Note to Readers:
Hello me hearties! (I had an overdose of Pirates of the Caribbean this weekend)
I am back with an OS after my NK saga. Like most of you, I had always wished that the makers of the show had given Akash more footage in the serial.
After their marriage, there was never any emphasis on Payal & Akash's love life or interaction. This is my take; an idea that had bloomed in my mind when Khushi had left for Buaji's as the 6 month contract neared it's end date. Hope you like it.
English translation as usual available right after this one. Me hearties, read and comment.😊
Pining for Payal
"When I am with you, we stay up all night,
When you're not here, I can't get to sleep.
Praise God for these two insomnias!
And the difference between them."
~ From Essential Rumi by Coleman Barks
A beautiful Sunday in June was just getting off to a glorious start; the sunlight streamed into the bedroom lighting it up. Akash turned in his bed, and shielding his eyes reached for his glasses.
"Itna ujala kyun hain. aaj to Sunday hai, aur Paayal ko pata hai ki mein Sundays ko der tak sota hun. tho aaj phir? " Akash pondered why Payal had not pulled the drapes closed per her habit as he squinted at the clock. It was time to get up. Strange! It was the norm for Payal to rouse him from his slumber at this time; her delicate fingers tousling his hair as her musical voice rang in his ears. He smiled at the thought of the sweet morning moments that invariable followed every wakeup call on Sundays. It was tradition, a ritual and for the first time in over a year of being married, they were breaking tradition. He would get ready, find her and then collect his dues with interest.
"What if she was not well?" Since the advent of the final trimester of her pregnancy, Payal's mood had been increasingly unpredictable. Concern now clouding his brain, he rolled out of bed and headed to shower.
"Mere kapde? Arre yeh kya? Payal to ab tak iron karke yahan par ready rakhti', par aaj?" he frowned as he tried to recall when was the last time he had to lay out his clothes before he went into the bathroom for a shower. Quickly pulling on the least crumpled shirt over his head, he headed down to join the family. "Good morning Khushiji, Paapa!" he called out cheerily "Bhai kahaan hain?"
"Aapko pata hain na Jiju, Arnavji to Sunday ke din jogging aur kasrat ke baad, apna poora dyaan apne pyaare paudon pe nichaavar karte hain" said Khushi smiling as she set a plate of aloo and poori in front of Akash. "Waise hume pata hain, ki Sunday ke din, jiji aapka Naashta apke kamre me parosti hain, par aaj ke din aapko yehin Khaana padega", she said and was about to turn away when she caught a thunderstruck expression on Akash's face.
Pausing mid stride Khushi turned around and asked him with a naughty gleam in her eyes,"Waise jijaji, aapko yaad to hain na ki kal dupair ko jiji buaji ki yahan gayi thi, unke saat ek do din bita ne ke liye."
"Haaan Haa Haa Haan Khushi ji, bilkul yaad hain. Aur sahi bhi hai. who toda aajkal emotional ho rahi hai, with the pregnancy, toh mein ne hi usse kaha ki buaji ke yahan ek do din ruk jaye" Akash blurted out.
"Arrey Bituwa, ek do din ke liye gayi hai, poore zindagi ke liye nahin, Samjyo" chuckled Manohar not in the least bit fooled by his son's attempts to mask his disappointment.
In that instance, it stuck Akash with a blinding flash, how much of a habit Payal had become. Unlike Khushiji, Payal had never gone to Gupta house by herself, so not having her around in Shantivan seemed very unusual and strange to him. It was as if he were missing a limb. He had been so busy the past few months that he had barely spent any quality time with Payal. But with AR's Fashion Show complete, he had looked forward to resuming their comfortable and sweet routine interactions. In his eagerness he had completely forgotten the little conversation they had had a week back; Payal discussing her overnight trip to buaji's to catch up with her friend who was visiting from Lucknow, and him agreeing to what now seemed a suicidal plan.
Akash was not a selfish man, but when it came to Payal, he felt he had the prerogative to exercise exclusive rights, and now that could hardly be labeled as selfish. "Damn! He should have invited the Guptas and the visiting friend to Shantivan instead. Or have had Payal visit them during the daytime while he was at work, so she could be with him when he was back in the evenings". Mentally berating himself for his lack of foresight and presence of mind, Akash pushed away his half eaten breakfast and walked away in self disgust
To state that the rest of the day passed excruciatingly slowly for Akash, would be an understatement. The withered flowers in the vase in their bedroom reminded him of her absence, Delhi's FM that belted out the golden oldies took him back in time when they had swayed to the meliflous songs of the 50s and 60s one such Sunday and Mid-morning he caught himself wandering off into the kitchen in search of Payal.
