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Valley of Flowers ' Chapter 8
DIWALI
was around the corner. The Raizadas were having a party and had invited the
Malhotras, Guptas and few friends from their closest circle. Naniji had asked Khushi
to do the necessary purchases and she had invited Anjali to join her on this
shopping spree to Chandichowk. Since Mohan had to take Mamijito the parlour,
they needed to find a ride on the way back.
'Arnavji,
do you think you will be able to pick us up?' Khushi asked Arnav at breakfast.
'I
don't think so,' he answered back, looking at her suspiciously. 'I have
meetings all day long.'
'Ok.'
After
the night at the pool side where he had almost kissed her, Arnav had kept away
from her. He told her that he didn't require her to go the office with him
anymore and he would let her know if he did.She should have been relieved to
hear that she couldn't help feeling a twinge of jealousy, knowing Lavanya would
be working with him.
Chandnichowk
was abuzz with people thronging to it, to make Diwali purchases by the bulk.
The market sold items at half the price than the other markers throughout Delhi
making it a good bargain for wholesalers and retailers alike. The only problem
was that it was crowded. But Khushi didn't mind it one bit. She had missed this
in the last few years stay in Mumbai. Without no family around, Diwali there
had been low-key affair for her.
After
couple hours of shopping,Khushi said rubbing her stomach,'Di, I am so hungry,' Shepointed
to a small restaurant.'They make the best samosas and jalebis here!'
'How
is Arnav?' Anjali asked Khushi once they had placed the order. 'I didn't mean
to say all that to Arnav that day Khushi. I don't know what came over me.'
Anjali's eyes were full of remorse.
'It's
alright Di.' Khushi placed her hand on Anjali's hand in assurance. 'Divorce is
not easy. How did your mother manage after she left your dad? She had the responsibility
of two children.' Khushi said feeling sad for the woman who was forced to take
such life altering decision so young in her life.
'Well,
she was a nervous wreck after the divorce. Luckily for her, Nanaji took care of
us financially and Nani took care of our emotional needs.Soon she recovered and
was back to her old self and began to dedicate herself in raising Arnav. She
found it difficult to communicate with me because she felt I blamed her for
leaving dad.'
'Why
would she think that?' Khushi asked her eyebrows raised in surprise.
'She
had made this assumption because I refused to take sides. I loved both of them.
'With
Arnav it was different.He was younger than me and she could influence him to
think in her way for her own self 'gratification. She had become highly
insecure.'
'This
must have been hard on you and Arnavji as well,' Khushi said with feeling.
'Yes
it was. Things get very complicated at school, when word gets out that you are
child from a broken home.Arnav grew up with a lot of angst because of this
hatred for dad. He has always been temperamental since childhood. And it just
got worse. But he never let it affect his studies.' Anjali reminisced about how
Arnav had been a high achiever at school. Being good in academics had made him
a favourite of the faculty and he had channelized his anger towards sports making
him excel in that as well. This had made him popular among the student crowd '
the boys, with a grudging admiration while the girls just plainly drooled. But
he didn't care for them at all, and had steered clear of them all through high
school.
But
that had probably changed when he went to college Khushi thought remembering
Arnav's nineteen year old self in Dehradun. 'What about youDi?'
'I
went into a shell and was introverted for a long time. But once I started
studying psychology I began to understand a lot of things that had happened and
were beyond my comprehension.'
She
continued. 'After Arnav entered his teens we began bonding with each other and
had lot of fun together until he went away to do his engineering in Manipal.'
'It
was around the same time I decided to do my Master's program in University of
Lucknow. After that I continued to work there while I pursued my Phd. I came
home only during holidays but I was happy in my world. I had even decided never
to get married.' She chuckled.
'What?'
Khushi was aghast. 'Why Di?'
'It
was just not Arnav. I didn't believe in relationships either. But when Akash's
wedding came up mom began to pester me to get married. I kept stalling. But
soon after Akash and Payal's wedding, Nanaji passed away and Mamaji and she had
a big fight. So she decided to leave the house to go and live with Arnav. But
then, she was stuck with the responsibility of an unmarried daughter ' me.'
'Di
--'
'I
assured her that I would be absolutely fine as I was independent but she
wouldn't listen. She said she had never asked me anything in her life but I
would have to listen to her this time. I was guilty. I agreed to get married to
the boy she chose for me.
'My
wedding to Shyam was a whirlwind one. We had a registered marriage. Why would
we need a grand wedding anyway?' She said sadly. 'There was no one to attend
it. Not even you. You had just left from our lives just the way you arrived.
Why Khushi?'
'Di,
you know why I left.'
'I
know what Nani told me. That you wanted to go to Mumbai for your higher
education in dance, while you pursued your basic Bachelor's degree. And mom had
agreed to sponsor.'
