OS: Starry starry night
"Our hearts", she said softly, looking into his eyes.
"They beat as one," he repeated slowly, a light shining in his eyes.
A tear drifted down her cheek. He brushed it away lightly. Another tear emerged from the other eye.
"Must you cry for everything?" he asked exasperatedly, fishing out a handkerchief and handing it to her. She remembered the last time he'd said it to her. At Jiji's wedding. He'd been half-annoyed, half-amused and completely flirty. She hadn't known how to respond then. She still didn't know. Another tear leaked out and dripped down her nose. He brushed at it gently. She sniffled.
"Khushi! It's OK. Don't cry," he said, holding her face in the palm of his hands. In response, she buried her nose in his chest, threw her arms around his neck and wept whole-heartedly.
"Isnifflovesniffsniffyou!" she said, her voice muffled. He pulled her away from his chest and looked at her.
"I didn't quite catch that?" he asked, his eyes twinkling.
"I…err….love. Err. Ummm. You," she said blushing.
"Say it again. Without any umms this time," he commanded.
"I love you, though I don't know why. But I do. So there. Take it or leave it Arnav Singh Raizada," she said defiantly.
"I'll take it Khushi," he said, tucking that stray curl that fell on her face behind her ear. He loved that lock of hair. He would see her working, dupatta tied securely, kneading dough, or making jalebis, and all of a sudden that strand of silky hair would fall on her forehead, almost into her eyes. She would make that exasperated clicking noise and brush it back, if she had a hand free. Or she'd try with her elbow if both hands were taken. There were numerous occasions when he'd wanted to just walk up to her in the kitchen and tuck that lock of hair away. And maybe kiss her senseless while he did it. He'd never acted on those impulses. Maybe it was time, he thought.
He bent slowly towards her, and placed his lips on hers. She sighed. And closed her eyes. He kissed her slowly, slightly awkwardly. Like he was out of practice. His lips moved lightly over hers. She threw her arms around his neck, pressing closer. When they pulled apart, he took her hand and kissed it lightly.
"Let's go for a walk," he said.
"Huh?" asked Khushi.
"Let's go for a walk. It's a nice night. Let's do some star-gazing of our own," he said mischievously.
"You want to gaze at the night sky? With me?" she asked, surprised.
"You want I should go with someone else?" he asked exasperatedly.
"I'm coming. I'm coming," she grumbled, getting up slowly. She was still a little groggy from all the Bhang she'd imbibed. He helped her up. He looked fairly normal. That slightly unfocused look in his eyes had disappeared. Being told by your wife that she loved you did that to some people. He was one of them.
They walked out of the gates of the Raizada Mansion hand-in-hand. He walked her to the park close to their home. It was almost 8pm. The park was empty. They sat at a small bench and looked around them. Empty slides and swing sets stood silently waiting for daylight when kids would play with them the relentless energy that only children possessed. A small row of yellow roses flourished in one corner. Baby's breath and daffodils grew in another. The red brick walls on one side were covered with the winding vines of bright pink bougainvillea. They sat there for sometime, arms entwined, just soaking in their surroundings. Neither said a word.
For Arnav and Khushi, words had always been superfluous. A look, a touch, and in most cases, a piercing glare did the trick. They understood each other very well. She spoke the language of his "What The's" with greater fluency than he did. She knew how he said it when he was angry, when he was raving mad and when he was just plain irritated. And he understood her entreaties to Devi Maiyya more than the Goddess herself. He knew when she was filled with earnest hope, when she really wanted something, when she was just plain desperate. Yes. They knew each other very well indeed. Khushi rested her head on his shoulder. He slipped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her close.
"Which one's Orion?" she asked sleepily, still slightly out of it.
"Which one's what?" asked Arnav hazily. He was enjoying his quiet time with his wife. And honestly, he knew nothing of Astronomy.
"Orion! Or as we say in Hindi, Mriga Nakshatra!" said Khushi.
"Umm. I dunno!" said Arnav sheepishly.
"I thought we were going to be star-gazing?" asked Khushi naughtily.
"Well, it sounds more decent that way. I didn't want to say let's go to the park and make out!" said Arnav smiling impishly.
"Arnav, we're married. Not teenagers looking for a place to snog. We have a bedroom to ourselves for all that!" said Khushi coyly.
"Yes. But much more fun to sneak out to the park!" said Arnav, reaching for Khushi. He'd pulled her onto his lap when she suddenly said, "Do you hear that?"
"Hear what?"
"It's a baby, I think. Either that or a loud kitten," said Khushi, slipping off Arnav's lap and getting up. Arnav pulled a face.
"I don't hear any…"
"Shhh!" she said loudly. He shushed. "Listen!" said Khushi, cocking her head to the left. He listened carefully. A small mewling noise seemed to be coming from behind a large Mango Tree about 15 feet away.
"Sounds like a cat to me. Probably just a lost stray," said Arnav.
"Let's go see," said Khushi. She scrambled away towards the noise. He followed shaking his head. He'd brought her to the park for a quiet evening followed by some hot and heavy action. Not to rescue strays.
