FF: KUCH LUV JAISA - LAST pt pg-72 NOTEpg-75 - Page 22

Chapter 11

She sat near the entrance door to complete the colorful rangoli, after doing so she stood up to admire it and pressed the back of her neck as it was paining due to the hours she had put it in making the diwali rangoli, she then turned to gaze at the door, the bandhanwars or door hangings made of bells, beads and mirrors were looking nice. Glass and brass made lamps were placed at different corners of the house along with a wall hanging of Lord Ganesha and Goddess Lakshmi hung on the wall adjoining the steps going to their room. The last thing left was to light the floating candles in the hall.

Kala, kishore, leela , sudarshan and the kids had come over to stay at patil niwas to celebrate diwali which was still a day away. The whole house was buzzing with excitement as the adults of the family were busy playing cards in the hall. Dutta picked up the three cards one more time and smirked after seeing what poor cards he had in his hands once again, tonight he was losing badly to kala who was betting without even looking at her cards and still was winning in the end, the lady luck was not in his favor he thought till Nakku came to the hall to light the candles floating in the glass bowl filled with water and decorated with rose petals, she smiled on recalling how he had warned her in the evening to be careful while bursting crackers with the kids and while lighting candles around the house, he knew she was prone to accidents thus didn't want her to hurt herself in anyway. She saw everyone enjoying the game, it felt nice to have the whole family together under one roof. This time he was a bit relieved as he saw his cards, they were decent enough to play but wasn't sure whether they were good enough to beat kala's, he was reluctant to continue the game when he saw nakku giving him an innocent smile unaware of what was happening in the card session, her smile had some magic in it that made him play further and not only play but also win the game. She left the hall after lighting the candles to make some coffee for everybody as they cheered for dutta, finally he did manage to win something but his success didn't last long and once again he began losing this time to sudarshan which was even more annoying. With lack of interest he continued to play and decided not to see his cards till the end, she came back with coffee mugs and began serving everybody. The stakes were going high as kala was very upbeat about her cards compelling the rest to back off, he saw that confidence in his sister's eyes which made him grin inwardly thinking one more game he would lose to her. Nakku placed his coffe mug next to his cards which were faced down, he traced his fingers on them hoping something great comes out just then baaji interrupted," bhau ye patte vaheni ko uthane de..kya pata teri kismet palat jaye." Nakku frowned at baaji and shook her head dismissing the idea then turned to leave when dutta held her wrist and indicated her to pick his cards. She bit her lower lip nervously and kneeled down to pick the cards, she shut her eyes tight as she upturned them one by one, then instead of looking down at the cards looked at him for his reaction, his eyes were cold not letting out any emotion and made her feel all the more scared but thankfully baaji came to her rescue and screamed," bhau jeet gaye ." she heaved a sigh of relief and met his eyes once again, this time his lips broke into a smile. She got up to leave when roops suggested ," vaheni apke liye bahut lucky hai..unhe jaane mat do bhau." She was indeed his lucky charm both the games that he won she was somewhere around him. He lifted his head to glance at her, she didn't believe in all this and said," aap log kheliye mujhe rasoi mein kaam hai." But he didn't want to let go his lady luck," kaam baad mein bhi ho jayega..par abhi tu baith mere saath." Her cheeks turned scarlet at the way he was ordering her in front of everyone, she sat down silently before he would forcefully make her do so by holding her hand and embarrass her further. Kala withdrew herself from the game, she had lost too much in the last game and didn't wish to continue but then his other sister leela became more active, he shook his head on seeing a small pair in his hands and was about to drop the cards when nakku stopped him, she knew this card game well thanks to her father who spent most of his time in gambling. She took the cards from his hands as he sipped on his coffee to play on his behalf making him win this time too. He gave her appreciative looks when they continued to win as the night progressed. It was way passed midnight, the family decided to call it a night and retired to their respective rooms.

