Hi Everyone! I am back with an OS. This is an elaboration of the scene from yesterday’s episode, where Raavi admires a laughing Shiva, and their thoughts at that time.
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“Arey, main toh sirf mazaak kar raha tha, tu toh sach mein dar gayi!” Shiva quipped as he burst into laughter. Raavi watched him in wonder. She had always known her husband of a few days as someone fiery, volatile and hot-tempered. Especially with her. The instances where he yelled at her, scolded her or fought with her were countless. Of course, she had also known that he had a side that was warm, caring and jovial. With his family -- his mother, brothers and his bhabhi. But never with her.
There was only one time in her life when Shiva had talked sweetly to her, praised her and even happily hugged her. And that was when she had worn Dhara’s saree and had cooked in his house's kitchen. The moment he had come to know that it was her and not Dhara, he had reverted back to his usual rude, boisterous self.
Raavi would be lying if she said she didn’t wish for a cordial, pleasant relationship with Shiva. After experiencing his affection and friendliness (even though it was meant for Dhara), she had wished for it even more. Raavi had secretly dreamed that she would become privy to this side of Shiva’s, once she too became his bhabhi. His vibrant, unbridled joy today as he laughed out loud in her presence had suddenly brought back all those memories. All those wishes she had had, when life was much simpler. She remembered how she had vowed to herself that she would make all efforts to build an amicable relationship with him. One where she would make him see her as a different person, separate from his hatred for his Maami. One where he would see her not as an extension of Maami. But simply as herself. As Raavi.
But those were things she had wished to have with her future brother-in-law, Shiva. Did she want this same warmth, comfort, ease and affection with her husband, Shiva? She didn’t know. Truth be told, she hadn’t allowed herself to think about it. The person in both the cases would be the same, and so would be her wishes. But there was something so much more special, personal and intimate about wishing such a relationship with her husband, her man.
And as if this onslaught of memories wasn’t enough, that black shirt that he was wearing with the top two buttons open revealing his toned chest was driving her crazy. This was another new thing about Shiva that she had discovered. The man she called bhoothnath, pishaach and chalte phirte kiraane ki dukaan was actually this attractive if he dressed in a nice shirt. Now, the fact that he was equally, if not more, irresistible even without a shirt was a different matter. She had seen (and drooled over, though she would never admit this to herself) his shirtless form once before. She knew he was hot.
Raavi automatically blushed at her inappropriate thoughts, as words like hot, desirable and irresistible made their appearance in her mind for Shiva. She frantically shook her head, hoping that these weird thoughts would go away. She couldn’t understand from where they had entered her brain. This was Shiva for God’s sake.
Her eyes helplessly darted once more to her handsome husband, who was still chuckling away without a care in the world, totally oblivious to her presence. She had never had a filter on her mouth when she spoke to Shiva. He was the one person with whom whatever she spoke came straight from her heart. Be it anger, taunts, smiles, hatred or tears. And this moment was no different.
“Tu haste huye bahut alag lagta hai!” The moment the thought entered her brain, it was out of her mouth.
Shiva’s head snapped up towards her sharply. He fixed his gaze on her, a mixture of disbelief, curiosity, surprise, and a teeny tiny bit of happiness. “Kya bola?” he asked, wanting to confirm that his ears were not playing tricks on him.
The slight smile on her face as she looked down, and the tinge of red dusting her cheeks gave him the answer he wanted.
He smiled smugly. He was just about to pull her closer to him and ask her to repeat herself again, when both of them heard a faint noise echo in the darkness around them.
Raavi yelped and instantly pushed herself into him, stumbling. Shiva shook his head with a smile at his scaredy-cat wife as he wound his arms around her. This was certainly a convenient situation for him!
Her face was hidden in his shoulder. He turned his head sideways, one arm still holding the candle away from them both, and the second holding her flush against him, and whispered, “Abhi abhi kya bola tune?”
“Kya-kya bola?”
“Abhi jab main hans raha tha, tune kuch bola. Kya tha woh?”
He was leaning against a pillar, with her pressed against him. Raavi took in a deep, shuddering breath. “Ki tu alag ... alag lag raha hai…” she breathed out softly.
“Alag matlab?” His warm breath was still flowing over her hair and ears. She trembled and clutched on to him tighter.
“Shiva…” she whispered.
“Alag bura ya phir alag...?” he was relentless as he stroked a strand of her hair behind her ear, his lips practically kissing her earlobe. The thin material of her kurta was no match for the heat of his palm on her waist, and his continuous caresses.
“Acha!” Raavi blurted out, answering him even before he completed his question and hid herself in his chest. She had never felt like this before with anyone, and especially with Shiva. With their proximity playing havoc with her brain, and all kinds of new sensations and reactions that she never even knew she was capable of overwhelming her, she clung to the only support she knew.
“Shivaaaaa” she breathed huskily.
Shiva took a deep breath to control himself from getting carried away, as he stared down at the girl in his arms. “Tu haste huye bahut alag lagta hai” she had said. Her soft eyes and that voice tinged with wonder, awe and admiration was still echoing in his ears. He had been blown away.
This girl in his arms was Raavi, the same Raavi he had known all his life, and yet so different.
This was the first she had ever talked to him like that. Heck, this was the first time she had ever looked at him like that. Or looked at anyone like that, for that matter. Including his brother, whom for some reason she thought she loved. Shiva snorted. The Raavi he had known had always been loud, animated and exuberant. But this Raavi was so soft, shy and sweet. The way she looked at him and the way she talked with him had made him feel connected with her on a personal level, for the first time after their marriage. It was like being cozily wrapped up in a snug blanket during a cold winter day, with a warm cup of hot chocolate in your hands. He found that he loved it.
