SuKor Drabble: Chakor's Birthday

Instinctually, Suraj pulled out his gun and aimed it at the shopkeeper's head. He immediately shrunk and began to whimper. His hands folded, begging for his life. Pathetic he thought. He wasn't actually going to kill him. All he wanted was a decent saree to gift Chakor for her birthday, and all this idiot was showing him were gaudy and cheap pieces of cloth. He could have gotten away with giving these to Imli to appease her before...a lifetime ago. But not Chakor. She would never wear something like that. It had to be classy, elegant and yellow...she looked beautiful in yellow. What am I thinking? He shook his head trying to get rid of the thought.

But however hard he tried, he couldn't get rid of Chakor. She had packed her bags and moved in permanently into his mind. Even now her faced appeared before him, crystal clear. Her brows were knitted together like they usually were when she was upset. Her lips were pouted and her eyes were fiery.

"Suraj tum kabhi nahin badal sakte na? Kisi problem ka solution nahin mila to taan li bandook us ke sar pe. Dimaagh hai ke nahin, ya phir bandook chodh kar... kuch istimal nahin karne aata?" She said the last words with a mischievous smirk. He grinded his teeth out of frustration at phantom Chakor's words. Yeh ladki na rehke bhi jeena mushkil karti hai.

He sighed and put the gun down. The idiot shopkeeper smiled and thanked him profusely.

"Acha theek hai, mujhe kuch acha dikhaye," he said dismissively.

"Haan sir jee bilkul abhi aaye"

"Suno...woh kuch yellow colour ke bhi dikhaana" he said, and internally cursed himself.

***

As Suraj waited for the shopkeeper to pack the saree he had picked out, he wandered the store and looked at the jewelry. Ladkiyon ke liye kuch khareed ne se pehle, main sau baar pair pe goli maar doon. His eyes glossed over the trinkets and suddenly halted at one.

It was a silver linked bracelet with a single charm at the center. It was a sun and a moon intertwined with each other, so they looked like one. His eyes widened. To kya hua, itna bhi khoobsoorat nahin hain. Aur waisey bhi sirf janam din hai, itni badi baat nahin hai. Saree li utna kaafi hai.

He almost walked away dismissing it. But something pulled him back to the bracelet. Khoobsoorat to hai. Aur Chakor ne mere liye itna kiya hai, le loonga to khush hojayegi. Kaunsi badi baat hai.

"Suno, yeh bhi pack kar na" he said to the lady behind the counter. Kahan main yaaron ke saath daaru peeke mauj karta tha, ab biwi ki liye zevar khareed ne ke alaava kuch kaam nahin raha. Suraj sighed and made his way back to the haveli with the presents.

***

He entered his room, to find Chakor pacing. She turned around and stopped dead in her tracks. A look of relief crossed her face, but was instantly replaced with anger. It was quite adorable. NO it wasn't adorable. She was about to launch into one of her bhashans and aafat aane waale thi ab bas.

"Suraj! Kahan the tum, pata hai mujhe kitni fikar ho rahi thi, aise bina bitaye koi chod ke jaata hai kya. Tumhe pata hai Kamal Narayan aur Ragini bhi subha se bahar hain haveli se? Mujhe pata hai tum apne aap ka khayaal rakh sakte ho, par tum to bus taan de te bandookh un pe aur hogaya kaam humara.."

Arre yaar kitna baat karti hai, yeh. He walked up to her and put a finger on her lips. She stopped talking and looked up at him. Her eyes battling between anger and confusion. But there was no denying the fire that matched his own. It was the single thing that had tied them together. They both burned.

He was standing inches away from her. He had done this so many times before, that it was almost comfortable being so close to her. But somehow, it had been different these days. Every time he was this close to her, he burned a little more. The heat rose to his neck, made his stomach do a somersault. His blood was singing in his veins, calling out to hers. His lips parted subconsciously, and her's mirrored the action. A lifetime seemed to pass between every second. Every moment he spent with Chakor, the farther he slipped away from the man he was. The man who had chased her down with a gun in his jeep. The man who had forced her to shoot at bottles over her mother and sister's heads. The man who had taken from her everything she loved, the man who had forced himself...

He snapped out of his daze and took a step back. He was still the same man.

"Tum thak ti nahin apne yeh bhashan de de ke?. Jab dekho pattar pattar chalti rehti hai zuban. Kabhi to break lada do, ya phir mute button ho to kripa kar ke hume bata do." He said and poked around her face, as though looking for a button. She tried to shrug him off and he laughed. Aur waisey bhi, kya hua humein? Hum toh bilkul theek hain, kisi ne hamara kuch nahin bigada aur bigaad bhi nahin sakta. Aise pareshaan hoti rahogi to humein bachana ki chakkar mein tum khud high blood pressure ki patient na banjaao."

