AnSh SS- Mumbai adventures Note Page 22 - Page 4

Anandi took all the gifts and went inside the room with Shiv following her with some other bags. Everyone else also retired for a nap. Anandi started to spread her gifts on the bed. As Shiv walked away he saw the saree his mother had gifted her and said "Wow. Anandi this is very pretty. It will look great on you. I cannot wait to see you in it." Anandi was stunned for a minute and did not know how to react. Then she blushed and lowered her eyes. Shiv realized that he had made her uncomfortable and started apologizing. Anandi told him "Thanks. This saree is indeed beautiful" and started tearing up. Shiv did not want to see her crying so he said "Anandi lets see how this saree looks on you." Anandi threw him a confused look. He led her to the large mirror in the room, opened the saree a bit and draped the saree over her shoulder, just like he had seen his mother and aunt do. He then stood behind her in the mirror and pointed out to her how nice it looked. Anandi looked in the mirror and saw them both. Their eyes met in the mirror and she blushed and looked down. Shiv was happy and turned to leave.

As Anandi was also turning away a thought occurred to her and she said "Shiv ek minute yahan aa sakthe hain". When Shiv came, Anandi took off the saree he had draped on her shoulder and moved towards Shiv, she made him stand in front of the mirror and told him to hold the saree because she wanted to fold it right. Poor unsuspecting Shiv let her drape the saree over him. Then Anandi said "waise aap bhi iss saree mein kaafi acche lag rahe hain". Shiv finally caught on to what Anandi was doing but she was too fast for him. Shiv was pretty mad and said "Anandi ab main tumhein nahin chodoonga." Anandi laughed and ran around the bed to escape him and said "Dekhe laghta nahin hain ki hamare kadak kadak collector sahib saree mein itne acche lagenge." Shiv was now even more mad and said "Anandi tum here haat to lago phir main tumhein batatha hoon ki ye kadak kadak collector karr kya saktha hai. Ruko". Anandi and Shiv ran around the room, laughing like children. As Anandi was running suddenly she stopped assailed by all the memories of her and Jagya as children running around and chasing each other. Shiv caught up with her and pinned her hands behind her saying "Accha toh tum meri killi uda rahee thi. Chalo ab promise karo ki tum phir ye baath kabhie nahin uthaogi." Shiv saw Anandi in a world of her own and almost in tears. He let go of her hand thinking he had hurt her and started apologizing. Anandi came out of her reverie and looked at the worried Shiv. She felt so lonely all of a sudden and hugged Shiv tight. Shiv was really surprised at first but then put his arms around her and hugged her. He let her cry for a bit and then apologized. Anandi asked him why he was apologizing. Shiv told her that he hurt her when he pinned her arms behind her. Anandi said "It was not like that. I just remembered an old incident. " and turned to walk away. Shiv said "Anandi we are husband and wife now. I agree we do not have that kind of relation because you married to fulfill your mother's wish. I know you are not ready for a real marriage. But can we at least be friends. We enjoy each other's company and doing things together. Lets be friends for now. Baad mein jo hoga dekha jaayega." Anandi looked at Shiv with new respect and said "I would like that."

Shiv then said "OK lets shake on it" and they shook hands. Then Shiv asked "won't you tell your new friend why you were crying?" Anandi looked out of the window and said "I was missing Jagya." Shiv looked like he wanted to throw up and said "oh. I see." so Anandi told him "Please don't misunderstand me. I do not miss the man he is now, the one who cheated me. I miss my childhood friend, who was my closest pal, someone who I shared everything with. I miss the person he was before he went to Bombay. I miss my best friend. I know he will never be that person again but sometimes I get teary when I remember our good times and I want those good times back" Anandi said holding back tears. Then she wiped her tears herself and said "But I know those are never coming back. Sorry I just get emotional sometimes." Shiv wanted to hold her and wipe her tears but he knew he would have to wait a bit before she gave him the right. He was not going to go too fast or push her into something she did not want. This marriage was something she went into to fulfill her mother's wish and Shiv was always aware of this. He had decided that he would make Anandi fall in love with him. He was gratified hearing this and at the same time a little more mad at Jagya thinking how he could have left Anandi behind. At the same time Shiv was grateful that Jagya left her because otherwise he would not have been able to marry her.

Shiv said "Anandi I want you to share your joys and your sorrows. I want you to promise me that you will do me the honor of sharing your sorrows with me. I know you, you will share the joys but I want to share the sorrows too." Anandi nodded and said "I will try" and walked away to place the gifts in her suitcase. Shiv realized that was the best he was going to get and promised himself "I will erase all those bad memories and replace them with new ones. I will make a place for myself in your heart." As she put the gifts away, Anandi promised herself "I will try to forget these memories and be a good wife to Shiv and a good daughter-in-law to his family."

