Tewari & Sons, 23, Chandni Chowk - THREAD III - Page 66

Khushi's entire attention was on Leher who had now developed enough motor skills to grab things and put them into her mouth. She now had Khushi's bag's handle and was generously adding all her drool to it. Khushi grabbed the handle from Leher and picked her up and put her on her lap. She was such a cute baby. Though, all babies were cute, she supposed. Now that her features were developing a little more, she could see how Leher looked so much like Preeto, inheriting her mother's impish eyes. 

"Khushi, are you even listening to me?" Preeto said impatiently and she looked up at her friend.

Preeto was standing next to her wardrobe and had thrown a pile of clothes on the bed. She was going through her clothes on the shelves and was essentially creating a mess.

"Kya kar rahi hai, Preeto, Sab kuch uthal puthal ho raha hai," Khushi said, finally putting Leher down on the floor, handing a plastic toy to her and walking towards her friend.

"Like I said you can take all these clothes. Most of them are very new. Some I have never worn and a few I have worn once or twice. You can throw them away if you want," Preeto said, finally closing the cupboard and almost collapsing into the bed. A young woman came in just then and picked up Leher and took her to the other room. Preeto had found a full-time help, which is why she had to make the sudden trip to Amritsar. Preeto was keen to get back to her job soon and that was only possible if she found someone to take care of Leher. Ginny's business had been slow lately and Preeto was worried that they would run out of their savings soon and have to do lifestyle cutbacks that she was not ready for. So finding someone to care for Leher became very important. 

"Why are you giving away your clothes? I can't wear these? And who will I give them to," she said to her friend.

"I don't fit into any of them. I am never getting my pre-pregnancy body, so you keep them. I know they are hand-me-downs.." Preeto trailed off, looking a little unsure now.

Though Preeto was not very rich, she was comfortably well-off and she was always conscious about not making her feel alienated because of this. Though Khushi sometimes felt that Preeto who could be best classified as bindaas, but in matters of class and economics she was always sensitive. At times a bit too sensitive. 

"It is not that.. these are not my type of clothes.. they are so.. Preeto. Besides, you have almost lost all of the pregnancy weight gain. You will start working soon and you will need nice clothes. Keep them."

"What do you mean they are so Preeto?" she pounced on that one little thing she said.

Khushi did not answer Preeto's question and instead offered her a grin. While in college, she realised that the politics of the university determined how people dressed there. The more left-leaning the college, the more fashionable and edgy their clothes choices were. The more right-leaning the politics, the more conservative the fashion was. Alchemy's political ideology was a Centrist one and therefore fitted into neither categories. And much to Khushi's delight, nobody really cared that much for what people wore. In college, perhaps Preeto was one of the better dressed people with her distress jeans and loud-printed kurtis. Khushi's easy-going sense of dressing mostly made up of knock-offs that she got from Sarojini Market or Janpath did not attract any mocking from her classmates. Strangely enough, in New-Ons even in an uniform she stood out. But most importantly, Khushi was an athlete, nobody expected hi-fashion from her. Once out of college, when Tewari & Sons fell on her lap she dressed a little differently, but still kept it simple. Preeto's fashion sense changed considerably after her marriage with Ginny. She wore Punjabi suits, with shimmery fabric and tightly tailored so that it fitted her snugly. No, she could not wear that.

"Acha, at least yeh Arnav ke swath jo tumhara date hai uske like toh ek dress le le. How about this one?" Preeto said holding a white kurta with embroidery in silver. It was very pretty, delicate and feminine. Absolutely not her. But the more important thing was that she was not going on a date with Arnav. But there was no point arguing with Preeto. She should have thought of this before telling Preeto about her dinner plans with Arnav. Trust her to attribute romantic intentions to where there were none.

Date? How strange that sounded. Arnav was being friendly, that is all. But was it really? When Arnav had called her back after she sent a text about getting the job at Alchemy, their conversation had been brief. 

"Congratulations, Khushi," he had said politely. 

"Are you still mad at me," she had asked disappointed with his tone.

"Busy, will call you later," he said and hung up.

She really did not expect him to call later, but he did. Turns out he had really been busy, but had called because her getting into Alchemy was the "best news he had heard in months and he was very happy for her". 

This business of being happy for others is not easy. To find joy in something that does not improve your life in any way whatsoever requires you to truly like another person. She had her share of people who celebrated her small victories. Very small group of people, of course. And now Arnav was part of that group. If a couple of months ago someone had told her that Arnav Singh Raizada would join her little group of champions, she would have probably collapsed in a fit of laughter. But everything had changed in the last couple of months. Now she had begun to increasingly rely on Arnav and his friendship. Friendship seemed inadequate a way to describe what she shared with Arnav. And yet, there was no other way to describe it.

