77. Knowing Khushi

77. A Series of OSes

OS 1: Knowing Khushi

 (Thank u, Naughtymallu!)

 

Part 1: A Meeting

Arnav Singh Raizada looked fire at the doomed model who had thought that she could seduce her way into landing a plum modelling contract with his firm.

“Get out!”, he shouted, throwing her portfolio of photos towards the door, as though to show her the way.

The model yelped. And then scurried towards and out of the door as fast as her 6-inch heels and miniscule dress allowed, leaving her file behind.

Arnav looked at the file lying near the door with contempt. A frown formed between his perfectly shaped eyebrows. What were a pair of cheap shoes doing next to the file?

He looked up, moving his eyes slowly up from the jootis to the tight pink pyjamas to a flowing anarkali in pink, flaring around full hips to a slim waist, up to a full bosom, a slender neck with a thin dupatta coiled around it, and up to the most beautiful face he had ever beheld in all of his 28 years.

Scared hazel eyes looked into his hot, angry ones. His gaze narrowed on her face, anger at himself for feeling his breath hitch at the sight of her face radiating from his eyes.

He saw her clench her fist around the fringe of the dupatta in fear.

“Who the hell are you?”, the lion growled.

“Kh..kh..ushi K..kumari G.gupta…”, the lamb replied.

“What are you doing here?”, he bit out. Khushi….Nice name, although right now she didn’t look very happy to be standing in his office.

“I wanted to talk to you.....”, Khushi mumbled.

Arnav Singh Raizada raised his famous eyebrow.

“Talk to me? Really?” His look was a mixture of astonishment & pity.

“Ji…. You are Arnav Singh Raizada, aren’t you?”, Khushi made sure.

“I am. Did you really think you could walk into my office and…..TALK to me?”, the business tycoon drawled.

“Ji. If it was late in the evening and you were alone in the office, I knew I could reach you and talk to you in private.”, Khushi confessed.

Arnav’s silence was a question.

“I came to your office many times, met your receptionist and your private secretary many times.... But I couldn’t get an appointment to see you. Then I realised that you let your secretary go home at 6 even if you stay back working later than that. I knew you would be alone…..”

Arnav Singh Raizada’s eyebrows were up in the air.

“So strong a desire to see me? You must need something badly. What is it? Charity? A job?”

“No!” Her eyes were wide and sincere.

“And why couldn’t you get an appointment?” Arnav crossed his arms and cocked his head.

Khushi twisted her hands together, looking flustered for a moment. “Because I couldn’t tell them why I wanted to see you.”

Arnav looked at her. He then looked at the pile of work waiting for him. She was more interesting. Any day.
 There was no contest.

“Sit down.”, he ordered.

She sat at the edge of a chair. He slipped into his power seat.

“Speak.”, he ordered.

Khushi hesitated.

“Time is money, Khushi Kumari Gupta.”, Arnav Singh Raizada whispered in his husky, dangerous-sounding voice.

Khushi looked into his burning eyes and gulped.

“And my time is worth a lot of money.”, ASR made it very clear, leaning back in his large chair.

“Acha?” Innocent eyes looked into his devious ones. She then unzipped her colourful cloth bag and started searching for something she couldn’t find.

Out came a small idol of Devi Maiyya. Khushi placed it on his table. She then delved into the bag, and deposited a bright red umbrella near the idol. A packet of channa. A cover of ber?

Arnav looked at the increasing pile of things on his table with wide eyes, unable to believe what he was seeing.

With a triumphant grunt, she pulled out what she had been looking for.

Her purse. A small, red purse. Full of beads & sequins. A cheap, shiny purse. She unzipped it and took a crumpled 100 rupee note from it. She tried to straighten it and do away with the wrinkles unsuccessfully, and then placed it in front of him, on his table.

“Will this do?”, she asked, her direct eyes on his.

If she were not so serious, he would think her mad, certifiable, crazy, he thought. Was he dreaming? But-but he never dreamed....

“Is it too much?”, she asked, a frown on her face.

ASR shook his head slowly to mean ‘No’.

“Is it too little?” She was serious.

“No,” Arnav Singh Raizada croaked.

Khushi sighed in satisfaction. Arnav watched her filling her bag once more with mesmerised eyes. In went the chana, the ber, the umbrella, the purse, & the idol.

“Can I talk now?”, Khushi asked.

Arnav Singh Raizada, the business tycoon, could only nod.



 Part 2: A Proposal

“I told you, I am Khushi Kumari Gupta. My father, Sasi Gupta is a halwai. He has a sweet shop in Lucknow.” She waited for his response, something to show that he was listening.

Arnav looked at her, his face expressionless. Finally, he said, “I am diabetic.”

Khushi sighed. “I am not here to feed you his pedas.”

“Then?” This was fun. When had he ever had fun?

“My Buaji lives in Delhi, in Laxmi Nagar. We came to visit her 3 months back. It was to be a short visit, but my father had a stroke, and so we can’t go back.”

Arnav nodded. Where was this story going? The way in which her eyes shone when she talked about her family!

“’We’ means Babuji, Amma, Jiji, & me.” She looked at him to confirm that he understood.

“Did you steal into my office to tell me your life story?”, he asked mildly. 

Had Aman heard his boss using this tone to a woman, he would have had a heart attack.

The girl twisted her luscious lips in annoyance. She looked like a Kindergarten teacher frowning at a student who had made a mess with colours and mud. 

After a moment, she sighed. “Ji. That’s exactly why I came to see you. To tell you my life story. Scene by scene, like a Salman Khan movie…”

Arnav settled back more comfortably in his cushy chair. 

“Are you crazy?”, he asked conversationally.

Her face lit up as though someone had set off fireworks within her.

“How did you know? My Buaji says I am Sanki. And do you know what my Jiji says? That only a pagal will marry me….”, she laughed.

Arnav looked at her happy face. Was it possible to be so happy in this world?

Suddenly her face fell. “That’s why I came to see you. I am getting engaged next week, and I want you to stop it.”

Arnav leaned forward, his eyes wide with shock and a deep sense of horror. She was getting engaged? How dare she? That is….she was getting engaged? To some man? To some other man?

“You want me to stop your engagement?”, Arnav clarified. His voice was soft and dangerous.

“Ji.”

“Do you seriously think that is what I do for a living?”, he growled.

“No. That is, I don’t know anyone who stops engagements for a living....", she swallowed at the look on his face, and continued quickly, "I don't know exactly what you do for a living. It is not my business. I mean, it is your life. But I want you to stop my sagai.”

“How dare you come here and ask me to do something of this sort?” Arnav stood up, leaning over the table with his hands on the glass, towering over her.

Part 3: Laying the cards on the table

Khushi remained seated. She seriously didn’t think her legs would support her if she tried to stand up.

“I dare because I am getting engaged to your Jijaji, Shyam Manohar Jha!”, she said quietly.

There was a moment of silence. Then came a furious ‘What the!”

Khushi nodded. “Ji. I too swore when I found out. Not “what the!’ because my English is poor, but ‘Hey Devi Maiyya!’”

Arnav sat down, very slowly.

“Get out.” His voice was soft and deadly, his eyes like laser beams.

“If I get out now, I will have to come back again.”, Khushi said, her voice equally soft.

Arnav asked, gritting his teeth, “Do you want me to drag you out of this office and throw you out on the street?”

“No. Shukriya for asking. But I can walk.” Khushi looked directly into his eyes.

Arnav glared at her, his jaw clenched.

“Whatever you do or say, I am not getting married to a man who already has a wife.” Her voice was sad, but the determination in it was clear.

“A few days after we brought Babuji back home from the hospital, Shyam Manohar Jha approached Buaji. He said that he was a lawyer, that he was from Lucknow, that he needed a place to stay urgently, that he was an orphan,” Khushi sighed.

Arnav sat, his face hewn in stone. "You are lying."

Khushi did not bother to respond to him. She continued,

“Buaji is a widow, living on her husband’s pension. And with Babuji being ill, we needed the money. So Buaji rented out a room to him.”

Khushi looked at Arnav’s cold face with sorrow in her heart.

“He knows how to pull the heart strings of women, especially older women. His smarmy ways, his oily smiles that never reach his eyes, his pretty speeches…Uughhhh…. Soon Buaji and Amma began looking on him as a son they had never had. And he loved it….. Luknowi chaat….pooja with the family…..helping in the kitchen…talking to the guests as though he were a family member……” Khushi clenched her fists as though she were closing them around Shyam’s neck.

“You are lying.” Arnav was quiet but emphatic.

“Why should I?”

“Because you want to hurt my sister, my family. Because you want something from me.” Arnav’s cold eyes rained ice on her.

Khushi nodded. “I do want something from you. Just help to stop the wedding between me & your Jijaji. I have no intention of harming your family. If I had wanted to make your sister cry, all I had to do was sit at home and get engaged first & then married.”

Arnav fumed, shock & helplessness eating into his self-control.

Khushi pushed a glass of water closer to him.

“Soon, he approached Buaji with a marriage proposal. Buaji & Amma were delighted. A responsible lawyer, a boy who was like a son, who would stay with them…a perfect match for their Sanka Devi who does one foolishness after the other……” Khushi sighed. “If Babuji were well, I don’t think he would have accepted the proposal without finding out why Shyamji travels so much, is absent from home on many days & nights of the week…..Anyway, Babuji is ill. He can’t even lift his hand……..Buaji & Amma are all for this wedding. They don’t know what kind of a scoundrel he is…..” Khushi sighed, tired. She placed her hands on his table, crossed them, and leaned her chin on them like a child.

“I was praying at the big, white temple on the Main Road, asking Devi Maiyya why I didn’t want to marry Shyamji. Then I saw him with a beautiful lady. She was smiling at him. He filled her maang, and she tried to touch his feet. He stopped her, and said. “Your place is not at my feet, Rani Sahiba, but in my heart!”

Khushi didn’t notice Arnav paling.

“The lady limped away to a car. I ran to Happyji who had brought me to the temple in his auto, and asked him to follow the car. It was difficult, but we finally traced her to Shantivan. I didn’t tell Happyji anything. He knows Shyamji, you see…I didn’t want Shyamji knowing that I had found out that he had a wife.” Her voice was low, reflecting her fatigue at the long battle she had been fighting against her family & Shyamji.

“I found out that it was your house, that the lady was your sister…..I got your office’s address from the watchman…I tried to see you…But how could I tell the receptionist or your secretary why I wanted to see you?” Khushi looked at Arnav.

Arnav looked at Khushi for a moment, silent. Then he got up, picked up the photo of his sister & her husband that he kept on a glass ledge behind her, and showed it to Khushi.

“Yes. This is the scoundrel. And this is the lady I saw in the temple.” There was no triumph in her voice, only deep sorrow. “I told Babuji, but couldn’t tell Buaji & Amma. Or Jiji. Because if they knew, they would throw him out…..and he would retaliate.”

“Retaliate?”

Khushi nodded.

“Once I realised that he was a crook, I started paying closer attention to him. Odd people call him up…at odd times….and the way he talks to them…as though threatening them……I don’t know if he is a criminal as well as a scoundrel, but I cannot take the risk.”

