Nothing Can Keep Us ApartPart 38 - Curiously Free
"Geet, just choose one already!" exclaimed Maan in exasperation, after watching Geet spend the last 20 minutes looking through her sarees. He'd seen her take out one after another, only to discard them and move on to the next. He didn't even know that she had that many sarees, as he was so used to her wearing salwars. At the moment she was going back and forth between a light green saree with yellow trim and a dark maroon saree with heavy gold embroidery.
"I don't understand why you're so obsessed with what to wear today, we're just going for an outing, not a fancy party."
Geet looked at Maan like he was crazy. "Maan, we're going with Mamu and Mami," Maan gave a "so what?" shrug. "Maan we're going to be out in public. I can't just wear any old thing and disgrace the family."
"Disgrace the family? How exactly do you think your choice of saree will disgrace the family?"
"Maan," said Geet patiently, like she was explaining to a child, "the Singh family is royalty. People always expect more from royalty. Just because our last name is Khurana doesn't mean we are exempt. Now tell me which one looks better, the green or the maroon."
"They both look fine. I still don't understand what's the big deal? You look fine in what ever you wear. Or in nothing at all," came the wayward thought. Maan almost choked at the direction his mind had gone, and firmly told himself to get control. If Geet had any idea what he was thinking she would probably abuse him physically and verbally, as well as move out of their bedroom. Maan had gotten used to sharing a room with Geet, especially at night, and he didn't want to do anything that would make her leave. Regardless of how close they had become recently, Maan knew that Geet was not ready for a physical relationship, especially as her pregnancy was advancing.
Completely unaware of Maan's thoughts, Geet growled in frustration at having such an unhelpful husband. "You just don't understand. You are such a MAN! No help at all."
Geet continued to hold first the green and then the maroon saree up while looking in the mirror. As each minute passed without Geet making up her mind, Maan grew more angry at her indecision. Finally he could stand it no longer.
"Geet, either pick one right now, or I'll pick one for you!"
Geet gave a grimace but other wise ignored Maan. She finally abandoned the two and pulled out a delicate pink saree with white embroidery and silver trim. Flashing a grin in Maan's direction, Geet head off in the bathroom to get ready.
Maan clenched his jaw and rolled his eyes, thinking, "Geet, only you could waste this much time choosing a saree just for going site seeing. What am I going to do with you?"
Maan continued to complain to himself about Geet's behavior until he realized something. In all his annoyance with Geet he had failed to notice that his fears about telling her his past had never happened. He had been afraid that this morning Geet would want to talk over what he revealed, or worse, would start treating him differently. She had done neither. Instead, Geet had gone about her morning routine as if nothing had happened. This might have annoyed some people, but Maan found it to be a relief. Having shared his deepest secrets with Geet, Maan now felt curiously free, and he had no inclination to think or speak about the past any more.
Unsure of how much longer it would be until Geet was ready, Maan decided to go downstairs to see if Mamu had arrived yet. Upon reaching downstairs, Maan saw Dadi and Mami speaking with each other. He didn't hear all that they were saying, but he could make out the words "Geet" and "ceremony". Curious about what they might be discussing, Maan walked over to the sofa where they were sitting.
Seeing him approach, Devya called out, "Maan it's good that you are here. You know that your cousin Pari's shaadi is next month. Didi and I were thinking that since all our family will be coming back to Delhi, we should plan a Godh bharai for Geet. Now, I know that the ceremony is traditionally held at the expectant mother's myaka, but I think it would be more convenient to invite her family to come to Delhi, don't you."
"NO!" shouted Maan, shocking both Savitri and Devya with the force of his words. "Geet doesn't want anything to do with her family, and there is absolutely no chance that I will let them come anywhere near her."
"But, Maan, Geet will feel...."
"No, Devya, I agree with Maan," interrupted Savitri. Although she didn't know about Maan's current fears due to the attack on Geet's life, Savitri knew Geet's history with her family and the pain she had felt over their betrayal. "I think it would be too difficult for Geet deal with the stress of dealing with her family and a Godh bharai at the same time."
"Then we won't have a ceremony for her?" questioned Devya sadly.
"I think that we can, and we should included Mrs. Verma and Pinky in the preparations. Geet views them like a mother and sister, and I think that will be sufficient."
Maan was willing to agree with that compromise, and Savitri and Devya went back to discussing their plans. The most important thing to decide was the timing. Eventually they decided to hold the Godh bharai two weeks before the wedding. That way all the family would have arrived, but there would still be enough time before the wedding that all the pre-wedding celebrations wouldn't interfere.
Soon, Nihal arrived and greeted them all with a hug. Sitting on the sofa next to his wife, Nihal enquired where his Bahu was. Maan explained that she was still getting ready and would join them soon. They all made small talk until Nihal noticed Geet descending.
"Well, there she is. I tell you Devya, there is the most beautiful bahu in all of Delhi. The only woman I've seen looking more beautiful is you." Geet blushed at the compliment, while Savitri complained that Nihal was trying to make her jealous of her bahu by not including her in the compliment.
Maan was unaware of what was being said and done by those around him. He was absolutely lost in Geet. She had left her hair open, but secured up at the sides with two intricate diamond clips. She wore matching jewelry and had even put on pink bangles to compliment her saree. Maan, who would tell anyone who asked that he preferred western to desi fashion, thought there was no one who was more beautiful than his wife, no matter what they were wearing. His Geet was literally glowing, and it was all he could do not to tell his elder relatives to make themselves scarce and drag Geet back to their room.
