Arshi FF : An Unforgettable Night LINK #2 pg 152 dt.4.2.15 - Page 57

Chapter 14

It was his 30^th birthday and a huge yagya was organized at the temple. I sat next to him as pandit ji along with five more priests chanted various vedic mantras. A holy fire was lit in a square made of bricks and several offerings like grains, pulses, fruits and ghee were offered to please the diety who is considered as the remover of all obstacles. Naani ji, Aakash, payal and my parents were also present and sat there with folded hands as pandit ji recited sansksrit verses.

I held his hand as he added honey, jaggery and ghee from time to time to the holy fire. The puja lasted for more than four hours before purnahuti which meant giving away full heart and soul to the gods to seek their divine blessings was offered. Towards the end aarti was offered to the gods and then to the family members.

Naani ji had a satisfied and calm expression on her face seeing that everything went off well, however what pandit ji said next worried her," I've gone through Arnav's horoscope ..the coming time period is not that auspicious for him..his life might be in danger." The worried expression now spread across all the faces except him, as if all these things didn't matter to him.

" then what should we do?." Naani ji asked hurriedly.

" well I would suggest him to visit his kul devi temple and chant 5100 times mahamritvinjya mantra before the idol of shiv ji." Pandit ji replied.

Naani ji looked at him with the expectation that he'd say yes but he refused out rightly saying," you know I don't believe in all this . relax nothing will happen to me." I knew he wouldn't agree, convincing him for this yagya itself was such a daunting task for naani ji, her emotional blackmailing had worked once but not every time it would work.

Pandit ji glanced at me and suggested," if he isn't willing then his wife can do this puja on his behalf." I nodded my head at once and said," fine I'll go and do the puja."

The very next second he interrupted and said," nobody is going anywhere. Understood !" His stubbornness irritated naani ji who raised her voice a bit and said," chotte, if you don't wish to be part of this then at least let khushi do it for our sake." he rolled his eyes and shook his head," firstly you are panicking for no reason..and secondly how will she manage on her own?"

Now my Maa for the first time dared to open her mouth in front of him," if you don't mind then I can accompany khushi." His gaze shifted from maa and stopped on my face, clearly he was angry because he couldn't disapprove the idea suggested by her and there was nobody to support him.

Panditji now appeared calm and told me," tomorrow is a very auspicious day, it's shivratri. It will be good if you leave early in the morning. And one more thing, as long as this puja is going on you can't eat or drink anything. Only after finishing the puja can you open your fast." I nodded my head in agreement and parted my lips to say yes but before that he declared," if khushi is supposed to keep a fast then she's not doing this." He glanced at nani ji and continued," naani you know she's not been keeping well."

The fact that I'd fallen ill due to severe food poisoning slipped out of everybody's mind but not his, naani ji agreed with him and went silent. I looked at him and said softly," but arnav ji.." he didn't allow me to complete and showed me his palm indicating me to keep shut. The way he was glaring at me I decided not to discuss the issue now.

He began stepping down the stairs to distribute shawls and sweets to the people of who had gathered in huge numbers to congratulate and bless him. It felt really nice to see him loved by one and all, he indeed meant a lot to them. The whole car journey was silent, whenever I stole a glance at him he had a serious expression on his face which stopped me to speak up. It was late in the evening when we reached home. He went to his study while I to the kitchen to prepare the dinner.

They say the way to a man's heart is through his stomach so I did just that made all his favorite dishes even though he never tasted food made by me still I dared to take this step without taking his permission not because I wished to make a place for myself in his heart but I wanted him to cool down and spend a nice evening with his family on his birthday.

Two hours later the cooking was done and he sat on the dining table quietly along with others as I laid down various dishes. I began serving everybody starting with naani ji, when his turn came I stopped , didn't know whether to offer him myself or not. Keeping the service spoon in front of him I turned to leave when payal asked," khushi, after cooking arnav bhai's favorite dishes won't you join us for dinner?"

