Gulaal: What If chp 26(part II) upd Pg 57 - Page 14

Chapter 8

distance makes hearts grow fonder

It had been 5 days since he left, though it felt like 5 years, house was never so quiet, reminiscence of the period where family was mourning their noble and ideal son's death, she never felt this lonely, this alone, this secluded of course there were daily house chores, there was PB who always treated her like a daughter, there was usual banter of JK and hesitant concern of Dushyant,MB too went out of his way to keep her occupied by talking about panchayat work and where possible involving her too, there was Talli who would chat away to glory and Devika who was visiting as she was now living with her mama and mami for her further studies but nothing could lift that gloom and sorrow she felt inside, She got ready every day to go and see him after school but somehow PB or Sudha managed to come up with some work or the other that had to take the priority, She knew he would not be happy about this, she might even have to deal with few tantrums but she knew he wouldn't be able to hold on to his anger after all he would be as desperate and anxious to meet her as she was to meet him. The thought always brought smile to her face and she could get through another day in hope of getting closer to the day he would be back demanding her attention, pulling a long face if his demands were not met or if she was away doing her house chores when he wanted to talk with her

She got up quite early and prepared all his favourite dishes, it was Saturday but she wasn't going to go to temple as usual she didn't want to miss a single moment of his homecoming, It was impossible to believe that he was away just for 5 days, she couldn't control her happiness, inexplicable joy that wanted to burst out of her, sheer exuberance that made her feel like that little gal again who would run on the streets and outskirts of village in delight of her small wish being fulfilled,infact that's what she said to Vasant through her diary..

Main bahut khush hu Vasant,woh aaj wapas aa raha hai,kitne saal ho gaye kabhi alag nahi raha mujhse,Yaad hai jab tum saher se aaye the teen din baad kaise daudti hui aayi thi gaav ki chawk tak,sab gaav wale has rahe the,mera deewanapan dekh ke,per sach kahu aaj bhi main utni hi kush hu,ki Kesu wapas aa raha hai,wahi chawk tak daud ke jane ka mann kar raha hai,kaisi paagal hu main bhi na..

PB walked in and she hastily closed her diary and turned around asking kya hua Ba mujhe bula liya hota, Dushyantji gaye Kesar ko lene ke liye?

Nahi Gulaal abhi nahi,woh Devdi ko dekhne ke liye kuch log aa rahe hai aaj,Rewa ki shaadi ke baad Devdi ka toh jaise man hi nahi lagta yaha bas apne mama ke yaha se aane ka naam hi nahi leti,Tu jara uski tayar hone mein madad kar dena,agar hamari Devadi unhe pasand aa gayi toh do saal baad jab uski padhai khtam ho jayegi tabhi shaadi ki bhi baat kar rahe hai

Gulaal was surprised as Devika didn't mention anything in last two days she had been there,it was unlike her to hide anything from her,she asked PB,If Devdi knew about the proposal and PB nodded her head in affirmative and left from the room

Gulaal called out to Devika who was just passing outside her room to go to the kitchen,and queried if she was happy with the proposal, Devika told her that the guy actually studied in the same college and the proposal was initiated by his family as they were aware of their growing closness,Gulaal though pleasantly surprised at Devika's revelations chose to act hurt and betrayed but couldn't keep up the act for long,she hugged Devika looking at Vasant's picture with a contended satisfaction

It was almost coming to afternoon and he was still not here,she was getting agitated and anxious it had been about two hours almost since Dushyantji left to collect him, by now he should have been here, what was taking them so long,she paced around in the courtyard and saw Dushyant's jeep arriving, she rushed to the door, her eyes longing to see him but she saw Dushyant getting out of the jeep alone and her disappointment was reflected on her face when she asked "Kya hua Dushyantji aap akele kaise Kesar kaha hai"

Pata nahi Gulaal,woh toh subah hi kahi nikal gaya tha,maine khafi der tak uska intezaar bhi kiya lekin pata nahi kaha gaya tha,Sarufui se kaha school ja raha hai kuch kitaabe wapas karni hai,uske aate hi Sarufui phone kar legi phir jake le aanunga

Gulaal was now very angry and started muttering to herself, ghar se bahar nikhlte hi manmani shuru ho gayi hai,itna bhi hosh nahi ke gharwale rah tak rahe hoge,dekha Vasant main kyun usse kahi jane se rokti thi,aane do usse sari akad theek na ki toh mera naam bhi Gulaal nahi...

