Arnav squinted at the gas for close to 5 minutes. How the hell did this come on and which burner would come on or do they all come on?
When he finally figured out the gas and got them burning, he looked around for the dal. Where the hell was the dal?
He rummaged the cupboards till he spotted the Dals. There were five different types of Dal in various colors. What the! How was he to know which to pick? He kind of liked the look of the pink colored dal! But he had never had a pink colored dal! He chose the black one.
He took a cooker. Now what? How did the damn thing close? And how much water to pour?...2 or 3 or 4 may be 5'..
Khushi glanced with a smile at Arnav. Laad Governor was having a tough time she could see'good serve him right! He would find out that cooking takes skills too, not just his work. That reminded her of her own task.
She looked for the umpteenth time at the Laptop. What was PowerPoint, where was PowerPoint. There was nothing visible in the screen. Then it struck her. She should go to the place where she opened a new document from. So, she went to the Start Menu. Wow. There was PowerPoint! Khushi grinned elatedly'.
Arnav watched her. Khushi was smiling. She must have gone mad with worry, he decided. Or was she making progress? He squinted his eyes and tried to study her further. But no clues were visible on her face after that smile.
He had been struggling with the cooker lid for 5 mins now. Finally he closed it shut after pouring in 5 cups of water for 1 cup of dal. Well if three people had to eat the dal, then 3 cups of water was needed, plus two cups for evaporation, he reasoned.
Now rice! He again he began his mad hunt for rice'.
Khushi again glanced at Arnav. She was enjoying this! For once in his life, Arnav's confidence was nowhere to be seen. He looked all flustered. She glanced back at the PPT she had opened. Now what should she do?
She fiddled with it a little. Looked at the menu bar and then at all other buttons. Now what should she write? She knew zero percent about fashion industry. All she knew was that her husband headed an empire of textile and fashion industry. That gave her an idea. Arnav must have loads of pictures. But where would she find it? Even if she did find it what would she write? Her brow creased in thought'.
Arnav noted her worried expression. Good Khushi Kumari! Now you will know what it takes to sit in front of a laptop and work. He had found the dam rice, another cooker and poured the same amount of water for one cup using the same logic of 3 people plus evaporation. Now he was all set for the rotis. He felt good! He had the dal underway and the rice! Awesome job Arnav, he gave himself a mental pat on his shoulders. With renewed vigor he started now on the rotis. Oh before that he decided to put the potatoes to boil. That could happen in a microwave he knew. He began the potato hunting next. But it wasn't in the fridge. What the! Weren't potatoes always in fridge? He foubd it in a shelf beside the fridge...The heat was killing him despite the exhaust fan and chimney. There was no AC in the kitchen. He was beginning to perspire.
Khushi had dome a whole lot of searching in the Laptop and finally located My Pictures. To her delight she found a whole lot of pictures of woman's garments and men's garments and those of some models. Next step was to take these to the PPT. She guessed Copy and Paste would work. So she started copy pasting the images one by one and she copied five images in 5 slides. Great! She at least had the images. Now she would have to write something.
She looked at Arnav now. He was looking hot and tired. He was perspiring and was rubbing his brow with his sleeve as he was busy washing something in the kitchen sink. Khushi's heart constricted. Oh god! Arnav was feeling hot. He was perspiring. Was he too hot? She shook herself mentally. This was a bet and Laad Governor had challenged her. So she would not weaken. Her back was aching too. In her condition sitting over the laptop was hurting her. She tried to rub it better'.
Arnav watched her in concern. She had been in one position too long. In her condition it was not good. But he shook himself mentally. She was the one who had challenged him. So she had to endure a little longer. He had found the atta and he was trying to knead. He had poured two cups water into the atta and it was literally flowing off the vessel. What the hell should he do? Both he cookers had given umpteen whistles. Rice and dal would be ready. All he had to do was season the Dal. Get the dam roti done and yes he had to check on he potatoes'.
Khushi had all the images in the PPT. Now what to write? Her English was limited though she had made an effort to learn for Arnav's sake. She thought for a long time. Then she wrote in the first slide for a colorful designer saree image 'Beautiful India! Beautiful Clothes'. In the next slide she wrote for the image of a beautiful off shoulder dress 'Dress in your best". Wow! I am too good! She was thrilled. The next was a formal office wear. She wrote "Look Good! Feel Good!" Next was the photo of a model in bikini. She wrote 'Less cloth! More eyes!" Wah. Kya baat hai. She felt truly happy. In the last slide there was the image of a man in casual wear. She wrote 'Be a man'. In the last slide she wrote 'India changing! Fashion changing! " She was done. She could not believe it. Though she had struggled to type and add new slides and format and stick pictures, she was truly done. She looked up with a smile to tell Arnav when she suddenly she saw Arnav yelp in pain as he touched the hot cooker. Khushi closed the laptop as she winced in his pain. To hell with the bet! Arnav was hot and messy and in pain. Just then her baby kicked and she gasped'.
Arnav looked at Khushi at the sound forgetting her pain. Oh my God! Khushi! Was something wrong? To hell with the bet he rushed forward. Just then Khushi said 'I have lost Arnav. I am not able to make a PPT. You win. Comeback I will cook. Your work is really better. I can't do it," she said.
Arnav came close to her and hugged her "It's ok Baby. Everyone can't do everything. I did complete 50% of the cooking. So I guess I win and I can take you to the guest house," he said smiling mischievously. Khushi smiled back at him. Who wanted to win when her reward was right here? His proud smile, his happiness'everything was so much more rewarding.
Then Arnav said, "Ok let me look at what you did do with the PPT. Did you even manage to open it?" he asked as heading for his laptop.
Khushi tried to stop him, "No don't see it. Give it to me. I want to delete the mess I made" But Arnav beat her to it and logged into the laptop.
As soon as he opened it, there was the PPT with Khushi's work. Arnav looked at in surprise. She had actually completed the stuff and done a good job of it. Much better than his sticky, dilute dal, the semi-cooked rice and burnt potatoes!
He turned around and looked tenderly at Khushi,"Why did you lie?" he asked.
"Because'because you were hot and you were getting burnt and '.and'I hate to see you lose," she said softly. Arnav took her into a warm hug which he never wanted to end'.
And when Anjali peeped in after the stipulated time she found them wrapped in each other's arms laughing into the laptop'.
So much for the bet! Anjali smiled. She had been smart and had ordered in lunch knowing her brother could not even boil potatoes.
She looked at the lovebirds again. What place does winning or losing have in a love as deep as this? Anjali thought '
Pati Patni Aur Panga
Kumkum Bhagya
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