"Preeto, are you saying that men and women can't just be friends and share a meal," she asked her friend.

"Oh come on now, don't make me seem petty. By the way I am curious, what does Arnav's mother feel about this friendship? And what do your own Maa and Baba make of this.'

"Don't know what Arnav's mother thinks,  but Maa and Baba don't know that Arnav and I are friends now... I know it is terrible and I should tell them, but there has been so much drama since they have come back to Delhi, this has never come up. But now that Shyam Bhaiya is home, Maa and Baba are more cheerful, maybe I will tell them Arnav is helping me these days," she said. 

Shyam Bhaiya, the reminder of him made her feel uncomfortable. Awkward. She could not tell what about him bothered her, but instinctively she did not feel any kinship with him.

"Ah the prodigal brother! I forgot to ask, how is he? It must be strange, no? Your family must be thrilled though, especially your Bhabhi."

"It is okay. The years don't disappear away like that.. so will take some time. Aarav is thrilled, but Renu Bhabhi.. I don't think it is easy for her, to reunite with the man who abandoned her.. and she has.. moved on since."

"Naturally."

"So does this brother have a job? Or is he another member of the Khushi dharamshala?"

"Preeto! He is my brother He is looking for a job."

"I am sorry. But I want you to live your life and let others fend for themselves. Even if they are your family. You should make him sit at Tewari & Sons and help you."

"You know one of the reasons why he left home was because that he didn't want to run Baba's halwai ki dukaan. So I don't want to start something and make him want to run away again."

This was only part of the truth, of course. She did not want to anger her father. After all, he had still not warmed up to the idea of his daughter running Tewari & Sons, now if her son did the same too, it would be very difficult for him to accept.

"That shop is like a curse for you. I wish you would stop being stubborn and sell that shop. It won't get you much money, but there will be a lot of peace of mind.. I know you are ziddi," Preeto said.

"Ziddi ped," she had said grinning.

"Matlab?"

"My bua calls me that.. ziddi ped."

"Trees are stubborn?"

"You know, they have roots.. and can't be easily dislodged.. so yeah, like that."

"And you have grown roots in Tewari & Sons.. you know if you changed the name to Gupta Something then your dad will be happy too.. kya pata luck bhi change ho jaayein."

"That will be weird.. I can't do that.. I mean.. no."

"Fine. You can just wait until getting married to Arnav Singh Raizada and call it KKGSR Mithai," Preeto said guffawing.

"Mithai ki jagah I will serve khayali pulao then.. date se shaadi tak paunch gayi tu?" she said shaking her head at her friend.

"Very funny, Khushi. But you should marry him you know, for revenge. Poonam Raizada ki halat kya ho jayega socho toh."

"Ghar baith ke TV serial bahut dekh rahi ho kya?"

"Actually, yes. Our house has been ready for months now.. in fact we have done up the nursery room for Leher, but Ginny won't let go of the umbilical chord and so we are stuck here. I have to watch serials with my mother-in-law.. don't get me wrong, I like my in-laws, but this life is frustrating. Now we can't move because Ginny is not making much money and I am making nowmoney," Preeto said. The new maid brought Leher into the room who was bawling for some reason. Preeto rocked her and she calmed down immediately. Looks like Leher too like her father was not willing to let go of her mother just yet. She had known that Preeto was looking forward to moving out of her in-laws place and had spent many days, in fact months, decorating and setting her home. So the disappointment was understandable but she had nothing comforting to offer her friend so she decided to leave. As always, Preeto yelled for Ginny to drop her off at the metro station.

"Don't trouble him. I can go on my own," she offered a protest, but in vain.

After the usual round of her protesting, Ginny assuring that she was not pulling him out of anything important she set on her way. Just before she left, Preeto handed over a brown paper carry bag inside which was the white salwar suit among other things.

"For your date," Preeto said grinning and Khushi felt compelled to offer an embarrassed smile to Ginny. Not wanting to argue she had offered her friend a shrug and mouthed thank you and left. When they reached Rohini Metro Station she got out of the car and both thanked as well as apologised to Ginny for the ride. 

"That is okay, Khushi. By the way Khushi, can you please give me Lavanya's number," Ginny asked her.

Much later, inside the comfortable metro was when she wondered if she had somehow created problems for her friend by giving Ginny Lavanya's number.

**

Buaji expressed her disapproval of Shyam. Not because he had run away from home or abandoned his wife and children. But because her brother had not recognised Bua immediately during their reunion. Madhumati Dubey was not a random aunt one could forget, she was memorable. She was still unamused by this.

