Chapter 11
She sat near the entrance door to complete the colorful rangoli, after doing so she stood up to admire it and pressed the back of her neck as it was paining due to the hours she had put it in making the diwali rangoli. She then turned to gaze at the door, the bandhanwars or door hangings made of bells, beads and mirrors were looking nice. Glass and brass made lamps were placed at different corners of the house along with a wall hanging of Lord Ganesha and Goddess Lakshmi hung on the wall adjoining the steps going to their room. The last thing left was to light the floating candles in the hall.
Anjali, shyam along with their son, Rohan had come over to stay at Raizada mansion to celebrate diwali which was still a day away. The whole house was buzzing with excitement as the adults of the family were busy playing cards in the hall.
Arnav picked up the three cards one more time and smirked after seeing what poor cards he had in his hands once again, tonight he was losing badly to Anjali who was betting without even looking at her cards and still was winning in the end. The lady luck was not in his favor he thought till Khushi came to the hall to light the candles floating in the glass bowl filled with water and decorated with rose petals. She smiled on recalling how he had warned her in the evening to be careful while bursting crackers with the kids and while lighting candles around the house, he knew she was prone to accidents thus didn't want her to hurt herself in anyway.
She saw everyone enjoying the game, it felt nice to have the whole family together under one roof.
This time he was a bit relieved as he saw his cards, they were decent enough to play but wasn't sure whether they were good enough to beat Anjali's. He was reluctant to continue the game when he saw Khushi giving him an innocent smile unaware of what was happening in the card session, her smile had some magic in it that made him play further and not only play but also win the game. She left the hall after lighting the candles to make some coffee for everybody as they cheered for Arnav. Finally he did manage to win something but his success didn't last long and once again he began losing this time to shyam which was even more annoying. With lack of interest he continued to play and decided not to see his cards till the end.
Khushi came back with coffee mugs and began serving everybody. The stakes were going high as anjali was very upbeat about her cards compelling the rest to back off, he saw that confidence in his sister's eyes which made him grin inwardly thinking one more game he would lose to her. Khushi placed his coffe mug next to his cards which were faced down, he traced his fingers on them hoping something great came out just then Aman interrupted," boss, this time let bhabhi pick the cards..who knows you might win."
Khushi frowned at aman and shook her head dismissing the idea then turned to leave when arnav held her wrist and indicated her to pick his cards. She bit her lower lip nervously and kneeled down to pick the cards, she shut her eyes tight as she upturned them one by one. Then instead of looking down at the cards looked at him for his reaction, his eyes were cold not letting out any emotion and made her feel all the more scared but thankfully Aman came to her rescue and screamed," boss you won ."
She heaved a sigh of relief and met his eyes once again, this time his lips broke into a smile. She got up to leave when Payal suggested ," bhai don't let bhabhi go..she's lucky for you." She was indeed his lucky charm both the games that he won she was somewhere around him. He lifted his head to glance at her, she didn't believe in all this and said," you all please enjoy the game, I have work in the kitchen ." But he didn't want to let go his lady luck," sit here. Work can be done later." Her cheeks turned scarlet at the way he was ordering her in front of everyone, she sat down silently before he would forcefully make her do so by holding her hand and embarrass her further.
Anjali withdrew herself from the game, she had lost too much in the last game and didn't wish to continue but then payal became more active. He shook his head on seeing a small pair in his hands and was about to drop the cards when Khushi stopped him. She knew this card game well thanks to her father who spent most of his time in gambling. She took the cards from his hands as he sipped on his coffee to play on his behalf making him win this time too. He gave her appreciative looks when they continued to win as the night progressed. It was way passed midnight, the family decided to call it a night and retired to their respective rooms.
