Great Expectations-Epilogue Pg 69 (14/6)

Great Expectations

This story is nothing like the classic by Charles Dickens. It is yet another Michi offering. Don't know how many parts it would have.

Part I

He sat in front of the holy pyre, attired in an intricately embroidered beige sherwani, renewing his wedding vows in Hindi, thereby making a departure from the practice of having it uttered in Sanskrit by the priest. His long dark hair, which was streaked in silver grey at the temples and the side burns, was swept back. His beard and moustache were well trimmed and gave him a distinguished appearance. He turned his small dark eyes to look at his lovely wife of twenty five years sitting beside him in a grand crimson red silk saree. To him she did not look a day older than when he had first seen her as a young bride. It was amazing that at fifty, her face remained unlined by wrinkles; her hair remained jet black with not a single grey; and her voice as she took the vows sounded as young, sweet and melodious as it did when he first heard her speak. But what drew him to her was her inner beauty rather than her external looks. And to think that for all that love brimming in his heart now she wasn't even his first choice. His thoughts flew to the day they had sat like this, side by side, a quarter century ago.

Twenty five years ago (Milind's flashback)

The wedding was grandiose affair given that it involved two of the biggest tycoons in the hotel industry. Renowned hotelier, Inder Shah's daughter, twenty-five year old Prachi Shah was being married to thirty-year old Milind Mishra, a first generation self made businessman. As Milind sat next to his bride, his heart fluttered in anticipation of realising one of his long cherished dreams.

She had captured his heart ten years ago when he had first laid eyes on her in an inter-collegiate event he almost did not attend. He was finally coaxed into taking part in the quiz competition by his best friend Ali. Having won that event the two young men loitered around the college campus, waiting for the prize distribution which was to take place in a couple of hours. With nothing better to do they decided to witness a few other events which were underway. They strolled into the nearby hall where a panel discussion was taking place. His eyes immediately settled on the lithesome beauty sitting on the dais, animatedly debating with people who were nearly twice her size. He had always been a man of few words, speaking only when spoken to, but he admired people who can articulate their thoughts well. On a scale of one to ten, he gave this wisp of a girl clad in a navy blue jeans and turquoise green t-shirt, a full ten for her strong persuasive skills. Her soft pink lips parted to let out her powerful voice which was in direct contrast to her small delicate frame. Her long hair, braided into a single long plait, swung from side to side every time she shook her head to make her point more forcefully. Her fair arms served to reinforce her arguments as she gesticulated a lot with them. As he leaned against the wall, his sharp eyes not missing a single detail of her face, he felt himself being magnetically drawn to her beauty and intelligence. "She will be mine some day," he whispered with an air of arrogance, more to himself than to his friend who stood close by.

"Are you crazy? The girl is the daughter of Inder Shah, the multi-millionaire hotelier," whispered back Ali.

"So?" he asked languidly, cocking his eyebrows.

"Do you think her father will give his daughter's hand in marriage to a man from a humble background like you?"

"Why not? Mark my words. A day will soon arrive when the mighty Inder Shah himself will approach me and ask me to marry his daughter."

Ali shook his head in resignation to his friend's fate, " You are an insufferable dreamer."

"Correction.... Not just a dreamer but a man who believes in achieving his dreams," he had said with confidence and turned his attention back to the object of his attraction.

Part II

Back to the present

She turned to look at her husband as he uttered his vows so passionately in a booming voice that used to initially scare her but had over the years assumed a reassuring quality for her. She was glad that they decided to dispense with the traditional sehera and the ghunghat in this new age marriage vows renewal ceremony. Her eyes ran over his handsome face, lingering over his well trimmed pepper and salt beard. She still remembered her serious reservations as a child to mingling with men who had facial hair. Her clean shaven father had at one point of time decided to sport a beard and a moustache. She refused to kiss or be kissed by him till he got rid of them. So when she first saw her prospective husband's photograph, that was the first thing her father teased her about. She had at the time assured him that she will get her husband to shave off the offensive facial coating if he wanted to get close to her. But in all these twenty five years, if there was one thing she never allowed her husband to do, it was to go clean shaven even for a single day.

Just then her husband turned towards her and flashed his most charming smile making her heart skip a beat and her face flame up in shyness. No matter how many years have gone by he still could throw her off balance with that one smile. It was not all smiles in the initial period of their marriage though. Her thoughts rewound to the day of their marriage.

Twenty five years ago (Prachi's flashback)

At the wedding mandap, clad in a heavily brocaded wine red lehenga choli and bedecked in ornate jewellery from head to foot, Prachi waited for the ceremony to be over with so that she could change into something more comfortable. She stole a look at the man to whom she would soon belong. She could not see his face through the sehera, although she knew what lay beneath it. His tall masculine frame practically dwarfed her small one, making her conscious of her height. If there was one thing she had wished for, it was that she was atleast three to four inches taller than her modest 5 feet 2 inches height. As that was not possible, she had hoped that the man she weds would be of comparable height so that she does not have to crane her neck up every time she had to interact with him. Alas that wish also remained unfulfilled as here she was, marrying a six footer. But she did not fret too much over it. After all she never did have any great expectations in life. Her father and sister always complained that she lacked drive as they themselves were highly driven and ambitious.

She was more like her mother, Premlatha - docile, home loving and generous. She took pleasure in small things like flying kites with the neighbours' kids; listening to music, especially old classics; spending time with the aged in the nearby old age home; giving music tuitions to children in the locality; trying out new recipes for her family and friends and listening to long conversations. She did her graduation in home science, a diploma in catering technology and a few courses in baking and cookery. She used to pay occasional visits to her father's hotels and give tips to the head chefs and housekeepers there. However, when her father suggested that she take up the reins of atleast one of the vast chain of hotels he owned, she politely declined. She made it clear that she was not cut out for a career and preferred to be a home maker instead. Although her father was not too happy with her limited ambition he did not force her to do something she was not inclined for and started hunting high and low for a man worthy of his precious daughter. None seemed to match up to his expectations till he finally met the dashing Milind Mishra in an hotelier's conference a couple of months back.

Prachi gathered from her father later that he took a strong liking to the self-assured and confident young man from the very first moment. He was suitably impressed by the man's success at a relatively young age. The fact that he had achieved all that on his own merit in a short span of less than 10 years only served to raise him in his eyes. His post-conference interactions with him strengthened his belief that he had finally found the right match for his daughter. He had done a background check on him and found out that he was the only son of an accountant, hailing from a well respected but lower-middle class family. His mother expired when he was barely three years old and his father had died of heart attack three years ago. Milind did not let his economic status constrain him. He was a brilliant student and after his masters in business management which he had finished at a relatively young age of 21, he had gone to Turkey to seek his fortunes. His intelligence and intuition impressed the Sheikh under whom he was working and he quickly rose to head his group of hotels all across the Middle East. He was paid quite handsomely too. Soon he started his own group of hotels, both in India and abroad and was quite a successful businessman in his own right.

As his parents had a love marriage against the wishes of their respective families, they were virtually ostracised by them. Hence, after the death of his parents, Milind was pretty much on his own. So Inder himself approached Milind soon after their first meeting and offered his daughter's hand in marriage. He also suggested the merger of the two groups of hotels after the marriage. Milind was a bit reticent of the merger proposal, citing the need to get the approval of his board as a reason for his hesitancy but he seemed more than keen about the marriage proposal. Inder decided to tackle one thing at a time and decided to first get him as his son-in-law before coaxing the business deal.

Prachi was in the U.S. when all of this was happening. She was sent the bridegroom's photograph by post. Except for the facial hair, she did not have any other complaint against the groom. She trusted her father's judgement and gave her assent. The wedding was finalised within weeks and as soon as she returned to India, the ceremony itself was conducted. Her father had wanted to have all the pre-marital ceremonies such as the engagement, mehendi, haldi. Milind, however, was extremely busy with a new project and couldn't spare the time. He was also impatient to get on with the wedding. So all the ceremonies were dispensed with although Inder got him to agree for the reception after the wedding.

Sitting beside her would-be husband, Prachi wished they had these ceremonies before she took the final step to becoming Mrs. Milind Mishra.

Part III

Note: Past in the rest of the fic is twenty five years ago.

Present

The marriage vows having been taken, Milind was all set to apply the sindoor on Prachi's maang when he froze in the act, hearing a powerful voice that broke through the solemnity of the occasion.

"Stop it," the voice commanded. "Stop the ceremony. How can you go ahead without me?" The guests who had assembled to witness the ceremony were stunned by the sudden intrusion.

Milind, however, smiled hearing the familiar voice. Turning his head to look at the intruder he said genially, "Well, if it is not our dear Ayesha! What is it with you? You never show up on time for our weddings, do you? You barged in late in our first wedding and now again you are late for our silver jubilee wedding."

Ishaan and Sahana who were standing on either side their parents asked in unison, "Badi ma was late for your first wedding too, Papa?"

"Yes, she was!" exclaimed Milind and under his breath muttered, "And what a shock she gave me!" Milind's thoughts went back to the past.

Past (Milind's flashback)

The priest called out to the bride's family to tie the gahtbandhan. Inder and Prem Latha came forward and just as they lifted Milind's stole and Prachi's orni they heard a loud shout.

"Stop, stop, stop. I want to do the honours for my sister."

Milind who had his head bowed down, jerked it up when he heard the voice.

"That's her voice!" his mind screamed at him and sure enough it was her standing in front of him in a meganta salwar kameez which enhanced the fairness of her skin. He wondered whether his eyes and ears were playing tricks on him. He pushed back the floral strands of his sehera to get a clearer view of the vision in front of him. When his eyes confirmed what his brain already knew, he drew in his breath sharply. If she was standing in front of him, who was it sitting next to him in the bridal attire? He looked at the figure seated by his side. He could not make out her face as it was covered in the ghunghat, "Damn these stupid veils" he muttered silently. In the meantime his would be father-in-law was calling out to the intruder.

"Ayesha! So you finally made it! We thought you weren't coming." Both Inder and Prem Latha rushed to her and hugged her tight. The bride was about to get up too but half way up she stopped and sat back wondering whether it would be appropriate for her leave her place.

Holding her father's shoulders in both her hands and looking him in the eye the intruder exclaimed, "Me not coming? And that too for my darling and only sister's wedding? No way! I begged them to allow me to give the exam a few hours before schedule. After a lot of pleading they permitted me to do so. I finished the exam early and rushed to take the first flight back home. Here I am just in the nick of time." She rushed to the bride and leaning down she hugged her. Over her sister's shoulder she looked at the bridegroom who had gone ashen by now and hurriedly whispered in her sister's ears, "Hey, he looks more handsome in person than he did in that photograph Papa sent you." She then silently pleaded with him with her eyes to forgive her for her late appearance. Milind was too stunned to react.

The priest was in the meantime getting restless, muttering that the auspicious time may pass if they don't continue with the proceedings soon. Ayesha apologised to him and quickly straightened herself up and went behind the bride and groom to tie their clothing in gahtbandhan. She leaned forward and whispered to Milind to cover his face. He turned back to look at her and slowly drew back the curtain of flowers over his face. His mind, which had been temporarily paralysed by what had just taken place, started racing now. So the woman he had fallen in love with is not the one sitting beside him but the one standing behind him. By the looks of it, the new comer seemed blissfully unaware of his misunderstanding. .

He wanted to scream that there had been a horrible mistake and that he did not want to get married to the girl covered in ghunghat but his tongue felt heavy and his throat went dry. When the priest asked them to get up to take the pheras (seven steps around the pyre) he blindly got up and mechanically started taking the steps. His thoughts were chaotic as he tried to figure out what went wrong. How could he have made such a huge blunder? His would be father-in-law had addressed the new comer as Ayesha. So was the woman whom he was in love with all these years not Prachi? He knew Inder Shah had two daughters but as Inder kept his family away from media attention, he was not aware of who they were. If Ali had not mentioned that the girl he had seen in the inter-collegiate event was Inder's daughter, he would not have even known that. Ali could not enlighten him of her name though. He associated her with the name 'Prachi' because he himself had seen it on the book she had dropped while getting into her college bus a couple of weeks later. He couldn't give it to her as the bus had sped away. That evening he had gone to Shah Mansion to hand it to her but the watchman took it from him and said that he will do the needful.

He never met that beautiful and intelligent girl again. Goaded by Ali, he tried to write to her several times but was too shy to bare his heart. He was also apprehensive that she may reject him, for he was after all just a poor accountant's son. He decided then that he will first make a name for himself so as to be worthy of her. He was sure then that her father himself would approach him to offer his daughter's hand in marriage, as he had challenged Ali. He immersed himself in his studies and later in his work abroad but had not forgotten the girl he had seen only twice in his life and had not spoken to on both occasions. When he returned to India to set up his hotels in the country he tried to meet her but his secretary told him that Inder's eldest daughter was pursuing a law course in the Harvard Law School in the U.S. He then decided to wait for her return.