'It
was a great opportunity Di.'Khushi's voice faltered.
'You
know Khushi,' Anjali said looking at her seriously, 'Nani and I had always
thought that you would end up ---' Anjali hesitated for just a moment --- 'in
Delhi.'
'I
wanted nothing more than to stay back. But when opportunity knocks on your door
----' She couldn't continue.
'It
was a stressful time for all of us,' Anjali said. 'Arnav had been completely
closed off during that time. He had become completely unapproachable.
'And
then, he and mom left for the United States leaving me behind, Anjali said
coming back to the original topic.'We visited each other every year but it was
never the same.'
'How
did you reconnect with your father?'
'Couple
of years ago, dad's brother came to us after dad got into legal trouble with
his tenant. Shyam helped him get out of a case but dad had to be admitted to a
psychiatric facility as part of a compromise. I admitted him in Ashray, the
place where I work.
'I
visit him almost in a professional capacity rather than a daughter because he
lives in his own world. It is not that he doesn't recognize me. But the ailment
has taken over him to such an extent that he no longer cares. In the last few
months his health has deteriorated. This is common amongst patients who live in
facilities like this. Not having anyone to care for them emotionally, they lose
the will to live.
'I
only wanted Arnav to come and visit him once before ----' She couldn't bring
herself to say it. 'you never know Khushi.'
Khushi
couldn't talk due a lump in her throat.Her heart went out to the four people
who had been tormented by circumstances. Then Khushi said, 'Di, everything will
be alright.'
An
hour later, Khushi got a call from Arnav asking her if they were done with
their shopping.
'My
meeting got cancelled,' he explained when he met them at their meeting spot and
Khushi tried hard to repress the tiny smile that stole into her lips. She knew
he would come.
When
they sat in the car, Khushi said, 'We didn't have time to get a proper lunch. I
am so famished. Is there any place we could go and get some food?'
'Well,
there is a small restaurant near ----' Anjali said trying to remember the place,
'we used to go there a long time ago.'
'The
one near Lodhi gardens?' Arnav said.
'Yeah
that's the one!' Anjali exclaimed. 'I haven't been there in a while.'
'You
used to love the paneer tikka there.' Arnav said, as he turned the car into the
lane.
'You
know what Arnav's favourite was Khushi?' Anjali asked turning back.
Kalmi Kabab.In spite of being a
strict vegetarian herself, she remembered learning to make that item with the
help of her friend in Mumbai.
'Kalmi
Kabab!' Anjali said emphatically.
That
evening Anjali and Khushi sat in the TV area, painting the clay diyas they had bought
that morning. Payal came there with Ashu and Khushi picked him in her arms and
began to play with him. The movie Hum
Saath Saath Hain was on and soon everyone was engrossed.
'I
cannot believe how someone can watch this saccharine stuff.' Arnav com mented.
'I
like the movie because it is about big happy families, weddings and
togetherness.' Anjali said wistfully.
Arnav
began to laugh out loud and Khushi, Payal and Anjali stared at like he had
grown two horns.
'Your
favourite movie at the time was Kuch Kuch
Hota Hai and you hated this one as much as I did.' Arnav said. 'You were
crazy about Shahrukh Khan!'
'No!'
Anjali said defensively. 'I was a fan of Kajol.'
'Come
on, Di tell the truth. You made me stand in the queue for hours to get tickets
for the first day first show.'
'Should
I tell everyone the real reason you stood in that queue?' Anjali teased him.
'What?'
'You
had a crush on my friend Shilpa.'
'What
crap!' He decided to change the subject. 'So Khushi, you still a fan of the actor
who keeps taking his shirt off?'
'No.'
She shook her head. She had lost interest in the heavily muscled hero, the
moment she had set eyes on the lean sinewy build of a certain brown eyed hunk.
The evening after Arnav
had rescued her from the hooligans, Khushihad this unexplainable need to check
in on Arnav.He was down with high fever as a result of infection.Her eyes had
welled up looking at his glazed eyes and pale face.
'Don't start the water
works now Khushi,' he had mustered, 'it is just a graze.'
'It is all my fault,'
she lamented. 'I should have left the mandir before dark instead of waiting for
Lavanyaji.'
'Don't even talk to me
about that fool,' he raged. 'If I hadn't had this uneasy feeling that something
was wrong ----'
'What uneasy feeling?'
'It's good that mom
isn't in town,' he prevaricated, 'I don't want anyone to find out about this. I
have seen a doctor and got some antibiotics and painkillers. But I need you to
do something for me Khushi.'
'Anything!' She said
emphatically.
'You will need to change
my dressing as the doctor has made this one too tight. It hurts like hell.'