Khushi was in the kitchen, as she watched Maa and Bua fight over the correct way to make malpua. If for nothing else for that, she was glad that Shyam had returned. He had been able to bring about cheer and banter back into their lives. And they needed some of that. A lot of that actually. She looked at her brother, sitting on the floor of their hall, while Baba sat on the divan guffawing. Honestly her memories of Shyam had been a bit hazy, but she had always remembered him as a somewhat reticent sort, Everyone had. Which is why people had been surprised when he had run away to pursue Bollywood dreams. He seemed like a shy boy who would eventually take over Gupta Mithai not someone who dreamt of being the next Salman Khan. But now that he was back, he was no longer shy and quiet. He was a grown adult man, who had opinions about politics that were taken seriously. He spoke confidently and expressed his opinions about everything and anything. There was no shyness.

"Maa, Bhabhi kahan hai," she asked when she realised her sister-in-law was not around to play happy family.

"Woh dukaan mein hai. Ja bula la," Maa said passing a plate of malpuas to  her. Khushi picked up the plate and gave it to Shyam who offered her a polite smile and left to relieve Renu Bhabhi from Tewari & Sons duty. Faisal Bhaii had taken a rare day off and since she needed to go to Joseph's to get them to relieve her, Renu Bhabhi had volunteered to sit in the shop. Of course they could easily have closed Tewari & Sons for a day without losing out on too much business, but she figured that in the light of what had transpired  just before Shyam returned, Renu Bhabhi deserved some alone time. When she had asked Maa about what Renu Bhabhi had decided, her mother had shushed her.

As she walked towards Tewari & Sons, she looked around wondering if she would be accosted by Shekhawat's men, but they were not around. The gundas who had come and ransacked the shop had done her a favour in some ways. The sketchy elements on her street had disappeared and there was greater police patrolling. She reached Tewari & Sons to find the place was actually packed. Today was aloo tikki chaat day, a dish that was Mahesh Tewari's signature dish that she had decided to retain when the shop came to her. It was a popular dish around Chandni Chowk, two shallow fried tikkis, a generous ladle of very spicy chole, topped with two chutneys and black salt. What Mahesh Tewari did was to make the tikkis itself heart-shaped.  Honestly it was pointless because the heart-shape of it was buried under so much that it didn't matter and more importantly this added to the amount of time that that she and Faisal Bhaii spent on getting it right. But she didn't want to tamper with a dead man's way of doing things and insisted on this being made. It was also very popular.

"Sorry Bhabhi, appko itna kaam karna padh raha hai," she said as she watched Renu Bhabhi standing next to a giant tava, turning the tikkis over.

"Kuch zyada toh nahi hai. Yeh aakhiri walle hai. Joseph's mein kaam poora ho gaya?"

She nodded. Of course, Joseph's had not given her a relieving letter. That is not how the university bureaucracy functioned. And until they made you fill up multiple forms and make multiple visits that involved running from pillar to post, nothing got done. But she decided not to bore her family with the details.

"Maa ne aapko ghar bulaya hai.. aap chalo, main yahan sambhal leti hoon."

"Khushi, tumhe Shyam kaise laga?"

"Matlab?"

"Matlab.. tum unhe bahut saalon baad mil rahi ho.. toh kaise laga woh?"

"Haan.. woh.. theekh hai.. abhi tak humne ek doosre ke saath utni baat nahi ki hai waise.."

This was true, but she wondered what her Bhabhi was getting at. And she did not know for sure what was the right way to respond to this. 

"Khushi, mere liye ek kaam karogi?"

"Haan, Bhabhi, kuch bhi."

"Main chahti hoon ki tum kissi se milo.. kal shaam ko chalogi mere saath?"

She was meeting Arnav for dinner tomorrow night. But whom did Bhabhi want her to meet? The man whom she wanted to marry. She had not spoken much about him. And why should she meet him? She did not want to create any trouble for anyone.

"Kiss se milna hai?"

"Kal chalogi?" Renu Bhabhi persisted, ignoring the rest of her question.

"Kahan? Kiss se milna hai, Bhabhi? Bata do please."

"Shekhwatji se."

"Shekhwat? Magar.. lekin.. kyun?"

"Woh shaadi karna chahta hi mujhse..aur.."

"Kya?"

"Jaanti hoon umra thodhi zyada hai uski.."

"Bhabhi, aap uss aadmi se shaadi karna chahte ho? Woh kita kameena.."

"Kameena? Usne Baba ki kitni madad ki.. usne Anand Rams ko tumhaare peeche karne se chudaya.."

"Usne kuch nahin kiya Bhabhi... aur usne kaafi badtameezi ki hai.. mere saath. Maine kissi ko nahi bataya pehle kyunki.."

