Arhi TS: What the....... Just Imagine !! Part 2 on page 17, note pg 26

Arnav never felt so scared and so restless in his entire life. Sitting outside the operation theatre, the only thought running through his mind was, "How was his Khushi doing? Has the little one made his or her appearance in this world yet?"

Until this morning things were going smoothly and there was nothing to worry at all according to the doctors. Then Khushi's water broke and she developed labor pains. Arnav was with her all through her journey from their home to the hospital.

Once they reached the hospital, the doctors informed him that the baby had the chord tied around its neck and they needed to operate immediately to save the baby from choking. Arnav and their families had immediately given their consent for C-section and they were all waiting eagerly outside the Operation theater to welcome the princess or the prince of the Raizada household.

After an excruciating wait of 2 hours, when the doctor approached Arnav with a smile on her face, Arnav gave a sigh of relief knowing that all is well on the other side of the operating room.

"Congratulations Mr. Raizada, you are the father of a beautiful baby boy", said the doctor in all her glee and Arnav's immediate question was "How is Khushi doing?"

Hearing that both mother and baby are absolutely fine, there were tears of happiness shed, congratulatory hugs exchanged and now all were eager to see the baby and the mother.

And exactly an hour later the Raizadas and the Guptas rushed into the private room to catch a glimpse of the little one and to make sure that their Khushi was doing fine.

As Arnav entered the room, he could see that Khushi though looked tired and drained out, yet had a unique glow on her face, the glow of motherhood and sleeping next to her in the small cradle was their son, the prince of their house and the joy of Khushi's and his heart.

He strode quickly towards Khushi and kissing her on the forehead asked her if she was doing fine. The cooing of the baby diverted the attention of everyone present towards the little cradle. Arnav slowly carried his son and cradled him in his arms. He was overwhelmed with the kind of love he felt for the little one and he could not stop himself from remembering that it was exactly three years ago on this very same day he had met Khushi for the first time...

3 years ago...

"Arnav, oh Arnav, where are you?" came the booming voice of Arnav's mamaji Madhukar, and Arnav raised his head towards the direction of the voice, gave a look of dissatisfaction and continued doing what he was busy with.

"Oh dear, here he goes again, making heaps and heaps of jalebis like there is no tomorrow" said Arnav's father Shashi Gupta.

"Arnav, mera baccha, what is troubling you so much today?" asked Madhukar standing next to Arnav and running a loving hand over Arnav's head.

Madhukar mama and Arnav shared a special bond and none understood Arnav better than his mama. Any sort of issue, Arnav always shared it with his mama, and over the years he and his mama had become the best of buddies.

"Mamaji, you do know what is bothering me today", whined Arnav.

"Do I have to meet this Khushi Singh Raizada today? You know how I hate these so called interviews, presenting myself in front of the girl and her family like a showpiece, then answering their illogical questions and finally wait for their response to know whether I am fit to marry their daughter or not" continued Arnav all the while making piles of hot piping Jalebis.

"And the worst of all, if they indeed find me fit as marriage material, I get married to their daughter and have to leave you all behind, go away and stay with them forever, making their house as my home. Why cannot the girl come instead and stay with us? Why is there this rule that the boy has to go to his Sasural and not the other way".

Hearing these nonstop complaints from Arnav, which was nothing unusual, Shashi Gupta chuckling to himself said "Beta, that is how our custom is. I married your mother and came to this house, your Mamaji married your mami and stayed at their house, why even your Akash bhaiyya is staying at your Payal Bhabhi's house now, is it not?"

Hearing Akash's name, Arnav's anger and frustration grew a little more. Munching on a hot jalebi he whined further "Yes and see how much Akash bhaiyya is suffering at Payal bhabhi's house. He slogs in the clinic from morning till evening and then comes home and cooks for them and takes care of their needs. Even then bhabhi's parents taunt him for every little mistake he did; particularly bhabhi's father. He always has an eye on Akash bhaiyya and ever ready to make his life miserable".

"But beta, your Payal bhabhi is a very nice lady. She loves your Akash bhaiyya a lot" defended Shashi Gutpa.

"How does it help Babuji, she becomes mute in front of her parents. She might love him a lot, but is it not her duty to save him from their wrath too" further argued Arnav.

Thinking of doing some damage control, the ever optimistic Shashi Gupta immediately reminded Arnav of how they had met the Raizadas at the temple and how nice both Arvind Raizada and his mother were. Though they saw Ratna Raizada only a couple of times, Shashi Gupta , Madhukar Mehra and Arvind Raizada had become good friends over the last year meeting regularly at the temple and attending satsang activities together.

