Hello to all
I am back with OS # 5. Thanks for your comments on the previous ones 😊
This one goes is for the following people::
Reeno - Finally your exams khatam !!! Hope you did well in them girl!!! 👍🏼 and I hope you are happy with this story.
Aani & Isha - You know why, the title gives it away 😊
Disclaimer - Read this one with a pinch of salt. There are factual errors in here about movie release dates and all. So, please read this as it is, a piece of fan fiction 😃
This one is based on 2 songs (you'll know why): Medhuvaagathaan from Kochadaiiyaan and Zehnaseeb from Hasee Toh Phasee
***
It was a perfectly regular Sunday morning at the Bhalla home. Ruhi was up and about, the way kids her age always were. Up early on a holiday, but not willing to get out of bed on school days. She was trying to get Raman to wake up so she could play with him. He was too sleepy to entertain her, and said to her "Kyon, tumhaari Ishima kya kar rahi hai?". "Papa, woh paatti ke yahaan pe gayi hai, unke yahaan koi aaya hai. Woh log Tamil mein baatein kar rahe hain, mujhe kucch samajh mein nahin aaya toh main yahaan aa gayi. Please papa utho na!" He couldn't control his irritation and said "Yeh madrasi logon ke ghar itni subah subah mehmaan kaise pahunch jaate hain? woh bhi Sunday ko". Ishita walked in then and heard only his last line, and told Ruhi "Ruhi, papa ko disturb kyon kar rahi ho. Come here, main tumko acchi story sunaati hoon. Kumbhkaran ka naam suna hai tumne? pehle nahin bataayi na maine story?" She casually opened the curtains when she took Ruhi out. Raman could only growl and put a pillow on his face and try to go back to sleep. "Kabhi nahin sudhregi yeh aurat. Just when I think she is normal, and sweet, she does something horrible like this. Kya bacchon jaisi harkatein karti hai."
By the time he woke up and came to the living room, everyone was finishing their late breakfast. Mihir was already there, openly praising the idli sambar that Ishita had made. "Yeh lo, mil gaya madam ko aur ek chamcha, itne log kam the kya is ghar mein?" he muttered and said "Chai milegi mujhe? ya sirf idli sambar bana hai ghar mein aaj?" She knew that voice, he wouldn't be able to function before his morning tea. She had it prepared already, when she had seen him going to the bathroom to get ready. She quietly took the cup to him, and gave him his newspapers. She waited there with folded arms, when he looked up and said "han, thank you." With a victorious grin on her face, she went back to the dining table. Ruhi was at the Iyers. Vandu akka had come home to meet their guests from Chennai, so obviously Ruhi had to go play with Shravan and Muthu. When Ishita looked around, she felt content. Everything was in place, she had 2 wonderful families, the best child in the world and a husband who was warming up to her, and she to him. She was ready to wait for love. "But isn't all this a part of love too? Feeling that you belong somewhere, sharing something so precious as a child, and spending your days and nights without feeling completely uncomfortable? Romance is overrated. I thought I loved Subbu, but where did it get me? He wasnt there with me when it mattered the most." As much as she'd blocked this thought out, she knew that if Raman was there instead of Subbu, he would have stood by her. He was just that sort of a man.
Raman was stealing glaces at her while pretending to read the newspaper. He wasnt interesting in reading anything serious anyway. His Sunday morning routines now involved staying in bed as long as he could, and then spend all day admiring his family and feeling happy about his life. It had been a really long time ago that he had stopped considering himself a family man. In the recent past, he had always referred to himself as a CEO, and that is how he preferred everyone else looked at him too. Things were changing for the better now. Thats when he saw her smile, her face was reflecting what he was feeling himself. As it usually happened nowadays, she met his eyes and raised her eyebrows. He knew what she was asking, "As if I am going to tell her why I am staring at her. She'll just start philosophising the whole thing." And he shook his head. No one in that crowded room even saw that exchange, and both of them went back to doing what they were doing, a bit less casually than earlier.
