ShaNak in Dhulwadi FF Part 14 Page 6 - Page 4

Aditee,

aditee i didnt realise this ff existed loved it, love the fact shanak are in dhulwadi- man we've gone dhullwadi crazy, loved the jealous shaan in the mela, his disgust at the food, environmennt etc and wanting the best for khanak, his relationship with gopi, the secret kiss behind the curtain, khanak taking care of him whilst he was ill, them making up uhhmmmm😳 🤣🤣 and khanak still being our JKR and insisting she'll stay until she finishes helping her adaa even tho shaan is desperate to take her back home.

Aditee darling...

When will u update next ??? I am egerly waiting for your next post !!

Wow this was just great cant wait for the next update!!!

Part 14

The phone rings

S:Hello

K: Shantanu?

S:Tumne mujhe hi kiya na? (amused)

K:Kyon main aapka naam nahi le sakti kya? (smiling)

S: Nahi! (smiles)

Pause

K:Aapse ek kaam tha

S:Kaho Khanak……

K:Mujhe who kya kehte hain unko jo………… Choksi je eke saath aapko milne aate hain? Acc..

S:Kaun? (confused)

K:Jo hisaab kitaab ka kaam dekhte hain

S: Oh ACCOUNTANT?

K:Wohi wohi!

S: Trivediji?

K:Haan shaayad

S:Kyon?

Silence

S:Khanak?

K:Who mujhe baat karni thi (confident)

S:Oh! Ek second hold karo…….. mera matlab……. Ek min

K:theek hai

Biren walks in with a bunch of files. Shaan nods he places them on the coffee table and leaves

Shaan turns towards the tennis match on the TV, looks at his cell phone to write down Trivedi's number

S:Khanak?

K:Jee

S smiles "Jee" he thinks! Polite……..

S:Likho

K:981235678

S:Main baat karoon?

K:Nahi!

S:Fine

K:Unka daftar kahan hai, matlab, hamara, matlab aapka

S:Its OK Khanak… tum "hamara" keh sakti ho (grins)

K: Mujhe milney jaana tha

S:Iski koi zaroorat nahi hai. (firm) Who tumse milne aa jaayenge! Main keh doonga usko

K:Arrey nahi, woh kaam mein vya……….

S:Khanak!

K:Chaliye, theek……….. mera matlab thank you (?!)

K lingers………..

S:Aur kuch?

K Ummm……… she wants to ask "aap kaise hain? Its been two weeks since she went away. She wants to know if the family has arrived.

S:Chalo theek hai. Bye(?!)

Click

She stares at the phone

Calls Mr Trivedi he visits in the evening. Khanak spends hours explaining the situation to him. The money required, her plans to arrange it. He is visibly amused by her plans, asks her why "Shaan sir is not helping"

She quickly defends "Shaan Sir!" and tells him that this is her family's problem, without going into too many details about Sooraj's family and how they are connected to her

She tells him about Mangal's idea of leasing out the haveli for movie shoots etc. And how she is not excited with it because Gopi is a young girl and she doesn't want her to be exposed to strangers all day long.

Trivedi explains to her that her sewing and craftwork is not even enough to pay the interest. He draws charts and number graphs all in Gujarati and Hindi to explain how insufficient her plan may be

It was something she had suspected but didn't want to admit to herself

She wished Shaan stayed in business and had taken ownership for this commitment. She was disappointed with both. Trivedi suggests he can talk with Shaan and maybe approach the village self employment scheme to see if they can rent Sooraj's haveli during the day to use as workshop, and see how much that will yield.

Coupled with her craftwork sale and craftwork lessons she wanted to know how long it will be before the haveli's loan is fully paid off. After doing all the math, they concluded it would take over 5 years to even pay off half the loan……………. Living away from the life she had so grown to love, the man who loved her so………. For five long years…………..

She stared at her empty tea cup dejectedly. It was past 8 PM. Her Aada was helping as much as he could, sitting down to provide moral support.The amount was huge, and the solutions were not straightforward to say the least…………….

