130. Recalling Arnav (Part 14-)

Part 14

After taking respectful leave of a smiling Tiwariji, the Guptas and the Raizadas left for Lucknow.

Khushi sat squashed between Arnavji and Buaji in the back seat of the vehicle that Akash was driving. Payal was in the passenger seat.

Arnav looked down at Khushi’s face. With the golden dupatta draped over her head, its red hem framing her sweet face, she looked like a bride.

Arnav passed his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close to him. Khushi’s eyes rose to his with surprise in them and then fell at the determination and love in his molten eyes.

A blush rose in her cheeks.

Arnav pulled her closer still, making her lay her head in the crook of his neck. Khushi stayed stiff for a moment and then melted in to his embrace, lying against his heart with her eyes shut.

Buaji, Payal & Akash smiled.

“Chotey, Khushiji, we will decorate Khushiji’s room,” Anjali said laughing. “Just give us a few moments.”

“Haan, suhaag raat to manane padi,” Mami laughed.

“I will help you, Di. It is not every day…sorry, night that Nannav gets to celebrate a suraag-raat,” NK laughed.

Akash clasped his hand around NK’s mouth from behind and said, “Bhai, just give us a few minutes. I will get the flowers and candles.”

“Di, Akash, leave it,” he said. “We have gone though all this before, many times.”

Khushi nodded in heart-felt agreement.

“We have been travelling for three days and all of us are dead tired. Let’s just go to bed,” Arnav said.

“Are you sure, Arnav bitwaa?” Garima asked.

“Yes, Amma. We are married. That’s all that matters. Nothing else is important,” Arnav said.

“If that is what you want, Nandkisore,” Buaji said. “Aaj kal ke ladke,” she laughed. “No josh, no chusthi, sphoorthi. In our time, all dulhe used to be eager for their suhaag raat,”

All laughed.

“Madhumatiji, hamre Arnav bitwaa ijj giving up only the decoration, not his suhaag raat, Hello Hi Bye Bye!” Mami chuckled.

Arnav locked the door after himself and turned to look at Khushi. She was sitting before the mirror removing her dupatta. He placed their suitcases in one corner of the room and moved towards her.

“Shall I help you with the pins?” he asked.

“Ji,” she replied softly, exhausted.

Arnav stood behind her and removed the many pins and clips in her hair.

“What about the jewellery, Khushi? Do you need help with these?” he asked.

“No, Arnavji,” Khushi yawned. “You change your clothes. I will manage.”

Arnav nodded. 

He took a change of clothes and went to the bathroom for a quick shower. When he emerged a few minutes later, Khushi had managed to shed everything except her lehenga. She was clutching her white suit to her chest, waiting for him to leave the bathroom.

Arnav dimmed the lights and got in to bed to wait for Khushi. A few minutes later she joined him, sliding carefully under the covers to lie on one edge of the bed.

His arm snaked out and pulled her close to him.

“Arnavji,” came her weak protest.

“Hhmm?’ he asked as he tucked her as close as possible to him.

She tried to move away, but his arm was firm around her.

He looked down in to her face.

“Khushi, we are finally married,” he whispered, looking in to her eyes in the dim light.

“Yes,” she whispered.

“Earlier I used to lie on the recliner and look at you sleeping on the bed. Now I have the right to sleep with you,” he whispered, his lips trailing down her cheek.

Khushi shivered.

His fingers gently smoothed strands of silky hair from her forehead and tucked them behind her ear.

“I love your hair, Khushi,” he whispered.

She swallowed…or tried to.

He lowered his lips to hers and kissed her.

“Arnavji,” Khushi gasped as soon as her lips were free.

“Let me kiss you, Khushi, just kiss you,” he pleaded. “You have no idea how many times I dreamed of kissing you, how many nights I woke up feeling the touch of your lips on mine.”

She looked at him, lost for words.

“The night at the farmhouse…Khushi…I…I will never forget that night…not even if I die,” he whispered.

She stared at him, feeling moisture pool in her eyes.

“Don’t cry, Khushi,” he kissed her chin. “The time for tears is over.”

She nodded.

He swooped down to kiss her lips.

  


Part 15

He lifted his head and looked down at her bemused eyes and parted pink lips. Her chest was heaving with the effort to drag in much-needed air.

“Our life is just beginning, Khushi,” he whispered.

She nodded.

His fingers trailed down her silken cheek. She shivered at the sensations his touch aroused in her.

“Khushi,” he began.

She looked at him, waiting for him to continue.

“I have to return to Delhi in a couple of days,” he whispered, his lips touching her forehead, feeling the frown crease it at his statement.

“I will be back during the weekends,” he promised, looking in to her troubled eyes.

“Stay in Lucknow, Khushi, till you are comfortable about returning to Delhi,” he offered. “I will keep travelling between Delhi and Lucknow till you are ready to join me.”

