The Horizon

Chapter 4

The storm had wiped the sky clean. The sun shone brilliantly, the birds sang

breathlessly. the world it seemed had renewed itself.

Mrs Akhtar squinted in the mid-morning sun shine as she looked at Anushka .

A warm , friendly smile lit up Mrs Akhtar's elderly face. Anushka was perched

advertised in the newspapers- that of a trainee lecturer with in the Botany

Being elderly and about to retire in an year's time, Mrs Akhtar needed an

"You are very early this morning Anu !" Mrs Akhtar called from a distance.

" 'Morning Mrs Akhtar" Anu stood up, " I just wanted to prepare the slides for

this afternoon's lesson ,that's why I came early." If Mrs Akhtar thought it peculiar that Anu should come early to do something

she could have easily done later, she did not say so. Nodding her elderly head,

she smiled and made her way to her office.

Not happy that she had to lie to Mrs Akhtar , Anu raised her eyes guiltily ,

watching Mrs Akhtar stop and talk to some students. Pleasantly plump , full of

good humour and with a face that reflected her wisdom as well as her good

It seemed that not one person but an entire army or rather the entire Air force

had camped in Sareen uncle s house. From the minute Minty Aunty had

his nephew. As for Sareen uncle's best friend, Shastri ji, he was asked to come

Shastri ji who was the more calm and serene of the two friends, smiled

"Do you know Anu, Sareen's nephew has been awarded a medal for his

distinguished services to the Air Force. No wonder Sareen is over the moon with

pride& joy- after all, his nephew has come home for the first time after such a great achievement" Anu had listened quietly.

People had luncheon parties, dinner parties, tea parties, whoever had heard of

breakfast parties?

Quickly making an excuse about needing to be early to work Anu had slipped out of the house.

At Sareen House, Minty was not happy that Sareen had extended the invitation to Anu as well -she did not mind Shastri ji -after all he was Sareen's closest friend but A nu -she couldn't stand that girl. Anu's simple dress sense , her disinterested approach to make-up and jewellery puzzled Minty. As for Anu's academic brilliance it simply annoyed her. On both counts, Minty's own character was the exact opposite of Anu's. Minty had never been good with her studies and was well known in her school for taking and re-taking exams year after year. As for make-up and jewellery-Minty lived for them! Anu was a fake, arrogant , impertinent girl , Minty concluded and this conclusion gave her a lot of solace whenever she met Anu or someone praised Anu.

Sareen was disappointed to see that Anu could not come to breakfast . He was not alone. Rajat was disappointed too -he wanted to see Anu again -for some inexplicable reason he wanted to see her again -well and clearly in daylight. Last night seemed like fleeting imagery-almost unreal . And this morning Minty Aunty's sudden , boisterous entry hadn't given him an opportunity to so much

as turn towards Anu.

At breakfast, he thought he would see her again -did she really look like a painting -like an artist's imagination? Or was it all just his own imagination- one of the many tricks the storm had played? He was not to know. Anu, apparently had to leave early for work- a college topper in Botany he was told.

"Beauty with brains then " he said to himself. Somehow the thought both amused and awed him. He would have been shocked to know that right then the object of his musings was thinking about him.

In the rush to leave early, Anu hadn't had much of a breakfast and she was hungry now. On her way out from home she had managed to thrust a handful of those Swiss chocolates into her handbag .

Remembering the man who gave her the chocolates reminded Anu of their presence in her bag.

Quickly she withdrew a handful, unwrapped a couple of them and started eating them, unaware of the astonished gaze of her boss.

M rs Akhtar had never known Anu to eat out of lunch time and even for lunch she brought healthy little packed lunches but today something was odd. She had turned up too early-quite unnecessarily and on top of it she was munching chocolates between lectures.

"Those look yummy" Mrs Akhtar said over Anu's shoulder. Anu quickly offered her some.

Mrs Akhtar popped one into her mouth and savoured the taste.

" Swiss aren't they? Lovely flavour" she said, " where did you get them Anu? At the luxury Chocolatiers in town?"

For a second, Anu looked lost and then " Yes..no. Actually I don't ..know...somebody gave them to me"

Anu finished uncomfortably.

Mrs Akhtar watched Anu's reaction with interest. Although a scientist by profession, Mrs Akhtar had quite an imagination and this combined with her experience and perceptive skills told her that one way or another Anu's extraordinary behaviour today had something to do with these chocolates.

Or perhaps with 'the somebody' who gave her the chocolates.

