Part 9 Dreams and Plans
I think we dream so we don't have to be apart so long. If we're in each other's dreams, we can play together all night. ~Bill Watterson
"Chotte, abhi bhaarish rukha nahin, aapke naav tho doob jayenge. Thode der baad try karte hain na?" called out Anjali from the shelter of the front porch. Rains at naani's haveli were almost the norm during Janmashtami.
Arnav merely looked up; his lips pursed stubbornly, water trickling from his hair over his eyes in a steady stream as he put yet another paper boat in the rivulet of rain-fed water by the curved driveway. Anjali sighed, as it promptly got drenched by the steady raindrops even before it floated a few inches and her chotte's jaw clenched tighter in determination. He was merely five and yet he would not cease his efforts until atleast one of the boats had sailed around the bend in the driveway.
An idea struck Anjali and she quickly ran inside to emerge a few minutes later, fully dressed in a raincoat and with daadaji's humungous umbrella in her hand. Just as Arnav put the last of his boats in the water she held the open umbrella over it shielding it from the rain. They both walked along with it as it sailed in all its glory. Chotte was besides himself with joy as he clapped and jumped in the water in ecstacy. He always had such a wonderful laugh; much more beautiful than a thousand rainbows thought Anjali as she watched him unmindful of the water seeping into her shoes and wetting her feet.
The soles of her feet were getting wet, but wait---- there was no rain------so how could it----- and it didn't seem like wetness due to seeping rain, but due to some kind of a coarse wet rag being dragged across it back and forth, and'' it tickled. Her eyes flew open and Anjali sat bolt upright in bed to find herself looking into the melting eyes of the largest mutt she had ever seen. Lying across the foot of her bed was a huge ginger brown Labrador with its mottled black-brown-pink tongue making its way across the length of her foot in one long and lazy liiiccckkk. Anjali jumped up and pulled her feet under her thighs, settling down on her knees as she heard Tashi's giggles.
"Good morning Anjie aunty. Yeh hai Dobby, my bestest friend; jaisa Atticus papa ka best friend hai. Hum tabse wait kar rahethe ki aap utt jaye taaki hum aapko haveli ka tour de sakhen. " She piped, her eyes dancing in glee.
Anjali smiled and stroked Tashi's cheek. "Aap jaayi ye, hum tayyar hoke neeche aajayenge, phir aap jahaan hume lejayenge wahan chalenge. Theek hai?" she asked with a bob nod of her head, cupping Tashi's chin.
"Ok! Don't be late" instructed Tashi as she jumped down from the bed and rushed downstairs followed by Dobby, who briefly paused at the doorway to look back at Anjali with soulful eyes; as if to re-iterate Tashi's message, before he bounded downstairs.
"mmmhmmm" the low hum and smile on Arnav's face in his sleep, brought on a tender smile on Khushi's. She tossed her towel on the recliner and walked over to sit by him on the bed. Slowly tracing his cheek with her index finger, she whispered in his ear, "Arnavji, kuch sunahra sapna dekh rahen hain kya? Hume bhi batayiye na? "
Arnav opened one lazy eye and pulled her closer to him with a gentle tug."Di aur mein paani mein paper boats float kar rahen hain" he said, his eyes closed burrowing his face in her belly.
"Kyaaa!" Khushi exclaimed in utter surprise.
Of all the possible explanations she had not seen this coming. A vivid image of a miniature ASR floating paper boats emerged in front of her eyes and the vision melted her heart and widened her smile as she stared back at him, waiting for him to elaborate.
Arnav chuckled, imagining her face to perfection even with his eyes closed. Oh! How he loved the astonished expression on his wife's face. Even after two years of knowing the man that he was, she still did a double-take when he revealed some of his sweeter child hood memories like this one. There were several stories from his childhood and many more layers to him, that she had not yet seen and he reveled in revealing them to her when she least expected it. It always brought them closer than ever. After all isn't that what a marriage is supposed to be? Each constantly rediscovering the other and falling in love all over again.