Late evening and sun was about to set on the distant horizon making the sky orangish,the sight generated by nature's daily routine was spectacular but the effect of it was completely lost on someone desperately pacing in her room,and there was a knock on her window with Kesar's soft voice calling out to her,she turned around and rushed towards the back door to open it and was about to yell angrily at him when he placed his hand on her mouth muffling her voice making it almost inaudible, communicating with eyes he asked her to keep quiet and follow him, hesitant but curious she did as he asked and they walked slowly first and then running almost covered about 10 minutes distance from home taking them into a backyard of small deserted house

She could see a bike parked in the backyard with a boy of Kesar's age sitting on it staring aimlessly into the house, seeing Kesar he immediately got down handing over the bike keys and walked out from there, Wide eyed and bit scared Gulaal was not sure of what new prank he had in his mind now but it definitely looked dangerous and she was not sure if it was good idea for him to ride that thing in first place, holding his shoulder she turned him round and blurted

Kesar yeah kya nayi shararat hai,yeah kisski bike utha ke laya hai tu aur karna kya chahta hai,agar ghar main se kissi ko pata chal gaya na toh pata hai kya hoga,tu kab apni harkato se baaz aayega,she said half complaining,half inquiring

Gulaal tu dar mat,main bahut baar chala chuka hu isse ab jab acchi tarah se shikh gaya hu tabhi toh tujhe ghumane le ja raha hu,agar mujhe practice hi karni hoti toh Talli ko nahi bithata, chal ab jaldi se beth tujhe ek bahut pyaari se jagah dikhani hai

Gulaal was still shocked and surprised at his audacity of learning and riding something that was not only dangerous but also legally banned for his age said with bit of edge in her voice Kesar tujhe pata bhi hai tu kya kar raha hai,MB ko pata chalega toh aaj to maarne se bhi nahi chukege aur Dushyantji toh tujhe abhi cycle leke dene ki soch rahe the,agar bike chalate hue dekh liya toh...

Kesar smirked and folding his hand with a mischievous glint in his eyes said, sidhe sidhe kyun nahi kehti tujhe dar lag raha hai?

That did it for her,ofcourse she wasn't afraid,she was worried about him but if he was going to challenge her about it than she wasn't going to back-off ,giving him a scornful look she sat on the bike holding him tight praying to God for success of their little adventure

Kesar who knew she would easily go along with the plan,If challenged smiled and started the bike taking off to something that promised to be joyful and satisafactory excursion

Initially she was bit hesitant, scared even holding on to him with her eyes closed but slowly she gained the confidence with the smooth maneuvering and balance he managed to keep still maintaining the reasonable speed, soon the village was left far behind and she started admiring the beautiful orange horizon, vast open spaces and amazingly inviting sky, she felt free,happy and without a care in the world started humming a tune, something she always refrained from doing cause it took her back in past with Vasant and the carefree,happy,loving ride on the cycles that was so similar yet so different, there was no Vasant, he had taken with him her ability to feel this kind of bliss this kind of unadulterated joy, or was it really, what was this exuberance an exhilarating feeling that she was experiencing, was it because she was reminiscing her time with Vasant, no can't be, Vasant was always with her but she never felt this kind of thrill, this kind of freedom there was always some kind of restrain, something that was binding her, something that screamed inside her the moment she wanted to return to that Gulaal she was, she wanted to stop herself and live according to the wish and desire of all the family members after all that's what Vasant always wanted their happiness regained supreme and this always provided her the satisfaction and pleasure, she continued questioning herself and then answering those questions, reasoning with the answers till Kesar suddenly stopped the bike with a jerk breaking her thoughts and looked at her with a wide smile, she looked at him trying to gauge what was coming next, without saying a word he started walking on a broken, uneven road leading to what looked like lush green fields, she followed,she lost her balance and was about to fall when Kesar came running and caught her,she smiled widely looking at him and said Kya hua, Vasant aaj to girne se pehle hi pakad liya,lagta hai mere sath rehke kafi aadat pad gayi hai,

Kesar was first surprised but then smiled at her holding her shoulder turning her around and said softly Gulaal main Kesar hu, Kesar...Gulaal shocked and embarrassed at slip of tongue continued staring at him still trying to figure out why Kesar had started resembling Vasant so much...

