Chapter 7: Past Imperfect, Future Tense
He spotted her first, standing next to a pillar decorated with marigold flowers. She didn't see him, of course and he was glad for that, because he expected her to bolt if she did. The wedding venue was absolutely packed and if Khushi wanted to stay lost, it would be easy for her to. Plus, she had a ton of practice of doing just that for so many years. As he walked closer to where she was, he realised that she looked very different from the recent couple of encounters that he had with her. When he saw her at Tewari & Sons for the first time in years, when she refused to recognise him, she looked much like the same girl whom Lavanya had introduced to him at New-Ons; very much the young, wide-eyed schoolgirl. But today, the schoolgirl was gone and in her place was a rather.. he couldn't put his finger on it.. but she looked like a rather weary woman. Of course, she looked very beautiful. Red was certainly her colour. The sari looked like something of a vintage piece, it was simple, but even from the distance he could tell that it was not kind of design that got woven today. The silk of the fabric wrapped around her snugly, almost as a second skin and it accentuated and flattered her almost perfect body. But the blouse that she had teamed up the sari with was a rather old-fashioned one and really stood out among the sea of backless ones that hinged on flimsy doris. Khushi's blouse had a rather matronly and conservative neck and schoolgirl puff sleeves. But there was no denying, she was a beautiful woman. He had of course considered this notion on more than one occasion in the past, but today was when he acknowledged it to himself. But what stood out to him about Khushi at that moment was not how arresting she looked, but how fragile she seemed. Not weak, but fragile. Like she was barely holding it all together to keep up appearances. Was he being fanciful, he wondered?
He needed to stop overthinking everything about Khushi. Even he could see why NK and Payal would think he obsessed over her. It was probably the sari that she was wearing that made her seem different. Somehow this brought the memory of another time, long ago when she had worn a sari and how it began a series of.. well, unfortunate incidents. Not today though. Nothing would go wrong today. He was glad that she was alone and not with Aakash or any other New-On-Ite. He could handle only so much of awkwardness at the same time. He was barely four feet away from her when he saw a young man walk up to her and begin a conversation. Seeing how uncomfortable Khushi looked, it was not difficult to guess that it was an unwelcome impingement. The stranger in question was dressed like a Bollywood hero, an elaborately layered kurta with so much bling that he was reflecting off several surfaces and lights around the venue. He would perhaps break into a song and dance anytime soon.
"Main Major Anand ka cousin hoon. Third cousin hoon. Aap ladki walloh ki tarah se ho?"
He heard Mr Bollywood say, even as a now alarmed Khushi looked around for an excuse to escape. Third cousin, he thought amusedly. That did not even make any sense. He wondered if this was the right time for him to approach her. Would Khushi think that the known devil was better than an unknown one? He was unsure. The only thing he was sure about what was the devil part. And while he stood there contemplating what to do, their eyes met.
The decision was made and he walked up to Khushi and Mr Bollywood.
"Hi, Khushi. I think the others are there, next to the mandap," he said pointing in the direction of several men with pink turbans. He was being cautious, giving her an out from third cousin of Major Anand and it was upto her now.
"Oh yeah, I was looking for them," Khushi agreed and offered Mr Bollywood an apologetic look before she stepped towards him. While he did not plan this, Arnav offered his arm for Khushi to take. It was a reflexive action and he immediately regretted it as he did that. But it was too late to retract. Khushi did take his arm, was it out of politeness or because of the heels that she was wearing, he wasn't sure. They walked in the direction of the mandap, but obviously not to the mandap itself as it was too crowded. When they were near a table next to some kind of floral shower, Khushi stumbled and he grabbed her, making her sit down on one of the chairs. She grimaced, possibly in pain.
"Did you hurt yourself? Are you okay?"
She nodded. But not too convincingly.
"Do you want me.. to take a look?" he was not sure why he even asked that. But evidently he was a fifteen-year-old suddenly, confused, silly and in possession of some rather erratic hormones.
"No," she said sharply. A bit too sharply. He didn't blame her. That would be the creepiest thing for him to do. Or cheesy, like they were in the middle of a badly written Bollywood movie scene. After all, they were straddling that thin line between bare civility and abject loathing. He needed to remember that.
