Posted:
Link to Part 2 https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/suhani-si-ek-ladki/4516312/fiction-ssel-redone-p-2-sandis-birthdayLink to all parts: https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/suhani-si-ek-ladki/4518239/ssel-redone-sandis-birthday-links-to-all-parts
Part 3
Yuvraj wanted to buy Suhani a ring she'd admired on one of their outings, and was looking through her cupboard drawer to find a ring he could borrow to ensure he got the correct size. Among her jewelry, right at the back of the drawer, he found a man's handkerchief, HIS handkerchief, the designer one he'd lost. His mind went back to the day he had first met Suhani--he had been cleaning his glasses with his hanky when they literally bumped into the girls and he had dropped the hanky. She had kept it! She had kept it among her precious things all this time! He was so thrilled and happy, that he didn't notice her come in and stand behind him glaring.
"WHAT THE HELL are you doing snooping among my private things?"
He jumped and turned around, her ring in one hand, the hanky in the other. "I...I wasn't snooping. I wanted your ring size, that's all--I was just..." She backed him against the cupboard and snatched the hanky from his hand, privately embarrassed at still having it--she'd forgotten all about it. He was intoxicated by her closeness, and she too felt a increasingly familiar pull as he held her gaze. She finally moved away, pushed him aside and slammed her cupboard door shut, feeling flustered and churned up. He failed to notice that she later threw the hanky into the wastebin; to him, her keeping it only reinforced his belief that she'd always liked him and that if he was patient, she would soon come around. She was just getting used to him. There was such attraction between them. He knew she felt it too. Maybe she was too innocent to understand it.
Suhani didn't know how she felt about Yuvraj as she got to know him better. He was quite admirable in some ways, she respected him, but couldn't shake the feeling that he was a bit beneath her. She wasn't really snobbish, but she'd been brought up to expect the best of everything. She felt a bit bad when her mother was so rude to him, but thought it better to ignore it. Yuvraj looked crushed sometimes, which irritated her, because she didn't like feeling second-hand guilt on her mom's behalf.
They were so unalike. He was into books and computers and work, work, work. She loved going to the gym or for dancercise classes, going for exhibitions and events, and had developed an interest in interior design. The only passion she shared with him was for cricket, both watching international matches together with his brothers, and she was always present at the matches he played for her dad's team. Her dad had made him a non-executive director to qualify him to play for Srivastav Enterprises. And Yuvraj really was good--quite attractive in his ferocious mode on the cricket field. He could bowl a mean bouncer, bat like Sehwag in his prime, and was a useful fielder too. No wonder her dad had wanted him in their team. It was quite a different Yuvraj on the cricket field.
They disagreed over small things like his sloppy habits and her demand for spic and span surroundings. She was not happy to see him sitting around at home in an old t-shirt and shorts, while he would rather be comfortable than be 'properly' dressed. To teach him a lesson she once sat around their room in shorts and a tube top. She expected him to be shocked and ask her to dress properly before the others saw her, but instead he stared at her with a hungry look that made her abandon the idea.
Bhavna, who felt she was being very mean by withholding herself from Yuvraj, asked how long she planned to keep him hanging. "Not many men would tolerate it, Suhani. You're being cruel. He loves you so much, too." She did feel bad, but this wasn't her fault. She was staying with him, doing her best, in spite of everything. SHE hadn't wanted to marry him. "But you did," Bhavna reminded her. "And marriage is more than merely sharing a room. And I think you do have feelings for him," which Suhani staunchly denied.
However, living together ensured a degree of familiarity, whether she wanted it or not. Quiet as Yuvraj was, he could get quite annoyed if he was disturbed while he was working, though he was too well-mannered to be rude most times. She deliberately provoked him sometimes and told him he should learn to fight back rather than simmer. Like the time he was working late at home and the light disturbed her. She didn't see why he had to work at home when he was at it all day in the office. She sat up on the bed and deliberately started telling him anecdotes about things she knew he didn't care about, especially when he was busy. He told her they could talk later, but she ignored him and went on about how Ragini and Saurabh had argued about his drinking, how the Birla company manager, Saxena, looked like a crook, and how the sculpture at an exhibition she'd been to looked like someone had dumped all their household rubbish in a heap. He finally snapped and came over to her and put his hand over her mouth. They'd stared at each other, she vaguely fascinated, his anger turning to excitement. "Keep quiet!" he said, and she was shaken enough to actually shut up. Such moments disturbed her, startled her a little.
