The Malhotra household was in a frenzy as everyone seemed to be busy running around with albeit with a excited look on their faces. Suman quietly went over to Nirmala who was looking at the kheer she was making on the gas stove with all the love she could.
"Aunty woh kheer ban jaayegi,aap itne pyaar se usko na bhi dekho na tab bhi." Suman giggled as she settled herself over the kitchen platform munching an apple that she picked up from the dining table.
"Sumo..kab aayi beta?" Nirmala looked happier than usual as she leaned over to hug Suman.
"Bas Abhi. So are you guys expecting someone special over dinner? The whole house looks like it's got a new lease of life." Suman asked as she tightly hugged the woman who had become a mother figure to her by now. A trip to Malhotra house in her way back from office had become a routine to her by now. She loved hanging around during the tea time with Ram uncle and some fun with Pushkar after which he would drop her home, in spite of her protests that she could walk down on her own. The absence of a certain someone definitely helped.
"Hmm..Mera Shravan as raha hai Sumo. He is flying back from New York tonight. Ram finally convinced him that he could join his dad's business , though Shravan wanted to work there for a couple of years and then join here. We were miserable without him, so we decided to be persistent about our pleas to him. ..and..my son will be back home after almost a decade!!" while Nirmala was squealing in delight, she missed out on noticing a face that had gone all pale with that bit of news.
...
That night as Suman sat down with her usual post dinner coffee, she couldn't help but wonder what an enigma Shravan has been in her life right from the onset. There was something that always pulled her to him, irrespective of the awkwardness and the anger that always featured between them. His presence around her was as sensitive as savage his absence had been for the last decade. The time had gone by so fast yet so painfully slow.
A fourteen year old Sumo had taken two weeks to fall in love. Just two weeks and a fixed route of commute with a boy who never spared her nerves and there.. her tender heart was in love. Then it took ten years to fail at mending her broken heart. Everyday would begin with a promise that she would go out and meet guys her age in a bid to move on in her life, every dusk would just helplessly stare at her with a failed expression etched clearly. She clearly remembered each evening of the fortnight where she spent some beautiful moments with Shravan. He was caring beyond words and a great companion to hang out with. Shravan made her forget her dad's failing business and her mom's worried face. He constantly goaded her into putting her very best efforts for the impending board exams. He teased her mercilessly about her love for street food , he spoke to her about his passion for cars. He inspired her with the level of commitment he showed towards his academics even while he balanced his love for sports with ease.
Suman couldn't point out when was it exactly that her heart wished for more of him, but she knew for a fact that what she was experiencing was love and not some teenage crush and that Shravan was totally oblivious of all that changed within her ever so slowly. She wanted to study hard now because he wanted her to excel, she wanted to wear more of blue because he liked it on her. She had begun to notice minor things about him that she had never attempted to do before. She laughed at how he loved to hover around his mother at home and wanted her to attend to him always. She observed how he used to discuss business with Ram uncle at such a young age, how he mercilessly teased Pushkar about his crush over Preeti or visited her Nanu for the chess matches and most importantly how he never failed to stop by at the kitchen to greet her mom or have a small chat with her dad if he was around. He hated vegetables on his plate and probably could spend his entire life on a weird diet of chicken and chocolates. She noticed how he used to spend a lot of his time in the basement of Malhotra Mansion, which he had turned into a small work area of his where he used to experiment with various machines and car spare parts. The guy was forever busy, when he wasn't doing anything , he would be buried deep into fictions.
Sumo was definitely in love, perhaps the practical minds out there would not understand this given the time span, but then there was a wisdom of the head and there was a wisdom of the heart. She remembered her Nanu once said, One day whether you are 14, 48 or 75 you will meet that one person in life who would start a fire in you that would never end. Suman somehow knew, her fire had already started.
The fortnight bliss ended when her dad came back from his trip and then resumed picking her up from the tuitions. However it had eased her relationship with Shravan a lot. They were pretty comfortable with each other much to the surprise and relief of their friends and families.
That was when the tragedy struck. Suman's father could not salvage his business and had to declare bankruptcy. The long line of creditors outside his door and the impending bank loans had left him extremely distressed. Prakash Tiwari as a result suffered a major stroke and had to be hospitalized for days. Ram Malhotra meanwhile took care of the situation as he paid off the major loans and as a result he could save the Tiwari Villa providing immense repose to the Tiwari family.
