183. OS 9: The Diabetic and the Halwai (Part 1)

Part 1



Bhooma Sriram, my friend, this is yours.

Arnav turned his head to look at Di. She was lying back in the passenger seat of the car, her face at peace, her hand held lovingly across the tiny bulge of her stomach.

Behind them sat Nani, Mama, Mami & Akash, their faces pensive.

 It was done. Finally.

They had laid the ghosts to rest. Sheesh Mahal belonged to him once more. He had kicked his Chacha out and handed over the mansion to interior decorators and architects. It would soon be a heritage hotel with the best conference & event venues in the city.

Now it was time to leave Lucknow for Delhi.

“Di, you are alright?” he asked. He hadn’t wanted her to travel during pregnancy, especially when Jiju was abroad. But Di had insisted on visiting Sheesh Mahal. And his family had refused to let him face his nightmares alone. So all the Raizadas had come down to Lucknow to take possession of the scene of the crime.

“Hum bilkul theek he, Chotey,” Anjali smiled at him, her eyes filled with love. “You have made everything alright for your Di. As you have always done.”

Nani, Mami, Mama and Akash smiled.

“Theek kahe rahe Anjai bitiyya. It took years, but you won back your inheritance,” Nani murmured. “I am proud of you, Chotey. Ratna too must be very happy with you today.”

Arnav swallowed, staring silently at the narrow alley of the cursed city they were travelling through. It had been a long struggle and his Mama had been gone fourteen years....

“Now eberything is settled, Arnav bitwaa. Ghar in hand. Anjali bitiyya married and pregnantwaa. Business good, better, best. Ab shaadi kar lio with Miss India, Hello Hi Bye Bye!” Mami teased.

Arnav looked out through the glass of the window for a moment and then focussed on the road ahead. They reached the end of the narrow road and entered the main road.

“No, Miss India naahi. Miss Uniberse. Tum Miss Uniberse se shaadi kar lio and marry off hamre Akass to Miss India,” Mami suggested.

“Are you building our family or organising the next beauty contest, Manno?” Mamaji teased.

All laughed. Arnav alone remained stone-faced, his eyes on the road. He was fated to be alone all his life. His past had seen to that. Loneliness was a curse, but it was better than betrayal. Anyway, Di was happy. As long as she was secure, he had no issues with life, no expectations, nothing to look forward to, nothing to lament...

“Chotey,” Anjali murmured. “Bahut dil kar raha he...”

“What do you want?” Arnav asked immediately.

“To have some hot jalebi,” Anjali looked at Arnav with a plea in her eyes. “Lucknavi jalebi. Can we stop at a halwai’s and buy some?”

“Let me see where I can park,” Arnav muttered.

He looked around. There was a huge temple on the left. Devotees were moving towards it in large numbers. To the right was a big sweet shop. Satwik Mishtan Bhandar was written in bold letters across its entrance. He navigated to park by the sweet shop.

“Bhai, I will get the jalebi,” Akash left the vehicle.

“And peda. And gujjia. And..” Mami gave an endless list.

Akash stood gobsmacked for a moment. Then he said, “I will get a little of everything.”

The Raizadas waited a long time.

Arnav looked impatiently at the time on his phone. He had to drive all the way to Delhi and had no time to waste in the gallis of Lucknow, a damned city he wanted to leave behind him at the earliest.

The temple bells rang. He turned to look at the white edifice with the huge banyan trees and pigeons and worshippers. Suddenly the image of his Mama holding him by hand and leading him up those steps flashed through his mind.

 He frowned.

“Nani, did Mama ever come here?” he asked, disturbed.

“Kahan, Chotey?” Nani asked.

“To this temple?” he asked.

Nani smiled. “Yes. And then she had to run after you as you ran behind the pigeons,” she replied. “You were very naughty as a child.”

Mama, Mami and Anjali smiled at their memories.

Arnav drew in a deep breath. So Lucknow held pleasant memories too. They had just been buried under the heap of bad ones.

He turned to look at Nani. Her eyes resting on the temple held sorrow and acceptance.

 He turned to look out, unable to bear to see that look in her eyes.

“I will find Akash,” he said, quickly exiting the vehicle.

He quickly walked towards the shop, sparing a glance at the name board. He stepped on the even cobblestones with his expensive, branded shoes and approached the shop.

His brow lifted in surprise. The shop could give the sweet shops in Delhi a run for their money. It was huge, with a long glass counter. Trays of sweets of various hues and shapes rested safe within glass cabinets. Boys in white kurta dhotis served the huge crowd of customers cheerfully. The shop was spotlessly clean, the scent of incense wafting on the air from the agarbathi and lamp lit at the feet of Devi Maiyya’s idol placed on a pedestal above the cashier’s seat. Floral garlands around the idol’s neck added their fragrance to the air. The smell of pure ghee and cashews added to the intoxicating effect.