"Kya keh rahi ho?"

She then explained to him about the texting, the harassment and the stalking. It felt good to finally open up to her family about it. She had felt duplicitous keeping that from them. She had only shared this with Arnav and she had always felt guilty of burdening him of all people with her silly problems. But now if she had an ally in Bhabhi, that would be great. Renu Bhabhi listened to her, disbelief writ large on her face. She looked worried and then something changed and she threw an almost angry look her way.

"Woh Raizada bhi tumhaare peeche pada tha aur ab Shekhwatji bhi? Maaf karna Khushi, mujhe tumhaari baat par bharosa nahi ho raha hai. Main Shekhawatji se khud baat karoongi, zaroor  tumhe koyi galatfehmi huyi hai."

And with that Bhabhi left.  She considered running behind her Bhabhi and continue the conversation, but there was such determination in both her voice and gait that she did not. It would not be for the first time that somebody would have misconstrued her actions. In fact, that was part of the reason why she did not want to lodge an official complaint against Shekhawat, she suspected that even the most sympathetic person would find a way and a reason to make this her fault.

She plated some more tikkis for the new customers who walked in, still disturbed by this all. Would Shekhawat somehow manipulate and brainwash Bhabhi and apportion all the blame on her. Should she speak with Arnav, she wondered. No, this seemed like a family matter and what a freak he would think of her to be if he realised how dysfunctional her family was. She was worried that he will judge her harshly and somehow she wanted him to have some semblance of respect for her. Deny as she would, his opinion about her mattered to her. She sought his validation. This was not a new realisation, she had known it for a long time. Ever since their time in New Ons. Just as she was hurt by his casual indifference to her, she also basked in that occasional kind word or gesture he threw her way. Lavanya and Aakash always teased her about this, that she was an Arnav fangirl and that was the true nature of their relationship. Of course she had dismissed it back then, she was too fierce, too together, too comfortable about who she was  to be a giddy fangirl. But as the years went by, in hindsight she was able to acknowledge that it was true. When Arnav would casually pat her head with a, "good game, kiddo" she would find the same level of euphoria that a couple of platefuls of jalebi did for her. And though she never would acknowledge his acknowledgement of her in public, back home, on their shared terrace with neighbours she would sit there and give flight to her fantasies of a world where she and Arnav would actually be friends. But they were never friends. Until now that is.They were friends, right? She could speak with him. She should speak with him. This Shekhawat and Renu Bhabhi equation was the worst thing to happen in months. And the competition for the "worst thing to happen in months" was fierce.And if not Arnav, who else could she speak with? She picked up the phone.

"Arnav, ek nayi musibat ho gayi hai?"

"I know."

"You know? What? I mean.. how?"

"I mean if you have called me, something must be wrong."

"That is not true.. I called you the other day to tell you about my Alchemy job.."

"Actually I called you after you texted me. Anyway seriously, is everything alright?"

"You remember my Bhabhi, right?"

"Well yeah, the one who makes awful chai? What about her?"

"My brother abandoned her and my nephew.."

"Yes, you have told me.. what about them?"

"My Bhabhi wants to.. remarry.."

"Okay. I am not a fan of marriage, but I don't see that as a problem. Do you?"

"Yes.. I mean no.. I mean, I am not judging my Bhabhi, why should I? But.. my brother has returned and apparently the man she wants to marry is Shekhawat."

"What? No Way? This is crazy. See I told you nothing good will come out of this by hiding it from your family.. now look what you have done?"

"You are blaming me?"

"Yes. God Khushi, no. I mean, this is crazy. You need to confront your Bhabhi with the truth, and I daresay the rest of your family too."

"That is the other problem.. my Bhabhi does not want to listen to me.. she thinks I might be a victim of some kind of misunderstanding."

"As in?"

"She thinks that I have a... history of this.. with... older men.. she does not believe me. Basically nobody will.. it is the same thing again, Arnav."

"What are you saying? I thought your Bhabhi was the supportive kind?"

"I don't know..I don't blame her, that is what everyone is going to think. I am the one with the bad history."

"Hmm. I got to go now. There is something I need to do."

And he hung up.

Had she opened the can of worms again? About the farmhouse? About the box of angoori petha she took to his house one dreadful afternoon? She knew that he worshipped his father and even though he felt guilty about how she was caught up in an unfortunate situation due to his family, she also knew that he saw his parents blameless. Preeto had often asked her about this. How could Arnav make everyone good. Someone needed to be the bad guy and until that was not acknowledged, there would never be closure. She herself had not thought of it that way. She did not believe that everything in life had to be binary.

