FF: Shades Of Love last part pg 91 dt 28.12.15 - Page 9

Shade 7

" How can I possibly say no to you?"

Tayi giggled whereas my downcast eyes shot up and I peered at him. Yes I was surprised but only for a moment. How could I forget that he wouldn't miss any opportunity to flatter tayi? He was doing it for her not me.

" but before that supriya could you please excuse me for 10 minutes? I need to take a shower."

" sure sure. Please take your time. I'll be waiting."

" I just hate to keep women waiting. So I'll be back soon."

As soon as bathroom door shut I muttered, " I knew he was a flirt !."

" you know nakku I would have been surprised had he not been one." Letting out an audible sigh she declared, " with great looks and charming personality he has every right to flirt." Tayi was completely besotted by him.

" tayi let me get the broom to clean the room in the meantime. " what a mess he had made of the room in just one day with shoes thrown under the bed and clothes scattered on the bed. Was he seriously a doctor? How could he be so un organized? I gathered his shoes kept them in the corner then folded his shirts and lay them on the couch.

I was sweeping the floor when I saw tayi holding a photo frame in her hands. Peeping into it I saw AS with someone must be her husband.

" they look good together." I stated.

Tayi nodded her head, " yes. But only in picture. " I frowned at tayi.

She turned to look at me and said," this picture is very old when probably they were happy together."

" where is he? I have never seen him here."

Tayi laughed at my question and replied, " you are talking about yourself, I haven't myself seen him in years. And I doubt even AS is aware about his whereabouts."

Now that was really strange, AS who kept a close eye on PV had no idea about where her husband was?

" doesn't he keep in touch with AS?"

" I doubt. She doesn't talk about him. But I think dutta Ji knows about him." She kept the photo frame back on the bedside table.

" away from home what does he do?"

" he is a photographer and likes to travel around. Whatever little I have known about him I think he was never interested in his family business. He didn't wish to stay here. He didn't want to become a landlord like his forefathers and work for the people here. Instead he wished to pursue his passion for photography. I was very young when he left this house and this place. " tayi walked back to the couch to sit.

" AS didn't stop him or accompany him?"

Tayi opened the book and without looking up shook her head. " no. She wanted to stay here."

Sighing deeply I wondered how differed AS was from my mother. Even though both were somewhere not happy in their marriage still they both handled it so differently? AS didn't bother about the world and did what she thought right. She made herself so strong that nobody dared to question about her personal life. She earned genuine respect in people's eyes by her hard work. And my mother was still putting up with a useless husband when she could easily leave him and lead a better life.

My mother was trying to keep this relationship going but AS who practically ruled over PV, did she make an effort to save her house and marriage?

Who was stronger, who was more sensible and who was right, it was difficult for me to decide.

The bathroom door clicked open. He came out, thankfully this time decently dressed in a pair of blue denim jeans and orange t-shirt.

" I hope I didn't take too long."

Of course you did. You took almost half hour instead of ten minutes.

" not at all dutta Ji." My sweet tayi would always remain sweet.

" before we start let me make one thing clear. Supriya you have to stop calling me dutta Ji. You make me sound like an uncle. Call me dutta. We are friends, right."

Tayi's cheeks turned crimson for no reason and she lowered her head. " but you are older than me. How can I call you by your name?"

" so what supriya? Times have changed. You don't have to be so formal."

I interrupted and reminded him, " sahab we are taught to respect our elders."

" I think tayi is right." I added. He casually deposited his hands in the pockets of his jeans and asked," in that case why do you call Supriya 'tayi'? If I am not wrong isn't she younger than you?" I stared back at him.

" Nakku, he has made a valid point. In fact you shouldn't call him Sahab too. You are older than he is." No sooner the words slipped out of her mouth, tayi regretted and bit her tongue. " sorry Nakku."

It's not that I felt bad when reminded of my age, just that...never mind.

Now why was he still looking at me? Did he recognize me behind the dupatta? No. he wasn't that smart. Had he been he would've known by now. I wished someone drew his attention toward the math problem and not me.

" really? You look quite young."

I didn't know what is really, really meant but really this conversation was going nowhere. I moved to the bed to fold the bed sheet. I wasn't interested in this stupid talk.

" so Supriya which problem where you talking about?"

Finally he was talking sense. Thank god

. " you know in school math was my favourite subject."

Sahab can we get down to business, you've already wasted a lot of time.

" oh, this is so simple." He stated. If he got the correct answer only then would I agree.

He sat next to tayi after dropping the neatly folded shirts on the table and peered at me before asking," don't you want to know how this sum can be solved?"

" no, I will learn from tayi. She explains quite well." With that I turned my back to him and continued to make his bed.

He was about to explain when aayi came in and said," Supriya tayi, AS wants to have a word with you. She is waiting for you in her room." Tayi at once got up," excuse me dutta Ji , I will be back."