He couldn’t help but think back to a scene that had occurred a few months ago. Raavi had barged into Pandya Store uninvited and unannounced as usual, to complete her daily ritual of meeting Dev. And like eighty percent of the times she came, Dev was missing, and the only people in the store were Shiva, Kaka and for a change, Krish.
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“SHIVAAA” Raavi sang as she sauntered into the store happily. Shiva recognized her voice immediately even without looking up. He rolled his eyes and gracefully ignoring her, continued with the work he was doing.
Krish however looked at her and raised an eyebrow. “Tu Shiva se mil ne aayi hai?” He asked.
“Nahi toh! Apne Dev se milne aayi hoon.”
“Ajeeb baat hai. Kehti toh tu yahi hai, lekin jab bhi dukaan mein ghusti hai toh Shiva ka naam hi pukaarti hai.” Krish remarked.
“Woh toh isliye kyunki mujhe pata hai ki Shiva hamesha yahin milega. Lekin Dev ka naam bulaakar kya faayda. Aadhe se zyaada waqt woh yahaan rehta hi nahi. Khaas kar jab main aati hoon tab toh woh milta hi nahi.” Raavi pouted sadly.
“Bechaara bada nazuk hai na, isliye. Tujh jaisi dayan ka saamna karne ki shakti nahi hai usme. Khoon choos dalegi na tu uska. Isliye tujhse jaan bachake bhaagta hai” Shiva piped in, finally deciding to bestow his presence upon their conversation. Krish snickered as Raavi glared at him.
"Acha? Ab har koi tujh jaisa pishaach toh nahi ho sakta, jo mujh jaisi daayan ko handle kar le." Raavi snapped indignantly.
Both Shiva and Raavi stared at each other.
"Tum dono ko samajh bhi aa raha hai ki kya bol rahe ho?" Krish asked with interest.
"Abey, tu chup kar!" Shiva rebuked him immediately.
“Jab bade baat kar rahe ho toh beech mein nahi bolte Krish..." Raavi began, when Krish suddenly let out a yelp from behind them. Both Raavi and Shiva turned towards his direction confused, and saw a huge figure approaching them, his face fully covered in white.
The three of them stared at each other in shock, before cracking up into peals of loud, raucous laughter.
“Kaka…” Shiva spluttered in between chuckles. “Ye kya haal bana rakha hai aapne. Aate ki Holi khel ke aaye ho?”
“Chup kar Shiva! Main aate ki bori utha raha tha jab galti se khul gayi aur saara mere upar gir gaya. Main ghar jaa raha hoon kapde badalne. Tu dukaan ka khayal rakh.” Kaka complained and left.
As Shiva, Raavi and Krish slid down onto the floor still guffawing loudly at Kaka’s hilarious appearance, Dev walked into the store, his hands on his ears.
“Yeh kya laga rakha tum logon ne? Machli market samajh rakha hai kya? Itne zor se kyun hans rahe ho? Bahaar ek kilometre door tak awaaz aa rahi hai tum logon ki. Zara shaant nahi reh sakte kya?” Dev said disapprovingly.
"Tere jaise maun vrat nahi rakh sakte bhai hum. Apne munh ka istemaal karte hain hum log." Shiva muttered in between chuckles.
As Shiva and Krish completely ignored Dev and continued cackling loudly, Raavi however, immediately put her hand on her mouth, trying to act all cutesy. “Main nahi, Dev. Main toh chup chap yahaan khadi thi. Ye dono zor zor se hans kar dukaan ka saara mahoul kharab kar rahe hain.”
Dev shook his head at them and went inside. Raavi ran behind him, trying to get him to talk to her.
Shiva eyed her retreating figure in distaste. “Abhi abhi apne khargosh waale pachaas daanth phadte huye hans rahi thi, aur Dev ke aate hi tevar badal diye apne?”
Krish laughed. “Ye koi nayi baat thodi na hai! Dev jab bhi aas paas hota hai yeh aisa hi toh karti hai.”
“Nautankiyon ki maharani hai ye” Shiva muttered. “Aur isko Dev se shaadi karni hai. Kya zindagi bhar hasi control karke rakhegi ye? Lagta hai Dev aur iski shaadi ke mandap pe hi isski hasi jal ke rakh ho jaayegi.”
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Shiva couldn’t help smirk at his thoughts, as he recollected the memories of their past. What an irony. Although the reasons for his thoughts back then were different, he had been absolutely right that Dev would be the reason for the loss of her laughter. And indeed he was. Raavi’s happiness, liveliness and mental peace had disappeared at the mandap of their marriage, and remained missing till date.
And this foolish girl had thought that she had loved Dev. He rolled his eyes. Love made you a better version of yourself, but what was left of Raavi after her ‘love’ was a hollow caricature of the youthful, bubbly and vivacious girl that she once was. He didn’t know what love was, but he did know what it wasn’t. And it sure as hell wasn’t what his wife had felt for his brother. He sighed deeply, wondering when she would realize that, and move on from her so-called past ‘love’, so that she could have some peace of mind. The fact that she was torturing herself by thinking about the past for no reason, and also facing taunts and insults from Dev’s immature wife on a regular basis, irritated him to no end.
But she was married to Shiva, and not to Dev. Yes, her laughter and her happiness was lost. But only temporarily. As he looked down at the girl in his arms, Shiva made a silent vow to himself.
Aaj tune meri hasi ki taareef ki hai, par khud hasna bhul gayi hai. Ab bahut ho gaya tera ye rona dhona, aur ye bekaar ke logon aur unke bekaar ke jhamelon mein khud ko uljhana. Ab tere phir se hasne ki baari hai, Raavi. Bahut jald teri hasi waapas aayegi. Main lekar aaunga use waapas.
THE END
Do let me know what you thought! Thank you for reading!
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