****************
Obviously Maan was not able to act on his desires, as much as he would have like to. Therefore, a few hours later, the entire group was taking a leisurely walk around the Raj Ghat grounds, after having visited the museum. The three women were walking ahead together, with Devya and Savitri telling Geet all about their plans for her Godh bharai. Nihal and Maan walked behind talking about their business interests until Maan got a phone call. It only lasted five minutes, but there was a clear change in Maan's demeanor. Nihal questioned him about it, but Maan protested that everything was fine. However, Maan's mamu knew him quite well, and knew how to get him to confide his problems.
"Maan, you can either tell me what's going on, or you can tell the three ladies walking in front of us. I'm sure your Mami and Dadi would both be willing to pull your ears. And that wife of yours? Well, I'm sure she's smart enough to come up with ways to make you talk."
"Alright, Mamu, I'll tell you, but don't say anything to them, especially Geet. I don't want her to worry."
Maan proceeded to explain how he had been in frequent contact with the police about Dev's flight from justice. Maan had received a call just the previous night that Dev and Naintara had been sighted in Mumbai and the police were trying to get a hold of them. The most recent call had been to tell him that Dev and Naintara had disappeared once again. Maan felt that they were being helped to evade the police, and he didn't know what more he could do about it.
Nihal offered to speak with some of his contacts across the country to see if they couldn't shed some light on the problem. He then asked Maan if that was all that was bothering him. Maan continued to tell him about the attack on Geet's life when they went back to Hoshiarpur. He explained his biggest fear was that her family still wanted to take her life, even though the local police could find no proof of that. Nihal considered the problem and suggested that Maan should hire someone to watch Geet's family and report on their movements. If they really were after Geet's life, then they would eventually do something to give away their intentions.
Maan and Nihal carried on discussing both situations quietly as the whole group continued their walk. Maan was just about to suggest that they return to their cars when he felt the first drops of an afternoon rainstorm. The five family members hurried back to their cars, but not before they became quite wet. Maan and Geet had come in a car by themselves, so Maan quickly opened the passenger door for Geet, before hurrying to get in himself.
Geet, who loved the rain, was laughing happily as she looked at Maan running to get in the car and out of the rain. Maan, who Geet knew was not a fan of the rain, had an annoyed expression on his face, until he glanced over at his smiling wife. Her hair had started to curl, as it always did when wet, and her eyes sparkled with happiness.
"Did you enjoy the day, Geet?"
"Oh, yes. Thank you so much, Maan. I know you probably have been here so many times, and found it really boring, but I love visiting all these places I've never seen." Geet's smile became even brighter, if that was possible.
"Actually, I haven't been to any of Delhi's famous places since I was a teenager. It was a good experience to come again, especially with someone who was enthusiastic about everything as you were."
"You're making fun of me, aren't you?"
"Not at all," answered Maan, loosing track of the conversation, as his gaze focussed on a few strands of wet hair that were plastered across Geet's face.
Maan slowly leaned towards Geet and reached out his hand toward her face. His fingers moved towards the top of her forehead and slowly drew the wayward curls to the side of Geet's face. At Maan's touch, Geet's eyes closed slowly and her head tilted towards his hand in response. Unable to cope with the sensations his touch sent throughout her body, her breathing stopped and her fists clenched. When Geet felt Maan's fingers glide along her ear seductively, her eyes popped open and looked straight into his. It felt like his gaze was burning through her, calling for her total submission.
In a whisper tinged with fear and passion, she said, "Maybe we should go home now."
Maan, realizing that they had gone passed Geet's comfort level, pulled back, and turned the key in the ignition. As the car started moving, Geet breathed a sigh of relief. She didn't know the meaning of what had just happened between her and Maan, but she knew it was something serious.
Precap:
Sasha gets a blow disguised as something else.
And Thanks Goes To:Wet hair passion - July 27 episode
pm list updated to include beautifulhenna1, Darshikha
Extra 2 - The Strange Case of a prince and a pari.
So, as I was typing this update, I realized that I have been referring to Maan's mamu as Nihal, when his first name is actually Ram. This is a huge blooper on my part, as I never intended for that to happen. Somehow Rajkumar Singh turned into more of a Nihal than a Ram for me, and I don't know exactly why. Upon realizing this mistake that I unknowingly made, I decided that I better come up with a reasonable explanation for why he is called by his second name, so here it is.
Rajkumar Ram Nihal Singh's father also had the first name of Ram. Obviously he was named after his father. However, the family didn't want to have confusion between the Bade Ram and the Chote Ram, so Chote Ram's grandmother started calling him by his second name. This is what all his elders (including Savitri) and his wife call him. I hope that sounds reasonable enough to you. At some point, I'll probably go back and fix all the times his is referred to as Ram, but at least now you know why the goof up happened.
Perhaps some of you caught that I named Maan's soon to be married cousin Pari. Now, I don't know who, if anyone, sent Pari in the serial, or if she really is gaga over Maan, and I don't care. I just thought it would be fun to include her character, but in a different way. So, she will be making an appearance in the near future, and she will be the same fun character that she is in the show, minus the drooling over Maan part.
Edited by laxmi2010 - 15 years ago
Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah
Hindi TV Shows
Current Affairs
199