Since childhood nakku loved the festival of ganesh chaturthi. Those 10 ? 11 days were pure bliss for her, she would visit each and every temple in her town where lord ganesha's idol was placed and would not miss attending the evening aarti each single day and on the final day her father would carry baby nakku on his shoulders to show her the immersion of the idol. So today too she couldn't stop herself from visiting the nearby temple. She wanted to take AS's permission before leaving with roops but she was sleeping so didn't bother to disturb her.
Dutta came back after attending his meeting in the evening and found her missing. It was already 8 and she hadn't returned on top of that she had gone alone with roops without taking the guards along. He walked up and down the room restlessly, he tried calling roops on her cell but it wasn't reachable this was making him more furious. He had countless enemies who would never leave an opportunity to harm him and his family, how could she be so careless? He didn't even know which temple to go and look for her, with each passing minute his temper was rising one notch up. He threw the cell phone on the couch in anger as he couldn't get through roops.
As the clock struck 9 she entered the room excitedly with the Prasad for him. His back was facing her so she called him out " sahab ! Prasad." He turned around and gazed at her hand that had come forward to give him the sweet, he crossed his arms around his chest and stared at her. She moved her hand back slowly, " waqt kya ho raha hai kuch pata hai?" he asked bitterly. She swallowed her lump in the throat and replied " jee nau baj gaye hain ..thodi der ho gayi..woh darshan karne ke liye line mein khade khade hi do ghante nikal gaye." He narrowed his eyes and clenched his jaw firmly " tu meri patni hai , tujhe line mein khada hone ki kya zaroorat thi ?" she lifted her lowered head to defend herself " meri aayi kehti hai jitni mushkil se bappa ke darshan ho bappa utne khush hote hain." He flared his nostrils and pressed his teeth hard " teri aayi kya kehti hai ya sochti hai mujhe ussey kuch lena dena nahin hai..lekin tune is ghar ke bahar bina guards ke kadam kaise rakha?." she shivered at the way he was growling at her, tears welled up in her eyes but she pushed them back thinking that behind all his anger his concern for her was hiding she could sense that he was worried for her, after all she was not an ordinary girl anymore she was now dutta shreeram patil's wife, she had to act responsibly henceforth. She nodded her head and said " jee agli baar mein mandir guard ke saath jayegi." He raised his index finger to warn her " nahin itni bheedh (crowd) main tu sirf guards hi nahin balki tab jayegi jab main bhi saath main hoon." He was fiercely protective about his family and now she was part of it. She blinked her eyes in acceptance then brought her hand back to give him the Prasad, he let out a deep sigh, in spite of all this she didn't forget to give him the Prasad, he took it reluctantly.
In the morning before leaving for work AS stopped dutta and told him that purohit ji had come to invite them for ganesha puja at ganpati temple, since she was keeping unwell she advised that rest of the family should go and visit the temple, nakku was standing near the kitchen door and got excited at the prospect of going to the temple, she looked at his back which was facing her with the hope that he would take her out but he had something else in mind when he replied " jee AS chale jayenge abhi toh bahut din baaki hain puja khatam hone mein." Her face dropped on hearing his words and she went back to the kitchen in dismay.
He moved his hand on to the other side of the bed and found it empty, he squinted his eyes and looked around she was nowhere, where had she gone in the middle of the night he wondered. He got up and went out of the room he was about to climb down the stairs when he saw her coming up, he knotted his eye brows and asked hoarsely " itni raat ko kahan gayi thi?" She coiled the edge of her saree around her finger and answered ," woh maine akhand jyoth (a lamp which is kept illuminated for a certain period of time) jalayi hai usi mein ghee dalne gayi thi kahin bhujhe (extinguish) na ..meri aayi kehti hai.." she stopped in the middle thinking he didn't like to hear what her mother said. She looked at him he was waiting for her to complete what she was saying, she took a deep breath and continued " woh kehte hain agar diya dus din tak jalta rahe toh bappa humari manchahi iccha (wish) puri karte hain." He was amused at her belief and wanted to ask what did she wish for but then it was her life, her wish so refrained himself from doing so and went back to the room quietly.
