FF|Arhi|Th#3 How IPK should've been[Ch18/Sc3 Pg117 - Page 9

 

Loved the update

Octobers in Lucknow are a pleasant time of the year. It's neither too warm, nor does the winter chill set in this early. With the late monsoons having got over in Septembers, the whole city has a fresh feel about it. And so, when the Raizada family drove down to Gomti Nagar in the evening, Arnav had actually wound down his window and was watching the hustle bustle of the city with a renewed fondness. Kya yahi sounds mujhe pehle shor lagte the? he wonders to himself. Just then the car halts to allow a stray buffalo to cross the road. Last year Arnav would have sworn at the sight, this time however, he laughed out loudly.

"NK Bhai dekho. Woh buffalo kitna lazy lag raha hai, jaise aap hote ho jab aapko subah koi jagane aata hai," Aakash teases NK who looks sullen. Arnav laughs harder. Anjali smiles at seeing her brother laughing. She realises that he is excited to go to Gupta House, more so to finally meet Khushi and set things right between them.

Arnav finally turns to Aakash "Aakash, tumne Payal ko ye to nahin bataya hai na ki hum sab unke ghar aa rahe hain?" Aakash shakes his head. He too looks very cheerful at the prospect of finally bringing his wife back home.

"Nahin bhai. Use ye lag raha hai ki sirf main aa raha hun, usse milne," Arnav nods in understanding and goes back to staring out of the window.

Unlike what his sister is thinking, Arnav is actually feeling scared. Uncertainty is clawing his insides about what would be Khushi's reaction when she sees him standing at her doorstep. After their conversation yesterday, will she talk to him? Will she listen to what he has to say? And what if she doesn't? Arnav feels panic rise up like bile in his throat. He quickly closes his eyes and taps his chest, slowly calming his racing heart. Agar tumhe waakai mein lagta hai ki aaj tak tumne unhe sirf dard hi diya hai, to aaj ke baad se tum unse unke saare dukh le lo, his sister's words echo in his mind and he opens his eyes again. If she doesn't, I'll just have to keep on trying, he decides resolutely.

[Gupta House, Gomti Nagar, Lucknow]

Khushi is pacing in the room chomping violently on a carrot. She's agitatedly muttering something to herself. Payal and Garima are sitting on the sofa and watching her amusedly.

"Khushi tum ek jagah baithogi? Tumhein aise tehelte dekh, humein chakkar aa raha hai," Payal exclaims after a while. Khushi immediately turns to face her.

"Ek jagah kaise baithein hum Jeeji?" Khushi exclaims indignantly. "Aapne suna nahin Doctorji ne kya kaha? Pehele to woh.. woh laad governer Hospital pahunch gaya aur fir usne doctor se itna behuda jhooth kaha ki woh humara mangetar hai!" She again takes a big bite of the stub of carrot. Payal sighs.

"To agar Arnav bitwa ne jhooth kaha bhi, to tumka itni takleef kaahe ho rahi hai Khusee?" Garima speaks up, as she's shelling peas from their pods. Khushi's look of indignation becomes even more pronounced.

"Amma! Aapne suna humne kya kaha? Arnavji ne doctor se kaha ki unki shaadi humse hone wali hai! Humein takleef nahin hogi to kya Khushi hogi?" she asks her mother incredulously. "Woh kitne bade jhoothe hain!" she vents again. Garima pulls Khushi by her arm and makes her sit down next to her.

"Agar Arnav bitwa ne jhooth kaha bhi, to kis kaaran Khusee? Woo tumre hi bauji ke bare mein jaanch padtal karna chahat rahe na?" Garima says patiently, her eyes shining with understanding. "Tumre bauji ka hi haal poochat rahe. Itna kuch hone ke baad bhi unko kitni chinta hai-"

"Koi chinta vinta nahin hai unko Amma!" Khushi immediately counters her mother's words. "Unko to pata bhi nahin tha ki Bauji ka operation hua hai. Woh to aadhi raat ko pagalon ki tarah Dilli se bhage bhage yahan isiliye aaye, kyunki unko laga humara operation hua hai!" A shocked silence greets her monologue. Payal's mouth flies open. She puts two and two together and suddenly realises why Arnav had an outburst towards her at the ICU. Woh gusse mein nahin, chinta mein chilla rahe the!

Garima however is staring at Khushi with a different expression altogether. She pulls Khushi towards her again. "Khusee, tum khud ke bol sun rahi ho? Arnav bitwa tumse milne Dilli se aadhi raat ko aavat rahe. Unhe tumri itni chinta hai aaj bhi." Khushi fades into an awkward silence as she too realises what she had just said. She absent mindedly gets up from the sofa and starts walking towards the kitchen. And all over again, previous days staircase meeting starts playing in her mind again.

