kept trying to take her on a guilt trip believing that she would ultimately give up. It was a battle of wits and Rama was sure that she would win eventually. Whenever Raveena talked about taking up a teaching job Rama would start lamenting about how her daughter had such low standards in life with no ambition or aspiration. She would get these glossy magazines and show pictures of stars and their lives to her. She would never say anything directly but would keep talking about how vital money was for success in life and how much she had struggled to earn it during her lifetime but to no avail. She would not forget to curse her ex-husband and how he was responsible for all the misery in her life.

Now Raveena was no fool but somewhere she was a soft hearted person and so slowly and gradually her mother’s words started to get to her and she started feeling guilty about disappointing her and shattering her dreams. Though she wanted to follow her heart but somewhere her mother’s ambition took over and she started identifying with her dreams. She started feeling that as a daughter it was her duty to take care of her mother and her desires. Since her mother had sacrificed so much for her she needed to pay back and not be selfish. So slowly but surely her mother’s expectations took over her desires and she started considering a career in movies. Of course when Rama got to know about it her joy knew no bounds. She knew that her relentless persuasion and tenacity had paid off. And before Raveena could change her mind she took her to meet an upcoming director who was looking for a heroine for his new movie. Though he wasn’t a big name, Rama had seen enough of people in the movie world to understand how it functioned. She had a gut feeling that his movie would be a hit. She also had full faith in her daughter’s abilities and looks and knew that the director would find it difficult to refuse the role to her.

As expected he liked Raveena, he took a screen test ,she sailed through it and lo and behold she had got her first break. She was paired opposite a newcomer but since the movie had a woman centric theme and her acting was exceptional the movie did phenomenally well at the box office and  before anyone knew it Raveena Kapoor had become a star. Producers were lining up to sign her, media was going crazy about her and fans were dying to set eyes on her. That one break had done wonders for her and she had become a star and the happiest was her mother for whom it was the culmination of her dreams.

All the name and fame meant that the mother-daughter suddenly had a lot of money. They moved from their modest home to a palatial apartment in one of the posh areas of the city. They had cars, properties, jewellery, all the trappings that money could buy. And of course all of Raveena’s dreams of becoming a school teacher flew out of the window. But the dreams notwithstanding the girl did not forget the friend who had come to her aid when she wanted her help. Though Rama wanted her daughter to snap all ties with the past there was no way that Raveena was going to forget Saba or her mother. Despite  her work being very demanding, involving a lot of travel she continued to keep in touch with Saba visiting her as often as she could.

Raveena was rich , she was famous and happy to see her mother happy. She loved to see her mother enjoy her life. She wanted her to spend as much money as she wanted, travel to places she wanted and do whatever she wanted in life. It made her feel good to know that she had been able to bring happiness in her mother’s life. She was a hardworking girl and so never refused work or asked for a break. She worked all seven days and did double or triple shifts if she had to. And before she knew, it had been three years since she had been working. It had  been a fruitful three years and she had minted money in the time period. Though she enjoyed her work, she did get fed up of it at times and wanted a break. It had been three years since she had taken one. Though she was minting money and could afford all the luxuries of life , she had no time to enjoy them. There were many days when she wanted to stay at home, curl up in bed with her favourite book but there was never any time for it. She wanted to go on a holiday but there was no time. She wanted to cut down on work and take some time off but couldn’t. Whenever she broached the topic with her mother, she would agree with her but would never do anything about it.

One trait that Rama possessed and which her daughter had no clue about was the fact that she was an extremely greedy woman who wanted to amass as much money and as many assets as possible. She loved buying properties, jewellery, stocks, anything that could increase her net worth. Maybe it was the result of her past but her greed knew no limits. And another thing was that she wanted all that for herself and did not care much about how hard her daughter had to work for that. If in her relentless pursuit of wealth her daughter’s life had to be sacrificed it didn’t really matter. So therefore though Raveena pleaded with her to stop taking signing amounts from producers so that she could take a break, she didn’t listen. Rama was not at all concerned about Raveena’s future as well. She never tried to find out about what her daughter wanted. Whether she wanted to get married or stop working, nothing at all. For Rama, Raveena was a machine which was meant to earn for her and that’s it.