She looked into his eyes. “I am sorry. I know I have hurt you. I am sorry. There was…there was no other way…..”

“How do I know that you have told me the truth?”, Arnav was equally sombre.

“You don’t. But maybe you can find out.” Khushi got up from her seat, putting the strap of her cloth bag around her neck. “Hum chalte hein.”

“Your phone number.”, Arnav demanded.

She gave it.

“If you are lying, I will destroy your life.” The threat was very real.

“My life is already in tatters. There is nothing more you can do to destroy it.”, Khushi replied, her sad eyes on his. “Namaste.”

She walked away, out of his office, down the steps, towards the exit. Near the door, she turned to look at him.

Even at this distance, he could see the glint of tears in her eyes and the movement of her lips as she murmured, “I am sorry.”

Part 4: A Plan in the Making

A gift VM (Balma from Khiladi 786)

Khushi’s phone rang.

She juggled her bags, and with great difficulty, managed to fish out her phone.

“Hello!”, she gasped.

“Khushi…..”, the husky voice murmured.

The world stopped for a moment, & then began to move at a very slow pace, as though in slow motion. Like in the movies…

“Ji…..”, she quavered, her voice just a breath.

“Can you come to the office now?”, the soft voice asked.

She hesitated. “But….”

“Shyam is at home, watching a movie with my family. He won’t see us.”

“I will come.”, she said.

Arnav heard another voice.

“Bitiyaa, will you take the karela?”, the vendor asked.

“Nahin, Bhaiyya. I will come later for the vegetables.”

“Khushi, where are you?”, Arnav asked.

“Ji, in the sabzi mandi near your office. I will be there in 10 minutes.”, she promised.

“Use the front door this time. I have informed the security, the receptionist, & my private secretary.”

“Ji.”, Khushi had to smile. "Shukriya."

Arnav looked up as Aman led Khushi into his office. She was in a parrot green anarkali, her cloth bag hanging across her torso, her hair in a neat plait, her eyes wary. She looked like his plants after the rain, all fresh and bright and thriving.

Arnav nodded at Aman, and showed Khushi a seat.

They stared at each other for a few moments in silence.

Finally, he said, “You were right.”

She heard the pain, the sorrow, the sense of betrayal behind the words.

She just nodded.

After a few more moments of silence and shared pain, Khushi asked softly, “Will you help me stop the sagai?”

“Yes.”

Khushi sagged back in her chair, weak with relief. “Thank you.” He watched her lips tremble in relief.

A few more moments of silence later, the unlikely partners in Operation Flushing Shyam Out spoke at the same time.

“When is the sagai…?”, asked Arnav.

“What shall we…?”, asked Khushi.

Both looked flustered at each other, and then Arnav asked, “When is the sagai?”

“Next week. The 15^th. At home. Between 5 and 5.30 pm.”

“We have just 4 days…….”, Arnav mused.

“Ji.”, Khushi sighed. “Amma & Buaji are busy shopping for clothes and jewellery……Jiji is so happy for me……Babuji is helpless…and the rascal is smiling all the time…”

Arnav clenched his jaw. Shyam deserved to be beaten to pulp for cheating on his sister who thought that the sun, the moon, & the stars rose out of Shyam Manohar Jha’s backside.

“Do you want to deal with Shyamji without letting your sister know or do you want her to find out what kind of a man he is.”, Khushi asked simply.

Arnav looked at her. His face was impassive, but he was filled with amazement. With her simple & direct way of tackling things, she had placed her finger on the most complicated and crucial part of their future plans. The crux of it.....

Arnav swallowed. “She has to know. It will hurt. Very badly. Because she is blindly in love with her husband.” Arnav shook his head in disgust. “Her husband!” He looked at Khushi with a stern face. “I will get him out of her life. Once & for all.”

Khushi nodded.

“How can we tell her that…?”, Khushi quailed.

“I am not going to tell her anything. I am going to show her.”, Arnav declared.

“Show her?”, khushi asked.

“That he is living in your house, that he is going to get engaged to you…..”, Arnav was certain.

“You are going to come to our house on the 15^th with your family?”, Khushi paled.

“Yes. Di has to see her husband’s true face with her own eyes.”, Arnav was decided on this.

Khushi nodded slowly. After a moment’s silence, she said softly, “When caught out, Shyamji will say that I and my family trapped him into staying with us, that my Buaji tried to force me on to him……”

Arnav stared at her.

“He will do anything, say anything to save his own skin. He is a coward as well as a cheat.” Khushi met his eyes. “Your sister will believe him. Your family will think that we tried to entice Shyamji into marrying me……”

“I have proof that you didn’t. I got him investigated.”, Arnav said.

Khushi smiled sadly. “It is OK. What does it matter what your family thinks of me & mine? What matters is that I don’t have to marry him and that your sister will be free of him. Once & for all.”

They sat staring at each other.

“Khushi, save my number in your phone under some other name.”

“Ji.”

“Call me when he comes to your house to stay. I need to start dropping hints to Di so that the whole thing does not come as a shock to her.”

“Ji.”

They sat in silence.

“Acha, hum chalte hein. You must have work to do.”, Khushi got up.

“Is the sabziwala waiting for you?”, Arnav asked.

“Ji.”, Khushi smiled. The smile suddenly died, and a look of horror passed over her face. “What is the time?”

“One.”

Khushi hit her head with her hand. “He Devi Maiyya! Buaji will make khichdi of me! She asked me to get karela & bhindi to prepare lunch, and I am here, karela & bhindi are at the mandi, & Buaji will be waiting for me with a belan in her hand!”

Arnav tried not to smile. He watched her walk out, talking to herself, “Khushi Kumari Gupta, you are dead today. Buaji is going to call you all the names under the sun…Sanka Devi, Parmeswari………You are dead!”

Part 5: A Call at Night

Kaun Mera (Special 26 by Papon)

Arnav filled a pot with potting mixture absently, his hands doing the familiar task with ease while his mind replayed Khushi’s words, the look in her eyes as she said that Shyam would turn the situation to his advantage and blame Khushi & her family for his misdeeds……

He looked at the phone. She hadn’t called yet…..He sighed in impatience, & turned back to the pot.

Shyam would do it….. His fingers squeezed the life out of the rim of the pot. A man who could cheat his wife who thought that he could walk on water could do anything……… Shyam would make Khushi look like a vamp and himself the poor, unsuspecting, patnivrata husband…….

The cheat was not at home. He had apparently left on a long business trip that evening……. a long business trip that would take him to the other end of the town and Khushi’s house..... Arnav grit his teeth. 

Why hadn’t she called yet? He looked at the clock in his room. It was late! He glowered at the innocent phone lying on the small table that held his laptop. Maybe terrified by Arnav Singh Raizada’s expression, it rang.

Arnav strode to the table & scooped up the phone. The display read ‘Happy’, the name under which he had stored Khushi’s number.

“Hello!”, he growled.

“Sorry, Baba, Sorry. I couldn’t call earlier. Lakhon sorry!”, Khushi whispered into his ear.

Arnav gulped.

“Woh kya he, the rascal came here this evening, dragging a big suitcase. Amma & Buaji were so happy that they did everything but aarti for him while he smiled and smiled and smiled. I was about to go to my room & call you when an army of guests dropped in to congratulate the devil and me on our sagai. I didn’t know we had so many neighbours….”, Khushi sighed. “My arms are aching. I have been making tea & serving it for the past 3 hours!”

Arnav bit back a smile.

“You are not angry, are you?”, Khushi asked hopefully. “Right now, only my arms are aching. If you shout at me, my head too will start hurting….” 

Arnav said, softly, his husky voice sending a thrill down her spine, “No, I am not angry.”

Khushi twisted her head to look behind her. Had she leaned against some appliance that was giving her electrical shocks? But there was only a pillow touching her back. 

“Khushi, why are you whispering?”, Arnav asked softly.

Khushi looked at the pillow against which her back was resting with suspicion. Why were her nerves tingling?

“Ji…woh…the living room is full of ladies chatting with Buaji, Jiji is folding clothes in the next room, Amma is sitting with Babuji in his room, and I am in our bedroom with a sheet over my head…”, Khushi whispered.

“Sheet over your head? Why?”, Arnav was pleasurably perplexed.

“Because I don’t want anyone to see me calling you.”, Khushi confessed. “If Buaji knows that I am talking to a man…that too at night….that too when I am in my bedroom….then we won’t have to worry about the sagai. She will have killed me before it!”

Arnav smiled.

“Khushi…”, he asked, knowing the answer, “haven’t you talked to your boyfriends over the phone?”

“Baaifriends? How can I talk to baaifriends when I don’t have any friends that are baais?”, Khushi asked a legitimate question. “You don’t know anything! In real life, girls don’t have baaifriends! All that writing prem patra, singing around trees, dancing in the rain, sliding down the hill on your back….yeh sab sirf phillmon mein hote hein. Not in real life. If you do it in real life, you will end up in jail. And you will have torn clothes with grass stains……”

 (Pic credited to uploader)

Arnav burst out laughing.

“Sshhh..Sshhh….Don’t laugh so loudly! Jiji will hear!”, Khushi cautioned him, peeping out of the sheet with one open eye. The door was still shut. She sighed in relief.

Arnav laughed as he had never laughed before in his life.

The guffaws attracted the attention of his family members who were gathered in the living room.

“Bhat ijj that sound?”, Mami asked, looking around with wide eyes as she walked towards the source.

“Nannav…Nannav is laughing?”, NK asked, scratching his head in confusion as he followed her.

“Bhai! What happened to Bhai?”, Akash ran up the steps, covering them rapidly with his long legs.

“Chotey? Chotey is laughing?”, Anjali looked at Nani.

“It has been so long, Anjali Bitiyaa…..”, Nani’s voice trembled. Anjali held her hand and helped her up the steps.

“Are you laughing at me?”, Khushi asked, suspicion lacing her voice.

“No…. No…”, Arnav gasped.

“Hhmmphf…”, Khushi snorted.

Arnav clutched his stomach.

“Khushi….”, he heard a sweet voice call.

“Haan, Jiji…”, Khushi replied.

“Isn’t it time to go to bed? Why are you huddling under that sheet? Are you feeling cold?”

“No, Jiji…I mean I was…But now I am not feeling cold, Jiji….”

“Yeh ladki bhi na…”, he heard Khushi’s Jiji grumble good naturedly.

“Payaliyaa!”, he heard a loud call. That must be the Buaji, he thought. “Has Titliyaa got in to bed yet, Nandkisore?”

“Haan, Buaji.”, Khushi’s Jiji replied.

“Ask her to sleep without playing pranks on you. Or dancing on the bed. That girl! No one would say that she is going to get married soon the way she runs around like a whirlwind!”

“Haan, Buaji, I will tell her.” Khushi’s Jiji said. “Khushi, I will be back in a moment. The book with salwar patterns is on the table in the living room. I will just put it back, and then we can go to bed.”

“Ji, Jiji…”, he heard Khushi mutter obediently.

As soon as her Jiji left the room, Khushi whispered into the phone, “Hum phone rakhte hein!”

“Khushi!”

“Ji”

“Tomorrow at my office.”