In the meantime he met Inder at the hotelier's conference and immediately sought his company. He did not have to do much to impress the man for Inder seemed quite in awe of him. In fact, the admiration was mutual. He had heard a lot about Inder Shah and his business acumen but he got a first-hand feel of it when a couple of weeks later Inder approached him with the twin proposals of a merger of the Mishra and Shah groups of hotels and a marriage with his daughter, Prachi who was presently in the U.S. Inder offered to show him her photograph but he assured him that he does not need to see it for he has already seen her in person. The marriage was fixed as soon as the girl accepted him. He still remembered how happy he was when Inder Shah called him up to convey the news. He could not sleep a wink for two whole days. He got her phone number and wanted to talk to her but his shyness got the better of him. He could not understand why he was behaving like a lovelorn teenager. A man who was bold enough to confidently negotiate and conclude the best business deals could not open up to the woman he loved and was about to marry. He felt that he needed to face her eye to eye to be able to covey what was in his heart. So he decided he will wait till they were wedded before he revealed his long standing love for her. Now he realised what a big mistake he had done in bottling up all his emotions for so long.

The saath phere was over and the bride and groom resumed their seat in front of the pyre. The priest asked him to put the mangalsutra and the sindoor on the bride. Milind looked up to see the woman he loved with melancholic eyes. She smiled happily at him and encouraged him to go ahead. He realised then that he had lost her even before he had won her. There was no point in making an issue now. Her sister's life and reputation were at stake. He cannot afford to turn his back on Prachi for no fault of hers. He grimly put the mangalsutra around her neck and lifted the ghunghat to smear the vermillion on her maang. He finally got to see the woman he wedded. She had an oval face, blemishless skin, almond eyes lined by neat brows, a small but sharp nose, soft pink lips. She was beautiful in her own way, the sober kind of beauty, not exactly the kind he would be attracted to but now she was his wife, for better and for worse and there was nothing he could do about it.

Part IV

Present

Prachi smiled at her husband's comment on Ayesha's late attendance at their weddings. Meanwhile Ishan and Sahana rushed to hug their aunt and uncle.

Ayesha felt the need to defend herself. "Milind, blame it on your co-brother, my dear hubby, Neevu for our delayed entry. He misplaced our passports and by the time we could locate it, we had missed our flight from L.A. and had to wait for the next available one. Otherwise we could have reached here last night itself."

"You always come with some 'valid' reason, don't you?" teased Milind getting up from his place and pulling Prachi with him.

They walked up to the new entrants. While Prachi hugged her sister, Milind fondly back slapped Neev.

"OK di... jiju, now that you are finally here can we get on with the rest of the ceremony?" asked Prachi.

"Yes, Ayesha darling. My daughter is desperate to wed her husband all over again. Don't delay her any further," said Inder, turning to his wife and winking at her. Prem Latha smiled at him and looked at her daughters indulgently

"Papa!" whined Prachi, pouting her lips which prompted a chuckle from Inder.

"Now that we are here, you may go ahead," said Ayesha in a regal tone.

"Yes, Madame. Your wish is my command," mocked Milind and smilingly he led Prachi back to their place before the pyre. He then spread the vermillion generously on Prachi's maang and put the mangalsutra around her neck as the small group of close family and friends applauded and sprinkled them with flowers. Prachi smiled happily at her husband and her family. She was glad that Ayesha was there to grace the occasion along with her husband. She remembered the last time when Ayesha very nearly did not attend her wedding.

Past (Prachi's flashback)

Prachi had hoped that her only sister would make it to her wedding. Inder was keen to hold her wedding as early as possible so that he can make Milind his son-in-law and try persuading him to accept the merger of the two hotel groups. There were only two to three auspicious days that month, followed by a long dry spell. Inder had fixed the wedding date, taking into account the auspicious day and Ayesha's exams. However, due to unforeseen circumstances, one of her exams got postponed by a day. Ayesha had expressed her inability to attend the wedding as she would miss the flight for the day if she were finish the paper. As there was no flight till the next morning, she would not be in time for the wedding. Although her family was upset about it, they were reassured that she would be there for the reception which was to be held the day after the wedding. Luckily for them Ayesha managed to reach on time to tie the gahtbandhan and witness the wedding.

A grand wedding dinner was laid out after the ceremony. Although the guests had a scrumptious feast, Prachi could hardly eat anything, her appetite having gone for a toss in all her anxiety. She glaced sideways at Milind's plate and realised he was having as much trouble eating as she did. She wondered whether he too was as anxious as she was. She slowly raised her eyes and studied his profile. There were beads of sweat on his brow even though they were in an air-conditioned hall. She concluded that her husband was indeed nervous and anxious and felt relieved that she was not the only one feeling so.

The bidai ceremony which followed the wedding was an emotional affair. Milind waited for Prachi in his car while she bade a tearful farewell to her family. She hugged her parents and sister and wept her heart out. She had never spent a day away from her family. A couple of months back she had gone to the U.S. to be with her sister and take care of her while she prepared rigorously for her exams. Due to the wedding arrangements, she had to cut short her trip and return home just a week before the wedding. Since then she was caught up in the hectic preparations for the wedding that she did not have time to think about anything. Now the prospect of leaving the people she knew and loved and going away to live with a man she barely knew scared her. Her mother kissed her forehead and reassured her that everything will be all right. "Milind seems to be a good gentleman, darling. I am sure he would take good care of you. Try and get to know each other. The two of you have led separate lives till now but will be together from now on. You need to adjust to each other. Be patient and understanding. Things will just be fine. There is nothing to worry about. After all you are going to live in the same city. If there is any help that you need, remember that your papa and I are always there for you."

"Come on sis. Rohna bandh karo(stop crying). Why are you weeping on a happy occasion? You have got yourself a handsome and successful man. What more do you want?" Ayesha tried to lighten the emotional moment.

Prem Latha tweeked Ayesha's ear. "If marriage is such a happy occasion why are you adamant in remaining single?" she queried. Prachi knew that her parents were worried about Ayesha's future but she was firm in her decision to stay single as she claimed that she was not cut for marriage. She wanted to be a full-fledged career woman. If Ayesha sets her mind on something, there is nothing anyone could do to change her. Her parents finally gave up trying to coax her and got her younger sister married instead.

After Prachi completed the customary ritual of throwing back rice, Inder led his daughter to Milind's car. Prachi got in and sat beside her husband. She turned to see him in the dimly lit interiors of the car but Milind seemed lost in his own thoughts and did not acknowledge her. The car drove to the Mishra Mansion. Ayesha and her aunt along with Milind's friends followed them to the house in their own cars as Milind did not have any relatives of his own to receive them and conduct the rituals there. Prachi's masi, Prem Latha's sister Subhadra, welcomed them. Ayesha took Prachi up to Milind's bedroom which was decked up for the nuptial night while Milind's friends dragged him away to be ragged.

Ayesha kept her sister company, chatting away animatedly till Milind's friends finally let him go to his wife. Hearing the knock on the door Ayesha hastily got up and opened it. She smiled broadly at Milind who still seemed to be on the edge. She raised herself on her toes and whispered something in his ears. Before he could react, she quickly winked at him and left, closing the door behind her. Prachi nervously got up from the bed to greet her husband wondering how long her night was going to be.

Part V

Present

After the ceremony the guests were entertained to a delicious buffet feast of the finest dishes that Shah-Mishra hotel group had to offer. Twenty-three year old Ishan who was being groomed by his father to take over the reins of the company in future had asked his Papa to allow him to make all the arrangements for the function. By the looks of it, he seemed to have done a splendid job. His sister, Sahana was the perfect host, mingling with the guests and enquiring whether everything was up to their expectation. Milind looked proudly at his handsome son who was his carbon copy in looks and character.

"So what do you think of my son? All the arrangements for this jubilee celebration were made by him." Milind enquired with Ayesha as he stood behind her to help himself to the wide range of dessert spread.

"Can the Sher's offspring be any less than the Sher?" Ayesha quipped back.

"Now, you have a point there," Milind smiled, wagging his index finger. "By the way how long are you guys going to be with us?"

"Neevu and I have taken a month long vacation from our law firm."

"Good. Then we can make that trip to 'God's own country' that we had been planning forever."

"You mean the trip to Kerala? Of course, we'll go. In fact, Neevu has been talking of nothing but that trip ever since we got the invite for your silver jubilee. Having been born and brought up in the U.S. he has seen very little of India."

"So what are you discussing about me?" asked Neev Shergill walking up to them, having filled his plate with all the dessert items available, "I hope nothing bad."

"Neevu, you cannot eat all of that given your sugar problem. Have you forgotten what the doctor had advised?" Ayesha admonished him and snatched his plate from him. Neev watched in consternation as his wife quickly emptied more than half the contents of his plate on to hers. He smacked his lips at the sight of the food that had very nearly made it to his belly but for his strict disciplinarian wife.

"Come on, Ayesha. Let the poor guy have his fill at least on one day. You can give him pills to offset his intake."

"No, Milind," she said firmly. "Neevu's sugar level is already quite high."

Neev looked at Milind dejectedly and nodded. "My wife is always right," he said. Milind knew that Ayesha's firmness stems from her love for the person. He couldn't help but be reminded of the first time he heard her speak firmly to Prachi.

Past (Milind's flashback)

Milind waited impatiently in the car for his newly wedded wife to finish her rohna dhona (crying) before joining him. If there was one thing that irritated him about women it was their ability to cry at the drop of a hat. He wondered if God had given them larger lachrymal glands which secreted more tears than was required to lubricate their eyes that they had to open their eye taps to release them at periodical intervals. He personally preferred strong women who faced the world fearlessly and challenged it, someone like... his thoughts trailed off. There was no point in thinking about what could have been. But as if to test his resolve, he saw the woman who resided in his thoughts during the past decade walk up to the woman who would be residing with him for the rest of his life.

He could hear her loud and clear voice chiding her sister for weeping as though she was facing the end of the world. "Come on sis. Rohna bandh karo(stop crying). Why are you weeping on a happy occasion? You have got yourself a handsome and successful man. What more do you want?" His heart leapt in joy for a moment hearing her refer to him as 'handsome' and 'successful' but he brought himself back to reality almost immediately. She was his saali (sister-in-law) now, not his gharwali (wife). He would always strive to respect that relationship.

He saw his mother-in-law say something to Ayesha, tweeking her ear but couldn't hear her. Soon Prachi was escorted by her Papa to the car. He could sense her sit next to him but pretended not to notice her for he did not know what to say to her. He tried to compose his thoughts but it was too difficult to do so. The disappointment of not realising his dream of the last ten years was crushing him. He has never faced defeat so far in life and tasting it now and that too in one of the most important spheres of his life made it hard for him to digest it.

Soon the car reached Mishra Mansion. After the traditional welcome by Prachi's masi, his friends had taken him away to be teased. Amidst freely flowing drinks and raunchy jokes, Milind sat benumbed and unresponsive. His friends did their best to make him participate in the fun but he did not show interest. He sorely missed the presence of his best friend Ali who had recently taken up a job in the Middle East and moved with his family there. Since he was less than six months old in the company he could not take leave to attend his wedding. Ali was the only one who knew of his long standing love and would have understood his pain now.

As the minutes ticked by he tried to clear his head of all thoughts of the woman he loved and lost in the most tragic way due to his own folly. He felt tired and emotionally drained and wanted to go to bed. When he let his intentions be known to his friends, they teased him some more, assuring him that there was no way he was going to sleep that night. He ignored the suggestiveness of their remark and wishing them goodnight, he proceeded to his bedroom. At the door he froze hearing the voice and tingling laughter of the woman of his dreams. Just then the door opened and the lady herself made an appearance. Raising herself on her toes she whispered, "Be gentle with my precious sister." He stared back at her as the underlying meaning of what she said sunk in. He tried to say something but she just winked at him and disappeared.

As he entered the room, his bride tentatively got up from the bed. He turned away from her and removed his watch, leaving it on the nearby writing table. He then pulled his sherwani top over his head and threw it on the nearby chair. Clad in his vest and the bottoms of the suit he turned around to see his bride trembling like a leaf. Uttering an expletive under his breath, he turned back and walked up to his wardrobe. He pulled out his night dress and towel from it and made his way to the bathroom to have a shower. Ten minutes later he came out to find her still in full bridal finery, looking at him uncertainly. He walked up to the left side of the bed and sat on it. After a few minutes he was about to lie down when he heard her voice for the first time.It was quite sweet sounding.

"Please have the milk," she said, extending a glass of milk to him.

Looking up at her he replied curtly, "I don't drink milk."

"But it is the custom for the bride to offer milk to the groom on their wedding night."

He was about to protest but thought better of it and instead took the glass from her hand and gulped down the milk in one go.

He handed back the empty glass to her. She tilted the glass and looked at him in alarm. "You finished it all!"

He gave her an incredulous look. "You wanted me to drink the milk, didn't you?"

"Yes, but you should have only drunk half the glass. I was supposed to finish the remaining milk."

"What sort of unhygienic custom is that? If you want milk I'll call Nandu kaka to bring it up." He reached for the intercom which lay on the side table but before he could buzz his man servant, Prachi hastily assured him that she did not want any milk.

He replaced the receiver and was about to lie down when she stalled him again.

