Snippets of the Past - ShiVi Drabble Series (Drabble 4: Page 12) - Page 8

.✧• Drabble 4 •✧.

[Scene inspiration - Shiva disguised as bangle-seller and making Raavi wear the bangles]

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It was the first day of Navratri, and like every year, this time the celebrations were grand, along with a new addition: a city-wide fair at the centre of Somnath City.

All the residents of Somnath had gathered to witness the new fair and addition to their festivities, dressed in their finest. From a distance, it appeared as if all the colours; red, yellow, orange, blue, purple in their various hues had united in the field and were dancing under the open starry sky.

Darshan Pandya was too busy taking care of the stocks of his store, since festival times called for more business and more sales. So he had sent his three young boys under the vigilant guidance of his first born.

But, being the absent minded person he is, Gautam, the eldest of four brothers, immediately busied himself in searching for Anita, the apparent love of his life, as soon as they reached the mela. And so the youngsters were left to enjoy themselves.

A few minutes later, Anita arrived holding her little sister's hand who was almost jumping and squealing with joy. It was after her endless nautanki and lots of fake-crying that her mausi had given in to her demands and handed her money to buy her favourite bangles. She had wanted a set of sparkly green bangles, just like her mother was wearing in the photo Raavi had. She even wore a light green frock so that it matched with the bangles. So, as soon as Anita got busy talking with Gautam, she sneakily took off.

Shiva was thoroughly bored within minutes. Not only were his other brothers being very boring, they were also dragging him to see the boring stuff too. Shiva had no interest in watching the merry-go-round or standing in long lines to get candy floss.

All he wanted was to go to the games section of the fair and do some dhiskhyaao dhiskyaao stuff. After all, he had been saving up for this very occasion. He helped his father with odd jobs around the house and in the shop. In reward, whatever pocket money he got, he kept away safely. To add to his woes and boredom, he couldn’t find Raavi too. He knew she wouldn’t give up on this occasion to stuff her mouth with jalebis and he definitely wanted to impress her with his rifling skills.

Suddenly, he noticed the girl who was running across his mind, right in front of his eyes. Quite literally, to add to it. She was running too fast and was about to crash into an elderly lady. Shiva immediately took off and grabbed her just in the nick of time, pulling her to the side along with him and apologising to the old lady.

"Gadhi. Akkal ki dushman!" Shiva yelled, and she frowned at him, looking over his shoulder. "Andhe jaise bhaag rahi hai, tujhe ya kisi aur ko lag jaati toh?"

"Toh kya? Doctor ke paas rote hue chali jaati!" She shrugged, shoving him aside. "Ab hatt, mujhe jaldi hai."

"Kaha?"

"Woh mujhe choodiyan khareedni hai, waha uss dukaan se." Raavi pointed at a shop a few steps away, and wriggled her wrist. "Chal tu bhi chal!"

"Arre par mujhe-"

Alas, Shiva had no choice but to follow his chipkali to the shop, which had various colourful bangles in the glass cases perched on the cycle-cart.

"Namaste Uncle." Raavi beamed, and took out the picture she had in her pocket, "Mujhe aisi green waali bangles chahiye. Aapke paas hai?"

While Shiva thought it was a very tacky colour and tried to think why she'd want such an obnoxious shade of green, the shopkeeper pointed to the single pair of green bangles that were left, and Raavi's eyes gleamed in joy! Those looked exactly like how her mother wore in the picture. She was about to ask the cost, when suddenly, Disha came there dragging her mom along.

Disha's mom enquired about the price of the same bangles, and immediately handed the shopkeeper two paper notes. Raavi could only watch helplessly, as the shopkeeper handed Disha's mom the change and the packet of green bangles she dreamt of buying.

Raavi looked at the money clumped in her palms, realising that she didn’t even have enough money to buy the bangles. Disha noticed her sad expressions, and gave an evil smirk to her, turning to speak to her while her mother shopped for earrings, "Tune choodiyan nahi khareedi Raavi? Oh, mai toh bhul gayi, tumhari toh mummy hi nahi hai bangles khareedke dene ke liye."