A moment later he cleared his throat," I don't have whole day. So if you want to know then.."

Reluctantly I dropped the duvet on the bed and went near the table. He glanced up at me and ordered," sit."

" I am fine Sahab."

He clenched his jaws and repeated," I said sit."

Why did he want me to sit, couldn't he just explain the sum and get done with it? When I didn't move he narrowed his gaze and retorted," look, I don't bite." Of course he didn't bite I knew.

" fine!"

He looked down at the problem and began explaining," you first calculate the volume of the larger cube, like this and then you calculate the surface area of the smaller cubes" I knitted my brows in concentration and watched carefully as he solved the problem step by step. Putting the pen down he gazed up at me and asked," understood?"

I picked up the book and went through the steps. Nodding my head I realised that indeed it was easy. Closing the book I turned around to leave when I heard from behind.

" your welcome."

I didn't fail to notice the sarcasm in his tone. I stopped and glanced over my shoulder. " thank you. Sahab.".

" instead of thank you could I get a hot cup of coffee?"

" sure."

" and yeah this time without breaking the cup." I stared right back at him. His eyes gleamed with amusement but I didn't find his comment funny. Seriously he didn't let go any opportunity to put me down. Without saying anything I approached the door.

" listen Nakku one more thing."

Curling my fingers in a fist I halted and turned one more time. " nakusha." I said firmly.

He got up and creased his forehead," huh?"

" Sahab it's nakusha." There was no need for him to get informal with me. The wrinkles on his forehead ironed out as he got the message loud and clear.

" alright nakusha. Do you mind telling me why do you hide your face behind this piece of cloth?I mean we are at home , there is no direct sunlight, dust or pollution..." He trailed off but I didn't allow him to finish and replied with my head held high," yes Sahab I do mind telling you."

His facial expressions were priceless when I didn't answer and walked off leaving him a little confused and a lot annoyed.

Well done Nakku!

thanks for reading

Rose

Shade 8

I scowled at her retreating back. Just what did she think of herself? Supriya could call her Nakku but I couldn't. Amazing!

Here I was helping her with her studies and she didn't even have the decency to thank me. Forget thanks she was showing me attitude for no reason. First she out rightly refused to take my help stating that she would learn from Supriya and not me. Why? and later when I asked her to sit down she remained still like a statue. Why again? What would have happened had she sought my help and sat down?

Would have I eaten her up? No. In fact given a chance she would eat me alive.

So rude and arrogant!

If I asked her why she covered her face, what was wrong in that? Not that I was dying to see her face. I was just...curious.

I failed to understand why was she so cold with me? What had I done to her that she always seemed annoyed with me when I should have been the one to be upset with her. Was she like this with everyone or was I the only one who remained at her firing end?

Striding toward the dressing table to comb my hair I thought that with Supriya she appeared different, quite cordial I would say. Supriya seemed extremely fond of her and she too behaved nicely with her. Wouldn't use the word sweet because the word sweet probably didn't exist in her dictionary.

She was such a weird girl that I had no idea how to deal with her. When I would ignore her and concentrate on Supriya then she would jump in the middle. Today it happened twice. Twice she intervened for no reason when she could have easily kept silent and minded her own business. But no she had to jump in.

Throwing the hair brush back I smirked. Perhaps she felt jealous that all my attention went to Supriya. Surely she was jealous! I could make out. And I swore I enjoyed seeing her like that.

I winked at my reflection. After all no girl could resist Dutta Shriram patil's charms and she was no different though she tried hard to be.

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I was sitting on the dining chair when mausi came with the coffee. So nakusha madam sent her mother instead. Did she fear that she might break the cup again. Seriously she looked so irritated when I had teased her with that remark. Her emerald green eyes were throwing daggers at me.

" bhau I will get you some sandwiches."

" where's AS, isn't she coming for breakfast ?"

" she is already done with her breakfast." Oh perhaps I was late and she didn't wait.

" and Supriya?"

" bhau she is fasting today."

So there was nobody to join me. " we'll mausi I think I will just have coffee. No need for sandwiches." Eating alone was not a nice feeling.

Finishing my coffee I strolled towards AS's room. She was coming out when we met in the hall.

" AS I am ready. Shall we leave?"

Her sharp gaze scanned me from top to bottom and then she remarked," are you sure?"

" yeah, anything wrong." I asked looking at myself. " see I have even shaved."

" dutta when you are on duty, do you visit your hospital in jeans and t shirt?"

I shook my head," of course not." What was this Nakku ahh nakusha doing in the hall? Was she listening to our talk while watering the plants? Definitely she was. Anyways I shifted my focus on AS.

" but AS today I am not going to attend any patient. I am just going to have a round of the hospital." Wasn't I decently dressed for that?

" your hair Dutta, when will you get it cut?"

I ran my fingers through my hair and replied," long hair is the latest fashion."

