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Shantanu is touched at heart
Just when shantanu was looking around the hall and khanak sat down to take a breath on the
sofa..
Mrs Alka came to the hall viibly happy ...followed by Mr.chavan..
**AHH khanak tum aa gayi...Thakur ji ki Badi krupa hain(note:
gujrathis hailing from certain regions like kutch saurashtra normally address God as thakur ji ) ..
Mrs.alka hugged khanak tightly ...while Mr chavan was smiling..and nodding as though agree ng
to Mrs Alka saying that ..
Khanak bent forward and took blessings from Mr.chavan and buaji ..
Shantanu was seeing all this from a distance..Khanak turned to shantanu and in order to
introduce him to her buaji and uncle went near him and said looking at buaji and uncle..
*buaji /uncle ...this is Mr.Anant ...He is the one who helped me a lot to reach Lonavla safefly and
Uncle ji he is going to stay at our *ss.Boarding for a week. during his stay at Lonavla ..It
seems .he has already booked a suite ..without his help it would have been very difficult for me to
reach here safely * .
Buaji and Mr chavan looked at shantanu with a gentle kind smile and a face full of gratitude..
Mr chavan came a little forward and shook hands with him gently saying* Thank u so much
beta.we were all so worried for khanak...Thanx a lot for helping her..and u are most welcome to
stay at *ss boarding U can treat it as your own home and if there is any shortcoming in the
services u can always ring me i will personally attend to it ..and as for now please have a cup of
coffee or tea as u wish and honour us .by having ur dinner too later in the night ...this is a
request* ..
Shantanu was not so familiar with such personal invitations like inviting for a cup of coffee /dinner
etc., he had all along been aloof ..but Mr chavans invitation was so genuinie that he could not
refuse..
Khanak on her part recommended saying * Mr Anant..
The cook at Buajis house is an excellent Gujrathi traditional dishes cook ..he and Buaji are
actually the brains behind the restaraunts* fushion dishes* and tradional gujrathi dishes ..he
also makes traditional delicious maharastrian dishes ..so please accept the invitation u will feel
good eating both the types of food..dont feel shy u are already our guest ..since u are going to stay
at ss.boarding..so this is all part of Athtithi devo bhava** * and she smiled.
Buaji chided khanak slighlty saying in to her ears * khanak. ...bechara is jagah ke liye naya
hain isliye shayad dinner pur aane se sharma raha hain .. main bolthi hoon **
she said to shantanu lovingly ...
* Anant beta sharmao math..Is ko apna hi ghar samaj lo.. aur hamein apne
hi log samaj lo ...I can understand u must be feeling tired ...dont worry ..u can have coffee go and
place you luggage in your suite take some rest and come back for the dinner here.
.it is now only 6.p.m. If u wish we can have a late dinner at 10 p.m..Today is the first day of ur stay
so uncle and me wants u not to eat at the restaraunt but at our home..this is our request *.
Shantanu was so touched by the repeated requests nd genuinine invitations fof both the couple ..
he had always had formal restarunt dinners outside with natasha etc., except with mom ..Even
with mom too since he did not stay for long in India could not eat together with her most of the
time .
he preferred to get grocery himself from near by super market cook his own food when he was a
student ..
he used to cook sandwitches., and easy cookingdishes..
when he felt bored of his own cooking he used to go to any good Indian Restarunt or Italian
restaarunt and eat food as per the mood of the day
while eating at home he used to switch on his Tv and watch some sports channel or some car
race etc., and have his food ..that way he felt he had some one for company(namely tv channel).
he was happy at their invitation and just said * o.k as u please...but for now I will have a cup of
strong coffee *
khanak buaji and uncle were happy hearing this..
buaji said to khanak..** khanak go and help Trivedi ji to prepare some coffee and
also get some samosas ..and make it fast **
she said to shantanu* Anant beta please relax and if u wish u can refresh ur self..in the rest
room near by* .
Mr chavan was just standing at a near by distance..and said to shantanu..
* haan beta..come I will show the room ...just refresh urself and have a strong coffee ...u will feel
better fter all it has been a long hectic day for u out there*
Shantanu went along with Mr chavan to the rest room ...it was spacious with an attached Toilet
having both indian and western facilties and It was very neatly maintained..
