#PulaoStories
After the Ganesh Chaturthy pooja,
Kuki was sitting on the bed in PreRish room with a bowl full of modak. “Kuki, papa ke sath share nahi karoge?” Kuki did not want to share her favorite modak even with her papa. “Papa this is prasad and prasad toh pray karne ke time bas only one milta hai.” She signed. “Oh only one toh aapko ye bowl bharke kisne diya?”She points at her mom. “Kuki, prasad share karte hain, beta it’s a good thing. Papa ko one do.” Kuki reluctantly gave one modak to her father. He offered half of it to Prerna. “Prasad share karte hain Mrs. Bajaj.”
Rishabh is sitting on the couch and smiling widely seeing his daughter relish the modak. Prerna had seen him smile when he looked at Kuki but this smile was something else. Rishabh felt her gaze on him. “Wo Kuki ko dekhkar kisi ki yaad aa gayi. Wo bhi itni hi cute thi.” Prerna’s mood spoiled. ‘Kuki ko dekhkar apni ex wife ki yaad aa gayi, iska matlab wo kabhi use bhoole hi nahi. Kuki ko dekhkar humesha uski yaad aati hogi. Cute thi? Maine poocha nahi but saamne se batana zaroori tha inhe. Waise toh baat nahi karte lekin uski tareeef karne ke liye bole. Cute, my foot.’ “Meri beti jaisa koi cute nahi ho sakta.” “No Mrs. Bajaj she really was aapne use dekha hota toh aap bhi kehte ki kitni cute hai.”
“Accha? Aur bataiye na mujhe apni cutie pie ke baare mein.” She made a face. “You know I started my business very young right, I was 21 when I cracked my first deal.Tab main Delhi mein rehta tha. Then as I expanded my business maine Kolkata ko apna base banaya. Kolkata mein wo mera pehle project tha. I was 26 then. Maasi ko meri success ke liye pooja karni thi but I did not believe in God I believed in hard work. Lekin you know na main maasi ko mana nahi kar sakta. So main unke saath mandir gaya tha. Ganesh Chaturthy thi uss din wo Gol chowk ke baas jo Ganesh mandir hai na wahan. There I met her for the first time. Mujhe aaj bhi uska face yaad hai, wo cute smile, sparkly eyes, chubby cheeks, do chotiya banayi thi and she was wearing this pink frilly dress. She was so cute. I guess 5 years ki hogi wo. Lekin uski smile gayab ho gayi when her balloon floated away. Mujhse dekha nahi gaya I bought her a smiley balloon but she refused to take it. ‘Main aise aap se free mein nahi le sakti.’ Maine kaha it’s ok but she refused. ‘Main iska kya karoon? Chhod doon?’ I asked her and I knew she would not want me to do that. She got an idea and shared her prasad with me and took the balloon. she did not take it for free but shared with me her Gannu ji's blessing. Maasi se pehle usne mujhe prasad diya tha so meri success mein sabse pehle uski dua ka haath tha. So I can’t forget her face. Kuki bhi aise hi cute hai uske jaisi. Mujhe uska naam poochne nahi mila but pink dress so maine socha ‘Pinky’ yehi naam deta hoon use.”
Prerna stared at his smiling face as he looked at Kuki and remembered Pinky.
After that day she started avoiding him. “I don’t get it what’s wrong with Mrs. Bajaj phirse mujhe avoid kar rahi hain. I know maine kuch nahi kiya aur iss baar chahe mujhe unse, unke aansoon se jitna bhi fark pade, mere dil mein jo bhi hai I am not going to approach her first.” He made a resolution.
“Iss ladki ne mere bete koi barbaad kar diya main iski ek bhi nishaani iss ghar mein nahi rehne doongi.” Mohini was tearing Prerna’s pictures. One picture flew out of her room and Kuki found it. She was admiring the cute little girl’s picture when Rishabh came to take her down for breakfast. He saw the picture. “Kuki, ye photo aapko kahan se mili?” ‘Outside ground floor wali dadi’s room.’ She signed. It was half torn vertically. Rishabh was an intelligent man, it took him no time to understand that it was Prerna’s childhood picture. Rishabh, Kuki,Prerna and Sha(i)Tan were at the breakfast table. “Pinky, please mujhe juice dijiye.” Prerna froze when he called her Pinky. Kuki did not understand why her daddy called her mother Pinky. Sha(i)Tan thought it was his lovename for her, disgusted they excused themselves politely. “Pinky juice, please.” Prerna felt embarrassed her cheeks colored red, she ran away from there. Rishabh could not stop smiling. He caressed Kuki’s hair and followed Prerna to their room.
“Mr. Bajaj ye kya tha aise sab ke saamne.” “Kya? Maine kuch galat kaha, Pinky.” “Mr. Bajaj,please.” She hid her face in her palms. “Thank you.” She lifted her face. “Thank you, uss din mujhe project mila tha aur maine success ki ek aur seedhi chadi thi. Thank you for being a part of my success.” “Sirf ek shart par accept karoongi, please mujhe sabke saamne Pinky mat kahiyega.” “Ok, deal.” “Aap agree kar gaye?” “Yes aapki deal thi hi itni acchi. Aapne kaha ki main sabke saamne aapko Pinky na kahoon akele mein keh sakta hoon.” Rishabh found a loop hole in her deal. They came down for breakfast and saw someone throw out and destroy everything pink. Kuki was feeling scared. Prerna, Rishabh took their daughter and got out of that house.
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