“If I don’t want to return to Delhi?” Khushi asked, covering her yawn with her hand.

“I won’t pressurise you, Khushi. I have done enough, more than enough to you. Stay in Lucknow. We will manage a long-distance marriage. Don’t worry your head about it,” he murmured, his lips pressing a warm kiss on her lips. “Now go to sleep. It is late.”

Khushi yawned again. He gathered her in to his arms. 

She went willingly to lie with her head in the crook of his neck. Her arms coiled around him, holding him close to her.

NK looked up to see the newly-wedded couple walk down the steps to the dining room for breakfast.

“They are here! Nannav & Khushiji are here!” NK shouted.

Akash choked on the sip of tea he had taken. Payal patted his back, trying to hide her smile at NK’s excitement.

“Hein?” Buaji asked. “Why are you shouting? Had they gone to fight with lions during the night, Nandkisore?”

“Or on a phorein world tourwaa?” Mami asked.

All chuckled as Arnav and Khushi flushed at the teasing.

“Khushiji, you must buy Nannav a pink shirt,” NK said.

Khushi looked at her Nanheji with wide eyes.

“Pink looks good on him. Dekho, dekho, Nannav is full of taaj and sharam,” NK declared, chuckling.

“Laaj, NK bhai, laaj,” Anjali clutched her tummy as she laughed.

Khushi stirred the kheer in a big vat as sweat dripped down her temple. Munna and Krishna were rolling laddoos as fast as they could.

“When will Kishorilal reach here, didi?” Munna asked.

“In one hour,” Khushi said. “We have to finish packing and binning everything by then,” she warned them.

“It will be done, didi,” Krishna promised. He looked up and saw Arnav at the door to the shed. “Arnav Jiju? Have you come to steal didi from us?”

Arnav smiled at a pink Khushi. “No, to join you.”

“Join us?” Munna teased him. He looked meaningfully at Krishna. “We can use some help.”

“Sure,” Arnav offered, expecting to be asked to pack the sweets.

“Sit down by us, Jiju. You have to roll the laddoos,” Krishna laughed thinking of the condition of Arnav’s fancy clothes after one hour in the shed.

Khushi hid her smile.

Arnav got over his shock and sat down gingerly on the ground. He rolled back his sleeves.

“Arnavji, chodiye,” Khushi smiled. “I will make them.”

“No, let me help you, Khushi,” Arnav urged.

“Didi, Jiju is willing to dirty his clothes. Why are you stopping him?” Krishna asked, a naughty smile on his face.

Arnav manfully tackled the plate of laddoo mixture, taking lumps in to his hands and rolling them in to balls. The balls crumbled within his fingers and the mixture fell harmlessly in to the pan. Arnav stared at the golden yellow mixture, perplexed.

“What the!” he exclaimed.

Khushi hid her laughter with great difficulty.

“Aaj mausam he suhaana

Ladoo banane ka he bahana,

Kya laddoo unhone banayi,

Ho gayi Arnavji ki dhulayi

Hum to he deewane

Masti ke doondhe bahane

What the, what the, what the…” she sang, her laughter making her choke on the words.

Arnav stared at her for a long moment, a smile in his eyes and on his lips. 

 He then attacked the mixture with zeal, compressing the soggy mixture to form balls.

“Waah, waah!” Krishna hailed his efforts.

“Didi, you can take the credit for turning a bada businessman in to a Lucknowi halwai,” Munna laughed.

Khushi blushed as Arnav smirked.

Part 16

Kishorilal came to collect the sweets. He took one look at Arnav and gasped, “Who is this, Khussi?”

“My husband, Kishorilalji,” Khushi smiled.

“Why is he all yellow? Did he roll in haldi? Or does he have jaundice?” the elderly man asked as his eyes ran up and down Arnav’s lean frame.

Khushi, Munna and Krishna looked at Arnav and then away to hide their amusement. The superfine, expensive fabric of his jacket and trousers had patches of ghee and the golden yellow gooey laddoo mixture. There was a red stain on his cheek, maybe from the jalebi mixture he had knocked down while packing the sweets in cartons.

“It is nothing,” ASR said brusquely, trying to dust himself down, his stained hands adding to the colourful food designs on his vest. “I was helping Khushi make laddoos.”

Kishorilal looked at him once more and said, “Bitwaa, you have a business in Delhi, don’t you?”

“Yes,” ASR answered.

“What business is it?” the old man asked.

“Textile and apparel,” ASR replied.

“Kapde? Thank God,” Kishorilal said, taking one last look at Khussi’s husband’s motley costume. “At least he will have enough clothes to change in to each time he decides to play halwai, the biwi ka ghulaam,” the aged man muttered as he left.