She didn't seem to be convinced and crossed her arms before her chest. " one doesn't need to be fashionable at work." God, why was she so difficult?

"grow up Dutta. You are a doctor, you should never forget that. When in hospital you have to be formally dressed."

Sighing deeply I looked away and caught nakusha. She was still there.

" it's high time Dutta that you start behaving responsibly. This care free attitude will not do."

So clothes decided whether I was serious about my work or not? Wonderful . If I was so irresponsible and careless I wouldn't be here today.I didn't know why but I believed that nakusha was surely enjoying seeing me reprimanded by my mother. Huh.

" Dutta I am talking to you. Look at me. Now go and change. We are running late." Without uttering anything I left to my room.

I frowned at the pink shirt in my hands. I just hoped that she wouldn't disapprove the color. Well even if she did , I wouldn't change again. No matter what.

The shirt appeared wrinkled. I went out of my room and glanced down from the balcony. Nakusha was dusting the sofas.

" nakusha could you iron this shirt for me?" She peered up and I made a ball of the shirt and threw it down. Oops the shirt hit her on her face. Now if she thought that I did it intentionally to pull down the dupatta from her face then she was highly mistaken. But fortunately or unfortunately the dupatta remained intact and once again she was glaring at me.

Throwing her an unapologetic look I said," make it fast. AS is..."

She didn't let me finish my sentence and said." I know Sahab you don't like to keep women waiting."

" smart mouth!" I muttered under my breath and went back to my room.

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The hospital looked modest. Not as clean and hygienic as a private one but also not as messy and chaotic as a government hospital. It didn't have an adequate staff but still the doctors were managing with whatever they had and that was commendable. Truly hats off to them and AS. The doctors were young and extremely cordial. I liked the working atmosphere.

As far as my department was concerned I held a long meeting with the administration and came to a conclusion that a small empty room would be turned into an operation theatre and the existing lab needed to be upgraded to carry out specific tests related to heart patients so that the people wouldn't need to go to other cities for tests and surgeries. Plus in a few days I would have to go to Pune to order the required machines. Besides a physiotherapist I wouldn't have adequate support staff therefore we would need to hire more doctors responsible for preoperative and postoperative matters. Suddenly I missed my interns .

It was like starting from a scratch.

A challenge and Dutta loved challenges!

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It was around five in the evening when I returned home. Aayi sahib had left us in the middle of the meeting as she had to visit one of the orphanages started by her. Getting off the car I spotted Supriya and nakusha coming out of the house.

" hey." I waved at Supriya.

" Dutta Ji nice haircut." Because of AS I had to chop off my hair. But I was glad that she liked it.

"you look cool."

I grinned and asked, "really?" My gaze shifted to nakusha. What did she have to say. Ah she was looking elsewhere. How typical of her.

" so you girls are going out somewhere?"

" yeah today I am fasting so thought of going to the nearby shiv temple."

I nodded my head and strode to go inside the house. I was walking past Supriya when she asked," would you like to come with us?"

I stopped to glance at her. Nakusha who had her head downcast immediately raised her head and turned to look at Supriya. No she wasn't looking she was staring at her. It was better that I politely declined the offer.

But hey wait a minute, why should I back off?

" sure. I don't mind."

Walking back to the car, I opened the door for Supriya. " come lets go."

" but Tayi the temple is not far away. We don't need to be driven."

Oh dear nakusha, how could she keep silent for long? She had to intervene and share her opinion. Supriya was about to say something probably agree with nakusha when I stated," but nakusha you're forgetting, your Tayi has fasted today. Why do you want her to stress herself when I can easily drop her?"

She shook her in defeat. Great.

Supriya was about to sit when nakusha madam once again spoke up," since sahab is accompanying you I think I should stay back."

" but nakku.."

" I guess nakusha doesn't enjoy my company."

She tilted her head slightly and retorted," it's not that."

Imitating her even I tilted my head and asked, " so you do?"

She rolled her eyes at me but didn't reply . Her glares, narrow gazes and rolling of eyes ceased to perturb me. On the contrary I had started to enjoy them. She began approaching the car.I knew just to prove that my presence didn't matter to her she would join us.

Peering at supriya who was getting into the car I sang playfully," aaja meri gaadi mein baith ha...long drive jayenge full speed.."

*bang*

gosh this nakusha. Why did she have to slam the door? Earlier she didn't want to come and now she seemed eager to sit in the car. Or was it another spark of jealousy flying in the air?

I chuckled while closing supriya' door. Something or someone was surely burning.

Grabbing the steering wheel in my hands I glanced at nakusha who was sitting behind me through the rear view mirror. I was so looking forward to this ride when the car would jerk on the bumpy road or the breeze would pick up as I sped the car. The sight of her dupatta slipping off her face or flying off would indeed be worth watching.

Thanks for reading

Rose