ArHi SS: Inertia [Completed] - Page 20

Loved it. So finally Arnav found her and Khushi's Khushi is work in progress indeeed. Thx for the PM.

awesome. ..this is getting super exciting with each update. ...
loved it...

Relationships between siblings are ever changing.

Work in progress, ehhh?? You know, after every update I wonder how much of you is in that update... Where did u blur the lines between reality n fiction? ... Who was ur Mr. Venkat - he/she must have inspired you to write like this... And most of all, what happened between u n ur Payal? I m so greedy, I know... Hope u n ur Arnav are enjoying watching reruns of Criminal Minds on A&E on long, summery afternoons!!

Wow am loving this story.. Was missing arnav but the last bit made up for it all

its amazing
superb update
hope everything is better between arnav and khushi

9. Summer Evening

"It took two weeks to find me?" Khushi said, slipping into a chair. She drowned an entire glass of water that was set in front of her, grabbed the one that was in front of Arnav and drowned that too.

"I found your number five minutes after you walked out from the bookstore. I dragged the text message you received an hour ago two minutes after I got your number." Arnav sighed.

"And it took two weeks to press send." Khushi sniggered.

"Kind of?" Arnav said sheepishly, the tip of his ears turning red in embarrassment.

"I am glad you called." Khushi said in lieu of teasing him.

"I hope you weren't busy?" Arnav asked. "Coffee?" He asked waving at the counter.

"Double shot espresso," she said immediately. Arnav laughed softly and placed their order.

The evening was warm, golden sunlight slipping through the shades and noises of the patrons of the caf they were in reduced to a mild hum in the background. They weren't the kind who enjoyed banal small talk. Khushi's excitement from the day was palpable.

"So, what's up?" Arnav asked when their previous conversation about summer, engine oil and addictive bad coffee in college canteen simmered.

"We found more about Leela today. One of the sites hit the mother-load - a trunk full of books and documents from the period after the last king died. I don't think it was meant to hidden but got buried under debris when the palace collapsed." Khushi said, excitedly.

"Oh? Who was she?" Arnav asked, curious.

Khushi launched an explanation, pulling a book where she was keeping notes on finding of the site as a personal journal pointing to rudimentary sketches she had made of the site and of Leela herself.

"Where did you get her picture?" Arnav asked softly, eyes stuck on the full round face and deep eyes. Khushi's art was far from perfect, rudimentary at best but she had put in a lot of emotion when she drew Leela.

"There is no existing picture of her. Or rather there is no picture that decidedly tells us what she looked like. Venkat has some material where she was mentioned by name and some of her features were also mentioned. I just used my imagination to fill up the rest. A portrait of her parents is available, so that was helpful."

"You are invested in her story." Arnav noticed. "Aren't you?"

Khushi looked outside the window for moments collecting her thought. Arnav didn't say anything to distract her and waited for her to continue.

"It sounded so silly at first, you know?" She said softly.

"What do you mean?" He asked, surprised.

She traced the cup handle with her index finger. "We have all read stories about these famous women who overcame their gender bias and showed the world how intelligent, strong, brave and powerful they could be. Leela was so young and led her life the way she saw fit. It's something women struggle with even in this day and age. But she did. She lived a different life in a world so different yet so similar to ours. Women are still given looks when they don't dress the way society thinks is the right way to do. My mother, who is educated, a woman of the world, suggested one day that I should wear a dupatta or a shawl to cover my upper body when I wanted to go to a friend's house who lived at the end of the lane because there were many street vendors roaming the street during that time of the day. I see where she is coming from. But it doesn't make the environment any less hostile, you know?" Khushi replied in length.

"Leela's story must be told then." Arnav said simply. Khushi chuckled softly and nodded.

"You should come by the fort sometime. I am sure Venkat will like your perspective on architecture." Khushi said, finding a clean segue.

"Now that I know the story behind them, I would love to." He said.

"Is that important?" She asked. Noting his blank expression she added. "The stories, I mean."

Arnav smiled. "Architecture isn't just lines and planes. I mean it's not always just that. Why do you think people back in the days spent so much of time and manpower in making something as simple as pillar to an architectural marvel? If I have to build pillar today, we start with square of spherical and maybe talk a bit about style. Now it's about being practical. Few years down the line, no one would care if a public building is demolished because it will not have any architectural significance to it."

"Isn't being practical enough? Government doesn't have that kind of resources to have an extravagant public building, do they? Also, time!" Khushi rallied.

Arnav shook his head. "I am not suggesting they go all out and invest way too much money. I am expecting some amount of human emotion going into building public buildings. Right now, they are all just brick and stones and concrete."

When Khushi didn't respond, Arnav continued. "We have a long lasting heritage Khushi. We can borrow some of it and fuse with practical necessity. I am sure it will be both feasible and easy on the pocket. Like you said how many people throughout history never got their due representation, architecture didn't either."

"Emotions are a dying commodity in this world Arnav. Practicality has taken its place. Maybe this is the social evolution we have all been destined with." Khushi stated mutely after the table had fallen silent. Arnav chuckles without humor.

"Because we don't take time to understand. We simply judge as that's all the time we have for ourselves now." Arnav said, looking at his lap.

Khushi smiled inwardly at the convoluted segue Arnav had brought mentioning their old interactions. She took his hand in hers and said, "As long as we correct our judgment, we should be fine. No?" She smiled.

"I'd like that." He squeezed her hand in return and that was that. "More coffee?" He asked, his eyes brighter than before.

"I won't sleep tonight if I drink more coffee. Something cold, something...fruity." She grinned.

Arnav hesitated. "Do you want to pick our drinks up and go on a drive? I'll drive." He winced at Khushi's blatant look of surprise.

"You want to continue talking?" She said standing up.

"Yes." He replied confidently. "I just found you. I am not going to let you go."

amazing...
loving this...
first coffee together
then in end long drive...
finally they r coming to track...

Emotions and Practicality