OS: I want to speak to Ananya! part 2 on pg 6 - Page 4

That late evening, Ananya, balancing a casserole in her hand, rang the bell of the apartment which was soon to going to be her favourite dwelling place.

Priyanka opened the door and rolled her eyes at the sight of the casserole.

"Yeh Anuraag baba...aaj bhi aapse farmaish? Please come in..."

Ananya smiled broadly as she made herself comfortable in the living area.

"Uska haq banta hain..."

"Aa gayi Ananya Didi? Aur mere Aloo ke paranthe?" His enquiry earned him a whack on his head by Kabir, who had wheeled him from the kitchen.

"Didi dekhona...mujhe maar rahe hain. Ab maine aisa kya kaha?"

"Kabir Sir! Chhote bachcho pe haath uthana not allowed! At least in the presence of Ms Kashyap!"

Anuraag pouted.

"Aur main mummy ko message kar raha houn ki inhone mujhe maara. Didi, you are a witness. OK?"

Ananya high fived him.

Kabir paled at the naked threat. What if Tarini came to know all this? Would she spill the beans to Ananya? He went on his knees, pinching his earlobes, the day he had done on Anuraag's birthday.

"Ok, Anuraag...Sorry! Phir se aisi galti nahi hogi..."

"Sorry se kuchh nahi hoga. You have to compensate!"

"Ok Boss. What do you want me to do?" Kabir tried not to look at Ananya. He really tried, but then she guffawed out aloud when Anuraag turned to her with a serious frown.

"So...Didi, bolo. Inse kya karwana hain?"

Ananya rubbed her hands in glee. "Hmmm...theek hain, Aaj Priyanka ki chhutti. Aur khana yeh banayenge!"

Kabir rolled his eyes. Yeh Ananya bhi na...main office ka khadoos boss houn isiliye badla le rahi hain!

"But folks mujhe sirf Egg Burji aati hain. Chalegi?"

"Nahi chalegi! Nahi chalegi! I want Kadhi Chawl! Kadhi Chawl! Yayyyay!" Anuraag chirped from his chair. Kabir rolled his eyes, secretly dreading a squint if things continued this way. What if his eye muscles just lost their tone?

"Theek Hain, Kabir Sir, Fridge main se dahi nikaloon? Aur yeh adrak yahan..."

Priyanka offered to help and Anuraag retorted sharply.

"Priyanka Didi, Aaj aapki chhutti...Kabir Uncle aaj cook karenge. Yeh unka promise hain!"

Priyanka felt like caught between the rocks and high sea. She caught Kabir's eye.

The nod of assent was quite imperceptible.

"OK, Sir...let me know if you need anything. Else I will be here tomorrow at the regular time..."

Kabir sighed inwardly as the front door banged shut. Now to work! He quickly surfed the net and got the recipe for Kadhi chawal.

OK, Kabir beta, chalo kaam pe lag jao...He muttered to himself as he quickly sorted out the ingredients.

2 cups of sour curds, 2 tbsp of besan, a little ginger, green chillies...

"Sir, Shall I help you?" Ananya giggled from her perch. Kabir was anyway looking forward to some such intervention.

"Yes, please Ms Kashyap. Please help me, I have never made this recipe earlier!"

Neither have I!

Kabir looked at her in sheer incredulance.

But then...I thought you knew some bit of cooking at least!

Sir..believe me. I only know how to cook maggi and rice. And of course, tea, coffee and Omlette!

Anuraag smacked his palm to his forehead.

Now that we know the individual capabilities, can we just go ahead? I am hungry!

Kabir sheepishly went back to the laptop.

"OK, Ananya, just grate that piece of ginger and whisk the curd...I will soak the rice..."

"Done sir!" She replied after a while.

"Give me that kadhai...not that. The bigger one!"

"Ok Sir!"

"Put some oil..." Ananya poured oil from the can and Kabir was scandalized at the amount. "Not that much. Otherwise...I am sure to bulge out!"

"No problem Sir...You have plenty of scope in that direction! See this..." Ananya crept up to him and pinched him at the waist. And all she could grab was skin and some bit of hard muscle.

"Ouch! Ms Kashyap, yeh aap kya kar rahi hai?" Kabir was scandalized as he twisted under the impact of her sharp nails, "aur wo bhi sab ke samne..."

"maine kuchh nahi dekha.." Anuraag barely glanced up from his game.

"Sir...main sirf itna kehna chahti thi ki...Besan kitna?" She suddenly thrust her hand to his face, holding a fistful of besan. He stepped back in alarm.

"Not that much, only 2 tablespoons...this much..." he took the requisite amount in his hand and addressed the burning issue of the day. "Aur aap mujhse thoda door rehkar baat nahi kar sakti kya?"

"Theek hain..." Ananya put the remaining amount back and dusted her hands resulting in a mini cloud of besan flour.

Acchooo! Kabir suddenly sneezed.

"Bless you!" Anuraag giggled, "Ab handkerchief na ho to Ms Kashyap ki chunni se kaam chala lijiye!"

Kabir glared at the boy as Ananya coyly offered her dupatta.

It was the second instance of him getting scandalized that day. What was this girl upto? Flirting?

"No thanks, Ms Kashyap!" He wiped his nose with the back of his hand, the result of which was a liberal smear of besan across his cheek.

Ananya burst out laughing at the sight and Kabir glared at her at the nth time that day.

"Whats so funny?"

"Look at you, Sir...what a spectacular sight!" Ananya reached out for her mobile as a brainwave struck her, "I am sure Khalid will enjoy this sight...so smile!"

"NO!" The mere thought of Khalid snickering shook him out of his complacence. "Ms Kashyap, don't you dare!"

He lunged forward to whisk the mobile from her hand and the result was quite hilarious. She stepped back and overbalanced heavily over the sofa. Kabir's onward momentum carried him forward undeterred and he landed on top of her.

There was silence for a long time after that as the two lover birds continued to gaze at each other from a distance of a few inches.

The whistle of the pressure cooker broke their solitude and they hastily disentangled themselves.

"Maine kuchh nahi dekha...Lage raho Kabir Uncle!" Anuraag murmured from his wheelchair, trying hard to suppress his giggles.

"Are you Ok, Ms Kashyap?" kabir helped her to the feet and she nodded, putting herself in order.

Kabir suddenly burst out laughing.

"Whats the matter?" Now it was Ananya's turn to get mortified. Because unknowningly some of the besan flour from Kabir's face had rubbed itself on her.

Ananya pouted heavily and then went on to dust herself free. Kabir glanced at her lovingly.

"Aise speed se chalta raha to main bhooka hi rahunga..." Anuraag's mumbling words brought them back to the task in hand.

"Mere aloo paranthe haina!"

"Ananya Didi, aren't you forgetting something"?

"What?"

"When you unbalanced and fell backwards, you toppled the casserole! the paranthe are gone"!

"What?"

Anuraag continued relentlessly.

"And have a look around in the kitchen. What a mess!"

All three burst laughing. The kitchen resembled a battle ground with splashes of besan, oil and rice. Not to say the pieces of aloo parantha that dotted the place like wounded cavalry. Kabir cleared his throat.

"OK...lets go for pizza. What say?"

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