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Madhyaratri Paryanta
The haldi was in the morning. Neel's was at the apartment next door and hers was in the room she slept the nigh before
The amount of pampering and care she received made her dizzy.
Aadhya hid behind the curtain and stared mesmerized as women applied the creamy turmeric, cream paste all over her and rubbed it down enough to let the flakes fall off
The room smelled like rose essence and turmeric
She caught a glimpse of Neel as he passed by along the kitchen and tiny washbasin/bathroom area
His spotless white kurta was stained yellow in places
His hair had yellow clumps when a male cousin might have applied haldi in jest
The kurta had a side opening and she noticed his chest hair and turned red
He paused his mouth open, breathing audibly
The lady applying haldi was turned towards her as she vigorously applied all over her neck and teasingly poured some concoction down her shirt giggling
Suvi closed the opening of her kurta in horror as the warm paste slid down her cleft
A grand aunt that was sitting in the corner mumbled to the young woman about an ogling Neel
The lady turned
"Neel bhaisaab dekhna MANA HAIII" she shrieked enjoying Suvi's discomfort
"Ab hum to dekh chukey, kya karen batayiye?" he quizzed lingering drinking the sight of his wife to be
"Jurmana bhar lein aap" the woman said panting and heaving as she tried to rub the haldi down Suvi's right calf
"Aapko dein?" he asked taking a step toward the room
"HUM kya karenge... jinko dena hai unahee ko dein aap" the woman laughed hysterically
"Kya lengi?" he asked
"Batao bahu raani" the woman roared
"Neel" Suvi was a puddle of goo
"Suvechhha" he said savoring the name as if he could taste that cream on her skin...
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Ruchi and Pushkar had a meltdown on the side in the adjacent apartment when one kid accidentally shut the window on her oldest's thumb
It was swollen like a cherry... Amma looked extremely nervous as she confronted Pushkar to tell him when Ruchi was taking a bath
"Ghar pe aapne tamasha khara kiya hai, bachon ko kaun dekhega" Pushkar said inaudibly
"I agree somebody was careless" Amma said politely
"Ruchi kahen... naam lein aap" he challenged
"I mean the lady that was watching him." Amma said firmly
Neel's brother had mellowed a bit since last night after Amma had a word with him he sat cross legged down on the floor and helped Mamiji and Aabha Bhabhi apply haldi on Neel
There was a pooja scheduled for Noon, it had begun to rain again, all the kids crowded in the apartments
Neel's brother went up to ask teh neighbor if they could play video games up there, all 9 trudged up as the caterers blocked the stairwell trying to sort out giant aluminum tiffin carriers
Women sang hymns in the living room of the main apartment
Mrs & Mr Misra sat in a corner and read a Hindi newspaper
Amma frequently checked on them
They were being entertained by Aadhya
She sat on Mrs Misra's lap and pulled out one silky mane horse after another from her pippa squinkie collection
She had 100s of them
"Mede house mein LOTSSS hey" she explained
Mrs Misra smiled spontaneously
"Meda house?" she teased
"Mede house mein aaogey?" she asked politely
Mrs Misra's eyes filled up as she realized the lil girl's house will be the house of the man who used to be her son in law... or who was her son in law... or is her son in law... until midnight tonight
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Channel V Dil Dosti Dance
Arjun
