ArHi SS: Weight of the world - Chapter 3: Pg 18, 01-June - Page 11

Originally posted by: Itsflora

are not you updating anymore??
the story is really unique...it feels nice to read about normal heroine instead of someone who always looks like to be just walked out of red carpet...plsss continue

Chapter 3: An apologetic mother

It was Sunday night and her parents along with Payal had returned from village. As anticipated, her parents had indeed loved the sweets and Payal had bragged about finding something unique to eat in a city already submerged in several cultures. Khushi had watched her parents and her sister going about it for an hour before slipping back and started to walk back to her room.

"Khushi...where are you going?" Garima's voice stopped her.

"Bed. I had a long day." Khushi replied and turned towards her room. She could feel Garima's hesitancy in continuing the conversation and frankly, she couldn't blame her mother. Khushi had been distant towards her family for most part of the week, withdrawn into her shell and didn't speak unless spoken to. The dinner conversation that had left her restless for the night had blown into something much larger in the morning.

"It's Sunday." Garima challenged, defiant in her positioning.

Khushi shrugged. "Organized stuff. Cleaned room. Cooked. Spoke to friends. I just want to sleep now."

"Is this because of last week?" Garima's voice raised a notch.

Khushi stared at her mother blandly. "Don't you think you are blowing this a bit out of proportion?" Her mother asked gently. "This happened almost a week ago and we were really just teasing you Khushi. There was no malicious intent in recounting childhood escapades."

"Why do you do it?" Khushi asked, her voice surprisingly calm for the riot that was going on in her mind.

"Do what?" Garima asked, confused.

"You, papa and Payal keep bringing up my supposed childhood escapades that I don't want to remember instead of my achievements and in the morning ask me not be sensitive about it when I am clearly upset, and tell me to suck it up." Khushi leaned against the doorway and kept looking across Garima's shoulder as if recounting from a teleprompter. Khushi ignored her upset mother and closed the door behind her once entering her room. There were times when she could ignore the insults and smile as if nothing had happened and there were times when she was angry for being treated that way. No one gains anything by exercising a martyr complex. She hated many television shows with passion for subscribing to this thought process and promoting it in the name of decency.

"I am sorry for making you feel that way Khushi." Garima said from the other side of the door.

Khushi exhaled slowly. "Okay." She said simply. "Good night." She said ending the conversation.

Garima would probably be disappointed for not ending the conversation in the way she wanted to but Khushi was truly tired and wanted to sleep. A frustration was thrumming in her bones as the email she was expecting from Arnav never really came. During her conversation with him, she had felt cherished, understood and admired. But his dismissal at the end of evening had left a sour taste in her mouth. The feeling had further intensified over the rest of the weekend when Arnav maintained radio silence and didn't communicate his phone number. She had swallowed disappointment and ignored the pang of unease in her stomach.

He was just another guy who wanted something different from the being behind the name he conversed regularly with. She was fine. No, she wasn't really. But she was going to be okay after a while.

It was nearing four in the morning when a nightmare woke her up. The stillness around her was chilling and it wasn't just because of the weather they were under. She could hear an auto rickshaw driving far from where she lived, groaning under the weight of the goods it carried. The noise disturbed the birds which erased the stillness. It was still pitch dark but she knew for a fact that there were several people who were already up and about, mulling about their day. Instead of relaxing back, she decided to take a shower and try some meditation instead. She ignored her phone that notified her of emails, text messages and information from other social media websites. For once, she wanted to do what many successful people advice others to do: don't check phone or even start your computer first thing in the morning.

After meditation, an hour of yoga and a shower later, she was refreshed and felt tension bleeding from her back. The constant throbbing behind her eyebrows had stopped and a pleasant vacant sensation replaced it instead. The sky was lightening slowly and she still had couple of hours before she left for office. Deciding to tackle some emails that required urgent attention, she booted her laptop. She gave into her urge and checked her personal email again. There was still no email from Arnav. She took the disappointment that followed into her stride and smiled inwardly. Without dwelling too much, she dived into her work and the calmness around her helped her forget everything that was bothering her and gave her the focus she wanted.

A knock on her door faltered the continuous stream of typing. "Khushi, are you awake?" She heard her mother calling from the other side of the door.

"Yes." She replied and started to wrap up her work. "Door's open," she added a backhanded invitation. She smiled as she pressed the lid of her laptop when she heard the door click open.