The way he had tried to corner her to talk to her. They way she had pushed him away. The way she had snapped sarcastically at him when he told her he had been worried about her. They way she had yelled at him. She realises that although it was him who wanted to talk to her, she was the one who had talked during their one sided conversation. She hadn't even let him say what he wanted to say. Suddenly Khushi shakes her head violently. Uss Rakshas ke bare mein aisa sochna bhi mat Khushi, dekh uski karaamaat. Usne ek shabd bhi nahin kaha aur Amma aur Jeeji dono hi uski baton mein behek gaye, Khushi thinks to herself annoyedly. Uss Laad Governer ki to!

Suddenly the three women get distracted by hearing a car screech to a halt outside their house. Khushi immediately wipes away all thoughts of Arnav from her mind and rushes to the front door. She notices Payal getting up from her seat too with a happily expectant look on her face. Khushi knew jeejaji was coming today to meet Payal and there was no way she was giving up this chance to annoy her older sister. She quickly walks ahead of Payal and blocks her on the way to the door with her outstretched arm.

"Tum kahan chal di Jeeji?" Khushi asks teasingly.

"Khushi, Aakash aaye honge," Payal replies insistently and tries to shift Khushi but she doesn't budge an inch.

"Jeeji, hum dikhte zaroor kamzor hain, par hum mein bahut taakat hai!" Khushi exclaims pumping up her non existent muscles at her sister for a brief moment before quickly resuming her blocking stance.

"Haan haan pata hai humein. Shaadi ke liye banai mithaiyan to tum khud hi chat kar jaati thi," Payal replies with a laugh remembering the incident of not so long ago. "Hato humare saamne se Khushi!"

Khushi fakes a pout. "Ab to tumhe bilkul bhi jaane ki ijazat nahin hai Jeeji!" she replies as if she is offended. Then she smiles at Payal. "Arre itne dino baad Jeejaji ghar aa rahe hain. Saali ka koi haq banta hai ki nahin? Unka swagat to hum hi karenge! Tum jao aur saj sawar ke aao!" Khushi pushes Payal towards the bedroom. She starts protesting to Garima.

"Dekho na Amma, Khushi kaise pareshan kar rahi hai humko!" Payal whines. Khushi laughs gleefully.

"Arre bitiya, Khusee ko jo karna hai karne do, warna woo darwaja kholegi hi nahin. Tum jao bheeter, tayyar ho jao," Garima rules the fight in Khushi's favour. Payal looks at Khushi in annoyance that she wasn't letting her meet Aakash first. But Khushi blows her a kiss in the air and Payal smiles shaking her head in exasperation. "Pagal!" she murmurs affectionately as she walks to her room.

Once she was sure that Payal indeed went back into her room, Khushi turns her attention to the front door. She beams a huge smile as she undoes the latch and pulls the double doors open. Only to see Arnav Singh Raizada standing in front of the door, his fist raised in the air as if he was about to knock on the door. Khushi's smile fades, and her eyes widen in shock as she realises who had graced her doorstep. Ye yahan kya kar rahe hain? She finds wondering to herself. Then her gaze goes from his face to his raised fist and then back on his face and her eyes narrow.

It had been Anjali's idea to let Arnav be the one to knock on the door and he had grudgingly accepted. He didn't want to be the person in the limelight today. They had come to Gupta House for a reason and the reason was to apologize to Garima and to ask Payal to return to Shantivan. He wanted to meet Khushi separately, if she was willing to speak to him. He didn't want to rush Khushi into anything.

Alas, Devi Maiyya had something else in store.

Arnav's eyes too widen in surprise as he realises that it is indeed Khushi who had opened the door well before his fist had even made any contact with the door. He notices her gaze hovering on his fist and he slowly lowers it feeling very conscious. Since morning today, he had been thinking about how he would react when he's come face to face with Khushi, and now watching her staring at him scrutinisingly, everything seems to have slipped away from his mind.

"Kahiye," Khushi says, unable to keep the contempt out of her voice. "Kya kaam hai?" Arnav looks taken aback to hear her talk this way.

"Garima Aunty hain?" Arnav mumbles slowly. One step at a time Arnav, one step at a time, he calmly tells himself, ignoring the harshness of Khushi's voice. Khushi's eyebrows shoot up at his request.

"Amma se aapko kya kaam hai?" she asks him suspiciously.

"Kaam keval Chotey ko nahin, hum sab ko hai Khushi bitiya," Nani's voice comes from behind Arnav. Khushi's demeanor changes instantly. She runs out of the house to Nani and touches her feet. Then, she envelopes Nani in a bear hug. Nani smiles fondly at this display of affection and slowly caresses Khushi's head. Watching Khushi's sudden change in behaviour hurts Arnav tremendously, but he just keeps quiet, watching the two women embracing.