Dutta was busy with his work and would come back home late, nakku didn't have the courage to ask him when he would take her out and slowly days went by. With each passing day she became restless and gloomy, roops saw her sad face and one evening proposed to ask him on her behalf, she dialed his number and asked " bhau mujhe aap se kuch poochna tha.." dutta closed his stressed eyes and rubbed his forehead with his left hand ," roops agar baat zaroori nahin hai toh main jab ghar lautoon phir karein abhi main kaam mein bahut busy hoon." She bit the inside of her cheek and said " theekh hai bhau." And disconnected the call. Nakku kept her hand on roops shoulder and gave her a reassuring look " koi baat nahin ..main theekh hoon." An hour later dutta called back home and informed nakku that tonight he would be late so no need to worry and wait for him.
After completing her daily chores nakku sat on the dining chair gazing at the door and the clock from time to time. Soon her eyes became heavy and she drifted off to sleep by resting her head on the table. It was midnight when he came back with his hands in his pockets thinking about his new dealer, something was not right about that man he thought he then saw her sleeping figure. He went close to her and called her out but she didn't react, he went closer and stood next to her, he shook his head in annoyance, even after being informed she was waiting for him there was no need for her to trouble herself for him like that. She was sleeping in an uncomfortable position with her hair falling on her eyes, he raised his hand and moved her hair back fixing them behind her ear, his fingers brushed her soft skin making her murmur " sahab", even in her sleep she could make out his touch and slowly she opened her eyes to find him gazing back at her. She stood up immediately and said " main apke liye khaana laati hai." He pulled out another chair and sat there waiting for the food soon she came and served him then began pouring a glass of water for him. With his eyes on his plate he asked gently " tune khaaya?" She looked at him and said hesitantly " nahin", his eyes shot up at once, "aainda (henceforth) mere liye rukne aur jaagne ki koi zaroorat nahin hai?samjhi?" This was something she couldn't comply with nor did she want to argue with him so kept quiet and took out a plate for herself ,both shared a silent meal.
She went to the kitchen to wash the dishes and after some time came out to go to her room when she saw him filling the diya which she had lit with ghee. She smiled at his concern and went to him. He was dropping a huge chunk of half molten ghee on the diya from the top, fearing this might extinguish the flame she held his hand to reduce its quantity, " sahab itna zyada nahin." He raised his eye brow and said sheepishly " woh maine ye sab pehle kabhi kiya nahin?bachpan (childhood) mein AS hi saari puja karti thi." She grinned and shook her head, " koi baat nahin." She took a step back and asked, "waise chote hote aap kya karte the?" he frowned at her question for a moment, thought about it then smirked and replied ," kuch nahin ..bus AS kab aarti khatam karengi aur mujhe Prasad mein modak (sweet)dengi iska intezaar karta tha." She narrowed her eyes in suspicion when she saw him standing next to the plate where modaks were kept ," kahin aaj bhi isiliye toh aap nahin aaye?" He followed her gaze and saw the plate then began laughing " nahin nahin main sach mein diye mein ghee dalne aaya tha." She was pleased to see him like that ," hansa karo sahab, aap hanste hue bahut acche lagte ho." He stopped smiling on hearing her and lowered his head," chal raat bahut hogayi ." she turned to leave when he glanced at the plate and picked up two pieces of the sweet, popped one in his mouth immediately and slipped the other one in his pocket. He was climbing the stairs behind her when she stopped and turned around suddenly, she pointed towards the corner of his mouth, he frowned at her ," woh thoda sa modak apke muh ke pass laga hai." And began climbing the stairs again, he rubbed his mouth with the back of his hand and kicked himself mentally on getting caught.
To be continued.
Thanks for reading
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Rose
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