22. Khushi's Friend


"Why are you sitting in the corner, alone? It will be very dark soon, bitiyaa."

Khushi paused in her weeping, and looked up to see a middle aged lady walking towards her. The temple was deserted, the pooja over, and the devotees had all gone home. There was just silence, and the darkness spreading its tentacles around her. A lone lamp tried to beat back the encroaching gloom.

"Kya hua? Why are you crying?", the kind voice enquired.

Khushi gulped her tears, and tried to wipe her face with the pallu of her rich sari that Anjaliji had given her to wear for pag phere.

"Had a fight with your family, bitiya? Planning to leave them all behind, are you?" The lady sat down beside Khushi, and stroked her hair away from her tear streaked face. Khushi, unable to bear the tender touch after days of insults, burst out crying, her face hidden in her palms.

The lady pulled Khushi into her arms, and hugged her. They sat silently, Khushi and her unlikely friend.

When the tears had subsided to hiccups, the lady asked, "Why are you sitting here at this time of the night? Won't your husband worry about you?"

"He...h..hates me. He s..said so."
"Accha? How did you reply to that?"
Khushi swallowed. "I...I said...that I hate h..him more...That he does not deserve to have anybody love him..."
"Very good. Did you mean it?"
Khushi said nothing.
"Did you mean it, bitiya?"
"N..no..."
"Do you think he meant it?"
Khushi remained silent for a while. Then she said, "Maybe..he did..He scolds me all the time. He gets angry with me for nothing, the Laad Governor..."

The lady gently cupped Khushi's trembling shoulders, and made her lie down in her lap. Running her fingers over Khushi's hair, she asked,
"Are you sure you don't hate him?"
"Y..yes."
Her hypnotic voice continued, "Then what do you feel for him?"
"I...worry about him."
"And..?"
"I w..want him to be h..happy."
"And...?"
"I want h..him to s..smile at me."
"And..?"
"Be proud of m..me. Look at me as though...as though he is h..happy to s..see me...Take c..care of me...talk to me..."
"So you love him."
"Y..y..yes..", came the whisper.
"Have you ever told him that you care so much for him?", asked the gentle, motherly voice.
"N..no..."
"Why did you tell him that you hate him when your heart is full of love for him?"
"I wanted to h..hurt him as much as h..he hurt me."
"So you didn't mean it?"
Khushi shook her head. "No...I can n..never hate h..him..."

"Just as you lied to hurt him, maybe he lied to hurt you."
"W..why should he lie?"
"Why does he want to hurt you? Maybe you should find out the reason before giving up."

"Love can give us the greatest happiness in the world. It can also give us the most terrible sorrow in the world, more pain than we can bear. It is either heaven or hell on earth."

"It is easy to give up and run. Staying by his side, helping him shoulder his burden, sharing his pain, understanding him...are all very difficult. You have to choose if you want to live without your husband or with him. Remember darling, the darkness does not stay for ever. When the darkness passes, sunlight will flood your life."

After a while, the lady said, "It is time for me to leave. Don't worry, you won't be alone for long."
As she got up to leave, she ran her fingers lovingly over the two bangles on Khushi's arms. Khushi lifted her arms to show the bangles to the lady in the light of the lamp, and said, "Arnavji gave them to me. They belong to his mother."

"No, bitiya. They belong to you now.Your husband and his mother's bangles. Both are yours to look after."

"Remember, my gudia, uska ghussa seh lena. Aur pyaar sooth sameth lauta dena. Promise?"
"I promise."
The lady kissed her forehead, and walked away into the darkness.

A few seconds later, Arnav came running up the steps of the temple, calling her name, frantic with worry. He had taken her to the Guptas for pag phere and left for the office. Her family had been reluctant to welcome her, but had put on a calm front in his presence. He had left Akash, Payal, & Khushi there, and gone to his office. He had tried calling her on her phone in the evening to fix a time for picking her, but she hadn't responded.

On calling Akash, he had found out that Khushi's mother & Buaji had scolded her for the wedding fiasco and that she had cried a lot. She had then made an excuse of meeting him at his office, and left Laxmi Nagar. Nobody had heard from her after that. She hadn't returned to RM. Khushi was missing.

Arnav had freaked out at that point. He had driven along the roads of Delhi, searching for her, demented with worry. Then, suddenly, the picture of him bandaging Khushi's hurt finger in the temple had flashed across his mind. He had broken all speed records to get there.

And there she was. Sitting in a corner dimly lit by a single lamp. Like an orphan. Unwanted.

He pulled her up by her arms, and shook her. "Never..never do this to me again. Samjhi Tum? Why is your phone switched off? Didn't you know how worried I would be?"

"What if something had happened to you? Don't you have any sense? Why did you leave your house? Why didn't you call me if you wanted to go home? Answer me, dammit!", he shouted.

"Amma and Buaji were very angry...They said that I was trouble where ever I went...Anjaliji and Naniji...the insults they had to bear at the Mukhdikhai because of me...and your anger...and hatred...I thought I would leave you. Not trouble Amma, Buaji, Anjaliji, Naniji, or you again. I thought you would be happy..."

"How dare you? Who gave you the right to leave me? Tum meri patni ho. How many times do I have to say this?", Arnav fumed.

"I was sitting here, thinking of leaving you...But I met an aunty, a nice lady. She asked me to choose. So I did."

"Choose?...What?"

"To live with you and bear your anger. Or to leave you."

Arnav's eyes burned and his heart felt as though the weight of this world had been placed on it.

"And.."

"I want to live with you. I don't know why you hate me...why you are so angry with me...why you forced me into this marriage...But I intend to find out. You will hurt me with your words and make me cry. But the pain of living with you is less than the pain of living without you."

Arnav stared at her, shocked beyond words.

"Aunty said that I must bear your anger, and return your love sooth sameth. After all, you have given me 6 months. Let me see if I can find out why you are pretending to hate me." Khushi lifted her arms to push back the strands of hair that had fallen on her face. His mother's bangles shone in the light of the lamp, looking like circles of fire on her slender arms.

"Ghar Chalein?", she asked.