Here but not..
Mooh dikhayi came and went, Harit was polite respectful, charming and engaging with all the ladies in the neighborhood. The women that did repeated nazar utaaros and smeared many kaala teekas on both.
Ofcourse many were curious as to why the Vaidyas suddenly had a grandkid and why the girl that was caring for that grandkid is now a DIL
People gossip everywhere, be it Boston or Berlin or Bareilly. The Vaidyas had nothing to hide so they were honest and upfront in explaining to people about why Chandan was so attached to her
Some spoke loud enough at the mooh dikhayi event to hurt Lakshmi. Tact and diplomacy are forgotten when you think you are smelling something foul. Even if it happens to be a basket of flowers covered in in a rank wet jute wrap.
They told Avantika about how the 4 boys played cricket in the compound and how Harit would always be tricked into going outside the gate to fetch the ball
She was told how noble and big hearted he is to be "wasting his phoren education on poor people
Suman and Alka praised her when their turn came telling everyone how she had passionately put herself towards the cause of raising the little boy. How she is actually as innocent as she looks "though she is very educated and worked in Delhi for years
"Wahan to sab chalta hai, humne suna hai, shaadi bhi nahi karte saath hee rehte hain a woman covered her mouth with her pallu as she giggled into it,
"Dilli mein ladkiyan nikkar mein ghoomti hain, hamare mausa ka ladka wahi computer ki naukri karey hai, uske ghar kea as pass ladkiyan nikkar mein ghoome hai
Avantika lowered her gaze self consciously. It could have been herself they were gabbing about.
The second night there was no doubt Chandan was going to sleep in her room
Everyone eyed each other, about the giant elephant in the room
The newlyweds were not intimate. The whole house new about it. But they couldn't do a thing.
He watched TV downstairs in the big waiting room like hall with the 62 inch TV, hung out with his brothers, took calls from Dhruv, Vibhu and Shyam, speaking nicely telling them all
Avantika is adjusting to life in Bareilly and he will absolutely visit Roorkee when things slow down at work with the Pandey case
His brothers exchanged a look when he hung up, wondering if they should kick him out someway to get him to go up.
But they decided otherwise.
The next morning the younger women lingered over their tea and kicked up a deliberate conversation about the Vaidya men
Lowering their tone to a whisper as Lakshmi passed by
"Babuji ne aaj taq nahi suna, inka tum Alka giggled
"Rishu ke mooh se galti se nikal chuka hai ek dor baar, Babuji naraaz hue Suman was blushing
"In logon ko hosh nahi hai the women agreed
Avantika was unperturbed.
Finally the women had to reach out and jolt her
"Aapko tum kahe kya Harit abhi taq? they giggled and shushed each other as Lakshmi walked by
"Umm.. nahi Teeku smiled calmly
"Abhi taq nahi? Alka was shocked at first but quickly composed herself "yahan to shaadi ki raat... yaane ke subah bidai ke baad "Alka yaar tum Alka giggled after speaking loudly
Avantika looked at the women surprised
They were obviously enjoying healthy intimate life. Her husband didn't even know she existed she thought
They shared that bathroom, but that's about it
This morning when she was giving Chandan a bath the left faucet was for hot water and right for cold, and a lever in the center switched sideways turned on the shower
She didn't know that until she was fully soaked
He had forgotten to set it at a 90 degree angle, it was at 45 and it started the cold water shower on her and Chandu
She had squealed running out of the bathroom towards her room, the bathroom having two doors, one going to his bedroom and the other to hers
He had appeared in her room
"I couldn't... I mean... paani shower se kaise nikal gaya? she questioned as she grabbed a towel
"Hum shaayad usko turn off karna bhool gaye. Garam paani barsa aap par? he had asked
"Nahi it was cold she told him, quickly wrapping her towel around her body
"Aap hamesha check kar lein, hum kabhi winters mein bhi thande paani mein naha lete hain he smiled cheerfully and walked away.
She was glad he did because she wasn't too thrilled about standing there with wet clothes arguing over why he was negligent
"Jab aapka soney ka mann ho na, don't use the headache option, kyon ki Ma ke paas koi desi dawa hai for headaches Alka cracked herself up and winked and laughed hysterically "Harit who la denge Ma se aur bus chhuthhi Alka snapped her fingers
"Inko abhi time lagega Suman. Yeh khud hi ab sar ke dard ka bahana nahi karengi, ek do saal to kam se kam Suman nodded knowingly
"Haan hum logon ko bas ab lagta hai SO JAAYEN. Bistar par sar padte hi hamey to neend aa jaati hai, yeh neeche TV dekhkar aate hain aur yaad se hamey utha dete hain she spoke in despair
The afternoon went in trying to help Chandan work out his tantrumy behavior. Garima and Gauri returned from school and he tore Garima's math notebook the page on which there was home work
The entire family realized Chandan was acting out. They were too afraid to be stern because they assumed Teeku would be hurt by it. Teeku was seeing a distinct change in him, he was actually beginning to enjoy the power he had over people when he threw tantrums
He was young but he was smart.
Visitors arrived daily, mornings went in pooja of some form, the bhabhis patiently helped her drape sarees.
She saw him little after the shower incident. Chandan had been particularly onnery that afternoon. She had called her mother and Meeta Bhabhi both could not speak much
She waited until 6... 7... 8... 9
No sign of Harit
The ladies rarely went down in the evenings
Sita Ram did not like it much
They went out to eat and shop etc, but never in the official quarters
At 9:17 Avantika got up from the alphabet mat and picked up her phone from the window
"Maasi don't gooo Chandan cried
"Hum ek second mein aate hain Chandu she sat down again
A little exasperation creeped into her voice as spoke to him the next 15 minutes
Gauri and Garima did their homework in a corner
Dinner was being prepared, the bhabhis had banned her entry into the kitchen until her "official cooking day
She got up again as she noticed Chandan was pushing his little Hot Wheels car towards Gauri and Garima and not paying attention to her
She went down the stairs.. and into the office quarters
The men sat there watching TV
Her eyes met Harit's
He was there... she finally got to see him after 3 days
He let his eyes rove over her, she was wearing a Jamdhani suit in onion color, her hair was tied in a French braid, her eyes big with surprise
his brothers were still watching TV turned to the side
He was home she told herself. Just not upstairs
She went up feeling something strange
She must have been on step 5 or 6
"Avantika? she heard his voice
"Umm she paused and turned trying not to be flustered
"Koi kaam tha? he asked
"Nahi... she shook her head mortified and continued to climb up
Edited by Nisha0604 - 7 years ago
