The building wasn't tall. It looked newer than its 60 years, but still retained the old fashioned feel. She looked at it, a bit of unease running through her. She had made up her mind to be courageous, but now that she was here, it didn't seem worth her while.
Funny how the house she had grown up in looked so alien to her now. It depicted every emotion she did not want to remember. She turned to the small shrub garden in front of the house, and felt instantly better, just like she knew it would. There was a bamboo chair in front of the door, swinging on a hook from the ceiling. The cushion on the chair was green in colour, exactly as she remembered. Taking a deep breath, she hitched the backpack higher on her shoulder, and knocked on the door.
It opened immediately, almost as if the person on the other end had been waiting for the knock.
"Meera beti", her grandmother exclaimed. She smiled politely, ignoring the rush of affection her heart shot through her body. It always did that, and met with disappointment a few short days later. It was like clockwork.
Taking the excuse of moving her bag, she avoided the hug the her grandmother was moving towards her for.
Meera used to be an affectionate person – but affection had been effectively stamped out of her...
The siblings were out – so Meera was left alone for a while. She walked towards her bedroom.
This pain of a visit was only for Suni's engagement. The real trouble would be in her wedding... It was preparation for this, more than familial affection, that had persuaded Meera to attend the engagement – it was training to get her through the wedding.
Suni walked in then, glowing with happiness. She was a slim, petite girl, with flowy hair and large brown eyes. For all her slender beauty, Sunita was one of the most annoying people Meera had ever met. She simultaneously managed to be pretty and delicate and annoying and irritating – a combination Meera loathed with all her might. She had met varieties of her in her office, but had managed to put them in their place, but Suni on the other hand, simply bounced criticism off her skin and poured it religiously and generously on Meera.
As soon as she saw Meera, she hugged her affectedly and gave her a patronizing welcome. Meera pulled clothes out of her bag, which Suni took as an invitation to begin yapping about her fianc-to-be.
"He's a lawyer, Meeru, you know...he's got a big mansion at the end of M. G. Road...and he's got two cars", she bleated.
Meera nodded vaguely, not taking in any of the information that Suni blared out, until...
"...and guess what... he's friends with Krishna", paused Suni, with a sly smile.
...and just like that Meera's attention was caught. A shiver ran down her back, that had nothing to do with fear. But she could smell the trouble in the air already.
Shooting a vague smile at Suni, she walked into the bathroom. She had learnt long ago, that distance was the only cure to get away from Suni and all her scheming. She could be wicked when it suited her, and as sweet as a baby, when it pleased her.
But this particular instance, Meera knew, was saved for being mean – she knew she could get away with it; she always did. And there was no way in hell – that Meera was going to fall into the trap, Suni had created.
As she leaned against the bathroom door, she pulled in a few deep breaths. How could she have not seen this coming? As small her hometown was, it was impossible not to run into her ex-almost-fianc.
Krishna – he had come from a good family, from the same religious background, sect and sub-sect that her pseudo-fanatical family belonged to. The proposal had been brought in by a well-meaning aunt, who loved prying into Meera's life and kept dropping hints to her mum about her non-existent boyfriends.
She wondered if the aunt had stopped, now that she lived in another city... or she must have just turned her attention to Suni... she didn't know. This one was probably some achche ghar ka rishta just like Krishna's was.
It had been every bit of a nightmare, when the proposal had come for Meera. She had rejected it outright, but her aunt had insisted she meet him at least once. They had been sure and gleeful – their names being a topic of humour – Meera and her Krishna.
After the age-old rituals of the family visiting and the girl and the boy talking, she had been sure that she did not want to get married to him.
She hadn't been able to explain, that the very idea of standing next to him at the holy fire seemed terrorizing...and it wasn't even because he was a nasty piece-of-work– but simply because he was not what she ever wanted to spend the rest of her life with. She couldn't imagine waking up every morning with him, or eating breakfast with him, much less doing anything relatively intimate.
And here he was again – she was sure she would meet him, and the families would speculate and hope and wish for a prospective match. But, for all her indecision – she was sure, that she never wanted to do anything with him...even more so – because now she had Vicky.
At least she thought she had him. His love was evident in everything he did. And he did it with so much of open heartedness, she thought she'd melt.