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will wait for the verdict😊

Chapter 9

you will be in my heart

Kesar took her hand and lead her through those beautiful lush green fields to open landing that overlooked the flowing water below and magical blue sky with the reddish hue providing perfect backdrop to this enchanting and captivating surroundings, Gulaal was mesmerised and continued staring in awe at nature's beautiful creation

After walking some distance they sat down admiring the glory of setting sun, a sight she had missed ever since she got married to Vasant, She turned around to look at Kesar, eyes filled with gratitude, He understood without her saying a single word and squeezed her hand to acknowledge her unspoken words of appreciation, both sat there for quite sometime, lost in their own thoughts, finally Kesar botched the topic he dreaded to bring up knowing that it will hurt her

Gulaal,tum janti ho nah yeah mere school ka aakhiri sal hai,aage ki padhai ke liye mujhe saher hi jana hoga,janta hu hamare yaha isse se jyada koi nahi padha,Devdi ke alawa, per main aage padhna chahta hu Gulaal,bahut padhna chahta hu,Vasant bha bhi yehi chahte the main janta hu tu bilkul akele ho jayegi iss ghar main,isliye mein soch raha tha ki...

Oh toh yeh sab mujhe patane ka tarika hai, hai na Kesar, tune kaise soch liya ki main teri padhai mein kisi bhi tarah se rukawat banugi ya kisi ko bhi ban ne dugi,Vasant aur maine yeah sapna sath milke hi toh dekha tha na,aur tune yeah kaise maan liya ke main akeli ho jaungi, Ghar main itne sare log hai,Talli,Sudha Bhabhi,MB,PB,JK,GK and Dushyantji phir kaise akeli ho jaungi huh?

Hearing Dushyant's name made Kesar uneasy, unknown fear gripping his heart, he couldn't control himself and uttered bit angrily,Gulaal tum Dushyant bha se dur hi raho toh accha hai,tumse maine pehle bhi kaha hai na?

Seeing sudden change in his mood she tried to lighten the moment by talking about Devika and her impending marriage in two years' time, which made Kesar forget all about his anger and he was all excited about getting home to tease his sister and wish her well

So when Gulaal finally suggested they should be heading home he didn't resist and got up without any hesitations extending his hand to help her up...

At dinner time when Kesar brought up topic of further studies in the city, MB was almost in tears seeing how grown up he had become all of a sudden and agreed without any hesitations, PB too gave in after bit of reluctance as it would be for his better future and of course he will be at home for all his vacations so she could make up her lost time by spoiling him with all the love, care and attention that he would miss out on

JK saw this as a threat to Dushyant with Gulaal getting all the opportunity in world to get close to her son and she revealed her fear in front of GK who just scoffed at her and asked her to concentrate on her work without wasting time thinking about things that was nothing but figment of her imaginations

Having agreed to Kesar's proposal Gulaal was in deep dilemma, she was not sure if he would be able to manage on his own, he was too young to be so far away from home that too in a hostel, God only knows what kind of food he would get and who would look after him, his anger would get him into unnecessary troubles and there will not be anyone who he could go and talk to either but Vasant did want him to study and be a successful man, and return to village with knowledge and wisdom that would help better the life of all villagers she took a deep sigh and looked at Vasant's picture for a long time contemplating life without her Kesar, bounded by a promise she made and will always stand by...