"Can I remove my jewellery and change into something more comfortable?" she sought his permission.

"That's left to you. In fact I expected that you would have done that by now."

She walked to her suitcase which lay in the far corner of the room.

"It's been a long day. I feel tired. We'll talk tomorrow. Good night," he said and without waiting for her response, he stretched his aching body on the bed and promptly went off to sleep.

Part VI

Present

Prachi who had been talking to her mother about her children came looking for her husband. Milind had just finished his dessert, left the empty plate on the table and turned around to bump into his better half. She hit against his hard chest and he held her shoulders to steady her. Looking up at him, she giggled, covering her mouth with her hand.

"What's the joke?" asked Milind, not comprehending his wife's amusement.

"Wait a minute," she said and reached up to wipe his moustache with her handkerchief.

"You are still a baby, Milind. You left a trail of milk on your moustache, as always."

"Oh, it must be the ice cream," Milind smiled and linked his arms around her waist drawing her closer to him.

"Milind, let me go. There are people around," whispered Prachi trying to break free from his hold.

"Let them be. After all I am with my wife of twenty-five years and not with some illicit mistress."

"Papa! Mama!" They heard Sahana call out to them and quickly broke free, turning beetroot red.

Prachi's thoughts flew to the first time she rubbed the milk stain from Milind's moustache.

Past (Prachi's flashback)

When Prachi witnessed her new husband remove his sherwani top as soon as he entered their bedroom, she drew in her breath sharply, expecting him to pounce on her and ravish her. She trembled at the thought but thankfully he merely turned around to give her an inscrutable look before he stomped off to the bathroom to shower. She was unsure of what to do. She badly wanted to be freed of her heavy clothing and jewellery but wondered whether she had to wait for her husband's approval before she actually got rid of them. In the suhaag raat sequences shown in some of the Hindi movies she had seen so far (which by the way were not many), the bride usually sits demurely on the bed and awaits her husband. The groom then arrives, sits by her side, gently kisses her, removes her jewellery and maybe even her attire (although the Indian censors board would not allow them to explicitly show such scenes in a family film which were the kinds she watches). The lights are then dimmed, leaving the viewers to imagine the rest. She decided to ask him first before taking the next step.

After he came out, she had offered the milk but he drank everything, leaving her nothing, not that she was particularly fond of milk. When she enquired whether she can change her clothes he seemed surprised that she would even bother to ask him. Even before she could change her clothes, he had wished her good night and gone off to sleep. Although she was a bit relieved that she was spared of intimacy with a man she barely knew on their very first night together, she was a little puzzled by his behaviour. Maybe he was really tired as he claimed to be.

She opened her suitcase and took out her nightie. Changing into it, she lay down on the right side of the bed and turned off the lights. She turned on her side towards her husband and stared at his broad back in the moonlight. Just then Milind turned in his sleep and faced her. She ran her eyes over his sleeping face. Ayesha di was right, she thought to herself, her husband was indeed a handsome man despite the facial hair. Maybe she'll suggest that he gets rid of it to look smarter. Her eyes settled on his moustache and she noticed that he had a thin line of milk stain on it. She got up and rummaged through her suitcase till she found a clean hand kerchief. Taking it she lay next to him and gently tried to rub the stain from his moustache. She noticed the fullness of his lips while doing so and her eyes refused to leave them. Suddenly she felt a strong arm hold her wrist. His eyes flew open and scorched her.

"What are you doing?" he snarled.

"I...I ..milk ...there was a milk ssstain...ooon...yyyour moustache.I...I wwwas rrrubbing it off," she stammered out.

He snatched the kerchief from her hands, rubbed his moustache with it and thrust it back in her hands.

He then turned his back to her and tried to go back to sleep but he felt uneasy for yelling at her. The suddenness of her act had taken him by surprise and prompted that harsh reaction. He turned back and looked at her. She was still in a state of shock, staring at him unwaveringly.

"I'm sorry!" he said contritely.

"It's OK," she said meekly.

"Good night," he said.

"Good night," she wished him back.

He gave her a half smile which eased the tension. They soon drifted into sleep.

Part IX

Present

As Prachi sang the last lines of the song she opened her eyes and looked at her husband to check his reaction. Milind was completely enthralled in the music and his eyes softened to convey the deep love he had for the woman with the magical voice who sang so soulfully. The small gathering applauded the spectacular performance but Prachi had already got her reward in her husband's loving and appreciative gaze which conveyed more than a million words or applause could. Milind walked up to his wife, leaned in and kissed her forehead tenderly, whispering how proud he was of her.

Ishan and Sahana rushed to their mother and wrapped their arms around her.

"Mama, that was simply beauuutiful," gushed Sahana.

"Yes, Mama we just loved it," added Ishan.

The other members of her family and friends also congratulated her personally. Ishan then announced that they will now have the special couple dance for them. The lights were dimmed and Prachi and Milind were called to the dance floor. Milind ravished his wife with his eyes as he took her hand and led her to the centre of the dance floor where the spot light was directed. He held her by the waist with one hand and interlaced the fingers of his other hand in hers. She placed her free hand on his shoulder and they slowly swayed in rhythm with the soft romantic number that was being played. Milind was lost in thoughts of the first time he held his wife this way and smiled at how nervous they both were then.

Past (Milind's flashback)

He was very restless since that morning wondering about how he was going to handle the wedding reception scheduled for that evening. After he had showered, he rushed through his breakfast without saying much to his wife. He then made several calls to his clients and business associates regarding the new project he had taken up. He was building a new hotel in Pune and had been tied up in that work the past days, the reason why he had asked his father-in-law to cancel all the pre-marital ceremonies and get on with the wedding. He had barely managed to free himself for the wedding. He still had to settle a few things which he hoped to address by making the calls to the concerned parties.

What he did not want to admit to himself was that there was nothing which could not have waited till he resumed work after the week-long leave he had taken for his marriage. Had he married the woman he had loved, it was most likely that he would have postponed addressing these issues till later and instead spent his time with her. However, with everything turning topsy-turvy in a matter of few minutes yesterday, he wasn't as enthusiastic about spending time with his new bride, particularly after her brazen remarks about his looks. He also wanted to take his mind off the evening function where he will have to confront the woman he was desperately trying to forget. Seeing him busy, his wife involved herself in the cooking and housekeeping although she kept studying him from time to time when she thought he wasn't looking. Although he knew she was puzzled by his behaviour he pretended not to take notice.

Lunchtime went by uneventfully. She tried to make conversation but he responded in monosyllables. She gave up after sometime. Although deep down he felt that what he was doing to her was not right, he was too seeped in his own pain to give credence to hers. He took a short nap in the afternoon and then sat with his all time favourite fiction, 'Animal Farm' by George Orwell. Although he had read it more than a dozen times and could quote from memory more than half the book, he still engaged himself reading it to avoid interacting with her.

That evening the moment he had dreaded arrived and it was much worse than he had imagined. As though seeing her again, looking breathtakingly beautiful in a well fitted silk churidhar kurta, was not painful enough, he had to mutely listen to her bawdy jokes about his wedding night based on the band-aid on his face. She was a loud-mouthed chatterbox who seemed to have made it her life's mission to pull his leg and embarrass him to the core. It wasn't that he was humourless and averse to people making fun of him. He was man enough to take these things in his stride and even retort in kind, if required. On another day and under different circumstances he could have enjoyed her wisecracks but at that point in time he just wanted to disappear into thin air. Luckily his wife seemed as uncomfortable as him and took her sister away. When Ayesha called him to witness what she had done to beautify his wife, he tried to avoid looking at both of them in order to maintain his own sanity, for the two girls were exquisite in their starkly contrasting ways.

****

At the hotel they had to go through the rigour of receiving the large stream of guests. After dinner, Ayesha announced that his wife would sing a ghazhal. He was surprised to learn that his wife was a trained singer. Before she took the stage she turned to look at him. He did not know what to expect and gave her a blank stare. When she started singing he realised that she did have a magical voice but the song she sang was positively boring to him. He tried his best to listen, but somewhere in between all that dragging he ended up falling asleep. He did not even realise he had slept through the song till he was woken up by the claps around him, signalling that the dreary song was finally over. He heaved a sigh of relief and looked up to see her staring at him with tear-filled eyes. Suddenly he felt guilty for showing such blatant disregard for her talent.

He thought he should apologise but by then Ayesha made her next announcement, that the bridal couple will take the dance floor. She then literally dragged the two reluctant people to the centre of the floor. The lights were dimmed and the spot light fell on them. A soft romantic number was then played. He tentatively placed his hand on his wife's waist. When his palm came in contact with the bare skin of her midriff, she recoiled. He quickly lowered his hand to the portion covered by her saree. With his other hand he gently took one of her hands. She reached up and gingerly placed her free hand on his shoulder. He could make out that she was very nervous and soon he realised the reason why. She couldn't dance for nuts. She kept repeatedly stepping on his toes, making him wince in pain. He tried his best to look normal as the spot light was still on them but as she was fairly close to him she could see his pain. She became even more nervous and the tripping only increased in frequency.

He hoped that the song will soon conclude, but just as it was about to finish another number started to play and this time the rest of the guests also joined the newly weds on the floor. During the song the partners twirled around and suddenly he found Ayesha in his arms. He realised soon that this was a far bigger torture, as his heart literally rammed against his chest holding his dream girl in his arm. He was weighed down by guilt for feeling even remotely amorous towards his sister-in-law and tried to suppress his feelings by holding her at arms length. Ayesha was initially puzzled by his discomfort. Later she smiled and asked if he was missing his wife already. He found his escape route and nodding his head, he excused himself mid-way through the dance. He found his wife sitting all by herself, having left the dance floor as soon as the partners were swapped. He took the seat next to her and tried to apologise for sleeping through her rendition of the ghazhal. She, in turn, was trying to apologise for stepping on his toes. However, both of them couldn't hear each other over the din of the music.

****

That night as they got ready to go to bed, Prachi walked up to him and knelt by the side of the bed. Even as he looked at her in surprise, she took his foot in her hand and examined the blue black marks on it left by her high heels. She winced at the sight and looked up at him with tearful eyes.

"I am sorry. I did not mean to step on your feet. Actually, I did not want to dance as I knew I had two left feet but Ayesha dragged me in," she said remorsefully.

He was touched by her act. "That's OK, you did not do it deliberately," he tried to appease her.

She took the iodex bottle she held in her other hand and rubbed the ointment on the bruises.

He felt it was his turn to apologise. "I am sorry for sleeping through your song. It has nothing to do with your singing. Actually I am not a great fan of ghazhals. You do have a beautiful voice though," he said appreciatively.

She smiled at him happily and for the first time he noticed the deep dimples on her cheeks when she did so.

Part X

Note:Sorry if this part is boring. Hope to make the next part better.

Present

After Milind and Prachi finished their dance, the rest of the guests joined in. Ishan asked Sahana's friend, the shy and reticent Swati, to dance with him. After some coaxing she agreed. Sahana was pleased to see the two of them dance as she knew it would help keep her friend's mind off her family problems at least for some time. Swati was a bright, intelligent, pretty and sober girl. She was the class topper and aced anything she took up. The last six-months had, however, been traumatic for her. Her parent's divorce had scarred her and made her withdraw into a shell. Ishan with his gregarious personality was just the right person to get her out of that shell, Sahana thought. While it was too early to tell, she hoped that the two will hit it off and Swati will come home as her bhabhi some day.

She herself sought the company of her grandmom, Prem Latha, whom she was very fond of. She wanted her to give her the recipe for making rich chocolate cake for her brother's birthday which was a month away. She could have asked her Mama but she would have insisted in baking it herself. Her Mama felt that her daughter, at twenty years of age, was still too young to enter the kitchen. Sahana suspected that the real reason was that her mom was very possessive about her kitchen. So she planned to invade her mom's kitchen in the wee hours of the D-day and bake the cake herself. Prem Latha was amused to hear her request but went about giving her the recipe which she carefully noted down in a note book she carried in her hand bag.

At the end of the dance, Ishan had requested his parents to share the secret of their successful marriage. Milind and Prachi looked at each other and smiled. Milind said that if it had not been for his wife's patience their marriage would have disintegrated within days. She smiled hearing that - yes, her mother's advice to be patient had stood her in good stead but many a times, especially during the initial months of their marriage, her patience was tested. She thought back on one of the many instances when it was.

Past (Prachi's flashback)

It was the third day after their wedding and Prachi had still not figured out her husband. He seemed to be considerate and at the same time stand-offish. She ascribed his brusque behaviour on their wedding night to his tiredness as he himself claimed. His coldness for most part of the second day could be her doing. If she had not made that thoughtless remark on his beard, which he seemed to be very touchy about, he may have been cordial enough with her, she thought. Her perception of his being a decent man strengthened when despite all that stamping he was subjected to during their dance, he had not lashed out at her in anger. Instead he had assured her that he was aware she did not do it on purpose. He even apologised for sleeping through her song. That night she went to sleep with a big load of guilt and uncertainty off her chest.