But of course Raveena did have some aspirations . She didn’t know how much money she had, she didn’t have facts  and figures to tell her what she was worth but she did know that she earned a lot. They  lived in a big house, they had an army of servants, a fleet of cars, her mother wore the best of clothes and led a luxurious life. Somewhere Raveena started feeling that she had given her mother what she wanted and so could relax now. She dreamt of waking up one day when she wanted to with no rush to go anywhere. She now craved for a life which was free from studios, light, camera and action. She was tired of working so hard and with no break. She too wanted to enjoy the money that she had so painstakingly earned. Many times  she wondered why in spite of being the heart throb of millions she didn’t have someone who she could love and who in turn could love her. She was almost 30 years old and had never had a serious relationship. Why and how come?

But in spite of wanting Raveena couldn’t get a break or respite from her life. She was like a labourer who had to go to work everyday no matter what. Even if she was unwell it made no difference to her routine. Life went on and soon she was celebrating her 30^th birthday. Saba had come to wish her and ended up staying for quite sometime. In fact Raveena convinced her to stay the night so that they could spend time with each other. That night the two caught up with each other and each other’s lives and one thing which Saba wondered about was why her mother was not doing anything to get her married or think about her life, her future. And Raveena had no answer. She herself of late had been wondering at the selfish and callous attitude which over the years had become very obvious. In fact her mother’s behaviour had disappointed  and was now beginning to anger her. The rebellious streak in her was now once again beginning to surface and she decided that no matter what time had come once again for her to stand up for herself. And the first step in that direction was to go on a holiday. Somewhere she felt that Saba had once again come back into her life to help her. She decided that she was taking a break, a well-deserved one and going away to Paris for a month. As luck would have it Saba was off from school at that time and her husband and mother convinced her to go with her friend. So thus the two friends took off to spend time with each other and to figure out the way forward for Raveena. Of course this decision of Raveena’s was not taken too well by her mother but Raveena couldn’t care less. She wanted to go and now there was no power on this planet that could stop her from doing that.

Rama tried persuading her daughter by telling her about all the signing amounts they would have to return, shootings that would have to be cancelled because of her, sets that would have to be dismantled and the huge losses that everyone would have to incur as a result. But nothing worked much to Rama’s dismay.

The  break ended up doing a world of good to the two friends and in particular to Raveena. After many, many years her life became relaxed, calm and quiet. There was no rush to wake up early in the morning to go anywhere. There were no shootings, no media chasing, no story sessions. There were no fans chasing her , so she could go pretty much wherever she wanted to. The two could go shopping, dancing, eating, anywhere that they wished to. Raveena felt free, liberated and supremely happy. And Saba was happy to see her happy.

Meanwhile as the days were passing by Rama was getting agitated because this sudden disappearance had caught people’s eyes. It was difficult for her to explain why her daughter had left the country all of a sudden. And since people could not get in touch with Raveena they were harassing Rama and it was getting increasingly difficult for her to deal with all that. But whatever she did Raveena did not budge from her stance and refused to cut short her holiday.

Since the friends were going out a lot and since they were good looking it wasn’t long before they started getting male attention. Now for Raveena this was something she had not really experienced before. It wasn’t as though she had never got male attention but it had always been from her fans or some of her co-stars. But it had all been a consequence of her star status. It had nothing to do with her real self. So therefore now that she was getting it in a strange land from people who had no idea about her star status, it felt real and believable. And of course there was no parental supervision, so Raveena could really enjoy it and bask in it. She went out on a couple of dates with men she met and that gave her another kind of freedom., another unknown for her.  Thus far her mother had controlled every aspect of her life so she had never had the opportunity to interact much with the opposite sex. Even when someone had shown interest in her as a person she had never had the time to follow up on it and of course her mother had never let it reach a point where it could get serious.

