Posted:
Hey guys! Back with my second ShaNak OS😃
So wrote this down in a hurry because I had told myself I had to write one therefore excuse lack of whatever there is a lack of😆
Khanak coughed as dust swirled around her face, released from a pile of papers and books she had uncovered from the back of the bottom of their wardrobe.
She'd always dusted the pile from the top, thinking they were some important papers of Shantanu's but last week, after she had inquired about them Shaan had carelessly shrugged his shoulders and said they were random odds and ends, not of much importance.
Alone at home today afternoon with nothing much to do, having had completed all the house chores and her coursework for the weekend, she had decided to go through these papers and sell the useless ones to the raddi wala and keep the ones that were important.
The first few pieces of papers were receipts from various stores and restaurants. She shook her head and threw these into the pile for 'Things to be disposed'. Concert tickets, boarding passes, cheque books-Khanak rolled her eyes at this evidence of her husband's spoiled upbringing and then wondered why in the world he hadn't thrown away the useless pieces of paper.
She suddenly smiled as another concert ticket gave way to a bunch of photographs-Shaan,Rahul and Ducks,Shaan, Sam and Rahul, Natasha and Sam,Shaan and Natasha, Ducks, Shaan and Natasha, Rahul, Shaan and Natasha...with every picture of Shaan and Natasha, Khanak got more incensed. It was one thing to know of her husband's past-and actually like the girl- and another to see proof upon proof of how close they had been. Miffed, Khanak took the whole bunch of pictures and put them in the same pile as the receipts and other useless pieces of paper. As she was turning back towards the wardrobe, her eyes fell on the framed picture of Shantanu and her on their side table. She bit her bottom lip, closed her eyes and took a deep calming breath. Picking up the photographs, she smiled determinedly and put them on the table, vowing to show them to Shaan when he returned so he could relive his college days. Natasha and Shaan might have been in love once but she knew that Shaan loved her with all his heart and soul now-there was and would never be, any other girl in Shaan's life. Till she lived atleast. She frowned at the thought, then hit herself on the head for being stupid. Plus, it wasn't only Shaan who had a past. She had spent many cosy moments with Suraj too, though none as close and comfortable as the ones in the pictures looked. Herein lay the difference between the city and the village, she thought philosophically.
She picked up the two books that had been below the photographs-Business Law and Financial Accounting. They looked almost new, like someone had barely gone through them once. Or twice. And he probably aced the subjects too, she thought fondly, proud of her husband's intelligence, while wondering how such a smart man could frequently be so obtuse. Putting them on the table, she decided to give them a read. They might be graduate level but would probably help her in the under graduate business courses she was taking currently. Happy with her find, she enthusiastically reached out towards the bundle of papers tied with ribbon, that now lay on top. Notes, maybe?
'Dearest Shaan, I know you don't understand my need to write and receive letters from each other when we see each other almost everyday, but every girl needs a stash of love letters to show her children when they grow up...'
Khanak stopped reading. Love letters? This thick pile of papers were love letters from Natasha and Shantanu had kept them?! And that too, in their wardrobe? Frustrated at his stupidity, she wondered whether to read the letters or not. On one hand they were private and not hers to read. But on the other hand a) they were in her wardrobe and b) Belonged to her husband and thus by virtue of 'All that is mine is yours...', in some twisted way, belonged to her too.
Happy and convinced by her reasoning she climbed up onto the bed and settled down to read.
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Shaan entered the room, loosening his tie, tired from the day at the recording studio. He frowned at the mess in front of the wardrobe, more surprised than anything else. Then his gaze fell on Khanak, lying on her stomach on the bed, fast asleep, head cushioned on her folded elbows, lots of papers scattered about her.
'Ah, so my wife has fallen asleep while studying!' he thought to himself and grinned while trying to decide the best way to wake her up, all his tiredness forgotten.
But before he could settle on his course of action, his wife stirred and blinked her eyes, sitting up as her eyes fell on him.
'Aap kab aye?' she asked him in her husky, sleep laden voice.
'Bas abhi hee...' he replied, trying to keep the disappointment from his voice.
Khanak tried to rub away the sleep from her eyes, as she started to ask him if he would like to have tea when he interrupted with, 'Yeh tum kya padh rahi thi?'
'Kya padh rahi thi? Mein tou...'she began in a confused tone, and then she saw the letters on the bed and it all came back to her with a flash of blinding clarity.
'Oh. Actually kuch letters thay. Thoday puranay hain par bahut ziada interesting.Kaafi nayi cheezein pata chali mujhe aaj.'
'Letters?Kis ke letters?'
'Natasha jee ke!'