"You are up early," Garima said looking at Khushi.

"Yeah, I got up at four and decided to get some work done instead of sleeping." She replied and started to pack her bag.

It was one of the rare moments when there was inexplicable silence and awkwardness between the mother and daughter. Khushi had always been the person to make the first move, to take a step to eliminate silence and make the other parties comfortable in a conversation. For once, she wanted others to extend the same courtesy to her. She was polite, didn't stir up arguments and ignored the flashes of heat in her stomach at the words thrown callously at her. But not now.

"Breakfast?" Garima asked, wringing her hands. "You didn't eat dinner properly last night."

"Sure." Khushi replied instead.

Garima made an aborted move with her hands - the flailing that she had passed on to only Khushi. "Its Dev's engagement today. Will you come home and change or will you carry change of clothes to work?"

Khushi cursed under her breath. She had forgotten that her cousin was getting engaged that day. A quick recalling of her calendar made her sigh in relief. "I will carry change of clothes to office. I don't think I can get out of there before seven anyway." She said and walked towards her closet. Garima met with silence as Khushi rummaged through her closet to wear for the evening. Sighing, she left her daughter alone to her thoughts and plans, making a note to talk to Shashi soon. Khushi's silence had become too painful for her to bear.

*****

She had chosen a simple beige sari with gold threads elegantly woven at the borders. Instead of her signature braid or a bun, she had let her hair loose for a change and had even succumbed to her friend Divya's insistence of applying some make up. In the end, she looked exactly how she looked at work - elegant and context appropriate.

"You should do juicing." Her mother's cousin, a woman in her fifties trying very hard to look thirty, whispered loudly while pinching Khushi's bare stomach. Khushi winced at the intrusion.

"I should drink juice? I already do." Khushi grumbled into her wine.

"No silly." The elderly woman giggled. "Go on a juice diet. Like drink bunch of juices every day for a week or so. It will help in bringing down some of these love handles." She trilled and pinched the side of Khushi's stomach again, ignoring Khushi's wince.

"Fine." Khushi said with a smile full of teeth and no emotion. "After juicing is done? What next?"

The elder woman faltered a little. Khushi continued as if she hadn't seen the woman's expression fall. "Do I magically lose all the extra pounds in the said time after which I can eat whatever and not gain all the weight back. Or is it some sort of hidden life code that's the answer to every overweight person out there?"

"I was doing you a favor." The elder woman sneered. Khushi rolled her eyes and picked up a glass of juice from the refreshment table. She sat down on one of the backless settee which were set up at the garden boundary. The lady was sixth or seventh person that evening to offer her an advice on weight loss programs. There was juicing, Ayurveda in-clinic treatment, personal trainer at gym, yoga and meditation, swimming, not to eat whatever she had on her plate while speaking to a distant relative; the advices didn't stop. She was exhausted by the conversations she had had and the people she found herself surrounded with by.

She dug out her phone from her clutch and saw an email notification from Arnav. Her heart thudded, missed a beat and took off like a jack rabbit. He had given her cell phone number, home number and his private email address so that they can get off the generic email account that was associated with his channel. She felt her cheeks heat up at the insinuation that was a blatant invite to his personal life. She copied the number and shot him a quick message. "It's Khushi."

Her phone vibrated with indicating incoming message and she was surprised to find that it was Arnav. Rarely did she receive such a quick response. "That was quick." She could picture his smirk behind the text.

At an engagement party. Exhausted after listening to seven different ways to lose weight including drinking some herbal potion that would make you sit on toilet at least a fifteen times a day, for three days.' She chuckled at her message.

Sipping the drink, she stared at her phone and wasn't disappointed when the instrument vibrated.

I have heard about those too. I have no idea how they work. Anjali was cranky as hell when she did that. Aren't you dancing and stuff? It's a party, yeah? '

Khushi rolled her eyes. I think the definition of party is loosely used in this context. It's a social gathering where people come together dressed prettily, eat food and gossip about one another. I am just...I don't know Arnav. I feel I am too old for this.'

Instead of replying with a text, Arnav called her.

"Hey you." Arnav said.

Khushi chuckled. "Aren't you a sight for my sore eyes...?" She said, mustering all the corniness she could conjure in that moment.

Arnav's laugh was soft. "Bored much?" He asked, hesitating.