Raavi was heartbroken. Not only did she not get her much desired bangles, the taunt unleashed a plethora of emotions. Was she truly that unlucky? Would she never get what she wanted? Would God always try to take the people and things she loved away from her?

Shiva watched the whole exchange, and saw how the sparkle in his friend's eyes visibly dimmed as Disha walked away. He came closer to Raavi and took her pinky in his.

"Tu uss Disha ki baaton pe dhyaan mat de chipkali, woh chudail hai!" Shiva whispered in her ears, so that she could hear him over the sounds of the fair.

"Sahi toh bola hai Disha ne," Raavi looked at him with tears in her eyes, "Mere paas na meri mumma hai, na meri mumma jaisi bangles."

She showed him the picture he hadn't seen earlier, and started walking away from the shop, crying. Shiva looked at the picture and realised that she had wanted to buy bangles in the shade of her mother's wedding bangles.

In that moment, he decided that he had had enough. If there was one thing he hated, it was tears in his chipkali's eyes, real tears. Yes, he did make her cry sometimes, but he knew those were just crocodile tears because he would never hurt her, just irritate her. His best friend was the biggest nautanki and never failed to use that card gain his sympathy and attention with her nautanki. But this time, she was genuinely sad and hurt.

"Tu chal mere saath!" was the only warning Raavi got as she realised, the next thing that happened was her being dragged by an angry Shiva towards the bangles shop again.

As soon as he reached, he stood on his tiptoes and peeked over the counter to look at the shopkeeper in the eye. "Uncle, abhi abhi jo green choodiyan bechi aapne, same to same ek aur set dikhaaiye."

"Arre beta, woh toh khatam ho gaye hai." he replied. Shiva turned to look at his Raavi, and one look at the wobbling lips of his chipkali made the gears in his mind whir. "Aap phirse dekhiye na, hum aapko 10 rupaye zyaada denge."

Hearing this, Raavi's eyes widened and she tugged at Shiva's sleeves, whispering in his ears, "Gadheda, mere paas paise nahi hai choodiyan ke liye, aur tu zyada dene ki baat kar raha hai?"

Shiva gave her a side eye, mentally rolling his eyes instead. "Tujhe choodiyan chahiye ki nahi?" Raavi nodded her head slowly. "Toh phir aansu poch, apne paise mujhe de aur bas dekhti jaa."

The shopkeeper, eager to earn some extra money, started searching thoroughly and soon found a pair. Shiva picked up the packet and showed it to Raavi, her eyes brightening with joy, the bangles an exact replica of the ones her mother wore, even more perfect and dreamy than the last pair.

When she wasn't looking, Shiva slipped in some extra money from his pocket money so that they had enough money to buy the bangles. He handed him the promised money and took the bangles and made Raavi wear them one by one, each bangle causing her smile to widen and her eyes to shine brighter in happiness.

"Thank you, Shiva! Tu best hai!" Raavi giggled in glee, clinking her new bangles together and twirling under the twinkling lights, and Shiva smiled contently, seeing that she was finally happy. And together, they set off to search for their elder siblings. 

That night Shiva didn’t get to play as many rounds at the balloon shooting as he would have wanted to, but the thousand watt smile of the chipkali was a fair exchange for it.

Raavi grew up to become a beautiful woman. Soon, the small bangles didn’t fit her any more. However, she kept them away safely. She never stopped wearing colourful bangles. But, she never wore green bangles again as it reminded her of the best friend she lost when tragedy hit the Pandyas.

......

It had been 30 days.

30 days since she last saw Shiva. 29 days since she heard the news of his death. 28 days of people telling to accept his death and move on, get married again. 27 days of believing he was alive, and will come back to her, at least to irritate her, to tell her how much he loved her.

It was getting too much now. Her heart craved and ached for a single glance, a single touch of her Shiva. She missed him, his constant irritation, his soft touches and kisses, the way the bed dipped when he slept on his side. Their bed didn't feel the same without him. It felt empty. Just like her heart.

Raavi walked towards her cupboard and took out a small wooden box along with a photo frame. From it, she took out a set of shimmery, small green bangles and her eyes twinkled in nostalgia.