“Bhai, it is very crowded,” Akash muttered apologetically. He was the third in a line of customers.

Arnav nodded and joined him, the businessman in him enjoying the air of prosperity and efficiency that he could feel in that place.

“Bhaiyya, how many kilos of gulab jamun do you need?” the cheerful and sweet voice jolted him out of his thoughts. He turned to see that the boy in the cashier’s seat had been replaced by a goddess.

He stared at her.

Perfect bone structure and fine features. She could beat any model any given day. Luxurious silky hair was bound back with a black band. Simple hanging earrings moved as she turned her head. Her nose pin glittered in the light. Golden, satin-soft skin begged his fingers to caress it. She was dressed in a red and pink anarkali and was taking down an order. 

As he watched mesmerised, she put her head back and laughed.

“I promise you, Raju Chacha, your guests will be left licking their fingers after they have had a taste of our cooking. Aap bilkul chinta na karein. Hum he na?”

Her laughter lit up the room, bringing smiles to many faces.

“Trust her, Raju,” an elderly man waiting to buy sweets said. “After all, she is our own Sasi Gupta’s daughter and your daughter’s classmate. Won’t she do her best for your daughter’s wedding?”

“Haan, and has our Khussi ever supplied low-quality food?” another customer asked.

Khushi...His eyes devoured the girl who dealt with cash with practised ease, giving back change in seconds even while handling a phone call.

“No, we don’t work on Sundays. I am sorry, bhaiyya, but we need rest on one day of the week. Hum bhi baal bache waale hein...Oh...you are determined to have us do the catering? To suniye, change the wedding date to any day of the week except Sunday. Hum kar denge. And as you care so much for us, hum aapko special discount bhi denge...yes, talk to the boy’s parents and let me know,” she smiled as she put down the receiver.

Akash reached the head of the line.

“What do you want, Bhaiyya?” a boy in white asked Akash.

“Err...ummm..a little of everything,” Akash muttered.

The boy stared at him for a moment and asked, “You are not from Lucknow, are you?”

“No,” mumbled Akash.

“Woh kya he, we stock 200 types of freshly-made sweets and namkeen daily. Do you really want samples of all 200?” he asked.

Akash looked at Arnav, panic on his face.

“What is wrong, Munna?” the girl got up and joined the boy. Another boy slipped into the cashier’s seat.

“Didi, this sajjan is not from Lucknow. He needs helps choosing sweets,” Munna explained.

“I will do it,” Khushi declared. “You take over the next counter,” she freed him to do his job. “Kahiye Bhaiyya, how can I help you?” Her smile was cheerful.

“Woh...our Di wants hot jalebi,” Akash began.

“How many kilos?” Khushi asked.

‘Err..one maybe,” Akash answered, looking at Arnav for help.

Arnav did not see him. His eyes were locked on this smiling angel, flitting about weighing and packing one kilo of jalebi.

“Would you like peda?” the girl asked with an encouraging look at a patently nervous Akash.

“Yes, please,” Akash said.

“How many kilos?” she asked.

Akash looked like a drowning swimmer with not even a tinka in sight.

“Acha, chodiye. Tell me how many members you have in your family,” the girl helped him out.

Akash looked at Arnav. “My Bhai,” he said.

Khushi smiled at the serious-looking, stern-faced handsome man standing by the man with the specs.

Arnav nodded. A few strands of her hair fell on one creamy cheek. His fingers itched to smooth it back behind her ear. His gaze devoured every bit of her he could see, lingering on the lines of her full figure in the anarkali and the smile on her perfect lips.

‘Is his face made of stone?’ Khushi wondered. ‘Is that why he can’t smile?’ Khushi thought.

“My Dadi, my mother and father, our Di,” Akash finished the count.

“And all of them like sweets?” Khushi asked.

“Yes,” Akash said. “But Bhai can’t have them. He is diabetic.”

Khushi's head turned to look at Arnav as though it were attached to her shoulders with a spring. She looked at Arnav from top to bottom with sorrow-laden eyes and sighed heavily. ‘Poor man. No wonder he can’t smile. How can anyone smile if he can’t have my sweets?’ she thought. ‘I will pray for him tonight before I go to bed. Devi Maiyya will make him alright.’

Arnav looked at her, lapping up the concern he could see in her eyes.

“You are not from Lucknow?” Khushi asked in a motherly voice. She had not heard of any handsome diabetic in Lucknow city. She should know! After all, she ran the best and the biggest halwai shop in the city.

The diabetic man did not respond. He stared at her silently.

“Delhi,” the man with specs replied.