He sat up slowly against
his headboard and began to unbutton his navy blue shirt. When she saw the light
sprinkling of hair exposed as the buttons gave way, Khushi stood rooted her
eyes as wide as saucers. Hey Devi Maiyya! She had never ever seen a man's bare chest
before ' except for Salman Khan, but that was only in movies. But Arnav was
here, live, in the flesh!
'Help me?' Arnav's weak
voice reached her. Her dhak-dhak began in earnest as she quickly stepped closer
to him and peeled off his shirt, trying to keep her finger tips from touching
his skin. As she stood quietly trying not to look at him she heard his voice
again.
'Uh?'
'I said the first-aid
box is in the bathroom.' He repeated.
She ran into the
bathroom and returned with the first-aid kit. As she bent over him trying to
cut the old dressing, he caught her arm and pulled her to sit on the bed.
With hands that shook,
she managed to cut open the old dressing trying her best to concentrate on the
work at hand. After cleaning the wound she re-dressed it with a new gauze and
bandage. Just as she was tying it up, she saw his other hand rise up to move a
stand of her hair that was in her eye, and tuck it behind her ear, his finger
lingering in the sensitive area beneath her ear.
Time stood still as her
eyes locked with his caramel ones, her breasts heaving up and down as a
quivering began deep inside her.
'Hey Devi Maiyya!' She
stood up in alarm. 'You are burning up. Let me get you a wet towel.' She took
some time to compose herself in the bathroom.As she stepped out of the
bathroom, a towel and bowl of warm water in either hand, she said, 'It is very
important to ---'She forgot what she was going to say next.
As the sun dipped into
the horizon, throwing the room into semi-darkness, Arnav had switched on the
lamp on the night stand.
He was magnificent. He
looked like a bronze statue with his broad shoulders,bulging biceps and strong sinewy
forearms that were covered with a light sprinkling of hair. Khushi's mouth went
dry. What had happened to the lean and lanky body she had seen at Dehradun five
years ago?
'I don't need this,' he
told her bringing her out of her stupor. 'I will just take a Tylenol and I will
be fine.'
'Your 'your fever is very high,' she
stuttered. 'This will bring it down.' She couldn't quite meet his eyes as she
came up to him.
She was just about to put it on his forehead
when he said, 'A towel on my forehead is not going to do it Khushi.' He brought
his eyes down to his torso and Khushi knew that he was right.
She rubbed the washcloth
delicately over the muscles of his chest that were firm without being overly
built, tapering down into the V of his narrow waist. His track pants hung low
on his hips showing off the waist band of his boxers. A quivering began in her body
her heart racing in full speed.As she brought the cloth over the planes of his
muscular back, she realized he didn't have an ounce of fat anywhere on his
body.
But it was the hair on
his chest that was doing something to her. She wanted to drop the wash cloth
and sift her fingers through the hair feeing its texture. She closed her eyes.
'Khushi,' Arnav was
calling out to her.
'Huh?' She zapped her
eyes open. He looked really really pale. She had been fantasizing about a sick
man!
'Arnavji, are you okay?'
She leaned down to check his breathing.
'Get me something sweet,'
he whispered suddenly opening his eyes, 'And no, your lips will not help '' He smirked
when he saw her looking at his lips '-- right now.'
Khushi wondered if the
fever had made him delirious. She stood up, her entire body quaking and
suffused with heat.
'One more thing,' he
stopped her while she made a move to leave, 'Could you ask Hariprakash to bring
some Kalmi Kabab from the hotel? This fever has made my mouth bitter. I would
like to eat something really spicy.'
Later the night,
Khushi struggled to get Ashu to sleep. Payal was extremely exhausted as Akash
had been
running a fever. Ashu was crankier than usual and kept on crying. She took him
up to the terrace, walking to and fro so she could rock him to sleep.
'Khushiji,
do you need help?' Shyam crept up on her making her jump.
'No
thank you Shyamji,' she replied politely. 'I can manage.'
Shyam
stared at the way Khushi's braid swayed as she walked with Ashu in her arms.
'Khushiji, you should stop being so formal with me.'
For
some reason this man creeped her out since the moment she had met him. There
was something very strange about the way he stared at her.'I really don't need
help. Please go back to sleep. Di must be waiting for you.'
'Khushiji,
have you ever thought how our lives might have been if I had not rejected your
proposal and we had ended up married?'
Her
heart began to pound. She had hoped this topic would never be discussed. 'No
Shyamji I haven't!' exclaimed Khushi appalled at Shyam's words. 'And neither
should you!'
She
remembered the tumult his rejection had caused in the Gupta household, when
this proposal had come about.Buaji was in the favour of getting her married
off, so they could be rid of her responsibility.
Luckily
for her, he had rejected her and saved her from a disaster worse than
death,--- for that was what marriage
meant to her at the time. Sharada Raizada had already created enough chaos in
her life, but her exile to Mumbai was still the better option compared to being
married at such an young age, to man she did not even know.