“No….”, Khushi screeched almost silently, if that was possible.

“Yes. I need to…err..we need to talk…”, Arnav said.

“Oh..our plan…”

“Yes.”

“I will leave the house to go to the temple in the morning. After that I can come to your office. Will 8 be too early?”

“No. Eight is fine.”, Arnav smiled.

“Acha. Shubh raatri.”, Khushi said.

“Good night.”, Arnav whispered. 

He stood holding the phone to his ear long after Khushi cut the call, smiling at the craziness of the adorable child-woman. He finally dropped the phone on the recliner, and turned towards his room, a smile still on his lips, to come face to face with his Nani, Di, Mami, Akash, & NK, all standing staring at him as though he had grown 4 more heads.

Part 6: Caught Out

“What?”, asked Arnav Singh Raizada, trying to act as though talking to girls on the phone at night and laughing like mad were regular activities of his.

“Chotey, you were…laughing?”, Anjali asked.

Arnav lifted his eyebrow.

“Bhai, are you alright?”, Akash asked anxiously.

“Of course.”, he said, smirking.

If there was a tinge of red on Arnav’s cheeks, the darkness hid it.

“Arnav Bitwaa, who was calling on the phonewaa? Tells us, tells us!”, asked Mami, a roguish look on her face.

Arnav swallowed.

“Whom are you going to meet in the morning, Nannav? Eh? Eh?”, NK teased.

“Chotey?”, Nani asked, a small smile playing on her lips.

Arnav took a deep breath.

“Nani, our Chotey na, he is not what he appears to be.”, Anjali teased. “We thought he drove away women with his anger and his akhdoo behaviour, but apparently he is not like that with them.”

“Oh! So, Anjali Bitiyaa, Arnav Bitwaa saves all his akhdooness for us?”, Mami asked, hiding a smile.

“Haan, Mami. Looks like he is a regular Romeo with girls….”, Anjali teased him.

“Di…”, Arnav protested.

‘So who is the girlwaa?”, Mami asked. “Is she bootiphool like your Mami?”

Looking at his whole family waiting eagerly for him to talk about Khushi, Arnav had a brainwave.

“Err…she is a friend.”, he said.

“Friend? A girl? Bhai’s friend?”, poor Akash looked flummoxed.

“Friend? A girlwaa who ijj also a friendwaa? A girl friend?”, Mami exclaimed. “Saasumma, lagat he your grandson is up to some mischief. It is time you shackled his feet!”

Nani smiled. Anjali giggled. Arnav flushed.

“Nannav has a girl friend! Nannav has a girl friend!”, NK shouted, dancing around him.

“Bhai has a girl friend?”, Akash whispered. “A girl friend?”

“Who is she? Where does she live? Does she have a family? When shall we go to them with your proposal?”, Nani asked.

Arnav said, “You can’t take my proposal to them.”

“Bhy not?”, asked Mami.

“She is getting engaged next week.”, Arnav said simply, watching all the faces carefully. All paled and became serious.

“I am sorry, bro. Hard luck.”, NK said.

“Engaged?”, Nani whispered. “Engaged to be married?”

“She doesn’t like the man her parents have selected for her, but she has no choice.”, Arnav added.

“Chotey, you like her?”, Di asked.

Arnav nodded.

“You want to marry her?”, Nani asked.

A picture of Khushi hiding under the sheet to talk to him on the phone sent a laugh bubbling through him. He bit his lip & nodded.

“Then you should marry her, Hello Hi Bye Bye! Saasumma, it is only a sagai. And a sagai can be cancelled. You don’t borry, Arnav Bitwaa. Your Mami will break her engagement phor you.”

Arnav smiled slightly.

“Just a minute, Mami. Chotey, does the girl like you?”, Di asked.

Arnav bit the inside of his cheek to stop himself from smiling as he laid claim to Khushi’s heart without her knowledge.

“Yes.”

A huge sigh of relief left the family.

“Nannav, you are sure she likes you?”, NK asked, a frown on his forehead.

Anjali hit NK on his shoulder. “NK Bhai!”, she protested.

“No, Di. I was wondering at the girl’s courage. She must be a Jhalli Ki Rani”, NK declared.

“Who?”, asked Akash, confused. 

Arnav looked at his shoes, wishing he could tell them how right NK was.

“The queen who rode horses and fought wars…”, NK expalined.

“Jhansi Ki Rani, NK Bhai!”, Anjali & Akash exclaimed together.

“Chotey, what is her name?”, Nani asked.

“Khushi.”, Arnav said it with a smile in his voice. The listeners stood silent for a moment, touched by the unexpected & sudden softness in his tone.

“Chotey, why doesn’t she like the man her parents have selected for her?”, Anjali asked, curious.

“Khushi’s father is bedridden after a stroke he suffered a few months back. Her Amma & Buaji take care of him. Sometime back, a man came to their house & asked for a room for rent. Being short of money, they agreed. He stayed with them, and became close to Buaji & Amma. He then asked for Khushi’s hand in marriage.”

“Did he come to their house after seeing Khushi or did he see Khushi after coming to the house?”, asked Mami, whose brain was as sharp as her tongue.

Arnav smiled. “I don’t know. Khushi’s father does not like him, but Amma & Buaji are for this rishta. Khushi’s sister too supports them.” 

“You don’t borry, Arnav Bitwaa. Give me the girlwaa’s address. I bill go there & break the sagai before it happens.”

Arnav’s sharp brain worked overtime. “You should meet her first.”, he said mildly.

All gasped.

“You will introduce her to us, Chotey?”, asked Anjali.

“Why not?”, he asked.

Mami clapped her hands.

“Saasumma, give her shagun & book her when we see her. After that we can go to her house, tell her parents & Buaji, & carry her off.”

“Carry her off?”, asked NK.

“This boy!”, Mami laughed. “Very weak in the romance department! How many times have I told you to go & see Dilwale Dulhaniyaa Le Jaayenge?”

“Chotey, what about the man she is going to be engaged to?”, asked Nani.

“Saasumma, bhat about him? Who ijj he in phront (front) of our Arnav Bitwaa?”

“Still…”, Nani said.

“If he says he won’t let Khushi go, our Arnav Bitwaa will do dishum dishum and carry her off in his carwaa!, Hello Hi Bye Bye”

“Manorama!”, Nani sighed. “Don’t give the boy ideas!”

“Saasumma, hamre Arnav Bitwaa does not need his Mami to give him ideas!”, Mami laughed.

Anjali sighed, “If only your Jiju were here! How he would pull your leg!”

Arnav grit his teeth thinking of the violence he would like to do his Jiju, and said, “He seems to be travelling a lot these last two months, Di.”

“Haan, Chotey. He has taken on more clients so that he can buy another house in Delhi soon.”

“Another house?”, Nani asked, frowning. “Why does he need another house? Chotey gave you a huge house when you got married, didn’t he?”

“Haan, Nani. But he wants to buy one more house. I told him not to worry, that Chotey will help us, but he said that it was not fair to ask Chotey.”, smiled Anjali. "I told him that Chotey will be happy to help us.”

Nani unexpectedly put her foot down. “Damadji is right. Chotey has given you both enough. It is time he focused on his own future.”

Mami nodded. “Let Damadji buy his own house, Hello Hi Bye Bye!. Atleast people will stop calling him Ghar Jamai!”

Anjali pouted. Arnav clenched his fists.

He said, “Don’t tell Jiju about Khushi. Let us surprise him when he returns.”

All faces brightened.

“Yes, let’s.”, said Nani.

“Anjali Bitiyaa, be carephool (careful). Don’t let the billi out of the bagwaa when you phone him!”, Mami warned her.

“No, Mami, I won’t.” Anjali pouted. “He is so busy that he has asked me to phone him only in the morning, & that too between 7 & 7.30.”

That must be the time Khushi normally goes to the temple, Arnav thought. If he could lay his hands on his Ji-Ja-Ji, he would break his bones to little pieces and enjoy doing it.

Arnav stood in his office and watched Khushi walk in through the door held open by his guards. She looked anxiously around her at the deserted office, the chairs waiting for their occupants, the air of stillness…... Then she looked up at the tall figure in formal clothes, waiting for her in the glass cage.

He stood, unsmiling, his eyes devouring her. Dressed in a lilac anarkali, she looked like a flower that had bloomed on the creeper that he had pegged to his garden wall.

As he watched, a wide smile spread on her lips. His lips curved slightly in answer. She walked up the steps to his cabin. He held out a chair for her. She stood undecided for a moment, and then sat down. He breathed in the jasmine scent of her hair and clothes, letting it fill his lungs.

He slowly walked to his chair and sat down, his eyes still on her. Khushi clutched her bag in her lap.

“You wanted to discuss our plan?”, she asked, feeling her breath hitch at the look in his eyes.

“Yes. You were worried about Di & my family misunderstanding you and your family, weren’t you?”

“J..jii…”, Khushi stammered.

“My family should meet & know you before Shyam is unmasked. That will help them understand who the villain is.”

“Uuhh?”

“And they should know that you were unwilling to get engaged to Shyam.”

Khushi stared at Arnav with wide eyes. “How…?”

“I have already taken care of it.”, Arnav stated.

“How?”, asked Khushi, her eyes wide with wonder.

“I have told them that we love each other.”, Arnav said, and waited for the explosion.

But Khushi looked at him, confused. “You and Shyamji?”

Arnav lowered his eyes to hide the smile in them.

“No. You and me.”

“You and me? YOU and ME? We love each other?”, Khushi’s mouth was open in a perfect ‘O’.

Arnav took a moment to compose himself.

“Yes, you and me. I told them that we loved each other, and that you were going to get engaged to a man you didn’t like.”

Khushi stared at him for a moment in silence. She then threw her hands in the air & then clutched her head. “Hey Devi Maiyaa, Yeh Aapne Kya Kar Diya!”


 
 (Thank u, Titaliya_AP)

Arnav swallowed his laughter, sitting back to enjoy her dramatics.

Khushi jumped up from the seat, and arms swinging wildly, said, “I was having trouble with one man. One man. So I came to you for help. And now I am having trouble with TWO men?”

Arnav clenched his jaw to stop the smile from breaking out, and averted his eyes from her militant stance to avoid losing his control.

She placed her hands on his glass table and leaned towards him, “Is this the way you help me?”

“Yes.”

“By complicating my life further? Mr. Raizada…..”, Khushi started.

“Arnav.”, he said mildly.

“What?”

“Arnav. How can you call your premi Mr. Raizada?”

“Grrrr…”, Khushi growled, raising her hands to choke him, stopping an inch from his neck.

“Violence against your baaifriend, Khushi?”, Arnav asked, tongue in cheek.

“Baaifriend? I don’t have any baaifriend. And I don’t want one. Or Two.”, Khushi stated, a menacing look in her eyes.

“Well, you have one.”

“I don’t want him. I mean, you.”

“Khushi, sit down. Listen to me.”

“No, I won’t.”

“Khushi…!”

“No….”, she closed her ears with her hands. "No...."

Arnav curled his fingers around her slender arm to pull her closer.

His hold on her arm felt like a brand. Khushi jerked, trying to free her arm from him, but to no avail. His fingers slipped down her arm, leaving a trail of fire behind, singeing her.