The next day had started off on a much brighter note. After breakfast her husband had asked her to sit by his side and asked her a lot of personal questions - about her hobbies, the books she liked to read, the music she liked to hear etc. She had told him whatever he wanted to know but the more she revealed about herself, the more he seemed to be displeased with her. She did not understand the reason why. He had asked her about several things, nothing of which she knew about. Finally in the midst of their conversation, he abruptly got up and said he had some urgent work to attend and did not return till that evening. She was at a loss as to what to do. She wondered what it was she had done wrong this time but as long as her husband does not share his feelings with her, she could not address whatever problem that he seemed to have.

She remembered waiting for him till midnight. She had practically dozed off on the sofa in the hall when she heard the key being turned on the front door. She quickly got up to open the door for him. He stood unsteadily at the entrance with blood shot eyes. As she stepped back, he staggered in. His breath reeked of alcohol. Her eyes widened in shock when she realised he was drunk. He ignored her presence and stumbled his way up to their room as she silently followed him. Reaching their bed he slumped on it and passed out. She removed his shoes and loosened his clothes, all the time holding her hand to her nose as the smell of the alcohol made her feel nauseous.

As she lay on the bed next to him, several questions ran through her mind. Where was he the whole day and why was he drunk? Could it be that he is unhappy with their marriage? If he was, it could explain a lot of things. But then if he was really unhappy with this marriage why did he get married to her in the first place? It could not be for money because he seemed to have loads of it himself, all of it earned solely by him. It could not be for position because he was not keen to merge his company with her father's. In fact her father told her that he seemed more enthusiastic about the marriage proposal than the merger proposal. If he was so keen to marry her then why was he shunning her now? Did she not measure up to his expectation? She had no clue what was in his mind but she resolved to find out when he wakes up the next morning.

Part XI

Present

Ishan looked at his mother, "So what would you say is Papa's contribution to making your marriage a success?"

"His understanding."

Milind raised an eyebrow at that. "Oh no, I had created more problems for your Mama because of my lack of understanding."

"Well, that was only to be expected," she immediately defended him from himself. "When two people get together in an arranged marriage there is always a period of adjustment. It was your Papa's understanding and love that ultimately saw us through the rough times."

"Ofo...now don't argue amongst yourselves as to who contributed more to this marriage. All I can say is that both of you brought out the best in each other. I would consider that as the ultimate testimony of the strength of your marriage," Ayesha intervened.

Both Milind and Prachi smiled in agreement at that. Milind thought back at how far they had come since the first time he tried to learn about the girl he had married and felt she was absolutely wrong for him.

Past (Milind's flashback)

Milind woke up the morning after their wedding reception with the determination to do his best to make this marriage work. He had gotten up with similar feelings the previous day too but had let himself be distracted by his wife's comments and his own apprehensions over the evening reception. He prejudged his wife based on just that one innocuous comment. He had hardly made any effort to know her. From whatever little he saw of her she seemed to be an innocent soul despite her 'bold' comment. He was moved by her concern for his well-being as evidenced in her care of his bruised foot. Maybe he needed to give her a chance. Brooding over his loss is not going to get him anywhere. Moreover, she was the sister of the woman he had originally planned to marry. There should be at least some common qualities between the siblings. He needed to find out more about her so as to better appreciate her.

With these thoughts he asked her to sit beside him after their breakfast. She seemed to be very happy that her husband was finally giving her his undivided attention. He slowly prodded her with questions.

"Prachi, what have you done?"

She looked at him puzzled, not following his question.

"I mean, academically," he elaborated.

"Oh. I had completed my graduation in home science and did a diploma in catering technology and a couple of courses in cooking and baking."

His expression turned a little dull hearing this.

"So you are fond of cooking?" he asked listlessly.

"Oh, yes. My mama says that I am even better than her! After all, they say that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach, isn't it?" she asked enthusiastically.

He gave her a lopsided grin, thinking to himself, 'Not this man. The way into his heart is by feeding his brain not his stomach.' He did not say anything though.

"Any hobbies, besides singing?" he asked curiously.

"Well, I read...."

Before she could complete, he asked her eagerly, "What type of books?"

"Mostly romance. My favourite is Mills and Boons," she said.

"You mean those unrealistic stories where the poor damsel who is usually demure, pretty and confused about her life is swept off her feet by her 'Prince Charming' and they live happily ever after?" he asked, wondering what sort of a girl he has landed himself.

"Precisely! You read them too?!" she asked excitedly.

"No, I don't. I've heard of them from my female friends in college. They used to say that if you have read one, you have read them all."

"Oh! Did you have many?"

He looked at her in confusion.

"Female friends," she clarified, trying not to sound jealous.

"No, not many. In fact, I have lost touch with all of them after college. Even while in college, I was more keen to do well in my studies and make a name for myself than befriend women."

She seemed relieved. "Papa told me that you are a highly driven man, the reason he liked you immediately. You see, he is also like you, very ambitious. My sister is like that too. I am totally the opposite. I am quite satisfied with what I have."

"Women do make it big these days, you know? See people like our Prime Minister, Mrs. Indira Gandhi and U.K. Prime Minister, Mrs. Margret Thatcher. They can give any man a run for his money." His admiration for these strong women was evident in his voice.

"Oh, yes. I admire them too but I prefer to be a home maker rather than a career woman."

His heart sank but shrugging his disappointment, he decided to press on.

While on the subject of politics he decided to question her about her interests in it. "What do you think about Animal Farm?"

She looked stumped, "Animal Farm? You mean animals in a farm? Well they are very useful."

"No, I mean the political satire Animal Farm written by George Orwell.'

She pouted her lips. "Never heard of it."

He decided there was no point discussing such type of books. It looked like she read nothing other than mindless fantasies like Mills and Boons. He switched his attention to music.

"What type of music do you like?"

"I like old hindi songs from classics like Mughal-e-Azam, Anarkali and Mera Naam Joker. I also like the compositions of S.D. Burman and his son R.D.Burman. Oh, I forgot to add Salil Choudury. His songs are really melodious. Mohammed Rafi and Kishore Kumar are my favourite male singers and Latha Mangeshkar, my favourite female singer."

"Don't you like Bappi Lahiri's compositions?" asked Milind hopefully.

"Yew, his music is so coarse." She did not notice his expression darken when he heard her belittle his favourite composer.

"What about English music? What type of music do you like?"

"I love Western classical music. Wish I had learnt it but I can appreciate them all - Beethoven, Mozart, Vivaldi, Chopin, Strauss... Do you like his Blue Danube?"

Milind was seeing stars hearing these names. He had no clue about Western music, had no patience to listen to it either. So he steered the conversation clear from any further discussion of the Western Classical stalwarts.

"What do you think about the latest rage, Michael Jackson?"

"That joker who does those moon walks, vulgar pelvic thrusts and sings in a nasal voice? Yuck I hate him. I'd rather listen to Abba and Boney M."

Milind was fast losing his cool. The girl does have some strong opinions which were in direct conflict with his likes and dislikes. He decided to change tack and ask her about the movies she likes.

"I am a sucker for sentimental movies like Guddi, Milli, Anand and the like. Jaya Badhuri is my all time favourite actress."

"Don't you like Rekha?"

"I do, but I like Jaya better. Amitji is a lucky man to have got the love of both these amazing women. Have you seen the three of them in Silsila? They say that the film was semi-biographical."

"Amitji? Oh, you mean Amitabh Bachchan? Yes, I have seen Silsila."

"I didn't like the movie. I can't stand extra-marital affairs. It had some great songs, though." She started humming Neela Aasman.

For some strange reason Milind felt guilty hearing her view on the movie's theme and that slow song was really getting on his nerves. He quickly changed the subject.

"Don't you like Amitabh's action movies?"

"I hate action movies. All the blood and noise scare me. I prefer him in those sensitive character roles he played in Milli and Abhimaan. He is a great actor who is being under-utilised in these action films. His angry man image is doing him more harm than good."

He had half a mind to retort but decided to let it pass.

"What about games? Do you play chess?" He hoped that her answer to this one at least would be yes. He loved playing the game and it would have given them the perfect excuse to spend some time together playing it as it was apparent there was nothing else they could do together.

"Oh, no. I don't play any game that would tax my brains. I'm not much of a cerebral person you see. I love to fly kites with the children in my neighbourhood."

Milind wondered what sort of an alien he has married. He realised that he and his wife shared absolutely no common interests. Nothing short of a miracle will save this marriage, he thought in exasperation and abruptly got up. Muttering something about an urgent work, he left without turning back to see her.

He went to his office where his staff members were surprised to see him so soon after his marriage. He pretended that he was concerned about his Pune project and immersed himself in his work. That evening he went to the Juhu beach and sat on the sands, watching the people around him. He seemed to be surrounded by happy families and lovey-dovey couples. He felt miserable seeing them, for they seemed to remind him of what he did not have. He turned his attention to the sunset. Now that was something he could relate to - like the setting sun, his married life seemed to be setting. Only difference was that his married life seemed to have set even before it rose, unlike the sun which shone in glory every day before bidding its good bye to the world.

As the darkness gathered around him, he trudged along to a nearby bar and tried to drink himself numb. He was in enough senses to realise he cannot afford to drive in his state. So he called up his company driver to drop him home. His driver being a discreet man, did not ask him any questions but turned up in less than half an hour to drop him at his residence close to mid night. He dimly remembered Prachi's shocked expression in seeing him at the door. He tried not to notice her, stumbled to his room and passed out.

Part XII

Note: I am not too happy with this update too but posting it nevertheless.

Present

As it was getting late, the guests started slowly leaving till finally all of them had left except Prachi's immediate family. Ayesha and Milind were engaged in a deep conversation on what should the U.S. President do to pull his economy out of economic recession and speed up revival of the global economy.

"So do you think that Obama's stimulus package will have the desired effect?" asked Milind.

"Well, we are all hoping it would. The 'green economy' slogan has gladdened the environmentalists. But how we will get there still remains unclear. The European Union and others are not too happy with the 'Buy American' clause in the US bailout programme. This would mean that the infrastructure projects approved by the Government should only use US iron and steel."

"Yes, that would hurt exporters of steel to the U.S. like Germany."

"Precisely! Protectionism is what protracted the Great Depression of the 1930s as each country competed with the other to raise the tariff walls. But the U.S. Government is arguing that it wants to jump start its own economy first. People also find it difficult to palate the series of costly bailouts of large U.S. banks and financial companies. The new presidency is facing one of the worst political controversies when it came to light that American International Group (AIG), one of the companies bailed out, has rewarded executives with lavish bonuses."

"I read about it in the papers. I guess political controversies are inevitable in any country."

"Hope there is some quick fix solution to the problem but the laxity in regulation of the U.S. financial system had gone on for long, one of the many reasons why this crisis had broken out. Now the entire world is suffering because of it."

"Yes, many Asian economies, including our country, have strong and stable financial systems, thanks to some stringent regulations, and yet we too have been affected by the global meltdown because of our links with the rest of the world."

"So what is the news on the election front?"asked Ayesha curiously.

"Well, Mumbai is going to polls on April 30th, that is two days from now, but wonder what the response is going to be like. As you know the entire general election process is spread over five stages, taking four weeks and involving huge man power. There appears to be no clear favourites. Last time the present ruling party's mantra 'Aam Adhmi' (common man) found more favour than the then ruling party's mantra 'India shining'. With India no longer shining, thanks to the global financial crisis, the ruling party is harping on anti-terrorism. One has to wait and see how people respond to that."

Prachi walked up to them and smiled fondly, "I know the two of you cannot stop discussing politics and economics once you get started but it is really getting late, Di. Maybe you can continue the discussion tomorrow over breakfast?"

Ayesha couldn't resist pulling her leg, "Getting late for what? Planned anything exciting for your hubby dearest tonight?"

Prachi smacked her arm, saying, "You'll never change, Di."

Her husband's animated discussions with Ayesha reminded Prachi of the first time she heard them involved in a similar discussion and realised that her husband had more in common with her sister than he did with her.

Past (Prachi's flashback)

Prachi got up the morning after her husband's drunken episode and turned to look at her still sleeping husband. Even in his sleep he looked highly perturbed; his brows were furrowed and lips puckered. Clearly something was disturbing him a lot and she made up her mind to find out what it was before it became more serious. She quickly got up and finished her morning routine. After having her morning tea, she took a glass of water and added two teaspoons of fresh lime juice and one teaspoon of sugar to it. Mixing it well she took it to their bedroom. Leaving it on the side table she sat by the bed next to her husband, holding her cheeks in her hands and waiting for him to wake up.

She had to wait for two whole hours before he finally fluttered his eyelids open. He slowly sat up on the bed, holding his throbbing head in his hand. He turned his head to see his wife staring at him unwaveringly, an inscrutable expression on her face. He stared back in bewilderment.

Before he could say anything, she handed him the glass, grimly saying, "I think this should help you with your hangover."

He took the glass from her hand and was about to gulp the liquid down.

"Wait!" she cried out.

He stopped and looked back at her questioningly.

"Sip it slowly, don't gulp it down," she instructed.

He did as he was told, grimacing as the liquid washed down his parched throat.