Couple of hours later she stepped out after taking her morning shower and adjusted her sari in front of the mirror then wore her mangal sutra around her neck. She took out his clothes from his cupboard then placed them on the bed. She walked to the window to open it then stopped herself midway, they slept late in the night and also it was diwali holiday so didn't feel like waking him up. She made a mental note of all the things she was supposed to do today while removing the towel from her wet hair. She had to first ready the puja room for evening's lakshmi puja then make a sumptuous dinner for the whole family as kala had taken up the responsibility of preparing lunch, it had been a while since she had cooked something for her brother. It would be a hectic day she concluded while brushing her hair with the towel when suddenly she heard him groan, her gaze fell on his wet face as he opened his eyes in annoyance. She bit the inside of her cheek for ruining his sleep one more time, she walked near the edge of the bed and slowly sat next to him then with the edge of her towel wiped off the droplets from his face softly, he was wide awake now and stared at her, she moved her fingers through his messed up hair and with a sweet smile wished," diwali Mubarak ho sahab." He knotted his brows and asked," paani daal kar tu diwali mana rahi hai ya holi?.." she gave him an apologetic look and got up to leave when she heard him from behind," mujhe jagaane ke liye tu ye sab jaan bhoojh kar karti hai nah?" she tried to control herself from laughing and turned around then shook her head in negation," nahin ..bus apne aap ho jaata hai." then left the room quietly.

Soon after the lunch babi and ganpat came over to patil niwas to wish the family on the prosperous occasion as well as to congratulate both dutta and nakku who were on the path of becoming parents soon. AS welcomed them both warmly in the hall and asked," aap log kya lenge?" ganpat who was facing the bar filled with different brands of whiskey bottles parted his lips to speak but just then babi elbowed and glared at him, she kept a box of sweets along with a basket of fruits on the table which they had bought with themselves and said" nahin AS hum humein kuch nahin chaiye ...bus aap sabko badhai dene aaye the." AS smiled acknowledging their good wishes and replied while glancing at nakku," phir bhi aap muh toh meetha keejiye ..nakku beta mithai leke aa." Nakku went to the kitchen to get some sweets and when she came back dutta had also joined her parents in the hall. She offered the sweets happily and babi took a small piece of it then kissed her daughter's forehead affectionately and said," meri bacchi aayi ban ne wali hai! Main bahut khush hoon." Babi's eyes became teary and she looked at dutta who smiled back at her, then she made nakku sit beside her and said softly," nakku muje puri umeed hai ki jis tarah abhi tak tune saare rishte dil se nibhaye hain ye rishta bhi tu waise hi nibhayegi." Nakku's face lost its color on hearing her mother, she was right till now she did justice to all the relationships she had entered into and had put her heart and soul in them but this relationship was different, no matter how much her heart wanted her to pursue it she couldn't, she wished she could tell all this to her mother but again seeing everybody happy with the coming of this child her heart told her to keep her sorrows to herself. She brushed a lone tear which threatened to roll down and hugged her mother tightly, everybody thought that it was a tear of joy but only her heart knew that it wasn't.