He stood up, & moved closer to her, not letting go of her arm. 

“Khushi….”, he murmured. She looked up. 

“My family should meet you, know you for what you are. Once they are convinced that we care for each other, they will discount Shyam’s claim that you tried to seduce or coerce him into marriage.”

Khushi let out her breath in a rush.

“I have to bring them to your house to show them Shyam’s true colours. We have no choice about that. Only seeing him at his worst will open Di’s eyes.”

Khushi nodded.

“But I don’t want you or your family to be blamed for his doings.”

Khushi nodded.

“If we had more time, we could have…we could have done lots of other things…but….”, Arnav paused.

Khushi sighed. She pulled her arm away, rubbing the skin that he had burned with his touch.

“Hum chalte he…..”, she said, her lips all turned down.

Arnav nodded. “I will bring them to your temple tomorrow morning. 7am, isn’t it?”

She nodded, and then turned to walk away.

As she reached the door, Arnav said softly, “Khushi, we will have to convince them. You understood what I meant, didn’t you?”

Khushi turned to look at him with wide, innocent eyes.

“We will have to make my Nani, Mami, Di, & my brothers, Akash & NK believe that we are in love. That you are my girl friend. That I am your baaifriend.”

“I can’t sing.” Horrified eyes looked at him. “And I am not dancing in any park for you. Especially not in the rain. I already have two baaifriends. I don’t need a jhukaam (cold) too.”

Arnav coughed to hide his laugh. “I will spare you this time.”, he managed to croak.

“Hhmpffff…”, she snorted as she walked away.

“Khushi…..”

She stopped and looked at him.

“Call me at night.”, his husky voice made her feel as though a thousand butterflies were dancing in her tummy. She clutched her bag closer to her stomach and nodded.


Part 7: Baaifriend and Girlfriend

Arnav looked at his sister as they all sat around the dining table, partaking of dinner.

“Did Jiju call, Di?”, he asked.

“No.”, Anjali pouted. “He never does, Chotey.” A worried look passed over her face. 

Arnav swallowed.

“He is always working, Chotey. I don’t know how a person can be so busy.”, she complained.

“That is because work is your Nutan, Di.”, NK said, spooning kheer into his mouth.

“Nutan?”, asked Akash. “The actress?”

“Souten, NK Bitwaa, Souten!”, Mami sighed.

All laughed. Arnav watched his Di with eagle eyes.

She laughed with the others, although a worried look lingered on her face.

“Do lawyers have to travel so much?”, asked Arnav.

Akash nodded. “I was wondering the same, Bhai.”

Nani too nodded.

“I don’t know, Chotey.”, Anjali said. “Shyamji never talks much about work. And if I ask him, he gets angry.”, she sighed.

“This ijj a mystery. Inbestigation karega padi!”, Mami Bond declared.

Arnav changed the topic. This was enough for now.

This time, Arnav was more prepared to receive Khushi’s call. He locked his bedroom door. Today, no one would eavesdrop on their conversation…

He placed the phone by his laptop, and sat working, stealing glances at the phone at regular intervals. When would she call?

He added a few more figures to the sheet, and peeped a glance at the phone. It lay as dead. He frowned at it.

What must she be doing now?, he wondered. Trying to steal away to her room to call him? A smile moved his lips as he imagined her crouching under a bed sheet to call him……

The phone rang. 'Happy'!

He grabbed it.

“Hello!”, he said, his husky voice travelling over the distance to play on her nerves.

“Ji…Y...you asked me to c..call…”, he heard her voice faintly. He could hear the sound of water falling in the background. He looked out through his window. It was not raining. He frowned. What was that sound?

“Khushi, where are you?”

“Ji...In the bathroom. How else can I call you? The house is full of people. The sagai is on Tuesday evening, & now it is Sunday night.”

Arnav smiled. “The water…. Khushi, have you turned on the tap?”

“Aur nahin to kya? I told Buaji that I needed a bath urgently. That it was too hot for me to go to bed otherwise. Thank God we have water supply at night. Had this been in the morning, this excuse wouldn’t have worked. We don’t have water from 9.30am to 1pm.”, Khushi said seriously.

Arnav smiled. “The trouble you go to just to talk to me, Khushi….”, he crooned.

Khushi was silent for a moment. Then she said, “Y..you asked me to call?”

Arnav smiled. He said, “Khushi, I will bring my family to the temple you frequent. Where is it?”

“On the Main Road. The big temple with the huge banyan tree in front.”

“The white-coloured one with lots of steps?”, he asked.

“Ji.”

“We will be there at 7.”

“Ji.”

“Let’s meet near the banyan tree.”

“Ji.”

“Khushi, make sure that Shyam is at home when you leave the house, and that he intends to stay there. I don’t want him seeing us.”

“Ji. He almost never leaves the house when he comes to stay here. But I will make certain.”

He heard Buaji call, “Titliyaa…..O Titliyaa…..Are you planning to sleep in the bathroom, Nandkisore?”

“Coming, Buaji!”, Khushi answered.

“Shall I bring your bed to the bathroom? You can sleep there if you like the bathroom so much!”, Buaji said.

“I am done, Buaji....”, she said. She turned the pipe off. Both buckets were full of water. “I have to go now.”, she whispered in to the phone.

“Khushi, what will you call me tomorrow?”, Arnav asked, loath to let her go.

Khushi frowned. “Your name, Mr. Raizada. What else? Or have you changed it?”

“Khushi, Khushi…Girl friends don’t call their baaifriends Mr. Raizada. You should call me Arnav.”

“He Devi Maiyya! How can I call you by your name? Paap lagega! You are so much older than me!”, Khushi was scandalised.

“Oh! So you can try to strangle me. That is OK with your Devi Maiyya. But you can’t call me by my name!”, Arnav smiled.

Khushi flinched at the unwelcome memory of her leaning towards him with her fingers almost around his neck.

“I can’t call you ‘Arnav’. Calling you ‘Arnav’ is a sin.” She thought seriously about what she could call him.

Arnav smiled. She had already used his name twice now.

“Why don’t you call me ‘Jaan’?”, he suggested, tongue in cheek.

“What?”, Khushi yelled in surprise.

“What happened, Nandkisore? Is there a snake in your bathroom?”, asked Buaji. "Or a wasp in your dress?"

How could she tell Buaji that there was a more dangerous thing at the other end of the phone?

“No, Buaji. I…I Just slipped.”

“Tum theek ho, Sanka Devi?”

“Haan, Buaji.”

“Maybe ‘Balma’?”, Arnav suggested. “Saajan’, ‘Saiyya’, ‘Pritam’….?”

 (Titaliya_AP, Thanx a million!)

“’Arnavji’! I will call you ‘Arnavji’!”, she gasped.

“Khushi, my family thinks that we are in love. So we will have to behave like lovers do.”, he warned her, trying to keep the smile away from his voice.

“Behave like lovers?”, Khushi asked.

“O Parmeswari! Are you stuck in the bathroom? Faavicol Se, Nandkisore? Shall I call the neighbours?”

“Buaji, I am coming!”, Khushi shouted. Then she whispered into the phone, “Hum Phoon Rakte Hein, Mr. Rai….matlab, Arnavji…”

“Goodnight, Khushi.”, Arnav smiled.

“Shubh Raatri.”, she whispered.

Part 8: A Question

Arnav parked the car in front of the temple. He turned his head to look at the excited faces of his Nani & Di, and sighed inwardly. What he was going to set into motion would shake the very foundations of his Di’s life, …but…but..there was no other way…….. he couldn’t stand by and do nothing while the rascal fooled his sister and tried to marry Khushi.

“Chotey, Khushi will come at 7, won’t she?”, Nani asked, her eyes twinkling.

“Haan, Nani.” Arnav swallowed hard.

He turned to his sister and said, “Di, did you phone Jiju?”

“No. Why, Chotey?”, she asked.

“He might be waiting for you to call him between 7 & 7.30. Why don’t you call him now? Once we meet Khushi, you might not remember….”, Arnav suggested.

“Haan, Chotey. You are very right.” Anjali took her phone out to call her husband.

Nani said, “Anjali Bitiyaa, don’t let Damadji know anything about Khushi. Just tell him that we are at the temple. Let it all be a surprise to him when he returns!”

Anjali smiled, nodded, and called Shyam.

Arnav clenched his fists around the steering wheel as the cheat dripped honey all over his Di, calling her Rani Sahiba and what not….the bigamous toad! He watched Akash park his car nearby and lead Mami & NK over to his vehicle.

Finally, Anjali’s phone conversation ended, and Arnav followed his family up the steps to the temple.

“What does she look like, Chotey?”, Nani asked.

“Err…beautiful…”, he stammered.

“We know that, Hello Hi Bye Bye!”, laughed Mami.

“Long hair, thin, light eyes, fair……”, he managed to say. “She will be waiting near the banyan tree.”

“Ijj that her?”, Mami asked.

There was silence from Arnav. All turned to look at him, and started giggling. He was standing with his mouth open.

Khushi was wearing a sari. A red sari. The folds of the silk moulded her body with a loving hand. Her skin glowed in the early morning light, showing of its creamy, blemishless expanse, tempting him to touch her, feel the warmth of her plump cheeks, swan-like neck, her long arms, her curvy waist that peeped out from the fall of soft red silk……. The rest of his thoughts were not appropriate for a place of worship. Arnav swallowed, with great difficulty.

Her hair was unbound, just a few strands gathered lightly together at the back of her head with a tiny clip. The silky strands danced in the light breeze, forming a halo around her.

As he watched her with intense, burning, possessive eyes, she lifted her eyes from her fingers that she had been twisting together, and looked up, straight at him.

Khushi saw only Mr. Raizada …… Arnavji. He was in black formal clothes, standing straight and tall, looking at her. A smile bloomed on her face. Arnav’s lips stretched slightly in response. Her smile widened. A lone man out to save his family from a cheat….his broad shoulders taking on the burden of the secret, working alone, suffering alone……..If he had not agreed to stand by her……..she would have been doomed……

As he watched, her eyes shone with trust and something like…like liking…. Arnav swallowed. His family heaved  a loud sigh of relief and wonder.

They looked at Arnav’s face that revealed his pride in her and hid their smiles. They then looked at Khushi’s rapt face, and couldn’t help but smile.

“Nannav, she is so beautiful! Introduce us to Khushi…pleeeeease… You can stare at her later.”, NK pleaded.

“Bhabi….”, said Arnav. “She is your Bhabi. Take her name with respect.”

Mami burst out laughing while NK & Akash looked at him with mouths wide open. Nani & Anjali giggled.

Nani laughed, “Chotey, if all of us call her Khushi Bhabi, will you condescend to introduce her to us?”

Arnav flushed slightly, and led his family up to where Khushi was standing.

The Raizadas drew in sharp breaths. Khushi was more beautiful in close up, her direct gaze and warm smile endearing her to them at first sight.

NK took a step forward to introduce himself to Khushi, but Arnav pulled him back. He then stepped forward, asking, “Khushi, have you been waiting long?”