Just then Mihika ran in with a lot of excitement in her voice "Akka, see what I got for us... Mihir dekho na tum bhi. Akka Akka". Raman was mad at her for interrupting his peace, and said "Mihir, ek kam thi is ghar mein jo to doosri ko bhi leke aa raha hai? Itna bakbak karti hai dono ki khud ki awaaz mujhe sunaai nahin deti" Ishita went to Mihika and asked her why she was so happy. Mihika spoke so fast "Rajini sir, tickets, Rajini sir, tickets"
"Mihika, ek lambi saans lo, and bataao kya hua. Aaram se please" Ishita tried to calm her cousin down. Mihika then told her that one of her office contacts had scored them tickets for Rajini sir's new movie "Kochadaiiyaan". Before she could even finish her sentence, Ishita screamed too. Raman almost dropped his tea-cup. He have never seen her so excited, even when she won an argument with him. "Arre dono chhupp raho ek minute, kya hua ??? amma appa ko lottery lag gayi kya?" In all their excitement, the girls had forgotten than they were still speaking in Tamil. Ishita then translated everything to Raman. "Theek hai, jaao tum log, but meri beti ko mat leke jaana. Usko madrasan nahin banaana muhje, future saaf saaf dikh raha hai."
Mihika then said she had enough tickets and everyone could go, She had 10 tickets in total. She then made her doe-eyes at Mihir, who could not say no. Raman just said no. "Black mein bech do. yeh sab kaam main nahin kar sakta. Ghar mein bharatnatyam aur carnatic music kya kam hai jo main baahar jaake bhi suffer karoon. Main aur Ruhi park chale jaayenge. Jaao tum log." He did not understand why these people were so affected by a movie release. Ishita did not look like an ardent film fan to him, neither did the Iyers. But when his in-laws walked in a minute later to request him to come along, he seriously thought he had married into a crazy family. They were more excited than how Ruhi was, to go to a zoo. Mihir was far too gone, and Raman helplessly looked at his mother. TOshiji and Mr Bhalla were trying very hard to stifle a laugh. Mr Bhalla just said "Raman beta, tumhaari marzi. Ab tumhaari mummy kya bolengi ismein." He was trapped, thats when she spoke up. "Kyon Raman, maine kabhi aapke Punjabi gaanon ka mazaak udaaya hai kya ? Aur, Aap hi Vibhu ke saath compare kar rahe the na apne aapko. You did not know how important a Rajinikanth FC president was right? Why don't you come with us, get some education on that topic before judging otherS?" That was a challenge he couldn't reject. He knew it, and she knew he did.
So finally, the time had come when they all met at their cars to leave for the movie theater. There were 4 couples, the senior Iyers, Bala & Vandu, Raman & Ishita, Mihika and Mihir and the other 2 singles in their party, Romi and Rinki. Raman was thankful for their presence. They were the only ones who he could share his feelings with, he didnt even count Mihir as a Punjabi any more. Rinki was there because she was really a movie buff and she wouldnt leave a chance to watch a movie that was a technical trend-setter in India. And Romi, well it looked like he was there only to see Raman uncomfortable. He hadn't missed a chance to pull Raman's leg when they were getting ready to go.
What Raman hadn't expected was the attire the women wore. They were decked up as if they were going to a shaadi, not a movie. He made a face at Ishita. Before he could say anything, she just said "This is like a muhurat waala occassion for us, you know. So don't say anything. and remember if you make fun of anything, Amma will be heart-broken" He had to shut up. She had him again. This was happening more frequently now. She always guessed what he was going to say, and had an answer ready before he even opened his mouth. All he had to do was drive, tolerate the drama for a few hours, and he'd then be back home. He had sat through so many boring presentations before, this would be a breeze. If he was lucky, he could even catch a nap.