He still felt a little groggy as he got up from the bed. She tried to steady him but he stalled her and made his way to the bathroom.

She waited patiently till he came out. As he sat back on the bed she asked him, "Do you want to tell me what is going on here?"

When he did not respond, she started to feel agitated. "It looks like something is bothering you, going by your drunken state last night. Are you unhappy in this marriage?" She came directly to the point.

He still did not respond. His head was bowed down as if in shame. Just then the front door bell rang. She went to attend to it and he followed her out of the room. The driver who had dropped him the previous night stood at the door.

"I came to return this and check to see if Saab has to attend office today also. Saab had dropped it in the party he attended last night," he handed her Milind's wallet. She turned around to see her husband. His face brightened up immediately.

"Yes, Prachi I had attended office yesterday because I had to tie up a few things relating to my project. My friends then insisted that I attend the bachelor party which could not be held before our marriage because of my prior business commitments. I got a little tipsy in all the merry making," he said by way of explanation.

She looked suspiciously at him, finding it difficult to buy such a flimsy story. "Why did you not call me and inform me you'll be late?" she said.

He looked guiltily away. The phone rang at that precise moment and she rushed to attend to the call. It was her mother on the line. She wanted to know if they will join them for the family picnic to a garden in Panvel. She had called the previous evening informing of their plan.

"Milind came in late from work last night so I couldn't check with him. Please hold the line let me ask him," she said over the phone and closing the mouth piece she asked Milind, "Do you have to go to work today also? Mama had called last evening to find out whether we would like to join them and Ayesha for a picnic."

Milind merely nodded his head. Prachi turned her attention back to the call, "Yes, Mama, we'll be joining you. We'll meet you at Shah House in say...an hour? (she looked questioningly at Milind who nodded) Yes in an hour's time we'll be there."

The topic of Milind's drunkenness did not come up again during the day although she was still disturbed by it. She could make out that he was not keen to talk about it. She thought that he could be telling the truth. The driver also corroborated the fact that he was at a party last night. Now why would the driver lie? Milind may have really attended the bachelor's party and genuinely forgotten to inform her. After all he had been leading a solitary life till recently and may need to get used to the fact that there was a wife at home waiting for him. His guilt may have stemmed from the fact that he had temporarily forgotten her existence and had gotten drunk. She tried to put behind the incident, hoping that things would improve. Moreover, she did not want to spoil the mood in the family picnic.

As she had promised her parents, they were at the Shah House in an hour's time. The Shahs and the Mishras then drove down to Panvel in two separate cars. At the picnic spot, they met up. Prachi and Ayesha spread the mats under the trees and invited the rest of the family to sit down. Inder and Milind were busy talking about their respective businesses - what works and what doesn't. Ayesha in the meantime enlightened her mother and sister about life in Harvard, her classes, her friends etc. Soon it was lunch time and Prem Latha took out the lunch hamper and served her family the food. She filled Milind's plate with twice as much food as the rest of the family.

Ayesha complained about it saying, "Mama, it is not fair that the son-in-law of three days is given more importance than me, the daughter of the house for the past twenty- eight years!"

Prem Latha smiled and pinching her cheek said, "We need to take good care of our son-in-law so that he takes good care of our daughter."

Milind looked at Prachi briefly and turned his head away. Ayesha was a real motor-mouth. She went on jabbering away even during their lunch. After lunch, Milind said that he wanted to have a stroll around the garden which was quite picturesque. Prem Latha asked Prachi to accompany her husband. Ayesha piped in saying she too will join them. Her mother tried to stop her.

"Why do you want to be a kabab mein haddi (dog in the manger)? The newly weds may like to spend some time alone with each other."

"No, Mama, nothing like that. Let Ayesha Di join in. She always enlivens the place," said Prachi.

Ayesha enthusiastically joined them. Soon she started bombarding Milind with a lot of questions. At first Milind gave answers in monosyllables. It seemed that he was still embarrassed by his behaviour of the previous day. But soon Ayesha and he got fully involved in discussing current affairs and politics. Prachi realised that though Milind appeared to be a man of few words, he was capable of long conversations provided it was stimulating enough for him. She couldn't recollect much of what they discussed as she wasn't paying keen attention to their conversation but the mention of two words made her prick up her ears. So this was what it was she thought.

Part XIII

Present

Milind was amused seeing the friendly banter between the two sisters. They had such strikingly contrasting personalities but the deep love between them was palpable. Just then Ishan and Sahana walked up to their parents. Inder, Prem Latha and Neev followed them.

"Shall we leave, Papa? I think the hotel staff are getting restless that we are still hanging around here. Many of them live in far off places. If they miss their last local train back, they will be stuck here till 4.00.a.m." said Ishan.

Milind was touched by Ishan's concern for his employees.

"He will make a good boss because of his humanness", he whispered to Prachi.

"He gets that from you, darling!" she whispered back.

Milind and Prachi requested Ayesha and Neev to stay with them. Ayesha looked at her mother for approval. Prem Latha nodded her head in agreement. So while the Shah family went back to Shah House, the Mishra family took the Shergills to their residence. Ayesha and Neev were escorted to their guest room.

"We should continue our discussion on Indian politics tomorrow, Milind. Dying to know what our buffoons are up to," said Ayesha before shutting the door.

"Done," smiled Milind and turned to leave with his wife. Even if he had said no, Ayesha would have still persisted. Such was her persuasive skills. After all she was a lawyer, and a pretty good one at that. He remembered how she coaxed him into opening up the first time when they had gone on a picnic, despite his reluctance to indulge in any conversation with either of the Shah sisters.

Past (Milind's flashback)

When Milind had woken up with a pounding head ache on the morning after his drinking binge, little did he expect to be so closely scrutinized, ordered and questioned by his wife of three days. His senses were numbed by the liquor intake of the previous night. So when she gave him the lime juice and asked him to sip it slowly, he meekly did just that. The remedy worked well because after ingesting it, his hangover seemed to have lightened. But his relief was short lived because soon after he finished his morning routine, he was subjected to her uncomfortable questions about the previous night. Her point blank question as to whether he was unhappy with their marriage threw him completely off guard. He was startled that she was perceptive enough to come so close to the truth within days of their marriage. Was he so transparent he wondered but thinking back he realised that any woman would have been suspicious of his behaviour of the previous night. It was untypical of a newly married man to come home drunk on the third night of their marriage unless he had some serious problems. As he did not know how to respond, he bowed his head in guilt.

Luckily he was literally saved by the bell when his driver, Pradeep, unexpectedly showed up at the door with his wallet and told Prachi that he had found it at the party Milind had attended the previous night. Initially he was puzzled by the party reference but soon he caught on to the rope Pradeep had hung out to extricate him from the hole he had found himself in. He spun a yarn about attending a belated bachelor's party and getting drunk as part of the merriment. His wife was shrewder than he thought. She immediately asked him why he had not informed her about the party. Again he was saved by the bell; this time it was the phone bell, not the door bell. In his mind he said a silent thank you to Graham Bell for inventing such a wonderful instrument which came to his rescue.

Prachi, who answered the phone, said that his mother-in-law wanted to know whether they would join them for a family picnic. Although he was not too keen on a family outing, he readily agreed so as to keep Prachi from finding more about his post-marriage mental state. He felt guilty about lying to her and hiding things from her. It was very untypical of him to act this way. He abhorred dishonesty of any kind, especially in relationships but he did not have the heart to tell his wife the truth. He could not tell her that he was deeply in love with her sister for ten years but had instead married her due to a case of mistaken identity and the limited interaction with her only served to show him that they were absolutely not meant to be.

When Prachi was having her bath, Milind called up Pradeep's house. He came to know from Pradeep that last night after he left him at the door step, he had found Milind's wallet lying on his drive way where it must have fallen when he staggered out of his car. Pradeep initially thought of returning it immediately but did not want to disturb Prachi so late in the night. So the next morning he set out to his master's house when it suddenly dawned on him what his master's newly married wife must be thinking of her husband coming home drunk late in the night. It is then that he remembered overhearing Milind's friends asking him a couple of weeks ago whether they can throw a belated bachelor's party, which he had declined. Pradeep then decided to tell his master's wife that he found the wallet at the party, which will provide him with an escape route. Milind was grateful for having such a smart and loyal employee in Pradeep and made a mental note to give him a raise that month.

At the picnic spot, his father-in-law sought his company and he got busy discussing business strategies with him. The more he discussed with him, the more he realised why Inder Shah is known as the best in the business. The topic of the merger came up again. While his reluctance to accept the merger earlier was driven by fear of losing his independence in decision making, his father-in-law assured him that the proposed merger will in no way interfere with his functioning. He even offered to make him the Chairman and Managing Director of the merged entity as he himself wanted to retire from active management of his hotel group. Although it made perfect business sense to merge the two giant groups of hotels for better synergy, his own confusion about his marital life made him hesitant. He asked for more time to think it over. His father-in-law was only too willing to wait.

At lunchtime his mother-in-law generously fed him, remarking that she was taking good care of her son-in-law so that he would take good care of his wife. That remark pricked his conscience since as of that moment he had done nothing for his wife. He tried to look away from his wife who was observing him closely. He quickly finished his lunch and wanting to spend some time alone, he expressed his wish to go around the gardens. Surprisingly his mother-in-law asked his wife to accompany him. As though that was not enough, his sister-in-law who was the cause of all his heart ache and pain (although unintentionally) wanted to join them as well and his ever generous wife willing agreed without waiting for his consent.

His mind was in a maze wondering how to handle the two Shah sisters who were poles apart from each other and for whom his feelings were as diametrically opposite. His heart pounded in anxiety and guilt; anxiety at having to appear as normal as possible with Ayesha and guilt of keeping Prachi still in the dark. The two girls were, however, blissfully unaware of his inner turmoil. Ayesha interrogated him in the manner in which he interrogated Prachi the previous day.

"Milind jiju, where did you do your MBA from?"

"From Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad"

"Wow, from the best business management institute in the country? Very impressive!"

He gave her an awkward smile as he was not too keen to talk about himself but Ayesha was in no mood to relent.

"So what are your interests?"

"Politics and economics."

"Wow, they are my interests too," said Ayesha excitedly, glad at the prospect of discussing her favourite subjects with her jiju.

"What do you think of the current world political environment? Do you think that the cold war between the two super powers, the U.S and the U.S.S.R, will prolong?"

"Don't know," said Milind abruptly, trying to bridle his strong attraction to the woman of his dreams. Ayesha seemed to be totally oblivious to the effect she was having on his senses.

"I think that the Soviet Union has done itself more harm than good by invading Afghanistan five years back and signalling the cold war. Tensions have been building ever since between the Western nations and the East European countries following communism. The arms race between the two blocs is escalating fears of a nuclear war."

Milind could not resist participating in this topical discussion. Forgetting his own resolve to be indifferent to her exuberance, he joined in, "Yes, the tension between the two super powers is harming the whole world. It is the test of strength between capitalism and communism. Although communism started with a good ideology it lost its path mid-way."

"Yes, Orwell says as much in his Animal Farm which is an excellent satire on communism."

"Have you read Animal Farm?" asked Milind excitedly.

"Oh, yes, a dozen times. A tale told so simply but with so much depth, it's really amazing."

Milind noticed from the corner of his eye that Prachi had suddenly become more attentive to their conversation but he did not pay much attention.

He continued his discourse with Ayesha.

"You know, George Orwell himself said that though his book was supposed to be a satire on the Russian Revolution, it was intended to have a wider application? He said that 'revolutions only effect a radical improvement when the masses are alert and know how to chuck out their leaders as soon as the latter have done their job.' How true his words are. Communism has outlived its utility."

"I totally agree with you, jiju. So little is known about what happens behind the iron curtain but with more and more defections of citizens from communist countries to the West, one wonders whether all is really well with these nations as they claim they are."

"One thing is for sure. This cold war politics has affected sports as well. While the U.S. and its Allies boycotted the Moscow Olympics in 1980, the Soviet Union and its allies have decided to boycott the Summer Olympics scheduled to be held this July in Los Angeles, " said Milind.

"Cold war is a great money spinner though. Apart from the arms dealers, film makers and writers are cashing in on the burning topic. Have you seen the Hollywood flick The Day After starring Jason Robards?" asked Ayesha.

"Yes, I have. It's a frightening story of the weeks leading up to and following a nuclear strike on the U.S."

"But I must say that the Americans come across as one of the most paranoid lot. Anything and everything has to be about them. They make it seem as though the whole world is ganging up against them," Ayesha gave vent to her strong views on one of the super powers.

Milind smiled at the passion with which she spoke about issues larger than her own life. He couldn't help but compare her with his own wife who was so contended in her small little world. He sighed at the irony of fate in making him fall for a woman he considered his ideal life partner but uniting him with a woman who was her direct opposite in nature.

Part XIV

Present

Ishan and Sahana kissed their parents good night and went to their room. Milind and Prachi were finally left to themselves. Seeing that there was no one around, Milind whisked his wife in his arms and despite her protests he marched with her to their bedroom. As he entered the room, he was stunned to see it fully decorated with flowers and lit by scented candles. He put his wife down and together the husband-wife duo looked around the room in amazement. On the wall on top of their king size bed was a banner which read:

HAPPY 25^TH ANNIVERSARY, PAPA AND MAMA. MAY YOU HAVE A WONDERFUL NIGHT TONIGHT AS WELL AS ALL THE NIGHTS TO FOLLOW.

