Though Geet had insisted there was no bond between them, Meera hadn't been convinced.
Meera " whatever you say, I've lost my love. My dreams have been shattered."
Geet "no, don't say that. I'll make sure they aren't. My Maan's happiness is more important to me than anything else. It's my promise to you, I'll get you both together, but I need time to convince the family."
Both Maan and Meera looked at her with disbelief. Then Maan said "This not like playing house-house. You don't know what you are talking about. It's not so simple. None of our family members will agree to it."
Looking down Geet said "I may be young in years and not so clever like you educated people, but having made a promise, I'll see that it's fulfilled." Then looking at her Maan said, "You book my train ticket and send me to the hoshiyarpur, I'll handle everything else." Then once again holding Meera's hand she said "You are the mistress of this house, I'm only a caretaker till I return to the hoshiyarpur. You may come and go as you please."
Meera shook her head saying "thank you, you are a very generous girl. But I don't want to break your house."
Geet "There's nothing built, to break. Maan deserves to be happy in life. He deserves a loving wife and family. I'd hate to see him waste his life with me. The last few days I've seen him yearning for something precious that he seems to have lost. I understand everything now. I can see you also love him a lot. You both deserve to be together."
Meera couldn't stop herself then and hugged Geet saying "I'll accept what you say on one condition. You must stay close to us always, so that we can always take care of you."
Maan " Yes, I was also thinking the same thing. I cannot let you go back to the hoshiyarpur. People will gossip about you and hurt your feelings unnecessarily. Moreover we both want to study further. That'll be another 3 years. We are in no hurry to get married immediately. Right Meera?"
Meera nodded and said "That's why we hadn't ever discussed anything about marriage etc."
Maan " there's no need for you to go to the hoshiyarpur now. Anyways we'll have to go for Diwali, you can talk to them then. By then we can plan properly how to go about with it. Ok both of you?"
Both had nodded in agreement and Meera said "I'll also need time to go to my hometown to convince my mother." What began as a nightmare had ended in Meera staying back and sharing their lunch, praising Geet for being such a wonderful cook.
From then on Meera's visits became more frequent and longer. Geet would try to keep out of their way as much as possible. She would either go off to the temple or to the market. When Geet offered her coffee, snacks or dinner, Meera always praised her saying she wasn't such a good cook herself. And that Geet's cooking was like nectar after the monotonous hostel food.
Geet's chain of thoughts was broken by the sound of the cooker. She shut it and finally put off the other gas and went for her bath. As she soaped herself, her mind continued its journey through the past.
As planned they had gone to the hoshiyarpur during Diwali. As the females of the family got together to prepare sweets for the festival, Geet started saying how happy she was to be back home. She had made a sad face saying she didn't like the city at all. How she was feeling out of place with Maan's friends as she was not much educated.
Even when the whole family sat down for meals together, she kept dropping hints that her mother had made haste and that he should have married someone who was as qualified as him. The others only sympathized with her saying it was natural for her feel like that as she had never stepped out of the hoshiyarpur before. They consoled her that she would get used to the city by and by. On the contrary they asked Maan to spend more time with her so that she didn't feel lonely.
Though Geet tried to make excuses and stay behind in the hoshiyarpur no one would hear of it. Then there was the final solution to all her problems, "once a baby comes along everything will be fine." They returned back to Delhi, with loads of blessing for a baby to arrive soon and an order for Maan to bring her to the hoshiyarpur again, for Bai sakhi.
Meera had also not made much progress with her mother though she had hinted about liking a boy who was in college with her. Her mother's only concern was he should be from a well to do family with lot of ancestral property.
Once they returned to Delhi, Geet had insisted on looking for another house. She had wanted them to have more privacy, so they selected a small cottage with just one room on the first floor, which she reserved for herself. She made a kitchen in the corner of the same room, though she'd have to go downstairs for using bathroom and toilet.
She'd cook upstairs and when she heard her Maan come home, would bring the food down for him. Sometimes Meera would accompany him. Many a times, she'd serve them keeping nothing for herself. If Meera asked her to join them she'd say she already had her dinner.
When they had gone to the hoshiyarpur again for Bai sakhi, her mother-in-law's first question had been "when are you going to give me my first grandchild?" somehow she dallied the question by just looking down and blushing. She could very well understand her tension. The family tree would stop growing if they didn't have kids. As it is, with Tulsi not conceiving, the family had all their hopes pinned on her, for giving them a 'waris.'
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Smiling at her own smartness on having used her MIL's insecurities to get her Maan and Meera together, she had her dinner and after cleaning up went to bed. But sleep wouldn't come to her easily as her mind lay clouded with the past. Even as tried to shut them out, they played in front of her eyes.