Khushi opened her mouth to reply. But her mouth remained open with no sound issuing from it as Arnav leaned forward, and gently kissed her right cheek. His warm, hard lips grazed the softness of her cheek for a second & then pressed firmly against the satin soft skin. Her eyes became wide, and wider still in shock.

Arnav whispered in her ear, “Remember, we are baiifriend-girlfriend.”

Khushi swallowed and lowered her eyes, her cheeks a rosy red. She clutched her trembling fingers together.

“Khushi, this is my Nani, Devyani Raizada.” Khushi touched Nani’s feet, and Nani blessed and hugged her, cupping her cheeks lovingly.

“Khushi, this is my Di, Anjali Jha.” Arnav’s eyes met Khushi’s for a poignant moment. She greeted Anjali politely, and Anjali hugged her and kissed her cheek.

“Khushi, this is my Mami, Manorama Raizada.” Khushi touched her feet, and was blessed.

“Do you have any sisters, Hello Hi Bye Bye?”, Mami asked her.

“Ji. One elder sister. Payal.”, Khushi replied.

“Ijj she married?”, asked Mami.

“Ji..No.”, replied Khushi.

Mami nudged Arnav. “Arnav Bitwaa, when we go to your Khushi’s housewaa to phix (fix) your marrijjj, look at Payal carephully. If she is alright, Akash Bitwaa-Payal mamla bhi phix kar diyo!”

Arnav smiled, but with a tinge of sorrow. When they finally visited Khushi’s house, Akash’s marriage would be the last thing on anybody’s mind.

“My Mamaji is abroad right now. This is Mami’s son, Akash.”, he introduced Akash to Khushi.

They greeted each other with folded hands. Akash said seriously, “Welcome to the family, Khushi Bhabi.”

Khushi felt her throat choke with regret and pain. What were they doing to this family? Feeding them so many lies to reveal a truth…. And when Shyamji was finally caught, this family would be shattered…. These smiles would vanish……

She looked at Arnav. He nodded, comforting her. They were doing the right thing...the only thing they could do.....

“Sh..shukriya…”, she managed to say.

“This is NK Bhai, our cousin. His family is settled in Sydney. He is on a visit here.” Arnav introduced NK.

“Khushi Bhabi….”, NK’s eyes twinkled and his smile was infectious. “I am so glad to meet you.”

Khushi smiled.

“Khushi Bhabi, I have been wanting to ask you something….”, NK said.

Khushi looked at him.

“How do you put up with Nannav’s anger?”

“I just remain calm when Arnavji roars.”, she laughed.

“Khushiji, how did you meet Chotey?”, Anjali asked.

Khushi paled slightly. Her scared eyes darted to Arnav’s calm ones. He caught hold of her hand, slipping his fingers through hers. She shuddered at his touch, & Arnav turned to look at her with intent, deeply satisfied eyes.

“She came to my office with a work proposal. I found it very interesting. We got talking. That’s all.”, Arnav said.

“Chotey!” Anjali protested. “Nobody can beat you in taking away the last bit of romance from a situation.”

Nani & Mami nodded.

"Thank God he didn't say that she walked out out his laptopwaa!", Mami quipped.

“Khushi Bhabi, what did you think of Bhai when you first saw him?”, Akash asked, smiling.

Khushi smiled thinking of the first moment when she had laid eyes on him. “A lion. In a glass cage. Roaring at everyone.” 

All laughed.

Arnav pressed her fingers, promising retribution.

“Nannav, what did you think of Khushi Bhabi when you first saw her?”

“He Devi Maiyya!”, Arnav said. His family looked at him as though he had gone mad.

Khushi pinched his fingers that were trying to play with hers. He freed her hand. Khushi heaved a sigh of relief. But it was too soon.

Arnav slid his arm around Khushi, pulling her closer to his side, his fingers playing with the exposed skin of her waist under the cover of her sari.

Khushi jerked, falling against him.

“I thought she must be the most beautiful girl on earth.”, Arnav said softly.

Khushi & the others stared at him, astonished.

The family chatted with Khushi for long, loving her ready sense of humour and cheerful nature. They asked about her engagement. Khushi made it clear that she had no liking for the man her sagai was fixed with  & that she knew very little about him. 

NK asked, "Khushi Bhabi, I know it is a very difficult thing to do, but do you love Nannav?" 

Khushi blushed, unused to such directness in matters of the heart, and not wanting to lie.

But apparently her blush was enough. The Raizadas smiled happily.

All the while, Arnav touched her constantly. Her arms, her hands, her fingers, her waist, her shoulders, her hair……. He did not miss a single chance. Khushi became more & more tense, trying to move away from him, her nerves stretched on a rack..... But Arnav held her firmly anchored to his side. Her heart thudded louder than a drum & she was short of  breath, finding it difficult to draw breath in.

Finally, Mami said, “Let’s go in to pray. Hamre Arnav Bitwaa & Khushi Bitiyaa can spend some time with each other, looking into each other’s aiijj (eyes).”

All nodded, smiling.

As they left, NK turned back, and said, “Nannav, good luck!”

Arnav looked after him, confused. NK walked away with a jaunty air.

Arnav turned to look at Khushi, and felt a bubble of laughter rising from his chest.

She was standing there, her hands on her waist, looking furious enough to kill him with her bare hands.

“Mr. Raizada….”

“Arnavji…”, he corrected her mildly.

She spit out, “Arnavji!”

“Yes?”

“Just because I was forced to accept you as my baaifriend does not mean that you have the right to touch me.”, Khushi bit out.

“Touch you?”, asked Arnav, raising an eyebrow.

“Ji. Touch me. Idhar Udhar with your long fingers and big hands. Knowing very well that I couldn’t scream at you or push you away when your family members were smiling at me.” Khushi pushed her face close to his to give him the full effect of an angry lioness.

“Khushi, baaifriends & girlfriends touch each other. All the time. Why are you complaining about it?”, he asked, an innocent look on his face.

Khushi frowned. “Baaifriends touch girlfriends like that?”

Arnav swallowed his smile. “Yes, Khushi Kumari Gupta. And girlfriends too touch baaifriends like this.”

“They do?” Her eyes looked like saucers.

Arnav had to call on all his self-control not to burst out laughing.

She looked at him, silent for a while. Then she asked, slowly, softly, “How do they breathe when they do this? I felt as though I would die without air, with dhak dhak that was faster than my breath…..How do girls and baais live through this?”

Part 9

A VM gift for all my readers, with loads of love.

Arnav looked at her, disarmed. Her worried eyes looked into his.

Finally he said, softly, “Because…because it happens to both of them….”

“Acha? It happened to you too?”

Arnav nodded, his eyes intent on her face.

She stared at him for a while, and then said softly, “This world is a very ajeeb place. Or I am very ajeeb. Jhoot moot ki girlfriend-baaifriend, dhak dhak & acidity, panting for breath as though I just climbed the Himalayas………” She placed her hand on her head. “I am going home. I have panted enough for one day. Bas.”

“I will drop you home.”, Arnav said.

“Haaaaan, and that rascal will see you dropping me home. Then what will I tell him?”

Arnav inclined his head, admitting that her concerns were legitimate.

“I will get you a rickshaw.”, Arnav stepped closer to her.

“No! Aaap door rahiye! Don’t come close to me. It is bad for both of our hearts.”

Arnav looked at the child dressed in a woman’s clothes, trying to run away from him. He had to try very hard not to laugh at her indignation and worry over her physical response to him.

“Tomorrow evening at 5, Khushi. We will come to your house.”, he promised her.

Khushi nodded.

“Give me the way to your house.”

Khushi did, describing everything in great detail.

“I will park the car in the next street.”, Arnav told her.

“That would be better.”, said Khushi. She looked at him silently for a few seconds. “Poor Anjaliji. Her world will collapse tomorrow …..because of us…”

“Because of Shyam.”, Arnav corrected her. “Because he never loved her, but tricked her into thinking that he did…because he married her for money…..because he lived off me for the past 3 years, using the huge amount I paid into his account every month, but still didn’t learn the meaning of the word ‘gratitude’……because he is immoral enough to commit bigamy……..”

“Still….”, Khushi wept in her heart for Anjaliji.

“She has gone through worse & survived. She will survive this too.”, Arnav vowed.

Khushi nodded. “She has you. She will survive. You will make everything alright.” 

Arnav stared at the girl who was reposing her trust in him in a matter-of-fact way.

“Hum chalte he, Arnavji.”, she said.

“Call me tonight.”, Arnav said.

“I don’t know if I can.”, she sighed. “Woh kya he, that…that rascal is following me around the house. Everywhere I go, there he is. He is always looking at me with those big, round, cold eyes………How can I hide in the bathroom or bedroom again?”

“Then I will call you.”, Arnav said.

“He Devi Maiyya! Don’t! I will have to answer a hundred questions from Buaji about who is calling me, why, how, when, what, where…….”

“You look beautiful in sari, Khushi.”, Arnav distracted her.

Khushi looked at him, astonished. His fiery eyes ran up & down her body, lingering on her figure.

Khushi clutched her thudding heart. “Don’t look at me! Don’t come near me! I know karate!”, she threatened him.

Arnav choked with laughter. “Really?”, he drawled.

“Really.”, Khushi lied. “And don’t use black magic against me. I will put poppy seeds in your drink and make you cough all night.”

Arnav burst out laughing, watching Khushi scurrying away.

That night, Arnav called Khushi.

Khushi was stuffing her face with her Amma’s pooris when her phone rang. 

The display showed ‘Banke Lalji!'

The poori went down the wrong way, and Khushi started coughing, clutching her throat.

Payal quickly passed her a glass of water, & Buaji rubbed her back. As soon as she could breathe, she grabbed the phone.

“Banke Lalji! How can I help you?”

“What the!”, exclaimed Arnav.

“Who is calling you at night, Sanka Devi?”, he could hear Buaji ask.

“Banke Lalji, Buaji!”

“Who is that? And why should he call at night, Nandkisore?”, Buaji wondered.

“He..I mean, Banke Lalji, runs a dress shop near the temple. I..I had asked him for a…a pink lehenga. Then he had said that if I leave my phone number, he will call to let me know when his next load arrives……” Arnav heard Khushi tell the tale to her family.

“Khushiji…”, he heard Shyam speak. Arnav’s fingers caught his phone in  a death hold. “You must not give out your phone number to every man who asks for it.”

Arnav heard Khushi reply, “Shyamji, he is not any man. Banke Lalji has always kept his word. I trust him.”

“Khushiji, your knowledge of the world is small. And the world is full of cheats and tricksters….”, Shyam continued.

Buaji nodded, but said, “Titliyaa is sanki, but not an idiot. She is careful. She must know Banke Lalji well.” She turned to Khushi, “E Titliyaa, Banke Lalji must be middle aged?”

“Haan, Buaji. With a paunch. And big mush. Now let me talk to him.”, Khushi got up and left the room. 

She walked into her Babuji’s room and shut the door. He was asleep.

“So I am middle aged?”, Arnav asked.

“Ji, with a big paunch & mush. Happy?”, Khushi asked.

“You stored my number under Banke Lalji? Excuse me?”, Arnav asked.