"I mean, I am fine. I am not so clumsy usually, but I seldom wear heels, so I am just not too steady today," she over-explained. He nodded and sat down on the chair next to her. Occasionally the petals shower would blow their way. It was really the most awful spot that they had picked to sit. He concluded that she was still that person, one who took care of feelings of others, no matter how fraught their relationship was. He found this both charming and frustrating in equal measure. He literally wanted to shake her up and ask her why, rather how was she this stoic. And what happened to her life after she left Alchemy.
"Can I get you something," he asked. There were waiters carrying some finger food, that looked too greasy and drinks that looked like they were alcohol free. It was not the weather for sherbets.
"No. Thanks. I think Karthik and Veena are near the mandap," she said to him in that soft, polite tone that she often reserved for him. He had to smile at her obvious attempt at trying to deflect attention from her, but even though he did have a fondness for both Karthik and Veena, it would have to wait. He couldn't help but notice that she had got a gift for Lavanya, inspite of the no-gifts diktat. He wondered if now was a good time to wish her on her birthday. How would she respond to it? Anger? Surprise? Joy? Bored? He really needed to stop second guessing her.
**
When Khushi came to New-Ons in 2001, she did not make too many friends. Lavanya Kashyap took her under her fold and pretty much dictated most of her New-Ons relationships. So, if Lavanya liked someone, then Khushi was allowed to like them, which is perhaps why Khushi and Aakash always had a connection. If Lavanya did not care for someone, say like Payal, then Khushi and that person did not have any business being friends. He had always wondered if Khushi realised that. But then again, all friendships had some level of manipulation involved in them. His and Payal's included. He was not blind enough not to see that. While Lavanya and Khushi had by all accounts a strong friendship it did not somehow seem to extend after school. A conclusion he reached after Lavanya had thrown a birthday party when she had invited several of their classmates, including him, but Khushi was conspicuous in her absence. In fact, even Payal had made the cut for this party that happened at a Pizza Hut in Greater Kailash. When Veena had asked Lavanya where Khushi was, she had replied saying, "I thought she will feel awkward, so I didn't invite her." Arnav had found that telling. Though, truth be told, at that time it had been a blindspot to him that he too reacted to Khushi differently one-on-one than in a social setting. He realised that today and was not proud of it. So when a week or so after Lavanya's birthday, when Baig Sir had singled him out after track practice and told him that Khushi's birthday was on December 19th, he made a mental note of it. Baig Sir, who had discovered Khushi felt nothing but enormous affection for her and always tried to look out for her. Perhaps at some level Baig Sir felt responsible for throwing Khushi among the elitist crowd, where she did not really fit in.
Though he loathed it personally, birthdays were a big deal in New-Ons. There were gifts; birthday bumps; cake-cutting, most of which was wasted on smearing it on the face of the person celebrating it. Every person had a set of friends who were responsible for making birthdays into a memorable occasion. And the popular kids had enormous attention thrown their way. Possibly Baig Sir, aware of this tradition among New-On-Ites, realised that Khushi too should have a Birthday-Santa in her life and had singled out Arnav for this task. Or maybe, Baig Sir did not have any such agenda at all, but Arnav took this to heart. If Khushi's birthdate had fallen a week later, they would have been in the middle of their winter holidays and he might have ignored it. But unlike while in college, in school, the nineteenth was usually the last couple of days before the winter-break. A week before her birthday, he realised that he needed to do something for her. A cake seemed excessive, not to mention how cruel everyone was capable of being with it. He needed to get her something that was reasonably impersonal. He had discussed this with the only two people he could discuss this with, Anjali Di and Aman, unsurprisingly each was more unhelpful than the other. Eventually Di took him to Dilli Haat, where he bought her a photo-frame and also generously gave him a beautiful picture that she had clicked of the Taj Mahal in the rains. Whichever way one looked at it, this was not the best gift. A mausoleum picture was perhaps macabre and a monument widely considered by many as the ultimate romantic gesture was not right either, but at that point Arnav hadn't thought through it. He handed over the gift to Divyesh Thakur to give it to Khushi. Yes, he was that guy. Awkward, easily embarrassed and an idiot fifteen-year-old. Divyesh, though had many faults, was mostly a honest and sociable sort. He had no qualms singling out an embarrassed Khushi and making a big show of giving her the gift in front of the New-On-Ite bunch. Understandably, several of their classmates were surprised that the guy who was the star cricket player and jock had noticed this quiet girl. The reminder of the four years at New-Ons he was ribbed and ragged endlessly about Khushi, something that he took in good humour. The next year he bought her the book Life of Pi. And the year after was The Da Vinci Code. Though by this time, the Aman shitstorm had hit their lives, but he continued to play her Birthday-Santa. On her final birthday before she passed out of New-Ons, he gifted her a set of expensive pens. It was the most accepted impersonal gift for any student who had their board exams a few months away. Did Khushi care for any of those gifts, he did not know. Did the gifts make her birthdays even somewhat memorable, he did not know that either.