But all said and done somehow this felt like rejection. Maybe he really did have something else to do and would call her back, but she doubted it. He had probably had enough of her drama. She could not grudge him for that. She was herself exhausted the constant chain of events in her life that were anything but normal. Nobody should really hang out with her, lest they be infected by her drama and get into what seemed increasingly like a codependent relationship. Nobody deserved that. Certainly not Arnav. Especially not Arnav. And yet, she had to admit that it hurt. A lot. Did she harbour feeling for Arnav that went beyond a friend and confidante? No, that would be stupid. She may have done a few stupid things in her life, but she was not stupid. Was she?

"Gudiya, ghar chal, Maa and Baba are waiting for you. Madad kar doon," Shyam said, as he walked into Tewari & Sons.

She looked up at her brother. Almost relieved to see him. She should not be alone with her thoughts. Her very stupid thoughts. She shut down the shop with her brother's help and headed home. As they walked together in silence she realised that he had called her gudiya, his name for her when she was a child. So he was her brother after all. And she suddenly felt relieved. At least that was one weight off her shoulders.

Once they got home, she asked her mother where Renu Bhabhi was. 

"Office se phone aaya toh woh chali gayi," Maa said, in that unimpressed mother-in-law tone. Until Shyam's arrival Maa had never treated Renu Bhabhi as a daughter-in-law. In fact she was almost scared of this stranger who claimed to be her daughter-in-law.  But now that Shyam was back, she felt that there was a legitimate authority she had over her daughter-in-law.

"Itni pareshaan kyun ho? Aa jaayegi aapki Bhabhi. Matlab aap dono mein kaafi gehri dosti ho gayi hai," Shyam said to her.

Khushi just smiled and excused herself from the room. Who could have called Bhabhi and what was happening here?

**

Khushi was sitting at Tewari & Sons poring over the newspaper. It was a slow day and Faisal Bhaii was back so she had not much to do.

"Khushi, tab se phone baj raha hai, uthati kyun nahin," Faisal Bhaii said, a long-suffering look on his face.

She looked apologetic and picked up the phone.

"Khushi?"

"Ji."

"Hi. I am Anjali Bose.. Raizada.. Anjali Di."

"Hi Anjali Di.."

"Next week.. next Thursday is my daughter Thumpa.. Debanjana's annaprashan, so I was calling you about that."

"Acha, of course. But what kind of mithai is made for that Di? Is this Bengali style or UP style? We don't really make Bengali mithai.. but.."

"This is Bengali style. No, I am not calling for mithai.. I am calling you for the function. Can you give me your email id, I will send you the invitation."

"It is [email protected]. But.. Di, I don't think I will be able to make it.. best wishes to Deba..."

"Why can't you make it?"

"I.. I have something else that day."

"Come for a little while then, but please come. Jun and I will be thrilled if you can make it."

"But.."

"Your mother.. Poonam Au.. Mam."

"Don't worry about Poonam Ma'm. I am inviting you, my mother has no problem whom I invite.. besides I think we should let bygones be, right? Please come Khushi, my family will be very happy."

Once Anjali Di hung up, Khushi tried to process what had happened. This did not make any sense. Why would Anjali Raizada invite her of all people for such a personal function? She knew that Anjali Di was a kind person and liked her but she also saw her as someone who was practical and who was a lot like Poonam Raizada but with a warmer personality. Was this some new plan from the universe to mess with her equilibrium and force her to make the same mistakes she made in her early twenties? Or was Anjali Di doing this because she wanted them to confront the past and let bygones' be. Either way, this seemed way out of the blue and something that looked like potential bad news. She picked up the phone to call the one person whom she knew would be able to give an objective third party assessment of the situation.

"Anjali Raizada what?"

"Preeto, I just explained everything to you. Anjali Di invited me for some function.. not to deliver mithai."

"This is even stranger than Payal inviting you to her house for Holi. Next Poonam Raizada is going to ask you to join her kitty party group."

"This is not funny, Preeto."

"It actually is. Okay, naraaz mat ho. What are you going to wear? You should wear that purple and green suit that I gave you? You will look gorgeous in that."

"Preeto, pagal ho gayi ho kya? Anjali Di ne pata nahin kyun bulaya.. but I can't go. You are supposed to talk me out of it."

"That means you want to go?"

"Of course not. I mean, I like Anjali Di, but this is just inviting for trouble."

"Why don't you move to Bombay?"

"Bombay? Kyun?"

"Bada shehar hai.. and you will be out of reach of the Raizadas.. you can get over them and they can get over you."

"Hmm.. why do you think Anjali Di has invited me. She must have some agenda, right?"