The first instalment was due in two months……….. Shantanu had spoken to the creditors at one time from Mumbai and had convinced them that the entire loan would be paid off starting April. At that time he had promised to pay the the accrued interest as well. He had hoped the textile project would give him the necessary cash flow for it

His life took a U turn around his parents anniversary and he no longer went to work. All he did was sing, play or write songs and visited the recording studio. His Dad and Akshay Bha talked business with him for hours in the evening but he never went to the office, much to Khanak's disappointment

Many thoughts raced through her mind…………. Wish she were more educated………. Wish her Aada was more financially secure. Hoped Mangal did not have that gambling habit…………….

Mr Trivedi took his leave………….. Khanak walked in the terrace past midnite………….. she had to talk to Shaan she decided. She had wanted him to make the first move, but he had not…….

Giving up on this and going away with Shaan was like betraying Sooraj…………. Staying back and making futile attempts to hold on to her resolution was worthless………… even for her uneducated non-street savvy brain she knew the task ahead was humungous

Time to talk……….. soon………. She decided

11 AM

Phone rings

K runs to pick it up

K:Hello

S:Phone kyon nahi utha rahi tum

K:Apane abhi to kiya hai

S:Subah se 3 baar kar chukka hoon

K:Kya?

S:Kahan thi tum?

K:Who……. Soor………. Gopi se milney gayi thi

Silence

S:Kyon(gruff)

K Who Hetal Bhabhi ke ghutney mein chot aayi hai to Gopi unko lekar aaj gayi thi, main milney chali gayi

S:Kaisi hain who (disninterested)

K: Abhi kaafi theek hain lekin unko poori….

S:Khanak……

K:Umm

S:Tumhari Trivedi ji se baad hui?

K:Haan who aaye kal, hamari 4 ghante baat hui

S:Kis bare mein?

K:Who……….. aap aap bataiye phone kyon kiya

S:Yahi poochne ke liye (angry that she wont reveal a word)

K:Thak you Shantanu (Smiles)

S: Who to keh raha tha ki tum do din mein phir se mil rahi ho

K:Haan

S: Khanak………

K:Aapko kuch aur kehna tha?

S: Kyon…….. nahi……..

S: Achha ab main rakhoon? (time for her class already)

Click!

S stares at the phone derisively "Like THAT huh?"

Lay back on the couch……… rubs his eyes……….. the laptop starts sliding off his thgh………. Sets it on the coffee table, finishes his coffee………. Stares out the window

He hadn't taken a dime in payment for the first song…………….. he loved to sing………. The past month he hadn't visited the studio even once. He just practiced at the mock studio upstairs………. One that was set up hurriedly in the past month or two.

He was talking care of business in Dhulwadi!

He didn't want to

But he was

He was here ………… and there were things that needed to be done when Akshay was not in town…………. He sensed he enjoyed it……….. but it was not his life's calling

He felt ashamed at having let down Khanak

He stood up from the couch walked over to the windows at that thought…………. She had urged, coaxed and motivated him to become responsible…………. He had attempted to and was doing quite well………. Wish he hadn't laid hands on that guitar………………… he hummed the newest song………… the second stanza needed work……………. And the heavy equipment shipment to the hydro electric plant was being delayed by another week. The German joint venture…. Now………. That had taken a life a year ago……… promised to bring water through interconnected canals……. Some what of a Sardar Sarovar Project on a private scale….. expected to bring water to to the parched Dhulwadi and Bhuj and Kutch areas……..

His Sankranti trip to Delhi was postponed …….. more palms needed to be greased in Delhi……….. the parts were air shipped but yet lay in some dry port in the outskirts of Delhi

The German collaborators were fuming…………… his thoughts went back to music…………… he wondered if he cut his own album and marketed them how much money that would bring…………

Dad had wanted him to call Mr. Rauer to explain delays at the plant.

His wife was playing truant also………… he was ashamed at how he had reneged on his promise made to her. He owned that financial commitment………. It was now hers………….. he was too busy pursuing a hobby which seemed like a career to him he thought…….. in self mockery………… but I still love music, he reassured himself………..

It was just a matter of writing a check to Mangal's creditors

He will get his life back………… and his wife……………

That would take some painful admissions……. His ego wouldn't allow those

He had to come up with a way to address this with her…………

It was not her problem, his inability to fulfill his responsibility had made it hers, but it was NOT hers

Time to talk he decided…………

Continue soon re !!

Aditee was just going to post askig you to update adn here you are with one... Loved it ..loved where the story is going...now me can't wait for that talk....

Aditee.............loved the ff