Khushi looked at Arnavji as they walked home from Satwik Mishtan Bhandar. He had removed his vest and was in a white shirt and a pair of black trousers. The wind ruffled the truant strands of his hair to flop on his temple and he strolled by her looking happy and content.

The bells tolled in Devi Maiyya’s temple. Khushi’s feet stopped of their own volition. Arnav halted and looked at her, a question in his eyes.

“I will bring prasad for Devi Maiyya tomorrow,” she said in a low voice.

Arnav could feel his throat constrict. He asked, “What will you make for her?”

Khushi drew in a deep breath. “Jalebi,” she whispered.

Arnav caught her fingers with his and pressed then warmly. Khushi looked up to see the regret and pain in his eyes.

“Khushi,” he whispered, wishing he could take away all the pain and loss he had thrust on her in his blindness.

Khushi made an effort to smile.

His fingers tightened around hers.

“When do you have to return to Delhi?” Khushi asked.

“Tomorrow,” he said, looking in to her eyes.

She smiled valiantly again. “I will help you pack, Arnavji,” she said.

Arnav curled her fingers around his arm, pulling her closer to him. Khushi followed his signal and hugged his arm. The pair walked along the road in this fashion and entered Gomti Sadan to be teased by their family.

“Madhumatiji, I didn’t know that shaadi ijj like Fevicol, Hello Hi Bye Bye!” Mami cackled. “Donon chipak gaye hein.”

“Chotey, why is your cheek red?’ Nani asked.

“Khushiji must have slapped Nannav,” NK laughed.

Arnav glared at him.

“No, I have full faith in Khushiji,” Anjali laughed. “She will never hit him even though he deserves it. Chotey, what happened?”

“I—I knocked down the jalebi batter,” Arnav confessed.

“Hein?” Buaji exclaimed, her big eyes round with wonder. “What were you doing with the batter, Nandkisore?”

“Were you…were you making jalebi, bhai?” Akash asked in shock.

“No,” Arnav replied.

Akash drew in a breath of relief.

“I was actually making laddoos but my hand hit the bowl with the batter,” Arnav explained.

Akash sat down in shock.

“Sasiji, your damad is trying hard to become a halwai,” Nani teased.

The Guptas chuckled.

“A diabetic halwai,” NK laughed, pretending to duck behind Buaji’s plump figure as Arnav glowered at him.

“Our Chotey is looking for a career change,” Anjali pulled Arnav’s cheek.

“Di,” Arnav protested.

“Bitwaa, I will bring hot water to your bathroom. Go and take bath,” Garima saved Arnav.

“Thanks, Amma,” he muttered as he walked up to their room, Khushi by him.

After dinner, Arnav packed his belongings in his suitcase.

“Arnavji, shall I fold these?” Khushi pointed to his casual wear hanging in the wardrobe.

“No, I will need it this weekend when I return,” Arnav smiled at her.

Khushi swallowed painfully.

“Khushi, call me if you need anything,” he told her as he stuffed his laptop in to its bag.

She nodded.

“And maybe you can think about hiring a couple of people to work in the shop. It will help the boys and permit you to take some time off,” he said softly.

She nodded. The shop was doing very well and they could very well afford two more employees. And if she was leaving for Delhi at some point of time, then… Her breath came faster; her throat dried up in nervousness.

“I will fill the water jug,” Khushi whispered as she left the room clutching the steel container.

She poured water in to the jug and tightened its lid.

“Khushi,” Payal called.

“Yes, Jiji?” Khushi tried to smile.

“Khushi, are you sure you don’t want to come with us to Delhi?” Payal asked.

Khushi smiled. “No, Jiji. Not now.”

Payal hesitated.

“What is it, Jiji?” Khushi asked.

“Nothing. It is just that—when you are not there, Arnavji will work every moment of every day. Who can stop him?” Payal asked. “And now he has to travel to Lucknow on weekends. Khushi, he will be exhausted.”

Khushi looked away, feeling her heart contract in grief.

“Will you be happy here, Khushi, without him?” Payal asked softly.

Khushi looked at the jug. “I will take the water to our room, Jiji,” she said as she walked away.

Khushi lay curled in Arnav’s arms at night, her eyes wide open. He was asleep, taking comfort from her warmth against his taut body.

Khushi sighed, hearing Payal’s question resound in her head.

“Khushi,” Arnav murmured in his sleep. He burrowed his face in to the sweet hollow of her neck.

Khushi’s eyes filled and tears dripped down her cheeks.

“Khushi, take care. I will be back this weekend, “ Arnav said. The others were already in the cars.

Khushi nodded.

He looked around. They were alone. He quickly cupped her sweet face in his palms and kissed her mouth.

“I will miss you, Khushi,” he whispered against her parted lips.

Khushi swallowed.

“Don’t work too hard, Arnavji,” she murmured. “And take your food and medicines on time.”

Arnav stole another deep kiss before walking out of Gomti Sadan.

Part 17