Suman was devastated beyond words after the incident and had gone into a deep depression. That's when Shravan, her once arch nemesis had donned the role of her trusted friend. He coaxed her out of the shell, tutored her for the boards, made her go out with friends and him together with Pushkar, Preeti, Avni and herself made a close knit group as her support. Suman had in fact started inching towards him a lot more emotionally than she expected.
Once while chatting with Nirmala aunty in the Malhotra house kitchen, she had accidently burnt her fingers in an attempt to cook when Nirmala had gone out to attend a phone call. Shravan, who had entered the kitchen just then for some coffee had rushed to her, and placed her hands under the running water for some relief. Even between her sobs, Suman had seen concern for her clearly etched on his face. While she squealed in pain as he applied the anti burn ointment he was quick to place a peck on her forehead to soothe her. Suman smiled as she remembered how many times had she touched her forehead that evening to feel that kiss.
"And while I was crying in pain, do you know what Shravan did?" A dreamy Sumo smiled as she asked the visibly bored duo of Avni and Preeti.
"He kissed you on your forehead and said, it will heal soon Princess. Sumooo, this was the tenth time that you narrated that incident to us, and it was actually cute till the second or third time know." Avni yawned in absolute exasperation.
"Shravan is so gentle and caring. This, in spite of the fact that I have royally ignored him all these years." Sumo sounded so regretful that her friend had to quickly jump in and assuage her guilt .
Days went by in a daze and soon it was the day when their pre boards results were announced. This was their performance assessment when they were just one step away from the actual boards test. An excited Suman had topped her pre boards just as she was expected to and as she was rushing across the classrooms to check on Shravan's results, she saw a an angry him storming off the cafeteria with his result sheet in hand. Suman was pretty surprised to see him this annoyed, but was soon busy with her own teachers and friends to bother about it.
However, the days following were not as pleasant to her as she could notice visible changes in Shravan's behavior. He looked more withdrawn and clearly uncomfortable around her. He would get annoyed if she would drop in unannounced and once he had shouted badly at the trio of her, Preeti and Pushkar while they were playing video games in Pushkar's room and were boisterous in the process. He had warned them to keep their volume down as his study session was disturbed by their antics. He wouldn't smile back at her when she would greet him in the school and didn't even call on her when she fell sick just days before her actual boards, though Nirmala aunty would visit her every single day.
Suman was highly disturbed by these developments, for by now she her peace of mind wss directly proportional to Shravan's mood swings. What had gone wrong she wondered repeatedly. When did she annoy him this bad? The strain was taking a toll on her nerves and she decided to confront Shravan once and for all.
As she walked up to his room in Malhotra Mansion, she felt a weird sense of unease plaguing her heart. As she quietly turned the knob of his door to open , she heard loud voices inside. She peeped in to see Pushkar sitting on a bean bag and Shravan playing with his basketball, easily aiming them into the basket placed high on the wall, while the brothers argued over something.
"Bhaiya..please listen. Sumo.." Pushkar tried to calm his brother even as Suman's eyes widened as he took her name.
"Pushkar. For the last time, Suman is a responsibility. Just a responsibility that I am handling for my mother's sake. Maa Priya aunty aur Sumo ke liye pareshan rehti hai, aur isliye Sumo ko main apni zimmedari maanta hoon bas...Sumo hamaare saath khush rehti hai toh maa ko tassali rehti hai. I am not bound to give attention to her or spend time with her. Don't look deeper into this. .that would be an absolute waste of energy." Shravan asserted the last part gritting his teeth, as he aimed the ball into the basket.
Sumo flinched and squeezed her eyes shut. She swallowed a deep breath to hold back her sob. Her emotions were running astray. She felt her heart squeeze inside painfully. Such was the impact of the revelation that she felt her legs would give away any moment and so caught on to a nearby table for support. Her mind screamed at her to get away as fast she could, but her legs had turned jelly. She clutched the sides of her skirt tightly and felt pain run through her entire body. Suddenly she could hear the voices of Nirmala and Ram approaching her , she ran away not wanting them to witness her in her most vulnerable state.
The next few days were the most distressing ones for Suman. She was finding it very tough to maintain a normal front for her family, while she was shattering inside. She did not want any more trouble for her mother who was already struggling with a sick husband. Suman decided to put all the unpleasantness behind her as she dived into her studies with a fervor like never before. Her family needed to be strong in the trying circumstances that they were facing and the only way she could contribute her bit was by studying hard and making them proud , like someone had once told her. She shook her head immediately, no more thinking of him she promised herself. If only she knew that the fire that Shravan had started in her would burn her forever.