Tortured as he was with constant reminders of Payal at every turn, he had at lunch time, habitually reached out to hold Payal's hand under the table and had found Dhruv's instead.
The incident made him the target of even more jibes from his little brother and Di who aided by Khushiji had made it their lives' mission to poke fun at him and pull his leg all day. By tea time Akash was on the verge of storming out of the house to fetch Payal back home, a-la-ASR, or invent an excuse to stay back at Gupta residence, when Khushiji accosted him and led him to the sitting area to join the rest for tea.
*********************
"Hari Parkas! Mera Jueice kahaan hai. Ee Khoon bhari taang maternities home kya gayi, hamra to kauno khayal hi naahin rakat hai. Hello, Hai, Bye, Bye" Manorama sniffed.
"Such Kahat rahe Manorama. Jab Payal bitiya eehan thi, itni khamosh rahti; kisi ko pata nahin laga ki kitna sab ki Khayal rakhti thi. Ab Lakshmi kohi leejiye, kaisan gham ke mare, din bhar kuch nahin khaayi. Payal bitiya ke saat roj ki tarah aaj jo goomne nahin gayi na, yehe liye!" said Naani as she patted her pet goat fondly on the head.
"Haan! chai time ka bhi kuch bhi to mazaa nahin aaraha hai, jiji ke bagair" sighed Khushi leaning back to rest her head against Arnavji's knees, drawing comfort from his firm fingers that immediately stroked her hair.
Akash shifted in his seat, as his yearning to see Payal increased in geometrical proportions propelled by the words of his mother and Daadi. Vivid mental images of him smothering her in a bear hug and kissing her senseless rose unbidden as the family added fuel to the fire inside him.
"Waise Akash, Aap to Khafi miss karte honge na Payalji ko. Kyon na phone karle" suggested Anjali Di in a seemingly guileless tone.
Akash's hopes rose and he quickly got up, "Ha haan di, mein zara", and then blushed as he caught the merry twinkle in her eyes before stammering "who mein phone, apne room mein'''.bhool gaya '...tho '.. mein''.."
"Haan, haan, koi baat nahin Akash, hum samaj the hain, '' giggled Anjali nudging Dhruv who was almost choking on his tea at the look on his brother's face. It was at this inopportune moment that Akash's cell phone chose to ring merrily. Mentally damning the caller to hell, Akash pulled the traitorous instrument out of his pocket and switched it off after ascertaining it was not Payal.
Embarrassment put a silly grin on his face and explanations simply stuttered on his tongue while his family burst into peals of laughter, and Manorama huffed up with a scandalized expression on her face at her son's plight. Even Arnav could not suppress a snigger; his brother was too nice for his own good, and despite years of experience with the antics of his madcap family, was none the wiser.
Akash had no sooner slumped back into the couch and tossed the offending cell phone on the table with a scowl, than it began to ring again, the flashing LCD announcing that it was from Payal this time. In a trice Manorama claimed the phone, and started relating a long list of her woes, the various things that she had to adjust to since Payal was not here to take care of her.
Naani and Manohar exchanged quiet smiles as they looked at Manorama, and Akash. For all her 'Sasuma talk', Manorama had missed Payal almost as much as, if not more than her son had. Blithely unmindful of her son's separation anxiety she hogged the phone for what seemed like eons to Akash.
"Payalji, accha, bahut mazaa aaya hoga na. Nahin nahin, Akash appko bilkul bhi miss nahin karahen hain, Aap chahe tho do teen din aur ruk jayiye" sang Anjali who had claimed the phone from Maami. Akash's mouth fell open in horror at the thought of Payal being away for a few more days. He squirmed in his seat and wished he had left the damn phone in his room for real, at least he could have escaped under the pretext of getting it and would have had a nice long chat with his Payal. Instead he had become the lampoon of the week at the hands of his Di and family.
He caught sight of Arnav's expression of utter disbelief as his bhai raised a single eyebrow pointedly at Akash, urging him to be a man and do something about the situation at hand.
"That's it!" Decided Akash springing up to his feet, He had to take a leaf out of his Bhai's book, and stake his claim. "I'll take it now if you don't mind" he said stepping in between His Di and little brother Dhruv, snatching the phone before Dhruv could get it from Di. "You see, mein Payal ko subah se khafi miss kar rahan hoon, and seeing as I have provided you enough fun, mein ab yeh call apne room mein leta hoon. Thank you very much" and he sprinted up the steps quickly, before he lost his nerve, crooning in the phone to his Payalji.
The family looked on with their mouths wide open at the gentlest of the Raizada's defiant stance, while Arnav's lips tilted in a lopsided smile as he approvingly muttered, "Not bad Akash."
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Indian Mythology
