172. OS: 7: The Other Woman (Part 39-40)

Part 39

Arnav and Khushi sat by each other on the stone bench in the temple premises. He was, as usual, dressed in a black formal suit and she was in a lime green and pink anarkali.

“You don’t come regularly to the temple, do you, Arnavji?” Khushi asked, a twinkle in her eye.

“Only when Di demands my presence,” he muttered.

Khushi looked away to hide the laughter bubbling up inside her heart. How could a grown up man look like a boy caught with his hand in the jalebi bin?

Arnav looked at Khushi. “Will you come to my house?” he asked, the words running in to each other in his eagerness.

She frowned. “Kyon?”

“For Diwali? Nani will invite Buaji and Payal formally. Tum aaogi?” he asked.

She nodded uncertainly. “Your Nani is organising a pooja?” she asked.

“Yes. They do it every year. Then they light lamps, have a party, set off fireworks,” he explained. “Will you come?”

“Ji,” she nodded.

“I will come and get you,” he offered. “Akash will reach home today. You can meet him.”

“That is your Mamiji’s son?” Khushi asked.

“Yes,” Arnav said.

“Is he like you?” Khushi asked.

Arnav said, “No. He is taller than me, has specs.”

Khushi laughed. “Is he another ghussawaala akhdoo like you?”

Arnav smiled. “No, he is very soft-spoken, very patient. He never gets angry.”

Khushi folded her hands and asked with her eyes shut. “Hey Devi Maiyya, what have you done? You gave all the ghussa in that house to this Arnavji?”

Arnav smiled.

“Khushi, today is Dhanteras, right?” he asked.

“Ji,” she replied.

“I bought something for you,” he put his hand in to his pocket.

Her face fell. “I didn’t buy anything for you,” she mourned.

“I don’t want anything, Khushi. Don’t refuse this,” he said, his eyes anxious as he held out a small gift-wrapped packet.

She took it from him and slowly opened it. In a small box was a slender gold chain with a locket. Khushi took the chain in her hands and turned the locket to look at it. It was an exquisitely crafted Devi Maiyya.

Her breath caught in her throat. “It is so beautiful,” she whispered. “You can see Devi Maiyya smiling.”

“You like it, Khushi?’ he asked.

“Very much,” she blinked her tears away.

“Nana gave it to Nani. She gave it to my Mama. I want you to have it,” he said, taking the chain from her hands.

As Khushi sat still, he fastened the chain around her neck. The locket fell to rest against her heart.

“Shukriya,” she whispered.

He smiled at her, delighted that she had not refused his gift. 

“Shall we leave?” he asked.

Khushi nodded.

They stood up and walked down the steps together.

“Khushi, will you wear the red sari I sent you for Diwali?” he tried his luck.

Khushi frowned. “But I returned it.”

“I will bring it to Laxmi Nagar. Will you wear it?” he asked.

“No,” Khushi said.

He parted his lips to persuade her, but she cut in. “It won’t feel right,” she murmured. “Such an expensive sari...” she murmured. “Jiji may feel bad...”

He was silenced.

“Why are you so fond of giving gifts, Tohfa Singh Raizada?” Khushi asked, pursing her lips, planting her hands on her hips.

He smiled. “Pata nahi kyon, Khushi. When I see you, I want to lay the world at your feet.”

Khushi looked at the ground beneath her feet. He wanted to lay the world at her feet in the mud?

“Khushi, wait at home?” Arnav spoke in to the phone. “I am running late,” he fretted.

“It is not very late, Arnavji,” Khushi replied, biting in to a laddoo. “Aap pareshan na ho. I am having fun here with Chunnu, Munnu and the others.”

“What are you doing with them?” Arnav asked.

“Bursting crackers and eating mittai,” she said candidly.

Arnav smiled.

“Arnavji, you don’t have to come to get us. We can take a rickshaw to your house,” Khushi offered.

“No, Khushi. It is not safe. The roads will be full of boys setting off fireworks with absolute no care for the safety of others,” he panicked.

“Alright, you Worrywart Singh Raizada. I will not move an inch from where I am right now till you come to carry me away,” she laughed.

“You promise, Khushi?” he asked.

“I promise,” she declared.

“I will get there as soon as possible, Khushi,” he vowed, his eyes cold as they fell on the roomful of clients waiting to meet him.

“Promise?” Khushi teased him.

“I promise,” he replied.

One hour passed by. Khushi squirmed in her chair. Where was Arnavji?

“O Sanka Devi!” Buaji called. “Why did you trouble Arnav bitwaa by asking him to come here and collect us? We could have hired a rickshaw.”