Prachi blushed at the implication and Milind smiled unabashedly.

"Now this has to be the handiwork of your son," said Milind, wagging his finger.

"Why, can it not be your daughter?" asked Prachi mockingly.

"No way! My daughter is way too innocent to be up to such naughty things," said Milind with confidence.

"Well, these days kids are far ahead in all matters than we were at their age," said Prachi.

"I have to agree with you there! Maybe they are both behind this! Anyway since our kids are expecting some activity in this room, I think we should not disappoint them!" Milind said resolutely and lifting her in his arms, he laid her gently on the bed.

"Milind! We are not a young couple anymore," Prachi tried to reason.

"Who says we are not? Youth is all in the mind. I feel as young and as energetic as I did 25 years back."

"OK, baba. But let me at least have a bath first. I feel hot and sticky after our long day," Prachi got up.

"I'll join you! You may need help scrubbing your back" he volunteered.

"No, thanks," she said and tried to duck past him but he was too quick for her. He swung her on his shoulder and stepped into the bathroom. Setting her down, he ran a bubble bath and while the water filled in the tub, he quickly peeled away their clothes. He whipped up the froth and stepped into the tub, pulling Prachi with him. They sat in the tub with Prachi's back against Milind's chest and the entire length of their legs extended in the front and rubbing against each other. Milind slid his arms under her arm pits and wrapped them around her chest, nuzzling her neck fondly. Prachi closed her eyes and relished the closeness with her husband. Their posture in the water brought back memories of Milind holding her in a similar fashion but under different circumstances and in a different water body.

Past (Prachi's flashback)

It was two weeks since their wedding. Milind seemed to be super busy with his new project and was commuting between Pune and Mumbai every alternate day. Even on the days that he was in Mumbai, he was returning home very late. Initially Prachi used to wait up for him, hoping that they could have at least one meal together. As it is, he mostly skipped breakfast as he was leaving for work early; he had his lunch at his office. Milind had, however, dissuaded her from waiting up for him at night. He assured her that if he gets delayed at work he would have food wherever he was at the time. He urged her to go ahead and have her dinner if he does not turn up on time, for he did not want her to end up having acidity problems because of him. As Prachi was one of the 'early to bed, early to rise' kinds, she was mostly fast asleep when he returned at night. Although she was unhappy about not being able to spend more time with her husband, she put it all down to the nature of his work. She knew that her Papa also worked as hard when he was on to something new. So she patiently waited for the work pressure to ease so that they can get more time to themselves.

That morning after he had left for work, she was cleaning up his study and found a book in his bookshelf which caught her attention. She pulled it out to look at it more closely. It was a slim book tiled Animal Farm. She excitedly opened the book to read. It seemed to be like a children's story. There was a farmer, Mr. Jones who had a farm full of animals and birds. The animals all had fancy names. Some of them were even dressed up in ribbons and bows. Interestingly the animals and birds in the farm could speak! As she was a slow reader and was impatient to finish the book, she decided to skip the details and read bit portions of the book. From what she read, she gathered that there was a mutiny, wherein the animals, under the leadership of the pigs, threw out the farmer from his farm because they felt that they were being used by him and not given their due. She flipped through the pages and came to the last chapter of the book. Her eyes fell on the big bold letters in one of the pages which read "ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL BUT SOME ANIMALS ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS". She did not understand the significance of the phrase but knew it was trying to convey something important. She then read the last lines of the book and her eyes widened in surprise.

That night Milind returned home unusually early. Prachi was excited that she could finally serve him dinner and have her meal with him after a long time. After he showered, Milind came down to the dining hall and sat down at the table. He looked up at Prachi and smiled pleasantly. Prachi returned the smile and while serving his food, she decided to flaunt her newly acquired knowledge.

"I knew communists advocated universal education but I did not realise they even ended up educating animals!" she said out of the blue.

Milind who was taking his food to his mouth, stopped mid way and looked at her incredulously.

She continued, "By the way, I was always under the impression that monkeys, or rather apes, were the most intelligent animals and were closest in appearance to human beings. How then did pigs suddenly become super intelligent and end up looking like humans? If such things are happening in communist countries then they are in serious trouble."

"Who told you that these were happening in countries following communism?" asked Milind in bewilderment, trying desperately to comprehend what she was saying.

"Well, that guy Orwell does."

"Orwell?"

"Yes, the one who wrote Animal Farm. Here it is." She thrust the book at him and pointing to the last sentence of the book, she read out aloud, "The creatures looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again: but already it was impossible to say which was which. Now, tell me something. How can pigs be confused with man? I know that some men are referred to as male chauvinistic pigs." Milind looked up at her sharply at that.

She quickly added, "But then that is just an expression. Pigs cannot look like human beings. Pigs look like.....(she thought for a moment)..eh.. pigs. They have a long snout, a thin pig tail, small flappy ears and are mostly white or black. Do the pigs in Soviet Union and other communist countries look different?"

Milind said gruffly, "That book should not be taken literally. It is a fable."

"A fable? You mean a fairy story? But then you and Ayesha were discussing the other day that it was a book on communism."

"Yes, it is. It is a political satire."

"Now, you have completely lost me. You call it a fable and then a political satire. What is it then, a fable or a satire?" she persisted.

"It is both!" he seemed exasperated with her.

"How can it be both?" she asked, her confusion only increasing by the minute.

Before she realised that Milind's patience was running thin, she heard him yell, "Because it is!" He then rushed out of the house, banging the door behind him.

Prachi was shocked by her husband's harsh reaction to her genuine interest in understanding his favourite book. Her eyes started fast filling up as she looked at the closed door.

The clock ticked by. Although it was close to midnight, Milind had not returned. Prachi was worried about him and could not sleep. She suddenly heard the splashing of water and looking out of the window in the direction of the sound, she saw Milind swimming furiously in the pool behind their residence. She pulled on her night gown over her nightie and went down to the pool. She walked towards Milind, calling out to him but he seemed not to hear her as he was still swimming. As the lights around the pool were dimly lit, she could not see where the floor ended and the pool began. As a reuslt, she accidentally stepped into the pool. It is only when her feet sunk into the water did she realise she had fallen in. She panicked as she did not know swimming. Before she sank in completely, she screeched out Milind's name. Milind who had come up for air just then heard her outcry and turned towards her. By then her head started gradually submerging into the pool and as she gasped for breath, she gobbled up gallons of water. Just as she thought that she was finished that night, she felt two strong arms slide under her arm pit and pull her up against the hard wall of rock solid chest. She was heaved out of the pool and stretched on the floor next to the pool. She had passed out by then.

Part XV

Present

After their bath, Milind dried his wife with a large Turkish towel before wrapping her in it and carrying her off to their bed. As he lay her down on the petals spread on the mattress, Prachi shyly looked at her husband's bare physique, beads of water still clinging to his taut frame. Milind's eyes were glazed in passion as he slowly uncovered her to reveal her feminine figure to his scrutiny. He never ceased to be amazed by the fact that her youthful body belied her age and her motherhood status. He lightly ran his finger tips along the contours of her face and her body making her quiver in excitement. He replaced his finger tips with his lips and gently feather kissed his way down her body. She squirmed as his facial hair tickled her. Unable to bear the sweet torture he was subjecting her to, she held his head between her hands and dragged him up to her, sinking her fingers into his mane. He looked deeply into her eyes and saw the depth of her love for him in their translucent depths. He bent his head and captured her soft pink lips in his full luscious ones and deepened the kiss by gently probing the sweet interiors of her mouth with his tongue. With their lips still locked, he then rolled her under him and proceeded to show his wife that his desire for her had not waned even a fraction in the quarter of a century they have lived together.

Later as they lay tightly encased in each other's arms, completely satiated and blissfully at peace with each other, Milind recollected the first time he had touched his wife's lips with his and peeled her clothing away. Only the situation was nowhere romantic or passionate. On the contrary, it was alarming and fearful.

Past (Milind's flashback)

Milind had a tough day at work arguing endlessly with the interior designer he had engaged for his Pune hotel. The scheduled opening of the hotel was less than a month away and the interiors were not done according to his instructions. Finally by the time he had got the guy to agree to redo the portions not meeting his approval, he felt completely drained. He decided to call it a day and returned home by 8.00 pm. His wife seemed to be happy to see him earlier than usual. He felt a little guilty for astutely avoiding her company during the last couple of weeks, using his work as an excuse. So when he sat dwon for dinner, he smiled at her more cordially. This must have encouraged her to start a conversation with him. He could have involved himself in it had he understood what she was saying but she was talking about communists educating animals and about pigs looking like humans in communist countries, none of which made sense to him. 'What on earth is she talking about?' he thought to himself and wondered whether the summer heat had unscrewed her nuts. It was only after she mentioned Animal Farm did he begin to comprehend what she was talking about. She must have thought that this book was like one of her Mills and Boons stuff where one can afford to skip pages in between and still get the gist of the story, for it was apparent she had not read the book in full. Hearing the ridiculous comments she made on the book, he felt like banging his head against the wall. As if that was not enough, she kept insisting that he explain how the book was both a fable and a satire at the same time. He finally could not take it any longer and left his house in a huff.

He meaninglessly drove down the city lanes. He was tempted to hit the bar again but thought better of it. Drinking was no solution to his problems. Moreover, he did not want to trouble his driver again. He went to a cinema hall instead, in time to catch the late night show. He sat through the positively boring movie, the name of which he did not know nor bother to find out. Midway through it, he abruptly got up and went back home. Not feeling like entering in, he paced around his gardens and finally decided to take a swim to burn out his frustration. He changed into his trunks in the dressing room by the side of the pool and diving into the pool, he swam furiously. The next thing he knew was a shrill voice call out his name in the still of the night and as he jerked his head in the direction of the voice, he caught sight of his wife sink into the pool.

A chill ran up his spine and without wasting a second he reached her in two quick strokes and caught her from behind before she sunk to the floor of the pool. He dragged her to the side of the pool and hauled her out. Heaving himself up, he knelt by her side. She seemed to have passed out. He pressed her stomach to get the water out. She sputtered some water out but still had not gained consciousness. He checked her breathing and was alarmed to find that she wasn't breathing.

Cold fear gripped his heart. He quickly checked her pulse which was very feeble. He turned her head to the side to allow any water to drain from her mouth and nose. He then turned her head back to the centre. He decided to administer mouth-to-mouth resuscitation in a bid to revive his unconscious wife. Pinching her nose and opening her mouth wide, he placed his lips on hers and breathed strongly into her mouth four times to help air get past any water that was clogging the breathing passageways and the lungs. He then put his ear near the mouth and watched her chest for any breathing movement. He checked her pulse again and repeated the cycle. After the third time, she slowly fluttered her eyelids open and looked at him blankly. He heaved a sigh of relief that she was alive. The next minute though he was livid with anger at her for giving the scare of his life.

"What sort of craziness is this, diving into the pool in the middle of the night, fully clothed? Do you have to ape everything that I do? First it was the book and now it is the swimming. If you don't know how to swim, why embark on such an activity? Were you trying to impress me again?" he lambasted her, his eyes narrowing in slits. "What if you had drowned? Don't you ever exercise that brain of yours?" he asked harshly.

She did not respond but started shivering uncontrollably with her teeth chattering non-stop. He first thought that he had scared her but later realised that the combination of the damp clothes and the chillness of the night must be the cause of it. Forgetting his anger, he grew concerned about her health. He quickly stripped her off her night gown and nightie. Although she was conscious, she lay limp while he undressed her, too weak to move. He briefly caught sight of her curvaceous figure before he wrapped his bathrobe around her. His heart leaped to his throat at the sight of the feminine form, but he quickly diverted his attention back to the job at hand. He lifted her flaccid body and carried her to their bedroom. As he lay her down on the bed, a drop of water from his front lock of hair fell on her eyes. She batted her eyelids to get rid of it, evoking a strange response in him. He shrugged the feeling off and went to dry himself and change into his night clothes. When he returned, he still found her shivering. He pulled the blanket around her more tightly and went to the kitchen. Taking a packet of Knorr instant chicken soup, he quickly prepared it and took it back to the room to her. She twitched her nose at the smell of it and weakly said that she does not take non-vegetarian food.

He barked at her in irritation, "Drink it now without fussing, if you want to get better." She stared back him with frightened eyes and tried to take the bowl in trembling hands. He pushed her hand away and holding the bowl himself, he took the spoon to her mouth. She hesitantly opened her mouth and sipped the soup, her eyes never leaving his. He averted her eyes but continued to feed her. Once she was through, he wiped her mouth with his palm and asked her to lie back. Her eyes closed the minute her head hit the pillow and she fell into a deep slumber.

