Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon is one of those shows that stays with you long after you’ve finished watching it. Arnav and Khushi’s story, especially their little moments, still feels incredibly special.
This is simply my interpretation of Diwali night when Khushi leaves the Raizada house after Arnav announces his engagement to Lavanya, written from Khushi’s perspective.
There were no words to describe the agony she was feeling.
She needed to get home, but her legs refused to move. She stood in the middle of nowhere, no longer caring about the time or the darkness surrounding her.
Her eyes began to well up again as the memories of the evening threatened to haunt her.
Despite everything. Despite all the ways he had tried to prove that he could never love her, she loved him.
She didn’t know when or how she had fallen in love with him. For a long time, her innocent heart hadn’t even allowed her to contemplate why it pounded whenever he was close, or why it always found solace in his presence.
Even during the darkest times of her life, when the thought of losing her Babuji had shattered her, her heart knew she could be vulnerable in front of him.
And despite not saying a word, his actions had spoken volumes.
At that time, she had refused to believe it.
She had fallen in love with him.
And perhaps that was what hurt the most.
He stirred deep feelings within her—the kind of feelings she hadn’t even been aware of before him.
Instead of drawing away, she had always felt herself being pulled towards his dark, enigmatic personality.
When had the faceless Rajkumar she had dreamt of started morphing into Arnavji?
But after witnessing how deeply he cared for the people he loved, she had craved his love.
She had taken a little extra care while getting ready that day.
And the way his unwavering gaze had looked at her, unabashedly, had made her want to hide herself away.
Even when he had helped her move out of the circle of diyas, she had tried to keep her eyes away from him.
But one glance at his chocolate-brown eyes had been enough.
She had stumbled into his arms.
His muscles had felt hard beneath his shirt, and suddenly, a strange feeling of nervousness had engulfed her.
The entire evening, his eyes had not left hers.
But the presence of Lavanyaji had perhaps been a warning of how this evening would eventually play out.
“Ah! How could she forget about her Payal?”
Her world had gotten reduced to just him when he had clasped the Payal onto her ankle.
She had lost all hope of ever getting her Payal back.
But seeing him there, with her Payal, made her realize that he had kept it all along.
Why hadn’t he returned it to her then?
Why had he kept it all this while?
But it didn’t matter anymore.
Or at least, that’s what she tried to tell herself.
She still didn’t know how she had gotten so lost in the moment that she hadn’t even tried to stop him.
But she knew she had wanted him to kiss her.
She had wanted to feel his lips on hers.
She had wanted to run her hands through his hair.
But maybe it had all been in her!
Maybe the love she thought she had seen in his eyes had been nothing but an illusion.
That moment had meant nothing to him.
She had meant nothing to him.
The pain in her heart was unbearable.
That hope had shattered in front of her eyes when Arnavji had announced his marriage to Lavanyaji.
She had tried to put on a brave face, but a single look at him had wiped away the smile she had somehow managed to wear.
Her eyes welled up at the cruelty of how the evening had played out.
Amidst all those thoughts, a car suddenly stopped in front of her.
And out of it came the one person she least wanted to see.
She mustered up a smile to hide her pain.
“Arey, aap yahan kya kar rahe hain? Aapko toh ghar pe…”
She tried to sound as cheerful as she could.
“Sit in the car. I’ll drop you home,” he said firmly.
“Nahi, hum chale jaayenge…”
“Shut up and sit in the car.”
He held the door open for her.
Why couldn’t he just leave her alone?
With no other option left, she decided to go along with him.
Khushi glanced towards the window, pretending to be interested in the passing streets.
She didn’t dare look at him.
Not when her heart was already so fragile.
Yet she could feel his eyes on her.
She wondered whether he was thinking about what had happened earlier.
About the moment neither of them had been able to forget.
Her fingers unconsciously moved towards her ankle.
The Payal was still there.
A small reminder of something she desperately wanted to believe had meant something to him too.
But perhaps she had imagined it all.