Lowering my head I stole a glance at him, he picked up the service spoon and began serving himself, I smiled inwardly at least he didn't refuse to have what I'd prepared. Still standing there I began coiling the dupatta around my index finger when naani ji said," yes, bitiya eat with us." Lifting my head I looked at naani ji and then at him, he was silently digging into his plate but didn't protest to what payal and naani ji had suggested. I slowly walked towards the dining table and pulled the chair next to him. There was no reaction from his side, I poured a glass of water for my nervous and dry throat, gulping it down I started eating slowly, glancing at him from time to time.

Maybe this issue like others had finally begun to settle down between us. I lifted my hand to have some dal when he too did the same and our hands touched each one another's, I looked at him, our eyes met briefly before I moved my hand back and dropped my gaze, it felt so nice to see him enjoying the food, my stomach was half full just by that.

Payal after finishing her dinner brought a bowl of kheer which I'd prepared in the morning, not much was left coz a huge portion of it had been fed to the people who had gathered in the temple nevertheless she served everybody on the table including him. I didn't know why but I couldn't stop myself from remembering the first day of our wedding when I'd made kheer for the family, he'd thrown away the bowl in the air. Still trying to finish my plate with my eyes fixed on it suddenly I felt him coming close and whispering," next time when you make kheer, make lots of it." My head shot up at once and I smiled in delight, he too stretched his lips a bit before leaving for the room.

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I was taking out my wallet and watch to prepare myself to sleep when she came into the room, opening her cupboard she took out a small box and gave it to me, my gaze travelled from the box to her face and I raised my brow questioning her," happy birthday Arnav ji." She said with a smile.

I shook my head thinking what was the need for her to get me a gift, I was not a child anymore," from where and how did you get this?" I asked.

She crossed her arms in front of her chest and with her head held high replied," I saved from the money that you gave me to buy books and meet my hostel expenses."

" I wished you spent the money on yourself instead on me," I smiled and said. She stared at me with warmth filled eyes and answered softly," it's the same thing." Her simple and sincere words always managed to touch me more than anything else nevertheless I unwrapped the gift, I had to seeing her looking at me expectantly.

It was a nice simple watch with a black leather strap reminding me of my younger days when I was Arnav, an ordinary innocent guy and not Arnav Singh Raizada, the gangster!

" it's nice .. but I already have one." I said knotting my eyebrows, she nodded her head in agreement and replied," I know but tomorrow when I won't be with you then this watch will remind you of the time we spent togethe." Ironing out my brows I looked at her in confusion, what was she talking, why would we not be together tomorrow? I failed to understand and asked through clenched teeth," what do you mean by that?" taking deep sigh as if trying to gather her courage she said," Arnav ji, I've decided to go for the puja with maa..so.."

I glared on hearing her, when I had made myself clear that under no circumstance she would do that puja then why was she raising that topic again? was she so careless about her health?

" listen khushi, I am saying this for the last time, you're not stepping out of the house..i don't want you to fall ill because of some puja."

Pressing her dry lips she came close to me and held my hand to calm me down," Arnav ji, I had suffered food poisoning around ten days ago...and now see I'm perfectly fine. Don't worry I'll take good care of myself."

I knew she had fallen sick ten days back and now she was quite better but still this whole thing of her going for that puja was disturbing me, I couldn't pin point the exact reason but this idea was making me uncomfortable moreover why all of a sudden she had turned all religious?

" I have hardly ever seen you praying then why now? "

slowly she moved her hand and lowered her head before saying," not for myself but for I believe in god." All of a sudden there was a hint of sadness in her tone which caught my notice, raising her head she continued to make me understand," you're special and important ...for this family ...for the people of this town..if my praying on your behalf can make your near and dear ones happy then what's the harm?" sometimes I really disliked her for cooling me down so easily, for convincing me in such a way that I was left with no option but to give in to her wishes. Seeing my eyes and expressions soften towards her words she added further," here everybody loves you ..they are scared to lose you ..if.." before she could complete herself I asked her promptly," and you..where do you fit in all this?" she was talking about others but in all this where did she stand? Why was she so eager to perform that puja on my behalf?

