Nice - hoped that Arnav would have stronger feelings for Khushi when he finally finds her & she faints but it seems to be only guilt /remorse.
Originally posted by: mayurisb80
That was a v nice update...but i have a small feeling that it did not have that touch of yours...but still i loved it...
A few not so dramatic scenes that were loved by yours truly. Since the upcoming couple couple of chapters are mostly fillers, the updates would be rapid.
Chapter 21: Jalebi
"Arnav I am on my way to the address you texted me, unfortunately my car has broken down, I am looking for a taxi, I may reach late." informed the worried doctor.
"It's okay Dr. Kapoor, people there can handle their crisis, you take a cab back home." replied ASR nonchalantly sitting behind the wheel.
"Are you sure? You sounded a little..."
"Yeah, it's just fine. You need not bother anymore." he assured.
A while later at Lakshmi Nagar...
The doctor from the local dispensary whose sweet dreams had been disrupted at an unholy time of night by a lawyer who had banged at his door and had then literally dragged him out of his house for an emergency causing the doctor's wife to call police for the fear of her husband being abducted, delivered a glucose injection to the patient. He also checked her blood pressure that was slightly low and diagnosed the cause of her illness to be exhaustion and possible starvation. He assured her family that she may wake up within an hour.
The two women thanked him and the lawyer dropped him home before the police reached. He explained the doctor that the patient was his beloved and apologized profusely for the inconvenience he had caused.
When the police arrived, they were informed that no harm had been done, at which the sub inspector got miffed and after mouthing a few bad words left.
****
ASR drove angrily. Angry because it was the safest thing to feel., safest because any other emotion confused him. His temper's paradox lied in the fact that its hotness calmed him. Calmed him for he could always treat himself with a logical explanation for his anger. Presently he had convinced himself that the incidents which had taken place in the past one hour or so didn't bother him one bit, it was people's behavior in general that irked him, be it his own grandmother or some absurd Gupta family.
At Shantivan his aunt and grandmother deduced that he had left in a hurry to his girlfriend's place, the first time the two women agreed over something, although they held contradicting opinions over his action. His Uncle felt that the only thing to be worried about presently was, would team India win the series against Pakistan or the entire series would crumble at the mercy of rains. Anjali on the other hand worried, making frequent calls on his mobile phone for she didn't like the look he had on his face when he left. Akash who had just returned from the industry visit, received the following message from his brother:
Mehrauli GH succumbed to rain, 1 laborer injured. Admitted in Apollo.
He wondered how his brother's messages always sounded like Newspaper headlines while making his way to the hospital. Visiting the victim was of crucial importance to the labor policy for it displayed that their employer cared for the workers.
Arnav entered his mansion from the back door, avoiding his family and their obvious jarring questions once they saw his dusty suit and bruised hands, but call it Murphy's law, Anjali was found right there, apparently worked up.
"Whatever happened to you?" she exclaimed as she noticed his clothes, "Why do you look like you have just come from an excavation site?"
"Di please, I need some time alone." he said raising his hand to silence her, her eyes fell over the cuts.
"Arnav you are hurt?" she said her forehead creasing with concern, "Rahim kaka, get me the First Aid kit please" she called to the servant.
"C'mon Di, it's just a scratch and...why are you still awake?" he said taking the first aid box from the servant.
"Forget that, first tell me where were you and how did you get hurt?"
He chose not to answer and stormed to his room shutting the door behind. He threw the first aid box over a couch and walked into his bathroom, discarded his clothes and turned on a hot shower letting the hot water run over his skin, his hair, over the cuts in his hands, feeling a sharp pain as the water filled them. The deepest wound was the one inflicted by her glass bangle, he stared at it for long before shutting his eyes, did he hope that retaining the bearable pain would wash out the unbearable guilt?
Or did he hope to yet again feign indifference to the persistent ire of his conscience that contrary to belief, did exist and fiercely doubted the righteousness of his actions?
Could he deny, as though she might repel him, her fascination was no less.
Could he deny that she left her indelible images impressed upon his mind, of vulnerability and obstinacy that caused him cognitive dissonance?
