IshRa TS - Meant to be

IshRa TS - Meant To Be

Part One

His day had been so bad, his head was splitting. The rebuke from the board of directors and investors, the constant questions from the media.. The only thing that helped him pull through it all was the memory of the absolute joy on her face when she shared the news that she'd gotten her license back. The memory of that moment had been the single guiding light in the dark storm that surrounded him.. Just like she'd brought peace and light into the tumultuous darkness of his life. Raman let out a deep sigh as he entered their bedroom. She was busy folding clothes and was unaware of his presence so he took the moment to simply gaze at her. She was draped in yet another Kanjeevaram saree. Though he kept telling her to stop looking so Madrasi and become more of a Punjabi, he had to admit that she looked absolutely gorgeous in her Kanjeevaram sarees. Elegant, beautiful, angelic, pure, untouched..

"Aap kab aaye?" she asked noticing him standing at the doorway seemingly lost in thought. "Abhi.." he said walking in. "Aap baithiye main aap ke liye chai lekar aathi hoon," she said as she headed out. "Ek minute ruko," he stopped her and handed her the bag in his hand. "Yeh kya hai?" she asked curiously. "Tumhare liye hai.. Khol ke dekh lo.." he said, waiting to see that beautiful smile of hers again when she saw the surprise he had for her. Ishita took out the box from the bag and opened in carefully. "Yeh saree? Yeh tho.." she said looking confused. "Subah tumhe pasand aayi thi na? Aur price tag dekhke chhod diya. Maine notice kiya," he said, waiting to hear her words of praise and exclamation of joy. "Arey lekin iski kya zaroorath thi? Subah ek saree already gift ki hai na tho phir? Aur wo bhi itni mehengi saree?" she continued, remembering how expensive this saree was. "What's your problem huh? I noticed you liked the saree but you kept it aside because of the price. Can't you be happy that I am gifting you such an expensive saree? And then you claim that men are insensitive!" he retorted. He was expecting her to be happy to get the saree she liked but she was acting all weird instead. Good Lord! What on earth did a man have to do to make a woman happy? He thought. "When did I say anything like that. I was just saying that there was no need for such an "expensive" saree, since you've been stressing on how expensive it is," she replied hurt. For once, couldn't he be nice about something? She thought. "When did I stress on how expensive it was? What.." Raman was cut off midsentence by his mom.

"Oye! Khothe da puttar. Akal hai bhi tujhe ya nahi? Aaj ke din bhi tu isse jhagda kar raha hai? Bechari ne subah se bhooki pyaasi rehkar tere liye vrat rakha hai aur tu hai ki.." Toshiji yelled at him. "Oh God! Not this vrat ka natak again," Raman muttered to himself. "And you Ishita, why are you standing here and listening to his nonsense? I know you asked me not to tell him but at least now you can tell him that you've been fasting since morning.. That you haven't had a single drop of water even since morning!" Toshiji scolded Ishita. Raman turned towards Ishita at that. Had she really? He barely had time to finish his thought before his mom started yelling at him again. "Waise tujhe ho kya gaya hai huh? Pehle Papa pe gussa ho raha tha phir ispe.. Koi problem hai tho seedhe seedhe batha na.." she yelled at him. Raman did not respond and simply looked away. Getting no response from him, Toshiji turned to Ishita again. "Ishita puttar tu jaldi se chhat pe aa ja. Chaand nikal aaya hai, apna vrat khol le varna aisa na ho ki chaand kahin baadal mein chhup jaaye aur tujhe bhooke pet hi soona pade aaj," saying that his mom stormed off. Ishita gave him a look that cleary indicated she was upset with him and hurried behind his mom. "Suno.." he called out to her receding form but she didn't stop. "Suno.." he tried again but she was gone. He had half a mind to follow her but decided against it. Gosh! Why was it that they couldn't have a normal conversation under normal circumstances without arguing? Even now, when they didn't even hate each other anymore?

***

"You actually fasted without eating or drinking anything the whole day.. For me?" he felt like an ass even asking her that question. The answer was written all over her face, in her eyes. He didn't need to hear her say it. Even before he asked her, he realized that somewhere deep in his heart, he already knew that she had religiously fasted all day long.. For him.. The way she looked at him.. Oh God! Those eyes.. They spoke so much even when she didn't utter a single word.. A lump formed somewhere in his throat and he fought down an overwhelming urge to take her in his arms and just hug her tight. His mom came to his rescue before he made a fool of himself. She instructed Ishita what to do step by step. Ishita lit the diya in her thaali and held up her sieve to the moon. The faint golden glow of the diya illuminated her face. She looked almost divine. Raman stole a glance at the bright full moon in the sky. It came nowhere close to the warm, angelic beauty of her face. She slowly lowered the sieve toward him and raised her downcast eyes to look at him. It was a heart stopping moment for Raman. He would never be able to put into words what he saw in her eyes in that moment. Was it devotion? Was it care? Was it trust? Was it respect? Was it.. He dared to hope.. Was it love? He did not know. Maybe he would never know. But he knew that this moment, this image of hers would be etched in his memory forever. She did his aarti and bent to touch his feet. He stopped her midway and shook his head but she touched his feet anyways. He made her drink water and bite into the sweet. They didn't say a word all this while but it felt as if a lot or maybe everything between them had changed.. Forever.. As his mom and Amma hugged her and blessed her for successfully keeping the vrath, Raman quietly walked away.

**

Even as she was enveloped in a warm hug by Mummyji and Amma, Ishita's eyes were fixed on Raman and she saw him walking away. Maybe he was still upset with her because of the saree incident. He was right. She shouldn't have criticized him. Despite all the tension that he was in, he'd been thoughtful enough to buy her the saree she'd liked. She shouldn't have made a big deal about the price. She decided she'd apologize to him as she followed Mummyji back home. "Ishita puttar, tho jaake fresh ho ja. Main tere liye khaana laga dethi hoon tab thak. Bahut bhook lagi hogi na?" Toshiji said cupping Ishita's cheek with her hand as soon as they entered the house. "Ji Mummyji," Ishita replied and went into her room.

When she entered their room, Ishita was surprised. Raman was standing by the window looking outside. She'd thought he'd be asleep already or back at work. Was he waiting for her? As if on cue, he turned around. Their eyes met but they didn't say anything. Raman slowly walked up to her and held out his hand. Ishita looked at him questioningly. "Aao," he said simply. She placed her hand in his and he led her towards the couch and sat her down. He sat down next to her and reached for something on the table. That's when Ishita noticed the plate of food on the table. Without saying a word, he started feeding her. Ishita felt hot tears stinging the corners of her eyes. The care and affection he was showering on her touched not just her heart but her soul too. "I'm sorry," she said in a choked voice. He looked up at her. "I shouldn't have criticized you about the saree. Its beautiful. Thank you so much," she said smiling. Raman smiled at her. "I am sorry. I shouldn't have flipped out on you like that. You've been fasting for me all day and I.. I yelled at you. Sorry," he replied. "Its alright," she said. He was feeding her another bite when she held his hand and stopped him. "Aapne khaya?" she asked. Raman shook his head, "baad mein kha loonga." Ishita reached for the plate and fed him. Raman ate from her hands without any argument.

Toshiji stood at their doorway watching them unknown to them. She'd come to see why Ishita was taking so long to come have food. Watching them feed each other, Toshiji felt her heart fill up. Just then, Romi came in. He was about to call out Bhabhi when Toshiji stopped him and made him see the scene unfolding in front of them. Both Toshiji and Romy had contented smiles on their faces as they watched Raman and Ishita feeding each other in silence.

********

P.S - Scroll down for part two.