"Dekh Shiva," She spoke to the photo frame of Shiva, that she kept safely in her cupboard away from prying eyes. "Ye wahi green choodiyan hai na, jo tune mujhe uss din mele mein khareedke diye the? Maine abhi tak sambhal ke rakha hai."

Tears crinkled at the corner of her eyes as she waved the bangles in front of his frame, she had barely begun to speak and her voice choked, "Par dekh na, mujhe abhi fit nahi aati."

"Tu mujhe naye bangles khareedke nahi dega Shiva? Tu mujhe pyaar se woh bangles nahi pehnaayega? Tu apni biwi ke liye waapas pyaar se gift kabhi nahi laayega, Shiva?" Raavi cried bitterly, scattering the bangles on the bed and clutching Shiva's frame closer to her heart.

"Kya mai itni panauti hoon, ki Somnath ji ne tujhe mujhse alag kar diya? Mai jisse bhi pyaar karti hu, sab mujhse door ho jaate hai. Meri galti hai na? I'm sorry, I'm so sorry Shiva." She cried, her teardrops falling onto the glass as she kissed the frame.

"I miss you, bhoothnath. Please waapas aaja mere paas. Please. I promise," She wiped her tears against her sleeve, "I promise, tujhse kabhi nahi jhagdungi, tujhe kabhi nahi daatungi, roz pyaar karungi."

"Please aaja mere paas." She hugged the frame to her body, her tears staining her cheeks again. "Please, please, please!"

Raavi cried and cried, hugging the frame, which did not provide her the warmth she was seeking. Instead, the cold frame sent shivers down her skin, and she brushed away the lingering thought of her husband's death.

Nahi. Maine uski body nahi dekhi. Usko apne aankho se nahi dekha hai. Mera Shiva zinda hai. Woh zinda hai, aur woh mere paas aayega.

Raavi closed her eyes, remembering the smile on his face, the little scar on his nose, the way his hair fell against his forehead, the roughness of his hands against the softness of her palms.

She was reminded of the time they would play hide and seek, and it was always difficult to find Shiva because he was so good at hiding; he knew exactly where people would never look and hide right there until they gave up and he won.

Raavi sat up straight and wiped her tears. This was just another game of hide and seek, and she had to find Shiva. She was just distracted by the snakes in her house and neighbourhood that tried to convince her that her Shiva would not return to her. She kissed Shiva's photograph and promised to find him and bring him home.

Just then, she heard the call of a bangle seller outside her house, and her eyes drifted towards the small green bangles on her bed.

Agar Shiva yaha nahi hai, toh kya hua? Mai bangles khareedke roz pehnungi, aur samajh lungi ki mere bhoothnath ne mere liye pyaar se khareedke pehnaaya hai.

