"Daadi have you taken all the tablets? Even the one for BP you keep forgetting?"
"Yes my child, I have taken them all. Don't worry about me, I am with Indu here. You go spend some time with Abhi now. I will see you for dinner."
Pragya smiles at her daadi's and shut the door behind her and is about to walk away when she overhears their conversation.
"Didi, it's been so long now. Our Abhi and Pragya have overcome all their misunderstandings and are always looking out for each other. I feel so happy seeing them. But I wonder when are they going to give us the good news? It's been so long that I haven't fondled a little one."
"Arre Indu, you just said, what I have been pondering about for some time now. Now Raj's children have grown up, they have their own studies and friends. They hardly ever come to visit us. How I would love to hear the cries of my Ahi's little one in the house now. With my great grandchild for company, I will become a healthy horse again!" smiled daadi, at the mere idea of the baby's presence.
Pragya smiled, and left for her room. The sound of her and Abhi's child playing in the Mehra Mansion with daadi, daasi and keeping them company, made her heart grow warm. Indeed, they were right. There was no misunderstanding between her and Abhi now. He treats her nicely, and never gloats and talks about the day she will leave the house. She hardly ever sees him talking about or meeting Tanu. Maybe he doesn't want her to leave anymore? And if that is true and they are finally on the right track, then why does he never tell her that? Why are they still living life like the two banks of a river. Always together, always taking care of lives around them, but never really together in the right sense.
Pragya went to the kitchen to make Abhi's cinnamon coffee and ruminated about the state of their relationship, when it struck her suddenly. This was Abhi she was talking about. Apart from being daadi's loving grandson and Aaliyah's caring brother and her sweet, adorable companion (well now at least!), he was still predominantly ABHI - The only Rock-Star of the entire nation. He carried along with him an ego that was roughly the size of an obese African elephant! However sweet and cute he may behave, a little bit of the rockstar always ebbs in him thought Pragya lovingly. He would never own up before her - his "char aankho wali biwi/chashmish/fuggy" - that he wants her to stay, that he wants their relationship to work. At most, he would drop hints - isn't he already doing that? Didn't he challenge her to propose to him, didn't he say she was romantic indeed and lucky would be the guy who she actually proposes to? Well, was he hinting her to make him lucky? Pragya blushed at the thought. She realized the time has come, to take their relation to the next level - to truly be man and wife. She was going to tell Abhi about her feelings. And she would make it his most memorable night.
***
"Oyi fuggy! Why can't you tell me where we are going? And why did you take so long to dress up? And why are you wearing a saree? Don't you wear sarees only on special occasions? Oh! I got it now, so today is special? Hmmm...but how do you know that today is special? I haven't told you anything yet! You can't know unless you have cheated! You cheater!" finished Abhi with a fake angry pout.
"Cheating? Abhi what are you saying? Yes, today is special for me , but I didn't know its special for you too. I..."
"Hmph. Don't act over smart chashmish! When did I say it's a special day for me! It's a special day for you! And you weren't supposed to know and plan for your own surprise!"
"Exactly! It's a special day for me, how can I not know about it, when I planned it myself? Abhi you naah."
"Cheater Fuggy Hmph." And then he walked out of the room, before she could speak.
Pragya just stood there astonished. Trust Abhi to confuse the life out of her. She turned around to see an amused Aaliyah standing at her door. She shared her confused look with her. To which she smiled and walked in. Ever since her "wrist slitting incident" Aaliyah had turned a new leaf. True she was still best friends with Tanu and still wished that her bhai and Tanu's relationship worked out. But she put in no effort to jeopardise Pragya and Abhi's relationship. She wanted Abhi to take this call. If her bhai chose Pragya she was happy with that. In fact she had not only stopped making life difficult for her, in fact she even started befriending her to a subtle extent - which is why when she smiled and walked in today, Pragya wasn't surprised.