"I think it's more weariness than boredom. It's the same bunch of people I keep meeting in social gatherings. It's the same conversation I have over and over again with same bunch of people. Mothers of married children show pictures of their children on some vacation or their grandchild. No one cares if the other party is interested or not. If they don't have anything to share, then its poking nose in my business. The usual, really." Khushi sighed.

"That bad huh?" Arnav sympathized.

Khushi sighed deeply. "It's not bad per se. It's redundant. I keep wondering if this is all lives are supposed to be forever. Isn't it hilariously boring?"

She grinned at Arnav's bark of laughter. "What made you so philosophical on this fine chilly evening?"

"I stopped participating and started to observe. I observed and narrated my observations in my mind. It was utmost entertaining." She cackled.

"Don't tell me it was your own voice that did narration. I will be utterly disappointed in you Khushi!" She could hear Arnav's grin over his voice.

"Bruce Willis. It was his voice, okay?" she replied with a laughter of her own. She bit her lip and pressed her phone closer to her ears to hear Arnav's laugh better. His genuine and sincere laugh was much better than the witty and sarcastic one she saw on his channel.

Before she realized they had bantered for almost forty five minutes and she hadn't realized the passing of time. Crowd was thinning around her and she could see her family saying goodbyes to other patrons.

"I think the party is winding up," she observed.

"I am sorry for hogging your time Khushi," Arnav said without a bit of apology or remorse in his voice. Silence settled between them for couple of seconds. "Khushi? May I make a suggestion?"

"Sure," Khushi replied easily.

"You know about sober companions?" He asked, guarded.

"Addicts hire trained personnel to help them get through their addiction, right? The companions may even live with the addicts in case of extreme addiction after they get clean or coming out of rehab." Khushi parroted.

"Yeah. I was talking to Anjali about you -"

"You spoke to your sister about me?" Khushi cut him off.

She could practically hear Arnav rolling his eyes. "So not the time. Yes. I have talked to her about you many times in the past. But yesterday it was specifically about the lifestyle changes you were talking about. She was asking if you can meet her." Arnav said, neutral.

Khushi was taken aback for a moment but recovered quickly. "Sure. Pass on my number to her."

"Thank you. She is looking forward to meet you Khushi." Arnav said blandly. "Want to go for a cup of coffee tomorrow? I can't have my sister meeting you before I do. You were my friend first!" He said pettily.

Khushi laughed. "Fine. Tomorrow it is. Text me when and where and I shall come." Arnav made a pleased noise at that making Khushi shake her head. "Alright. I have to run now. See you tomorrow Arnav. Good Night."

"Sweet dreams Khushi." Arnav replied softly and ended the call.

"You have been on phone forever!" Came an angry voice from her left. Khushi grinned at the person who looked half pissed and half amused.

"What can I say Leela, I am wanted by everyone." Khushi said loftily. Leela, her cousin, snorted.

"So? How did the advice gallery do?" Leela asked handing her glass of lemonade. "New diets? New regimen? New supplements? Plastic surgery? Change your name and go very far away? Homicide?"

Khushi threw her head back and laughed at the satirical depiction of her relatives in so few words. "And some concoction. Starvation." She shrugged and clinked her glass with Leela's.

"I got told by my aunt to get off my lazy ass and reduce post-natal softness around my stomach area. She gave example of Shilpa Shetty as if that would motivate me." Leela was more irritated than being upset. Comparing everyday women who took care of children, their job and household to a celebrity who had nothing other than taking care of herself was simply stupid. Not that the people who went about doling out advices would understand.

"Stupid woman," Khushi grumbled.

"What can we do? Ignore and move on." Leela said and crammed an entre in her mouth. "Who were you talking to?" She asked after swallowing most of it.

Khushi kept her tone neutral and hoped the heat creeping her cheeks would go unnoticed. "A friend."

"Right. Friend, my ass." Leela snorted. "You were using your entire body to converse with the guy Khushi. So my sincere apologies if I call bullshit on this."

Khushi stuck her tongue out in retaliation. "Very nice. Real mature Khushi." Leela sniggered.

"Khushi?" She heard her mother call.

"I have to go Leela. Lunch this weekend?" She asked her favorite cousin.

"I am eating you are buying." Leela replied promptly.

Khushi nodded and waved goodbye to her close friend and relative.

There was lightness in her step and her lips were permanently quirked, showing a hint of teeth. She knew she looked happy as she felt it flow under her skin.