He lay down on his side of the bed and sighed wearily. Emotionally and physically he felt drained. It is not every day that one comes across a life threatening situation. He shuddered to think what might have been if he was even a couple of seconds late in reaching her. He closed his eyes trying to sleep away the horror filled images. A couple of hours later he heard her yelling out distinctly, "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others!" His eyes flew open and he turned on the bed lamp. She was still fast asleep. Apparently she was having dreams of Animal Farm. With the humour in the situation finally hitting him, he couldn't resist smiling at her childishness. He switched off the light and went back to sleep.

Part XVI

Present

The next morning the Shergills and the Mishras breakfasted together. Milind and Ayesha took up from where they left off the previous night, shredding the Indian politicians to pieces in their animated verbal discussion. The rest of the family watched them in amusement.

In the midst of his conversation, Milind noticed from the corner of his eye that Prachi was serving Ishan a large batura.

"Hey, wifey, why this discrimination? You gave me bread toast and you are giving my son, channa batura?"

"You know why, Milind. The doctor has asked you to keep a check on cholesterol levels. The last checkup showed that although the cholesterol was within limits, it was hitting the upper bound."

Milind's face fell at this but he quietly ate his toast.

Ayesha asked Prachi to sit down with them. Noticing that Prachi too had only bread toast, Ayesha asked her why she was not eating the batura.

"Do you have a cholesterol problem too?" she asked her. Prachi merely smiled but did not respond.

Ishan piped in and said, "Mama does not eat anything that Papa could not eat and vise versa. Papa does not eat non-vegetarian food because Mama does not."

"Really?" asked Ayesha, amazed to hear this and looked at her jiju "That must be a huge sacrifice." Milind shrugged it off saying it was nothing much and that he did not like non-vegetarian to start with, but Prachi knew better. She thought back on the first and only day she cooked non-vegetarian food for him and his reaction to it.

Past (Prachi's flashback)

It was a week after the swimming pool incidence. Prachi had explained to Milind the circumstances under which she fell into the pool. She also told him that she suffered from aquaphobia (abnormal fear of water) since childhood, the reason why her family had not insisted that she learn to swim. It was this fear of water which had evoked such an extreme reaction in her and left her badly shaken for hours even after her rescue. She requested Milind not to tell her family about the fall as they would be unduly perturbed by it. Milind seemed stunned to hear this, but had agreed to maintain his silence on the matter.

The near drowning incident had brought about a subtle change in their relationship, a change at least one of them was only too aware of. Prachi saw her husband in a new light. While she was always aware of how handsome was, seeing his half naked form in swimming trunks on that day knocked her breath away. Even in that emotionally shaken state she was acutely aware of his attractiveness. To make things more difficult for her senses, memories of being stripped by her husband kept recurring, making Prachi blush in shyness. But what really impressed her was his chivalry and care in face of which his anger and his rudeness paled in comparison. She knew that his anger was triggered by his concern for her well-being. The steps he had taken to revive her and keep her warm; the trouble he had taken to prepare the chicken soup and force feed her, all these actions only elevated his position in her mind. She realised that she was gradually falling in love with this strong, handsome and caring man who also happened to be the man she had pledged her life to.

That day she thought that she will do something special for him which will show her appreciation of him. She decided that she will prepare his favourite dish. She asked Nandu kaka what was Milind most fond of. He told her that he was very fond of all non-vegetarian food, especially pomfret fry. Her heart sank hearing this but soon she recovered. If pomfret fry was his favourite, that is what he will get, she told herself and she asked Nandu kaka to buy the fish.

When he brought the fish into the kitchen an hour later, she nearly puked at the strong smell of the fish. Realising that his master's wife was not used to cooking non-vegetarian dish, Nandu kaka volunteered to cook it but she would not let him. She learnt how to prepare the dish from him and sent him away. She then went about her job with great concentration. She first covered her face, nose down, with a handkerchief to ward off the smell. Then taking three pomfrets in a vessel, she scrub-cleaned them so hard that half the flesh came away with the cleaning. She then added chili powder, turmeric powder, ginger-garlic paste and lime to the fish and marinated for a couple of hours. Then heating oil in the non-stick pan she shallow fried the fish. She had to make several trips to the toilet to puke, in between all the frying. In the process the fish got a little burnt. She hurriedly removed the burnt fish from the stove. While she wondered what to do, she heard the door bell ring, indicating Milind's arrival. Nandu kaka had opened the door for him. Catching the whiff of fried fish in the air, Milind cheerfully asked his man-servant if he has prepared his favourite pomfret fry. Nandu kaka told him that Prachi memsaab had prepared it for him. Just then Prachi came out of the kitchen, looking frightened. Milind did not notice her apprehension and smiled at her appreciatively, assuring her that he will come down to have the fish after he takes a quick shower. Since it was too late to do anything about the burnt skinny fish, she quietly set the table for dinner.

As promised, Milind joined her in five minutes flat, eager to eat his pomfret fry. When she laid the fish on his plate, his mouth literally gaped. He looked at her first and then at the fish and back at her.

"What is this thing?" he asked holding up one of the burnt fish which was nearly run down to its bones.

Prachi's eyes had welled up by now and she stuttered out.

"Thaaat. is a ..a po..o..mfret ... f..f..fry."

"A what? Where is the pomfret? I see mostly bones. If you can't prepare something, why take the trouble to prepare it at all? Nandu kaka would have prepared it." He pushed aside the plate and went to his study without having the rest of his dinner.

Prachi felt miserable that her effort to please her husband had backfired on her again. She quickly wiped away her tears and went to bed without her dinner.

She tried waiting up for her husband but fell asleep after some time. She did not know how long she had slept, but suddenly she felt herself being shaken. She woke up to see her husband sitting by her side.

"Prachi, wake up," he said gently, shaking her arm.

She got up with a start wondering what was wrong this time.

"Come, let's have our dinner," he said and led her to the small table in the room. On it were two plates and the vessels containing their dinner. He served vegetarian food and handed the plate to her. When she held it, she realised that he had heated up the food. He then served himself. She was surprised when he laid the three skinny burnt pomfrets on his plate and proceeded to munch on them, without a word. She was moved by his act and her eyes filled up again.

He looked up at her and asked in exasperation, "Now what did I do wrong this time around."

"You did not do anything wrong. Thank you for eating my burnt fish," she said with great feeling.

"What is it with you women? You weep for anything and everything. You can fill up all the water tanks in the city with your tears."

She smiled through her tears, prompting him to smile back.

Part XVII

Present

After breakfast Ayesha and Neev said that they wanted to leave for the S.O.S. village at Yervada, Pune, to meet two girls, Aishwarya and Abhinaya, whom they have been sponsoring for the last twelve years. They had no children of their own. Ayesha had a late marriage. In fact, her family had given up hope she would ever marry, not that they did not try. Milind too did his best to fix her up with some of his friends who were settled in the U.S. because she wanted to continue practicing law there. After completing the Juris Doctor (JD) programme from the Harvard Law school, she went on to finish her S.J.D. or Doctor of Juridical Sciences. She excelled in her studies and won the Laylin Prize for the best student paper written in the field of public international law.

Ayesha later took up a teaching assignment at Stanford Law School where she met Neev, who was her colleague. He had fallen for the stunningly beautiful, strong willed, brutally honest and intelligent woman from the very first day of their meeting but she had dissuaded him, saying that she was not interested in any men. Seeing Neev's queer expression, she had added that she wasn't interested in any women either. The fact that he was three years her junior in age also went against him. But Neev was a very determined man. After pursuing her relentlessly for three years, he finally got her consent and they were married fifteen years ago when Ayesha was 38 years old and Neev, 35.

As Ayesha's biological clock was ticking, they tried to start a family almost immediately, but were unsuccessful. A medical examination revealed that Ayesha had a cancerous tumor in her uterus and had to have a hysterectomy done immediately. The news was shattering not only for the Shergills but also for the Mishras and the Shahs. Milind and Prachi personally flew to the States to be with her during this time. After the surgery, they suggested that she consider adoption but she was not too keen on it, as she knew she will not be able to devote as much attention to the child, given the busy nature of her career. She and Neev had joined a reputed legal firm in LA as associates just six months prior to her surgery. Age was also a factor in her decision for she was 41 years old by then. She had instead decided to sponsor two children from the S.O.S. village. Neev supported her decision and they had met Aishwarya and Abhinaya as babies twelve years back. Both of them were excited to be meeting them after five years, the last time they had visited India.

Prachi made them promise to get back from Pune as early as possible as there was still so much to catch up with. They agreed and were about to leave when they heard Ishan's loud cry from his room.

"What the heck! Who did this?" he yelled out.

They rushed up to see what the matter was. Ishan was holding up a pair of denims, looking at it in frustration.

"What is it Ishan?" asked Prachi.

"Mama, don't tell me you did this?" he asked hopefully.

"Did what?" she asked in confusion.

"Don't tell me you darned the tears on the jeans!"

Prachi's heart sank and she said in a small voice, "I did! I thought the jeans looked so pathetically ripped and tattered. Since you did not want to get rid of the old stuff I thought I will mend it for you."

Hearing this, Milind guffawed. "Trust my dear Prachi to do something like that!"

"Oh, Mama. It is not an old pair," Ishan hit his head with his fist in frustration. "It is a brand new pair and it is supposed to be torn. That is the latest fashion."

Ayesha seemed amused by the whole situation, "Yes, Prachi," she nodded her head in agreement with her nephew. "They call it the distressed jeans! I know it leaves mothers like you distressed, but he is right, it is the in-thing right now. The more the denims look abused, shredded, tattered and torn, the more they are in demand. It is supposed to give that rugged look."

"Now, how am I going to wear this stuff?" asked Ishan in frustration. "My friends will laugh at me if I go wearing a darned pair of jeans."

Sahana giggled at her brother's plight, prompting him to glower at her.

Ayesha came to the rescue. "Don't worry Ishan. In fact, in all the chatting I forgot to give you all your gifts. I had got you a brand new pair of jeans. You'll love it. Wait, I'll be back in a minute," she said and rushed to her room.

Milind playfully tweeked Prachi's ear, "PPPrachi..PPPrachi. You did it again, didn't you? What does one say about your knowledge of fashion, or rather the lack of it!" Prachi glared at her husband, but looked at Ishan apologetically.

Ayesha came back with a decent looking pair of jeans. Ishan's excitement at seeing the new pair soon dissipated when he realized it wasn't torn. "Badi ma, this one is not torn," he said disappointedly.

"Don't worry, they'll slash with each wear! They are made in such a way that they automatically tear a bit every time you sit down or bend your knees. It's fun you know! You'll never know where they'll slit next."

Ishan took the pair happily from his aunt.

"Bro, be careful. They may start slitting in places you don't want them to!" said Sahana naughtily and ran out of the room with her brother hot on her heels.

Laughing at their children Milind and Prachi turned around to thank Ayesha for her thoughtful gift.

Milind later whispered in Prachi's ears, "This time too your sister has come to your rescue."

Prachi acknowledged that she has. Milind's thoughts went back to the first time he was painfully made aware of Prachi's appalling ignorance of the latest in men's fashion.

Past (Milind's flashback)

Milind had come home the previous night to the smell of fried fish. He was happy to learn that he was going to have his favourite pomfret fry but when he sat down for dinner he was stunned to see three pathetic looking brown-black pieces, nearly skinned to the bone, which went by the name of pomfrets. He couldn't believe that someone can manage to ruin such a simple dish. All his appetite vanished at the sight of the sorry item and he lashed out at the cook responsible for it- his ignorant and frightened wife.

He went into his study and shut himself up, trying to calm his highly strung nerves. A few minutes later he heard a knock on his door. He tried to ignore it at first, but whoever was at the door was very persistent. Finally he had to open the door. There, standing in front of him, was Nandu kaka with his hands folded in front of him, his eyes filled with tears. Milind was alarmed to see the elderly man in this state. Holding his hands in his, he asked him what was the cause of his tears.

"Saab, I'm sorry for saying this, but you should not have yelled at memsaab like that."

Milind was shocked to hear the soft spoken Nandu kaka speak up for his wife and mildly admonish him.

Nandu kaka continued, "The mistake was mine, not memsaab's. I let her cook the fish. Although I offered to make them for you, she insisted in doing it. She sounded so enthusiastic about doing something for you that I did not have the heart to say no to her. Maybe I should have insisted that I cook. But I need to tell you something. Memsaab really cares for you. I think she has never cooked any non-vegetarian food in her life. I could make out from the way she crinkled her nose at the smell of fish. I caught sight of her running from kitchen to the toilet and back again several times as she was throwing up throughout the frying. Despite her revulsion for fish, she still stuck on and prepared it only for you. Does that not count for something?

After you left without eating anything, memsaab cried a lot. She has now gone to bed on an empty stomach. I am sorry if I have spoken too much, but as this house has no elderly person to advise the young people living in it, I thought it was my duty to at least place before you the facts. I leave it to you to decide what you want to do." So saying Nandu kaka took leave and left Milind to ponder over whatever he had said.

