Chapter 29: Deepavali Parisu II (Diwali Gift)
The huge grandfather clock grandly chimed letting the people in the haveli know it was eleven at night. Few elders remained talking to each other while the servants were moving around cleaning up after the night's mehndi funtion. Most of them had retired to bed wanting to get enough sleep before the pooja and other rasams tomorrow morning except for a few love-seeking souls.
Arun managed to slip away from his pestering relatives and friends with an excuse he was tired. But in reality he was he couldn't calm down thinking about the meeting tonight. Hearing the clock chime eleven times, he quickly excused himself and snuck out of the back door towards the garden fountain anticipating his lovely bride-to-be. He half walked and half ran towards the fountain eager to know what his Chaitu had for him as her 'special toufa' only to find that he was the first person to come as there was no sign of Chaitu. Thinking she may be caught up with her relatives and cousins, he eagerly waited for her arrival.
Few minutes ticked by yet it seemed like an eon as Arun anxiously paced around the fountain. The cool breeze spraying droplets of the water didn't seem to calm his nervous as he took another turn around. He was about to go in search of her when he saw somebody approaching from the other side. He craned his neck sideways to get a clearer view as the fountain in front of him blocked his view. The next second a loud gasp escaped his lips as he saw Maan excitedly pace towards the fountain.
"Maan ab yahaan kya kar rahein hain?" he thought aloud clutching his temples. Before Maan could see him, he ran to hide himself behind one of the sculptures standing on a half-raised pillar.
Unaware of Arun's presence Maan jogged towards the fountain yearning to finally meet his wife. He had no idea about what she had to say to him or about the 'special toufa' she mentioned yet having lone time with her meant the world to him. After his repeated attempts to get her to open up to him, it seemed to him he had finally managed to break open the lock to her heart. Well Pavan uncle was indeed right it was worth to put up a fight for love. He rubbed his hands in eagerness, his eyes twinkling thinking about the things she had to talk and give him. Maybe if the lady luck was on his side, he could get a repeat performance like last night with her confessing her love along with a sweet surprise of the amazing kiss they shared without the alcohol in her way. He slid his hands into his pockets and paced around the fountain as a chilly breeze hit him. "Geet jaldi aao na, mujhse yeh wait bardasht nahi hota!" he whispered his eyes darting towards the pathway that led towards the fountain. Geet's Babaji seemed to answer his prayer when he heard somebody approach. Dark night had concealed the approaching figure in its shadow and Maan squinted his eyes to get a clear view of the person coming towards him. "Yeh ladki yahaan bhi aagayi!" he gasped the next second as the form became clear to him revealing Soniya skipping towards him. Horrified she may spoil his moment with his wife, he lunged towards the nearest half-raised pillar and crouched down not wanting to be seen. Once hidden safely behind the pillar, he hit his forehead ruefully cursing his luck for spoiling his eagerly awaiting moment with his wife.
Soniya was humming some random song a little off-key yet it hardly seemed to bother her as she sprinted down the lane towards the fountain. Maan had told her to come alone for some 'special toufa' and here she was eagerly awaiting his arrival in the best short and skimpy dress she could manage to find. Caking herself with tons of makeup she batted her eyelashes while coyly standing for him to arrive so she could pounce on him. Hearing leaves ruffle indicating somebody's arrival she got ready to run and fall into his arms when she heard Chaitu skipping towards her.
"Uff, yeh ab kya kar rahi hai?" she groaned slapping her forehead. Not wanting to be seen, she ran to take the shelter of another one of those high-raised sculpture.
"Haye meri Chaitu!" Arun squealed, his eyes twinkling as she walked around the fountain.
Chaitu seemed to be in her own world, squirming and shying at every sound thinking it might be Arun. Not wanting to waste another moment, he hissed lightly as she passed the pillar behind which he hid. She instantly stopped hearing hissing noises and looked around. Slight fear gripped her for she thought it could be a snake nearby. Realizing she didn't see him yet, he hissed a bit more loudly confirming her fear. She froze on the spot and joined her hands in prayer. "Devuda , devuda, devuda," (Oh God, oh God, oh God) she chanted continuously with her eyes shut tight.
"Chaitu, it's me Arun," he whispered seeing that she wasn't responding to his calls.