“Tabhi to!” Khushi exclaimed. ‘No wonder he is diabetic! The hawa-pani in that big, polluted city must be enough to turn anyone sick,’ she thought. ‘Hey Devi Maiyya, please take care of him. Please make him healthy and happy. Please fill his arms with all the happiness that they can hold,’ she prayed fervently for the stranger.

“The peda,” Akash looked at the sweets with a lost expression.

“Take one kilo, Bhaiyya,” Khushi advised. “If you want to buy more, buy it online from our website. I will give you our card when you pay the bill.”

“Yes,” Akash smiled in relief.

Arnav stood there, his eyes on Khushi. He stood like a pillar in the middle of the halwai shop, surrounded by sweets he couldn’t eat. Time meant nothing to him. He forgot that this was Lucknow; he forgot that his family was waiting in the car for him. He stood, caught in a dream in which Khushi melted into his Mama’s form and led him by hand up the temple steps to pray.

His head spun.

He dropped in a faint right in the middle of the crowd.

Part 2

182. OS 8: One Rainy Night (Part 11)

Part 11

He looked into her startled, huge eyes. Then slowly he brought his face closer to hers, aiming for her lips, as if to demonstrate how she had kissed him in his..no, their dream.

Khushi leaned back, as far as she could go till she was almost horizontal on the recliner, her arms held up to stop his descent.

“Kya..kya kar rahe ho aap?” she stammered.

Arnav paused for a second. What was he doing? He was going about it the wrong way!

A timid knock sounded on the door.

“Bhai,” Akash called reluctantly.

“Yes, Akash?” Arnav lifted his head to ask, his eyes still on Khushi’s disconcerted ones.

“Woh..Bhai..Buaji is waiting to go home. It has been ten minutes,” he reminded the pair.

Khushi jerked.

Arnav lifted himself from her but retained his kneeling position, thereby blocking her from standing up.

“I need a few more moments, Akash,” Arnav said in his husky voice.

“I will try to stall them from coming up, Bhai,” Akash promised rashly before leaving.

“I have to go,” Khushi mumbled, trying not to look at his face, disappointment corroding her heart like acid. Her place was in Laxmi Nagar, not in this enchanted room with the magical pool and the man of her dreams. Some moonchwala was waiting for her in her future. Her raajkumar belonged in her dreams.

“Wait a moment, Khushi,” he whispered, his lips and tongue relishing her name.

She hesitated and then gave in. When would she see her raajkumar again? More to the point, would she ever get to see him again? Would she be fortunate to appear in his dreams again? Even if she did visit him in the dark hours in his mind, would she ever know of her nightly flirtations?

 She heaved a heavy sigh.

“Khushi, will you marry me?” he asked softly, his low voice melding with the light breeze and the moonlight and the gentle ripples on the surface of the pool.

How could she tell some moonchwala circuswala that she wanted only her raajkumar with the sinfully delicious voice and chocolate eyes, a lap that felt like it was made for her, arms that held her safe like a cradle?

“Khushi?” he asked again, amusement lightening his voice, his eyes twinkling at the lost look on her face. She was too lost in her ruminations to have heard his question, the question that his family and the whole civilized world had ben waiting for years for ASR to pop.

“Ji?’ she asked, her serious eyes on his dancing ones. Why was he so happy to be pushing her out of his life? ‘Khushi Kumari Gupta, this can happen only to you! You finally find a man you are pagal about and he is amused by you! What are you, a clown at the circus?’ 

At the thought of the circus, her mouth drooped again.

“Kya hua, Khushi?’ Arnav asked.

“Poochiye kya nahi hua,” Khushi began.

“Kya nahi hua?” he asked, struggling to kep his lips in a straight line.

“Buaji wants me to marry a ringmaster or a lion tamer,” Khushi sighed.

“What the!” he exclaimed.

“He will most likely be bald, have a big moonch, chew paan and sport a big tummy,” she lamented.

“But..but why?’ Arnav asked, unable to comprehend Buaji’s fondness for such a character as her son-in-law.

Khushi sighed again. “She thinks only they can tame me into being a good wife.”

Arnav burst out laughing. His hunched shoulders shook in mirth.

Khushi stared at him, aggrieved.

“You are happy that I am marrying a circuswala?” Tears filled her big eyes.

Arnav had to wipe tears of laughter from his eyes before he could answer her. “Will a businessman do instead of a circusman?”

“Ji?” she asked. Was her own raajkumar suggesting candidates for her swayamvar?

“Will Buaji permit me to marry you?” he asked softly.

Khushi’s mouth fell open in an Aww. A long moment later, she asked, “You? You want to marry me?”

“Hhmm,” he replied.

A long moment later, she asked timidly, “This is not another dream, is it? Woh..I dream too much..Buaji says I am sanki.”