Perhaps she had imagined the way he had looked at her.
Perhaps she had imagined the way his hands had trembled.
Perhaps she had imagined the feelings between them.
She needed to accept reality.
Arnav Singh Raizada was going to marry Lavanya Kashyap.
And she had to learn to live with it.
Unable to bear his silence, she decided to break the palpable tension in the air.
“Arey, hum aapko badhai dena toh bhool hi gaye. Humari taraf se aapko aur Lavanyaji ko dher saari badhai. Humein bahut khushi hui yeh sunkar ki aapki aur Lavanyaji ki sagai ho rahi hai…”
She needed him to know that she was happy for him.
She needed him to believe that she had accepted it.
“Oh! Really? So you are happy?”
“Haan… hum kyun nahi honge? Hum bhi toh yahi chahte the. Aur haan, aap hume ghar chhod rahein hain. Aapko Amma-Babuji se milna hoga. Woh bhi bahut khush honge yeh sunkar.”
She didn’t know what she was saying anymore.
Her thoughts were incoherent.
“Earlier today, you were asking me something?” he asked angrily.
“No. Nothing. I wasn’t asking you anything,” she replied, pretending not to remember, hoping he would drop the subject.
“So you don’t wanna know?”
His words struck at the last bit of hope she had left.
His close proximity and his words were cutting open her wounds all over again.
Her incoherent heart didn’t know whether she needed to be with him or whether she needed to stay as far away from him as possible.
Unable to bear it any longer, she whispered—
“STOP THE CAR RIGHT NOW!” she shouted.
The car came to a screeching halt.
Without another thought, she got out, determined to put as much distance between them as possible.
“Khushi, kahaan ja rahi ho? Stop this nonsense right now,” she heard him shout.
When she didn’t stop, a hand caught her wrist and pulled her back.
She landed against his chest.
His eyes were fierce with anger, but she didn’t care anymore.
She pushed him with all her strength.
The action sent him staggering a few feet backwards.
Unable to control herself, she finally vented all the anger she had been holding inside.
“What do you think of yourself?”
“Hum kahaan bhi jaayein, aapko kya farak padta hai?
He grabbed hold of her shoulders and pulled her towards him.
Her eyes welled up at the sudden harshness.
After everything she had been through that day, she had only craved a little comfort from him.
Unable to control her sobs anymore, she broke down in his embrace.
“Arnavji, pata nahi yeh sab kaise ho gaya… but it wasn’t because I needed anything from you.”
She didn’t know why, but she needed to tell him that she wasn’t behind his money.
That he should never question her feelings or think there was some ulterior motive behind them.
The anger in his eyes had been replaced by something else.
Something she couldn’t understand.
She started to leave, but his hold on her wrist only grew stronger.
“Ab hum aapko aur pareshaan nahi karenge. Humein pata hai aapko humare hone ya na hone se koi farak nahi padta"
“FARAK PADTA HAI, DAMMIT!"
His voice sounded angry again.
She didn’t dare look at him.
She knew his eyes would be her undoing.
She couldn’t afford to hope again—not after he had announced his marriage to Lavanyaji.
Promising herself one last glance, she slowly raised her eyes to his face.
His eyes looked as though he was in great pain.
And when his eyes met hers, he whispered—
“Khushi… I can’t do it anymore. I’m tired of staying away from you. I can’t lose you, and I can’t let you go.”
Every semblance of control shattered in his pained voice.
She cupped his face and whispered—
“Arnavji… I can’t lose you too.”
He grabbed her hand and led her towards the car, intent on making everything right.
We saw what happened between Arnav and Khushi that night… but I always wondered what Khushi was feeling through it all.
Was she already falling in love with him without even realizing it?
I’d love to know what you thought of my take on Khushi’s POV. Did you feel her emotions the way I intended?
And if you enjoyed it… would you like to read more moments from Khushi’s side of the story?
Because sometimes, the heart knows long before we do. ❤️
kianamaiart
gamechangershow
tangentwithtanner
dailybridgerton