"I have no clue. Why do you call her Anjali Di and not just Anjali?"

"What? Because.. that is what Arnav calls her."

"In that case I want you to think about you just said."

"Matlab?"

"Don't wear the purple and green suit. The event is next Thursday, right? I will ask Ginny to drop off a couple of saris for you. This seems like a sari event."

"How is Ginny?"

"Uska kya hai.. maze mein hain."

"Okay."

She did not mention about her conversation with Ginny to her friend. She would do that face to face, she decided.

"Acha aaj date ke liye kya pehan ne wallhi ho?"

"Shut up, Preeto. Rakhti hoon main phone abhi."

Back home, she pondered over what Preeto had said. Date with Arnav. She wondered if that was happening today. Not a date, but just dinner between friends. But was Preeto right? She had accepted Arnav's relationships as her own, which is why Anjali was Anjali Di? And was it possible that it was Arnav who had put his sister on to this, to invite her for his niece's function. She was sure that Anjali Di hadn't done this on her own and it had to be at somebody's behest. And who else but Arnav.  But why would Arnav want her to be there at an intimate family function. Maybe he did.. like her. Maybe his feelings too went beyond friendship. She was unsure how she felt about this? Terrified or thrilled? But surely Arnav was intelligent enough to know that any relationship between them that was beyond a hesitant friendship had no future and fraught with potential heartbreak. Even if they were to get past all the terrible things of the past, there was a huge class difference between them. Preeto was ridiculous. This couldn't be true.  But what if Preeto was right? What if today was a date? She took out the clothes from her cupboard and threw them on the bed and looked forlorn. Madhumati Bua walked in and offered a quizzical raised eyebrow.

"Mere paas koyi bhi dhang ka kapde nahi hai, Buaji," she said in sad tone. 

And then covered her mouth with her palms when she realised that she had become one of them.

**

"Is our dinner still on."

"Yes. I will pick you up at seven?"

"You will come home?"

"Yes. Or wherever you are."

"No."

"No?"

"You can't come home."

"Oh. I see."

"I mean, I hope you are not offended. I don't want to upset Maa and Baba."

"So you are not going to tell them you are meeting me? Will you lie to them?"

"No. I will tell them. They will not be happy. But if they actually see you, they will be even more upset. I am just making it easier for everyone. I will be at the venue by 7:30."

"Venue? You make it seem like we are meeting for sports event."

"The restaurant, I meant."

"But how will you go back? Won't it be too late for you to go alone? I can drop you back."

"No, I will be fine. It is only Connaught Place, that is not too far away."

"Okay. Though these are only text messages, I somehow feel that you are too nervous. It is just dinner. If you would rather meet for lunch or coffee or drinks.."

"My friend Preeto thinks that I am going out on a date with you."

"Ah. Don't worry,  it is not a date. Just dinner. Think of it as a non-date."

"I think I like that."

"Great. I will see you soon then."

Non-Date. She was relieved. And disappointed.

**

"Bitiya, soch samajh ke hi bol rahi ho kya? Woh Raizada ke saath khaana khaane jaa rahi ho?" Maa said while Khushi opened and shut drawers unable to find her bike keys.

"Maa, woh dost hai.. dukaan mein jab gunday aaye ussi ne madad bhi ki. FIR lodge kiya. Jaise Aakash hai, waise hi Arnav hai. Pareshaan mat ho, jaldi aa jaoongi," she tried to reassure her mother.

Baba looked disappointed and Bua looked perplexed. Renu Bhabhi was unsurprisingly not at home. Only Aarav seemed happy and even sang to her, Chandni O Meri Chandni as she twirled around in her hand-me-down white Anarkali suit for his benefit.

"Woh Poonam Raizada ko pata hai, ki tum aur Arnav abhi dost hai?" Baba finally jumped into the conversation, "Iss baar toh tumhaari jaan hi nikaal legi."

Poonam Raizada loomed largely in their lives and no matter what, none of them could really wish her away. She was not to be trifled with. But she had now reached that part of her relationship with Arnav, when she was able to view him independently of his mother. She suspected her parents would never be able to do that.

"Aap chahte hi ki main na jaoon," she finally asked facing her father.

Baba did not answer her and refused to form any eye contact with her. She sighed. On the one hand, she wanted to go on the non-date with Arnav, but she also did not to undo the headway she had made with Baba over the last few weeks. She put down the keys on the table and took off her dupatta.

"Baba, gudiya ko jaane do.. doston se milne mein kya kharabi hai. Puraani galtiyon ke liye maafi honi bhi chahiye hai na," Shyam said. His comment closer home than being just a generic one.

"Phone mein charge toh poora hai," Baba asked her.

