Part 23
The hopeless romantic
Kesar's Room 6:00pm-same evening
" Kya kar rahi ho Gulaal," asked Kesar who was getting ready to go to Kunal's Hotel .It was his first day on his new job.
Gulaal stood there with a puja thaal adorned and ornamented with roli,akshat,kalawa Deepak and laddoos .
G: jaldi akar yahn khada ho"Gulaal ordered Kesar
Kesar walked towards her and she applied tilak and akshat on his forehead ,did an arti and gave a small bite of laddoo.
Kesar laughed and said , "Tum to aise behave kar rahi ho jaise main khana banana nahi,border par jar aha hun"
Gulaal got irritated and said , " Ye bhi koi kam baat hai.aaj teri job ka pehla din hai .Bhagwaan tujhe safalta de.Aur koi bhi kaam ki ehmiyat kam nahi hoti.Ye bhi utna hi zaruri hai jitna border par jana.Mujhe khushi hai k kam se kam tujhe jivan mein koi lakshya to mila.Ishwar humesha teri raksha karenge. Aur meri shubhkamnayein teresaath hai. tujhe safalta ke naye ayam mile ."Gulaal's irritation had now turned into a smile and she now held hisshoulders after placing the thaal on the table and made him sit on the bed .Kesar was so dumbfounded by the touch that he lost all clue about his surroundings and completely followed her gesture as if he was a puppet in her hands.
K: ye kya ..
G: chup chap baitha reh ..ye bahut zaruri hai ..,Gulaal told him to shut up.
Gulaal moved her face closer to his forehead .Her lips took the shape of a circle and she blew her warm breath on his forehead while she had cupped his face with her hands.Kesar was dazed.His heart beat topped the charts and could even beat the sound of the beating of drums in navrataras.The warm misty breath wreaked havoc in his mind and he closed his eyes.Gulaal took his hand brought it close to her mouth and bit his little finger and suddenly said ," thu thu thu"
Kesar screamed , " ouch",ye kya kiya.
G:.Kuch nahi..wo aaj tere kam ka pehla din hai na isliye teri nazar utar rahi thi.."
Kesar was shocked and irritated,and got up from the bed and sulked, "Ye kaun sa tareeka hai nazar utarne ka…kya phoonk rahi thi aur phir meri ungli chaba li."
Gulaal replied enthusiastically , "tujhe to kuch bhi nahi pata buddhu..,mummy humesha meri nazar aise hi utarti thi.mathe par phoonk kar aur phir ungli chaba kar ..thukti thi..Kehti thi aisa karne se buri balayein hawa k jhonke ki tarah ud jati hain.."
Kesar looked at her as she was so happy with her triumph.
" Does she knows exactly what is going on in my mind and how my mind was flushed with wild thoughts a few minutes ago.",Thought Kesar still lost in the beauty of the intimate moment .
Kesar tu jane se pehle sab ka ashirwaad zarur lekar jana .khaas kar k MB ka .wo bahut khush honge,"Said Gulaal bringing Kesar back to the real world .
K: "Hmmm..mujhe nahi lagta MB ko koi fark padta hai ki main kya kar raha hun.Rehne do Gulaal",Kesar sighed as he sat on the bed again with a sad expression with his head lowered down.
Gulaal came near and sat beside him placed her hands on his shoulders and hugged him from side and said , " aisa nahi sochte Kesar wo tere papa hai..aur wo tujhse bahut pyaar karte hain .Tu dekhna ek din wo tujhe zarur samjhenge."
Kesar looked at gulaal with lots of pain in his eyes and said , " Mujhe koi nahi samajhta Gulaal"and he walked away from the room
Gulaal kept on looking at him .She felt sad.
Kesar's Room 11:30pm
Kesar was tired after his first evening at work.Normally he just loved cookingbut it was different experience altogether.It was a roller coaster ride as the stir fry station for an"ala carte "menu was challenging.Kesar felt delighted and had a strange satisfaction which sprung out from his self actualization.
Kesar entered his room.It was dimly lit as he saw Gulaal had already dozed offwhile reading a book as she was clutching it near her bosom.The bedside table lamp was still on.and its rays beautifully lit her face.Kesar felt as if he could watch her sleeping his whole life .Kesar came close to her and switched of the table lamp..She was sleeping with her spectacles on.Kesar found this view amusing.He carefully removed them placed his fingers on her scalp and gently stroked her long tresses which she had left untamed gently whispered in her ears, "Gulaal"His very voice made her feel more lazy and ironically induced a snug .
