Chapter 43
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OS 2: Finding Khushi
Part 15
Section 2
Arnav waited for her answer, but she could not find any words to express the odd mixture of panic, fear, and love that was bubbling within her heart.
She clutched her heart, trying to calm its galloping hoofbeats and slow her breath.
Arnav looked at her in silence, and then drove on.
He parked in front of RM.
Khushi turned to open the latch of the door, but Arnav caught hold of her arm.
She looked at him in silence.
He put his hand into his pocket, and brought out a cloth bag. He pulled a pair of antique bangles out of it.
Khushi frowned at him. Was he going to gift the bangles to Akash Jiju? Or Jiji? But why should he...?
While her mind was travelling on its usual wild tracks, Arnav slipped the bangles on her arms.
Gold with a peacock design in enamel. They were beautiful.
"My mother's.", Arnav answered her unspoken question. "For you."
"Me?", Khushi gasped. "But..."
"For your kind heart that wants everyone to be happy... for selling your gold bangle to buy me what I like best, plants...", he said softly.
Khushi looked at him with wide eyes. "If these are your mother's, they should go to Anjaliji... You have no right to give them away as and when you will..."
"She left them for me. For my bride." He smiled, his eyes on her disturbed countenance.
Khushi stared at him with astonished eyes.
"I... I am not your bride...", she protested.
"Yet.", he qualified.
"I haven't said, 'Yes'."
"You haven't said 'No.., either."
Khushi sighed in exasperation.
"Do you like them?", he asked.
Khushi looked down at the precious bangles, knowing what they meant to him.
Her lips trembled as she whispered, "They are beautiful."
Arnav swooped down and kissed her cheek. "They were made for you. Mama selected the design and made the jeweller make them. For my bride.", he whispered against her cheek.
Her eyes filled with tears.
"She put them in a box along with a letter for you, and asked Di to give them to you when I got married." He rubbed his nose against hers.
Tears trailed down her cheeks in slow streams.
He kissed the wetness away.
"Don't cry, Khushi." He pulled her head to rest in the crook of his neck. They sat silent for a while.
Then he said, "You know, Khushi. These bangles have been lying in my locker for years. I couldn't even bring myself to open the box & look at them, but now... Now I can. With a mind at peace. Knowing that she is happy... Papa is happy... She would have loved you, Khushi... pampered you... not let you put your feet on the ground... covered you with silk and jewels... given you every happiness on earth... Even when I was young, she used to set aside sarees and jewels, saying, 'When my Chotey marries, I will give this to my bahuriyya... My bahuriyya will be like this... she will be like that... she will love me... she will take care of me... she will love my Chotey... she will look after my house... she will fill my house with laughter... She used to chide me, ..Chotey, put your things away in order. What will my bahuriyya think of your manners? Of the way in which I brought you up?... I used to get wild... Di used to laugh... But today... I am so grateful, Khushi, that she was happy & smiling when she thought about you... that she set aside many things for you... Khushi, there is even a stone-studded pair of sandals for you in the big box of things that she left you! It is in the storeroom."
Khushi looked into his moist eyes.
"Di teased Mama saying that Chotey's wife wouldn't wear them as she would have feet that were bigger or smaller than the size of the sandals... Mama... Mama just laughed..."
Khushi put her arms around him, and held him tight to her.
Khushi's phone rang.
She moved away from him, sat in her seat, and fished her phone out.
It was Buaji.
"Oh, Sanka Devi! Where are you, Nandkisore? Do you want me to come to your office and pull you out of your chair?"
"Buaji... I..."
"What jaadu has Munshiji done on you that your jaan is stuck to him? Or has he put fevicol on your chair? You can't bear to leave him to attend your sister's mehendi, Nandkisore!"
"I am here, Buaji." She scrambled out of the car, and moved towards the house. Arnav followed.
"Khushiji! You came!", NK ran up to her. "We were looking at mehendi designs for you."
Khushi smiled at him and greeted him.
The ladies fell on Khushi.
"We were waiting for you, Khushiji! Come on!", Di smiled, seeing her with Chotey. Her eyes fell on the bangles. Joy filed her heart. She quickly nudged Nani & Mami, and pointed out the bangles.
They sighed in relief.
"Hello Hi Bye Bye!", Mami whispered. "Acha hua, Saasumma! Phinally the bangles are on her hands. Now we have to tie her feet down."
Anjali led Khushi to sit among the ladies. Arnav, Akash, & NK sat near Babuji.
A mehendi lady moved to sit near Khushi. NK got up and went to sit by her. Arnav watched them both.
"Are you going to select the geometrical pattern or the creeper, Khushiji?"
"The creeper, Nanheji.", Khushi said softly, not looking at Arnav who, she knew, was listening to them.
The wind coming in through the wide windows ruffled her hair. Silky strands fell against her cheek. Khushi tucked them behind her ear with her free hand, feeling his eyes on her.
"Khushiji, your kulfi (a dessert) ki ghata is very beautiful."
The mehendi cone fell from the lady's hand. Khushi looked at NK with astonished eyes.
"Zulfon, NK. Zulfon (hair)...", Arnav corrected, as he took a seat by Khushi. She sent a startled glance at him, and kept her eyes on her hand.
All laughed at NK. Buaji pulled his cheek, and said, "Bade mazakiyaa ho, Nandkisore!"
NK ran for his life, rubbing his red cheek.
Arnav looked at Khushi's arms with his Mama's bangles, and felt peace fill his heart and mind. He watched the lady fill Khushi's palm with an intricate design of mehendi.
"Which letter of the alphabet should I write in the design?", the lady asked Khushi.
Khushi parted her lips to reply, but found that she could not.
"Err...woh..."
"A", said Arnav.
Khushi looked at him in surprise. The wind blew strands of her hair on to her face.
Arnav gently smoothed the hair away from her face and behind her ear. His loving fingers caressed the sensitive skin behind her ear. She shut her eyes, unable to bear the pleasure of his touch.
The mehendi lady watched his stern face melt into a soft and loving look, and looked at Khushi in envy.
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