"Ohmigod Arnav! Come and see this," exclaimed Khushi. He walked up to her quickly and looked at what she was pointing at. There, in the shadow of that Mango tree, lying on a thin sheet, was a baby. It was swaddled in a faded grey blanket that was dirty and stained. The baby looked about 5-6 months old, and had managed to get rid of some portion of the blanket swaddling its hands. One fist was stuffed in its mouth, as drool ran down its chin. Periodically, it made that mewling noise that they had thought belonged to a cat.
Khushi picked up the baby and cuddled it close. "I wonder if its hungry? Maybe that's why its crying?" she asked Arnav. He looked at her as if she'd asked him to solve the value of Pi. "I don't know. I don't know anything about babies!" he said. She made a face at him. "I'm no expert either. I'm just wondering," said Khushi.
The baby had stopped crying now that Khushi was cuddling it. "Maybe it was just cold," offered Arnav, thinking he had to say something.
"We have to stop saying IT. Arnav, check if it's a boy or girl," said Khushi.
"Me.No." he backed away.
"Do. It. Now." She said, a steely look in her eye. He gingerly picked up the South end of the blanket and peered under.
"Female," he said. "Also, if I'm not wrong, she needs to be cleaned up. I smell and see the remnants of a Number 2," he said, wrinkling his nose.
"Poor baby! Who could've left her here like this at night?" asked Khushi, kissing the baby's forehead. The baby whimpered. Khushi looked closely.
"Oh God Arnav! Just look at this. There's a bruise on the child's head," she said. Arnav looked. There was an ugly purple bruise on the baby's forehead, extending to her head which was covered with downy black curls.
"Let's go to a street lamp so we can see better," he said grimly. They walked over to where a tall lamp cast a sickly yellow glow on its surroundings. Insects buzzed around the light, some coming to rest on the Baby. Khushi waved them away. They pushed the dirty blanket off the baby to see better. The child was covered in bruises and scratches all over her torso. A few deep red welts on her tummy looked like she'd been whipped with a belt. Khushi turned pale when she saw them. Arnav looked upset.
"Who could do this to a baby?" she asked.
"I don't know Khushi. But I think we should take her to the hospital first. Get her cleaned up and checked out. Then we can go about finding out," said Arnav.
"What shall we name her?" asked Khushi, holding the baby close.
"That is not even important right now Khushi. We need to make sure she's OK first," said Arnav patiently.
"Oh, come on. We have to name her. We can't keep calling her 'The Baby',"said Khushi. Arnav knew when there was no point arguing. He gave in.
"What ever you like Khushi," said Arnav. "We found her on a nice evening. You could call her Nisha." He said.
"Nisha. Nisha means Night. It's a pretty name. But No. We found her on a starry night when we should've been looking for Orion in the sky but found her under a tree instead. How about Avni? The Earth." said Khushi excitedly.
"Avni. Arnav and Khushi. Avni. I like it. Now quickly, lets go home. I'll get the car and we can drive her to the hospital. Poor little thing," he said.
"She'll be OK, won't she?" asked Khushi worriedly.
"I hope so Khushi. I hope so," he replied.
3 months later:
"Where's Avni?" asked Arnav, coming home from work and dropping his laptop case on the sofa with gay abandon.
"You know! I'm quite jealous of her. We hadn't been married a month when we found her and decided to adopt her. And before that, we never really got along. You've never come home saying, Where's Khushi? It's always, Where's Avni!" complained Khushi.
"That's because you're always here. Waiting for me. Now where's Avni? I haven't seen her all day!" said Arnav dropping an absent kiss on Khushi's hair, as he walked upstairs quickly.
"She's with Naniji, getting spoiled rotten, your daughter is!" called Khushi. She followed him up the stairs to Naniji's room. Avni was sitting in the middle of the room, surrounded by her toys. When she saw Arnav, she stood up, waddling on her fat legs and took 2 steps before sitting down with a thump. Her face crumpled, and before she could let out a loud yell, Arnav scooped her up and held her high above his head.
"How's my girl?" he asked, laughing into Avni's clear inky-black eyes, that were laughing back at him. Khushi nodded indulgently at her husband. ASR. Hard, ruthless businessman. Uncaring. Cold. Rational empiricist. And wrapped around his daughter's little finger.
That night as Arnav and Khushi lay in bed talking quietly, she suddenly said to him, "You know, I already have an Ocean and an Earth. All we need are a Pavan, and a Barkha and we'll have pretty much have all the elements covered!" she joked.
"Are you trying to tell me something?" asked Arnav slyly.
"What? Oh! Heck no! One's enough for now. I was talking about the future," said Khushi.
"Let's lay the foundations for our future now Honey!" said Arnav, pulling her close.
So, yeah, weird transition from star gazing to finding a baby. I know. But suspend disbelief and humor me, please. Because this OS is dedicated to the memory of Baby Falak who died today after a long, and largely pointless battle with life. On most days, I question the existence of God. On days like this, I question the existence of certain people who are clearly not human beings. Anyway, I had to get it out of my system. Give some baby a happy ending in my head, at least. And Baby Falak, where ever you are, sleep well, my love. It is a better place than here.
Vidhya
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
Debate Mansion