"Batayiye na Arnavji, kyon satarahe hai? Hume neeche bhi to jaana hai, naashta banane. Aanya uth gayi hogi aur unki dai aati hi hongi unhe massage dene" pleaded Khushi with a slight pout.
Arnav sat up and pulling her closer;he twirled a strand of her semi-dry hair as he began relating his dream. He had been dreaming of the time when he and Di were kids and having fun in the rains floating paper boats at Vrindavan, and Di his staunchest of allies had helped save them from drowning.
Just as his narration ended, his phone rang, the highlighted LCD declaring that it was Anjali calling. In a flash he answered, "Hanh di, aap theek to ho na?"
"Chotte, Kaise hain aap? Hum theek hai aur naaniji bhi. Aap apna Khayal tho rakrahen hain na? Hamara Haveli ' Vrindavan bahut sundar hai chotte. Mein aur Nitin kal preliminary inspection report review kar chuke hain. I am so excited, kitna potential hai, aur kitna history bhi." The dream had left Anjali homesick for her chotte. She could not contain herself and had called up Arnav.
"Khushiji, hume aap sab ki bahut yaad aarahi hain. Ek din hi guzra hain, par aisa lagta hain ki aapko dekhkar na kahin maheene bheet gaye hain. Payalji, Akash aur Aanya kaise hain? Aur mamaji, maamiji?" She continued her conversation as the phone was passed around to the various members of the family in Shantivan including the Prakash brothers.
By the time the call ended, Anjali had cheered up considerably. Her step was light and a smile played on her lips as she made her way to the dining table for breakfast. To top off her happinesss, she received a text from NK and Maya, accompanied by pictures of the two of them.
"Naani, NK aur Mayaji Teej tak India mein honge. Kitni acchi baat hai na? Hum NK bhai ko bahut miss karne lage the" she said, handing naani her phone with the pictures that she had just received from NK.
"Kitne khush lag rahe hain ee dono. Waise, Teej ko to bas do hi hafte rahgaya hai. Tab tak hume Dilhi jaane ka padi" said Devyani.
Ajay who had been quietly working through his breakfast lifted his head and swiftly flicked his gaze from naani to Anjali. Teej brought with it sweet and sour memories and Anjali quickly turned away from naani's penetrating gaze, under the pretext of settling down. There was a raw nerve there, decided Ajay who had neither missed the sudden cloud that cropped over her face, nor her deliberate attempt to avoid her naani's gaze.
"Rajastan mein, Teej bahut hi bada utsav hain, aur khaas kar Jaipur mein dekhne laayak hota hai. Tho aap uss waqt kaise Delhi jaa sakte hain?" questioned Virenji, whose shrewd eyes had promptly noted Ajay's reaction to Devyani's statement with great satisfaction.
"Baat to sahi kahat hai aap" said Devyani with a slight smile, picking up on Virenji's cue, "Par, Dilhi ma hamra parivaar hai,aur-------" she drawled out casting a glance at Anjali, who merely focused on her food and remained silent.
"Tho unhe bhi yehan bulvalete hain. Hame bhi badi khushi hogi sabse milke aur hamara Haveli bhi khil uthe ga aap sab ke aane se. Kyon Ajay, kya Khayal hai?" asked Viren Chacha.
Ajay shrugged, glancing around genially and replied, "Jaisa aap theek samje chachaji."
"Chachaji, aapko pata nahin hain ki aap kya kahrahen hai. Chotte, Khushiji, Akash, Payalji, Aanya, mama, maami, aur ab NK bhai aur Mayaji, itne saare logon ko yehan par? Aap kaise sab ko sambaal payenge? Yeh sab bahut mushkil hai. Iss se asaan tareeka hain, naani aur hum Delhi jaayen".
