The rest of the ride passed off in silence as it started drizzling. Khanak kept stealing glances at Shaan, noticing that his frown deepened with every swerve of the car. Thoroughly disconcerted, she tried to distract her attention to the light rain. She slid the glass, placed her palm outside and faced it towards the sky so that drops of water fell on them. As the slanted drizzle fell on her face, she smiled and closed her eyes drinking in the amazing weather. Now it was Shaan's turn to steal glances at her and God she looked beautiful, he thought. His stomach wrenched at the sight of her face splattered with water as he got a spectacular urge to kiss her all over it. Speeding up his car, he made it his mission to reach home ASAP, well before he went mad in any case. When they reached home, he abruptly got out of the car, slammed the door and got inside before he got wet in the rain. Just then he heard Dadi exclaim "Khanak betaaa! Yahaan aooo toh!" Khanak rushed to dadi as Shaan sighed and went back to his room.
"Khanak kal Karwa Chauthh hain. Tumhara iss ghar main pehla Karwa Chauthh hain!" Dadi said happily.
Khanak shifted uncomfortably as dadi went on and on about the blessings of Karwa Chauth. Finally she said "Laikin dadiii---main kaisay---mera mutlub hain---Natasha jee Shaantanu kay liyay Vrath rakhay gee---main toh---mera mutlub hain'Shaantanu toh WAHAN jayay gain "
"Hmmm---dekhtain hain! Laikin Vrath toh tum rakho gee!" Dadi said with a smile and a twinkle in her eyes. Khanak looked puzzled as Dadi left.
As Khanak made her way up the stairs she wondered; wondered what it would be like for her to fast for Shaantanu, for him to come home and feed her her first bite on seeing the moon. She felt happy thinking the thought. Indeed it made her as excited as the rain outside. But she knew it wouldn't be true. Shaantanu would be with Natasha jee, not her. The realization made her sulk. When she reached her room and saw Shaan, eyes closed lying on the bed, the continuation of her thoughts made her heart pain. The rain suddenly didn't seem to be fun anymore.
She went over to Shaan and sat on the bed beside him. Shaan got up and looked at her with searching eyes realizing that she was not meeting his.
"Kya hua?" Shaan finally said, breaking the silence.
"Wooh dadi chahtee hain kay main vrath rakhoo laikin aap toh Natasha jee kay saath hogay toh main vrath kyun rakhooo laikin dadi kah rahee hain toh main rakhoon gee lainkin phir app mujhay apni ek tasweer day dain taakay main vrath khol doon laikin agar aap mujhay tasweer nahi day saktay toh koi baat nahi main intezaar kar loongii apka kal laikin vrath toh rakhna hain na" Khanak went on and on in full speed without stopping and finally gasped for breath.
A stunned Shaantanu looked at her. Making a disbelieving face he said "Woooaahh woaah Khanak!! Kya hogaya hain tumko! I didn't understand a word! Kya vrath, kya tasweer?!!"
"Mujhay kal Karwa Chauth kay liyay aapkee tasweer chahiyay", Khanak said, hating Shaan for making her repeat it, as though saying it out aloud would indeed make Shaan not be with her on Karwa Chauth.
"Oh---" Shaan said as realization dawned and he looked away " Haan wohh Natasha toh har saal rakhtee hain---ermm toh main uskay ghar jaata hoon---errr" Shaan stammered, wondering why on earth he was telling Khanak.
"Ek Tasweer", Khanak said faking a smile. It was all that took Shaan to smile back warmly at her. The affect that this girl had on him was unbelievable. She could make him smile on the roughest of days and make him whine on the most beautiful ones! He took her hand into both of his mischievously and Khanak flinched a little. " Ek tasweer! Hmmmm! Acha daita hoon! Koi zabardast see nikalta hoon cupboard main say! Upar rakhee hain!" He squeezed her hand a bit " Laikin Khanak tumko yay sub karnay kee zaroorat nahi hain" Shaan added warmly. Khanak looked into his smiling eyes and felt a pang of pain again. She wanted to DO it! She wanted to fast for him and she wanted HIM to want her to fast for him too! Finally she managed a smile and broke her eye contact with her husband.
Shaan got up, opened the cupboard and took out a relatively large box. "Aray iss main KYA hain?" Khanak exclaimed shocked.
"Kitchen ka saara ration hain!" Shaan said sarcastically. "Tum bhee na Khanak ---ek dum burthal ho! Tasweer maangi thee na?! toh iss main tasweerain hee hongee na!" Shaan said, making Khanak giggle.
"KYA?! Itni saarii?!!" Khanak asked stunned.
"Yea well---main itna Smart, Handsome, Charming, Shaandaarr larka hoon! The camera deserves to capture me!" Shaan said airily.
"Kya? Capture?" Khanak said confused.
"Forget it Khanak", said Shaan dismissively as he opened the box and Khanak gasped yet again at the number of picture frames inside.
"Yay lo!" Shaan took out a picture, dusted it and gave it to Khanak "I look pretty hot in this one!"
Khanak took the picture which had Shaan dressed in a blue jeans and white shirt, smiling at the camera, his dimples prominent. Khanak smiled and felt a jolt in the pit of her stomach, and got the feeling it had nothing to do with hunger.
"Aray nahiiiiiiii!!" Shaan said, snatching the picture from Khanak " Take THISSS one! Main yahan zyada dashing lug raha hoon!" Shaan said. Khanak saw the Shaan in that picture wearing a black pant and shirt, with a white belt. She took it from him and smiled again, feeling the familiar jolt in the pit of her stomach.
Shaan continued to dig further in the box and thrust one picture after the other in Khanak's hand. Khanak sat on the carpet, tired and listened to Shaan obsessing over his photo shoots. "----And then Sonya said "Smillleee" and I didn't even SMILE but daikho yay kitni ache ayee hain!" Shaan exclaimed "Tum aisa karo yaay wali lay lo!". Khanak yawned pointedly.
"Shaantanu aap nay mujhay BARA pictures pakra dee hain! TWELVE! Ub toh main bhee confused hoon!"
"Iss ka mutlub tum ko bhee meri ek PERFECT picture chahiyay haina?" Shaan teased, desperate to get a reply in affirmative. Khanak didn't answer. In truth she didn't want ANY picture! She just wanted HIM! HIM to be there in person! Now THAT would be Perfect! It would be BEYOND perfect!
"Ak baat batao Khanak?" Shaan asked "Yay EK tasweer hona zaroori hain? Duss Bara nahi hosakti?" Even as Shaan said it her realized how awesomely crazy he sounded. Khanak would think he had gone nuts! But somehow this was important for him. It was important that Khanak knew how good he looked. It was important for him to give Khanak MORE than what she wanted from him. Khanak was just VERY important, he thought.
"Hosakti hain---" Khanak answered and smiled at Shaan's excitement. "Main hur aik tasweer ko daikh kar hee apna vrath toruu gee---bus utni dair main chand gayab na hojayay! Main saree pictures use karoon gee! Khush?" She smiled even more warmly as she stood up.
Shaan stood up too and before he knew what he was doing he had hugged Khanak tight and said "Really?! God Khanak I LOVE YOUUUU!"
Kumkum Bhagya
Anupamaa