Khushi growled. “I did not ask him, Buaji. He ordered me to wait here along with you. He thinks we are incapable of travelling alone.”

“It is not safe on Diwali night, Khushi,” Payal murmured in a mellow tone.

“Hhmmmpppffff,” Khushi snorted before taking a big bite of a peda.

Two hours passed by.

 Buaji looked at the clock. “What will Devyaniji think of us, Nandkisore!” she lamented. “She invited us to the pooja. It must be over by now.”

“Ask your Arnav bitwaa what his Nani thinks of us when you see him, Buaji,” Khushi replied crossly. ‘Where is Arnavji?’ she wondered. She straightened the pleats of her orange and gold saree with a worried hand. ‘Hey Devi Maiyya, what a Bhulakkad Singh Raizada have you given me?’ she asked silently.

Khushi’s phone rang. She leaned forward to grab it from the table. ‘Must be Arnavji,’ she thought. She looked at the display and frowned. It was Shyamji.

“Shyamji?” she asked.

“Khushi, I...” his voice died away.

“Kya hua, Shyamji?” she frowned.

“Khushi, I am at Gangadhardas Memorial Hospital. Can,” he began.

Khushi cut in. “Shyamji, are you sick?”

“No, no. Khushi, come here. As soon as possible. Don’t come alone. Come with Buaji and Payal. I will send Mohan with the car,” Shyam swallowed hard.

Khushi frowned. “Shyamji, is Arnavji there? Woh kya he, he told me to wait here for him. If I come to the hospital and he comes to Laxmi Nagar and doesn’t find me, he will be upset. I promised him I wouldn’t leave the house without him,” Khushi explained.

“Arnav...” Shyam had to pause to swallow his tears. “Arnav is here.”

“He wants me to come there? Is Naniji alright?” Khushi asked. Maybe Naniji was sick, she thought.

“Yes, yes. Just come as soon as possible, Khushi,” he cut the call.

Part 40

Khushi, Buaji and Payal reached the hospital and Mohan, the driver, led them into the huge white-coloured building with numerous corridors. It was overrun by anxious relations and patients, nurses rushing from floor to floor catering to the ill and doctors making room visits and attending their evening OPs.

Khushi looked around in amazement. Even in the rush, the hospital authorities had made the effort to decorate the temple, the lobby and halls with lights for Diwali.

‘Why are the Raizadas in the hospital on Diwali night? Who fell sick?’ Khushi wondered. She had tried asking Mohanji on the way but he had been tight-lipped and tense. ‘Maybe it is Anjaliji. That is why Shyamji was so upset,’ she concluded.

“Will you stand there blinking at the lights or go in, Nandkisore?” Buaji chided, nudging Khushi.

Khushi flushed and quickly followed Mohanji.

Mohan led them to the Raizadas. They were sitting huddled together outside the Observation Room.

"Khushiji," Anjali called out as soon as she saw her.

Khushi looked at the Raizadas.

Naniji, Mamiji, Anjaliji. All three were weeping. Nani was praying. Mamaji was sitting by them. A tall, bespectacled man was standing with his arms crossed and his head bowed. That must be Akashji, Khushi thought, feeling uneasy. Where was Arnavji? Had he gone to meet the doctor? Who was sick? She looked around.

Shyamji moved away from the wall he had been leaning against and approached Khushi, his heart quailing at the pale, pinched look on her face.

“Where is Arnavji?’ Khushi asked.

The Raizadas lifted their heads to look at Khushi. Anjali sobbed harder at her question.

“Sit down, Khushi,” Shyam croaked. He took her arm and seated her. He took a chair next to her.

Nani motioned Buaji and Payal to sit by her. They sat down.

“Kya hua, Devyaniji?” Buaji asked, scared.

Nani tried to speak but could not.

Shyam said, “Arnav had an accident while returning from office.”

Khushi heard Shyamji’s voice as though from a great distance. Her ears seemed filled with cotton.

“He was waiting in his car at a traffic light. A car with four drunken louts rammed in to the car parked near his. Both cars hit Chotey’s car,” Shyam explained softly. “He was unconscious when they brought him to the hospital. The doctors are examining him now.”

“Nothing will happen to Arnav bitwaa,” Buaji said in a voice that trembled.

Nani took hold of her hand for strength.

“Trust in Nandkisore,” Buaji comforted Naniji.

 “Hamre Arnav bitwaa,” Mami wept. “Phinally after years he wanted to live and then those jaanwar had to do this to him!” Tears and makeup combined to make her face look pink and black in patches. “If they wanted to die, couldn’t they have jumped in a well? Why did they have to hurt hamre Arnav bitwaa?”

