Chapter 35
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[MEMBERSONLY]
[NOCOPY]
SAVING KHUSHI
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Part 17
Section 2
It was Diwali.
Arnav and Khushi were very busy, Arnav trying to finish his work early to return home to join the festivities, and Khushi running after the caterers and the decorators to get the house all decked up and gorgeous by the time the guests arrived.
The diyas she had made had dried just fine and they were stacked in trays, ready to be lit. She ran from one part of the house to the next, making sure that everything was done and ready by evening.
Finally, it was evening.
Arnav & Akash walked in to the house, and saw Nani, Payal, Di, & Mami in the hall, all busy decorating the room and Devi Maiyya's idol for the evening pooja and festivities.
Khushi alone was absent.
Leaving Akash to join the family, Arnav walked away in search of his wife.
He found her in a corner, sitting alone by a huge rangoli design. She was in an ordinary purple suit, her hair plaited, filling colour in the design. Her face was a picture of focus and concentration as she sieved the colours evenly. As he watched, she finished her work. She heaved a sigh of relief and stretched her back.
Arnav smiled and took an eager step towards her, but the smile died away and his feet halted at the look on her face in an unguarded moment.
She looked lost, scared as she looked around the dimly-lit hall, seeing images of last Diwali - the guests milling around, her red sari which had actually been meant for Lavanyaji, the sugar-free sweets she had made for Arnavji that she had fed him while congratulating him on his decision to get engaged to Lavanyaji, the abyss of pain she had sunk into as he had held Lavanyaji close to him and looked at her with triumph in his eyes as she stood by the pool, devastated, left alone again, rudderless, abandoned, pain feeding on her mercilessly as she had submitted to a ruthless fate and a cruel man who had played with her feelings and humiliated and hurt her no end...
Arnav swallowed hard, cursing himself and his thoughtlessness last Diwali. He had behaved badly, hurt Khushi first and then Lavanya for no fault of theirs. His cowardice, his prejudice, and his blindness had set all three of them on the path to destruction. If only he had given in to his love for Khushi, admitted his love for her at least to himself... he could have spared all three of them much anguish.
Khushi sighed, feeling herself tremble after her short visit to the horrendous past. She had pushed the memories under the carpet for months, suppressing them each time they came to the fore. But today, they were proving very hard to control, very adamant in raising their heads to destroy her peace...
Khushi shut her eyes tight. Arnav stood still watching her, his heart in his mouth.
It was over, she told herself, clenching her coloured fingers together. Over. Finished. Arnavji had changed. He loved her now and he was her husband. Lavanyaji was settled in London now and hopefully she was happy.
Last Diwali was in the past, a nightmare that had to be forgotten if she had to go on. They had a new life together, new experiences to share, many joys waiting in the wings...
Khushi looked around. Everything was ready for the pooja and the guests invited to the evening's function. Now all she had to do was shower and dress. Arnavji would return from office soon, and she had to present a cheerful face to him, somehow. She had to get through this night, somehow.
Arnav watched her as she stood up, gathered the paraphernalia needed for making the rangoli design, and walked to the kitchen to hand them over to HP to discard or store as he saw fit. She took the diya and began lighting them all over the hall.
"Khussi bitiyaa! Yahan aayiye! See if Devi Maiyya's idol looks good!" Nani invited her, beaming.
Arnav watched her paste a smile on her face as she walked up to Nani, inspected the idol with great seriousness, and hugged Nani, praising her for her efforts.
"Aap theek to ho?" Nani asked. "Your face looks pale."
Khushi smiled. "Woh, I have been running around all day, Naniji. I am slightly tired."
Mami said, "Hello Hi Bye Bye! We can't have our Raijjada bahuriya tired. Take a beauty issleep before pooja..." she advised. She leaned towards Khushi and whispered, "...just like your Mami!"
Khushi smiled, nodded, and turned to walk up the steps, not seeing Arnav standing in the dimly-lit corner.
Khushi came out of the bathroom after her shower to see Arnavji lying on their bed, his arms crossed beneath his head, looking meditatively at the ceiling.
"Aap? When did you come home? I didn't see you!" Khushi trilled after a moment of shocked silence. She had hoped for a moment's respite, but...
Arnav turned his eyes to rest on her animated face.
"What are you wearing tonight, Khushi?" he asked softly.
"Ji... Di gave me a sari last week..." her voice died away.
He continued to look at her silently, prompting her to add, "It is beautiful, with a lot of stones and beads..."
Arnav looked at her, waiting.
Khushi averted her eyes and quickly turned to the wardrobe to pull out a gaily-wrapped packet. She unwrapped it and showed it to Arnav.
It was a beautiful sari, with elaborate work done along its borders and body. It was bright blue in colour, as far from her red of the previous Diwali as possible.
Not wanting him to comment on the sari or suggest that she exchange it for a red one, Khushi jumped in, "Did you have your tea, Arnavji?"
"No."
"I will make it and bring it up. Why don't you get changed? We have just one hour before the guests arrive." Khushi smiled as she rushed out of the room, away from his all-seeing eyes.
She returned with his tea to find the bedroom empty of his presence. Khushi stood looking around the bedroom. Arnavji was missing.
She looked at the tea and the snacks she had brought for him. Where was he?
Her eyes fell on the red sari on the bed. She paled. She had placed a blue sari there. How had it become red?
Khushi placed the tray on the low table and walked to the bed on unsteady legs. She sat down and touched the folds of the sari with trembling fingers. Red. Bright red like the blood flowing through her veins, red like the blood her heart had wept last Diwali...