A
few weeks later, Buaji had informed her that Shyam Monohar Jha had married
Anjali Raizada. You lost out on a golden chance to marry a lawyer, she had
berated her. He must have caught wind of your liaison with that Arnav Singh
Raizada.
Why
couldn't she see that the Raizada daughter was a better catch than the daughter
of a person who worked for them?
'It
was just a thought.' Shyam said.
'I
don't want to talk about this!' She began to walk away.
'Khushiji
I am sorry!'
She
stopped and decided to clarify a few things.'I don't think we would have
married even if you hadn't rejected me.'
'Why
not?' He prodded.
'I
was not interested in getting married so young,' she said in a rush. 'I wanted
to study dace, and advance my career.'
'Really?'
He said in a tone that said he didn't really believe her.
Khushi
came back to her room, and put Ashu down to sleep. As she changed into her
night suit, Shyam's words were reverberating through her brain. Why had Shyam
brought up an old topic all of sudden like this? He had said it was just a
thought. But he had no business expressing it now when he was a much married
man.And his eyes were saying something else altogether. Or was it just her
imagination? Ashuwoke up and began crying again.
'Khushi?'
Arnav knocked on the door. 'Why is Ashu crying so much?' he said when she
opened the door.
'I
don't know. He has never done this before. He only seems to get some sleep when
I pick him up and walk.'
'You
look very tired,' Arnav said looking at her pale face.'Let's go for a spin in
the car.'
'What?'
'My
friends in the US used to tell me that this was one of the best remedies to get
babies to sleep. Come on.'
Arnav
was right. In ten minutes, Ashu had gone to sleep, his face snuggled comfortably
on her breast. He was also right about her looking tired. She was tired.Of everything.
Talking
to Anjali thing morning had given her an insight into the bond shared by Arnav
and his mother.The difference in status being the root cause in the marital
discord of her own marriage, Sharada Raizada had developed an insecurity that
had heavily influenced her thoughts regarding Khushi's lower middle class
background. She did not want her own son to go through what she had endured.
But she hadn't considered a very big factor --- the power of true love that could overcome the biggest of hurdles.But
again, she probably never believed that love like that existed.
Arnavon
the other hand, having been raised by a mother who believed she was wronged by
her husband, was probably constantly enveloped by the need to assuage her pain.
How could he ever believe that she could do anything wrong?
'Looks
like I don't need this song to shut you up anymore.' Arnav said, bringing her
out of her reverie.
'Excuse
me?' Khushi twisted her eyebrows in confusion.
'The
song.' Arnav pointed to the radio.
The
song You say it best when you say nothing
at all wafted through the air.
Khushi
burst out laughing when she remembered the trip to the Valley of Flowers.
'Oh
my God, I was so silly back then.' Khushi said, her hand rubbing Ashu's back
gently.
'Silly''
Arnav said looking at her, ''.but cute.'
He
thought she was cute? She had been a frail thirteen old girl with eyes that
were too huge for her face. When Arnav stopped the car she looked at him
questioningly.
'I
thought you might like to have some chai. Isn't this the place you used to
like?'
'You
remember?' Khushi's eyes went wide with surprise.
'Why
don't you put Ashu in the back seat?'
'He
will wake up.'
He
ordered two teas and came back. 'Alright, give him to me.'
As
they sat on the bench sipping on their tea, Khushi looked at Arnav holding Ashu
on his shoulder, his hand looking large on his tiny back.She felt a pang in her
heart. If only'.
Khushi
stemmed her thoughts. There was no point thinking about something that could
never be. Don't worry Mrs Raizada, your son is safe --- from me, she thought
silently.
'Your
baby didn't sleep?' the man at the tea-stall said. 'I remember those days when
my kids were this small.'
Arnav
didn't bother correcting the man. 'How
many do you have?'
'Two,'
the man answered proudly. 'Cheeku and Simmi'
Arnav
gave the man a 500 Rs note but the man apologized for not carrying any change.
'I just gave away everything to a previous customer. You can give me the money
the next time you come here. Not a problem.'
'Let's
do this,' Arnav told the man, 'tell Cheeku and Simmi that it is a small gift from
little Ashu here.' The man grinned his thanks.
'That
was very generous of you.' Khushi said as they made their way back home.
'You
call that generous?' Arnav said, 'what do you get for 500 Rs these days?'
'A
million dollar smile.'
As
Khushi sat silently watching the miles go by she realized that it was these
small things about him that made her fall deeper and deeper in love with this
complex man.
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Comments (1)
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Srilatha @Srilathalolla
+ 3
4 years ago
It is clear that Shradha had took a promise from Khushi to be away from Arnav but how long can Khushi keep her promise? Will Arnav allow that to happen. Shyam is really very dangerous , he is eyeing Khushi even though he is a married man .