Infact seeing Arnav helping his father and mamaji at the temple a couple of times, they had taken an instant liking for the boy and last week had proposed their daughter's hand in marriage with Arnav.

Finally after all the convincing done by Shashi and Madhukar, Arnav calmed down a bit and decided to get ready to go and meet Khushi Singh Raizada at the head office of Raizada Industries.

It was Khushi who had proposed that Arnav come and meet her at the office so that they could talk to each other freely without the elders spying over them, in turn get to know their likes and dislikes and to see how compatible they could be with each other.

"Oh, do not wear your favourite white Kurta pyjama today Arnav, you will be having lunch with the CEO of Raizada Industries at their corporate office, wear something nice, like a suit" reminded Shashi earning a " I know what to wear" look from Arnav.

After an hour Arnav came out dressed up in a navy blue suit and Madhukar immediately moved his hands in clockwise and anticlockwise direction around Arnav's head to ward off any evil and wished him good luck by hugging him. Shashi too got all emotional seeing his younger son so grown up and handsome and he too hugged Arnav praying to the ever smiling Devi maiyya to bless their child.

As Arnav started driving his car towards the corporate office, he could not stop but think about the person he was going to meet.

Khushi Singh Raizada

Daughter of Ratna and Arvind Singh Raizada

CEO of Raizada Industries

26 years old, MBA from Harvard, taking the Raizada Industries to newer heights.

General opinion about her by the media was that she was a nice lady. But she was a perfectionist, who would never take a "no" from anyone and expects everyone to perform to the best of their abilities.

Khushi's older brother is Shyam Manohar Jha, husband of the famous criminal lawyer Anjali Manohar Jha and Shyam headed the production department of Raizada Industries.

Arnav had met Khushi's parents and Dadi at the temple a couple of times. They seemed to be nice people but he hated this whole idea of boy being seen by girl and then, if the girl says yes, the marriage would be fixed and a whole drama would follow.

But the concept he hated the most was changing his last name after marriage. Why could he not remain as "Arnav Kumar Gupta" his entire life? Why should he change it to"Arnav Singh Raizada" after marriage.

With these thoughts playing in his mind, Arnav entered the Raizada Industries head office, and he was left in awe looking at the interiors which screamed of style and sophistication. He slowly made his way towards the information desk taking in all that was surrounding him.

"Hello, I am Arnav Kumar Gupta, and I am here to meet Khushi Singh Raizada. I have an appointment with her at 1 00 PM", said Arnav to the man behind the information desk.

The man who had a name tag as "Aman Mathur" looked up from the computer he was working on, nodded his head and called someone to take Arnav to Khushi's chamber.

Arnav followed the other man who lead him to an elevator. He pushed the 25^th floor button, and the elevator took them to the topmost floor of the building. As they stepped out of the elevator, Arnav noticed that this floor gave a much wider and open feel to the entire space. As he looked around he understood that this level was reserved only for Khushi, the CEO of RI.

Arnav was ushered into Khushi's chamber by Khushi's PA who introduced herself as Lavanya Kashyap.

"Ma'am will be joining you shortly Mr. Gupta. She is in a meeting and it is almost done. Please make yourself comfortable sir", said Lavanya and marched out of the room closing the door behind her. Arnav looked around the big room which had a big table in the side with a laptop, some files, a telephone and behind the chair was a big window overlooking the view of Delhi downtown.

There was a small conference table on the other side with 6 chairs around it and there was a couch set on the other end where he was sitting with a small glass center table in front of him.

Couple of minutes later the door opened and Khushi entered, along with Lavanya.

Khushi looked at Arnav and gave a smile and walked towards Arnav.

Arnav had seen pictures of Khushi on the internet and videos of Khushi on news channels, but nothing had prepared him to what he was seeing walking towards him. Khushi was not just pretty, she was extremely beautiful. Her skin glowed, her hazel eyes twinkled when she smiled and she had a perfect body.

Arnav stood up as Khushi approached him and Khushi held her breath for a moment looking at the tall handsome man standing in front of her. Arnav had the perfect chiseled face, molten chocolate brown eyes, the body of an athlete and his body language spoke of smartness and intelligence.

"Hi, I am Khushi. Nice meeting you Arnav", saying Khushi extended her right hand and Arnav shook it confidently wishing her back. For a while both just looked at each other not letting go of their hands and they felt a kind of spark; a connection with each other.

Hearing Lavanya speak something, Khushi turned towards Lavanya and nodding her head asked her to bring the appetizers in and sat down on the couch opposite to Arnav.

"Arnav, is it okay that I have ordered Italian food today. I love Italian food and thought you would like it too" asked Khushi.