Ajay's eyes widened at the long list while Tashi's glowed in delight"Wow! Ek family mein itne sare log. What fun! Dadaji, papa please, sab ko yaheen bulayenge. It'll be fun. I have never seen such a large family" she squealed, clapping her hands gleefully.
"Theek, hai, tho, yeh thai raha ki aap ka poora parivaar iss saal Theej hamare haveli mein manaayega. Hamare Shivji ka mandir jo Haveli ke grounds pe hain, vahin par saalon se har tyohaar hum manate aarahen hain. Iss baar sabke saat manane mein bada mazaa aayega. Aur hamare haveli mein sabke liye rahaneka intezaam hojayega. Gabrayiye mat bitiya." Assured Virenji, his smile a mile-wide.
"Hey, Ajay''. Namaste chachaji, naaniji. Hello Anjali" greeted Radhika as she breezed in, playfully ruffling Tashi's hair along the way. She wore a crisp white shirt, navy blue trousers with suspenders and sported think black framed glasses that made her look incredibly cute. Anjali smiled at her. She had chatted with her in last night's party, and Nitin had said that she was Ajay's PRO as well as his right hand. Ajay let her deal with his numerous agents, publicity campaigns and any and all of his pet projects and adhoc requests. She was not just his employee, but also his confidante.
Ajay dabbed his lips with the napkin and rose from his seat, "Chachaji, Naaniji, I'll see you all later. Hamare mining office mein kuch urgent Government contract related issue hai, aur uske baad apne agli series of paintings ki exhibit ke bhare mein Radhika ke saat discuss karni hain." murmered Ajay, excusing himself "aapke tour ke anth mein, stables pe apse milta hoon. Naaniji, Tashi aur chachaji aapko Haveli ka sair karvane ka poora plan bana chuke hain, tho I am sure, aap bilkul bhi bore nahin honge." With a quick hug and peck on Tashi's cheek and a passing glance at Anjali, Ajay left the place engrossed in his conversation with Radhika.
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"Yeh to bada hi khatin kaam hai Shyamji." Said the woman looking up at the resolute face of the man seated across from her at Cafe Coffee day. She was definitely a few years older than him and was dressed in a cotton saree with her hair tied up in a low bun at the nape of her neck.
He paused while the waiter served them their coffee and only resumed after ascertaining he was out of ear-shot. "Arrey aise kitne khel hum dono khel chuke hain. Aap to iss khel ke purane khiladi hai. Phir hum hai na sambaal ne ke liye. Agar sunehara bhavishya ki aapeksha ho, to thodisi jhokam uthani padti hai na?
The woman thought for a full five minutes and then slowly nodded her head. Theek hai, par agar muje khatre ki zarasi bhi jalak lagi to mein turant wahan se rafoo-chakkar ho jaoongi, aur baaki ka khel sambaal na apke haaton mein hoga.
"Manzoor hai" replied Shyam gleefuly his handsome face rendered sinister by his twisted smile. "Tho aap aaj shaam hi apke saheli se mil lijiye aur poori jaankari prapt karleejiye. Dyan rahe, Rani Sahiba aapko pahele dekh chuki hai aur apko pahchan legi, isliye savdhani se kaam lijiye. Aap unke nazar mein na pade.
"Ji Shyamji" she said and left the place.
Shyam leaned his neck back stretching out the strong column of his throat and closed his eyes. It was time to wait patiently, for the kill belongs to the predator that waits for the right moment to strike. He inhaled deeply, a long meditative breath to ease his nerves.
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"Akash, did you call Ajay? Is everything set?" asked Arnav at lunch.
"Ji bhai, everything is set." Smiled Akash giving his bhai a thumbs-up.
Khushi squeeled and squeezed Payal's hand. "Hey Devi Mayya. Unka chehra dekhne layak hoga."
Arnav looked at his wife with a smile as her infectious excitement made its appearance in the pit of his stomach in the form of flutters and bubbles of anticipation.
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Cricket
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