hi,
here's the link to Chapter 41
http://www.india-forums.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=3647555
'why...i told u to be ready ! the shipment is due in 2 hours...' Krishna said , getting angry as he saw Chandu waiting for him in the room , still in his kurta-paijama... 'oh come on Krishna...it's all fun , isn't it?' chandu said carefully ...'u very well know its not my idea of fun!...' snapped Krishna , ignoring the heavy shewaani held by Chandu... Chandu pursed his lips as Krishna changed into a casual attaire n proceeded to dry his hair...'krishna! at last...! the chief minister wanted to see u...come down immediately...what...what r u wearing?' said sajjan who stepped into the room , flustered ... Krishna rolled his eyes at chandu through the reflection in the mirror , exhausted... 'Chandu...! I told u to bring him downstairs asap... ' said sajjan reprimanding... 'its not his fault... I am not interested ...' said Krishna looking at sajjan... sajjan sighed 'listen Krishna ...the chief minister has to go to delhi tmw so he can't attend the wedding ...he just wants to see u... come soon... 5 mins...' Krishna made to protest, getting angry ...but sajjan plunged on 'n..it was ur idea ...no, ur stubbornness to get married ... so u will have to face the consequences too ...' he said teasingly , smiling at Krishna ... 'this is not funny , bauji' seethed Krishna , as sajjan went out of the room , saying '5 mins...' Chandu , who was trying hard not to smile , offered the shrewaani to Krishna who glared at him...'I am telling u Chandu...I am not liking it' Krishna gritted his teeth as he snatched the dress from his hands ...
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Krishna looked dashing as he descended the stairs ... eyes turned in his direction from all corners as sajjan came forward n introduced him to the guests ... after few minutes to exchanging the pleasantries n a warm introduction to Chief minister , Krishna made to escape outside but was stopped by a group of excited aunties... all the girls stood far away from him, the longing to stand close to him writ all over their face , but too afraid to try their luck...Sumitra gazed at krishna through teary eyes, standing way beyond the kitchen corridor...she had dreamed of her son's marriage so often ... to a nice , beautiful girl whom he would respect n love... who would be devoted to him...taking good care of her son...most importantly loving each other...but here he was marrying for revenge n lust n that girl for power n money, in the name of revenge... ...krishna looked at chandu, prising his hands off an elderly woman as he said coldly 'I am not interested ...' Chandu was trying not to be shocked at the blatantly sexual comments on the things they r willing to do for him, if only he said yes, coming from the girls whose eyes roved over Krishna ... ma sahib interrupted , preventing Krishna from insulting the guests as she said with a false giggle 'oh..let him be... he is way too shy...' to the disappointed women at large ... but one of the elderly woman wasn't going to leave the matter just like that...'oh come on gayatri...this is a rasam!...how could he say no? ... what will we tell the bride's parents?' ...
Gayatri , who was watching in resentment at krishna's retreating back , suddenly raised her voice , a sudden thought of checking her theory striking her...'oh...even I was thinking of that...how could the girl put haldi on her if we don't send the haldi used by him as shagaun...? ...they will be waiting... ' Krishna stopped in his tracks as he heard the words ... what? She will be applying the same haldi which was applied on him? That sounded weird ... stupid rasam ...! ...beautiful rasam... so... intimate... like as if there was a bond being formed between him n her... like stamping the fact that she is his... n his only... she will wait for nobody else... only for him! ... even for such a trivial thing as haldi ...! n she will only use the haldi used by him! ... Krishna smirked as he turned around 'is that so? ...' he cocked an eyebrow at ma sahib... gayatri tried to look pleasant but her heart was pounding ... oh no! He is going to do it! Just for that girl , he is going to a thing he would never have done even if the whole world is to beg at his feet... 'oh...so sweet!...' gushed one woman, the wife of a pompous business man ... 'he don't want his girl to wait ... ' what r u doing Krishna? U r going to let these horrible women make a fool out of u ? ... his mind chided him but Krishna ignored it ...for the first time in his life,he was enjoying some one teasing him... he was feeling curiously happy hearing someone tease him...in the name of her... he was relishing the feeling ... 'what r u waiting for ? come to the courtyard !' giggled another aunty as she tried to pull Krishna along with her by arm...
'no! '..krishna almost smiled... 'not now...let her wait' he said , now smiling broadly and turned to climb the stairs , leaving a dejected bunch of women gaping at him ...chandu looked astonished , his mouth half open... Gayatri excused herself as she moved quickly to an adjacent room in the pretext of going to bathroom n closed the door, reeling in shock... she was confused about what exactly to feel shocked at... his readiness to be in a situation which he would never had allowed himself in or his decision to prolong the rasam ... how she wished to know what was going on in his mind!!!... her phone rang n she picked it up ...it was angad 'ma, where r u... we arrived ...what r we going to tell chacha about meera coming back to stay at the haveli?' gayatri spoke urgently to the phone 'I have talked to sajjan about it... I said I wanted someone to keep an eye on Pratigya while she is at the house... that would be enough... u know that sajjan n krishna r not at all interested in how the house in run...! its chandu we need to be careful about... call meera n come to my room...' ... she cut the call n walked to the hall beaming at everybody...
