Chapter 28

Continued from the previous post...

On Sunday night during his call to Khushi, he found her subdued. She asked out of the blue, "Arnavji, can I have your photo?" A surprised Arnav asked her whether she was asking his picture? Her sarcasm laced comment, "No, Banke Lalji's. Of course, yours!", made him ask her what was the reason to have one. His question irritated her. She said, "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." And in the end asked him, "Will you give me a photo?"

"You have not forgotten to remember;

You have remembered to forget.

But people can forget to forget.

That is just as important as

remembering to remember

and generally more practical"

~ Idries Shah, Reflections

Though bewildered he agreed to comply with her request and persisted to know the reason for her asking it. With a deep sigh she told him, "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." Seeing that he was not getting the answer, with a smile dancing on his face he asked her once again, "Khushi.. Khushi' Why do you need my photo? Anytime you want to see me, you can come to my office. Or call me." But Khushi persisted and asked once again whether he was willing to spare a photograph of his. Her tone made him visualize her probable stance of standing with her hands on her hips. He quickly answered her, "I will. I will. But why can't you come to meet me when you feel like seeing me?" Her reply, "I can't come to Delhi each time I want to see you. And getting into your office, He Devi Maiyya! It is easier to enter a fortress!" gave Arnav an inkling that, something was wrong. Arnav whispered, "Come to Delhi?" She confirmed his suspicion, "Ji. Now that I have roshaned my khandaan's naam in all of Delhi, Buaji was thinking of returning to Lucknow." Arnav was shocked to hear to know that they were moving to Lucknow. When in shock he murmured, "Lucknow?" Khushi was tickled to hear him echo her words. She said, "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?"

"Every man is a borrower and a mimic, life is theatrical and literature a quotation"

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Arnav who was shocked to hear about their plans to shift to Lucknow was feeling that things were spiraling out of control. Hearing her teasing, controlling his temper he bit out, "Parrot ko goli maro! Khushi...!" Khushi, an animal lover was outraged by his words. She objected saying, "Aww! 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."

"I not only use all the brains that I have, but all I can borrow"

~ Woodrow Wilson

Irritated by her inane talk after dropping a bombshell on him, he roared, "Khushi...!" makingher hold her phone at a distance and ask, "Why are you shouting? I can hear. I am not deaf!" With anger that was steaming out of his ears, he said, "You can hear? That is good. Now hear me and give me a straight reply." Khushi not being the one to cower at his roar, grumbled to herself, "Who does he think he is? Laad Governor?" but it clearly carried over to him. Then he asked her why were they returning to Lucknow? While waiting for her answer, the sound of his heart was deafening. It was was beating so loudly like the thundering of the hooves of the wild horses, on a mesa. Knowing that this would take time, Khushi, sat on her bed, and said that whether she was guilty or not, the incident has created a scandal. People have been pointing at the house and been gossiping. It was as though, their persistent viewing would disclose some hidden skeletons through the cracks in the walls!

"In the land of bleating sheep andbraying jackasses, one brave and honest man is bound to create a scandal"

~ Edward Abbey, Postcards from Ed

Hearing her explanation, Arnav fumed. She continued to say that moreover the landlord had given eviction notice to Buaji. He has given a month's time. Arnav was extremely angry hearing that. Khushi continued and said, "He said that he does not want immoral people living in his house. That it would lower the standards of the neighbourhood." Irked beyond control Arnav Singh Raizada growled, "I will show him his standard!"

"The good thing about standards is that there are so many to choose from"

~ Andrew S. Tanenbaum

Khushi , sensing him seethe in anger, laughed and asked him how many battles will he wage? and told him to forget it. But Arnav Singh Raizada was not ready to do so. She insisted on him to cool down and said that they had come to Delhi on a short visit. They had always meant to return. Hence moving back to Lucknow was not a big thing for them. Leaving Buaji, an asthamatic patient alone, was out of question. Their neighbor in Lucknow had taken an appointment with Dr. Mishra, a renowned Ayurvedic doctor, a stroke specialist. They had to go to Lucknow for that anyway. When Arnav tried to talk in between she continued without letting him do so. She said that Buaji was going to hand over the pension papers to a lawyer before they left, to process it, as she thought it would take too long to resolve.

