Notes & Questions
“He better be a really great guy Veev” Anu panted rubbing oil on Diya’s scalp as they sat in the master bedroom balcony on Saturday evening
“Hmm”
“MAAA” “Oucheee” Diya yanked her hair as Anu tried to rub hard
“Chup chaap baitho” Anu cursed
“Maa… you want her to dump her fiancé”
“Aisa nahi keh rahi hoon main”
“Khaana shaanadr ghar 100/10, kabhi financial planning nahi karni padegi, I mean she has the whole deal”
Diya went back on her phone
She obviously didn’t care for the adult talk
She moaned as Anu detangled her hair
“Jao jaakar diya karo, hogaya iska, choti kar deti hoon, subah naha lena”
“Ewww… I am washing it tonight, I cant be a telumal”
“Chupppp ek dum” Anu whispered
“Kya huaaa?”
“Dadi chillayengi raat ko nahayi to, she has a rule for every damn thing”
“DUDE DADI IS CRAY” Diya yelled
Viveka smacked her
“Shame on u, just shut up”
“Karuna se seekho, she never talks like this”
“Sure, Papa says you should not compare and NEWSFLASH MA COMPARES”
“Jao” Anu kicked her out
“AND I am telling Papa you are dissuading her from marrying a hot rich guy”
“Dissuading?” Anu was shocked
Viveka started to laugh
“I am not bunking classes and hanging out with cute boys OK” diya accused and walked off
“Chalo shuqr hai” Anu leaned back
Mother and daughter just swung back and forth on the swing
“I have a demon in flesh and blood for MIL Veev, I don’t wish that on anyone”
Viveka was emotional to hear her mother be so upset
“I had girls, I didn’t quit my job, I focused on my career, I make Papa cook, I have someone that comes in to cook when I am not in town, we have Chhoti (the cleaning lady) spending hours everyday doing all housework” “Every damn thing is a problem” “I don’t take style advise from Bua, I don’t buy a kundan set a month, I don’t buy jewelry from Fa’s stores on credit”
“I am sorry”
“I never want to willingly send u to a home where you will see worse”
“Hmmm”
“She will encourage her son to have an affair” Anu was unforgiving
Viveka felt like someone squeezed the life out of her
The thought of Raanav cheating on a business trip was not novel, it had crossed her mind a couple times, I mean wealthy men usually marry someone like Viveka to satisfy a parent, in this case Satyen
“I am sorry I should not have said that” Anu got up abruptly tipping over the jar of coconut oil
Lo and behold Dadi appeared like Krishna in the serial Mahabharat
“Kya giraaa?” she called out sprinting to the balcony, she was headed that way anyway, but how could she let a crisis go waste
“Ye lo… shaamo ko tel nahi girana chahiye, ghar mein shaadi hai aur tumhe kya kar diya”
“MERE se girah ai Dadi” Viveka said coldly
“Ma beti baithkar kya saazish mein lagi ho?”
“Ma mujhe bata rahi hain shaadi ke baad kaise ghar ke kaam mann se karna padega”
“Who to hai… isne to kabhi man se kiya nahi, tujhe sikha de rahi hai?”
Viveka wanted to squeeze the oil out of the rag on Dadi’s head
“Ma ko taane kyon kas rahi hain aap?”
Anu was washing her hands in the bathroom
“Tum chaar chaar ho ghar par, Dadu ne 3 baje pakorey maange Diya apne maal mein dukaan par thi, Na Karuna ne banayi na Naina ne”
“KARUNA NE BANAYI dadi” Viveka sat back on the swing
“Maine shuru kiya bas usne tal diya”
Anu tried walking off directly from the bathroom
“Do din se kam khaayi hoon main mere liye ek subzi aur bana liyo” she ordered Anubha
“Jee Amma” Anu left
“Raat ko zyaada khaogey aap to bathroom jaana padega” Viveka controlled a giggle
“”Pair Dadu ka toota hai mera nahi” “Waha sasural jaakar saasu ma se nahi karna aisi baat”
Viveka walked off after cleaning up and covering the shiny oily marble spot of the floor with a balcony floor mat
If Dadi fell then everyone would be dead
She helped Karuna with homework, knocked on Naina’s door and went to her room and texted Raanav
“Busy ho?”
“Just hanging with friends”
“All 1000 of them?”
“No a handful less”
“995?”
He sent a smile emoji
She paced the room, took a shower and returned to Papa’s note on her study desk “Do u want to watch the World Economic Forum talk? “On YT?”
She wrote a “I would love to” and took the note back to Papa’s night stand and pasted it there
He watched her walk away tho he was not on his work call yet
They both laughed
She helped Ma with serving dinner, Chhoti had come in to make the subzi Anu did not care anymore tho Dadi hated food made by the help
Though Chhoti was a fantastic cook
“Main Dadu Dadi ki roti bana leti hoon, aap sabki bana do” Anu told Chhoti
Viveka went back to her room when her phone rang it was Ishwar from her NGO
She talked to him for a few minutes and hung up and checked her messages
“Did u have a Q?” Raanav had asked
“Nahi… abhi nahi”
How can u tell him you’ve been told he will most certainly have an affair
“Uffff” she sighed walking over to the balcony
It was a muggy sticky Oct evening
Satyen didn’t have an affair… Smrita seemed happy
Why would Raanav
How would I deal with it if he did?
She stared down at kids playing American football
From the 10th floor it looked like the oblong ball, could have been rugby too
In twilight she was not sure
He called her
“Kidhar ho?” she demanded
He smiled “I am walking outside the pub”
“Kidhar hai pub?”
“GK1”
“No book readings?” he asked sensing she was upset about something
“Aaj nahi hai bataya na”
“Do u want to come over?” I can send the driver”
“No I have a hot date tonight”
“With who” he asked silkily
“Papa… watching a Davos video on social enterprise” she said quietly
“What is bothering you?”
“Tumhe kyon lag raha hai aisa?” she asked trying to keep her voice from quivering
“Because it’s a topic that makes u delirious with excitement”
“Oh I am excited” she said weakly
“U could have me fooled”
“Will you have an affair when you get bored of me?” she asked abruptly
She heard him suck his breath in in shock
“No I will not Viveka”
She felt hot tears flow down her cheeks, she nodded unable to get a response out, as her throat was closing in with emotion
She was cool level headed mature, pleasant, unperturbed one
They hadn’t even begun yet, she was overwhelmed already
Between Smrita’s behavior and her own personal moral compass questioning her about her brazen decision to ignore Naina’s feelings, Anubha’s experience with Dadi and the nagging fear that no matter what this whole thing is a bloody hoax that is bound to unravel some day
She sniffled
“Do u want to meet me?” he asked softly
“Arey nahi” “Sorry… main theek hoon” she laughed and pushed her glasses up with her signature “Ufff”
“Do u want to meet me tomorrow?”
“Kal Sunday hai, Bua ke ghar jaana hai”
“later?” “At 4?”
She blew her nose, and hit mute and shut her eyes and calmed herself down taking a few deep breaths
“Viveka?”
“I am sorry I should not have asked that question”
“I am fine” he said quietly
“Tum bhi pooch sakte ho mujhe” she sniffle chuckled
“I better not, because the odds of u being bored with me are far greater and sooner” he said softly flattering her
She felt her whole body shake and her eyes welled up with tears
“Oh how could he be so gorgeous and real” she let another “Uffff” escape
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
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