“Manno, dheeraj dharo,” Mamaji tried to comfort his distraught wife.

Payal looked at Khushi’s pale face and quickly moved to sit by her.

“Khushi,” Payal whispered, distressed by her silence and wan look.

“He will come, Jiji. He promised,” Khushi replied in a low voice.

“Khushi,” Payal took hold of her hand, tears trembling on her lashes.

"I will sit here without moving, Jiji. He will come to carry me away. He told me to wait for him," Khushi said.

Payal swallowed hard through the lump in her throat.

“Nothing will happen to him, Jiji. He won’t leave me alone. I know,” Khushi whispered. “Don’t cry, Jiji.”

Payal pressed her fingers, trying to transfer courage to the grieving and shocked girl.

“Devi Maiyya won’t take Arnavji too from me,” Khushi murmured. “I won’t let her. She already has my Amma and Babuji. If she touches a hair on my Arnavji’s body, she will have to live with me too till eternity. I will follow him to Devi Maiyya and make her life hell with my nagging.” She crossed her arms around her middle, rocking to and fro, trying to contain her anguish.

Payal gulped to hold back her tears but a couple leaked down her cheeks.

"Devi Maiyya knows me. She knows how stubborn I am. She won't touch my Arnavji. Nothing will happen to him," Khushi reassured herself.

Hours went by on slow feet. Nani, Mami, Anjali and Buaji sat sighing and weeping.

Khushi alone had dry eyes. She was too busy praying to cry.

Shyam and Akash paced about the hall, waiting for news. Mamaji sat by his mother, holding her hand.

A doctor emerged from the room.

All stood up.

He smiled slightly. “Arnav Singh Raizada is alright. There is no damage to internal organs, no broken bones, no concussion, just bruises due to impact,” he said softly. “He is stable now.”

“Thank you, Doctor,” Shyam croaked.

The doctor nodded. “He is a very lucky man.”

“Nandkisore ki jai ho!” Buaji exclaimed.

Khushi sagged in her chair in relief.

Arnav was shifted to a private room a few hours later. The nurses arranged the necessary paraphernalia around him and left his family to settle down around him.

They looked at the drawn, dark face against the white pillow and felt their heart clench in sorrow. There was a bruise on his temple. One shoulder was red and blue. His ribs and a leg were similarly hurt and bandaged.

“Hamre Arnav bitwaa,” Mami wept all over him.

“Chotey,” Anjali cupped his cheek with a gentle hand.

Nani sat by him and held his hand.

Khushi alone stood by the door, her eyes tracing the rise and fall of his chest obsessively.

Arnav slept through it all.

Some time later, he woke up. He lifted his lashes with difficulty, wincing at the many aches and pulls of hurt muscles.

The Raizadas rushed to him. Buaji, Payal and Khushi stood back, letting him meet his family.

“Chotey,” Nani and Anjali called him, hugging him gently and dropping kisses on his forehead.

Arnav smiled slightly at them. He looked at a weeping Mami and his Mama and a smiling Shyam.

“Where is Akash?” he asked, his voice little more than a grunt.

Akash moved closer to him so that Arnav could see him.

“Akash,” Arnav called softly.

“You scared me, Bhai,” Akash’s voice trembled. He caught hold of Arnav’s fingers.

Arnav smiled wryly. “I have always been good at that.”

“Please. Don’t do it again,” Akash begged.

Arnav tightened his hold on Akash’s hand. “Khushi, your bhabi. Akash, she is waiting for me. In Laxmi Nagar. At Buaji’s house with Payal. Akash, get her for me? Tell her I couldn’t reach her.” He frowned, his worry for Khushi making him restless. “I couldn’t keep my promise.”

“Bhai,” Akash tried to console him.

“She must be worried. Akash...” Arnav tried to get up, his injuries making moving a very arduous and painful exercise.

“Khushiji is here,” Akash managed to tell him.

The reply shocked Arnav to stillness.

Khushi walked up to the bed to stand behind Akash.

“Arnavji,” Khushi murmured.

Arnav’s eyes fell on Khushi’s face. He stared at her for one long moment and then his body sank into the pillow and mattress, relaxed. A look of peace spread over his features.

Akash moved out of the way.

Arnav lifted his eyes to see Buaji and Payal. He smiled at them.

“Kaisen ho, bitwaa?” Buaji asked.

“Good, Buaji,” he said in his husky voice.

“Why don’t we wait outside?” Shyam suggested. “Chotey might want to speak to Khushi in private.”

All nodded and filed out of the door to sit on the chairs outside.

Arnav held out his hand. Khushi slipped her hand into his. He tugged.

She sat down by him on the bed, her limbs trembling in relief.