The month flew by and soon it was time to head home. But with Saba’s help and advice Raveena had decided to take some life altering decisions. She had decided that no longer did she need to work at a crazy pace. They had sufficient money and so she was going to cut down on her work. She also decided that holidays were going to be a permanent fixture of her life going forward. And  whether by herself or with someone but definitely not with her mother she was going to go on holidays. Also she was going to make friends and get out of the house. So although her mother was in total disagreement with her, she had to give in.

As a result, Raveena changed her life. She started spending more time with Saba  as she was her only friend and with her circle. Every two -three months she would go on a short holiday and on one of these holidays she bumped into George Hopkins a well-known British movie star. The day she saw him it was like a dream come true, a fan moment for her, another novel thing for her.  She was in London all by herself and had decided to go to a night club with one of her friends Neha who lived there. They had become friends on one of her earlier visits and enjoyed being in each other’s company. One evening Neha had suggested that they go to this roof top bar which was quite well known and was the place to be for celebrities. The bar was really crowded when they got there but they were able to find a place for themselves. It was a nice , pleasant evening and Raveena just wanted to let her hair down. And then she saw this incredibly good looking man and though he looked familiar she couldn’t place him because the lighting was pretty dim. She kept racking her brains but couldn’t remember where she had seen him. She turned to Neha who though a little high started laughing the moment Neha asked her who the guy was.
And before Raveena could say anything else Neha had pulled her to where that handsome hunk was standing and laughing away she looked at George and told him about Raveena’s question. Now it wasn’t as though Neha knew George but because he was standing by himself and she was just a tad bit high she could pull off her stunt. Raveena was visibly embarrassed but decided to play along. Very soon the three got talking and when George discovered that he and Raveena belonged to the same fraternity he wanted to spend more time with her. They decided to meet the next day.

Over the next ten days that Raveena was in London the two of them ended up spending most of their time together. Apart from their profession they had other things in common and most of all Raveena could be her own self with him. She wasn’t a celebrity who he admired. In fact it was the opposite. He was a bigger star with fans chasing him. They were his fans who had no idea about her. He was also older than her and most importantly, he was head over heels in love with her. And slowly she was too beginning to develop feelings for him.

She had to go back after ten days but was back in twenty because they wanted to spend time with each other. And it wasn’t long before they decided to move in with each other. Now when Rama got to know  about her daughter’s decision she panicked. She knew that if Raveena left her, all the money would also leave her. So she tried various ways by which she could dissuade her from taking such a step but nothing worked. Raveena had taken the decision to move to London to be with the man she loved and nothing could stop her. Also since London wasn’t too far from Mumbai, it wasn’t long before the press got wind of Raveena’s action and she was swamped by calls, messages and visits by the press. They had figured out her whereabouts and were stalking her. To quell unnecessary rumours and speculation George suggested that she should announce her decision to the press so that she could breathe easy. Following his advice she did that with a commitment that she would finish all her pending assignments and then quit work. Her mother as usual had a million objections but this time George was with Raveena and the two of them told her to leave her alone.

 For Rama, Raveena’s decision was not only sudden but unacceptable for various reasons. Money was the main part but also the fact that Raveena had decided not to get married but just live in with George. She tried every trick in the book to make Raveena change her mind but to no avail. Within a tear Raveena managed to finish all her pending assignments and move to London to be with George.

Life with George was beautiful. He was a caring man who loved Raveena to bits. Since he was older and more experienced in life, he could guide her too in many ways. He had been married before but had a very good relationship with his ex-wife and his two sons from her. In fact they were all like an extended family for Raveena. Since his work was largely based in London the two could always be together. And when he  had to travel, they travelled together.

Raveena’s parting with her mother had not been very pleasant. It had been very bitter. And the reason had been Rama’s refusal to give anything to her daughter. All the money, all the wealth, she had decided to keep for herself. And when Raveena had tried to press for her rights she had discovered that most of the assets were in her mother’s name and there wasn’t really anything that belonged to her.  There were only  a few pieces of jewellery and some cash that she could take with her. The rest had all been taken away by her mother. Seeing this side of her mother  had completely broken Raveena’s heart. And though she had always known her mother to be a greedy and selfish woman she had never imagined that she could be that selfish and heartless.