He turned off the shower, donned a silken robe and walked out of the bathroom patting his hair dry with a towel. He heard two knocks, a pause, and another knock at the door, which he need not open to find that it was Anjali behind it, he walked over and held it open for her. She carried a covered plate in her hands, "I thought why not bring your dinner to your room?" she said with a smile.
"I have no appetite." he said turning away, towards his closet.
"My dear, I know what's your appetite. Can you stop punishing your poor stomach for all the troubles in your life?"
"I am not hungry Di." he protested.
"That you say every time you are upset." she said calmly, "I know what you are thinking, what Nani..."
"No Di, I am not thinking about Khushi." he blurted absently.
"Khushi?" she asked surprised, "I thought Lavanya..."
"Yeah... I mean Lavanya." he said hastily, averting her gaze. At this rate he would be unceremoniously dumped in front of a shrink. Something needs to be done about a certain Ms Gupta.
"Arnav? Are you sure?"
Silence.
Anjali furrowed her brows, "Show me your hands, why are your bruises still untended? Is this your idea of masochism, you are a diabetic Arnav, even minor cuts take time to heal. What sort of pleasure do you derive by hurting yourself?"
"Di. Please. Stop irritating me or I'll say something bad."
"You know what Chote, when the first words left your lisping inarticulate mouth, they fell on just my ears. Whatever you say gives me the same joy ever since." she said grinning, "Now you have two options, either have your dinner or tell me what happened to Khushi."
With petulance of an eight year old, Arnav grabbed the dinner plate from his sister's hands and sat on his bed, taking small and rapid bites from the food.
Anjali slowly limped towards the bed and sat beside him, "How's the curry?" she asked innocently as if it was the first time she had cooked. He nodded, meaning he liked it.
"I made it." she said. He threw her a glance that said obviously.
"Shall I feed you?" she asked softly. He thrust the plate in her hands, without a word. She tore a small piece of bread, dipping it in the curry and fed her brother affectionately like a mother would feed her three year old. He chewed slowly still sulking.
"Now that you are eating from my hands, would you mind telling me what's troubling you?"
****
Anjali rarely lost her calm, but what her younger brother had just informed her did make her loose quite a bit of it. "How could you do this Arnav, the poor girl could have died!" she uttered in shock whilst checking the last received calls in the caller ID display of the land line.
"I didn't know Di, that the place was such a wreck."
"You shouldn't have sent her there in first place, it was a blunder and you know that, it's just that you don't want to admit it. Tell me Arnav, why are you troubling Khushi? I observed the way you behaved with her in the morning although I didn't say anything, but the tension between you two was quite evident. What has she done?"
"I don't know what she has done, but it's terrible." he cried, turning his face away to conceal it's helplessness. Anjali had never seen her brother react in this manner.
"How was she when you last saw her?" she asked quietly.
"Unconscious."
"Then call her residence and right now and ask how she is doing."
"Why?"
"Because you are worried."
"I am not, I don't care." he muttered re-acquiring his usual impassive comportment and swaggered to his wardrobe to fetch night cloths, his hand stilled over the handle of the closet door, when he heard Anjali call Gupta residence. "Hello, Anjali here ...(pause)...Arnav's sister...hello?"
On the other side of the phone, an angry Payal slammed down the receiver on hearing the caller's identity.
Anjali called again, Payal picked up reluctantly, "Please don't cut the line again." Anjali beseeched, "I just called to know how Khushi is doing."
"Is this an understanding between you brother and sister?" Payal accused sharply, "Brother first endangers her life and then sister calls to know how she's doing!"
"I am so sorry for all that happened to your sister, your anger is justified." she said softly.
"Khushi is doing fine. She's asleep." replied Payal curtly and disconnected the phone.
Anjali repeated the last line to her brother whose hand remained in the same position over the handle since last three minutes. He finally opened the door and grabbed a sweatshirt."Why are you telling this to me?"
"I thought you might want to know." she smiled.
"I don't give a damn." insouciance was great company, alas.
****
Deep slumber had her eyes shut, but not the senses that elude the numbness of sleep. A hand was a mere inch away from her face, a hand that she recognized to be unmistakably his- tensed muscles and visible carvings of a criss-cross of veins, and one thing that had always caught her notice- a sacred red thread that seemed so very out of place tied on his wrist, a reluctant knot loose, stubbornly clinging to his master.