She smiled and gave her brother a hug, "Shukriya, Bhaiya."

As she was starting her bike, she saw Renu Bhabhi get off an auto.

"Bhabhi... kaisi ho."

Renu Bhabhi looked at her. She looked.. for lack of a better word.. sad.

"Achi lag rahi ho, Khushi," Bhabhi said as she walked into the house.

Khushi stood there next to her bike for a while until Bhabhi reached home. She watched Shyam and Bhabhi exchange a smile and then shut the door behind them. It took her a while to tear herself away from that scene before she drove off to Connaught Place.

**

By the time she reached Indian Summer it was ten minutes to eight. The restaurant located in Connaught Place was one that was very easy to miss because of the tiniest signage and how poorly lit it was. It was as if they deliberately wanted to make it difficult for people to find it. But the place was very popular and a preferred haunt among young upwardly-mobile people. They had parking "but only for four-wheelers, madam" the maiter de said to her politely. Oh great, this seemed like some ultra-snobbish place. Trust Arnav to pick this among all the places in the city. She would much rather have met at Karims, great food, in the neck of her woods and very little snobbery. But she didn't blame the maiter de. She probably looked ridiculous in her over-sized white Anarkali and red helmet.

"Theekh hai, main bahar park kar leti hoon.

She picked up the phone to tell Arnav that she would be a little more delayed as she would need to find parking. She knew that he was a stickler for time and had probably been waiting for her.

"Arnav, I am.."

"ARNAV RAIZADA!" the maiter de interrupted her causing her to almost drop the phone.

"Sorry?"

"Aap Arnav Sir ke guest ho?"
Well she was not his guest. What a strange thing to say. They were meeting each other, but she didn't want to explain that to the stranger and just nodded. That was all that was needed. The keys were taken from her, her helmet removed and she was pretty sure they dusted her shoes and brushed her hair as they accosted her inside the restaurant. The restaurant was as poorly lit inside as it was outside.

"It is to give Indian Summer feel, Madam, when current goes off and people have to eat with lanterns," the maiter de explained to her like he could read her mind. Of course the restaurant was centrally air-conditioned and the temperature set to around eighteen degrees celsius, which was everything that an Indian Summer was not. But she had to stifle a giggle at this deliberate effort put to create something seemingly poor, when it was the exact opposite of it. She was led to the table where Arnav was, who was flipping through a travel magazine with the inadequate lantern lighting.

"Arnav, I am sorry," she said as  she stiffly sat down while Arnav and the Maiter De pulled the chair for her. Chivalry made her uncomfortable. It had taken her a while to train Aakash that she was not the girl who liked the chair being pulled or the door being held for her. It made her uncomfortable. Less in control.

Arnav nodded at the Maiter De and gave him a look, which she presumed meant, go away, because the man disappeared soon after.

"Thanks, Khushi, you look lovely too."

"What?" she said confused.

"I meant I am trying to break this pattern of constantly beginning any conversation that we have with each other with a sorry."

"Oh. I am sorry about that.. I mean.. you were waiting for a long while?"

"About forty minutes. That is okay."

"Oh. I am sorry. There was so much drama at home. And then parking.."

"Tum uss Raizada se kaise mil sakti ho type?"

"Yes. But don't mock my family.. they just care about me."

"You are right. I am not mocking them. In fact, I get it. If I had a daughter I would probably say the same thing to her."

"Oh!" was all she managed as the vision of Arnav and daughters somehow was both amusing as well as strangely weird-feelings inducing. But it was not a comfortable place for her thoughts to stray into. She needed to steer it back into a more normal space. And find neutral topics to discuss.

"I am a vegetarian today," she finally managed, in a moment of not particular inspired thinking.

"What?" he said, looking at her in a very, very perplexed way.

"I am a vegetarian on Tuesdays and Saturdays. So today I am vegetarian. I forgot to tell you when we were picking a place to eat," she said, somehow now over-explaining. She was nervous. She opened the bottle of water on the table and poured herself some in a glass and drank it. Only after she was done drinking did she realise that it was one of those fancy overpriced bottled waters, with a label that said "straight from the Himalayas" or something to that effect. Arnav looked amused but he was trying to be serious, she could tell. That was the worst. She would rather he just laugh at her.

"So why are you a vegetarian today?"

"In my house only Baba and I eat non-vegetarian. Maa cooks, but does not eat. When I decided to become an athlete that is when I began to eat meat. My first coach from Chandni Chowk was the one who suggested it. My parents were willing to do anything to make me a great athlete. But because I was squeamish about eating non-vegetarian food, Baba began to eat with me to give me company. Now Baba loves it and Maa and Bua blame me for it."