This very morning, he had dropped her off at the train station. He had insisted that she go with him, at the early hour of 4am, instead of taking a cab. He was very careful about carrying her bags, making sure she had water and snacks for the 12 hour journey and that the passengers were decent.
Rajesh had always been that protective too... but she had never felt that care of love from him – God forbid that she was ever at the receiving end of such brotherly possessive protectiveness, or that such care should come from Vicky. It would stifle her – and she would run away again.
But, for the life of her, she couldn't imagine Vicky being like that. Heck, he wasn't like that with his sister Anvesha either. She envied their relationship – it was full of love and devoid of that stifling, overbearing care and authority that Rajesh bestowed on her. The very idea of being subjected to his command, that he insisted on pushing on her, whether she obeyed or not, made her go red with anger.
With a deep breath, she forced herself to forget about Rajesh, and veered her thoughts towards Vicky. The very image that propped up into her head, made her grin. She walked towards the bucket and splashed water over her feet and hands. Everything she did, reminded her of him. The water of the time they had gone to the water park. The smell of the old tiles; of the fort he had taken her to in the rains where they had swapped college tales...leading on to the day she had visited the Khurana mansion, and they had hung around with Anvesha and Daadiji. The body wash – well that was his ... she had first smelled it on him, thinking it was his after shave. She had been corrected when she had walked into his bathroom and seen it. So she had picked a small bottle, just to remind herself of his scent, when she was away. It helped her now, as the last vestiges of anger cleared away, as soon as she sniffed it. Maybe it was the cool and calm essence of Vicky that helped calm her down, she thought. She had rarely seen him lose his cool. He was just the opposite of Maan, she thought. Thinking of Maan made her wonder , if he knew about her and Vicky. Wait – was there a Vicky and Her? She had never really given any answer to Vicky's confession of love – but her actions must have spoken louder, she guessed. And if she and him did end up together, she didn't know how she would explain it to her family. They would probably disown her.
Shaking her head, she made her way down to the family room. Suni was lying on Beeji's lap, while Rajesh sat on her father's right hand side. Her mother motioned her to sit, while Rajesh nodded to her.
"So everything for the engagement is settled. Suni beta, what about the wedding? I know that Rajesh has fixed the food and the venue and the arrangements. And I've fixed the hotels, the vehicles and the transport for the guests. What else do you want?", asked Mr. Shergill, indulgently, as he shut the wedding To-Do list and kept it away.
"Nothing Papa", Suni tittered, smiling away. "I think all the arrangements have been covered. Mom and Beeji have fixed the guest list and the Sangeet and the mehndi functions too."
"Chalo, then it's all fixed. Achcha, Meera, please get 2 weeks leave for a month later. We know you love to work, but family should have some importance in your life", he commented, coldly.
She squirmed in anger in her seat, while Rajesh sent her a smirk, enjoying her discomfort. She nodded and then asked," Papa, is there anything I can do?"
A blank silence followed her question, as they looked at each other, avoiding her gaze... she squirmed more, kicking herself mentally, for asking.
"No, beti – don't worry. You've come on a holiday, na...just enjoy the celebration", replied Beeji after a while.
"Bee-ji", Suni said slowly, "I know what Meeru could do... there is no naach-gaana. Meera – you can choreograph the dance!!".
Meera's shoulders slumped downwards. She hated Suni then, more than she had ever hated her. If there was one thing she was shy and embarrassed about, it was her dancing skills. She had had a love for it, when young, but Suni's and her mother's taunts over the years had made her doubt her skills, until she had stopped altogether. Suni knew exactly what she was up to, and she gave a sickly sweet smile to Meera now, as he father nodded his head in accord.
"Ok'', he said, writing her names in his list, "Meera will organize the dance" He turned towards her and said the words, just as she said them in her head, "Naak mat kata dena".
It had been less than a couple of hours, but her family had managed to make her feel insignificant and alone – just like it always did. It took her all the effort possible, to sit in the chair and pretend interest and happiness in their discussion. She was glad Beeji and Rajesh were doing all the talking. Had she been made to speak, she might have broken down in front of them. When it seemed like she had sat there long enough, she pleaded a headache and retreated to her room.
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
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