**
"The invitation said no gifts, do you think she will be upset that we got gifts for her anyway," Khushi finally decided to break this prolonged silence between them. She was looking at the other guests walking towards the mandap, a large number of them without any gifts in their hands. He looked at the rather large looking gift that he had placed on the table and decided to move it to an empty chair next to him, away from the view of the passerby. NK was right, this was a ridiculous gift to be giving someone who didn't want a gift. Just flowers or a gift cheque would have sufficed.
"I am just planning to hand it over to Lavanya's parents. They can decide what to do. Maybe you can do the same too," he suggested, hesitating just a little bit. She was after all here as Lavanya's guest, unlike him.
"I will just give it to Aakash. I just sent him a message, he should be here soon," Khushi said.
Of course. Aakash Mallik would be here to save the day. Was he being vicious towards his cousin who had done no wrong? Why?
"Actually I am here because Lavanya's parents had invited my parents, but they couldn't make it, so I am here instead," Arnav said, unsure why he felt the need to explain his presence. But after he had deliberately engineered a meeting with Khushi over the motichoor ladoo order, he felt the need to clarify and reassure that he was not her stalker. Yet.
"Oh. How is your.. father.. his health is okay? And your.. mother," she asked, if there was any hesitation it was well masked. She did not beat around the bush, a quality that he admired her for.
"Dad is well. Taking it slow with the business. Mostly he is busy with golf. Mom is.. fine too. She is travelling on business. She.. I mean.. both of us.. I am sorry for what happened Khushi. It was a misunderstanding that spiralled out of control. I have wanted to talk to you for all these years. But.." he rambled on. She had made a polite enquiry and he had taken the opportunity to set the record straight.
"It was a long time ago, Arnav, Forget it," she said. If the subject had agitated her, she did not betray it in her manner or voice.
"No, I can't. The fact that you are so.. calm about it, is admirable, but that doesn't make it okay. For heaven's sake, you left college because of me.. my family. You had to give up sports and mathematics, both things that you loved. And.." he stopped midway, hearing in his head what he was trying to say and realising how condescending he was sounding. No, he needed to do this properly.
"And? And that I am now still running a mithai dukaan," she said in an even tone.
"No. I didn't mean to sound like that. I know that you run a family business and are also coaching at St Joseph's. That is fantastic actually. What I meant it.." he was interrupted midway by her.
"Arnav, the decision to leave college was mine. I completed my graduation through correspondence. And about giving up sports, that is okay, I was probably never that good anyway. You don't have to feel guilty. You don't owe me anything," she said and got up from the chair. This time, her pain was obvious. And it was not just her feet. She grimaced and Arnav was quick to get on his feet and grabbed her arm. He did not mean to go Alpha Male on her obviously, he honestly just wanted to help her because she seemed to be struggling. But the wide-eyed look that she threw his way, and the ragged breath of hers suggested that their proximity was making her.. uncomfortable. Arnav loosened his grip on her arm and gently moved his hands up her shoulder making her sit on the chair again. In that moment, it was hard to explain, but he would be lying if he did not admit that he was mesmerised by her. This was perhaps the closest that he had seen her face. Her eyebrows were not plucked and actually were unsymmetrical and yet her eyes were nothing short of beautiful. She had the most peculiar shaped nose, which might have been unattractive on some other woman but not on her. He even noticed the tiniest mole above her mouth, and at the risk of fetishisation, he exercised self-control and did not allow his thumbs to graze it. He was down there on his knees and she on the chair, oblivious to everything.
"Arnav, Khushi. What are you guys.. why don't you guys come to the bar," it was Aakash who had appeared out of nowhere.
Arnav immediately stood up and looked at his cousin, whose attention was entirely on Khushi.