She would see Shravan every time he used to come to the hospital with his dad , which he did every weekend without fail. While he would steal glances at her, he would turn his eyes every time they met her eyes. Suman avoided any type if contact with him as well much to the chagrin of Pushkar, Preeti and Avni. No one could make out what actually went wrong, but they now knew that the equation between Shravan and Sumo was back to square one. The guards were up, the attitude was on.
...
The board exams were about to start the next day, and an apprehensive Shravan was doing push ups in his balcony. Nirmala walked in with two steaming cups of coffee and placed the tray on the table.
"Aao beta, coffee peete hai." Shravan smiled as his mom called him over. He promptly cleaned his face with a towel and took a chair right across hers. The first gulp, and he squeezed his eyes in gratification. This was bliss. His mom's coffee and her presence had given a sudden calmness to his upset heart. His feelings were all muddled these days, a confusion that just had no end.
"Sab theek hai na Shravan?" Nirmala could feel the unease in her son's eyes these days. It was almost as if were battling a storm these days. Gone was her usual chirpy son who used to love teasing her endless. Shravan these days looked bored and brooding. He used to spend double as much time studying and hence she had attributed all these changes to the stress that kids often undergo during board exams. She prayed fervently inside that she was right about that.
"Hmm. All okay mom." He gave a reassuring smile.
"Listen, if you are stressed about these exams, let me tell you that it's natural. Even the best and the most well prepared students go through it. You need not worry. You are ready for this baby. You are intelligent enough to clear it with the best of scores. And you know what, You are a bright boy Shravan, and I knew it since you used to kick in my tummy exactly when I used to have sweets in spite of the doctor's warning that I was borderline diabetic during pregnancy. I guess you knew it was bad for both of us." Nirmala looked so smug while narrating this that Shravan burst out laughing.
"Kuch bhi Maa. You know, I will never have any dearth of entertainment with you in my life." Said Shravan as he leaned back on the chair laughing and with seconds Nirmala joined him.as well thereby dissipating the transience that was in the air a while earlier.
"Acha sun, main zara Sumo ke pass jaa rahi hoon. Bhaisaab ko ghar laaye hue kitne din ho gaye, but he still has not recovered well. Aaj unka check up hai. Sumo's board exams are already going on. So I am going over to sit with her till Priya is back. Don't worry, I will be back by dinner ok?" Nirmala said as she got up taking the empty cups along with her.
Shravan snapped his head at Suman's name. He twisted his fingers as he felt an immense urge to enquire about her, a privilege that he had denied himself for a month now. As his mom reached the balcony door, he called out "Maa..
Nirmala turned at the sound and raised her eyebrows in question.
Shravan with utter difficulty managed to blurt out " Umm..kaisi hai woh? I mean, how are her exams going on?"
"Don't you know? Didn't you meet her yesterday when she came over with Preeti yesterday? Saara din kamre mein band rehta hai. Kaise pata chalega tujhe? Exams achhe hue hain uske. Pushkar ko lagta hai ki who top karegi." Nirmala said as she turned again to leave.
"Pushkar ko bada pata hai Sumo ka." Shravan muttered in anger as he moved towards his room to study for the next day.
...
The months flew by in both fun and anticipation for the kids as they waited for their results. Suman's results were out earlier and she had both topped the school and as she had secretly desired, broken Shravan's record too. The Malhotras went over to the Tiwari's to extent their wishes to Suman and Shravan joined them. He congratulated her along with others and didn't fail to notice how she was looking everywhere but at him. She was pretty normal with Pushkar who was trying every charm of his on Preeti.
Shravan was restless throughout the dinner and when they were about to leave he dragged Suman to a side at the first chance that he got. He looked at her intently as he said "Listen Sumo, I know I have behaved like a jerk all this while. But I had my own reasons, and now I don't want to keep things to myself. I know that I have hurt you with my aloofness. I will explain everything. Ok? Tum sunogi na?" Sumo gave him a blank expression which seemingly upset him and he was about to talk more when he heard his dad call out for him. Shravan ran to join them and just before he sat in the car, he turned back to give her a look that had so much of hope, that for a second she felt herself agreeing to give him an ear. She chided herself the very next second, nope, she wouldn't. Never.
...
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