Boy, was he wrong! What he saw in the movie hall was absolute chaos. Raman did not know how to describe the phenomenon he was witnessing. It had the chaos of a riot, and all the cheerfulness of a baraat. He looked around and felt stupid when he saw that he was the only person sitting when Rajinikanth made an entry. His poor sister Rinki was trying to crane her neck up to actually watch the movie; she had wanted to write a thorough review on imdb. Romi was just being Romi, he was eyeing every pretty woman he could see in the hall, and there were many. But none as beautiful as his wife though. While the whole audience was cheering, whistling, thumping and dancing, Raman Kumar Bhalla, the CEO was warmly looking at his wife. It was as if he was looking at her for the first time. She was jumping up and down, gyrating rhytmically to the beats, her hair and the flowers in them moving in sync with her, her hands up in the air. And her face, well, he couldn't describe what he saw. When the topic of Rajinikanth had come up before, he had seen adulation on the face of a fan. But tonight, when the movie was actually playing out, he saw a different woman. He saw someone alive, happy, free of all worries. He did not know if the movie was a comedy or drama. For him, it played out exactly like a love story. When he felt silly for staring at the oblivious creature for long, he would galnce at the others. The family he had married into were really crazy, but in a very sweet, nice way. He never thought he would see the strict Vandu or the serious Bala letting their hair down like this. And his in-laws, well, that was a completely different sight. If he told his mother that Mr and Mrs Iyer reminded him of his parents today, she wouldnt believe it. She had always thought the Iyers were uptight people.
When they were driving back home, Raman had wanted to say so much to her. But they couldn't talk, her parents were in the car. Amma and Appa were fondly discussing their memories of the earlier Rajinikanth movies, and Ishita was smiling listening to them. When they finally got home, they found Ruhi already sleeping in Toshiji's room. His parents were still up, waiting for them to recap their experience. Romi and Rinki were already back; Romi's bike had no doubt broken a few traffic rules again. "Toh, kaisi thi Madrasiyon ki picture?" his mother asked casually. Rinki went on to describe the technical aspects and complications of making a computer-animated motion capture film. She had already done enough research to know how the director had shot, dubbed and layered the shots to make this perfect movie. Romi, on the other hand had nothing to say, he wasn't really paying any attention to the movie, he couldn't possibly tell them how he was checking out the hot madrasans in the movie hall. Ishita turned around to Raman, "Raman, kaise lagi aapko movie?" She always provoked him like this. He couldn't tell everyone who he was really wathching, so just said "Arre, headache ho rahi hai, mummy please ek cup chai banaa do. Yeh madrasi log waise to bahut cultured aur proper bante hain, lekin hall mein aise naach rahe the jaise baraat mein aaye hain. pehli baar yeh dekha hai maine, ki log ticket khareedke movie jaate hain, but nautanki aur naach gaana khud karte hain" He knew she would make a face. She didn't; just went in to their room and changed. By the time he went in, she was ready to settle down on the sofa. "Ishita, woh tum bed pe so sakti ho" he said. "No need Raman, Ruhi ke uthne ke pehle main uth jaaongi, don't worry." she said. He couldnt tell her that Ruhi wasn't on his mind tonight. He had to tackle her rationally, the only way he could convince her "Arre jyaada naatak mat karo. waise bhi itne thumke lagaaye tumne movie mein, ki kamar akad jaayegi agar sofe pe let gayi to. Bed pe so jao, beech mein ek pillow rakh denge if you want. So you feel Ruhi is there" Surprisingly, she didn't even pretend to disagree with him. Neither of them knew how possessively they were hugging the same pillow throughout the night.