She wiped her tears, gathered the bangles in a newspaper, and rushed outside to catch the bangle-seller in time.

~~~

It had been 30 days.

30 days since Shiva got into the accident. 29 days since he's been injured. 28 days since he regained consciousness 27 days since he wanted to run away, but was unable to, until 2 days ago, from the forced marriage he wanted to escape.

Shiva limped while pushing the cart of bangles on the bicycle. He yearned for one look of chipkali, his heart ached to see his wife, to hold her and kiss her. He had told her he'd be back in a jiffy, and he just wanted to tell her he was okay, and that he loves her so much.

What he had to do with Jeevanlal, he would think later. But right now, he just needed to see his Raavi, or he would definitely lose his mind. Her smile, her tinkling laugh, the way she greeted him with a kiss on his birthday. He just needed her, she was the balance to his life.

So, he donned the disguise of a bangle-seller and reached the Pandya House, calling out in a distorted voice.

A while later, he saw three ladies step outside his house. Dhara Bhabhi, Rishita Bhabhi, and-

Shiva's heart cracked on seeing his Raavi in this condition. Dark circles under her eyes, the glow from her face disappeared, the twinkle in her eyes missing, instead, they were now red and swollen, which only meant she had been crying.

He missed her. He had missed her so much. All he wanted to do was hug her tight and tell her he would never leave her like this again. He wanted to tell her everything, but all odds were against him.

He remained distracted, just staring at his Raavi while he handed the bangles to his bhabhis without even looking at them, and when they had left, he turned towards her.

"Namaste." Raavi greeted him softly, and Shiva knew that a part of his chipkali was still in there, he hadn't lost her, watching her unwrap a newspaper packet.

"Aapke paas bilkul aise green choodiyan hai mere size mein?" She showed him the tiny bangles, and Shiva's eyes teared up at the fact that she had preserved those bangles.

Shiva looked at Raavi, she probably missed him just as much as he missed her. So while she looked expectedly at him, forwarding her wrist towards him, he took out a set of green bangles, and held her wrists, putting on the bangles one by one.

The moment his fingers grazed her skin, Raavi looked up in shock, her eyes misting over in realisation that it was her Shiva's touch. She looked carefully at the bearded man wearing the turban, and it was his eyes that gave it away. How she longed to see him, to touch him, to hold him. She had so many questions that were running in her mind, a mile a minute.

But the only thing that she was able to whisper was his name, "Shiva."

Shiva froze, muttered something about not being Shiva, and got on his cycle and tried to leave. Raavi ran behind him, tailing him wasn't difficult because the man had a leg injury which made him ride the cycle slower than normal.

What if it wasn't Shiva? What if she was wrong? What if she was so starved of his touch that she imagined it?

No. That was not possible. She knew her husband's touch better than anyone. And she was sure it was Shiva in that god-awful disguise trying to escape her.

Shiva just turned around the corner, looking over his shoulder, relieved that he had escaped Raavi, when he turned back in front and found her standing right in front of him, applying the brakes immediately coming to a stop.

She marched over to him and grabbed his hand, keeping it on her head. "Mere sarr ki kasam khaa, aur bol tu Shiva nahi hai, bol ki tune mujhse shaadi nahi ki hai, bol ki tune ye green choodiyan khareed ke nahi diye the mujhe. Bol!"

Tears crinkled in the corner of her eyes as she showed him the baby bangles, and he knew he was a lost cause, he couldn't bear to see his chipkali this hurt anymore.

So he grabbed her hand into the nearest alley, away from the crowd, and took off the turban and beard.

Raavi stood close to him, time passing as slowly as possible while she watched the turban and beard disappear, only to have her Shiva stand in front of her.

Alive, breathing and well.

"Shiva...." Raavi whispered, raising her hands to caress his beard, almost sure he would disappear and leave her with a figment of her imagination.

"Meri chipkali...." Shiva whispered, almost in tears, holding her palms over his cheek.

The dam of emotions broke through, as Raavi engulfed Shiva in a hug, crying and sobbing in happiness, all her feelings of the past month flowing through. It had been so long since she heard him call her chipkali, nothing ever sounded better.

Shiva wrapped his arms tightly around Raavi, tears spilling from his eyes onto her shoulders, pulling her as close as possible so that she doesn't disappear, holding her so tight, just like he wanted to all these days, and never let go.

There they stayed, in each other's embrace, the comfort zone they missed for long, not wanting to let go and just stay like that forever, wanting time to freeze around them.

