"Ye leejiye Baba. Aapka mobile. Jaise aap chaahti they, sab karwa diya maine."Dev had come to the Bose house after office to bring Bijoy Bose, his father in law, a new cell phone from his Telecommunication Company. It was a Saturday evening, and thus Bijoy was relaxing on his rocking chair with a tea table before him, and a board of chess lay on it. Bijoy accepted the phone smilingly, and kept it aside and spoke-
"Phone chodo Dev, aao, ek game chess ka ho jaaye. Dekhte hain baazi kaun jeet ta hai." Bijoy rearranged the pieces to begin a fresh game.
"Par baba, mujhe chess khelna nahi aata..." Dev took the seat in front of Bijoy and told him, and then hesitantly added- "Itna time nahi mila ye sab khelne ka."
"Toh koi baat nahi. Ab seekh lo. Yahan main sikha deta hoon, baad mein practice ke liye Shona sikha degi..." Bijoy gave a hearty smile and began explaining the moves of the various pieces on the check board.
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Dev didn't realise how long he had been playing this game with his father in law, learning the new game, as well enjoying, when his phone rang that was kept on the side table. The screen flashed- Mishti Sona. Bijoy's face knew no bounds of the huge smile that came to him knowing how his daughter was addressed by Dev. He passed on the phone to him- "Lo aa gaya aapki madam ka phone!"
Dev grinned yet again and picked the call up- "Ji... Boliye!"
Sona: Kahan hain aap?
Dev: Kuch kaam se baahar hoon... Kyu kuch kaam tha?
Sona: (Being grumpy) Dev, ek Saturday evening hi toh milti hai aapke saath jab aap office se jaldi aa jaate hain, aur aapke paas time hota hai, phir Sunday toh family time hota hai. Ab aap Saturday ko bhi kaam karne lage hain. This is just not done."
Dev: Sonakshi, please upset mat ho, main bas aa raha hoon thodi deir mein. Promise! Ok?"
Sona: Hmmm... Jaldi aaiye.
Dev got up to leave when Asha called him- "Deb, beta kahan jaa rahe ho... Khana laga diya hai maine. Khaake phir jaana."
Dev smiled and then frowned- "Thank you maa, par aapki beti phir naraaz hoke baith jaayegi, ki ek toh main yahan aa gaya, and usko nahi laaya, phir khaana bhi khaake aa gaya, and she is waiting for me, and then main already late hoon. Suna nahi, phone aa gaya hai ab toh."
Asha smiled and ushered him to the dining table- "Bilkul naraaz nahi hogi aapki patni. Aur agar ho bhi jaayegi toh mujhe pata hai tum usey manaa loge. Itna pyaar jo karte ho usey. Aur kya aisa ho sakta hai ki humara jamaai aaye ghar aur hum bina khaana khilaaye jaane dein. Chalo beta, shuru karo. Aaraam se khaao, aur phir jaana."
Dev was left with no choice but to munch over the delicious dinner, talking to baba and saurabh about the current affairs, daadi contributing humour once in a while, Elena teasing her Jeeju about how he is going to be sleeping in the hall tonight because Shona is not going to let him enter the room, and Asha maintaining peace on the dinner table and letting all have their meal.
The landline rang amidst all the talks, and Asha went to pick the call up... It was Sonakshi.
Asha: Shona! Kemana achena? (How are you) Sona: Aami bhala achi, Maa. (I am fine, Maa) Asha: Kya hua? Teri tabiyat theek hai na Shona? Dev stopped his hand holding the morsel near his mouth when he heard his mother in law asking Sona's health. "She was fine in the morning" Dev thought to himself. Sona: Main theek hoon maa... Asha: Phir tu itni upset Kyu... Ahaaa... Ab samjhi main... Bhej rahi hoon tere pati ko. Dono ka dil nahi lagta ek Dusre ke bina. Uska khaana galey se nahi utar raha tumhare bina, aur tumhara mood upset hai uske bina. Pata nahi tum dono din bhar kaam karte kaise ho? Dev gave a small laugh and resumed eating after his mother in law's comment. But Asha also heard her daughter's gasp- Sona: Maa, wo wahan aaye hain, mere bina. Maine call kiya tha toh bataya bhi nahi. Aur khana bhi khaa rahe hain mere bina... Aur yahan main bhooki baithi hoon unke intezaar mein. Asha: Tumi ek dom boka Shona. Wo toh tumhare baba ka naya phone leke aaye they. Tere baba ne hi chess ke liye rok liya. Ab bina khaana khilaaye main kaise jaane deti? Sona: Par maa, unhone mujhe bataaya kyu nahi? Asha: (Laughing) Pagol! Tu Ishwari ji ke liye koi kaam karke kya Deb ko sunaati hai? Nahi na... Toh unhone bhi nahi bataaya. Ghar jaake toh bata dete na ki wo yahan aaye they... Chal ab mood theek kar. Aa rahe hain tumhare pati." Asha laughed and kept the receiver down. She came back, and began wrapping the dinner up. While Dev took blessings from all the elders and left in a jiffy. He had an annoyed wife at home.