Shantanu washed his hands feet and face... refreshed a litle by siting in the air condition r of
the attached room and then came back to the hall.
mr chavan was waiting there ..buaji had gone inside to over see the preparations..
..Mr chavan warmly smiled at shantanu and showed him the sofa ...Shantanu sat on that..
By that time he noticed that the lamp before **shri ganesh **was lit and a holy ambience was there in the hall..
Mr chavan asked Shantanu formal questions like ***where he is from ?what does he do? to
which Mr shantanu aka Mr.Anant answered the same as s he said to Khanak ..
Mr Chavan briefed him of his journey from a simple student to a successful hotelier and how they
married etc.,
By tht time Khanak and Buaji arrived with the coffee tray and also the plate full of hot samosas and green coriander chutney ..
Buaji asked khanak to prepare coffee for shantanu asking his requirements... Khanak obliged
her..prepared a good coffee and handed it over to shantanu .
and Buaji placed some samoas and chutney and handed it over to shantanu ..he ate a few ..with
great liking .
Then buaji asked *beta ..what would u like to have for dinner*
shantanu aka Anant said...* ji..some light gujrathi dishes... may be doklas and sabzi will
do ..and laughed and said already i have eaten samosas and all that *..
Buaji said **areh beta ..Aise kaise ho saktha hain.. U are too young ..u can eat much.dont worry
about ur weight ...u look fit ..I understand ..u dont want oily stuff ..i will ask the cook to prepare
accordingly and me too will make some special dishes for u which I bet u would not have tasted
before* .
Mr Chavan wantd to make the environment humourous so he said* Anant beta ..best of luck
seems like ..U are the scape goat ..today of her new fushion cooking..I saw that she was writing
down some new recipies today morning ..best wishes.****.and seeing that Mrs Alka was putting
a serious angry face at him said *I was just joking ... areh dont worry..it will be good ..after all she
is a graduate i in catering technology *
All of them laughed..Khanak did not talk much.. she had understood from her talks with shantanu
earlier tht he was not exposed to interactions with outsiders that much.. so she let Shantanu and
buaji/ uncle talk ...while she listened with laughter and smile in between..
After they had finished the coffee session an d when shantanu was about to leave..
Ankit/ Ananya entered with an excited shout **khanak didi...tum aa gayi..it ne der kyon laga di..u
know ..we saw the news and we were so worried **.
khanak also went forward and they all hugged..both of them hugging khanak tighlty from both
sides and kissing her simultaneously on both her cheeks .she too did the same ...forgetting
every one else was there around..
they all shouted *heyyy*.
Buaji turned to shantanu and said * ..Mr Anant these are our children ankit and Ananya*.
and asked ankit /Ananya to say *hello *to Anant uncle.
Khanak asked them to introduce themselves to shanatanu and they cooly came near shantanu .
Ananya said* Hi Anant uncle ..hello I am Ananya ** while ankit looked on with a smile and said*
hello uncle... I am Ankit* .
Mr chavan said in a little stern voice * areh yeh kya. mere introduction wont do ...U know Anant
uncle brought ur khanak did isafely home..so U need to hug and thank him too *.
On hearing that Anant had brought Khanak home safely they both without a second thought went
near shantanu hugged him tightly from both sides and said ...
* Anant uncle ...thanks a lot for bringing khanak didi home safely* .
Shanatnu was really little bit taken a back at this sudden hug and emotional* thank u* by
children..But he clearly understood the strong affection that existed between khanak and the two
children .
And he smiled and said
*** Hi Glad to meet u ..As u know I am Anant .u are most welcome for ur thank u..*
he asked them a few formal questions like *in which class they studied and school etc * .
they answered happily and after few minutes Shantanu thought it is time to leave..he told Mr
chavan that he needed to leave..
Mr chavan called on the Boarding house manager and asked him to personally look into the
arrangements of the suite booked in the name of Mr anant desai.he also gave his personal card
to shantanu asking to call him if he needed anything .
He reminded shantanu to come for the dinner after some hours ..
shantanu aka Anant smiled and said* yes I do remember it*
raghu dada smiled at shantanu when he was leaving. The entire chavan family and khanak
smiled warmly at him and came upto the gate and bid him *bye*..
shantanu was deeply touched by their real affection.
to be continued...