The rest of the day passed by in a jiffy when kala, leela, roops and nakku were cooking in the kitchen. It was late in the evening and nakku had still not got ready for the puja," nakku bahut late ho gaya hai tum jaa kar taiyaar ho jao ..main kitchen ka kaam dekhlungi." Suggested leela, she nodded her head and rushed to her room. Dutta looked at the one long piece of white cloth in his hands, AS had instructed everyone in the house to dress up in traditional maharashtrian style for the diwali puja, he let out a frustrated sigh, how on earth was he supposed to wear a dhoti? He tried several times to drape it but every time it would fall apart just then baaji barged in," kya bhau tu abhi tak dhoti ke saath khel raha hai ..jaldi bandh kar neeche aa ." dutta shot him an irritated look," yeh bandhegi toh neeche aaunga nah ?khudhne pata nahin kaise pehenli?" baaji grinned at his intelligence and said," maine toh readymade dhoti pehni hai ..bus paanch minute mein taiyaar ho gaya." This angered dutta more, why couldn't nakku arrange a readymade dhoti for him as well? Baaji approached him and decided to help him out," chal main try karta hai tujhe pehnana." Dutta had wrapped a towel around his waist and baaji extended his hand to pull it, this surprised dutta and he held his hand midway stopping him and growled ,"yeh kya kar raha hai?" If that wasn't enough nakku too entered the room and saw both of them standing close to each other, her eyes popped out in shock, baaji tried defending himself," bhau towel nahin hataayega toh dhoti kaise bandhega?" dutta saw her heaving a sigh of relief then taking out her sari from the cupboard," tu rehne de baaji main khudh kar lunga ..tu jaa yahan se." baaji rubbed the back of his neck and thought he was just trying to help him then left the room. She glanced at him as he was struggling with the long white cloth then went to the washroom to change. Few minutes later she came out wearing her sari in true maharashtrian style and stood before the mirror to tie her hair in a bun, while he was still tussling with the dhoti then gave up the idea and took out a matching pyjama with his kurta. She turned around and asked softly," aap bura na maano toh main bandh doon ..mujhe aata hai?maine baba ko kayi baar bandhte hue dekha hai." He shifted his gaze from the cloth lying on the bed to her then nodded his head. She picked up the dhoti and folded it in half of its original length then stepped close to him, she lifted her hand towards his towel and looked at him expecting him to stop her but he didn't so she removed it slowly then wrapped it around his waist with the vertical stripes falling in front then she made him hold one edge of it in his left hand and quickly folded the remaining parts. He was impressed by the way she was draping it so fast then she lifted his kurta a little hesitantly as his soul piercing gaze tried its best to unnerve her then tucked in the folded bunch, finally his dhoti was draped. She moved back to the mirror once again to wear her jewellery, he opened his cupboard and took out a small box then stood behind her and said," ye tere liye ?woh AS ne kaha tha ki diwali par ghar ki lakshmi ke liye kuch tohfa late hain." He paused to look at her reaction, she spoke while adjusting her necklace in the mirror,"iski kya zaroorat thi ..abhi kuch din pehle hi toh AS ne mujhe ye kangan diye the aur ab ye." He ignored her reluctance to take the box and opened it himself, he had brought a pair of diamond studded dangle earrings and showed her," pata nahin tujhe pasand aayega ya nahin..par jab maine inhe dekha toh tera khyal aaya." She lowered her head shyly and turned around," bahut sundar hain." He was happy that she approved his choice then asked her," tu aaj yeh pehnegi?" she took the earrings from the box and began unclasping them , she rotated the screw of the earring but it slipped from her hands and fell down, he picked it up and fixed it for her making her tremble under his touch. He then moved to the other ear, all the time being cautious not to hurt her unaware that his long slender fingers were creating a havoc inside her making it difficult for her to even breathe. After what it seemed eons he stepped back only to lean on her once again, she shut her eyes as he came closer, now she could clearly hear the pounding of her heart, he raised his hand to her bun and pulled it, bringing her long tresses down then whispered ," mujhe tere baal khulle zyada acche lagte hain." She opened her eyes and found him staring back at her, his lips parted to wish her before exiting the room," diwali Mubarak" color rose to her cheeks matching with the pink sari she was wearing.

The whole family assembled to offer prayer to goddess Lakshmi, AS admired dutta and nakku lovingly as they did the arti together then asked them to light 21 diya's which baaji had arranged in the lawn. The rest of the members too joined them in the lawn to burst crackers. Both dutta and nakku became a little embarrassed when they saw that the diya's were set up in a shape of a heart, dutta shot an angry glare at baaji who winked back at him and left them alone. Roops lit a bomb and baaji closed his ears tightly with his hands, on seeing this sudarshan smirked at him," kya baaji, tu goliyon (bullets) se khelne wala ek chote se bomb se darr gaya." Baaji lowered his head sheepishly and saw anay, kala's son clipping a fire cracker garland (ladi) to sudarshan's dhoti from behind. A second later sudarshan was seen jumping all over the place screaming," LEELU ..LEELU" as the crackers began exploding and his dhoti caught fire. Leela ran behind him to help and pulled out his dhoti everybody burst out laughing and AS shut her eyes in shame on seeing her son in law in such a state. Dutta and nakku who had crouched down to light diya's didn't miss to watch sudarshan running around, dutta's lips broke into a faint smile on the other hand nakku threw her head back and laughed openly. He turned his neck to look at her as she held her stomach while laughing, he had never seen her so happy, the dangle earrings swayed and dared to touch her, kiss her cheeks in his presence. He was totally mesmerized by her smile and beauty when she heard him hiss in pain, she gazed down and saw that he had burnt his finger while lighting the diya, she held his finger and looked at him accusingly, the other day he had told her to be careful and not hurt herself and now he himself behaved carelessly while lighting the diya. He couldn't take his eyes off her as she quickly brought an ice cube and rubbed it over his finger making his heart flutter not because of the cold ice but because of something else that he didn't know.

very nice update