"Kaha chala gaya tha tu?" Raavi cupped his face, not leaving a gap enough for him to let go of his arms around her waist. "Maine kitna miss kiya tujhe." She cried, as Shiva wiped her tears.

"I'm sorry, chipkali. I'm so sorry." Shiva kissed her forehead, causing her to sob some more and bury her face in his shoulder.

"Tujhe pata hai," Raavi sniffled, her arms tightening around Shiva neck, "Sab ne mujhse kaha ki tu.... Tu mujhe akela chod ke chala gaya Somnath ji ke paas."

"Par," She wiped her tears with the back of her hand, "Maine kisi ki baat nahi maani. Mujhe pata tha tu mere paas waapas aayega, bhoothnath."

"Meri bahadur chipkali." He chuckled, kissing her head. "Maine bohot yaad kiya tujhe, tere bina nahi reh sakta, Raavi. Shiva Pandya ki jaan hai tu."

Shiva cupped her face, his thumb tracing her now swollen eyes, "Royi thi tu?"

Raavi nodded no, before slightly nodding her head in yes, and Shiva kissed her both her eyes, before kissing her lips.

"I love you, Raavi." He blurted out, while she wiped away the wetness on his face. "Tujhe sab batana hai mujhe, kya hua, kyu gaayab tha, sab"

"Tu ghar kyu nahi aaya? Aur ye itni chot kaise aayi, Shiva? Tu theek hai?"

"Woh sab bataaunga, jaldi-"

"Tu raat ko kaha sota hai, Shiva?"

Raavi was worried. If he wasn't staying at home, where had he been sleeping all these days? God forbid her injured husband had to sleep out on the streets in the cold, all alone at night. But it looked like he had been hiding from everyone, and if he has been hiding, he would hide where no one would ever look. Just like when they were kids.

"Woh...."

"Maasi ke ghar ruka hai?"

Shiva's eyes widened at her guess, "Tujhe kaise pata?" He asked in disbelief.

Raavi pulled his nose and replied, "Tu bhul gaya kya bandar? Bachpan mein ek baar, jab tu 3rd class ke history test mein fail hoke, Darshan Kaka ke daant se bachne ke liye Maasi ke ghar chup gaya, toh maine hi tujhe waha se dhunda tha?"

"Aur phir tune hi mujhe bola tha ki, sab jaante hai Maasi ko tu kitna hate karta hai, koi tujhe waha dhundne nahi jayega?  Mujhe sab yaad hai." Raavi proudly said, showing her battisi to him, while Shiva thanked Somnath ji for his Raavi and caressed her cheeks overwhelmed with emotions.

"Maasi ko pata hai?"

"Unhe lagta hai mai bhoot hu."

Raavi and Shiva giggled at this, before her face got all serious and she wrapped her arms around his waist.

"I love you, Shiva." She said, getting all teary eyed again. "Itne din, tere bina, mere liye kitna mushkil tha. Roz meri ummeed tooti jaa rahi thi-"

"Tujhe lagta hai, mai tere bina reh paaya? Tujhe dekhne ke bahane ye choodiwala banke aaya tha, chipkali. Meri jaan hai tu." He hugged her tight, his heartbeat echoing in her ears.

Shiva didn't want to hide anymore. He has his chipkali, the only one who believed in him, who hoped for his return when everyone else had accepted it so easily, and she would be the only one who would get to know the truth of the last few torturous days. But it was getting late, and anyone who walked by would recognise him soon enough.

"Mujhse milne aayegi?" He whispered, and Raavi looked up at him, clueless.

"Raat ko. Mami ke ghar." Shiva caressed her cheek, "Abhi toh jaana hoga mujhe. Par mujhe sab batana hai tujhe, Raavi. Aur thodi si acchi patti bhi karaani hai, mulayam haatho se."

Raavi smiled, pressing his bruises slightly which made him wince.

"Mami ke ghar raatbhar ruk jaa chipkali, please. Ek raat, chain ki neend sona chahta hu tere saath." He pressed his forehead against hers, her arms wrapping around his neck and kissing his nose.

"Theek hai, mere bhootu."

"Raat ko milunga tujhse."

Shiva broke the hug, and smiled at her before leaving, unwilling to leave her after finding her after so long today, when he felt her arms around his torso, her cheeks against his back.

"Tu waapas mujhe akela nahi chodke jaayega na, Shiva?" Raavi asked, the fear in her voice evident.

Raavi was over the moon today, but watching Shiva leave again, like he did so many days ago, sparked the same fear all over again, a bubbling fear that something might happen to him again if she let him go.

"Kabhi bhi nahi. Waada hai tujhse, meri jaan." Shiva turned around and kissed her forehead, cheeks and lips, raising her wrists to his lips and kissing the bangles he made her wore.

"Bas kuch ghanto ki baat hai. Tab tak mujhe inn choodiyon se yaad kar lena."

Raavi nodded emotionally, putting on the fake beard and turban for him, as he wiped away the tears that wouldn't stop.

"Jaldi aana, chipkali. Tera intezaar karunga."

"Raat ka intezaar rahega,  bhoothnath."

And just like that, the once lost kids in the fair and until a few minutes ago, lost souls in Somnath, found the missing pieces to themselves, the green bangles watching their love blossom and tinkling away at every step of their story. 

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Going to take Sri's aesthetics and put them for all the drabbles now, it makes it look pretty <3