And this thought was very much consolidated late that afternoon when all students and most staff members had left. As Mrs Akhtar was walking out of the departmental office she found a little sticky note by Anu's table along with a chocolate wrapper. On that note was written something which must have been written by a man in a tearing hurry- Thank you' ,a smiley face- signed Rajat.

A smile creased Mrs Akhtar's face. It seemed like there was a rather sweet story behind the chocolates and looking at Anu's behaviour it was only going to get sweeter!

Shastri ji had called his daughter Anu twice on her mobile phone. Had she eaten lunch at the college canteen? Why was she not at home yet.?

It was only a 15-20 minutes walk to the college from home .It was not only a safe but a lovely path that went through a park and across a church yard lined with shady, blossoming trees.

"Should I pick you up?" asked Shastri ji.

"No Papa. I am on my way-in fact I am nearing the house" said Anu who enjoyed her daily walk through the church yard . Besides she did not want her papa to have to come downstairs and start the car again. When the house came into sight , Anu quickly opened the gate. She could hear laughter and a loud hum of conversation coming from the ground floor . She wanted to go up quickly, but somehow she did not want to go up the staircase where she would be in full view of everyone sitting in the lounge of Sareen uncle's house. So she sneaked into the back garden where there was the old rickety staircase -half wood and half stone that would take her upstarirs -into thebalcony behind her bedroom.

It was twenty past eight in the night. Rajat looked at his watch. What college opened at the crack of dawn and did not send home it's trainees until eight in the night? He was tired of watching the staircase to the front of the house. He had sat in the same sofa all evening so he would not miss the sight of Anu when she came home- and he was sure that nobody other than Shastri uncle had gone

Hang on, somebody was coming down now. It was Shastri uncle.

"Good evening Uncle" Rajat called.

"Good evening , Son" shastri ji waved.

"Going out so late uncle?" Rajat asked

"I am just going for my after- dinner walk" came the reply.

"Alone, Uncle?" Rajat looked around.

"Yes. Who would go with me?" Shastri ji smiled, " My daughter sleeps early-she has gone to bed. Sometimes Sareen comes along..."

"Can I come today , uncle?"

"Ofcourse " said Shastri ji and they walked towards the park talking about the beauty of the season, the political climate , the Air force - everything except the one thing that was pecking non-stop at Rajat's mind. How and when did Anu leave for work? How and when did she get back? ,

Apparently, she had had her dinner and went straight to bed! Inspite of keeping watch all afternoon and evening how did he not see her? Had she some divine powers to become invisible by day?

Tomorrow he would find out.

Chapter 5

There was a loud guffaw followed by a number of male voices , all talking at the at the same time. Anu stopped in her tracks and involuntarily shrank back. Now, what was going on?

Anu had woken up very early in the morning, prepared for her lectures, breakfasted, packed her lunch and got ready for work. Having climbed down the rickety staircase at the back of the house, she was making her way through the side passage and out of the back garden so that she could go round the house and reach the front gate . Then , she could get out of the house without drawing attention to herself or being visible to anyone who may be sitting in the lounge and reception areas of Sareen uncle's house. It was a carefully planned and timed route- but it was interrupted now. Somebody or rather a lot of somebody's appeared to be standing at the front gate itself. Stepping back , Anu stealthily put her head around the corner and peeped to see what was going on. There was Rajat -standing with his back to the house and in front of him two other men-probably around his own age- standing around a parked car and chatting as though the gate, the road and the world- all belonged to them!

Screwing her face in annoyance Anu turned around, thought for a moment and went up the rickety staircase . Once upstairs, she had an idea. After searching for sometime in the kitchen closet, she found a large bunch of keys from which she painstakingly searched out what she needed- a large brass key .

This was the key she needed to open the big , creaky wooden gate at the bottom of the back garden - a gate nobody ever bothered to open because the gardener, like everyone else , used the front gate.

Having found the key, Anu ran downstairs. After struggling with the lock for a few minutes, she managed to open the wooden gate. She then went up again, picked up her bag and books , came down , locked the garden door behind her and stepped out on to the road. Free at last, she breathed with relief and walked briskly to catch up on the lost time.

The day was going well for Anu. Firstly, she had managed to get out of the house without coming face-to-face with anyone in the Sareen family. Then, the two lectures delivered by her were "excellent" said Mrs Akhtar. A great many students had also expressed interest to join the Afternoon Botany club' Anu wanted to start.