"Oh-kay. But why are you a vegetarian today?"

"Bua tells me that if I don't eat meat for eight Tuesdays and eight Saturdays I will find a good husband."

"Ah. So the price to pay for a husband."

"No. A good husband."

"So I am guessing that you turned down Mr Tripathi."

"Not really. He turned me down actually."

"Oh, good. Khushi Tripathi doesn't have a good ring to it. And Indian Summer is an all vegetarian place, so your quest for a good husband won't be harmed," he smiled at her.

She looked away. Non-date, non-date, non-date, she repeated inside her head. But she could not deny the genuine warmth he exuded as he spoke to her. Even though she normally found chivalry annoying, she liked that he helped her decide what to order. He knew that she was uncomfortable in this darkened but snooty place, but he pointed things to her that amused her, joked around and made her feel comfortable. She should have listened to Maa and Baba and not come for this non-date. It was stressful. His niceness was stressful.

"Your sister called me today?"

"Who?"

"Anjali Di."

"I know. She is the only sister I have. What about?"

"She invited me for some ceremony of your niece."

"Ah, okay. The ride feeding thing. What a way to torture the child, no? She is too young to eat rice in my opinion."

"Hmm. Why do you think your sister has invited me?"

"Why does Anjali Di do what she does? We have never been able to figure it out yet."

"But this is a bit out of the blue..so.."

"Hmmm. Knowing my sister, there is possibly some matchmaking involved?"

Exactly what she had been worried about. Preeto was right after all. But did Arnav put his sister on to this or had she decided to do this on her own.

"Matchmaking? Oh.."

"I think she might be setting you up with Aakash, but they are not that close, so I am guessing NK is a more likely candidate."

"Nand Kishore?"

"Yes. He thinks you are cute."

"He is sweet, but strange."

"That is NK in a nutshell. But I think he will fall under the god-sanctioned good husband category. You can be Khushi Kumari Singh Raizada, has a nice ring to.."

She noticed that he stopped midway. No, this was not the direction to steer this conversation in.

"Khayali pulao."

"What?"

"That is not even possible.. even if we ignore the past.. my family is at best lower-middle class and the Raizadas are one of the richest families in Delhi. I am not twelve to have these Rapunzel aur Rajkumar dreams."

He seemed amused by this.

"You are right. It is tough, but not impossible. You know they do say, love conquers all.. who knows?"

"That is rubbish."

"Hmm. I wonder if my family and I have somehow contributed to your cynicism, Khushi?"

"Why is our food not here," she said instead of answering his question. Not because she wanted to avoid the question, but because she did not really know the answer to it.

"So are you coming for Thumpa's annaprashan?"

"No."

"Because of my mother?"

"Yes."

It looked like Arnav wanted to say something more but thankfully the food arrived and the awkwardness was filled with the the food. She had to admit, pretentious and annoying as this place was, she had no quarrel with the food. They were busy eating, giving the food all the respect it deserved and not talking. They did not notice a figure walk up to their table until an amused voice said, "Arrey apna Dhanno aur Basanti!"

"Aman, dude! You freaked us out," Arnav said getting up to hug his friend.

Aman pulled a chair and sat next to Khushi and scrutinised her from top to bottom.

"Yaar Dhanno is looking very pretty today, nahin Arnav? Don't think I should call her Dhanno."

"She always looks pretty," Arnav said and shrugged his shoulders. Khushi looked from the food at Arnav. He thought she was pretty? It was turning out to be a night of revelations. And silly as it was, she couldn't help but feel a happiness bubbling under her. Maybe she was superficial after all.

"Awww. Cho chweet. So I had better go and not interrupt your date," Aman said getting up from the chair.

"It is not a date," Arnav said immediately.

"It is a non-date," she emphasised.

"Dhanno, when can I take you out on a non-date," Aman asked, winking at her.

"Are you following me," she asked, a little suspicious now.

"Arnav, Arnav, I sat next to her for an entire year. I don't know how you put up with her? Good on you, man. See you, Dhanno, kissi din Nirula's chalenge, for old times sake, what say?" Aman said and left as quickly as he had appeared.

Arnav looked at Aman's back thoughtfully. Something was bothering him, she could tell.

"Arnav, are you okay?"

"Khushi, I think you must meet Aman?"

"What? No, he is so annoying."

"No. He is depressed... he does not connect with me... not anymore. But he likes you.. no, don't get me wrong, probably not romantically, but he really is fond of you. Probably because he thinks you are not as judgemental as the rest of us.. you should meet him. Be his friend. Please."

As she looked into his big, beautiful earnest eyes, kind and loving in equal measure, and she realised resistance was futile and nodded.

**

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