Situation: First Holi of SahAn. Angad has been observing Sahiba. He sees she doesn’t bother about jewelry, or clothes, and is rather happy being by herself in the store room.
Title inspired by:
Ho rang barse bheege chunarwali, rang barse
What is it with this girl? Was I actually wrong about her? She doesn’t seem to covet any luxury. All the jewelry she received, including the khandaani haar, she gave them to Mom the very next day after the wedding. She wears understated clothes, yet they do justice to her natural beauty.
She had decorated the storeroom. It is a reflection of her artistic flair. Whenever I pass by in the evening, there’s always tinkling laughter emanating from her room. Sometimes she’s doing some hair styling on Ekam, telling stories to Prince, or just joking with Veer. Today, Dad and Veer were both there cracking jokes.
Another thing that I noticed was that whoever came out from her room, they came out jovial. Even with the house help, she would approach them respectfully. They in return always addressed her with due respect as bahurani. She is agreeable to everyone except me. The only one she doesn’t allow is me inside her room. I guess her patience stops at me! I tried to step in her room previously and she promptly stopped me. It infuriates me that I can’t go in because that means I will go back on my words. But her room looks so inviting, as if it’s teasing me to come in. It’s my house, and yet she has restricted me. I hate this frustration.
Today is Holi, and we hold the “Hola Mohalla’ as well. We have a display of martial arts where I and Garry both participate. Veer participates in the singing competition, whereas Kiara goes for the dancing competition.
I had won the martial arts competition as usual, whereas Veer had won the singing competition. However, the upset this time was in gidda dancing. Instead of Kiara, Sahiba had won. She was spectacular. Every part of her body had such synergy. Even if one did not want to pay attention, the magnetism of her energy was such that it made you look.
Kiara was sulking in the background on her own loss. Sahiba didn’t create a fuss over her win, in fact it was on Veer’s insistence that she even participated. Otherwise, she had been busy ensuring all the arrangements were going smoothly. This time, Mom had given her the responsibility of the whole event. Mom wanted to assess how well Sahiba could carry out large responsibilities like these because afterall she was the eldest Brar bahu of her generation whether she likes to accept or not.
I saw she was busy with Prince and Ekam playing Holi. Suddenly, Veer came with a water gun, joked with her, “Parjai ji, competition bhi jeeti, and holi bhi sukhi sukhi. Yeh galat hai.” Saying this, he started spraying colored water on her. The background music playing was “Rang barse, bheenge chunar wali, rang barse”. She was completely oblivious of my presence, whereas I was just consumed by her. How I wanted to fill her maang with red color, just like how it was filled on Lohri. How much I wanted to hold her and color her in a secluded spot. I’d playfully color her under her kurta, and my hands would travel up, squeezing her. I’d have the right to touch her, feel how she reacts under my touch, and revel in it. Finally, I would seal our clandestine rendez-vous with a scorching kiss which would convey what I had begun to feel for her.
All guests praised Mom for the arrangements. In the meantime, Garry had bought me a thandai. Kiara soon joined as well. The thandai tasted slightly different (Garry has put bhaang). Garry ignored my concerns, and slowly both Kiara and he remarked how Sahiba thought she was better than us Brars. She always ignored me. This was it. My patience was done.
Soon, I saw she was headed inside. I followed her. Today, no one was stopping me from entering her room. She was taking out clothes to bathe and change. I coughed indicating my presence. Sahiba turned and looked at me questioningly “You?”.
“Yes, me. Why should it be surprising?” I asked in return, coming dangerously close to her.
Sensing that something was off, Sahiba asked “Why are you here? You have no business here.”
“You can not dictate to me what my business is Sahiba Monga Brar” I replied.
Sahiba turned her back to me, fearing the worst is yet to come, and tried to reason, “Look, people are still outside. You need to go.”
Saying that she turned to leave the room swiftly. I tried to stop her, but ended up tearing her kurta from the back. Her bra strap was visible. Her hidden skin contrasted against the Holi colors. I gulped, because I was clearly not in my senses. Sahiba turned around quickly horrified.
“I’m sorry, I didn't mean to” I said.
“Please, for Wahe Guru’s sake go from here.” Her eyes held tears and an unknown fear. A fear that I saw for the first time. It was the same fear that a prey has when coming face to face with its predator.
My head was getting dizzy, and I went to my room. I could hear her sobbing, and I wanted to shut that out. Eventually when I woke up the next morning, my head was still pounding. I began to wonder why my head would hurt so much after drinking thandai, unless it had bhaang in it. Now, this was my assumption. I could not accuse Garry without proof. I know that the Baweja clan despises Sahiba, but would he egg me on against Sahiba? Whether anyone wants to accept it or not, Sahiba was my legally wedded wife. She did not cheat me. I was fully aware of who I was marrying despite the circumstances at hand then.
When I went downstairs, I saw her room was open. She was not there. Perhaps she was outside with others. I checked the dining table, she wasn’t there. In the garden, I saw Bebe and Daarji joking, but I didn’t see her. Where was she?
“Are you looking for something puttar?” Bebe asked.
“Haan, uhm have you seen Sahiba?” I was a bit embarrassed while asking.
“Na puttar, I haven’t seen her. She generally wakes up early and does her pottery while talking to us at this time”.
Now, I am going into official panic mode. Sahiba was not in her room, nor in the garden. Where was she? I asked the security guards, and they told me, “Sir, Bahurani left yesterday evening, when everything wrapped up. She had an auto rickshaw pick her up. She also had a small carry-on luggage.”