On a quiet night the next week, Raman walked in like a man on mission. He asked Ruhi to go to get her Mihika Chitti from the Iyers. Ishita looked at him to ask him what he was doing, but he wasn't biting. Mihir had followed Raman from office, so they were all there now. Raman pointedly looked at Rinki and said "Rinki, ek baat bataa, Yeh Siddharth Malhotra koun hai?" Rinki couldn't control her feelings even with her whole family around. "Bhaiyya, he's only like the hottest movie star around. Bhaiyya, he was a model, you know and he's from Delhi" She was blushing like any girl her age would do. Raman waited for Mihika to be there and then said in his coolest voice, still talking to Rinki and including Romi in the conversation "Woh ek koi movie release hui hai na, Ek Villain. Uski success party hai. Uske liye invitation mili hai mujhe. 6 passes hain. So maine socha, hum log jaaye wahaan pe? Tum aur Romi, Mihir, Mihika aur main aur Ishita?" Romi couldn't control his feelings either "Je Baat... Bhai sach mein? Bollywood party ke liye passes mile humko? By God bhai, dil khush kar ditta" Raman still had to drive his message through "Apne hormones control mein rakh Romi. Apni behen aur bhaabhi ke saath jaa raha hai, yeh yaad rakh. Waise maine socha yeh Madrasi sisters ko dikhaaon ki classy outings kya hoti hain. Pichle hafte hum logon ko woh South Indian nautanki me leke gayi thi na. I thought we should show them what real Delhi parties are like? No? Mihir kya bolta hai?" His questions were not directed at either of his brothers and she knew that too. He finally looked at her now. She was smiling and said "Sid bhi aa raha hai? wow, it would be so much fun no? kab hai party? I'll make sure I don't have any evening appointments at the clinic. Mihika, Rinki, we'll go shopping and buy new outfits OK?" Raman had expected a caustic remark from her. He was sure she would say something about the Punjabis, but more importantly, her familiarity with the word "Sid" unnerved him.
The evening of the party couldn't have arrived soon enough. Ishita was driving Mihika, Romi and Rinki to the venue. Raman and Mihir had to change into something decent at the office and they were all going to meet up just before the party started. The party was at the lounge in one of the 5-star hotels. Raman handed his keys over to the valet and they waited at the entrance. "In logon ko pata nahin hai kya ki time ka kya importance hota hai. Waise toh tumhaari bhaabhi badi punctual banti hai. Aaj dekho, hum dono bewakoofon ki tarah raaste pe khade hain. I am sure she is doing this deliberately". Mihir hid his laugh in a cough. "Bhai, aa jaayenge sab, dont worry. waise bhi hum raaste pe thodi na hain. If you want, we can leave their passes with the guard here and text them." he said, knowing what his brother would say. "Andar jaake kyaa karenge... waise bhi us paagal aurat ne daaru band kar rakhi hai meri. Bar pe khade hoke main orange juice nahin order karoonga. Sharam aati hai. and if we go in alone, baad mein tumko bhi lecture milegi. Tumhaari waali bhi koi kam jhaansi ki raani nahin hai." Both of them knew that they were waiting because they wanted to. Raman, however, was not prepared for the sight he saw. He had expected her to either wear one of those modernly styled sarees or the blue dress she had worn before. He did not see either of his siblings or Mihika. His eyes didnt leave his wife.
Ishita knew she was having an effect on him. This outfit wasn't her idea either. She had made remarks about buying new clothes only to put him in his place. But once she had said that, Mihika and Rinki wouldn't let her be. She didn't want to wear a saree, even a designer one, neither did she want to wear the blue dress that evoked the images of that night. The night that they were literally trapped in one fabric. She had wanted to look different for him. They had finally decided on an anarkali for her. She agreed to buy it because she thought that was the safest of outfits, but Rinki and Mihika knew better. The dress fitted her to a T. The white dress with agold-embroidered black border was regal. The purple dupatta was in sync and out of place at the same time. For the first time in her life today, Ishita thought she should write herself a prescription to take something to calm her nerves. She was comfortable with the dress, but uncomfortable with his looks. She put on the fakest sweet smile she had and walked up to him. He was speechless, but took him less than 15 seconds to come back to the earth. He had said "yeh koi time hai kisi party mein aane ka? tum log chief guest nahi ho, ki 'stylishly' late pahuncho. Chalo andar, party start ho gayi hai."