It was true that Prachi was making genuine efforts to please him. It is quite another thing that every effort of hers seemed to be backfiring on her but at least her intentions were honourable and sincere. She has been doing her best to fulfil her duties as his wife. She even tried to prepare his favourite non-vegetarian dish inspite of having an aversion for such food herself. Maybe he was the one who needed to learn to be more patient and understanding. He had taken the marital vows to keep her happy and take care of her all through his life. But how has he fulfilled his duties as a husband? So far he has shown her nothing but anger at his worst and indifference at his best. If he had any intention to make this marriage work, he needs to do more than he was doing now.

Making up his mind, he returned to the hall. The table was bereft of any food. He walked up to the refrigerator and found the food in it. He heated it up and took it to their bedroom. Prachi was already fast asleep. Although he did not have the heart to wake her up, he did not want her to sleep on an empty stomach. He woke her up and served her the food. He then forced himself to eat the burnt food. Although it tasted horrible, her emotional reaction to it made it worth the effort.

That morning he was getting ready to meet some of his old friends from college. He looked out for his designer jeans. Since it was missing from his cupboard, he asked Prachi, who had just then entered their room, about it.

"Prachi did you see my denim jeans?"

"Which one? The tight fitting one?"

"Yes, where is it?" he asked getting increasingly impatient.

"I gave it away to charity," she replied.

"You did what? How dare you go about dispensing my clothes without asking me?"

"I?I?thought they were ttt?oo tttt?tight?ffor ?.yyyou," she stammered out.

"Too tight!? too tight? They are meant to be tight. That is the latest fashion. Or are you unaware of it? Oh! I forgot. You are unaware of a lot of things, aren't you? Wonder which world you live in," he furiously lashed out at her. Cursing loudly to give vent to his frustration, he pulled out another pair of jeans which was less trendy and went into the bathroom to change, leaving a crestfallen Prachi looking behind him tearfully.

Milind gave Prachi the silent treatment for the next few days, ignoring her completely. Four days later, Milind and Prachi drove to the airport to see Ayesha off. Ayesha was returning to Harvard to complete her final year of the Juris Doctor programme. She had made it clear to her papa she has no intention of returning to India any time soon as she wanted to pursue further studies in the U.S. Knowing Ayesha's obstinacy, Inder could not do much to change her decision.

During their journey to the airport, Milind maintained his silence. Prachi begged him to at least pretend before her family that everything was alright between them. He did not say anything to that.

After they reached the Sahar international airport, Prachi ran out to hug Ayesha who stood with her parents. Milind joined them after parking his car. He was courteous with his parents-in-law and smiled cheerfully at his sister-in-law. Ayesha appeared to be her usual chirpy self, although there was a trace of sadness at leaving behind her family.

"You know jiju. I'll miss you and your invigorating conversations the most. We have only met briefly but it seems like I have known you all my life. I am glad you entered our family by getting married to my sweet, sweet sister. Do keep her happy. Otherwise I'll take the next flight back from Boston to teach you a hard lesson you will never ever forget."

"Ayesha! Is this the way to speak to your jiju?" admonished Prem Latha. "Say sorry."

"That's OK, Ma. I know she is just joking," Milind stepped in.

"Oh, I nearly forgot. Jiju, here is something for you from this chatterbox, obnoxious saali," she said and handed him a packet.

Milind opened the packet to see a brand new pair of Jordache designer jeans in it. He looked up at her in surprise.

"How do you know I like designer jeans?"

"I don't. You see, I wanted to get you a gift but did not know what to buy. So I asked Prachi who told me that you like designer jeans. Great taste, jiju, keep it up."

Milind looked at Prachi in surprise. She looked away in embarrassment. Soon they heard the announcement for security check. Ayesha quickly hugged and kissed her parents and sister and shook Milind's hands warmly. Wishing them all goodby, she pushed her trolley into the airport.

On their way back home, Milind said in a soft voice "Sorry and Thank You."

Prachi looked back at him in wonderment. "For what?" she asked.

"Sorry for yelling at you and being grumpy all these days and thank you for the jeans."

"There is no sorry and thank you between husband and wife," she said and flashed him her most charming smile, revealing her dimples. Milind's heart skipped a beat and he applied the car brakes abruptly to gain his composure back. Jerked by the action, Prachi was thrown forward but she held on to her seat tightly.

"Are you alright?" he asked in concern.

She nodded her head in the affirmative. Milind then turned on the ignition of his car and they drove back home.

Part XVIII

Present

Ayesha had bought gifts for each of them. While Ishan happily went off to watch a movie with his friends in the new pair of jeans his aunt had gifted him, Sahana was thrilled to get a beautiful silver jewellery set, including necklace, bracelet and earrings from Tiffany's. Milind received a Rolex watch and Prachi, a beautiful salmon pink French lace saree. Prachi and Milind had got gifts for Ayesha and Neev too. She gave Ayesha a beautifully embroidered salwar suit designed by Ritu Kumar and Milind handed over a pair of diamond studded cufflinks to Neev.

Soon after, Ayesha and Neev left for Pune. Sahana had left for her French classes and Milind, for his work. Prachi was pretty much alone at home. As she held the lace saree gifted by Ayesha in her hands, Prachi's thoughts flew back to the other lacy gift given by her sister all those years back and the strong reaction it evoked in her husband the first time she wore it.

Past (Prachi's flashback)

It was a month since Ayesha had left for the States. Milind had been extremely busy at work during this time. The Pune project that he was hoping to complete a month ago was still unfinished. The hotel had to be inaugurated within the next one month, for Milind had already arranged for the International Hoteliers Conference to be conducted in the new hotel on July 27th. Prachi hardly got to spend any time with her husband, weighed as he was by his work. Over dinner that Saturday, Milind had informed her that the interior designer, whom he had problems with, had to be finally fired for incompetency. He had engaged a new designer in his place, who will be coming home the next day to discuss the plans with him. Prachi tried telling him that he was working too hard and that at least on a Sunday he should rest, but he was unwilling to heed, saying that every day counts as the d-day was too close at hand.

The next morning Prachi opened the door to a dusky voluptuous beauty, who landed on their doorstep. The woman was an absolute stunner. Standing tall at 5' 9", she wore large goggles which sat on a sharp aquiline nose, a figure-hugging sleeveless top with a deep plunging neckline and tight fitting designer jeans. Removing her goggles to reveal large lustrous and seductive eyes, she opened her full luscious lips to introduce herself as Ms. Mallika Seth, the new designer for the Pune Project of the Mishra Group of Hotels. Her long hip- length straight black hair which she left open, swung partially to the front when she shook Prachi's hand vigorously. Prachi was stunned to see her because Milind had failed to mention the previous night that he had engaged a woman, that too an attratice one at that, for the job. Just then Milind arrived on the scene and escorted her to his study. The two of them were cooped up in the room for the rest of the day.

Prachi felt distinctly uneasy about her husband spending so much time with a stranger, much more than he had ever spent with her in the two months they were married. She knew that it was an official meeting but she felt insanely jealous. She kept finding excuses to barge into the study and interrupt them as often as possible. Within minutes of their starting their discussion, she entered into the study.

"Excuse me. Sorry to disturb you, but can I bring something to drink?" she asked innocently.

Milind shook his head but looked at Mallika inquiringly.

"I'll have something cool. It is pretty hot this summer." Mallika fanned herself even though she was sitting in an air-conditioned study.

"Cool? What about fresh lime juice?" asked Prachi.

"That'll be great!"

As soon as she came out, Prachi mimicked the woman, "That'll be great!" Wagging her finger, she said to herself, "Well, I'll make sure it will just be great. Phony woman, pretending to feel hot sitting in an air-conditioned room," she said to herself. Maybe she was feeling hot in the presence of her hot husband, she thought. "Well, I wouldn't blame her but there is no way I'll sit back and watch her hog all my husband's attention," she swore to herself.

She returned to the study a few minutes later with a glass of lime juice. She handed it to her and waited for her reaction. Soon enough it came, for the minute Mallika took the first sip of the drink, her face contorted.

"Anything wrong?" asked Prachi pretending not to know the reason.

"I think you have not added sugar in this, Mrs.Mishra."

"I've not added sugar? Sorry, hand me the glass. I'll be back in a jiffy." She smiled sweetly, took the glass back and turned to leave. Before she left the room she turned back and said, "By the way, you can call me Prachi."

Mallika flashed her a perfect set of pearly white teeth. "And you can call me Mallika."

As Prachi went back to the kitchen and added sugar to the glass of juice, she muttered to herself. "Her teeth are perfect too! Damn the woman. Why does she have to look so ravishingly beautiful? More importantly why does she have to work with my husband?"

She returned with the glass and was about to hand it over to her when she noticed that Mallika was sitting quite close to Milind and leaning towards him to show her designs. From the vantage point that Prachi was standing, she could clearly see Mallika's cleavage through her low neckline. She was sure Milind could also see what was visible to her. She felt furious that the shameless woman would go about displaying herself to HER husband. She deliberately tripped and knocked the glass of juice on the tray she was carrying. The contents spilled on Mallika's top. She screeched aloud and quickly got up, looking down at her wet top in dismay. Milind looked at Prachi in surprise.

"Oh! I'm sorry, very sorry. Clumsy of me. Don't worry, I'll lend you one of my kurtas to change into. Please come this way." She led her to their room and gave her a loose fitting kurta which had a high closed neck. Mallika came out wearing the kurta over her jeans. Since she was much taller than Prachi, the kurta came only up to her knees.

"You can give me your top, I'll have it washed before it stains and have it dried for you. You'll be able to change back into it before you leave," she said sweetly and took the wet top from her hand.

Mallika went back into the study and recommenced her discussion where she left off. A few minutes later, Prachi went back into the study with a plate of biscuits.

"Here's something to munch while you discuss," she said cheerfully while leaving the plate on the nearby teapoy.

Milind looked up at her sharply and said that they'll not be requiring anything more. Prachi nodded her head and quickly left the room. She did not want to push it too far and make him lose his cool in the presence of a stranger.

Mallika had lunch with them and was completely involved with Milind during the entire time they were at the dining table. Prachi was pretty put off seeing this, although she knew they were discussing only official matters. She went into the kitchen and knocked down a few vessels in order to make enough noise to disturb them and vent out her frustration. To ensure that Milind does not get irked by her actions, she quickly came out of the kitchen every few minutes to apologise for making a nuisance of herself.

After lunch Milind and Mallika went back into the study and continued with their discussions. Prachi hung just outside the room, keeping a watchful eye on Mallika. Every time she felt that Mallika's proximity to her husband was a little close for comfort, she would get Milind to temporarily leave his seat by telling him that he has got a call. She even elicited Nandu kaka's help in this endeavour so that Milind does not get suspicious of her behaviour. She then would sit in the place vacated by Milind and chat with her till Milind returned back, looking confused since there would have been no response to the calls he was made to attend. Prachi would leave her place only after he had taken his seat next to her. This way she ensured that there was at least one person space between the two.

Milind and Mallika tried their best to complete their work amidst all these interruptions. By the time they were through, it was already 8.00 pm. Milind asked Mallika to have dinner with them and she readily agreed. This time Prachi cornered her and chatted with her so that Mallika's attention is not on her husband.

After dinner, Prachi informed Mallika that her dress was dry and she can change back into it. It is only then that Mallika realised she was still clad in Prachi's kurta.

Mallika thanked her and went up to quickly change back into her own clothes. Before leaving, Mallika shook Milind's hands.

"Thank you, Sir. We managed to cover quite a lot of ground today. I'll be leaving for Pune tomorrow and I'll put all your ideas into action. I promise that all the pending items of work will be completed in less than three weeks so that you will have enough time to make the arrangements for the Conference."

"Thank you, Ms.Seth. I like your spirit. Will see you in Pune in a couple of days."

As she shut the door behind Mallika, Prachi heaved a sigh of relief.

Milind went back into his study and continued to work. Seeing this, Prachi got irritated. 'Was it not enough he worked all day. Should he work all night too?', she thought. Making up her mind, she went to their bedroom and opened the wardrobe. There, hidden amidst her clothes, was a skimpy black nightgown. It was made of sheer muslin and lace, had noodle thin straps and fell well above the knees. It was a parting gift from her sister, Ayesha, before she left for Harvard the previous month. She had not had the guts to wear it till date, shy as she was of wearing something so revealing. However, Mallika's overpowering looks and attitude, coupled with the fact that the woman managed to spend an entire Sunday with HER husband, thus depriving her of his time, was enough of a provocation for Prachi to try turning on her charms full throttle on her husband.

She slipped into the semi-transparent, short and sexy night gown and went down to the hall. She searched among her old tapes and found the song she was looking for. It was Aa Jaane Jaa from the movie Inteqam (Song link given below). She put the tape into the music player and waited for the prelude to elapse. As soon as the melody began, she turned up the volume of the stereo and stepped into Milind's study. Milind jerked up his head, hearing the music. He stared at her with widened eyes and gaping mouth. Her eyes never leaving her husband's, she started swaying seductively to the song, as it floated in the air. She writhed her body and pouted her lips to the beat of the music, leaving Milind completely stumped.

http://ww.smashits.com/music/hindi-movie/play/songs/8342/INTAQAM/74071/AA-JANE-JAAN-REVIVAL.html