Chapter 73
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[MEMBERSONLY]
[NOCOPY]
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Part 20
Khushi rushed in to the kitchen as though it were her refuge from thoughts that plagued her, and began making jalebis for the evening pooja.
Tiwariji took one look at her pale and disturbed countenance and knew that Girija Devi had talked to her.
As he usually did during working hours, Tiwariji began humming and singing from Ramcharitmanas after checking that the lamp he lit every dawn in his kitchen in front of Devi Maiyya and Lord Rama & Sita Maiyya had enough oil.
Haa! gun khaani Janaki Sita, roop seel vrat niyam puneeta
Lakshman samjhaye bahu bhanti, poochat chale lata taru paanthi.
"Hey Sita, the daughter of Janaka, the embodiment of all gunas, the possessor of a beautiful form and good habits, the follower of rules and sacred fasting, the pure!" Lord Rama lamented on finding Sita missing from his cottage, asking trees and creepers for his beloved's whereabouts.
Lakshman tried to console Lord Rama, but in vain.
The slottled spoon fell from Khushi's hand in to the hot oil.
"Careful!" Tiwariji chided softly.
She looked at him with wide eyes for a moment, and quickly fished the slotted spoon out.
Kimi sahi jaat anakh tohi paahi, priya begi prakatasi kas naahi,
Ehi bidhi khojat bilapat Swami, maanahu maha birahi ati kami.
"How can I bear this separation from you, my beloved? Why don't you appear before me, soon?"
Lord Rama looked for Sita Maiyya and lamented her loss in such a manner, as though he were bereaved and totally lost in his love for his wife.
Tears filled Khushi's eyes and slowly trailed down her cheeks.
Tiwariji sighed, seeing the depth of her pain and the desolation on her face.
He walked to her and took the slotted spoon from her hand.
"My children like their jalebi to be sweet, not salty." he said gently. "Go to your room and rest."
Khushi nodded, and left the kitchen, trying to wipe her tears.
Tiwariji phoned Girija Devi.
"What did you tell the poor girl? She was crying in to the jalebi batter." he growled.
"She was crying? Very good. That means she will think about returning to her husband." Girija Devi chuckled happily.
Tiwariji put on a stern face. "Khud ke pair pe kulhadi maarke, you must be the only person on earth who is happy."
She laughed loudly.
"After months I got a good girl, and you had to send her away?" Tiwariji grumbled good-naturedly.
Girija Devi said softly, "Tiwari Chacha, her husband needs her more than we do."
Arnav drove home from his office. It was late evening, and his head was pounding. Fatigue rolled over him in waves. The traffic light became red, & Arnav stopped the vehicle. He looked around casually.
The temple where Khushi prayed regularly. The white one with many steps. A craving to breathe the same air that she had once breathed made him take the turning towards the temple as the lights changed.
He parked the car, and walked up the steps. It was cool and peaceful, the silence marred only by the ringing of the temple bells and the cooing of pigeons.
He walked in to the temple and stood before Devi Maiyya. He looked in to the kind eyes and the benevolent smile of the universal mother, and felt his eyes fill. He turned away.
As he was about to leave, the priest called him.
"Beta, prasad."
Arnav walked up to him and put out his hand to receive the holy water and the prasad.
As he turned to leave again, he felt Devi Maiyya watching him. He turned around once more and walked up to her on silent feet.
He told her softly, "I am Arnav Singh Raizada, Khushi's husband. You remember Khushi? From Laxmi Nagar? She used to be Khushi Kumari Gupta, but she is now my wife, Khushi Arnav Singh Raizada."
Devi Maiyya said nothing.
"Khushi... I am sure you remember her. How can you forget her?" Arnav smiled. "She is the one who takes your name a hundred times a day, and visits you regularly. With jalebi."
Devi Maiyya waited for him to get to the point.
"It is just that... your daughter has gone away, far away. Because she is unhappy with me, with all of us. Can you just... I mean, if you see her... if you talk to her... When she prays to you, can you just ask her to come back?"
Devi Maiyya smiled.
"She has no one. Her parents are dead. My parents are dead. We have only each other. And when we are away from each other..." Arnav looked away to compose himself. Gathering himself, he looked Devi Maiyya in the eye. "When we are away, it is difficult to breathe. Just as Di told me, a long time back. I didn't believe it then, but now..." He sighed. "Can you just bring her back to me? I will take good care of her. I will never hurt her again."
Someone rang the temple bell loudly, many times.
Arnav swallowed, and turned to leave. He turned back once more.
"Bye. I will see you around. Just don't forget what I said." He bid farewell to Devi Maiyya.
Khushi was glad for the never ending work that evening.
After cooking, she sat in the kitchen waiting for the waiters to serve the food, the children to eat, and the cleaners to clean the plates and cups. Then she & Tiwariji washed all the utensils they had used for cooking, and Khushi scrubbed an already spotless kitchen clean till the floor shone.
She went reluctantly to bed.
She hugged Devi Maiyya's idol and cried for long. "Please help me make the right decision. What ever I decide should be good for Arnavji and me, Devi Maiyya. We should never regret my choice, whether I stay here or go back to him."
After turning from side to side for a long time, a restless Khushi finally fell asleep, only to be caught up in dreams, not all of them pleasant.
She saw Arnavji fainting due to low sugar, his knees buckling, standing up only by the support of her arms and frail body...
He was punching the living daylights out of the goondas at the dhaba because they had hurt her...
Khushi was running in to his arms at the hospital... He was placing his hand on her head after paying Babuji's bills, his eyes kind and moist...
He was muttering 'sorry' after 'sorry' in the dark night after hearing about her parents' accident...
He was smiling at her small joke as Jiji cried over Jiju's specs lying on the floor, imagining him to have killed himself...
He was blowing in to her eye, trying to take away the mud that had fallen in to it...
"Khushi ulajh gayi..." He was removing the fairylights from her body, saving her from the mild shocks, his eyes intent on her face...
"Thoda dard hoga." He looked so sad as though it hurt him to hurt her...
"Did you think an ameer admi was keeping your payal close to his heart all these days?" His eyes were shouting at her that he had kept her payal close to his heart while his mouth said something else...
He was bandaging her finger at the temple... She was asking him, "Kya chahte he aap?" and his eyes were telling her "You, only you..."...
He was asking her if she wouldn't complete her performance at the sangeet... and holding out his hand to help her finish her dance...
"Hamare dhadkan ek ho jaate he..." Arnavji whispered, holding her hand to his heart...
"Main hamesha hamesha..." Ranjha said, but couldn't complete his sentence before dying of the poisoned sweet...
It was Jiji's mehendi. She was looking for Arnavji, calling him frantically... but he was nowhere to be found... he was not answering her calls...
She had tried to hold him back from boarding the plane, but he had freed his hand from hers, ripping her heart in to pieces...
Arnavji was being carried by the goons who had kidnapped him... He was unconscious and hurt. The blindfold had fallen from his face on to the ground... and she was standing there, helpless, feeling that her arms and legs were weighed down by lead...
Khushi jumped up, looking around frantically for Arnavji, panting, sweating profusely.
"Arnavji... Arnavji..." she whimpered. Where was he? Why had he left her all alone?
She looked around. The room was unfamiliar to her. Where was the pool? His recliner? This... this was not RM. This was Varanasi. Her heart galloped.
She grabbed the phone.
Continued in the next post...
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