After putting up a brave front Kesar was equally disturbed at thought of going so far away, leaving her all alone, but he couldn't break his promise to his late brother either, he looked at him with eyes full of accusation and complaints for putting him in a position where he had to break one promise to keep another, yeah aapne accha nahi kiya Vasant bha,khud toh itni dur chale gaye aur ab mujhe bhi Gulaal se dur jane ke liye majboor kar diya,main aapse ab lad bhi nahi sakta iss anayay ke liye,aap bahut bure hai Vasant bha,bahut bure and he broke down in front of his brother's picture crying his heart out...

Time flew quickly and he cleared his 10^th standard board exams with flying colours, MB and PB were really proud of him and couldn't help throwing a small party to celebrate his results...

Gulaal was amazed that her lil Kesar now towered over and above her shoulders making her swell with pride welcoming all the guests who had come to grace the party, one of PB's distant cousin was also part of the guest list and took it upon herself to make PB aware of how Kesar could refute from responsibility of Gulaal if he gets into his city mind set and how it would be best for him to take his wife along so that he would not be wavered by city gals, Overhearing this conversation Gulaal could not help but butt in with "Aap iski fikar mat kijiye mamiji,main acchi tarah se janti hu apne Kesar ko, agar usse koi ladki pasand aa bhi gayi toh woh sabse pehle mujhe hi batayega aur yeah sunke sabse jyada kushi bhi mujhe hi hogi" PB smiled contentedly at Gulaal's retort and moved away from there on pretext of overseeing food arrangements

Unknown to Gulaal and PB someone else also had heard the conversation and was not happy at all about Gulaal's retort and that was Poonam Ba,who was in fact shocked at Gulaal's revelations and decided to have a chat with her in private

Kesar left for the city school soon after and Gulaal as promised to him started involving herself into more and more village work with MB and Dushyantji, between three of them they managed to convince government to grant them a plot to build a good school in the village so that children wanting to study further would not have to be away from home so far away in the city

Kesar regularly wrote to MB and Gulaal, sometime complaining about the strict discipline in the hostel and sometime describing in excruciating detail about the extra curriculum activities offered by the school, In one of the phone call he had boasted to Talli about his antics of taking on challenge of walking on the edge of a terrace of a tall building with a blindfold on,getting Gulaal edgy and anxious till he apologised and swore on her head not to repeat the stunt ever

Gulaal in one of the letter had queried about gals in the school and if he found anyone that he liked in particular, she had received a reply that had made her bit vary and bit confused but she had passed that off at his nadani, he had written of him being married and noticing and following gals were out of bound for him as a result of his married status, she had wanted to question him further but let it drop thinking it would be best to talk to him when he came over for holidays.

He constantly queried about Dushyant too though with questions came requests for staying away from Dushyant bha and not depending on him in anyway, not accepting any offer of help, though initially this amused Gulaal but slowly she started getting annoyed with the continual distrust in Dushyantji and he didn't have any reason to mistrust Dushyantji either another thing that needed sorting when he returned

He had promised to return home as soon as his 12^th standard last exam was done, same day, and she was praying to God for his safe return as he had insisted on travelling by bike that MB had gifted him on turning 18 the previous month, he had not come home for the entire year siting study as excuse and she was very unhappy about it, he had promised to visit during all his holidays and he had broken it, she was going to make him pay for it, PB had taken over the food preparations as she was as excited and happy about his return after a year, though she could understand her completely, she couldn't help herself from feeling alienated from the entire preparations, as getting things ready for the pooja was taken over by JK and Sudha Bhabhi, Cleaning and decorating of his room was being done by Talli, She had nothing to do except await his arrival, every passing second increasing her anxiety and nervousness

Soon she heard a lot of commotion coming from the living room and she rushed outside in anticipation but was bit disappointed to see it was for arrival of Rewa, Rohan and her brother Yogesh, she forced a smile on her face and stepped forward to welcome them

All calls to Kesar's mobile were going unanswered and she was nodding her head in disapproval of his age old habit of not keeping them informed of his whereabouts, suddenly she heard shuttering of windows in her room and she rushed there smacking her forehead, a wide smile spreading on her face...her Kesar was back...

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Ok that's it let me know what you guys think😳

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