---------------------------------------------------Dev tiptoed into the Ishwari Mansion. His mother was no where around. Means, Sonakshi has let her know that he has eaten outside. His mother wasn't waiting. "Good! Level-1 Cleared! No Maa to be confronted around." Dev smiled to himself as he thought. "Now, Level-2!" Dev tiptoed towards the kitchen. Kichchu Bhaiyya was doing the dishes. He came to him and asked- "Sonakshi ne khaana khaa liya?"Kichhu Bhaiyya nodded negatively- "Dr. Bhabhi ne toh sirf khaana parosa. Khaaya kuch bhi nahi.""Ok! Thank you Bhaiyya." Dev thanked him, and went to the kitchen counter, warming the food that was for the dinner, and insisted on making the tray for Sonakshi himself inspite of Kichchu bhaiyya's multiple requests.Dev climbed the steps up to the room, and slowly turned the knob of the door to their room, the door clicked open. Sonakshi looked up from the window she was standing at looking at the night sky. Her eyes met with his. His eyes turned softer seeing her, and her eyes turned furious. "Mil gayi fursat ghar aane ki?" Sonakshi came to him, irritated. "Sonakshi, you know it. I had gone to give baba his phone." Dev explained yet again. But Sona was still upset. He asked- "Aur tumne ab tak khaana kyu nahi khaaya? Especially when you knew I was having dinner at your parents' place?" He complained, while holding her wrist with his left hand and still holding the tray in his right hand. Sonakshi shrugged his hand off as she sarcastically spoke- "Pati vrata patni hoon na, mere pati ghar nahi aate, tab tak main kaise khaana kha sakti hoon?" and she tried moving away. Dev had an eyebrow raised as she kept standing in the same position and said incredulously- "Seriously?" Sonakshi came back to him, her lips a little giving away in a small smile as she said- "Sochiye agar main aisi biwi hoti... Toh?" "Thank God, tum aisi biwi nahi ho, warna main toh guilt se hi marr jaata. Maa kam guilty feel karaati hain, when she keeps on staying awake until I come, and if you refrain from eating until I come, toh phir toh pata nahi main kya karoonga..." he was serious. Sonakshi finally had to give in as she smiled- "Dev! Bas main uss waqt... Pata nahi mera mann nahi tha khaane ka, toh bas nahi khaaya." "Tum apne ghar mein bhi aisa hi karti thi? Matlab mann nahi kiya toh dinner hi skip kar diya?" Dev had asked. Sonakshi shook her head negatively- "Nahi.. Maa-Baba sone hi nahi dete they jab tak main kuch khaa nahi lu..." "Toh bas phir, tum yahan bhi aisa kabhi nahi karogi. No matter how upset you are, you will never skip your meals... Yahan tumhara pati hai, to ensure that you never have to punish you stomach for the anger your brain is generating." Dev had taken her to the bed, and began feeding her dinner...--------------------------------------------- Dev had returned to the room after keeping the tray back. Sonakshi was making bed for the night. She was bent over the bed opening the blanket, when he came and back hugged her after locking the door. She stood straight, while his hold on her waist became firm, and his nose was making way through her traces for his lips to conquer places on her nape where he knew she lost the battles of love...Sonakshi had her eyes closed, the sensation of being drowned in love was par her control... All she could muster from her residual consciousness was her asking- "Dev... Kya kar rahe hain aap...!"And with the residual of his logistics before he himself surrendered into the love for his wife, he had let her know what he was doing- "Making up for the delay on a Saturday night!" Next no questions were asked, no answers were spoken. Love had its own language, and they knew how to communicate.---------------------------------------------Sona stirred out of her sleep in her husband's arm the next morning... Her phone was ringing. The moment she moved out of his embrace to attend the call, his hold on her waist from back got tighter, he had pasted her back against his chest, and there was no scope for her to move out. Giving up, she just managed to get a hold over her phone and answered it, it was his mother.
Asha: Shona , tere baba pooch rahe hain ki tumhara aur Deb ka jhagda solve hua ke nahi...
Sona: Maa, humare beech koi jhagda nahi tha... (And then she looked up at his smiling face, eyes twinkling seeing her so close in his arms.) Aur agar kuch Thoda bohot tha bhi, wo bhi resolve ho gaya...(Sonakshi had a beautiful smile...But then she remembered) Maa, aap dono ne ye poochne ke liye itna jaldi call kiya subah?
Asha: Hey Bhagwaan! Shona tu abhi tak so rahi hai? Subah ke 9.30 baj rahe hain... Get up fast... Sab kya soch rahe honge!
Sonakshi had her eyes wide with shock as she quietly pleaded her husband to leave her finally, they should be up now. While Asha kept the phone...
At one place, in the Dixit house Dev and Sonakshi were slowly beginning their lazy Sunday morning, and at the other corner of the city Bijoy was wiping his glasses and smiling at his wife about the obvious and finally the old man saying- "Asha, shaadi ke time main bahle hi Deb se kitna bhi naraaz tha, par wo sach mein gem hai... Gem! Itna pyaar humari Shona ko koi aur ladka nahi kar sakta. He truly keeps her happy. And when they are all happy, Bijoy bose it happy too..."
~~THANKS FOR READING~~