"There is a bar? Good lord, I need a drink," and he left Khushi with his cousin as he walked away.
**
"Khushi, are you alright? You look very lost. Is everything okay. Did.. Arnav say anything?" Aakash interrupted Khushi's troubled thoughts.
Why was he here? Why? She had not been prepared for this encounter. In fact, had she any inkling that he was going to be there, she would have excused herself. This whole situation made her uncomfortable. The raking up of the past, that she was trying so hard to move away from. And she should have gone with her first instinct and worn her regular kolhapuri chappals. Now she had a twisted ankle that had caused her to make a fool of herself. Plus, her feet were absolutely cold. No, she was not alright.
"I am fine. Where are Karthik and Veena," Khushi asked Aakash, who looked unconvinced with her insistence of fine-ness, but decided to drop the subject.
"Happy birthday, Khushi," he said and gave her a little grey box, with a white ribbon. She smiled at him and gave him a hug. It was a bit strange that her own parents had not wished her on her birthday, but Aakash had. There were moments of great low in her life when she would wonder if her life would have different, better-different if she had never gone to New Horizons. The school did open many doors for her, that a less privileged education might not have, but it also brought so much of heartache along with it, she had to wonder about this. She normally did not like to blame other people for the way her life had turned out, but had she continued studying at Laal Bahadur Shastri School, the government school, among people like her, perhaps she wouldn't have struggled as much. But even in her darkest moments, she was grateful for the friendship of Aakash Mallik and that was not just because he got her a birthday present. That was not the big thing, even Divyesh Thakur gave her a present for the four years that she was at New-Ons, but for the non judgemental and supportive friendship that he had given her over the years.
"Should I open it here," she asked him and he seemed amused by her giddy happiness.
"It is yours now, you can do whatever you want with it," he pointed out to her.
She removed the ribbon carefully and in the box inside was a piece of jewellery. It was a pretty silver chain, with a round pendant that had the pi symbol carved on it.
"Back in California a colleague who works in my lab, makes nerd-themed jewellery and sells them. I saw this months ago and thought of you. It is a bit silly," he said grinning.
"It is not silly at all. I love it. I rarely wear jewellery, but this I will. Thanks, Aakash, this is a perfect gift," she put the chain back into the box carefully and even tied the ribbon like it originally was.
"I am glad you are in a better mood. I initially thought that Arnav and you had got into a fight. He wanted to escape to the bar and has since disappeared," Aakash said, reminding Khushi of something that she had for a brief while forgotten. She understood that Arnav had suddenly decided that he wanted to correct all the past wrongs that he had inflicted on her knowingly or otherwise. But she had put that chapter behind her. Nothing good could come out of opening up all wounds, didn't he see that. And she didn't want to open her up to potentially more hurt. She was not trying to make things tough for him, or make him feel miserable, but she was not suddenly going to pretend to be friends with him. That wouldn't happen.
"Arnav knows I work at Joseph's. I wonder how," Khushi said, it wasn't question as much as she thinking aloud.
"I didn't tell him anything. I know you want to keep away from the Raizadas and I respect that," Aakash said, sounding a little hurt, like she was suggesting that he had ratted out on her.
"Of course, I know that. I am sorry, I was just wondering. Anyway, it isn't some kind of dark secret that can't be shared. Oh, let it be. I want to let Lavanya know that I made it and give her my gift," she said getting up, her feet hurting badly.
"Are you okay, here let me help you," Aakash said and Khushi held on to his shoulder, while he helped her along by holding her waist.
"You do know that the invite specifically asked not to bring gifts, didn't you," Aakash said as they walked towards the mandap.
As they walked past the bar, Khushi saw Arnav was talking to a couple of men dressed in expensive suits. Their eyes met and Arnav raised the glass he was holding at her. She nodded and turned back to listen to Aakash rant about how impossible Lavanya was.
**
Payal was doing some sketching of her designs when her phone rang. She put the phone on speaker and continued working. It was her dad and she knew that it would take a long time, he was probably going to complain about Raghu, his bumbling Man Friday or Sonu, their household help with some boundary issues and her mother, who had too many opinions about everything. If she were alone when her dad called, then she always put her dad's call on speaker mode and would continue whatever it is that she was doing only to interrupt with hmm, ummm, mmm at regular intervals. If her dad realised the treatment his daughter was meting out to him, he did not complain.