Arnav listening to it was feeling heavy hearted."Khushi...", he whispered. Voicing out her fear and grouse she said, "Leaving Delhi is OK. I am not worried about that. But...", and paused for breath. Arnav felt his throat go dry and with difficulty swallowed. "But... I will never see you again...", Khushi saying so in her voice soft and sad made him shut his eyes in despair. Khushi who was not used to being melancholic soon changed the tenor of her voice. She started to see the brighter side of her stay at Delhi. With a nostalgic sigh she said, "It was fun, wasn't it? Fighting together against Shyam? Like a team? Like we were together, and not alone?" Hearing that Khushi would be going away, Arnav felt a sharp pain searing through his chest. He was filled with intense despair.

"We don't believe in rheumatism and true love until after the first attack"

~ Marie E. Eschenbach

Blinking away the tears that had pooled in her eyes, she asked, "So will you give me your photo?" Arnav agreed and told her in a soft voice, "Yes. Meet me at the office tomorrow at 8, Khushi." Khushi was surprised. She told him that since he was on leave, how will she be able to meet him there? He reiterated what he said and ordered "Meet me tomorrow at my office at 8. Sharp!"

"I can be an arrogant person if I have to,

or when the situation demands me to act so.

It is one way for me to make arrogance useful"

~ Toba Beta, My Ancestor Was an Ancient Astronaut

His order elicited, "Laad Governor kahin ke!", a whisper from her that he heard. Arnav Singh Raizada, known for his sharp decisions taken in split seconds, that made him a top player in his field, staying true to his name has taken a decision that would bring in a lot of positive changes in his life.

"It had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things"

~ Leonardo da Vinci

The update begins with the recouping of Anjali, from her trauma, under the care of her brother and the family. She is buoyant enough to rise above the murk left by Shyam Manohar Jha. She is tenacious enough to initiate the divorce proceedings.

"And so rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life" ~ J.K. Rowling

Nani and Mami were adaptable enough to give the Guptas' a visit to express their solidarity and discuss the aftermath of the bitter incident.

For Arnav Singh Raizada his daily call at night to Khushi Kumari Gupta, was the one that kept him in buoyant spirits and gave him springy steps.

For Khushi Kumari Gupta, it was a life-line, from all the talks and gossips surrounding them. It kept her hardy, buoyant and tenacious to face it. Her calls from Arnav brought about gaiety in the house restoring a sense of normalcy.

Anjali questioning Arnav what his real intentions were towards Khushi showed that she is flexible enough to welcome Khushi as her Bhabhi with open arms. She also hints at her brother to decide what he feels for Khushi. When he points out the differences between him and Khushi she asks him a pertinent question to enable him to decide.

When Khushi asks for his snapshot, he heard her reasons with care.

"The world is not ready for some people when they show up, but that shouldn't stop anyone"

~ Ashly Lorenzana

Though bogged down by the enormity of Guptas' decision to return to Lucknow, Arnav Singh Raizada, was resilient enough to recover and springback with a decision he made in split second.

"When something bad happens you have three choices. You can either let it define you, let it destroy you or you can let it strengthen you"

To take this decision, the question asked by his sister, "The real question is, can you live without her?" played a major role.

"Once upon a time there was a boy who loved a girl, and her laughter was a question he wanted to spend his whole life answering"

~ Nicole Krauss, The History of Love

He rebounded and ordered the pliant Khushi "Meet me tomorrow at my office at 8. Sharp!"

That's why it is termed RESILIENT.

That's it from me. Hope you enjoy it.

Addendum:

What was the laddoo that the Gupta ladies sent for Anjali! Is it the one with nuts and ghee usually eaten by wrestlers???

rulama2013-03-08 08:13:09