She huffed and puffed, and glared at him, just the way he liked. The very first time he had seen her, when she returned to Azadganj, she had the same look. He would never forget her face then. They were enemies then, and still...

Were they friends now? Allies...what were they? He was too afraid to answer that question.

"Aisa kaunsa important kaam aagaya ke aise hi nikal pade tum? Humein tumhari zaroorat hai..." she stopped mid-sentence and hesitated. He cocked his brow and smiled at the idea that she would ever need him.

"Mera matlab, plan karne ke liye. Itne cheezein karne ko hain, or laadh saheb nikle aish karne," she said and turned away from him, her arms crossed.

He walked up to her and grabbed her by the forearm and turned her around. And there she was again, inches from him. He swallowed and contained himself.

"Oh hello, achaai ki duniya hi nahin rahi. Hum aish karne nahin, who tumhare liye kuch lene gaye the," he said awkwardly. Her expressions instantly change to confusion.

"Humare liye?"

"Haan woh...yeh lo pakdo," he said and handed her the bag with her gifts.

"Yeh kya hai?"

"Khologi to pata chaljaiga Chakor, itna bhi dimaagh nahin chala sakti, ulta hume baddimaagh bulati ho," he muttered. He opened the bag and pulled out the wrapped presents. She looked at them, and looked at him dumbfounded. "Aaj tumhara janam din hai, to yeh uphaar hain humare taraf se, rakhlo." He turned away as he said that. But he knew that her face had lit up.

"Suraj, tumhe kaise pata?"

"Ohh madam, zyaada chadhna mat, humne Imli ko baat karte hue sun liya tha, to iss liye,"

"Aur tumne humare liye gifts khareede?"

"Nahin yeh humare liye hain, wapas karo humein, hum to tumhe aise hi de rahe the," he said sarcastically.

"Nahin," she swatted away his hands playfully. It was such as small action, but he could sense the electricity pass through his skin where it had met hers.

"Tumne humare aur humare mummy ke liye, bohut kuch kiya hai, aur hum jaante hain ke yeh gifts tumhare ehsan chukane ke nazdeek bhi nahi aate, but humare taraf se thanks samajh ke rakhlena." His voice had turned gruff with emotion. Really and truly, this was not even a fraction of what she deserved. He wish he could give her everything she wished for, all the happiness in the world, all the love that she deserved...but that was the problem...he couldn't. He would never be enough for her, he was just a spoilt brat whose heart was filled with years of hate. How could he love her enough? Did he love her at all? He dismissed the thought.

"Shukriya Suraj, hume bohut acha laga." She said with a genuine smile.

"Haan haan, ab hum chalte hain,"

"Haan tumhare to bohut zaroori kaam honge, karlo jaake," she said with a smirk. He almost turned and snapped but stopped himself.

"Aur suno," she said as he was about to leave the room. He turned to look at her again. She was hugging his gifts like they were the most precious things in the world, and she didn't even realize it. His heart warmed at the gesture. "Shyaam ko hum maayi bapu se milne jaa rahein hain, janam din unke saath manane, hum chaahte hain ke tum bhi chalo. Tejaswini ji se milne ka mauka bhi miljaayega."

He knew his mummy was safe in that house, he didn't need to go see her. But he wanted to be a part of Chakor's happiness, see her smile and be truly happy. So he didn't even think twice.

"Haan hum chaleinge," he said and walked out. But he didn't stray too far from the room. He waited outside, and peeked into the room to see if Chakor was looking. She wasn't. She was busy opening her gifts. So he leaned against the entrance and watched her.

She opened the saari first. Her eyes lit up, and she ran to the mirror. The mustard yellow looked beautiful against her skin, just as he had thought. She grinned and kept it on the bed. Suraj smiled to himself. He was doing that a lot lately.

Then she opened the smaller present, the bracelet. Her eyes widened when she saw it, and grew a little more as she saw the charm. The sun and the moon, miles apart yet joined as one and forged in fire, just like the silver bracelet. Two sides of the same day. She smiled as she held it in her hand, and he could swear her eyes welled up. She stood there staring at it for a while.

Finally, she opened the links and tried to tie it around her wrist, but it kept slipping away. She struggled and looked visibly frustrated as the bracelet didn't want to stay on.

He didn't know what motivated him to do it, but Suraj marched into the room towards her. And took her hand in his. She startled and looked up at him. He looked back into those eyes, they were a pool of emotions, once again mirroring his own.

He took the bracelet in his hands and joint the link Chakor was struggling with and smiled.

"Kaha tha hum ne, har cheez akeli karne ki koshish karogi, to Kamal Narayan ke goli se pehle, BP ke karan mar jaaogi," he said with a smirk. He leaned in closer. "Happy Birthday Chakor Suraj Rajvanshi". With that he walked out of the room.

He tried very hard, but he could not contain his smile all day as he recalled that moment.