Hearing his voice Chaitu slightly opened one eye wondering from when did snakes began to talk. She turned around blinking her eyes to the source of the sound to see Arun rapidly gesturing her to come to him. She squealed in happiness seeing him without understanding the gravity of the situation. He gestured her to keep quiet and quickly come over before the others could see. Confused, Chaitu rushed over to his hiding place.
A fond smile adorned Maan's lips as he saw the little encounter between Chaitu and Arun. He sighed dejectedly wondering when Geet would come over. It was already quarter past eleven and there was no sign of her. Every other person was present except his girl. He was about to walk out of the hiding place and go in search of her when he heard someone approach. Eagerly anticipating it would be Geet, he craned his neck to get a better view. But his eagerness soon turned to annoyance when he saw Ram Charan walk towards the fountain. He was whistling happily and walked excitedly with his hands in his pockets. "What the hell is this idiot doing here?" he mumbled angrily, "har jagah gus jata hai". Maan felt like strangling him with his bare hands not wanting him to get a whiff of Geet's impending arrival. As if on cue from another direction Geet was walking towards the fountain.
Geet walked with her head down and her fingers tightly clutching her dupatta. After the mehndi function, she had rushed to her room to get ready to meet him. She rummaged through her bag to find a presentable dress only to shove each one away in frustration. None of them were good enough; dejected she sunk back on the bed thinking what she would wear when her eyes fell on a cream anarkali suit neatly folded. She hurriedly grabbed to find it was the perfect piece she had been searching all this while. Pleased she had found the perfect dress, she rushed to the bathroom and changed quickly into the cream colored anarkali. It was simple with not too many fancy designs yet its flowing and elegant design outshone everything else. She left her hair open allowing her long locks to fall down like a curtain while finishing her look with kajal and lip-gloss. She smacked her lips adjusting her lip-gloss and examined herself again if everything else was fine. Satisfied, she adjusted her dupatta and hurried down the stairs towards the garden. Eager anticipation combined with nervousness, she walked slowly down the stony path, knotting her dupatta. She kept her head down and stared down at the stones not knowing how she would face him. Thus, she failed to see someone other than Maan pacing around. She was about to walk around when she felt someone grab her by her waist harshly and tightly shut her mouth preventing her from screaming for help. Next instant she was lifted off her feet and was being carried away. She struggled to get out of the strong hold and squirmed and wiggled only for that person to tighten the hold on her. Realizing fighting the strong grip was useless, she gave up wiggling and let herself be carried away. She was finally allowed to stand on her own as she stood still encaged. She turned around to get a closer look at her kidnapper when she was startled to find Maan.
"Aap?" she questioned looking incredulously.
"Shh," he signaled her to quiet down while looking around to see if her voice had caught Charan's attention. Seeing Charan was still in his own world, he breathed in relief.
"Kya hua Maan?" she whispered thinking they might be in danger. "Voh log phir se aagaye kya?"
"Agar voh log aagaye tho bhi mujhe koi problem nahi magar uss bandey ko manage karna mera bus ka kaam nahi," he said scrunching his eyebrows in disgust.
Geet followed his gaze to find Charan pacing around the fountain restlessly. "Yeh yahaan kya kar raha hai?"
"To ruin our meeting, aur kyun?" he grunted.
"Maan magar usse kaise pata hum meet karne wale the?" she reasoned. "Aapne sirf mujhe voh message bheje the na."
"Maine message bheja?" Maan asked perplexed. "Let me remind you darling, you threw the paper at me."
Geet was confused hearing him tell she threw the paper. Wasn't he the one, who had thrown it to her, she just threw it back to him. "Yeh kya mazaak hai Maan. You threw it to me first aur ab keh rahe ho ki maine!" her voice strained.
"Shh Geet, chilla mat," he urged crouching further behind the pillar. "Jo bhi ho, hum yahaan hai, isn't that great?" he reasoned shifting uncomfortably.
"Nahi!" she stated stoically. "Pehle own it up that you sent it to me first," she huffed, folding her arms on her chest and pouting like a child.
"But why would I lie Geet. You wanted to meet me, toh pehle tum hi hui na."
"Nahi pehle aap the!" she argued back.
"Nahi Geet tum the pehle!" he said getting annoyed at her incessant argument.
"Nahi aap!"