"Do you know this girl Khushi Gupta? She passed out from New Horizons the same time as you had," her dad said after the initial pleasantries were out of the way. She immediately paid attention and took the phone off from speaker-mode. Who was this Khushi Kumari Gupta? The Pied Piper? Everyone seemed to be drawn to her.
"Khushi Kumari Gupta was my classmate in Class IX and X. After that we were in different streams. Why do you ask?"
"You remember the AnandRams people? Anand Ram funds INP and his brother Vinay Ram has huge clout in the Chandni Chowk constituency, you see he is acceptable to both the Hindus and the Muslims.."
"Dad, what is the point? What has this to do with Khushi?"
"I am coming to that. These people want to open a fine dining restaurant.."
"Fine dining? In Chandni Chowk? Isn't that the most incongruous thing ever? Besides how will cars get there and who will get parking?"
"I don't interfere in their business decisions. Anyway they have the land, but a few shops come in the way. Shops who refuse to sell. One of them is a Tewari Sweets or something, owned by Khushi Gupta."
"So? Dad I have a ton of designs to complete. This intern I had quit after just two days. Nobody wants to work these days.."
"Not everyone is like you and your boyfriend, who have no personal life."
"You mean fiance? Why does nobody seem to remember that I am engaged?"
"Hmm. So this Khushi girl owns one of the shops that is refusing to sell to AnandRams. And she seems to have clout among the seven other stores who won't sell."
"So? What am I supposed to do?"
"I checked this girl's entire background. It is interesting. She was an athlete, she got into New-Ons on a scholarship. She went to Alchemy college on a sports scholarship, but dropped out after second year when the endowment that funded her got pulled out. And the endowment fund was managed by Poonam Raizada who had set it up in the memory of her father."
"Wow! I didn't know any of this. Arnav doesn't tell me much, does he?"
"That is what I have been saying all this while. So this Khushi then completes her graduation via correspondence and helps her father with a mithai shop. That shop goes out of business and then Khushi's mother inherits this current mithai shop. Khushi manages that now, but they are the neck-deep in debt because the original owner was part of some betting scam. Khushi is an ad-hoc appointed sports coach at Joseph's. Which basically means Delhi University gives her no benefits and soon she can be without a source of income."
"Well, that is too bad. She is paying the price for being stubborn."
"How can you say that? She is your friend, that is why I am telling you all of this."
"We were classmates, dad, not friends."
"You are heartless. And to think, I am the politician."
"Whatever, dad. What can I do anyway?"
"You can speak to her and explain to her that what she is doing is foolish, you know friend to friend sort of thing. Once I put Raghu on the job, she will be finished."
"I have my own battles, dad, I can't possibly fight other peoples too."
"What battles do you have?"
"Good night, dad. See you tomorrow."
**
"We should take a group selfie of the New-On-Ites," Veena said as they had all gathered near the mandap, with a queue that ran for miles waiting to congratulate the couple. As they all huddled, making duck-faces, Arnav felt like an intruder. Veena and Karthik were a very much in love couple and Aakash and Khushi were very close friends. Perhaps he should have brought Payal along as his plus one, maybe everything would have been smoother then. Payal would have found a way to cut past this line and be done with the business of congratulating as quickly as they could. Aakash, Karthik and Veena were discussing about housing in the Bay Area, where Aakash currently lived and where Karthik and Veena were moving in the spring. Khushi said nothing, her attention focused on two little girls who were doing a mock catwalk until their mothers came and physically pulled them away.
While they waited for their turn, the Kashyaps spotted him and came up to talk.
"Beta, glad you could make it. How is dad? I believe mom is not in town?"
"Yeah, uncle. They would love to have come, but got caught up with stuff."
"I am glad you could make it. That you all could make it," Lavanya's father offered, in his practiced politeness that he was doling out to all. The one good thing that came out of it was that the New-Ons bunch were able to cut the queue and congratulate the newly married couple.
"They are Lavanya's oldest friends," Mr Kashyap said apologetically to the guests. Though that statement was a bit of an overclaim, Arnav would take it.