“No, it is not another dream. And if it is, we are dreaming together,” he said, his voice soft as silk. His face was lifted to hers. Golden light highlighted the beauty of his facial structure, the strong nose and the jut of his chin, the fulness of his lips and the depth of his eyes.

“I never thought...” Khushi began and paused. Then she said, “You have to ask Buaji.”

He smiled. “I will. But what does Buaji’s niece think about the proposal?”

Her eyes filled with tears. “It feels like my dream is coming true.”

“Sshh,” he cradled her head against his shoulders. “Our dream.”

Khushi put her arms around him and sighed in relief, unable to believe that her raajkumar was her own.

“What did I do in the car?’ he asked softly.

She whispered the answer in his ear.

“And in your room?” His voice was silky soft.

She told him, the reply fit only for his ears.

Then it was her turn. “I really kissed you?”

“You did,” he swore.

“Really?” She could scarcely believe it of herself.

“Really,” he murmured. “Like this.” He captured her lips with his, gently applying pressure to part her curves and then to delve inside. She, not to be outdone, lowered herself to sit on his lap and coiled her arms around him, her fingers leaving his hair in disarray. Her tongue duelled with his in the safe cocoon of their mouths.

“Khussi?” came the call from outside the room.

“Khushi,” Payal called.

“Chotey,” Anjali called.

“Coming,” Arnav replied.

He then nipped at Khushi’s lower lip. “Shall I open the door?” he asked, his lips lingering on hers.

“Do we have to?” she asked, pouting.

He chuckled, his cheek against hers. “Soon we will be together. And then nobody will dare to disturb us.”

She nodded.

“What if Buaji does not permit us to get married?” Arnav asked, the smile still in his eyes.

“Bhagke shaadi karte hein,” she suggested, her eyes filled with excitement.

He chuckled. “You are my naughty pari, aren’t you?” he asked, his lips touching hers.

“Yes,” she breathed, rubbing her moist lips against his.

He stood up, dragging her up along with him. They moved to the door, hand in hand.

Suddenly it started raining. Arnav and Khushi looked out through the door leading to the poolside. Big droplets rained down hard on the plants and battered the water in the pool.

Khushi looked at Arnav with wonder in her eyes. He too was moved by the sight.

“Rain brought us together,” Khushi murmured.

“Yes,” he agreed.

Lightning slashed the dark sky with its brilliant light and thunder followed with its drumbeat.

Khushi jumped into his arms, her face pressed in the crook of his neck, her heart thudding against his.

“And you came like lightning into my life, Khushi Kumari Gupta,” he murmured into her hair.

She chuckled weakly.

“Chotey,” Anjali called. “Please open the door.”

Khushi moved reluctantly away from her raajkumar. He put his arm around her shoulder and led her to the door.

He opened the door.

The two families looked at them, the Guptas in confusion and the Raizadas in anticipation.

“Buaji, can I marry Khushi, please?’ Arnav asked with a smile.

Buaji whispered, “Hai Re Nandkisore!”, her hand on her head.

The Raizadas held their breath. Akash looked from Arnav to Buaji and back again as though he were watching a tennis match.

“I am no lion tamer or ringmaster, but I promise to look after Khushi,” he smiled slightly.

Buaji had to smile at him. ”Titliyya, what do you say? Do you want to make this babua’s life a misery?”

“Buaji!” Khushi protested.

“Le lo, bitwaa, if you think you can manage her. But your family,” Buaji turned to look at the Raizada ladies.

Nani hugged her. “I can’t tell you how happy I am, Madhumatiji.”

Anjali wept all over Arnav and Khushi.

Mami hugged Arnav and Khushi, kissing them on their cheeks loudly. “Hamre Arnav bitwaa will get on a horsewaa phinally!”

Payal hugged Khushi. “So finally you got your raajkumar?’ she teased Khushi.

Khushi blushed.

“Congratulations, bhai, Khushiji,” Akash mumbled, hugging his brother.

“Thank you, Buaji,” Arnav told her. “You saved us from an elopement,” he laughed.

“Running marrijj?” Mami squealed. “Hamre Arnav bitwaa was ready for running marrijj?”

“Hein?” Buaji hit her head.

“Chotey!” Nani and Anjali gasped.

“Devyaniji, it is not your babua’s fault. It is my Parmeswari’s idea. I can vouch for it, Nandkisore. Only she can come up with such ideas,” Buaji claimed.

“I was ready to run with her, Buaji,” Arnav laughed.

Mami clutched her heart. “No horsewaa, no sehra, no baarat, no baand, baaja, no sherwani, only running race?”

Buaji hit her head. “Hai Re Nandkisore! Sanka Devi, you have finally found the perfect mate. Sanka Dev for Sanka Devi!”

All laughed.

It rained merrily all night on their wedding.

The End