Gulaal twitched a bit and then suddenly opened her eyes.Kesar quickly withdrew his hands and made a lame excuse , "Wo main kitab hata raha tha..Tum padhte padhte so gayi thin a"
Gulaal came back to her senses and got from the bed and said excitedly still yawning.., "Tu aa gaya?kaisa raha tera tera pehal din?tujhe bhukh lagi hogi na.tera intezaar karte karte meri ankh lag gayi thi .chal jaldi haath muh dho le main khana lagati hun."Gulaal finished the whole sentence in a single breath and rushed towards the Kitchen.All the other family members were fast asleep.
12:00am dining area
Kesar sat on the dining table and she served him food .She also served for herself too.
Kesar saw this and asked with concern , "tumne bhi abhi tak khana nahi khaya.?"
Gulaal replied , "nahi mujhe pata hai k tujhe akele khana acha nahi lagta.isliye .socha company ho jayegi"
Kesar looked at her in utter surprise."Yes she was so right .He hated eating alone",He thought.
But she waited for him.Gulaal was always the one who believed in early dinners and early to bed.But she waited for him.Kesar was surprised and filled with emotions.
"Kya hua chal shuru kar"Gulaal interrupted the thought process of Kesar .
He smiled a took a bite of the thepla from his plate when he suddenly groaned in pain .
"Kya hua",Gulaal asked anxiously and quickly grabbed his hand .His hands were red and scorched as if he has been burnt.
Gulaal asked with concern , "Ye kya! tera haath kaise jala ?Kesar.tu bhi na tera dhyan kahin aur rehta hai.Kaise hua yeh?"Gulaal panicked and she continued blowing her breath on his fingers to soothe the burning sensation .
Kesar saw the worry and concern on her face and said in a deep voice ,"wo itne logon ke liye jaldi jaldi karte hue dhyan hi nahi raha .Galti se garam wok pe haath rakh diya"
Gulaal felt bad .she quickly got up rushed towards the washroom and and returned quickly with a tube of mint flavoured toothpaste.
Kesar saw this and asked ye kya hai ?"
G: kuch nahi.ghar me Silverex tube to hai nahi k tere burn pe laga dun..this will soothe the burning sensation for the time being" She applied the toothpaste on his fingers and said authoritatively, "Chal tu chup chap baith ,main tujhe khila deti hun."
Gulaal took a morsel of thepla and Stretched her hand in front of Kesar's mouth and said lovingly , "cha lab muh khol"
Kesar looked at her.His heart was filled with lots of emotions.His voice choked .He opened his mouth and ate from her hands.He didn't realize that he hadtwo heavy tear drops in his eyes waiting for a blink to fall down.He blinked and they rolled down.However they went unnoticed by Gulaal as she was busy taking another morsel from his plate to feed him.She smiled at him .Kesar looked at her mischieviously and bit her fingers when she was putting the bite in his mouth .
Gulaal squeeled , "ouch ,Ye kya hai ,"
Kesar smiled naughtily and said , "ye ye kuch nahi subah meri ungli chabane ka badla hai."and he burst laughing.
Gulaal feigned to be angry and complained , "tu tu na kabhi nahi sudharega. main tujhe jaan se maar dungi samjha.Tera khoon mere hathon he likha hai."
Kesar just smiled at her as she continued feeding him…
Kesar's room 12:30 am.
Kesar ek baat bata tere friend Kunal ka birthday hai.Koi Gift socha kya dena hai",gulaal asked .They both were lying on their bed in their respective positions with the imaginary line separating them.
Kesar said lazily and in surprise , " Gift what Gift ?are ladke kabhi gift nahi dete .Kuch bi nahi dena use.Aaj tak kitne birthdays celebrate kiye humne maine use kabhi koi gift nahi diya .To ab kya zarurat hai"
Gulaal replied seriously, "Pehle ki baat aur thi.tab tu akele tha.Ab tu bachelor to raha nahi…acha chal ab so ja .Kal subah kisi shop se kuch acha sa gift lenge uske liye.",SAID Gulaal as she turned away from Kesar ,puuled her blanket and went to sleep.
Kesar was left wondering inpleasant surprise and shock.And the words of Gulaal made him restless.