Both Maan and Meera had got selected for PG in the same college. She didn't know whether it was by chance or by choice. But Meera coming over became a regular thing now. Or else Maan would come home late and say he'd already had dinner. He'd tell her to eat and go to bed. But she'd never ate alone so would go to bed on an empty stomach.
On Sundays, Meera would come over and try out some new dish. Of course she'd bring it upstairs for Geet too and Geet always appreciated the food even if she didn't much like the flavours, as they were new to her.
The next time they had gone to the hoshiyarpur had been for her mother's barsi. This time the 'thithi had come a week before their wedding anniversary. As their wedding had been a very simple and quiet affair, the elders had planned some pooja at home on that day and that was to be followed by a grand lunch for their relatives and friends.
Everyone who came to bless them had only one blessing that she should attain motherhood soon. Some relatives expressed their concern to her mother-in-law reminding her that Padma also had had two miscarriages before having this daughter. While some others pointed out that both Maan and Geet were themselves the only child of their parents and created a doubt in her mind regarding the chances of them having a baby.
Geet had mixed feelings. She didn't know whether to be happy or sad. Maan was as uncommunicative as ever. No one could guess what was going on in his mind.
A few days later, one afternoon her MIL had taken her to the upstairs room, saying she wanted to have a talk with her. Geet could guess what was coming as she had been expecting this, since their anniversary day. Her MIL told her, very fondly, that she had consulted their family astrologer and he had recommended that she should fast every Saturday and she would definitely conceive within six months.
Geet had to do her bidding. She felt it was still too early to put in her idea of Maan's remarriage. After that, her in laws had visited them at Delhi for a week. Her mother-in-law had very sweetly enquired whether she was keeping the Saturday fast. But was quite disappointed to know that it had yielded no result, though Geet had kept it very strictly. Then her MIL had very gently suggested, "Should we consult a lady doctor here? Maan himself might know some doctors here. Maybe she could test and give some medicines to help you conceive."
Geet had broken down on hearing her, not because she was hurt by her words, but because she was cheating her mother-in-law. Seeing her tears her mother-in-law felt very guilty and said "Please don't mistake me, this family needs a baby very badly to continue its lineage, that's why I suggested it. If you don't want to I won't force you. After all you are still young and you've been married for just a year and a half."
Suddenly it had struck Geet that she could use this to her advantage. So composing herself she coolly lied "there's no need for that Maa. Last month we already consulted a famous doctor in Delhi. She checked me up and said there were no chances of my ever conceiving a baby. I myself wanted to talk to you about this. Maa I also want this family to continue. The only solution to this, according to me, is to get Maan remarried."
That was the last thing her mother-in-law had expected her to say. "What nonsense are you talking? What kind of a girl are you who wishes to share her husband with another woman?" she had burst out.
Geet "Tell me Maa do you have any better suggestion?"
That had set her MIL thinking. Taking advantage of that Geet had continued. "Maan deserves an educated girl with whom he can talk and discuss about his work. I don't understand anything about all that. I've met some of his colleagues' wives. They are so well educated. Many of them are themselves are working. Now that he is going to become a businessman, won't he be ashamed of a wife who hasn't even passed VIII standard?"
Her MIL had listened intently to everything she said and felt it did make sense. "Maa I'll myself look for a suitable girl for him. A girl who'll match him and also accept this family as hers. You don't worry. But promise me only one thing. While I find a girl you must slowly prepare Chachu and other family members to accept her." Geet concluded.
"Why does God always punish the good people only?" her MIL lamented. "Why did he have to deprive you of motherhood?" that brought tears to Geet's eyes because like every woman she also yearned to have a child to call her own. But she blinked away her tears, put a brave face and asked with a smile on her lips "Won't Maan's kids be my kids too?" Her mother-in-law had hugged her then kissed her forehead and said "you are such a rare gem, I'm really proud of you."
After her in-laws return to the hoshiyarpur, when she had informed Maan and Meera, that she had convinced her MIL for Maan's remarriage, they were very happy and couldn't thank her enough.
The very next month combining 2 public holidays and the weekend Maan and Meera had gone to meet Meera's mother at her hometown. She was quite impressed with Maan's looks and glad to hear about the family having a big house and some paddy fields in hoshiyarpur. Though she wanted an early marriage, Meera insisted on going through it only after completing her studies. She even managed to convince her mother saying that, at this stage even an engagement might make their relatives jealous of the good match and may create some problems. So she also fell in with their plans to keep everything quiet for another year.
After that point she fell off into deep sleep.
Love,
Hinal
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