Lavanya did make a beautiful bride, understated and elegant. Her husband was a very attractive man, had the air of a typical officer. If Lavanya was surprised to see him, she masked it very well and introduced her to her husband as Nanav' a name that she used for him when they were in kindergarten. That is when it stuck him, he was in fact possibly's Lavanya's oldest acquaintance. This realisation made him feel less like a trespasser somehow. After the obligatory group photograph, they exited the stage and decided to head towards the dinner area. Mrs Kashyap pulled out Aakash for some errand and Karthik and Veena had gone way ahead and were lost in the crowd. That once again meant he was alone with Khushi. Well, not alone, because there was a whole lot of awkwardness between them.
"Khushi, may I ask you something," he said, the first to break the silence.
"Yeah, what is it," she asked, lifting her sari a little so as to not get it wet as they walked along the dew covered lawn,
"Actually, let it be. I don't want to be intrusive," he backtracked.
"Oh don't do that now. I will keep wondering if you don't ask me whatever it is that you wanted to," she said, almost with an irritated half-pout.
"Okay, just to be clear, I don't mean to offend you in any way. Why is your shop called Tewari and Sons? This is not the same store that your father started, is it," he asked, finally putting down one of the many questions that bothered him.
"Yes, that is slightly personal, but not some kind of classified secret. The shop belonged to a person named Mahesh Tewari and when he died, he left it to my mother," she said.
"Wow! Interesting," he said, still not exactly understanding the situation.
"You are probably wondering why would a man randomly leave behind his shop to a woman he didn't know right? He was my mother's first husband," she said with rather surprising candour. Well played, Arnav, pick the most sensitive subject and browbeat her with it. Why couldn't they just have discussed the weather or something as palatable.
"I am sorry, Khushi. I had no idea," he said, mostly because he had no idea what an appropriate response to do this was.
"Stop apologising, Arnav. This is not your fault. He married my mother, then abandoned her. And when he died, he thought he was being generous in leaving behind a shop to my mother. One that brought scandal to our family, we inherited this man's debts and now legal litigation because of some other survivor staking their claim. Sometimes it is best to not open old wounds with a sorry," she said, sorrow and anger mingling in her voice. Was she making a larger point, he had to wonder.
"I am sorry, Arnav, I didn't mean to say all that to you. I don't know what is wrong with me."
"Not a problem, I understand. You also must stop apologising to me. What say?" he said to her and even got a smile from her in response.
"Khushi, I just wanted to tell you one thing, can we please go to some place less noisier," he said pointing to one of the side exit gates, that had a bench outside. She nodded and they walked towards the area in silence. The wedding now only a distant background hum. Khushi sat down on the bench, Arnav did not. He did not want to make her uncomfortable in any way.
"Khushi, happy birthday. I wanted to wish you right when I saw you, but I got distracted by other things I guess," he said, putting his hand into his pockets and kicking a pebble towards the gate.
"Oh. Thanks. You remembered. It was you who had bought that Taj Mahal photo-frame didn't you," she said. That is not what he had expected her to say.
"Yeah," he said grinning at her, "Did you always know?"
"Yes. Kind of suspected it actually. When I had come to.. your house I remember seeing photographs that Anjali Di had clicked. I remember seeing this one too. I remember the whole series, because they were all beautiful, but I think your face or hands popped in all of them," she said and there was amusement in her tone, not like she was drawing on some kind of uncomfortable memory.
"Wow! You remember that? Yes, that is called photobombing. Di was not happy at all," he recollected. Di was in fact livid and had meticulously then chopped him out and taken a second round of prints. Fancy Khushi remembering that.
"Do you think we should go back. I need to leave too. I won't get a cab if it is too late," she said, getting up from the bench.
"Just one more thing, Khushi. I know you said let us not rake up the past, but do you remember in college when we had both gone to the National Level Meet in Ahmedabad?"
This meet happened just before the time that Khushi quit Alchemy and perhaps the last time she competed in a sporting event. By this time their relationship had been fraught with tension and they spent the fifteen odd hours on the Ashram Express that ran between Delhi and Ahmedabad and the three days of the event, determinedly ignoring each other. Khushi did particularly well in this meet and won two gold and one bronze position medals. The award ceremony of the event was cancelled because on the final day there was a bomb blast in Ahmedabad leading to the city being put on a curfew. The games village was evacuated and Arnav had been picked at the Ahmedabad railway station by a local guardian his mother had arranged for. Arnav considered inviting Khushi along with him, but he was petty enough not to. And as he left behind several hundreds of the athletes who were all sitting, sprawled outside the station as trains were not running. That memory of Khushi remained etched in his memory, as she sat there amidst the sea of humanity, hugging her backpack. He did not see Khushi after that for a long while. They went into study holidays, exams and the next year, which was the final year, Khushi did not return to Alchemy. After many follow-ups, the sports coordinator of the National Event sent him and the other winner the prizes. Everyone was sent one tiny certificate that listed the events they had participated in and their positions and they were also given prize cheques - five hundred rupees for gold, three hundred for silver and a hundred for bronze. The coach handed over Khushi's certificate and cheque for Rupees 1300 to him. He never sent them to Khushi. Until today that is.