He brushed a tiny lock of hair from her forehead, tucking it behind her ear and then gently tracing her face with his fingers. This was not right, this shouldn't be happening, why the hell could she not stop this? He rubbed her cheek with his thumb, his eyes wickedly looking down at her, "You'll soon lose yourself to me." he whispered huskily in his conceited confidence.
"No." she screamed clutching the bed sheet, "Nooo" she pushed his hand away as if it were some snake. "Never."
"Khushi?" she heard Payal's anxious voice somewhere near her, "Khushi." Her eyes flew open, she looked around, getting up in her bed, he was not there, Payal was. "Khushi, did you see a bad dream?" she asked throwing her arms around her, "Are you all right?".
So that was a dream? And such a horrid one, how could that happen even in her dream? It seemed so decadent, everything about Arnav Singh Raizada was decadent. Wait, how did she land here? Her mind went blank, she couldn't remember anything, she was in her room, in her house, how? The last thing she remembered was being trapped in the guest house. "H..how d..did I get here?" she mumbled.
Payal gazed down at the floor, "He brought you here." she said slowly. Khushi did not need to ask 'who'. She now recalled, he had entered in the nick of time, rescued her from there and then she had fought with him, she fought with him, said things and then he pinned her against a wall, his eyes burning, and then blackness, the world became black.
"I am so glad that you have regained consciousness." exclaimed Payal hugging her sister, Khushi still looked confused. Payal's eyes filled with apprehension, "What happened today Khushi? He brought you here in such a miserable state...did he...did he attempt to touch..."
"No Jiji." she said firmly.
Her eyes found her tattered dopatta "Why is your dopatta torn?" she cried. "Who..."
"He tore it, but not like what you think. It got stuck somewhere and he tore it. Actually he got mad at me in the morning, so mad that he sent me to a construction site, and I got trapped there. It was a real death sight, I was trapped there for the whole day and then, he appeared. All of a sudden and got me out and then I fainted. I don't remember anything else."
Payal nodded in understanding. "You should take rest now Khushi, I'll tell buaji, she has been praying for you in the mandir. Lie down and go back to sleep." she said patting her hair. Khushi nodded slightly and closed her eyes, hoping she won't see his dream again.
Payal got up from beside her and went to the hall. Madhumati was sitting in a chair beside Shyam, sobbing. "Buaji Khushi woke up a while back." Madhumati stared at Payal, "Did she speak?" she asked doubtfully.
"She did, and she's fine I told her to sleep."
"Haye re nandkissore, why is all this happening? I tell you, the root of all our troubles is this job, I will never let her go there again. See what has happened to my child." she lamented, "the girl who made the entire world dance over her head, that little rioter, my lovely naughty Sanakadevi, my lovely child, look how she is lying on the bed, ill. The girl who never knew what it meant to be quiet is so quiet and still, all because that Raizada. Arre, sassura, beast of a man, I feel like beating him to death." she cried burying her head in her hands.
True she had been mean to Khushi at times, but that was all superficial, in reality she loved Khushi as much as she loved Payal. It only ached that Khushi was not her real niece. When Garima had brought her sister's orphan home, Madhumati had hated it because another child meant another mouth to feed, another girl to marry. And they were poor people, those who struggled daily for basic amenities; they could not afford all the extra expenses of an extra girl. But that did not mean that Madhumati could not love Khushi, she could be partial but her love for this extra niece was extra special.
The ringing sound of utensils from the kitchen shook her from her thoughts. The three of them ran at once, towards the kitchen and what they saw had them dumbfounded, astounded to degree of eyes literally popping out from their sockets. There she was, hands working hastily with batter that she poured into a piece of cloth, oil bubbled in a kadhai kept on a burner, the canister of flour lying open behind her, a vessel of sugar syrup on the second burner. She drew spirals of jalebis in the kadhai with her left hand, dipped them in the sugar syrup with right, and placed them in a plate. She then kept down the forceps, one hand still working on the spirals and with other she munched the hot jalebis, looking all flustered and tensed. Payal smiled, it meant Khushi was back to normal. Her spirits revived. Madhumati on the other hand, tore at her hair,
"Haye re nandkissore I thought she was ill, and here she is partying! Arre nandkissore stop her, stop her before she burns all the groceries, she'll consume all of our ration alone and we won't have anything to eat tomorrow. Arre Sanakadevi, have mercy. Haye..."she began slapping her forehead. Shyam looked at the sight in absolute amazement.