Shiv decided to take a nap and lay down on the floor. Anandi saw this and came running and said "Please do not sleep on the floor. Please sleep on the bed. You must be tired because you slept on the floor last night, I have already taken a nap. I am not going to take another one. " Shiv questioned "Are you not going to be bored?" Anandi smiled and countered "I am going to do some browning on the computer if that is ok with you." "Sure Shiv" grinned. The ipad was his wedding gift to her. She had resisted and only accepted reluctantly when he pointed out how much easier this was to carry around and would help keep things organized. She seemed excited about using his gift and would not part with it. She carried it around with her everywhere. He remembered teaching her to use it. She was staring at the screen with rapt attention allowing him to stare at her unnoticed. He still could not believe she was his wife. With these pleasant thoughts in mind, Shiv drifted off to sleep.

Anandi settled down on the couch with her ipad and turned it on. She was still getting used to the fact that it was a computer but it looked and felt like a book. She carried it everywhere. As it booted up, she remembered how Shiv had gifted this to her and taught her how to use it on their wedding night. She was so worried about his expectations but had been so considerate. He knew things would be awkward so he brought along the ipad and showed her how to it. She thought it would be strange but she had in fact enjoyed being in close proximity to Shiv as they had both sat on the decorated bed sharing an ipad. Anandi had caught on quickly and was almost a pro. Anandi started to browse and browsed for an hour. Then she felt a little tired and decided to take a nap on the couch itself. She placed the ipad on the coffee table, put her arm under her head and went off to sleep.

Gauri was in a bad mood ever since she returned from the store. She could not believe that she could not get the saree. One of her colleagues had invited her to her wedding and she wanted to wear something nice to the wedding. That saree would have been perfect. She could have told all her colleagues that she had bought that saree with the gift they gave her. Jagat interrupted her musings to tell her to please eat lunch. He reminded her that she had not eaten anything since breakfast. Gauri was not interested so Jagat dialled her mother's number on her cell phone and spoke to her mother telling her what happened. He then handed the phone to Gauri saying her mother had called. Gauri broke down telling her mother about the saree and the family she had seen. Her mother consoled her telling her not to worry. She told her that she should be happy that Jagat cares for her. She asked about whether she bought clothes for Jagat and Gauri said no. Her mother queried her about the saree and Gauri told her about how Jagat had asked her to get the saree instead. Gauri's mother told her "Ladoo, you have so many sarees why do you need one more. You do not even wear them daily. But you have to take care of your husband. He does seem to have good clothes. Look we both know Anandi is no longer a threat because she is married. But you cannot afford to ignore your husband. Be nice to him otherwise he will stray. I don't know how else to explain this to you. And listen does he know about Anandi's remarriage?" Gauri told her mother "I have not told him. If he hears about that he might go running back to Jetsar. I don't think he had forgotten Anandi completely." Gauri's mom counselled "Then it is imperative you tell him at the earliest so that he knows there is no hope and he cannot go back." Gauri said "Hmm. OK Maa talk to you later." How was Gauri to explain to her mother that she was scared that Jagat would go running back on hearing about Anandi's remarriage. She felt he still cared for Anandi and she had seen him staring at his family photograph more often these days. God why was her life such a mess. She felt jealous of the unknown unseen girl who got the saree. Atleast she would get to experience the pleasure of wearing that saree, whereas Gauri would get nothing. She felt like Jagat was getting ready to leave her.

A few days after their wedding, Gauri and some of her friends were in the canteen discussing the news. Sneha, one of her friends said of an actor "He left his first wife for his second and now they are getting divorced and she is surprised? Why? The man left his first wife for you and now is leaving you for someone else. She should have seen it coming." Everyone murmured their agreement. Then Priya added "Have you heard of the other one who left his second wife and went back to his first wife?" . "What? Did she take him back?" said Sneha. Priya said "Nope she told him to go to hell. You go girl." The rest murmured in agreement and there was debate over whether in real life a person who strayed once would stray again. They also had scathing comments for girls who steal other women's husbands. Sunania said "I will never look at a married man. Married men are off limits. I will not destroy another woman's life to create my own. I would rather remain single." Gauri got flashbacks of Bhago coming to the haveli and accusing her of stealing her daughter's suhaag and she closed her eyes in fear. But then she calmed herself and came back to reality of hear everyone agreeing heartily with her and Sneha saying "I have no respect for such women - husband stealers. How can they do this to another woman?" Priya added "They can never be happy or have peace of mind because they never know when their husband will leave them for another woman. After all a dog's tail is always curved." Ria added "Yup and all men are dogs." This caused laughter to erupt at the table and everyone turned to a pensive Gauri and said "Are you ok? Where are you lost?" Priya chimed in "dreaming about her husband most probably. So Gauri tell us are you going to take a second honeymoon after your remarraige?" Everyone howled at that comment and Gauri smiled and said "Jagat needs to pass his MS so he needs to study. He has already wasted lots of time because of the wedding. Maybe after his exams." Then someone had checked the time and they had all dispersed. This had deeply affected Gauri and she was worried about losing Jagat since then.

awesome dear...