"This is something for you. From that Ahmedabad Meet, The cheque probably can't get encashed because it is almost seven.. eight years old. But you may want to keep it is a reminder of times when things were not so bad perhaps," he said
Khushi took the envelope from him and read the certificate and the cheque details.
"Arnav, can I ask you something?"
"Sure. Anything," he wondered where this was leading to.
"Why now, Arnav? Why after all these years? If we had not run into each other by chance, you would never have reached out to me, would you have," she asked. Her tone was not accusatory, there was genuine bafflement.
"You are right. I should have given this to you before," he said, realising that he was being vague and deliberately misunderstanding her question. But he honestly did not have an answer.
"That is not what I meant, Arnav. Anyway, thanks for this. Lets go back inside," she said, this time she walked purposefully towards the gate.
"Khushi, wait. I don't know, why now and not before. A better person would have sought you out before. I didn't. I am sorry for that. I know you want to put the past to rest. As do I. Let us meet one of these days, you pick the place and time, I will show up. I just want us to talk about what happened and get it out of the way," he said and he could tell that she was going to decline, "Just think about it, you don't have to commit to anything right now."
"Okay, I will think about it, Arnav."
"Thanks, Khushi."
They were in the area where dinner was being served, when Arnav excused himself saying he had to leave right away. Khushi watched him walk away and looked at the envelope in her hand and smiled.
"Looks like Arnav is your new best friend?" it was Aakash, smiling as he said that.
"You are a little jealous, aren't you?" Khushi said to him in a teasing tone.
"Very much. I have always wanted to get more attention from my cousin, but he just doesn't like me too much," Aakash said.
When they finally managed to get plates, Veena came running to them and said, "Guys, skip the food. Just eat the mithai, it is to die for. Kill for. Both." They took Veena's advice and started the meal with the dessert first. Khushi had to concede, this was good stuff. Baba would have appreciated this. Maybe Arnav was right, Khushi ought to confront the past and not brush it away hoping it would disappear. She decided right then that this had gone for too long and she would go to Lucknow in the next couple of days and fix this. Try to at least.
"I still can't believe that Lavanya is married," Aakash said, interrupting her Lucknow travel thoughts.
"When are you going to marry, Aakash," she asked him.
"Yeah when Aakash. The buzz around the South Delhi Moms Circle is that Opposite Chawla is the frontrunner in this race," Karthik chimed in right then.
This comment deservedly got a knock on his head from Veena who said, "She has a name, people and it is not Opposite Chawla. You guys are the worst."
**
By the time Arnav got back home, he saw that Payal had called him thrice. It was too late for Payal to call and also was not exactly her style. He wondered if there was some crisis and called her right away.
"How was the wedding? Who all showed up?
She sounded cheerful enough, so all must be well.
"Yeah, it was okay. Not too many from New-Ons. I wonder why Baig Sir didn't come. There was Veena, Karthik, Khushi and of course, Aakash."
"Khushi! Good lord, Arnav why did't you tell me that she left college midway because your mum withdrew her scholarship. Brutal, man, brutal."
"Hmm. Who told you?"
"My dad did? So why did your mom not like Khushi?"
"Why is your dad collecting information on Khushi?"
"You answer my question first, Arnav."
"I can't. This is between my mom and Khushi."
"I can't either. This is between my dad and Khushi."
"Fine. Will talk later?"
"Sure. By the way, tomorrow Aman is coming home for lunch. I don't know how I can be nice to him for an extended period of time."
"Be nice to him, Payal, be nice to him."
After Payal hung up he wondered what new trouble could possibly be coming Khushi's way. And per usual, the degrees of separation between her troubles and his people being responsible for it continued. God, why?
**
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