Krishna walked up the stairs , the silly smile still lingering on his lips ... he was feeling amazingly happy ... n excited ... he was liking the feeling ...that feeling of teasing her ... making her wait for him... deliberately... did she even know that he was teasing her, actually? ...really ! krishna !...why would she wait for him?...she is just a sick girl... who wants to marry him for the money n power to help her father...!!!!... . krishna stopped in his tracks ... he almost toppled the nearby vase in anger n frustration ...what's happening to him...? ... he walked to an adjacent corridor which opened to a open balcony surrounding their big courtyard on to the east side of the house... he looked down , seeing an ornamental stool set at the centre with pots of water n 2 silver vessels of haldi being arranged by women...what would he happening at her house? He mused ...will she be sitting there , waiting for the shagun to arrive? He blinked ... he could see her sitting in the middle of his courtyard , on the place meant for him... in the dress she wore on the engagement ... women surrounded her , impatient looking... he could see her eyes looking at the direction of the hall , a deep longing in her eyes as she waited for the shagun to arrive... one of the women were saying 'oh,its no use ... i think we will have to start the rasam... here ' she said as she dipped her hand in one of the vessels of haldi n tried to smear it over pratigya's cheek... he could see her swatting the hand away ...'he will be sending the shagun ...wait...' her eyes trained over the hall... krishna shook his head angrily ... he was fast turning into some joke... he turned to find himself facing chandu ... he could feel his cheek burn in an unknown embarrassment as he averted his eyes ...
Chandu cleared his throat ...'come on krishna...I told u it will be fun... lets just get this exercise over with ...let's not give that worm defence minister another reason to play media gimmicks ... the last thing we need is the media to find out that we didn't send the sahgun...pls...' krishna looked at chandu , his jaw clenching ... 'does the media have noting fruitful to do?' he asked through gritted teeth ... 'pathetically , they don't... ' said chandu , his face showing the dislike ... krishna nodded absently as he walked back downstairs ... chandu followed him, amused ... how far would his friend go?... the women started talking excitedly as krishna stepped into the courtyard ...the girls crowded around the four corridors giggling excitedly ... gayatri who was trying to get past a rather talkative wife of police officer looked horrified at krishna ... she regained her composure quickly as one woman said in a sing song voice 'oh... decided that ur girl has waited enough?'... krishna ignored her as gayatri said , trying to sound normal 'oh...u came...' she didn't know what to say ... another aunty said , teasing 'oh..this won't do krishna beta... u will have to discard ur sherwaani...ooops... atleast the top portion of it...' she continued to mirthful laughs n giggles echoing in the courtyard... krishna could feel his cheeks getting redder ... a mixture of anger n...n...to his horror... shyness... !
he closed his eyes for a sec n opened them , smirking ...'oh no... that is not going to happen dear aunty ji... I won't do anything that I won't like to do... n getting myself smeared in haldi is on top of the things that I won't be doing ...u see, I hate it...that too by women...' he almost spat the words ... an awkward n shocked silence followed, while the women looked at each other confused ... chandu cut in trying to rescue the situation 'but the rasam krishna...' krishna held up his hand n said 'bring me the vessel...' ordering at Gayatri ... gayatri tried to look pleasant n playful but she was burning under the humiliation of being addressed almost as a servant infront of almost all the major members of her club... n not to mention total strangers... !... she brought the vessel to krishna , laughing as she said 'my fault actually , shouldn't have pampered him this much ... always does what he wants to do...' krishna dipped his right palm in the haldi n took it out quickly ...'here, that ought to do for her shagun...' he said , smirking at the circle surrounding him... Gayatri smiled as the wife of a big businessman gushed 'ow... so sweet... he don't want the poor girl's shagun ruined just bec he don't like haldi...' krishna closed his palm , indicating with his other hand to give him space to climb out of the courtyard ... Gayatri thrust the vessel on to Chandu's hands saying ' send this to her house... ' she continued for the benefit of the guests 'she would have gorged her eyes out waiting for his love to reach her...' Chandu roled his eyes to himself as he excused himself n went outside ... Sumitra watched as krishna climbed the stairs , gazing at his palm... tears welled up in her eyes as she saw for the first time what chandu had told her about his feelings for the girl , in his eyes...she could see passion... waiting to brew into a raging storm ... n love...it was fleeting ... too shallow ... but still there... waiting to let go n plunge to dizzying depths...
Hope u liked it π³ Part 2 coming soon