Arnav nodding his head said, "I like Italian food too, but my favourite is Indian food, especially spicy chats, gol gappes and Jalebis" giving Khushi a big smile.

"Then maybe next time we will go to an Indian restaurant", said Khushi making Arnav raise an eyebrow and nod his head realising that Khushi too seemed to be interested in him. He wanted to know more about her.

"I have been reading about you and your achievements and I must say your family must be proud of you and your growth till now and also your future vision for Raizada Industries", said Arnav trying to make the situation comfortable for both of them, by starting a conversation.

Khushi, just giving a small smile said, "Arnav, your bio data is filled with achievements too. You are an MBA from Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore. Now you are the project manager at Wipro and from what I heard, your company is very impressed with you".

And gradually the conversation between the two flowed smoothly as appetizers was followed by lunch which was further followed by dessert. They talked about their childhood, their likes, their dislikes, their ambitions, their fears and the love they had for their parents.

Lavanya was asked to hold all calls and not to be disturbed and the lunch date which started at 1 PM went on for a couple of hours and now Lavanya was escorting two cups of coffee inside Khushi's chamber at 4 PM.

Lavanya while handing over the cup of coffee to Khushi informed her that a small problem had risen at the production unit and Mr. Jha had reached the unit and had taken care of it. Also he was on his way to meet Khushi now to discuss about it.

Khushi asked Lavanya to send Shyam in when he arrived and after a few minutes, Shyam knocked on the door and walked in. He saw his sister smiling and happy and looking at Arnav, he was sure Arnav felt the same.

Khushi smiled at her brother and introduced Arnav to him.

Shyam extending his hand cordially to Arnav welcomed him to the Raizada industries and asked both of them as to how their day went about with a mischievous smile on his face.

Seeing both of them blushing, Shyam understood that Arnav and Khushi seemed to be interested in each other. Even though Khushi was the CEO and the heir to the Raizada industries, Shyam always looked upon her as his little sister. Today seeing so much happiness on her face, his heart welled up with love and affection for her.

Khushi meanwhile was called out by Lavanya to attend a call from the head of the marketing division regarding a small issue which had cropped up.

Shyam trying to create a comfortable atmosphere with Arnav started talking about the products Raizada industries were producing and his role as the head of the production department. He was very happy with the kind of questions Arnav asked about Raizada industries and from the looks of it, Shyam could make out that Arnav's strength was at marketing and expanding clientele. Shyam found Arnav's ideas very innovative and loved his enthusiasm and zeal to reach newer heights. He could easily see how his sister's and Arnav's outlook towards life and goals would match immensely.

A couple of minutes later Khushi walked in and told Shyam that they are needed to go back to the production unit as new problems have cropped up. Turning towards Arnav, she told him that she has to take leave of him as her presence is required at the unit.

Shyam shook hands with Arnav, told Khushi that he would be waiting for her outside and walked out closing the door behind him. Seeing Arnav hesitating to say something, Khushi encouragingly said, "Arnav, is there anything else you want to talk?"

Feeling a bit relieved hearing her soft voice Arnav said, "Khushi, as you know my parents just have two sons and my elder brother Akash is married to Payal bhabhi and stays with them, in their house. My parents are becoming old and my Mamaji also lives with us. It is Akash's and my responsibility to look after our parents and Mamaji in their twilight years and I would want my wife to recognise my responsibility towards my parents and not stop me from looking after them. If our marriage proposal goes ahead, as my wife I would love if you respect my parents as I would respect your parents and help me in looking after them. Will this be acceptable to you and your family Khushi?" saying so he looked at Khushi hoping that she understands his responsibilities and his love for his parents.

Smiling at Arnav, Khushi sat on the couch and asked Arnav to sit next to her. She started narrating her parents' story. "Arnav, my Dadiji, Devyani Mallick lost her husband when my father was just 5 years old. She brought up my father with a lot of difficulties and when my father married Ratna Singh Raizada, he knew what a good woman my mother was and he was sure that my mother would care for my Dadiji just like she would care for her parents. "

"Unfortunately, my Maasi that is my mother's elder sister and her husband brain washed my Nanaji and took over Nanaji's business. Tricking my Nanaji they got all of his property transferred to their names. My mother, not knowing any of this, worked hard day and night trying to expand my Nanaji's businesses and she was equally helped by my father. Also Nanaji, Nani, Maasi and Mausa treated my father badly. And the ill-treatment increased day over day. When my parents came to know that Nanaji's business was already transferred to Maasi, my mother was very hurt that her own parents and her sister had tricked her. She left her parents' house and along with my father and Dadiji she moved to Delhi."