****************************************
Couple of hours later she stepped out after taking her morning shower and adjusted her sari in front of the mirror then wore her mangal sutra around her neck. She took out his clothes from his cupboard then placed them on the bed. She walked to the window to open it then stopped herself midway, they slept late in the night and also it was diwali holiday so didn't feel like waking him up. She made a mental note of all the things she was supposed to do today while removing the towel from her wet hair. She had to first ready the puja room for evening's lakshmi puja then make a sumptuous dinner for the whole family as Anjali had taken up the responsibility of preparing lunch, it had been a while since she had cooked something for her brother. It would be a hectic day she concluded while brushing her hair with the towel when suddenly she heard him groan, her gaze fell on his wet face as he opened his eyes in annoyance.
She bit the inside of her cheek for ruining his sleep one more time. She walked near the edge of the bed and slowly sat next to him then with the corner of her towel wiped off the droplets from his face softly. He was wide awake now and stared at her, she moved her fingers through his messed up hair and with a sweet smile wished," Happy diwali, arnav ji."
He knotted his brows and asked," by dropping water are you celebrating holi or diwali?.." she gave him an apologetic look and got up to leave when she heard him from behind," khushi, I know you this purposely just to wake me up.". She tried to control herself from laughing and turned around then shook her head in negation," seriously, I don't intend to do it ..it just happens." then left the room quietly.
Soon after the lunch Garima and shashi came over to Raizada mansion to wish the family on the prosperous occasion as well as to congratulate both arnav and khushi who were on the path of becoming parents soon.
Daadi welcomed them both warmly in the hall and asked," what would you like to have?". Shashi who was facing the bar filled with different brands of whiskey bottles parted his lips to speak but just then garima elbowed and glared at him. She kept a box of sweets along with a basket of fruits on the table which they had bought with themselves and said" Please don't bother. We are here only to congratulate."
Daadi smiled acknowledging their good wishes and replied while glancing at khushi," but at least sweeten your mouth." Khushi went to the kitchen to get some sweets and when she came back arnav had also joined her parents in the hall. She offered the sweets happily and garima took a small piece of it then kissed her daughter's forehead affectionately and said," my baby is going to become a mother! I'm so happy for you." Garima's eyes became teary and she looked at arnav who smiled back at her, then she made khushi sit beside her and said softly," khushi, I've full faith in you. You'll not only be a good wife but an excellent mother too."
Khushi's face lost its color on hearing her mother, she was right till now she did justice to all the relationships she had entered into and had put her heart and soul in them but this relationship was different. No matter how much her heart wanted her to pursue it she couldn't, she wished she could tell all this to her mother but again seeing everybody happy with the coming of this child her heart told her to keep her sorrows to herself. She brushed a lone tear that threatened to roll down and hugged her mother tightly, everybody thought that it was a tear of joy but only her heart knew that it wasn't.
The rest of the day passed by in a jiffy when anjali, payal and khushi were cooking in the kitchen. It was late in the evening and khushi had still not got ready for the puja," bhabhi, why don't you get ready ..we will manage here." Suggested anjali, she nodded her head and rushed to her room.
Arnav looked at the one long piece of white cloth in his hands, daadi had instructed everyone in the house to dress up in traditional style for the diwali puja. He let out a frustrated sigh, how on earth was he supposed to wear a dhoti? He tried several times to drape it but every time it would fall apart just then Aman barged in," what is this boss, you're still playing with this dhoti." Arnav shot him an irritated look," how the hell did you drape it? I'm still struggling with this damn cloth.
Aman grinned at his intelligence and said," I'm wearing a readymade dhoti and it took me just five minutes to get ready." This angered Arnav more, why couldn't khushi arrange a readymade dhoti for him as well?
Aman approached him and decided to help him out. Arnav had wrapped a towel around his waist and Aman extended his hand to pull it, this surprised Arnav and he held his hand midway stopping him and growled ,"are you mad?" If that wasn't enough khushi too entered the room and saw both of them standing close to each other. Her eyes popped out in shock, Aman tried defending himself," boss, without taking off the towel how will I drape the dhoti?"
Arnav saw her heaving a sigh of relief then taking out her sari from the cupboard," forget it aman, I'll manage. You leave." Aman rubbed the back of his neck and left before thinking that he was just trying to help.Few minutes later she came out wearing her sari and stood before the mirror to tie her hair in a bun, while he was still tussling with the dhoti then gave up the idea and took out a matching pyjama with his kurta.