My one simple and direct question caught her off guard, her eyes scattered the floor as she began fidgeting with her dupatta, I watched her intently for a few seconds before she gulped the lump in her throat and said nervously," I..even I want to see you safe." I smirked inwardly on seeing how badly she was attempting to hide her true feelings from me, there was definitely something between us, something that had been affecting me for so long that same something was now beginning to cast a spell on her too and she was fighting hard not to accept and acknowledge it.

I asked her one more time," think again is all this really important?" she nodded her head and replied," hmm..not just important but very important." Rolling my eyes in defeat I turned toward my bed, there was no point in arguing with her, she wouldn't listen.

I glanced at the recliner where she was sleeping peacefully, she'd be out for only a day and that was not what was worrying me, it was something else, something that was forcing me to stop her from going away but I didn't have any valid reason to do so. Restlessly I tossed and turned on the bed several times before going off to sleep.

Couple of hours later I woke up when the bathroom door banged open. Squinting my eyes I glanced in that direction, she was coming out after taking the shower, I looked at the bedside clock, it was 5.30 and she was all ready. Sitting up I asked her," you're already up?"

She smiled and nodded her head,"it will take two hours to reach the temple..and the puja will also take time."

" khushi, why you're doing all this?" I said one more time. She lowered her and turned towards the cupboard then took out my clothes without saying anything. A little miffed with her I got off the bed and left the room to tell Aakash to accompany her and her mother to the temple, if he'd be with them I would be less worried. Coming back I picked up my clothes and went to the bathroom without looking at her. When I came out she was standing with a cup of tea then kept it silently on the table.

" it would have been nice had you also accompanied us for the puja." She said standing behind me as I brushed my wet hair. Gazing at her image in the mirror I replied," you know I have no faith in all this stuff..I did it once for sheeta's sake...look what happened." I knew she was doing it all for me but when I didn't believe in all this then why was she taking so much pain?

She didn't force me further, probably didn't wish to bring up sheetal's topic again.

" but you would be coming to leave me, right?" she asked with the hope in her eyes that I'd say yes but I shook my head in negation," no, I've asked to Aakash to take you ..he'll be with you all the time."

Disappointment clearly spread across her face which she tried hard to hide but failed miserably," okayy..you must be having some meeting to attend ."

I turned around and said," no, I'm not busy." This made her more grim, that inspite of not being busy I still refused to drop her off. Though I had come to pick her up from the hostel I hadn't gone to leave her even then.

" khushi, it's not easy for me to leave you." I didn't know why but it was really difficult for me to leave her and go away, even if it was for few days or hours. Just the thought of coming back home alone without her disconcerted me.

She lifted her head and stretched her lips in a relieved smile then said," tea?" shaking my head I said," later."
She played with the bells of her dupatta, she wanted to say something more but was feeling a little hesitant. Pulling out the drawer I took out the watch that she'd gifted and wore it.

" Arnav ji, I need some money ...for the puja." Rolling my eyes I thought, I should have known that she must be needing money for carrying out this puja. Picking up my wallet I opened it then stopped and outstretched my hand and offered it to her. She appeared a bit surprised seeing me handing her over the wallet nevertheless she lifted her hand slowly and took it from me. It felt good on seeing her for the first time asking something from me even though it wasn't for her own but still when I gave her the right to claim my things to which she was freely entitled to, she didn't decline or move back which she used to do earlier.

Taking out a few notes she gave it back to me and kept the money in her purse along with her cell phone.

Aakash knocked at the door to inform," bhai, khushi's mother is waiting downstairs." and left. She lifted her purse and said softly," take care." I blinked my eyes, she turned to leave but stopped at the doorstep and said," I'll be back even before you know." Depositing my hands in the pockets I nodded my head.

As she stepped out of the room silently, I gazed at her retreating back with a strong urge to stop her.

Something didn't feel right.

But what was it?

thanks for reading

Rose