Chapter One: In which Chakor and Suraj converse
Suraj couldn't help raising a brow as Chakor emerged after an hour long shower dressed in a simple pink Anarkali and chudidaar. The other brow shot up as she headed to the dressing table that Tejaswini had ensured was stocked with whatever thingamajigs women needed and picked up the little sindoor box.
He always had a flair for the dramatic. He schooled his features into a facade of mock surprise that masked his genuine astonishment and an alien jolt of warmth that disappeared as soon as he felt it.
"Arrey biwi, yeh kya? Khud hi apni maang bhar rahi ho? Agar Vivaan tumhe phir dekh kar baukhla gaya toh kya kahogi? Suraj ne sindoor ki dibiya humaare sar par phenk di...humne kuch nahin kiya!"
He mimicked her rather meanly.
You're a jerk,he thought to himself. But a funny one at least.
Chakor surveyed him calmly. She had mulled over her course of action in the privacy of the bathroom as the forceful jets of water cut off all external sound.
"Hum apne maai baapu se milne jaa rahein hain. Unhein accha nahin lagega agar woh humein bina sindoor mangalsutra ke dekhein."
He was a little disappointed. During the course of their interactions after her return to Aazadganj, he'd come to expect witty comebacks from a girl, no woman, as fiesty as Chakor. Although he hated her guts as a child, he observed her keenly. He was fascinated by her. She was about half his age then and always managed to drive his father crazy with her harebrained schemes directed in hopes of winning azaadi for the villagers.
Thirteen year old Suraj could not understand why his father took that slip of a girl seriously while he dismissed his own son as useless and a failure at everything in life. Of course by the time Chakor came into their lives, Suraj had long given up on trying to prove his mettle to his father.
He had been sent away to a prestigious boarding school on his father's insistence at the age of three. His very first memory was being wrenched away from his mother's embrace as she weeped and being pushed into a car seat. Although with time he had come to believe it was a false memory because he had never seen his mother cry except over her beloved husband.
Initially he did as he pleased. There were no grades or report cards in kindergarten so he had a pretty good time. He loved reading stories and making them up. He'd get up in front of the class and narrate tales. He'd do different voices for each character. He always tried imitating his papa's voice and mannerisms when he acted out the hero who always defeated the villain.
On his fifth birthday, his father surprised him by coming to visit him at school for the first time in two years. Tejaswini came almost every month and had accompanied her husband this time as well. They had a large shiny rectangular package for him. Suraj was so astounded by the fact that his father got him a gift he dropped the rather heavy object clumsily.
He still remembered the look of utter disdain on Kamal Narayan's face when his only son couldn't even hold on to a gun properly.
The late Kamal Narayan. In all the commotion the weddings had caused, the fact was yet to properly sink in that daddy dearest was no more. He made a mental note to call up the warden and pretend to be concerned so that he could receive the news officially.
Chakor wondered why he was becoming increasingly and abruptly silent. But she had neither the time nor desire to engage him in conversation. She made for the door in haste.
"Kahaan jaa rahi ho?"
"Bewaqoof hone ke saath saath behre bhi ho gaye ho kya? Ya yaaddasht umar ke saath kamzor ho gayi hai? Humne kaha tha na maai-bapu se milne jaa rahein hain."
"Accha ruko hum tumhein chhod aate hain."
The offer was unintentional. Just as he was about to recover from the faux pas with a snide remark about how the basti wasn't a safe place for Mrs. Suraj Rajvanshi, he noticed her beginning to panic. He could read her like a book by now. How he failed to figure out her bride swap plan much earlier baffled him. He blamed it on the seductive allure of the Raichands' wealth.
"Naahi naahi hum chali jaayi hai."
She slipped back into her basti dialect. His suspicions were confirmed. She was up to something. He knew she'd find a way to prevent him from tagging along. He'd have to do it without her knowledge then.
"Jaao phir. Humein kya? Koi patthar vagehra phenke ya kuwein mein dhakel de toh humein mat kehna. Yeh shaadi ke saare naatak ke baad haveli ke andar aur bahaar tum kisi ko kuch khaas pasand nahin ho."
Ouch. Harsh. Follow it up with a lascivious comment next.
"Sivaaye humaare. Tum kaho toh tumhe shopping le jaayein? Picchli baar ki lipstick shopping jo nahin ho paayi thi woh kar lenge."
"Picchli baar kyun nahin hui thi yaad hain na tumhe? Humaari nishaanebazi ko to tum jaante ho. Aur tumhaari bandook kahan rakhi hai yeh hum jaante hain. Toh apni bakwaas band karo tum."
Suraj-0. Chakor-1.
She turned triumphantly and walked out of the room. Suraj smirked and phoned Shikhu asking him to follow his bhaabhi and inform him of her whereabouts.
(Proceed to page 2 for chapter two!)
Edited by Aradh_27 - 9 years ago