By lunch time , Anu was pleasantly tired and was biting into her cheese-salad sandwich when Mrs Akhtar asked her casually:

"Got any more of those lovely Swiss chocolates? I feel like something sweet today!"

Anu swallowed the cheese and cucumber in her mouth.

" Sorry Mrs Akhtar, I did not bring any today...but I could nip to the college canteen and get you something- a cake or a chocolate bar perhaps!"

But looked like Mrs Akhtar wanted Swiss chocolates and nothing else - because she politely declined Anu's offer and proceeded to open her lunch box, after which they both ate in silence.

The day , unfortunately, was not going very well for someone. In fact it felt like a total fail! Rajat, had backed out of Sareen uncle's plan to take him to the office to show him uncle's ever-expanding business . Rajat had also turned down his friends who had wanted him to go out with them for the day! He had cancelled his morning run today so that he had shaved showered and got ready very early - all to one purpose. The purpose of catching sight of Anu when she left for work in the morning. Not an easy task because he did not know the exact time of her leaving plus she did not seem to take any vehicle-the sound of which could alert him.

And so it was that Rajat cancelled all his engagements and like the previous evening, spent time watching the stair case and the front gate - without catching so much as a glimpse of his elusive neighbour.

It was around 6 in the evening, when Sareen walked in with Shastri ji at his side.

"So, what have you been up to all day?" Sareen said as soon as he saw Rajat "Something better than coming to my office, I imagine"

"Nothing much-just resting in the house" came the reply.

Sareen looked like a thunderbolt had struck him. In all these years, he had never known Rajat to stay in and rest a whole day! And why was his handsome nephew looking like a sour bear?

"Are you all right son?" Sareen bent forward to place his palm on Rajat's forehead - to see if he had any fever.

Just then , Minty came in with the tea tray . Shastri ji meanwhile, was busy texting on his phone- looking a bit concerned as he did so.

"What happened? Everything okay?" Minty asked as she offered him tea.

"Yes, yes, thank you" Shastri ji replied " It's just that Anu hasn't returned yet. She wasn't upstairs when I came back-and since then I haven't seen her go up, so I am texting her to see if she needs to be picked up"

This bit of information had the effect of startling Rajat from his sour mood. He picked up his cup, complimented his aunt on the snacks and proceeded to enjoy his tea.

"Come on Shastri , Anu is a responsible girl-she'll let you know if it gets too late..." Sareen said. Anu was his personal favourite-he couldn't tolerate any criticism of her-even in a light vein.

"Girls now -a -days, they're really so..., I mean such ..."

Minty could not complete whatever it was that she wanted to say for right then Shastriji's phone rang.

Shastriji answered the phone, smiled and stood up. As his gaze reverted to the puzzled faces of Sareen, Minty and Rajat he smiled again.

"It was Anu, she's already at home - making dinner she says-I must have missed her coming in" Shastri ji explained.

You and me both, thought Rajat sourly , you and me both.

Rajat's brows furrowed in thought as the same question returned with renewed vigour .

How and when did Anu come back into the house ?

The whole neighbourhood had popped in to visit the Sareens over the past couple of days. But not her. Could it be possible that she was doing this -being discrete -on purpose. Maybe to avoid him ... surely not!

Rajat could not remain sour-faced for long as Sareen and Minty began to happily discuss their preparations for Holi over the next two days. Tomorrow night, there would be Holika dahan followed by a grand Holi party the day after.

The day of Holika dahan dawned bright and clear. Early in the morning, Anu received

a text message from Mrs Akhtar - all post-lunch lessons were cancelled today and as Botany lectures were time-tabled for the afternoon, anu could take the day off!

It was nice to have 2 days of holidays straight into the weekend! Anu lay in bed for a long time, had a leisurely breakfast and long soak in the tub. Her childhood friend Devyani rang to say that she would not be able to join her for Holi as she was going to celebrate Holi in her village this year. Although a bit disappointed, Anu decided to make the most of the holidays. She had a new dress- a beautiful cream and gold lehenga choli set. She had tried it on earlier. The lehenga with it's intricate work, the chiffon dupatta with little bells sewed to one edge made her look divine- Devyani had decreed. She would wear it tonight. She would also make some sweets -maybe a bit of gulab jamuns & some kheer!

Shastri ji watched as his lovely daughter ran around the house in her Holi excitement and the sight brought a tear to his eye. If only Anu's Mother had been alive, she would have been so proud of her beautiful, intelligent daughter. Wiping his tears quickly before Anu could see them , he joined her in the preparations.

