OS: ASR's Anger Management

Arnav threw his laptop bag on the bed and removed his coat which was propelled on the green couch. Loosening his tie, he called Hari Prakash as loud as possible until the latter came and gave him his coffee. Arnav gave him a piece of his mind for being late and becoming irresponsible day by day. Just at that moment, Khushi prompted Hari Prakash with an eye movement to leave the room, showing that she would take care of the situation.

"Arnavji, why are you shouting? Your voice could reach the kitchen" Khushi said.

"You know that I need my coffee after coming back from work and HP wasn't here yet!" Arnav revealed as a means of justification.

"I understand but it's not like he does that everyday! He's been busy making arrangements for the pooja that Nani and Di are attending!"

"I didn't know that…One minute Khushi, I've got a call!" Arnav said.

Khushi was leaving the room when he heard Arnav blasting Aman on his Bluetooth for office work. This is too much, Khushi thought, preparing herself to have a much needed talk with her short-tempered husband.

"Arnavji, we need to talk"

"Go ahead!" Arnav said working on his lappy.

Khushi banged his laptop, which soon resulted in a "What the" by Arnav.

"Exactly…What the…since the day I've met you, I have noticed that you are getting angry for every little single thing whether it is justified or not! How can you have such a short fuse?"

"What do you mean by short fuse? I get angry for valid reasons, when things are not well done and at people who are not efficient."

"Really? Everyday Hari Prakashji and Amanji have to bear your bad humour! This morning you shouted at Di because she was five minutes late at taking her medicines! You did not even spare Laxmiji when she came to our room! Poor thing is traumatised!"

"So what do you want me do?"

"I want you to control your anger! You really need anger management classes Arnavji?"

"So why don't you be my teacher Khushi?" Arnav asked with his signature smirk.

"Me, your teacher? Okay, I'll give you some tips. Nanheji has told you before that the biggest way to control one's anger is to take a deep breath in and then out! Come on, try it with me" Khushi said while showing Arnav the right gesture.

"You also need to think twice before you talk, else in a fit of anger, you have no idea to which extent you can hurt the person in front of you" Khushi added, reminiscing her bad memories when she faced Arnav's wrath in the past.

"Khushi, I know that sometimes, okay, most of the times, I am impulsive! It's because of this trait of mine that I hurt you!" Arnav paused and added while cupping Khushi's cheeks " So, I am ready to give it a try for you! Can you cheer up now?"

"Let's have a test then!"

"What? A test?"

"Yeah…for the rest of the day, I don't want to see an angry laad governor! Whatever happens, you have to show that you can control your fits of anger and keep your cool! If you succeed, then you can ask me for anything but if you don't, then…"

"Ok done! But for now, I have a meeting to attend! I need to go to office back for one hour"

"Arnavji, even if I am not with you, I will know if you are managing your anger or not! Don't forget that I am Khushi Kumari Gupta Singh Raizada and I do have spies in AR who will give me minute by minute details about you!"

"Is that a threat?" Arnav asked smilingly.

"No, just wanted you to know that I am keeping an eye on you!"

After an hour, Arnav was back while Khushi was speaking on the phone with Shuklaji who gave her the news that for the first time ever, he had witnessed his boss being calm and suppressing his anger despite situations in which he usually lashes out. Khushi found it weird that Arnav's anger management attempts were actually working, not that she didn't trust him but it was more of a miracle. She decided to add some more obstacles in his way to have the guarantee that Arnav was paying heed to her tips.

When he rushed back to his room, Arnav was dumbfounded to see numerous of his plant pots being tampered with, and he was on the verge of shouting when he just closed his eyes for some seconds. Khushi noticed that he had regained his composure, and asked:

"You are not angry that your plants are all messed up? You won't even ask who did that?"

"Khushi, weren't you the one to have told me not to get angry? And it must have been an accident, so it's okay!"

Khushi opened her eyes wide in disbelief at this new and calm Arnav. Maybe breathing in and out really works, she thought, before deciding to investigate further. Few minutes later, Khushi suddenly heard a "What the" in the living room and she frantically rushed to see what had happened. NK had accidentally bumped into Arnav, resulting in his pile of files scattering all over the floor.

"NK, can't you see where you walk…."Arnav started to say when he closed his eyes again and added "It's fine…Hari Prakash, please clean this mess!"

Khushi smiled at the sight of Arnav controlling his anger. For the rest of the day, not once did she hear Arnav shout at anyone and murmured to herself:

"Amanji must be so relieved that his laad governor boss did not shout at all for the past hours. Even everyone at home must be happy"

At night, Arnav was reading a file when Khushi approached him:

"Thank you Arnavji for attempting to control your anger! It's for your own good that I told you that….getting angry is not bad but the way you lash out sometimes is scary!"

"Don't thank me Khushi…I should be the one thanking you!"

"For giving you tips about how not to get angry?…it was Nanheji's idea of taking a deep breath!"

"It's not that tip that helps me keep my cool!"

"Then what?"

"Whenever it happens that I start to get angry, I just close my eyes"

"You close your eyes?"

"I close my eyes and I imagine you in front of me! A smiling Khushi! Tell me how can my anger persist then!"

Khushi's cheeks reddened hearing these words, and she further blushed when Arnav told her:

"You know Khushi, Di was thinking of names for her child! Don't you think we should also start looking for ours?"

"I already thought of this!"

"Really?"

"If it is a boy, then he will be named Aloo Kumar and if it's a girl, then Puri Kumari! What say?"

"What? Are you serious?"

"Control Arnavji…you need to control your anger!" Khushi said bursting into a giggle.

Arnav pulled Khushi by the waist and whispered in her ear:

"Khushi, you told me that I could ask you for anything if I was successful and I won the bet! So, I'll decide the name of our two children!"

"Two children?"

"Yep, one boy just like me and one princess just like you! Ashar and Asmara!"

Khushi hugged Arnav as tightly as possible, as a sign of approval to the names that he had suggested and they were all ready to make sure that their dreams come true.