“You are excused. If you have something to say, say it fast, Arnavji. That rascal is yelping at my feet like a mad dog. I am hiding in Babuji’s room. Soon he will come & knock on the door to make sure that I haven’t flown out through the window with Banke Lalji!.”

“Poor Khushi….”, Arnav smiled.

“Very poor Khushi! How does your sister live with this man? Two minutes in the same room, and I am ready to run away.”

Arnav sighed.

“I am sorry, Arnavji. I didn’t mean to make you sad.”

“It is not your fault. I just called to say that you needn’t worry about tomorrow, Khushi. I will take care of everything.”

“I know.”, Khushi said.

“Take as many photos as you can of the rascal sitting and smiling with your family.”

“I will.”

There was silence. Both of them did not want to cut the call.

Finally, Khushi said, “Thank you, Arnavji. But for you…..”

“No, thank you, Khushi. If you hadn’t taken the trouble to find me, made me listen, braved my anger….”

Both remained silent.

Then Arnav said, “Remember, Khushi, you are not alone.”

Khushi nodded. Arnav smiled.

“Shubh Raatri, Arnavji!”, she said.

“Good night.”, he said.

Tuesday noon saw the Raizadas dressing up to go to Khushi’s house to claim her for Arnav.

“Will this sari do, Arnav Bitwaa?”, Mami asked.

Arnav blinked at the bright yellow, and nodded weakly.

Nani & Anjali came bustling into the room. “We are ready, Chotey.”

“Bhai, I am ready.”, sad Akash, a serious look on his face.

“Me too.”, said NK, straightening his jacket. The laughter was missing from his eyes.

“Di, did you call Jiju in the morning?”, asked Arnav.

“I did, Chotey. But his phone was switched off.”, Anjali frowned.

“Maybe he will call before we leave.”, Arnav said mildly.

As if on cue, her phone rang. It was Shyam.

“Aap! I am angry with you. I called you in the morning, and you didn’t even attend the call!”, Anjali pouted.

“Rani Sahiba, I was travelling…..”

“Where are you now?”, she asked.

“Kanpur.”

“Oh!”

“I had to meet two people here, Rani Sahiba.”

Anjali grimaced.

“I called to say that I will be very busy today. So don’t call me today, whatever the matter may be.”

Anjali frowned.

“Rani Sahiba, hum phone rakhte he!” He cut the call, but before he did, Anjali heard a lady say, “Shyamji, your tea!”

Anjali paled.

“Kya hua, Di?”, asked Arnav. All the others looked at her anxiously.

“Nothing.”, Anjali forced a smile on her lips. This was a big day for Chotey. And Khushiji had to be rescued from her unwelcome suitor. “Shyamji was just telling me that he will be very busy today, & that he would speak to me tomorrow. That he is in Kanpur right now.”

All nodded, uneasy smiles on their faces.

“Shall we leave?”, Arnav asked.

“Haan, haan, let’s go.”, Mami said, and herded all the others out.

The ladies in the neighbourhood were all gathered at Buaji’s house to witness the sagai between Khushi & Shyamji.

Shyamji, in  a red sherwani, looked regal, like a bridegroom.

“Looks like you are ready to get married today itself, Shyamji!”, Vimla Maasi teased him. All the ladies laughed. 

Babuji glared at Shyam.

Shyam smiled wanly, & wiped the sweat off his face. He had asked Buaji to keep the function family-only, but when had that witch ever listened to him?

Buaji sighed. “It is a great pity, Shyam Babua, that you are an orphan. How wonderful it would have been, Nandkisore, if your family could have joined us on this happy occasion!”

Amma & Payal led Khushi out into the hall.

Dressed in a red lehenga, her hair put up, her body adorned with old jewellery, she looked a treat.

Buaji led Shyam to a seat in the centre of the crowd, and Amma & Payal made Khushi sit by him.

Khushi panted, looking at the clock. Five to five.

Shyam smiled his oily smile at her. Khushi stretched her lips & showed him her teeth. The seconds passed.

Amma & Buaji laid out the rings on two trays covered with rose petals.

The clock struck 5. 

“Shall we begin?”, asked Buaji.

All the guests nodded.

With a triumphant smile, Shyam took a ring and reached out to capture Khushi’s hand….

The front door of the house was pushed open as Arnav, NK, & Akash walked in, followed by the ladies.

 

Khushi’s breath left her in a rush of relief. Her eyes caught Arnavji’s. He nodded at her.

“Who are you, Nandkisore?”, asked poor Buaji. 

“Shyam Manohar Jha’s family.”, said Arnav. 


Part 10

“But…but….he said he is an orphan, didn’t he, Jiji?”, Khushi’s Amma asked Buaji, her whisper sounding like a loud proclamation in the pin-drop silence.

Buaji nodded, her mouth round in shock.

“An orphan?”, Arnav asked. “Let me introduce his family to you. Di?”, he called.

Akash & NK led Anjali to stand by him. She was pale, her body cold in shock. Leaving Akash to hold her up, NK went to the back door to stand guard.

“This is Anjali Jha, Shyam Manohar Jha’s legally wedded wife.”

There were loud gasps from the guests and family gathered there. Shyam stood like a statue, shocked at the unexpected blow to his dreams.

“This is her Nani, Devyani Raizada.”, Arnav said. 

Nani stared at Shyam with astonished eyes. “Damadji! You….here…..”

“This is her Mami, Manorama Raizada.”

“Hello Hi Bye Bye,  so this ijj your work, Damadji? This ijj why you have no time to come home?”, asked Mami bitterly.

Anjali leaned against Arnav’s shoulder. “You said you were in Kanpur…”, she whispered.

“This ijj his Kanpur, Anjali Bitiyaa. You scoundrel! Badmash! Kaminey!”, shouted Mami.

“I am Arnav Singh Raizada. This is Akash Singh Raizada, & that Nand Kisore. We are his saale, aren’t we, J-i-j-u?”, Arnav asked.

Shyam swallowed.

“You are married? You have a wife? A family?”, Buaji placed her hand on her mouth, unable to believe what she was hearing.

“Buaji, all this is a lie.”, Shyam said. “I don’t know them. They have come here to break this sagai!!!”

Buaji looked at Shyam. Then she looked at the Raizadas.

“So you don’t know us?”, Arnav asked softly.

“No. Who are you people? Who has paid you to disrupt this sagai?”

Anjali started weeping. Nani & Mami led her to a chair.

“Who are we?”, asked Arnav. “That is a good question. We are the fools who have been meeting every extravagance of yours and feeding you for the past three years. In whose house you have been staying for the past three years. Whom you have been fooling for the past three years.”

“Buaji, Amma, all this is a lie.”, Shyam repeated.

“So you don’t know them, Nandkisore?”, Buaji asked. 

All the ladies looked at Shyam, waiting for his reply.

“I don’t know them, Buaji. I have never seen them before in my life.”, Shyam said, a helpless, put upon look on his face.

The ladies looked at each other. Who was speaking the truth? Shyam or Arnav?

Suddenly, Khushi snatched Shyam’s phone from his hand, and ran to stand behind Buaji.

“Khushiji!”, Shyam called, surprised.

Khushi quickly checked his call record, & selected Rani Sahiba to call. Anjali’s phone rang.

“How come you have Anjaliji’s phone number and have called her numerous times if you don’t know her, Shyamji?”, she asked.

All gasped.

Khushi then picked the name Arnav, & called. Arnav’s phone rang. 

“How come you have Arnavji’s number, & have called him many times?”, Khushi asked.

Shyam squirmed.

Buaji said, “So everything was a lie. You came here saying that you were an orphan & wanted a place to stay. A room. You pretended to be a good man….and we believed it, Nandkisore…….” She hit her head with her hand.

“And then you asked us for Khussi Bitiya’s hand….”, Amma whispered.

“Like fools, we agreed…..”, Buaji said.

“Khussi  didn’t want to marry you…….”, Amma said.

“But we forced her….thinking that you were a good man………”, Buaji said, sorrow weighing down the words.

“And all the time you had a wife, a family…….a house in Delhi……..you liar!”, said Amma, her eyes filled with tears.

“You cheat!  You dhokebaaz!”, shouted Buaji.

“Jiji…just imagine…If we had conducted the wedding and then found out……”, Amma said, horrified.

Buaji ran for her belan.

“Buaji…”, Shyam tried.

“Don’t call me Buaji! I am not your Buaji. I am not the Buaji of any Kamina! ”, screamed Buaji, returning, brandishing her belan.

“Now what will you do, Shyam Manohar Jha?”, asked Arnav Singh Raizada. “You have no place in Shantivan & my family. Apparently, you have no place here too. Now what?”

Shyam looked towards the back door. NK, guarding the exit,  pulled up his jacket sleeves to show his clenched fists.

The ladies got up one by one.

“This is not a problem that affects just your family, Madhumatiji. We too have daughters.”, said Vimla Maasi.

Nirmala Chachi nodded.

“Ladies, show the kamina what he will get in the future if he so much as looks at another girl!”, exhorted Preeto’s Nani.

The ladies fell on Shyam Manohar Jha, hitting him with their chappals, Bujai’s belan, Khushi’s Babuji’s big umbrella….Anything and everything was their weapon.

The Raizadas & the Guptas watched in silence. Once the ladies were done, Jha lay curled up like a worm on the floor, his clothes tattered, his hair wild, his body bruised……

“Rani Sahiba….”, he whined.

“Don’t call me that. Don’t ever call me that! Get out of my life, you cheat! I never want to see you again!”, Anjali shouted.

Arnav, NK, & Akash dragged him out of the house and threw him into the street, scattering a crowd of hungry dogs sniffing around a garbage pile.

They returned to the house.

Babuji had tears of joy in his eyes. Buaji & Amma were apologising to Nani, Mami, & Anjali.

“We didn’t know, Nandkisore! We didn’t know! Had we known, we would not have let him place his foot on our doorstep, Nandkisore!”, said Buaji.

“Please forgive us! We didn’t know. His behaviour was so dignified, so cultured, so Lucknavi that……”, said Amma.

Nani said, “It is not your fault. We too fell for his smooth talk and practiced ways.”

Mami sighed, “Atleast we found out now! Anjali Bitiyaa ijj safe. Khushi ijj safe.”

Buaji looked at Arnav. “But for you, our Titliyaa’s life….” Tears filled her eyes.

“Khushi found out the truth about Shyam first.”, Arnav said. All gaped at him.

“She came to me. We talked it over. I checked the facts, & found them true. We planned to catch him red-handed. I informed Akash & NK last night, and we got him.”, Arnav explained.

“Titliyaa!”, Buaji gasped.

Khushi went to kneel by Anjali.

“Anjaliji, I am sorry he was such a bad man. I am sorry that I am the reason you had to be so hurt today…” Her eyes filled with tears.

“Don’t be, Khushiji. If it were not you, it would have been someone else.”, Anjali said, slowly.

Nani & Mami nodded.

“Shall we leave?”, asked Arnav. The Raizadas nodded.

He turned to Khushi, “I will call you.”

She nodded.

Arnav Singh Raizada led his family out, helping his sister walk to the car and take her seat. NK had his arm around Nani, & Akash was supporting his mother. 