Shaan suddenly froze in the act of unbuttoning his shirt.
'Oh.Natasha ke. Umm. Haan mujhe woh phekne thay. Err pata nahi kahan rakh diyay thay.'
'Bas kahin aur nahi, hamari hee almari mein paday thay!'
'Acha?Wow!Mujhe tou pata hee nahi tha!'
'Tou Shantanu...'
'Umm kya Khanak?'
'Mujhe tou andaza bhi nahi tha ke aap aur Natasha jee itnay close thay aur aap itnay romantic!'
'Khanak yaar woh sab tou hamara bachpana tha.Aur itnay close nahi thay hum-hum jab bhi kahin jaate thay, poora group saath hota tha!Aur kya matlab tumhein nahi pata tha mein kitna romantic hoon?! Natasha se ziada tou mein ne tumharay saath romance kiya hai!' Shaan retorted in an affronted manner.
'Haan liken aap ne kabhi meray liye tou shayeri nahi ki!'
'Hein?Yeh tou Natasha ke letters hain na?Tou tumhein kaise pata ke mein ne-'
'Shantanu! Meri patience try mat karein!'
'Nahi nahi mein tou bas pooch raha hoon-out of pure curiosity I swear!'
'Mujhe iss liye pata hai kyunke Natasha jee ne aap ki shayeri ki tareef mein teen chaar safhay likh daalay hain!'
'Oh.Acha.Lekin Khanak I swear mein ne kabhi bhi Natasha ke liye koi shayeri nahi ki!'
'Tou kya Natasha jee ne jhoot bola hai ya mein jhoot bol rahi hoon?!'
'Nahi mera matlab hai ke mein ne Natasha ko shayeri dee zaroor thi, lekin woh mein ne nahi, Rahul ne likhi thi!'
'Kya?!'
'Haan! Woh Natasha ko yeh sab stupidity bahut pasand thi, aur mujhe Romeo ya Shakespeare bannay ka koi shauq nahi tha, tou har maheenay Rahul meri taraf se kuch poetry likh deta tha aur mein woh Natasha ko de deta tha!'
'Kya?!Shantanu! Aap bhi na! Bechari Natasha jee!'
'Khanak! Abhi tou tum ghussa ho rahi thi ke mein ne Natasha ke liye sher kyun likhey aur ab iss liye ke mein ne woh nahi likhay?!'
'Haan kyunke aap sab ladke aisay hee ho! Aur waise bhi, kaun sa aap kabhi meray liye kuch likho ge?!'
Khanak got off the bed in a huff and started walking towards the door, when Shaan grabbed her by the arm and pulled her back and down on his lap.
'Khanak, meri aankhon mein dekho!'
'Mujhe nahi dekhna.'
'Khanak! Please!'
Reluctantly she turned and faced him, looking deep into his eyes. They stared at each other for a few seconds, glorifying in the love they saw for each other there and Khanak felt all her annoyance fade away.
'Khanak, kya tumhein meri aankhon mein apne liye pyaar nazar nahi aata?'
She slowly nodded her head.
'Khanak mujhe nahi lagta ke mujhe apna pyaar prove kerne ki zarurat hai, specially not through some poetry I feel stupid writing! Ek doosre ke liyay hamara pyaar ek fact hai koi theory nahi jis ko hamein proofs ke saath support kerna ho. Hamara pyaar ko lafzon ki zarurat nahi kyun ke har din hum yeh pyaar zahir kertay hain, apne actions se show kertay hain. Jab tum har raat mera dayr dayr tak jaag ker intezar kerti ho, har roz lunch ke saath sticky notes pe stupid baatein likh ker deti ho taake mein unhe padh ker apni har tension bhool jaoon, apni assignments bedroom ke bajaye study mein jaa ker kerti ho taake mein disturb na hoon, meray bolnay se pehle hee mujhe jo chahiye uss ka andaza laga leti ho, agar raat mein mei tum se thoda bhi door ho jaon tou uth ker phir se meray qareeb aa jati ho, mujhe back massages dena, meri ghaltiyan chupana ke liye Aada se jhooth bolna even though you hate lying...'
'Aur aap ka har subah ko mujhe uthane se pehle 5 minute tak ghorna aur phir har roz different tareeke se uthana, agar padhte huay mujhe kuch samajh mein na aye tou patiently samjhana chahay aap kitnay bhi thakay huay hon, exams ke doraan meray liye coffee ya tea banana, baat baat per roothna taake mein aap ko manaoon...'
They smiled at each other, knowing that words might be needed and sometimes used but it was in the little gestures of everyday life, the little actions that showed they cared, that their love shone out best.
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