"Here in Delhi, my parents started from a small business venture. They both worked very hard to build what is now the Raizada empire. My Dadiji helped by taking care of Shyam bhaiyya and me when we were kids. Today if Raizada Industries is a profitable mega enterprise , it is because of the hard work of my parents and my Dadiji. Now Shyam and I continue to build the enterprise, on the solid foundation they laid out. "

"My mother loves and respects my Dadiji immensely. She taught Shyam bhaiyya and me the value of respect. My Anjali bhabhi and her parents too love and respect Shyam bhaiyya and my parents. They even encouraged Shyam bhaiyya to continue working at Raizada industries and never once stopped him to pursue his dreams. Arnav, trust me, if we were to get married, your family would be my family as much as my family would be yours. I would never stop you from caring for your parents and not only you, we both, together would take care of them like we would take care of my parents".

Hearing what Khushi said, Arnav's joy knew no bounds. Giving Khushi a big smile he said, "Thank you Khushi for understanding me and for your assurance and support. Now I will get going and let you attend to your important work".

Both of them got up and just stood for sometime looking at each other. Neither of them wanted this meeting to end and both felt that they still had so much to talk, so much to listen and so much to know about each other. Arnav came forward, and holding Khushi's soft hands, told her that he will be waiting to hear from her soon. The approached and hugged each other for a few moments before walking towards the door hand in hand.

As the door opened and Arnav started to walk away from her, Khushi felt a yearning in her heart to not let him go. Arnav turned towards her, smiled and waved her bye as he walked away.

Shyam, watched this scene from behind and was happy that his little sister and his parents have chosen well.

The ringtone of her cell phone brought Khushi out of the trance she was in. It was her mother calling, she knew the reason for the call.

"Hello Mama", said Khushi and immediately the first question Ratna asked was "Did you like Arnav?"

Hearing her mother's question and guessing how curious she must be, Khushi just said one word "Yes."Her mother squealed in excitement and Khushi could hear her mother telling her father and Dadiji about it.

Shyam gestured her that they needed to go the manufacturing unit as soon as possible and Khushi immediately cut the phone call telling her mother that they could talk about it over dinner, in the evening.

Meanwhile Arnav drove back to his house with happiness and contentment in his heart and the smile on his face did not seem to wade away.

Arnav's smiling face told Shashi and Madhukar that the meeting between Arnav and Khushi had gone well and that Arnav is happy with this marriage proposal.

But seeing a tired Garima sitting on the couch in the house, Arnav went and hugged his mother and told her in an annoying voice, "Amma, how many times do I have to tell you to quit the job and retire. Why don't you listen to me?"

Smiling, Garima ran her hand over Arnav's head lovingly, and said, "Beta, forget about me for now and tell me how did the meeting with Khushi Singh Raizada go? Did you like the girl, did she show any indication that she liked you? What do you think of this proposal?"

Arnav, suddenly became conscious of three pairs of eyes on him. Smiling shyly he said he liked Khushi a lot and he feels Khushi liked him too. The atmosphere turned jubilant in his house with all of them congratulating each other and Shashi and Garima had tears flowing from their eyes.

Shashi said, "Beta, it is the dream of every parent to see their son marry a good girl and get well settled in his sasuraal. Raizadas are good people and we are sure that they will treat you well in their house".

Arnav nodded his head, hugged his mother again and said, "Amma, Akash is married and settled well. It is likely that I am going to be married soon, too. Allow me to look after you; I do not see a reason for you not to retire now. How many years more are you going to work hard like this?"

Garima, wiping her tears and giving her son a tight hug said, "Beta, if I quit the job then how would this household run? Your father is taking good care of all the household responsibilities. I do not have anything to do but to relax at home in the evening . Also how can we take money from our son? What will the Raizadas think of us? Please beta, try to understand our situation too. I do not mind working for few more years and I can beta. I am physically fit to work. We all just wish that you are happy in your married life. We want nothing more".

"Amma, I want to look after you all now. Please do not stop me from doing it" pleaded Arnav.

Garima said, "Beta, I will quit my job after you get married and settle down at your new home; let us wait until then. Is that fine with you?" Arnav nodded, and hugged his mother again.

Now Shashi and Madhukar started thinking about the meeting with Arvind Raizada and his mother at the temple Satsang next day and started planning the marriage preparations if the Raizadas would say yes to the proposal.

Once Arnav went out to meet his friends, Shashi, Garima and Madhukar talked about the greatest fear that every parent of a son faces in the society, the fear of "Vadhu dakshina", or Dowry as it is commonly called...