She came into their room one day and found him eating peanuts while engrossed in a book. Some of the shells had fallen on the floor, and a few on the bed. "What is this, you're a pig, Yuvraj! How can you throw garbage on the bed?"
"Eh? What?"
"You have peanut shells on my bed! On the floor! Clean them up, I'm callling Ramesh to change the bedsheet."
"Change the bedsheet?" He laughed. "Here, I'll pick 'em up, don't make a mountain out of a molehill. And talking of molehills, do you know. . .," and he went on to tell her the desirability of getting soil from molehills to be used as fertilizer. He always had a variety of facts at his fingertips and could usually distract her when she got annoyed at him about something.
Matters got ugly at one point when Yuvraj unwittingly failed to pass on her mother's message that Suhani should contact her urgently (as Suhani's phone was switched off and she couldn't reach her). Suhani was at her dancercise class and Yuvraj had to leave for work, so he left Suhani a note, but she never got it. Her mother insisted that she had asked Yuvraj to pass on the news that Suhani's dadaji was very serious, she should come immediately. Yuvraj was sure she had not told him any such thing, or he would have moved mountains to make sure Suhani reached the hospital. As a result of the mix-up, Suhani had missed meeting her dadaji before he passed away. She was quiet while the last rites were performed, and she shrugged Yuvraj off when he tried to hold her and comfort her.
She believed her mother's lies and was livid with him once the first, acute grief had passed. She called him thoughtless, self-absorbed, and selfish, throwing a major tantrum in view of his family, shocking them, and finally screaming, "Shut up, Yuvraj, just shut up!" as she threw aside the gift he'd bought her, the ring she had liked. He tried in vain to explain it wasn't his fault, but she would not listen. She went off to her parents' home, much to her mother's delight, and it took days before she would even take his calls. He gave up trying to convince her of the truth, and she eventually returned when dadi went and brought her back. In her heart of hearts she knew Yuvraj was unlikely to have made such a mistake, and things gradually returned to their earlier status.
*******
Link to P 4: https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/suhani-si-ek-ladki/4518238/fiction-ssel-redone-p-4-sandis-birthday
Part 3
Yuvraj wanted to buy Suhani a ring she'd admired on one of their outings, and was looking through her cupboard drawer to find a ring he could borrow to ensure he got the correct size. Among her jewelry, right at the back of the drawer, he found a man's handkerchief, HIS handkerchief, the designer one he'd lost. His mind went back to the day he had first met Suhani--he had been cleaning his glasses with his hanky when they literally bumped into the girls and he had dropped the hanky. She had kept it! She had kept it among her precious things all this time! He was so thrilled and happy, that he didn't notice her come in and stand behind him glaring.
"WHAT THE HELL are you doing snooping among my private things?"
He jumped and turned around, her ring in one hand, the hanky in the other. "I...I wasn't snooping. I wanted your ring size, that's all--I was just..." She backed him against the cupboard and snatched the hanky from his hand, privately embarrassed at still having it--she'd forgotten all about it. He was intoxicated by her closeness, and she too felt a increasingly familiar pull as he held her gaze. She finally moved away, pushed him aside and slammed her cupboard door shut, feeling flustered and churned up. He failed to notice that she later threw the hanky into the wastebin; to him, her keeping it only reinforced his belief that she'd always liked him and that if he was patient, she would soon come around. She was just getting used to him. There was such attraction between them. He knew she felt it too. Maybe she was too innocent to understand it.
Suhani didn't know how she felt about Yuvraj as she got to know him better. He was quite admirable in some ways, she respected him, but couldn't shake the feeling that he was a bit beneath her. She wasn't really snobbish, but she'd been brought up to expect the best of everything. She felt a bit bad when her mother was so rude to him, but thought it better to ignore it. Yuvraj looked crushed sometimes, which irritated her, because she didn't like feeling second-hand guilt on her mom's behalf.