Someone switched on the fairylights decorating the entire house. The poolside lit up in the brilliance of a thousand tiny, bud-like bulbs. The red sari held in her fingers took on a depth of hue and grandeur that was fascinating to her like a snake to a mouse it had cornered and was going to swallow whole.
"Khushi..." came the soft call.
Khushi turned around to look at Arnavji standing near the door to the poolside.
"Liked the sari?" his gravelly voice was huskier than usual.
Khushi couldn't find words to express her anguish at his choice or the heart to disappoint him. She just nodded, lowering her lashes to veil her eyes.
"I love you in red, Khushi." His tone was low, as though he were making a promise, as though he were whispering of his love for her in her ears.
"I will wear it." Khushi murmured as she escaped to the bathroom to change.
When she returned, there were two jewellery boxes on the bed. She opened them to find a diamond and ruby necklace, a pair of earrings, and bangles... She looked around for Arnavji, but he had apparently gone down. She wore them, and went to join the family.
The house looked beautiful, as it had done on Diwali a year back. Lights and diya, chains and garland of colourful, fragrant flowers, and the rich clothes of all the Raizada ladies added to the grandeur of the evening. The family members were dressed to the nines and were welcoming the guests.
The Guptas alone were not present. Garima and Buaji had taken Babuji to an Ayurveda hospital for a week's treatment.
Khushi looked around for her husband. Arnavji was standing with Akash Jiju and Nanheji at the entrance, greeting colleagues.
He looked around, feeling Khushi's presence. For a moment, he forgot to breathe. She looked beautiful, like a pari in red, like a dream, like a blessing, the folds of her sari clinging lovingly to the full lines of her figure, his mother's necklace, earrings, and bangles adorning her captivating form. Her silky hair was left unbound just as he preferred it.
She was smiling at Payal. Only the fear and uncertainty in her eyes betrayed her uneasiness.
"Khushi..." he held out his hand.
Khushi smiled at him, her face slightly pale. She walked up to him and placed her hand in his. He could feel her fingers trembling. He held on to them, tight. He had to lay many a ghost tonight.
Guests began to stream in by then, in large numbers.
Arnav made it a point to introduce Khushi as his wife to everyone, putting his arm around her shoulders or holding her arm as and when he could. Some of the ladies looked her up and down, and went away smirking.
A while later, three ladies came up to Khushi.
"You are Khushi, the Raizada bahu, aren't you?" Mrs. Dubey asked. She raised one exaggeratedly arched eyebrow in question.
"Ji." Khushi tried to smile.
"Can you get us something to drink?" asked Mrs. Mishra. "It is a very hot evening." The plump lady fanned herself with her fingers, her maincured nails flashing.
"Ji." Khushi moved to the tables set against the wall, set three long glasses of chilled orange juice on a silver tray, and turned to serve the guests.
"Thank you." murmured Mrs. Rastogi. She took a deep drink, and said ruminatively, "I have seen you before, somewhere..." Her big, cold eyes raked up and down Khushi's form.
"You may have." Mrs. Dubey said, a malicious smile twisting her lips. "She used to be a servant here, before she managed to snare the son of the house."
Khushi paled.
"Last Diwali," Mrs. Mishra informed the other two, "Arnav Singh Raizada was all set to marry a girl from London. His girlfriend. He announced their decision to marry at the party." The lady smiled, showing her teeth. "But wonder of wonders, this Diwali, the London girl is nowhere to be seen, and in her place is this low-class waif who has made it good."
Mrs. Dubey added, "You must let us in to the secret of your success, Khushi." She smiled, her eyes glinting in pleasure at the pain on Khushi's face. "After all, it can't have been easy to move up the ladder from beggar and maid to the mistress of the house."
"Shut up!" hissed the lion. "You are my Nani's guests. But that does not give you the right to insult or hurt my wife. If you cannot keep a civil tongue in your head, then it is high time you left."
Mami, Di, & Nani joined them. Khushi stood in their midst, feeling her limbs tremble.
"Kaa hua, Chotey?" Nani asked.
"Nothing much, Devyaniji. Your grandson was just asking us to leave." Mrs. Dubey said.
Nani, Mami, & Di stared at Arnav.
"They were badmouthing Khushi..." Arnav explained to his family. "No one insults my wife and gets away with it." he stated, his eyes burning in fury.
"Badmouthing?" Mrs. Mishra asked. "How can speaking the truth be called badmouthing?"
"We were just asking your new bahu how she changed her status from maid to malkin here. That's all. Oh, and how she took the place of your Arnav's girlfriend from London after he announced his plans to marry her last Diwali at a similar party. How can you call that badmouthing Khushi?" Mrs. Rastogi asked.
Mami fumed. "You don't have to borry (worry) about hamre Arnav Bitwaa's girlfriend or his wife. We are here to do it, Hello Hi Bye Bye!"
"Chotey is right to chide you. Kindly leave our house if you can't be polite to our bahu." Nani's eyes were colder than ice, her voice firm.
"Khushiji is our Chotey's wife, and we are proud of her. You don't have to concern yourselves with her antecedents or our Chotey's past." Anjali's eyes shot fire at the three ladies.
Mami & Nani nodded their support.
"And you will never understand how she won Chotey's heart. Because you are not capable of seeing goodness and kindness in others." Nani declared.
"What if I started to asks after your sons and daughters, hein?" Mami asked, an evil look on her face. "You won't finds a place to cover your face. So leave our house, you walking-talking vendors of gossip."
The three ladies walked off in a huff.
"Khussi bitiyaa, you ignore such nonsense. It is just their jealousy talking. Come with us. It is time for the pooja." Nani led her away. Arnav followed hoping to get a moment alone with his wife, but was doomed to disappointment.
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