They spent some time trying to be comfortable around each other. Romi was the first to leave their gang, in search of honey. Rinki actually found a few people she could have serious conversation about movies. Mihir and Mihika were behaving like the newest love-birds in town. Ishita and Raman were both sitting at a table by the bar, looking at people dancing. She looked at him with what looked like expectation. He gave her a brief glance and said "Yeh slow dance bakwaas hota hai. Dance karo to bhangra, with some josh. Slow dance mein aise lagta hai ki music aur dancers dono slow motion mein chal rahe hain. Hai na Ishita???" It took a lot of effort for her to hide her disappointment. After some time their siblings joined them. They were all gaga over the celebrities and fashionistas they had just seen or spotted. Raman looked at her and Mihika and said "Dekho, isko bolte hai classy. Party dekho, yahaan ke log dekho, kapde dekho. Do you see anyone wearing a garden on their heads? I wanted to show you Madrasi women what entertainment is all about" Before either of the Iyer women could respond, they heard a voice... "Ishooo, tum, yahaan????"
All of them turned around to look at the masculine voice that had called upon Ishita so endearingly. It was Siddharth Malhotra, of all the people. Ishita stood up casually, went over to him and hugged him for what looked like an eternity to Raman. Ishita turned around, an honest smile plastered on her face "Sid, this is my family. Thats Raman, my husband. Romi and Rinki are his siblings. Mihika is my cousin, you already know about her. And this is Mihir, her fiance'" Siddharth patiently shook hands with each of them. He looked at Raman and said "Oh, so you are Mr Raman Kumar Bhalla then. I have heard so much about you." Ishita then elbowed him. "Shut up Sid. please. Dont embarass me" Siddharth then thanked everyone for attending the party and looked at Raman and said "Do you mind if I dance with Ishoo for a while. It has been a while since we caught up. Don't worry, my intentions are honest." It was not as if Raman could say no. All he wanted to do at that time was punch this kid, punch him till he bled, punch him till he couldn't say "Ishoo" any more. But, he just nodded. He then sat there, looking at his wife dance gracefully with a man who was the currently the object of every female eye in the room. After some time, when he couldn't watch them any more, he looked at Mihika with blood in his eyes.
"Chill Raman. Ishita Akka knows him from before. They studied in the same school. She was an year or two senior to him. She is his parents' dentist now. She obviously doesn't advertise it, but they know each other quite well. He trusts her because she takes care of his parents. Why are you looking at me like that??? Ismein meri kya galti hai?"
The party couldn't have ended any sooner. Raman was thankful that Mihir had offered to drop everyone home. Raman and Ishita were alone in her car. She was driving, and he was getting restless. His pride didn't let him speak, and from the look on her face, she was blissful. A look Raman was looking forward to, but not when she was thinking about someone else. Their entire drive home was silent.
When they finally got home, changed into their night clothes and were ready to sleep, he said "Woh, Ishita, tum bed pe so sakti ho". "No need Raman, Ruhi ke uthne ke pehle main uth jaaongi, don't worry." she said. "How many times should we have this conversation? So jaao yahaan pe, I am placing a pillow between us. Don't worry." Neither of them knew it wasn't the pillow they were hugging that night.
"I do regard her as one who is too modest for the world in general to be aware of half her accomplishments, and too highly accomplished for modesty to be natural of any other woman."
- Jane Austen, Persuasion
"Your countenance perfectly informs me that you were in company last night with the person, whom you think the most agreeable in the world, the person who interests you at this present time, more than all the rest of the world put together."
- Jane Austen, Persuasion
*** So, what do you think???
Pushpa Impossible
Financial markets and global economy
Pyaar Kii Ye Ek Kahaani
7