The night sky although not fully clear, was clear enough to show some stars. The moon cast a milky beam every now and then - as he moved from one cloud to another. The flames of the Holika burned brightly , happy voices and the fragrance of fresh sweets filled the air as the entire neighbourhood gathered outside Sareen House. Rajat was standing opposite the fire chatting with a few of his friends when an elderly gentleman from the neighbourhood began to speak to him. Now, the elderly gentleman was a prosy man prone to digressing from topic to topic. Besides, he had the habit of physically turning the person to whom he was talking towards himself. Consequently, Rajat had to turn towards him and pay full attention.

This is how Rajat was seen by Anu as she looked from her window upstairs. Not one to delay and lose chances, she quickly ran downstairs. Smiling and waving at anybody who might have stopped her for a conversation, she went up to the fire bowed respectfully , wished Minty & Sareen a Happy Holi and whizzed past them before the elderly gentleman finished his lengthy speech and Rajat turned around .

Rajat would not have even known of her arrival and departure if someone from behind had not called out just then-

"Anu...Anushka! where did she go , Minty Aunty?"

"I don't know" said Minty looking around here and there ,"she was here just now!"

Rajat had turned round in a flash . His eyes scanned the crowd speedily. It was clear that she had disappeared again. It was also clear that he was right in his suspicions-she was doing this on purpose -to avoid him. But how? How could she go and come unnoticed in front of so many people unless...Rajat began to smile.

He had grown up in this house and lived here until he joined the Air force. How had he not known, how had he not thought of this before?

It was cold and quiet in the back garden. The laughter, the loud voices and the crackle of the fire seemed far away. The lone light in the back garden didn't seem to be working. Anu held up her flowing long lehenga and picking her way carefully, she began to ascend the old staircase. She had hardly climbed a few steps when something told her that she was not alone . Attempting to climb while turning around to look, she caught her foot in the edge of her lehenga and tripped backwards.

The sudden slip caused Anu to let out a gasp and a tiny yelp. She fell straight backwards into the arms of Rajat Sareen. At that very moment, the moon slid out of a large patch of clouds and the garden was bathed in milky light. Anushka's face was a picture of shock and disbelief as she stared wide eyed into Rajat' s smiling face.

"Caught you" he said so softly, that afterwards she would wonder if he had actually said it or was it her imagination ?

Anu's lovely large eyes , even larger at this moment were completely devoid of expressions as they stared up in shock at the man holding her. Her pink lips had parted and stayed parted as though she was going to say something but had somehow lost the power of speech. Owing to the impact of falling as well as the impact of being caught, her arms had gone up involuntarily and they were now holding on to Rajat's shoulders.

As though captured in a trance, Rajat stood staring as the moon weaved it's way through cloud and sky playing a game of hide and seek with her flawless skin, her striking features , her slight, shapely form...

The shadowy dark seemed intrusive yet no light could have done justice to her lovely person as did the full moon of Holi.

The moment was broken when his delightful burden began to stir. Her expression began to change from one of shock to indignation and irritation. He could not help but smile . The "Caught you" only served to heighten her irritation as she pronounced "Put me down!"

He took his time raising her head first with his fore arm, enjoying the first sight of alarm in her eyes, then he released his arms slowly ,allowing her to slide down and onto her feet. As soon as her feet touched the ground, Anu scrambled away and stood back . She appeared to shuffle her legs, adjust her clothes and her hair -all together- not looking at him once. Then, picking up her trailing dupatta, she turned around and stopped -as though she couldn't decide which way to go. Then, she began to slowly climb up the old staircase in front of her- running up the last few steps before she went past the balcony and into her bedroom closing the door firmly behind her.

Rajat who had been watching her all this while ,could not hold back any longer. He threw his head back and burst out laughing.

To the front of the house, people were now getting ready to leave. Shastri ji was looking for Anu when he ran into Rajat.

"What's the matter uncle?" Rajat enquired.

"Oh nothing son...I was just looking for Anu"

"I think she has gone home Uncle" said Rajat, his eyes indicating that she was upstairs.

"No...I don't think she has, she hasn't come this way" said Shastri ji who had been standing by the staircase to the front of the house.

"Believe me Uncle , she has gone home-you'll find her upstairs!"

Gulab jamuns were Anu's favourite food from childhood. Not even two large servings of Gulab jamun and kheer could take the sour taste of defeat from her mouth. Moreover, she had heard Rajat roaring with laughter as she closed her door which heightened her sense of indignation and anger.