"Bhabi don't be so confused, I will tell you what just happened. Bhai has to tell you something very important and hence he wanted to make this day special for you. I helped him plan his surprise also, but when he came home, it turned out that even you have planned a surprise for him, because today is already a special day for you somehow. But he thought maybe you already found out what he has to say, and so he thought his surprise is spoilt. So he was so upset."
"Oh! That's why I was wondering Aaliyah that suddenly why was he so angry. It's okay, I am sure his surprise plan would be better than mine anyway, so we will go wherever you both planned for us. I will cancel my arrangements"
"By the way Bhabi, what is special about today otherwise? Why were you planning a surprise?"
Pragya blushed a little, before replying, "Let us comeback, then I will tell you Aaliyah" and then she hurried out of her room, leaving a stunned Aaliyah behind, whispering sadly, "Oh No Bhabi!"
***
"Not bad fuggy, you now want to go for my surprise over yours! In this eight months you have become smart! I mean, last time we went by your choice, you found yourself a lecher at your favourite restaurant, remember? God knows, what I was about to combat tonight!" he chuckled.
Pragya laughed at that. Abhi will never learn modesty! But wasn't that a part of him she learnt to adore over time, too? Well it didn't matter whether they were going to his choice of destination or hers' - wherever they went, tonight she is the one who will make his night special and not the other way round. But what important thing did he need to tell her, for which he planned a surprise for her? Oh God! Did he plan the evening for the same reason she did? Is he actually going to set aside his Rockstar ego for a while and tell her how he feels for her? If that is what she has signed up for tonight, then she will be more than glad to let him steal the crowning glory of surprising her tonight! She would wait for another day - not every day does a rockstar behave humble afterall! No wonder Aaliyah was so stunned!
When the car stopped, she was surprised to be standing outside the "Sanjay Gandhi National Park". Why exactly had Abhi chosen the forests to tell her about his feelings, was beyond her - this was Abhi's uniqueness redefined! But they didn't stop there. From there, they got onto a ranger driven forest jeep and drove into the forest. Pragya's heart beat stopped! Maybe Aaliya had not changed at all - maybe this was her plan to get Pragya killed! Oh God! Someone should have taught this arrogant rockstar the difference between romance and murder!
"Abhi are you mad? Why on earth are we driving through a wild forest in the evening? This isn't even legal! How much did you bribe this man?"
"Relax fuggy! Why fear when Abhi - the man is there?" chuckled Abhi.
"Abhi! There are tigers here!! Who knows if a few of them are man-eater? What if they kill us? Abhi let's go back! Let's go for my surprise, its so much less risky!"
"Arre relax fuggy! Even if a tiger or for that matter a lion decides to consider you worthy enough to put into their mouth, they will only do so after devouring on me. And when you see them eating me, you will die of shock anyway. So it will be painless!"
"And why do you think they will eat you before? Been interning with National Geography have you?"
"No. I just assumed these animals have common sense! Why use a toothpick before eating food?" laughed Abhi uncontrollably! And to Pragya's utter dismay, even the driver joined him!
"ABHI!!"
The car then stopped. Pragya noticed they had reached a clearing in the forest, a huge clearing. She got out of the car after Abhi to see an exquisite array of caves before her. In the dark night, the gigantic caves would look intimidating, but it didn't look that way tonight - The main cave was lit with a thousand candles which made it look like the cave was glowing from inside. It was beyond her dreams and indeed she felt she has reached some fantasy land. She felt Abhi's hand gently holding her shoulder as he softly murmured into her ears, "Welcome to Kanheri Caves chashmish".
***
When Abhi held her hand and took her inside the cave, it was her turn to gasp in amazement one more time. Not only was it lit with beautiful scented candles, but he had also arranged for dining inside the cave. One single table and two chairs stood there in solidarity and Robin to take care of their food for the night!
Pragya was rendered speechless at the arrangement. She looked at Abhi slowly with tear filled eyes and tried to say "Thank You" but nothing came out. Abhi on the other hand was his usual self - joking and making fun of her and eating away to glory. After the food, Robin moved out of the cave and waited for them in the car parked a little further down.