"Tum!"
"Aap!"
"Tum!"
Geet was about to counter when she heard a loud gun shot echoing in her ears. She gasped in fear and instantly hugged Maan tightly.
While Maan and Geet were busily arguing with each other, on the other side of the fountain an older man along with his servant was walking hurriedly down the stony path. Charan heard the ruffling of the leaves and looked up to be shocked out of his wits.
"Babai! Ayyo nannu ikkada choosadante champestadu!" (Uncle! Oh no, if he sees me here, he'll skin me alive!) Charan exclaimed, placing his hand on his head. He looked around to find the best hiding spot while his uncle neared the place. Quickly he lunged towards the nearest high-raised pillar to escape his uncle's sharp gaze. He began to slightly chew his nails seeing his uncle come to stand right in front of the fountain.
"Rey evaru evariki toufa icchedi?" (Who's giving whom a gift?) Chaitu's father roared, his eyes red in anger. "Baitiki randi, leda,"(Come out, or else) he threatened.
Hearing his angry voice reverberate in the sky everyone hiding behind the pillar tightly shut his/her mouth except for Maan and Geet. They continued to bicker while everyone else shook his/her head in regret not knowing the extent of his wrath.
"Malli cheptunna, baitiki randi lekapote shoot chesesta!" (I am warning again, come out or I'll shoot you) he warned dangerously, looking around to see if anybody comes into view. Seeing nobody move he turned to look at his servant hold the hunting rifle in hand. "Rey, shoot cheyyara," (Shoot!) ordered.
As soon as the bullet hit the air, everyone, except Maan and Geet, hiding behind the pillar came out of their hiding shouting for their lives. Chaitu's father looked baffled while he turned around to see so many people.
Maan peeked out of the pillar to see what the commotion was about when he discovered Chaitu's father standing in the center with quite a number of people standing a bit away from him. Thinking there was nothing to fear he slowly made Geet stand while she clung to him and walked around to stand with the others.
"Itne saare log!" Chaitu's father exclaimed, bowled over all the people standing around him.
Geet straightened hearing Chaitu's father question everyone around him and looked around to be surprised by the people standing around the fountain. She wondered if she had missed the memo while a similar feeling entered everyone else standing there looking at each other.
"Itne saare log yahaan is time pe kya kar rahe ho?" Chaitu's father broke the silence.
"Vahi toh, itne saare log!" everyone sang in chorus looking at each other with surprise.
"Enti chorusu, sab log masti karne ke liye hi toh aayein haina, chaliye enjoy keejiye," (What chorus?) he chuckled before walking away.
Chaitu who stood with her head bent looked up shocked at her father's approval and a slow smile crept her face. She saw her father exit while she felt Arun sensuously snake his arm with hers before entangling with hers. "Arun yeh kya kar rahe ho, sabke saamne?" she whispered squirming.
Arun simply winked in response. "Sorry guys lagta hai yahaan traffic kuch zyaada hai, toh hum chale!" he declared before whisking away Chaitu with earning a hoots and whistles from the remaining people.
Once the commotion settled down, Maan turned to look at Geet. "Toh hum bhi chale?" he whispered looking intently at her.
"Huh?" she exclaimed perplexed at his sudden question. But before she could understand what he meant by his question someone else interrupted her.
"Maan," Soniya drawled, batting her eyelashes. "Aap vahaan kyun khade hain, chaliye na."
Geet fumed in anger and turned around to glare at Maan. He shrugged his shoulders helplessly and was about to deny Soniya when he heard Charan pitch in.
"Haan Geet, chaliye na vahaan kya kar rahi hain?" Charan asked walking to stand near her.
"Wait a minute, yeh chaliye chaliye, kya chal raha hai?" Geet asked annoyed. "Main kahin nahi aane wali, especially with someone who first calls me here and then denies it coolly," she spat eyeing Maan fiercely. Without waiting for an answer, she quickly turned around and stomped away towards the haveli. Soniya and Charan stood confused at her reference while Maan hurried behind her calling her to listen to him. Seeing Maan follow Geet, Charan scratched his head wondering why had Geet walked away calling him to give a special toufa. Finding no answer, he shrugged his shoulder and skipped to the haveli reminding himself to talk to Geet tomorrow about it. 
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
Cricket
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