I put my hand over my head. This was not good. She left the house. How could she? Where could she be? Her parents’ house or the gurdwara. Yes, I need to find her. Wait, did I do something to her while being intoxicated by bhaang? Crap, in that case, I need to have Veer with me as well. There would be no way she would listen to me then. Slowly images of her frightened eyes come back to my memory.
I quickly grabbed Veer by the arm, and asked him to come with me. He looked at me questioningly. When we got to my car, I told him Sahiba had been missing from home since last evening. He rightfully asked me why I would conclude that. Biting my ego, and explaining that security told me she left with a small luggage because perhaps under the influence of bhaang, I might have done something that prompted her to leave. Veer slapped his head, and asked how did bhaang come in the picture? When I said Garry’s name; Veer became livid. He wasn’t the only one. I’d wring Garry’s neck if I could. However first, I needed to get Sahiba back before anyone else could realize at home. This would be a fiasco that I wanted to prevent from happening.
Veer called Keerat on the pretext of Holi, and from what he could decipher, Sahiba hadn’t gone to her parents. Of course she wouldn’t. She barely had any namesake relations with her family after our dramatic marriage. She felt alone and abandoned after that.
We searched the gurudwara, and did not see her anywhere. Veer decided to track her phone. He used his phone, and the map led us to “Mongiyan Di Hatti”. Of course! Her shop. That was her sanctuary. She had immersed herself in work to pay off debts and shoulder Keerat’s responsibilities. I braced myself as we navigated there. This was not going to be easy, but I was prepared to even carry her Tarzan style if the situation demanded of me; and no one could stop a husband now could they? I smirked at that thought.
At the store she was putting colors onto a blank canvas. Could she add colors to my life as well? I sometimes thought.
“Ahem, ahem” I cleared my voice.
She turned and looked like a frightened deer, knowing what was to come. Her eyes were wide as saucers. Still attempting to be brave, she replied, “Yes”.
“Why are you here, and why did you not inform anyone?” I asked with arched brows.
“Well everyone was sleeping, so I didn’t want to disturb.” Sahiba quietly replied.
“Pray explain me why you left with your luggage last evening?” I asked getting more furious with her.
“I didn’t want to stay.” She looked down.
I swung right across the counter and got in her shop. She didn’t expect me to actually come inside her shop.
“This is only for staff” she really tried to shop me out with her pointed index finger. It was slightly childish to think of all that she’s capable of, she gave me that lame excuse.
“Really….well I’m the shop owner’s husband. Try me” I replied catching hold of her wrist not too strongly.
“Listen, zabardasti shaadi karne ka yeh matlab nahin hota ki tum mujh par zabar…” Sahiba became suddenly quiet seeing Veer looking at his Paaji and Parjai. Sahiba knew that whatever she was going to say wasn’t meant for an audience; it was to stay within the confines of her marriage as bizarre as it may be.
Angad figuring what she had meant to say, spoke, “Listen, someone had tampered with my thandai. I still have a hangover it seems. So please don’t be unreasonable. Whatever happened was because I wasn’t in full control”. Liar said his heart. When are you in control Angad whenever you come close to her? It takes every ounce of self control and discipline to not show your out of range hormones.
Sahiba was not buying his theory, but with Veer also vouching for Angad, she didn’t know what to do. It was impractical to live at the store. She wasn’t in her mind to think it out straight when she came here last night. Should she give him another chance? He did seem sincere.
Suddenly, other shopkeepers also came by to ask Sahiba if she was been harassed by goons, and if she needed any help. As much as she would have like to see Angad’s dhulayi, for irking her so much; she knew it was wrong.
“Oh ji nahin! Yeh toh mere bhai bhabhi hain.” Spoke Veer trying to salvage the situation.
“Sahiba, kya yeh sach hai?” The shopkeepers asked.
“Ji” She spoke giving glares to Angad who just had an ingenious idea pop in that hungover head of his.
“Naraaz vohti ko manane aaya hoon. Aur ab iski zidd ke aage main toh bas yehin kar sakta hoon” Angad lifted Sahiba bridal style.
There were whistles and hoots. The shopkeepers were happy seeing that a hard working girl like Sahiba was being treated like a queen by her husband.
Sahiba on the other hand couldn’t stop glaring at Angad who pretended to ignore her. “Will you let me down? I can walk perfectly fine.” She protested.
“Of course I know you can walk. That’s how you went out of the house in the first place.” He sat her down and actually buckled her on the front passenger seat.
“I’m not a child. I can do this myself”. She didn’t want to admit that his proximity bothered her. It bothered her when she thought of him randomly before their wedding as well. Then she was sure it was guilt of cheating someone on their feelings; but now she had seen many other facets of his personality, and hence wasn’t sure why his closeness bothered her.
Veer sat in the back, while Angad took the steering wheels. Sahiba was lost in her thoughts, as Veer kept going on and on about the many places they searched for her.
Once they reached Brar Mansion, Veer went ahead with Sahiba, while Angad stopped to speak with the security staff, “Discreetly, place this luggage back into Sahiba’s room. Going forward whenever she leaves, I need one of you to shadow her. Also, I need you to inform me where she’s going. Just make sure she doesn’t feel as if she’s being followed.”
Angad had reasoned with himself that Sahiba may think of his house as a golden cage for her, but he didn’t care. She was destined to spend her life in HIS golden cage or home, whatever she called it. He was dead set against entertaining thoughts of losing her ever again
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