She turned around and asked softly," I've often seen baba wearing a dhoti. If you don't mind then may I do it for you? " He shifted his gaze from the cloth lying on the bed to her then nodded his head. She picked up the dhoti and folded it in half of its original length then stepped close to him. She lifted her hand towards his towel and looked at him expecting him to stop her but he didn't so she removed it slowly then wrapped it around his waist with the vertical stripes falling in front then she made him hold one edge of it in his left hand and quickly folded the remaining parts. He was impressed by the way she was draping it so fast then she lifted his kurta a little hesitantly as his soul piercing gaze tried its best to unnerve her then tucked in the folded bunch. Finally his dhoti was draped.
She moved back to the mirror once again to wear her jewellery, he opened his cupboard and took out a small box then stood behind her and said," This is for you. Actually daadi asked me to buy something for you on diwali." He paused to look at her reaction. She spoke while adjusting her necklace in the mirror, "Arnav ji, what was the need for this? Just a few days back daadi gave me bangles."
He ignored her reluctance to take the box and opened it himself, he had bought a pair of diamond studded dangle earrings and showed her," I don't know whether you'll like them or not..but when I saw them I thought of you." She lowered her head shyly and turned around," they are lovely."
He was happy that she approved his choice then asked her," khushi, will you wear these today?" she took the earrings from the box and began unclasping them , she rotated the screw of the earring but it slipped from her hands and fell down. He picked it up and fixed it for her making her tremble under his touch. He then moved to the other ear, all the time being cautious not to hurt her unaware that his long slender fingers were creating a havoc inside her making it difficult for her to even breathe. After what it seemed eons he stepped back only to lean on her once again, she shut her eyes as he came closer. Now she could clearly hear the pounding of her heart.
He raised his hand to her bun and pulled it, bringing her long tresses down then whispered ," I like your hair open."
She opened her eyes and found him staring back at her.
" Happy Diwali" His lips parted to wish her before exiting the room.
Color rose to her cheeks matching with the pink sari she was wearing.
**********************************
The whole family assembled to offer prayer to goddess Lakshmi. Daadi admired arnav and khushi lovingly as they did the arti together then asked them to light 21 diya's which aman had arranged in the lawn. The rest of the members too joined them in the lawn to burst crackers.
Both arnav and khushi became a little embarrassed when they saw that the diya's were set up in a shape of a heart. Arnav shot an angry glare at aman who winked back at him and left them alone.
Payal lit a bomb and aman closed his ears tightly with his hands, on seeing this shyam smirked at him," what aman, you play with bullets everyday and now you are getting scared of a small bomb." Aman lowered his head sheepishly and saw rohan, anjali's son clipping a fire cracker garland (ladi) to shyam's dhoti from behind.
A second later shyam was seen jumping all over the place screaming," RANI SAHIBA ..RANI SAHIBA" as the crackers began exploding and his dhoti caught fire. Anjali ran behind him to help and pulled out his dhoti. Everybody burst out laughing and Daadi shut her eyes in shame on seeing her son in law in such a state.
Arnav and khushi who had crouched down to light diya's didn't miss to watch shyam running around. Arnav's lips broke into a faint smile on the other hand khushi threw her head back and laughed openly. He turned his neck to look at her as she held her stomach while laughing, he had never seen her so happy. The dangle earrings swayed and dared to touch her, kiss her cheeks in his presence. He was totally mesmerized by her smile and beauty when she heard him hiss in pain. She gazed down and saw that he had burnt his finger while lighting the diya, she held his finger and looked at him accusingly, the other day he had told her to be careful and not hurt herself and now he himself had behaved carelessly while lighting the diya.
He couldn't take his eyes off her as she quickly brought an ice cube and rubbed it over his finger making his heart flutter not because of the cold ice but because of something else that he didn't know.
thanks for reading
Rose
Celebrity Fan Clubs
Anupamaa
43