Payal and Khushi reach the Mandir for their morning prayer as to day is Teej, an auspicious day for married and unmarried women. A certain peacefulness of sort in the air as places of worship often exude, the background, so colorful, and people everywhere..and oh! the smell of food. Food is driving Khushi crazy and like a "bilkul bacchi" (as Arnav would call her much later when she eats and eats in preparation for Kadva Chaut, another fast) She pouts her lips "Jiji, i'm so hungary, can i just have one jalebi?" Payal tells her she can eat all she wants in the evening.
Khushi insists Payal get started, while she waits for her thaal to be completed
Arnav's SUV arrives with his famlily right behind Khushi...
her reflection on his window, symbolizing to me their two bodies and their intertwined soul
Anjali delighted Arnav came, but chotey makes it clear "Main aapke bhagwaan ke liye nahi, aapke liye aaya hoon" and he volunteers to get her puja thaal prepared.
[ is there anything this guy wouln't do for Di? no wonder she goes coco when Arnav give Khushi more attantion..ok lets close that can of worms]
How the makers play with our patience tease us as Khushi/Arnav unknowingly play hide and seek with eachother,
At last hey takes pity, Arnav walk through the crowd, and Khushi with her completed puja thaal begins to walk while making sure everything is on the thaal..
and then dramatic dhamakedaar collision they both secretly hoped for...
lets take a look from Devi Maiya's view point, her plan is working😉
Khushi loses her balance and her filled thaal, the sindoor fill the air between the two while Arnav instinctively grabs her hand.
[Sindoor, auspicious for all married Hindu women and as we learn later from Buaji, if by accident it falls on a woman by a man its "rab ne bana di jodi"(a match made in heaven), too bad Buaji is not here to see this before Shyam manipulates her😕]
Khooshi goes to yell "aap dekh kar N.!!." and stops as does her heart when her eyes falls on him.
"rabba ve"... their eyes doing all the talking, telling eachother how much they missed the other and so much more.
Khushi reaches for her eye as sindoor got on her, but he has a hold on her hand...she looks to him to let go, takes a moment for him to reach the signal but he does let go,
Her dupatta finds its way to Arnav, slightly irritated, but it contects the two, another sign the two are meant-to-be
He has a need to look at her again, hisexpressions reminiscent of how he saw her in that red saari, completely hypnotized, he reache for her face something he has wanted to do since guest house...
**its no longer about what she wears, it probably never was, maybe DM just needed to get his attention with that red saari
She notices the way he looks at her, she looks down and adjusts her dupatta (feeling exposed again?), he looks at her wanting to say something but she turns to pick up her thaal and goes to get it refilled.
Arnav follows, both standing beside each other but the tension between the two can be cut with a knife!
Intensity grows with the scene and Arnav flashes back "bhaad mein gaya aap..." he decides to confront her "uss din tumne jo" his words cut short by her rudly pacing away...leaving him high and dry, and angry.
He walks behind her but makes no more attempts, classic ASR ego in action and she fully aware he is behind her...
She can't get away from him fast enough, when in the last 24hrs she has talked about seeing him again because "man nahi bhara," expressed disappointment over not having to see him, and have even dreamt about him everyday...then why this all this running? IMO she is very afraid, not of ASR but of Arnav, she notices the way he looks at her, the bewilderness in his eyes since the 1st Rabba Ve, and just now, the way he held her hand today, and his unawareness of it. She's confused and scared of her own feelings towards him. It was much easier to face and be angry with ASR.
"kucch nahi" was the answer for both Arnav and Khushi as their sisters asked about the sindoor on their faces. the song "tu hi bata mere maula" in the background sets the the tone for a beautiful scene in which all else fades except for two blooming,confused, frustrated hearts...nothing but the red auspicious thread between them...
Arnav steals the first looks while she closes her eyes in prayer, she opens them to him, he is making no apologies for starting.
She looks away, as does he but she slowly looks back as she can't help herself and he catches her👏
So tender and beautiful these moments are, at the same time they are very real moments, the emotions the both go through just brilliantly real! everyone has that one special person in school where looks like this were exchanged, causing flocks of butterflies in the tummy, one look that would have thoughts running wild and concentration went out the window and one ignored look you think the whole world would come crashing down...aaahhh those were the days. Khushi eventually looks away, leave him high and dry again...he is not happy
"Khushi?" Anjali calls out as Khushi and Payal are leaving, Arnav stands near Anjali but looks away sending a clear messeage
Anjali sees the sindoor on both "kahin tum dono ne phir se jagda to nahi kiya?" both look at each other but not a peep out of them, Arnav walks away, and khushi looks at him like she knows he's in pain, she even wants to apologize.
Payal is introduced to her future husband and in-laws, Khushi learns Akaash is Arnav's cousin. love how the glancing continues while Anjali and Payal converse.
Payal apologizes for how she talked to Anjali after the guesthouse incident, Anjali assures no hard feelings and informs Payal that Khushi is very brave and can take care of her self.
Behind Anjali Arnav gets uncomfortable with this sensitive topic and Khushi looks at him again knowing he deserves full credit for saving her life
They both know that her bravery wasn't enough that day to take care of herself. Again Khushi looks away as he tries to look at her, he thinks enought! "Di, if you're done can we leave?" bechara Arnav, there is only so much he can withstand. He walks away upset, but does steal two last looks as she hails her ride again fully aware of his eyes on her,
Lack of response from her, he gets in the SUV ... i can almost hear him saying the first of many "tum apne aakp samajti kya ho?"
At the RM, he fumes at her behaviour, trying to rid of those sindoor stains, he throws the towel in his rage "aaj tak kisi ne mujhe aise batameezi karne ki jururat nahi ki, tumhari itni himmat kaise hui Khushi Kumaari Gupta"
Back using her full name, a very pivotal turning point: Khushi turned him into mush the last few days, but now her behavior is giving birth to the hatred that emerges after a few more attempts from his side to confront or maybe even reconcile...the plot thickens as they say, though it make one wonder the outcome of the story had Khushi stopped for him and listened what he had to say...
Chakravarti Samrat Prithviraj Chauhan
Mangal Lakshmi
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