They were so unalike. He was into books and computers and work, work, work. She loved going to the gym or for dancercise classes, going for exhibitions and events, and had developed an interest in interior design. The only passion she shared with him was for cricket, both watching international matches together with his brothers, and she was always present at the matches he played for her dad's team. Her dad had made him a non-executive director to qualify him to play for Srivastav Enterprises. And Yuvraj really was good--quite attractive in his ferocious mode on the cricket field. He could bowl a mean bouncer, bat like Sehwag in his prime, and was a useful fielder too. No wonder her dad had wanted him in their team. It was quite a different Yuvraj on the cricket field.
They disagreed over small things like his sloppy habits and her demand for spic and span surroundings. She was not happy to see him sitting around at home in an old t-shirt and shorts, while he would rather be comfortable than be 'properly' dressed. To teach him a lesson she once sat around their room in shorts and a tube top. She expected him to be shocked and ask her to dress properly before the others saw her, but instead he stared at her with a hungry look that made her abandon the idea.
Bhavna, who felt she was being very mean by withholding herself from Yuvraj, asked how long she planned to keep him hanging. "Not many men would tolerate it, Suhani. You're being cruel. He loves you so much, too." She did feel bad, but this wasn't her fault. She was staying with him, doing her best, in spite of everything. SHE hadn't wanted to marry him. "But you did," Bhavna reminded her. "And marriage is more than merely sharing a room. And I think you do have feelings for him," which Suhani staunchly denied.
However, living together ensured a degree of familiarity, whether she wanted it or not. Quiet as Yuvraj was, he could get quite annoyed if he was disturbed while he was working, though he was too well-mannered to be rude most times. She deliberately provoked him sometimes and told him he should learn to fight back rather than simmer. Like the time he was working late at home and the light disturbed her. She didn't see why he had to work at home when he was at it all day in the office. She sat up on the bed and deliberately started telling him anecdotes about things she knew he didn't care about, especially when he was busy. He told her they could talk later, but she ignored him and went on about how Ragini and Saurabh had argued about his drinking, how the Birla company manager, Saxena, looked like a crook, and how the sculpture at an exhibition she'd been to looked like someone had dumped all their household rubbish in a heap. He finally snapped and came over to her and put his hand over her mouth. They'd stared at each other, she vaguely fascinated, his anger turning to excitement. "Keep quiet!" he said, and she was shaken enough to actually shut up. Such moments disturbed her, startled her a little.
She came into their room one day and found him eating peanuts while engrossed in a book. Some of the shells had fallen on the floor, and a few on the bed. "What is this, you're a pig, Yuvraj! How can you throw garbage on the bed?"
"Eh? What?"
"You have peanut shells on my bed! On the floor! Clean them up, I'm callling Ramesh to change the bedsheet."
"Change the bedsheet?" He laughed. "Here, I'll pick 'em up, don't make a mountain out of a molehill. And talking of molehills, do you know. . .," and he went on to tell her the desirability of getting soil from molehills to be used as fertilizer. He always had a variety of facts at his fingertips and could usually distract her when she got annoyed at him about something.
Matters got ugly at one point when Yuvraj unwittingly failed to pass on her mother's message that Suhani should contact her urgently (as Suhani's phone was switched off and she couldn't reach her). Suhani was at her dancercise class and Yuvraj had to leave for work, so he left Suhani a note, but she never got it. Her mother insisted that she had asked Yuvraj to pass on the news that Suhani's dadaji was very serious, she should come immediately. Yuvraj was sure she had not told him any such thing, or he would have moved mountains to make sure Suhani reached the hospital. As a result of the mix-up, Suhani had missed meeting her dadaji before he passed away. She was quiet while the last rites were performed, and she shrugged Yuvraj off when he tried to hold her and comfort her.
She believed her mother's lies and was livid with him once the first, acute grief had passed. She called him thoughtless, self-absorbed, and selfish, throwing a major tantrum in view of his family, shocking them, and finally screaming, "Shut up, Yuvraj, just shut up!" as she threw aside the gift he'd bought her, the ring she had liked. He tried in vain to explain it wasn't his fault, but she would not listen. She went off to her parents' home, much to her mother's delight, and it took days before she would even take his calls. He gave up trying to convince her of the truth, and she eventually returned when dadi went and brought her back. In her heart of hearts she knew Yuvraj was unlikely to have made such a mistake, and things gradually returned to their earlier status.
*******
Link to P 4: https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/suhani-si-ek-ladki/4518238/fiction-ssel-redone-p-4-sandis-birthday
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
Anupamaa