"Khushi always makes jalebis like that when she is troubled." Payal explained.
"How can somebody be so cute when in trouble?" he exclaimed. Both the woman stared at him, "I mean, this is such a cute way to vent out." he said trying to sound casual.
"Arre babua, she will make a mountain of them soon, stop her if you can." she begged.
Shyam moved over to the kitchen counter, grinning widely and stood beside her. "Do you really believe making jalebis would straighten the tangles of your life?" he asked, a hint of humor to his voice.
She paused in her intense activity to briefly glance at him, but resumed the next moment, stubbornly picking up a steaming jalebi that Shyam snatched from her hands before it could burn her fingers. "Shyamji, you..." she began but Shyam's reassuring smile silenced her, "You know what, the spirals of the jalebi you make reflect the state of your mind, your muddled thoughts. The rounder your jalebi gets, the more perplexing your problems become." he reasoned, "Wheels within wheels that only make simple things appear much more complicated than they are. You eat them hot and burn your mouth instead of enjoying their deliciousness." She stared at him, at this moment she would hate anyone directing her, anyone trying to reason with her, all she wanted was to put her anger to some work, the work she knew best. Yet what he said, did appear to make some sense and she turned off the knobs of the burners, reluctantly but to hear him. "What should I do then?" she grunted.
"Break your problems into pieces, divide and conquer like this." he said breaking the jalebi into smaller pieces, he blowed to cool a small piece and then extended for her to eat, she ate it, the sweet melting into her mouth, she savored the taste that instantly began to calm her senses than burn her mouth that it earlier did. She grabbed the rest of the pieces to munch on. Payal and Madhumati stared in wonder.
"Fine. I will not make anymore." she huffed. With a diminished sulk and golden shimmer in her eyes, she put the lid back on the steel canister containing flour. She picked up the plate of jalebis, nodding at Shyam and silently followed Payal to her room. Madhumati gaped at Shyam who had yet again shown his indispensability to her family, wondering whether her Nandkissore had in his heaven made a plan that she had not understood before.
What Khushi took as his friendly advice and noble gestures that he extended to her every now and then, Madhumati began to read their hidden and plausible implications to this budding relationship. All she had to do now was to sow the seeds of an imminent alliance in Shashi's head. Although she was well acquainted with the fact that her brother will be quick to dismiss the proposal stating Khushi was too young to be tied in a marital knot but what was the harm in subtly popping up the subject? She could convince her brother sooner or later, but she could not let this golden opportunity slip away. Shyam Manoher Jha was an honorable man in her eyes, a lawyer by profession and somebody who beyond doubt, cared for her niece and her family, helping them in these oppressive times and not expecting anything in return.
****
Originally posted by: cineraria
At Shantivan his aunt and grandmother deduced that he had left in a hurry to his girlfriend's place, the first time the two women agreed over something, although they held contradicting opinions over his action. His Uncle felt that the only thing to be worried about presently was, would team India win the series against Pakistan or the entire series would crumble at the mercy of rains. Anjali on the other hand worried, making frequent calls on his mobile phone for she didn't like the look he had on his face when he left. Akash who had just returned from the industry visit, received the following message from his brother:
Mehrauli GH succumbed to rain, 1 laborer injured. Admitted in Apollo.
He wondered how his brother's messages always sounded like Newspaper headlines while making his way to the hospital. Visiting the victim was of crucial importance to the labor policy for it displayed that their employer cared for the workers.
Arnav entered his mansion from the back door, avoiding his family and their obvious jarring questions once they saw his dusty suit and bruised hands, but call it Murphy's law, Anjali was found right there, apparently worked up.
see, this is what I like abt ur writing. i hv the feeling that i hv seen this yet explaining what's going on in every chrcter's mind in singl para is fun. Nd the newsppr headline thing 😆
nd murphy's law is universally present. 😆
nd cognitive dissonance??
looking forward to chap 25. i wanna just know, ok.
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