The Guptas watched them go.

Part 11

Arnav looked at Nani, Mami, Akash, & NK as they sat around Di, their faces weary, fatigue seeping from their souls as they watched Anjali sleep…… They had summoned a doctor to sedate her, to let her rest, to let her forget the hell her life had become……..

Her face still had marks of the never-ending stream of tears she had shed. Arnav slowly wiped her face with his hanky. If only he could clear her mind of Shyam Manohar Jha too…….

There was nothing more to be done here. Di would sleep through the night. Arnav slowly left the room, walking towards the steps down. 

He stood for a moment, looking down at his house……the elaborate lines, the expensive furnishings, the elegant furniture, the designer interiors……. He had made it all. By working day & night for years. Because he had wanted to make his Di happy, his family safe. And at the age of 28, he was back where he had started out. His Di was still crying, his family was still vulnerable…… What had he gained in the past 14 years?

He sat on the steps, his elbows on his knees, his head hanging, defeated. Suddenly, her face came to his mind. The red sari, wind playing with her hair as she said in a matter-of-fact manner, 

"She has you. She will survive. You will make everything alright."

“Khushi…”, he murmured.

He pulled out his phone to call her. It was 40 minutes past 12. How could he…? She would be asleep…..But if she was awake…?

Maybe he could text her. If she was awake, she would reply. And then he could call her….

He texted her, ‘Are you awake?’

“Yes.’ The reply was immediate.

Arnav sighed in relief. He quickly called her.

“Helloooo. Arnavji, how is Anjaliji?”, Khushi asked.

Arnav swallowed.

“She was crying too much. Wouldn’t stop. We were scared that she would fall ill. So we got a doctor to give her a sedative. She is sleeping now.”, Arnav said.

Khushi could feel a rock lodge itself in her throat.

“She will come out of this. She has to.”, Arnav said, more to himself than to her.

“She will. Anything is better than letting her live with that rascal without letting her know the truth.”, said Khushi.

Arnav nodded.

“It may take time. But she has you. And she has Nani, Mami, & 2 more brothers. She will live again.”, Khushi comforted him.

“Yes. She has to.”, Arnav said.

“Arnavji, it is late. You should go to bed.”, Khushi said.

Arnav agreed but did not cut the call. He sat with the phone at his ear, his eyes shut.

Finally Khushi said, slowly, “Life is so funny…so strange…..like a dream at times…like a nightmare at other times……..”

Arnav swallowed, feeling tears gather in his eyes.

“Sometimes it feels that everything is going my way…like seeing questions I know the answers to in the exam paper. Sometimes, I don’t know where I am…on my head or on my feet……”

“Hhmmm…”, Arnav responded. Anything more was beyond him.

“Buaji & Amma are crying. Jiji thinks that I am very disappointed about Shyamji. The house looks as though someone has died here……”

“Here too.”, Arnav said. “Khushi, can I call you tomorrow?”

“Shall I write a permission slip for you, Banke Lalji?”, Khushi asked, a small smile on her lips.

Arnav smiled.

“It is your phone, your time, your money…. If you want to waste it on me, the Jalebi Express from Lucknow, who am I to complain?”, Khushi teased.

“Tomorrow, Khushi.”, promised Arnav.

“Tomorrow it is.”, said Khushi.


Part 12

Arnav didn’t go to his office for one week. He worked from home, keeping tabs on his business through Aman & Akash.

Anjali was much better. She joined the family for meals, smiled slightly at NK’s jokes, met the lawyer Arnav had summoned, and set the divorce ball rolling.

Seeing his Di look less wan, Arnav heaved a sigh of relief.

Nani & Mami went to Laxmi Nagar to talk to the Guptas about the terrible betrayal both families had suffered, and returned with a dabba of laddoos that Buaji & Amma had made specially for Anjali. They were supposed to build up her health. Anjali smiled when the box was given to her, and took one laddoo daily with her lunch.

Arnav called Khushi at night, talking for long. His work lay forgotten as he listened to her talk & tease him. Every night, he went to bed with a smile on his lips.

One night, he said, “Khushi, I won’t be going to the office for the whole of this week. So we can’t meet there. So why don’t I take you out for coffee?”

“Arnavji!”, Khushi sighed. “This Munni is badnam as it is. Now, if I go out to coffee with you, it will be breaking news that Khushi Kumari Gupta has left the Jija & is chasing the Saala!”

Arnav smiled. “So you won’t come out with me for a date?”

“Date? Oo kaa he, Nandkisore?”, she imitated her Buaji.

“When a boy and a girl go out together.”, explained Arnav, smiling.

“Go out together? With their family?”, asked Khushi.

“No.”, Arnav sighed, smiling. “Alone. Just the boy & the girl.”

“Just them? How boring! If their family was with them, think how much more fun it would be!”, Khushi exclaimed.

Arnav burst out laughing. 

“Khushi, don’t tell me you will take your family along with you on your honeymoon too!”, Arnav laughed at her.

“Sharm kiijiye, Arnav Singh Raizadaji!”, she exclaimed.

“For what? What did I do?”, asked Arnav perplexed but smiling.

“For talking about……….., khair chodiye!”, she blushed.

“For talking about…..”, Arnav persisted, smirking. “Don’t tell me Khushi Kumari Gupta is shy!”

“Hum phone rakh rahe hein.”, Khushi said in a hurry, and cut the call.

Arnav chuckled.

“Who is calling so late at night, Nandkisore?”, Buaji asked.

“Arnavji, Buaji.”

“Arnav Babua? Why is he calling daily? Have you done something, Sanka Devi?”, Buaji rolled her eyes.

“Buaji!”, Khushi protested. “Why do you always assume that I am at fault?”

“Maybe because you are? Most of the time……”, Payal laughed.

Khushi picked up a cushion and threw it at Payal. Payal retaliated. Laughter filled the house, and Amma, Buaji, & Babuji looked fondly at the two girls.

Arnav handed over the sleeping pill to Anjali & followed it with a glass of water. Anjali took the pill & let Arnav help her into bed.

As he tucked her in, she asked, “Chotey, can I ask you something?”

Arnav looked at her. “You can ask me anything, Di.”

“Do you like Khushiji? Or was it all an act…at the temple….on the phone….. to take us to Laxmi Nagar?”

Arnav smiled. “I like her, Di.”

“Enough to marry her?”, Anjali was persistent.

Arnav smiled. “Do you think we would suit? She is a child in a woman’s body and I am an old man in a young body.”

“Forget all that. The real question is, can you live without her?”, Anjali asked.

Mami came in with a glass of milk for Anjali, and Arnav escaped having to answer the direct question.

On Sunday night, when Arnav called Khushi, she seemed slightly subdued.

“Arnavji, can I have your photo?”, she asked.

“Photo?”, Arnav’s eyebrows shot up. “Mine?”

“No, Banke Lalji’s. Of course, yours!”, Khushi frowned.

“Why?”, Arnav asked.

“I am planning to frame it, put it on my wall, and place a garland around it. And if you are particular, I will light a lamp too.”, Khushi said impatiently. “Will you give me a photo?”

“OK…Sure… But Khushi, why?”, Arnav’s face was  a picture of confusion.

Khushi sighed. “Why do people keep photos? To look at them, right? I need your photo to see you. That’s all. I am not going to do any black magic with it.”

“Khushi..Khushi…Why do you need my photo? Anytime you want to see me, you can come to my office. Or call me.”, Arnav smiled.

“Will you give me your photo or not?”, Khushi demanded. He could almost see her standing with her hands on her hips.

“I will. I will. But why can’t you come to meet me when you feel like seeing me?”, Arnav asked. 

“I can’t come to Delhi each time I want to see you.”, Khushi said. “And getting into your office, He Devi Maiyya! It is easier to enter a fortress!”

“Come to Delhi?”, Arnav whispered, having got the inkling that something was wrong. Very wrong.

“Ji. Now that I have roshaned my khandaan’s naam in all of Delhi, Buaji was thinking of returning to Lucknow.”, Khushi smiled.

“Lucknow?”, Arnav murmured, shocked.

Khushi laughed. “You sound like Preetho’s parrot, Mittu. When Preeto calls “Khushi….”, she too calls “Khushi…”. When Preetho says, “Shall we have golgappe?”, Mittu too says, “Shall we have golgappe?”

Arnav clenched his jaw. “Parrot ko goli maro! Khushi…!”

“Aww!”, Khushi’s mouth opened in indignation. “How can you be so cruel to Mittu? She is my friend, and is so intelligent! Aap ko pata he, when Preetho says “I am an idiot.”, Mittu says, “You are an idiot?” She doesn’t say “I am an idiot.”

“Khushi…!”, the lion roared.

Khushi winced, and pulled the phone away from her ear.

“Why are you shouting? I can hear. I am not deaf!”, Khushi said, rubbing her ear.

“You can hear? That is good.”, Arnav fumed. “Now hear me and give me a straight reply.”

“Who does he think he is? Laad Governor?”, he could hear Khushi grumbling softly.

“Khushi!”

“Kya?”

“Why are you returning to Lucknow?”, Arnav asked. He could hear his heart thudding, feel his blood pumping through his veins faster.....

Khushi sat down on her bed, sighing. She crossed her legs.

“Arnavji, whether I am guilty or not, a scandal is a scandal. People walking on the street are looking at our house as though something sensational has happened here, as though if they look carefully enough, they can see the blood flowing through the cracks in the wall!”

Arnav fumed.

“The house owner has already given Buaji notice to vacate the house. She has to move out in a month’s time.”

“What?”, Arnav bit out.

“He said that he does not want immoral people living in his house. That it would lower the standards of the neighbourhood.”, Khushi smiled.

“I will show him his standard!”, Arnav Singh Raizada growled.

Khushi laughed. “How many people will you fight? Leave it!”

“No!”, said Arnav.

“Leave it, Arnavji!.”, said Khushi. “We came to Delhi on a short visit. We always meant to return. So moving back to Lucknow is no great punishment.”

“Khushi!”

“Buaji suffers from asthma. And leaving her alone here is too much of a risk. And, Rajesh Chacha…he is our neighbour in Lucknow…..called us 2 days back and said that he has taken an appointment next month for Babuji to see Dr. Mishra, an Ayurvedic doctor who specialises in stroke patients. So we have to go to Lucknow anyway.”

“No, Khushi…”, Arnav said.

“Buaji is going to hand over the pension papers to a lawyer here before we leave. She thinks it is no use waiting for the problem to be solved.”

“Khushi…”, Arnav whispered.

“Leaving Delhi is OK. I am not worried about that. But….”, Khushi paused.

Arnav swallowed.

“But….I will never see you again……..”, Khushi said, her voice soft & sad.

Arnav shut his eyes.

“It was fun, wasn’t it? Fighting together against Shyam? Like a team? Like we were together, and not alone?”, Khushi sighed.

Arnav felt a sharp pain in his chest region.

“So will you give me your photo?”, asked Khushi, winking away her tears.

“Yes. Meet me at the office tomorrow at 8, Khushi.”, Arnav said softly.

“But you are supposed to be on leave!”, exclaimed Khushi.

“Meet me tomorrow at my office at 8. Sharp!”, he instructed.

