27. Di, Hum So Gaye....



"I'm waiting... ", Arnav drawled, standing at the door between the poolside and his bedroom with his arms crossed over his chest. He tilted his head to the right and shut his eyes, the bhang making him loose-limbed and sleepy.

Khushi managed to get hold of one end of her dupatta, and dragged it behind her as though it were Laxmi on one of her stubborn days. She halted at the doorway, and propping herself up by hanging onto the door, she said with a pout, "Hamein neend aa rahi he.."

Arnav looked at his cuuute wife, and said, "Then let's sleep..."

He advanced towards her, stumbling slightly, and taking hold of her arm led her out to the poolside. Her dupatta lay forgotten on the doorstep.

He picked the corner where he had wanted to kiss her on Diwali night, and sat leaning against the wall, his legs apart, knees bent, making space for his wife. She cuddled close to him, her back to his front, his arms crossed around her beneath her thudding heart, her arms on his, her head resting against his shoulder...

Anjali banged on the locked door again. "Chotey, Khushiji...Come down and have nimboo ka achar...It will clear your heads..."

"Di...", Arnav shouted. "Hum So Gaye!"

Anjali, laughed, and shaking her head at the naughtiness of her Chotey, left to stuff the rest of her family with nimboo ka achar.


He looked at the beeeautiful fairy sitting in the circle of his arms. She had a smile on her face. Her eyes were closed, and her head on his shoulder felt as though it had always been there. He touched his lips to her hair, the silky strands caressing his lips and letting him bury his face in the sweet-smelling cloud. He brought his lips to her right ear. Her earring winked at him. Curious, he touched his lips to it, and slowly, with his teeth, removed it. It fell into her lap, and slid on to the floor. He touched his lips to the lobe of her ear, and felt her shudder. Her arms tightened around his. Anxious, he peered at her face. She still had a smile on her face. He slowly traced the way to her other ear to discard her other earring.

Khushi looked up at the sky. It was a full moon night. Only a few stars winked at them from the sky. But she knew that her parents and his parents were there, watching them.

"Do you think my Mama is happy with me, Khushi? Today?"
"Yes...", she smiled, her voice sure. "Because you are happy.."

Arnav swallowed. "Do you think she is all alone, Khushi? With no one to help her?"
"Of course not. My Amma and your Amma must be friends by now." She giggled. "My Amma is like me. She will have followed your mother around...and around...and around and made friends with her. Just like I did to you."

Arnav smiled, all his worries gone. Enjoying the sensation of her hair tickling his neck, he asked in a whisper, "Do you think they know about us? About our hearts beating together."

Khushi giggled. "My A..Amma must have told your Amma. My Amma knows everything about me. I tell her everything everyday...She knows how much I ...I...l...like you."

"Really? Toh KKhuushi Kumaari GGuptaaa Singggh Raizzzada, what do you like about your pati?"

A naughty smile appeared on Khushi's face.

"His g..ghussa."
"Oh!"
"His 'What the What the'..."
"Acha?"
"His voice...the way he calls, Khushi..."
"Khushi..."
"It sends a tingle down my s..spine...like an e..electric shock...", she mumbled.
"Really?"

She turned around in his arms to demonstrate the effect. She ran the fingers of her right hand along his spine, tickling him till he admitted that he understood, their laughter echoing in their enchanted garden.

"And your eyes...", she continued.
"You like my eyes?"
"They look at m..me as though they could e...eat me alive...", she slurred. "My skin burns. You...you look as though...as though...you can see through my suit...", she pouted.

Arnav bent forward, dropping a kiss on her cheek as a gift.
Not to be outdone, she leant forward and kissed his eyes, touching his closed eyelids with her gentle, warm lips. Arnav swallowed.

"What don't you like about me?"
"Too many things...", she complained, a yawn splitting her face.
"What...?", Arnav was damned if he would fall asleep without hearing this, bhang or no bhang.

"Your c..coat...jacket...Why do you wear all that? Why is your s...shirt always buttoned upto your throat? I can't even see your neck!", she grumbled.

"Your dark glasses..uff...I have to p..peer to make out your eyes...your s..smirk...as though you know everything and I know nothing...your l..laptop...One day I will throw it into this p..pool...your phuun which always r..rings at the wrong moment...and that s...stupid beetle-like thing you wear on your ear...I will hide it in some f...flowerpot one day..."

Arnav chuckled, hugging her closer still. "Sorry..", he murmured, kissing her creamy forehead and rubbing his nose against hers.

"I am sleeepy...", she scrunched up her face like a five year old.

"A blanket...We need a blanket.." He got up and made his way carefully to his bed, and came back with his thick blanket. Resuming his position, he wrapped the blanket around them, both of them giggling at the effort. They couldn't manage to cover all their parts at the same time. Either a hand was left out, or a leg.

He clasped her hand that was out in the open, and gently kissed her fingers, one by one. She looked at him in wonder. He then brought her hand to his face, and buried his lips in her palm. He could feel her tremble against him, her breath, her dhak dhak...

"This is even better...better than I imagined..", she said.
"Hmmm?"

"I thought that when I fell in l..love, the s..stars would shine..."
He pointed to the sky. The stars looked brighter than before.

"There would be lights..."
He drew her attention to the fairylights strung around the trees and plants in his garden, the bud-like lights reflected in the pool.

"There would be colour..."
He rubbed his rough gulaal-stained cheek against her to colour her in his colour.

"Flowers would fall from the sky..."
He plucked a handful of white, tiny, star-like, sweet-smelling flowers from his flowerbed and sent them raining on her. They clung to her hair, her neck, her shoulders...A couple of them slipped down her body, falling through the open, deep neckline of her suit, to rest against her heart. He envied them...

"There would be noise and laughter..."
He brought her ear to rest against his heart. It sounded as though all festivals had come together. The din was deafening.

"I would see you wherever I looked..."
He looked deep into her eyes.

"I didn't know that my h...heart would go dhak dhak...Or that I would p..pine if I couldn't see you...Or that I would d..die if I couldn't t...touch you...Or that y..your p..pain would h..hurt me more..."
Arnav buried his face in her neck.

The lovers slept and talked and slept some more, all under the benevolent eyes of the full moon, protected by the tall trees, flowering creepers, and the dancing shrubs of their magical garden...