"Oyi fuggy! Do you want to dance with me?"
"Dance? Have you arranged for music too?"
"Uff fuggy! You are married to a walking talking orchestra and you're worried about music? I will sing and dance with you at the same time!"
Soon they were clumsily dancing to Abhi's melodious tune of "Baatein kuch ankahein si, kuch unsuni si hone lagi...kaboo dil per raha na, hasti humari khone lagi.."
After the dance they sat on the entrance of the cave. She requested for songs like a fan girl and he sang them! The rawness of the forest around seemed to set them free of all possible inhibitions that were put around them in their house - not that anyone stopped them from singing or dancing at home, but it was like the walls between their hearts had fully dropped. They were chatting about random things - childhood, school, college, work, friends, family, crushes, sibling stories, hardships. One story led to the other and neither found a lack of interest in the others story. That night in the caves was magical by all rights, and they never realized how time flew.
"I don't want this night to ever end chashmish, I want to be here, in this spell forever" whispered Abhi, after staring quietly at the forest horizon for a while.
Pragya turned to look at him. He had done enough to show her his feelings and she has felt so very special. Now he was working up for the last bit, it was the toughest for him, his ego. No, he needn't do it - she didn't need him to work so hard, hadn't she loved him for who he was? Then why change him? His ego is as much a part of him. Pragya decided to confess her feelings first for Abhi.
"Abhi, I want to tell you something..."
"Hold on chashmish, I think, it's time for my surprise now! Your thoughts have to wait for a while"
Before Pragya could respond, Abhi produced an envelope from his pocket and handed it to her. Pragya took it uncertainly and opened the envelope and found an official letter inside. She knew Abhi enough to not expect a love letter inside, but an official letter?
It was a letter from the University of Yale for Dr. Pagya Arora. It said that her application for the post of an assistant teaching professional had been accepted and hence they were making her an offer. It also said that her joining was due in two weeks' time.
Pragya looked up at Abhi, utterly confused for the second time that night. He had an excited smile on his face! "Yale and all Chashmish! Very posh!" he sniggered.
"Abhi, what is the meaning of all this? How can I go? You? Daadi? Ma? How is this going to ----"
"Relax fuggy! Breathe! I have it all covered." For once Abhi looked serious and he placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder and he continued.
"Pragya, you and I - this marriage, we know it better than anybody else that it is nothing remotely close to a marriage. We are two roommates who have finally become used to each other and are turning to become somewhat like friends at most. So no one knows better than us that, even though we have no misunderstandings between us now, we can never fix this marriage - the very base of our marriage is incorrect. This - Pragya, cannot go on forever. We both deserve better from a marriage. You deserve to have a husband who actually loves and doesn't consider you a roommate or a friend. I deserve true love too - Tanu's love."
If one knows how it feels to fall from a thousand feet high up in the air without any restraints - that is exactly what Pragya was feeling right now. But her face never showed it. She doubted this was her strength - she was too numbed from within to emote. She responded in a plain voice.
"When was the last time you met Tanu properly, spent time with her? I thought that you guys had called it off."
"I know that I haven't met her in a long time. But we didn't call it off Pragya. In fact if you paid attention, you would have noticed that ever since the MMS fiasco, I have never really met her or spent time with her properly."
"Abhi that incident happened two months back."
"Yes, and it was around that time that you pointed it out to me that how much it hurt you to see me infidel in our marriage. You asked me how I could blame you with Suresh when I have done the same thing with you all along. I don't remember what I ranted in reply, but your question dug in me deep. I suspected that maybe you had developed some feelings for me, and I was more outraged. But later, the more I thought of the MMS, I felt, my anger towards you were not only because the MMS could hurt my daadi or my image - though both were my main reasons - but there was a peripheral reason too - it was, you are my wife! How could you do this to me? - It made me realize, you have been experiencing the same feeling ever since our wedding night - and no it wasn't out of love you felt hurt - it was something else. I know not what, but I felt it too, I could relate to it. Hence I decided, as long as we are in the marriage, I will remain loyal to the relation we share. I told Tanu, all will be well between us only after our divorce. Therefore I haven't been meeting her - it is not because I have stopped loving her Pragya"
Pragya after hearing this found it hard to breathe. Her tears were threatening to come out any moment now. But by now she has finally learnt to master the art of controlling her tears. With a lot of effort she put up an almost steady voice and asked further.