But since she was so sick of her life she decided to forget about all of that and move on. In any case George told her that she didn’t need anything at all, he had enough. But all the comfort and solace provided by him could not stop her from feeling cheated and betrayed. But like they say time is a big healer and with time she was able to put everything behind her. Life went on and then one day George proposed to her. They had been together for five years now and Raveena was happy in her life. For once her life was comfortable, with no pressure, no expectations. She and George were in love. He  was the best thing that could have ever happened to her. She could for once do exactly as she pleased, when she pleased and how she pleased. And then one day George took her out for dinner to one of the fancy restaurants in London and before she could realise what he was up to, he proposed to her.  He told her that though they were as good as being married, he still felt the need to have a formal seal on the relationship. For Raveena, this gesture was a sign once again of how much he cared for her. He told her that he wanted to make up for everything that had not been right in her life. He knew that she loved children but given the circumstances and now her age too, they had not been able to have any.

Since she had been keen to adopt , he had figured that getting married would be the first step in that direction and therefore the proposal. And so one fine morning in the month of April Raveena got married to the man she loved more than anything else in life. Marriage did not bring any major change in her life because they had by then got used to living with each other. And although she had invited her mother for the wedding which was a pretty low key affair her mother chose to stay away. Anyways getting married meant that Raveena’s dream of having a family of her own was going to be realised. And as she had desired George got down to taking charge of all the formalities required for the adoption. And in a year’s time Raveena and George had become the parents of two children, a boy and a girl, who they named Hugh and Alia. Raveena’s world was complete, her cup of happiness was full.

Life moved on, the children started growing up. Her life now was completely different from what it had been earlier. She had a full life with a home, a husband and children and lots and lots of love. As a child she had always craved for this kind of a life and now that she had it she wanted to hold on to it and treasure it. Her children were her lifelines and she could do anything for them. But if she was  a loving mother then George was an equally loving father. And though he had children from his earlier marriage he didn’t let that affect his relationship with Hugh and Alia. In fact his older boys had a fabulous equation with all of them. And although George’s career was not what it used to be he had enough money for his family.

And then  one day Raveena got a call from one of their neighbours in Mumbai who informed her about her mother’s death in a car accident. She had been travelling to Pune when her car had got hit by a truck and both she and the driver had died on the spot. It was a huge shock for Raveena. Though she had not been in touch with her mother for more than fifteen years now still she had been her mother. She rushed to Mumbai with George. As the next of kin she had to be there for all the legal formalities and the religious ceremonies. Somehow the press had got to know about her arrival and much to her horror and shock, the press surrounded her as soon as she stepped out of the airport. It felt as if she had come to a different world because after having moved to London she had never ever come back and so had forgotten all about fans and the media. Her only link to India had been Saba who had continued to visit her and be a part of her life. That day also she was there to give her moral support.

Anyways Raveena went through everything that she had to. And though she did everything there was an air of detachment about her. She was not very emotional and went about everything in a calm and collected manner. She did feel bad about the way her mother had gone but somewhere the manner in which her mother had treated her did not allow her to feel too bad. She accepted the death as inevitable and something uncontrollable. As she sat next to her mother’s body, her entire life came back to her like the scenes from a movie. And each scene reinforced her belief that her mother had been a selfish, greedy and a heartless woman who had used her daughter to get to where she wanted in life. And the worst part was that she hadn’t even loved the daughter and had been shameless enough to take away everything that was rightfully her daughter’s. Raveena had no sympathy for her. And now she had gone taking nothing with her. Everything now belonged to Raveena, the rightful heir in every way.

The thoughts which came to Raveena’s mind as she lit the funeral pyre were that finally justice had prevailed and her mother had got what she deserved. Four days on and Raveena  had left the country once again never to look back again.