Heche te
Ruchi left Mumbai a heart broken girl. After Pushkar'sadmonishment about shopping there were a couple other times when he straight look at her face and said things in a roomful of people
Luckily both times Amma was not around.
But the third time when she was packing the boys's things in her suitcase, Amma peeked into the Chembur bedroom and asked "which mithai she wanted more of"
Pushkar poked his head out of the bathroom and told her off "Aap na hi dein to behtar" he said coldly
"Hamari Ruchi taras jaati hain beta" Amma said with a nervous smile
"Haan theek hai, par itna saara ghee khakar agar 35 saal mein cholesterol diabetes ho jaaye, pareshaan to hamey hona padega" he said bluntly
Amma held a shiny steel tin full of goodies
Ruchi's head was lowered as if she was trying to sort the boys' shorts, Amma could see her face cloud with color.
"This is it" Ruchi grit her teeth angrily. Calmed herself down when she realized Amma was still at the door
"Riwaaz hai lekar to jaana padega" Amma stood her ground.
"Haan, deejiye phir har mithai ke do do tukre" he smiled gleefully
"Jee" Amma nodded gleefully, and instead packed 25 pieces of each and wrapped it in the very same tee shirts Ruchi was folding an hours ago.
Amma packed her suitcase tight zipped it up and dragged it to the living room as Ruchi showered.
Retruning to Scotland was always emotional for Ruchi
She cried every time she showered, the pattern was the same, the flight was at 2 AM, check in 11 PM, airport time 9 PM
Ruchi's shower was at 7 PM
Amma fidgeted unable to concentrate on garnishing the yummy khichri Aabha had made
She let the ghee burn down and removed the tiny wok and replaced it with a new one
"Aap ne is baar bhi Ruchi ko kaha nahi, ki laut aaye?" Aabha smiled
Amma cleared her throat to swalow a lump and smiled and nodded
She wasnt quite ready yet to ack to Aabha and share her fears
Suvi sat in one of the bedrooms in the adjacent apartment, showing Aabha's daughters how to sketch.
Her own sat with Ruchi's boys and tried to show them how to play board game
They were 3 and 1.5 they were more interested in gobbling the game pieces
"Chachi aapki drawing to bohot sundar hai" Sunanda gushed
"Mere ko dance karne ko nahi aata hey" Suvi smiled shyly
"Aap ko main sikhaaoon?" Sulekha asked
"Baat HUM kar rahe hain" Sunanda was offended
The girls got into a loud argument and pushed and shoved
Aadhya froze in fear pasted to the wall as she stared in shock
The boys moaned in fear
Saksham peeked
"Kya ho raha hai yahan?" he shouted
The girls stopped
"Nei bus" Suvi said defensively
She gathered the older girls and cuddled
"Hamara sketch dekhne ka hey?" she asked Saksham
His expressions softened a bit and he smiled
She lifted up a note pad where she had drawn an exact replica of a childhood portrait of the girls from a wall photo
She showed what the girls had drawn with "some" help
A fairy princess and a Ninja warrior
"Larne ki zaroorat nahi" Saksham waved a finger
"Aap chalengi hamare saath?" he offered Aadhya a hand
Aadhya eagerly accepted it and turned to Suvi "Aai?" she asked
"Barobar" she smiled
The lil boys were now trying to chew crayons
Neel peeked "Khaana nahi khaayengi?" he asked
Nobody asked her that Q back in Delhi, so she didnt know how to answer
"Haan, khaane ka hei na" she nodded seriously
Neel exploded in laughter
"Sahi mein? Khaane ko bacha nei hei... sab khatam ho rela hei" he teased
She blushed a glorious red
Saksham awkwardly left the newly weds to their flirtatious banter
"mei ho rela hei kabhi keti nei haan?" she warned
"Sachi?" he teased
"Neel bas" she warned
"Barobar" he nodded huskily