“Laad Governor kahin ke!”, he heard her whisper.

 

Part 13

Arnav stared at his black coffee, his brow furrowed.

Anjali, Nani, Mami, & Akash looked at each other, anxious.

“Kaa hua, Arnav Bitwaa?”, asked Mami.

“Nothing.”, Arnav shook his head.

“You are going to office early, Chotey?”, asked Nani.

“Yes..”, Arnav said with a distracted air.

“Bhai, is there some meeting...? Something urgent? Shall I come with you?”, asked Akash, confused.

“No. I will manage.”, Arnav said. 

“Bhai, you look tired. Didn’t you sleep last night?”

“I am fine.” He got up & left the table.

The ladies looked at his untouched plate and coffee.

NK came to the table, scratching his head. “Nannav ko kya hua? I wished him a good morning, and he didn’t even hear me!”

“Is there something wrong at the office, Akash?”, asked Anjali.

“No, Di. Everything is going very well.”, Akash said.

“Then why is Chotey so worried?”, asked Nani.

Khushi walked in through the door held open by the guards. She looked up.

Arnavji was standing in his glass cage, looking down at her.

He looked at her pale face, the smile absent for once. He swallowed, pain in his chest making it difficult to draw breath.

Her feet slowed. The tickets for Lucknow had been booked for the day after tomorrow. She would never see him again.

Normally, she would gallop up the stairs to see him. Why was she hesitant to come to him? Where was her smile? The rose on her cheeks? The jaunty wave? Arnav looked at her closely.

Khushi felt a rock settle on her chest, making it difficult for her to draw breath. It hurt to look at him. She would go to Lucknow, and never return to Delhi. And he would stay in Delhi ……. living.. breathing… smiling…… without her……

Could he stay in Delhi without seeing her? He thought of his life without her in it. Drab. Colourless. Lifeless. Like him and his tired soul. Would he even care to get up in the morning after she left? Arnav shut his eyes for a moment in pain.

She walked towards the steps leading to his office. 

“Khushi, don’t cry.”, she told herself. “No, no, don’t cry.” She blinked to clear her eyes. “You are here to get his photo. Take it and leave. Don’t cry. And don’t forget to smile at him. Or he will wonder what is wrong with you.”

What did she think about him? Did she like him? Would she miss him like he would miss her? Or was he just a friend she could wave goodbye and forget?, Arnav wondered. She had a full life. Her Amma & Babuji, her Buaji, her Jiji, hundreds of friends including Mittu the parrot, the sabziwala, Happyji the mechanic…… She had the ability to turn every acquaintance into a friend. But…but he was alone…He had no one. Only her. Would she leave him behind and go to Lucknow?

Khushi paused on the steps and drew in some much-needed air. “He Devi Maiyya, give me courage. Don’t let me cry. Remember what I told you at the temple today morning. I need courage. Courage. It will take only  a few moments.”, she whispered to herself. “A few moments of courage. I can cry after I reach home.”

Khushi was always happy. Not because her life was perfect or she had everything under the sun, but because she was contented with whatever she had and knew how to enjoy and treasure what she had. Would she adjust easily to not seeing him? Forget him once she went to Lucknow? Forget that she once knew a man, no, a lion in a glass cage named Arnav Singh Raizada?, he wondered.

She went up the stairs, and finally stood at the open door of his office.

He looked at her, his eyes intent on her face. He saw the dark circles under her eyes, the slight trembling of her lips as they tried to smile at him, the way in which her fingers clutched her cloth bag…..

“Your photo…”, she demanded, her hand held out, a false smile playing on her face. Her eyes were serious, bruised, strained....

Arnav smiled, with difficulty.

“Come in.”

He watched the smile vanish for a second, before it reappeared. She took a deep breath before walking a few steps into his office. She held out her hand.

“Are you in a hurry? Won’t you sit down, Khushi?”, he asked softly. “After all, we may not meet after today.”

He watched her throat muscles work to swallow. She slipped into her customary seat.

He walked to his chair and sat down, his eyes drinking in her beauty in a red anarkali.

“When are you leaving?”, he asked.

Khushi smiled. “The day after tomorrow. Your photo?”

“You can have it. But Khushi, you will be happy in Lucknow, won’t you?” He watched her closely, his eyes not missing her flinch or her nerves.

“Haan. I will be very happy. Why should I be unhappy?”, Khushi smiled widely.

“I don’t know. You tell me.”, Arnav said mildly.

This stumped Khushi. But she soon gathered herself together. “I have lots of friends… neighbours….. chacha… chachi…. You will be happy here?”, she asked. 

“We were talking about you.”, Arnav said.

Nervously, Khushi said, “Of course you will be happy. Why should you be unhappy? You have your Di, Nani, Mami, two bhais, your work….. Soon Anjaliji will be alright, and all your worries will vanish…..” She smiled.

“Really?”, asked Arnav. 

“Really.” Her lips quivered but were ruthlessly controlled. “And…and you will forget that you ever met me…..” She smiled. “A few years later, you won’t even recognise me if you see me….. Not that I will see you. How can I see you if I am in Lucknow and you are in Delhi? It is not like you will be coming to buy ber in the sabzi mandi near my house….”, she smiled. “If someone asks you if you know a Khushi Kumari Gupta, you will scrunch your forehead and say, “Khushi Kumari Gupta? The name seems familiar, but I can’t quite get the face.”” She imitated him very well.

Arnav swallowed.

“It is OK.”, she smiled. “It happens. Forgetfulness is a blessing. And it is good that you forget all about Shyamji and the unpleasantness and me.” She held out her hand. “Your photo?”

He caught hold of her hand. Her slight fingers were lost in his big, warm hold.

“If forgetfulness is such a blessing, then why do you want my photo, Khushi? Won’t it stop you from forgetting?”

Khushi swallowed. She tried to pull her hand from his, agitated. But his hold was too firm.

“I need to go home. “, she said.

“Later.”, he whispered. Not letting go of her hand, he got up and walked to sit on the table next to her.

She tried to pull her hand away, but to no avail.

“You have soft, beautiful hands, Khushi.”, he murmured as he lifted her hand to his face and dropped a kiss on it.

“Don’t touch me.”, Khushi said. “I told you…”

“That you know karate…. I remember.”, Arnav kissed her palm again.

Khushi tried to get up from her chair, but Arnav put his hand on her shoulder and pressed down.

“I..I have to….”, Khushi stammered.

“You have to…..?”, Arnav asked, squeezing her shoulder.

 She shuddered.

“I have to go home.”, she managed to blurt out.

“Later.”, Arnav said. “After you answer a question. Truthfully.”

“Ji….”, Khushi swallowed. Her hand was still in his, and his fingers were creating havoc by running along the length of her palm. She looked at his hand on her shoulder and bit her lip.

“Will you miss me, Khushi?”, he asked.

“Miss you?” Khushi tried to buy time.

“Yes, miss me. Because I will miss you. Very much.”, Arnav’s eyes were serious as they looked into hers.

Finally, Khushi nodded. “Yes, I will miss you.”

“The late night phone calls….”, Arnav said.

Khushi smiled.

“Coming to your office to see you…”, she said.

“The laughter…”, he smiled.

“The anger…”, she smiled.

“Will you marry me, Khushi?”, Arnav asked softly.

She looked at him for a moment, her mouth open. Then she quickly touched his forehead, murmuring, “It doesn’t look like you have a fever…..”

Arnav smiled. And waited.

Khushi looked at his determined face.

Finally she said, “I am sanki.”

“I know.”

“I am an orphan. My parents died when I was eight. An accident.”, she paused. “My mother’s sister and her husband adopted me. I call them my parents.”, she said simply.

Arnav swallowed the big boulder in his throat.

“I am an orphan too. My mother committed suicide because she found out that my father was involved with some other woman.”, he said simply.

Her eyes widened.

“He killed himself when he found her body. We cremated them together.”

Khushi gasped.

“It was Di’s wedding day…… the groom & his family walked out…..”

Khushi pulled her hand away from his, stood up, and threw her arms around his shoulders, pulling him close to her. She hugged him hard, as though trying to absorb his pain and his nightmares.

Arnav buried his face in the crook of her neck, breathing in the scent of jasmine flowers. He blinked his tear-filled eyes.

“Don’t leave me and go to Lucknow, Khushi.”, Arnav whispered.

Khushi swallowed her tears. “What Lucknow?”, she asked.

Arnav chuckled through his tears.

“I will take care of you, Khushi. You will never be alone again. I promise.”, he whispered.

“I will take care of you too. I will never leave you and go away, Arnavji. I promise.”, she said.

“Khushi, don’t be scared of my anger! I…I never mean it…… I…”, Arnav said.

Khushi laughed. “I know. I am not scared of your anger. When you get angry, you remind me of Munnu.”

“Who?”

“Kamla Chachi’s grandson. He scrunches his red face and cries in anger when he is hungry.”

Arnav stared at her.

“He will be two years old this September.”, Khushi laughed.

An unwilling smile stretched Arnav’s lips.

“So I remind you of a baby!”, he asked.

“Ji. Not just any baby, but….”

“Munnu. And Mittu, your friend Preetho’s parrot.”, Arnav reminded her.

Khushi burst out laughing.

“Khushi, I will keep you laughing like this forever. I will make sure that you are happy. I will even take your family and mine on our honeymoon. Even Nani's pet goat, Laxmi....”, Arnav smiled.

Khushi blushed.

“Marry me?”, he asked, cupping her face.

Khushi nodded, looking down. Her face was rosy, tempting him to take a generous bite of her plump cheek.

“What happened to my Jhansi Ki Rani? Are you shy?”, Arnav teased.

Khushi looked up at him, pretended indignation on her face. “Don’t think I will let you off so lightly, Mr. Raizada. I want you to take me out on dates, and do everything that girlfriends and baaifriends do. Before marriage.”

Arnav’s eyebrows shot up. “Really?”, he asked.

“Aur nahin to kya? Why should I miss out on all the fun just because I am getting married?” She wiggled her eyebrows at him.

Arnav burst out laughing. He swooped down & kissed her cheek loudly.

Khushi clutched her heart, her eyes round like saucers.

“Dhak dhak?”, asked Arnav, smiling at her shock.

Khushi bobbed her head.

“It is OK.”, he said in a comforting murmur. “You will get used to it.”

“Acha?”, Khushi looked at him with innocent eyes.

Arnav bit back a smile. “But you need to practice it a lot.” He leaned towards her.

Khushi jumped away. Arnav raised an amused eyebrow.

“I am going home.” A red Khushi grabbed her cloth bag and hung it around her neck.

Arnav smiled. “I will drop you home.”

“No! People will stare.”, Khushi protested.

“Let them.”, said Arnav. He caught hold of her hand, and slipped his fingers through hers. He dropped a kiss on her hand, and said, “This badnam Munni is mine, & I want the whole world to know it.”

The End

So that's the end of Knowing Khushi. Hope you enjoyed the mad romp.

 I am planning to write the next OS in 2 days' time (if withdrawal symptoms don't make me write sooner!!!!). Please keep an eye on my blog if you would like to read it. 

Love to all of you!