Shastri ji noticing that his daughter seemed unhappily preoccupied , tried to lighten her mood by informing her that her sister Alka and her brother-in-law Rohan would be coming over for Holi tomorrow. This piece of news was beginning to alleviate Anu's mood when Shastri ji spoilt it once again by asking her how and when she had come upstairs? It was only Rajat who had seen her go home- but for Rajat he would still be downstairs looking for her!

Defeat however never lasted with Anushka Shastri. Her personality had plenty of springs and an excellent bounce back particularly when provoked by laughing giants' who had the tendency to intrude upon and spy on innocent people!

And so it was that Anu woke up with a feeling of reinforced confidence and dignity- quite contrary to her feelings of defeat and indignity owing to the failed escape and the not-so-dignified fall. But all that was put behind firmly as she proceeded to get ready for the day.

Downstairs, Rajat really meant it when he told his Uncle that this was going to be his best Holi ever! Grinning from ear to ear, he first greeted his Uncle and Aunt, touched their feet respectfully and began to enjoy himself. For one moment this morning he had wondered whether Anu would come downstairs at all and if so which way-which staircase?

No, she wouldn't be able to avoid coming downstairs. As for her route of arrival- nine out of ten chances-she would never ever use the old staircase again!

She did not. It was around 10 a.m. when Anu came , quietly and coolly, down the staircase to the front of the house. Rajat was standing in the front porch , chatting with his friend , Neel, who had also come down from the Air force base not far from town.

Rajat first saw her feet coming down , small shapely feet with pink toe nails and crystal anklets. Then came the legs clad in white churidar , then the torso -shapely in white lace and a bright pink dupatta . Finally came the lovely face , looking somehow different - yet lovelier today. The reason for this difference became apparent to him by the time she climbed down the last step. It was her expression . She wore a studied look of haughty aloofness as she went past him . She had looked right through him and his friend as though they were made of glass or they simply didn't exist.

This was something even he had not expected. " Anushka Shastri, you are quite something!", he said to himself.

"Wow, i say wow!" whispered Neel and then thoughtfully added, "Could this be the reason you have been disinterested in going out with us- no bowling , no cricket match, not even a long drive! Neel leant closer to Rajat, "If I were you bro, I would steer clear. She's too beautiful, too haughty and probably too intelligent. In fact she scares me!"

This was exactly the effect Anu had wanted. Only the effect was produced in the wrong person. If she had turned around , she would have been very surprised to see that Rajat was right behind her-following her calm, cool person as she made her way into his house.

Anu touched Sareen uncle and Minty Aunty's feet , receiveing a heart- felt blessing from Sareen Uncle and a perfunctory one from Minty.

"Happy Holi! Sweetheart" said Sareen as he placed a little pink dot on Anu's pert nose. Laughing, she turned around to find herself facing Rajat. It took her a fraction of a second to change her expression from one of surprise to indifference.

"Happy Holi to you Anu " said Rajat in his politest voice.

"And you" breathed Anu and before he had the chance to reach the gulal in her plate, she turned around and began walking away . Neel was coming in just then and stopped suddenly in front of her.

"Hello, I am Neel, Rajat's friend", Neel introduced himself.

"Hello" said Anu sweetly, "Happy Holi!" and put out her hand . Feeling as though he was being granted a special favour, Neel shook her hand.

Not to be left behind, Rajat caught up with them in two strides.

"Isn't Holi such a good time to start new friendships and leave old things behind- particularly hard feelings and rivalries?" Rajat said easily and Neel nodded in agreement.

"Of course" said Anu "Only you must be careful with new things -don't know what they are made of!"

Rajat was looking at her face -her carefully schooled expressions and enjoying every moment of it.

"Well, I am all for trust," he said decisively, "anyway, what have we to fear when we keep all our valuables in bank lockers?"

Anu turned around sharply at this "Yes, and it's a good thing, we do...there are intruders , spies and wannabe burglars everywhere!"

"Of course, and not all valuables can be kept in lockers. Infact the most valuable of valuables cannot be kept in bank lockers at all!" there was a hint of laughter in Rajat's voice.

He'd had the last word- something Anu found hard to swallow as as she walked away. And the worst thing was that she did not understand what he meant by that. Why was he even bringing up snatches of their conversation from the night of the storm?

Neel , who had been quietly listening to this conversation felt as though a lot more was being said than he had managed to hear.

"What was that bro?" Neel let out a low whistle "Is this Holi or Diwali? Why do I feel there's going to be a lot of fire works?"