"So, once the MMS was cleared two months back, why did you not divorce me? Why did you wait for two more months Abhi?"
"For you.
Pragya looked at him uncertainly, and he looked back at her and held on to her eyes. It lasted for a brief while and then he snapped out of it and looked straight ahead of him and continued.
"After knowing you're the innocent victim whose life I ruined Pragya, I couldn't put you through anything harsh anymore. I wanted to ensure that after our divorce, life would be back to normal for you. I don't want any bit of your future to suffer because of my ignorance in the past. I started applying to universities abroad for positions in teaching. I know that after the verdict of our divorce is out, the prospect of you having a normal life for at least a year is impossible. Even I won't be able to save you from the piercing questions of the press. But as a husband or a friend, however you want to see me, I couldn't let you suffer anymore. Our divorce verdict will be out a good two weeks after you and Sarla aunty leave for the States. Once everything is under control, you can take a call, whether you want to return or stay on. I owed you this much didn't I" smiled Abhi.
Pragya's throat was parch dry. She didn't feel like she could cry ever again. She had somehow dried up inside. She was an empty casket.
"Abhi, as per the offer, I leave in two weeks. There won't be enough time to file a divorce petition within two weeks."
"Don't worry Pragya, I have it ready and signed. I was only waiting for the offer letter which arrived today. Once you sign it, tomorrow first thing I will send it across, after which you are free from this farce marriage."
"And Ma and Daadi? How will we ever convince them?" Pragya asked nonchalantly.
"From tomorrow, as you start your visa paperwork, I will handle them. I will take care of it, you don't worry. They will understand. If they don't, they will hate me, never you. I am sorry for everything chashmish"
As Pragya looked at Abhi, she was surprised at her own ebbing thoughts. She was pained yes - she was losing the man she loved more than life, but who wouldn't be pained at that. What she found startling was the respect she felt for Abhi at that moment. Heartbroken yes, but who would imagine that Abhi would willingly risk his relationship with Tanu and even Daadi to fix things for her? Along with pain and respect, she felt oddly crisp and detached from everything suddenly. She loved Abhi dearly - as much as that was a fact, fact was also that - Abhi loved Tanu dearly. Fact was Abhi was trying everything in his control to keep her away from any brash repercussions of being divorced by a celebrity husband. Like a real husband, he took care of her present and future before forsaking her. What else could he do? He had almost fixed everything - how could she hate him?
"It's okay. I have already erased the past." - he smiled at this and gave her a tight side hug, "By the way, congratulations chashmish!"
"Thank-you Abhishek" replied Pragya with a smile.
Abhi was taken aback for a moment. "Abhishek"? But he knew better, so he didn't question her. She was now looking straight ahead at the forest horizon. He looked ahead too. They were silent for a while. Then he suddenly remembered.
"Chashmish, you wanted to say something, before I handed you the letter nah?"
Pragya turned to face Abhi, and he could see the calm settling in her eyes. They were strangely dry, well he didn't expect tears (who is he kidding? Of course he did! She cried for the smallest of things! Who would think, getting through Yale wouldn't make her shed tears!) but her eyes were drier than the normal, there was no moist at all, not even the usual moist. It looked like a pair of dead eyes to him. But then she opened her mouth to speak.
"Yes, I wanted to say that our night is over Abhishek, it's morning now."
Pragya then got up and slowly started walking towards the jeep. Abhi sat there staring at her retreating figure for a while, before getting up and joining her.
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