"Naniji, aap... aap yahan?" Khushi mumbles, almost tearfully. "Aap kaisi hain?"

"Hum ache hain, Khushi bitiya." Nani replies soothingly. Soon Khushi notices the other members of the Raizada family and looks at all of them in surprise. Finally her gaze falls on Aakash, who looks back at her apologetically.

"Aapne Ramanchi ki Jeejaji! Aapne to kaha tha ki sirf aap aa rahe hain!" Khushi exclaims accusingly. Aakash holds his ears expressing he's sorry.

"To iska matlab humara yahan aana aapko acha nahin laga Khushiji?" Anjali pouts, trying to show her fake sadness. Khushi immediately hugs Anjali too, much to her delight.

"Nahin nahin Anjali ji, aisi koi baat nahin hai. Aaiye na aap sab andar aaiye," Khushi gushes happily and leads them all inside the house. Arnav stands still till everyone goes in and finally walks in last of all.

Garima stares at the massive gathering in shock. Like Khushi, she too had only been expecting Aakash. She folds her hands in a Namaste as she sees Naniji. Naniji and Anjali both smile warmly at her. Garima looks utterly confused. Just then Payal walks out of her room, looking absolutely beautiful in a bright red and golden coloured saree.

"Lo Khushi, aa gaye hum saj sawar ke. Ab to humein Aakash se milne do-" Payal stops dead in her tracks and stares at the people in the room. Aakash's face lights up in a big smile as he hears Payal's words and gazes at how beautiful she looks. Payal's eyes roam from one face to the next; an affectionate Naniji, an amused Anjali, a lovesick Aakash, a shocked Mamiji, a smiling NK and an expressionless Arnav; all looking at her as if expecting her. Payal suddenly realises the words she had uttered as she was walking out of her bedroom and blushes a beetroot red. She stands hesistantly for a moment and then walks to Naniji and touches her feet. "Khush rahiye," Nani blesses her happily. Then Payal walks to her mother-in-law and repeats the same. "Jeete raho," Mami too blesses her. Payal wordlessly walks back and stands next to Garima, still wondering what was going on. It reminds her of the day Raizada family had come for her Shagun. Her gaze goes back to Aakash, who's still grinning at her like an idiot and Payal slowly feels her own lips curving up.

"Arre, aap sab log khade kyun hain. Baithiye na," Garima says motioning them towards the chairs and the sofas. Khushi and Payal walk to the kitchen to fetch glasses of water. Immediately a whispered discussion breaks out between them deliberating what was the entire Raizada family doing there. In the living room, a silence has descended. Finally Anjali looks towards Arnav and nods her head towards Garima. Arnav nods back. He sits down next to Garima.

"Garima Aunty, aap shayad soch rahi hongi ki hum sab achanak yahan kyun aaye hain," Arnav starts off. Garima tries her best to hide her confusion as she focuses her attention to him. "Actually, baat ye hai ki," he looks at Garima's inquisitive eyes. Innocent eyes, he mentally corrects himself. Arnav kneels down on the floor. Garima looks surprised at his gesture. He looks like a schoolboy who's being punished. He folds his hands, bows his head and slowly says, "Aaj, hum sab aapse maafi maangne aaye hain. Aur khaas kar ke main."

Brilliant !!!

 

OMG the way I jumped on res-ing this ...meri toh life hi jaise depend karti hai ispe !!!

 

 

Smitzy - itna toh bear kar rahe hain !!! 😛 thank you 😃

 

 

I just saw it today and hence read it all today itself, so could not comment for each and every chapter, but yes this one comment is a comment for all the chapter that u wrote for this FF

 

DO PM me with ur next update plz...Dont forget...eagerly waiting for ur next update,,,,

😊

thanks so much dear! I'm glad you liked it so much! and thanks again for the comment! I hope to see you here regularly from now on ok? and with feedback too

hehe

cheers!
 

I so wish they had shown this instead of the tripe we are having to watch nowadays.  This maintains the level of sophistication of the original IPK episodes.  Right now unfortunately we are having to watch kiddish antics to take down Shyam with ASR on the sidelines.  Why the hell would you bench your best player in a crunch situation, I do not understand.  And judging from some of the articles, we have more inane comedy headed our way 

You my dear are going to have to continue to hold the baton for us in the meantime.  This was great.  I know someone commented that they can't imagine Arnav on his knees but I think that is in keeping with the humility and honesty of the man.  When he knows he is wrong, he does not hesitate to apologise.  The carrot chomping by Khushi was a good bit.  Kind of reminded me of Karamchand Jasoos.

I have been reading your updates to my mom and just finished the last 8 for her in one go.  She loves it too.

👏