Okay, so I had this idea as a little headcanon, but then it grew into it's own little standalone story. I thought I'd share it here! Let me know what you think!
Am I Boring?
“Kuhu, you know how much I hate parties,” Kunal groaned as Kuhu pulled him along with her up the red-carpeted stairs into the banquet hall.
“Arey baba, kuch hi ghanton ki toh baat hai! I promise, uske baat we’ll leave,” Kuhu said chirpily, a smile adorning her face. They had come to the wedding reception of one of Kuhu and Mishti’s best friends from college. Kunal had not been intent on going, but since Abir had joined Mishti, he figured that it would be unfair of him to not accompany Kuhu.
The four entered the banquet hall and immediately, several women made a beeline for Kuhu, gushing over her periwinkle blue dress, her hair, her shoes, and everything in between. As the small crowd carried her away, Mishti turned to face Kunal and Abir.
“See? I wasn’t lying when I said that she was the most popular girl in college,” Mishti huffed, with an air of slight indignation.
“Oh, but you’re the most popular girl in my life,” Abir said in a valiant attempt to lift her spirits up. Mishti rolled her eyes and shook her head, turning on her heel to follow Kuhu.
Kunal sighed and looked at Abir. “Bar?”
Abir chuckled. “To the bar we go!”
As the party slogged on, Kunal and Abir sat at the bar, quietly drinking (soda, though, because they had to make the drive back home safely), while their two wives animatedly talked to their gaggle of friends.
“Remind me again, why did we say yes to coming to this?” Kunal asked Abir boredly, sipping his drink.
“Because of this,” Abir motioned over to Kuhu and Mishti with his head. The two girls were laughing their heads off, clearly having the time of their lives. Kunal’s eyes automatically focused in on Kuhu. Her cheeks were slightly flushed from laughing, causing her face to glow softly in the dim light of the hall. As Kunal watched her adoringly, excitement gleamed like little rays of sunlight in her light brown eyes as she chattered away. She made eye contact with him, smiled, and walked over to him.
“Kunal, chalo. I wanna introduce you to my friends!” Kuhu insisted, taking his hand. He allowed himself to be pulled along by her, smiling at the warmth of her hand in his.
“This is Samaira, Shonali, Kavya, Jai, and Rocky,” Kuhu introduced her friends in the circle, while Kunal shook hands with each of them. “Guys, yeh hai mera husband, Kunal.”
“OMG Kunal, Kuhu abhi abhi tumhare baare mein baat kar rahi thi!” Kavya exclaimed.
“Oh yeah? All good things I hope?” Kunal chuckled.
“Of course, yaar! What else?” Rocky said in his booming voice. Mishti and Abir came to join the circle. Shonali looked Mishti up and down and smirked.
“Mishti, you haven’t changed at all! Abhi bhi waisi ki waisi, short and out of style, behenji type ki ho tum, nahin?” Shonali laughed.
Mishti grew red at this and was about to say something, but before she could, Kuhu came to her defense.
“Aw, Shonali! You haven’t changed either! Abhi bhi waisi ki waisi, self-obsessed and fake, chudail type ki ho tum, nahin?” Kuhu said in an overly saccharine, borderline menacing tone.
Shonali bristled, and with a little “hmph!”, left the group. Everyone burst out laughing immediately after.
“Waise Kunal, I don’t know if you know, but Kuhu college mein bhi aisi hi thi. Bilkul bindass, loud, and fun. Jo baat mann mein aaya, seedha muh pe aata tha uska. No filter at all!” Jai chortled, sipping his drink.
“Haan! Humne hamesha se socha that that she’ll end up with a bad boy, like the biker, wears leather jackets, parties all the time type. But usne hum sabko itna surprise kiya, because you look like such a down to earth guy!” Kavya exclaimed, wrapping her arm around Kuhu’s shoulders.
Kunal smiled awkwardly, and as the friends kept talking and laughing, he went back to the bar with Abir.
“Usne aisa kyun kaha, that main bohot hi down-to-earth lagta hoon?” Kunal asked himself confusedly, unaware that he was talking out loud.
Abir chuckled. “You know what that’s code for, right?”
Kunal look at Abir with a puzzled expression. Abir snorted. “Nanko, aaj kal yeh ‘down-to-earth ladka’ code word hota hai, ‘boring ladka’ ke liye.”
Kunal was shocked. “What? Really?”
Abir laughed. “Haan, yaar!”
“But main… main boring nahin hoon! Right?” Kunal said indignantly, desperately seeking validation of this from his brother.
“Nanko, tum boring hi paida hua tha. Oops, sorry, I mean down-to-earth!” Abir laughed harder.
“Bhai, mera mazaak mat udaao, please!” Kunal groaned, pretending to brush it off. But a small part of him bothered him. If he was really as boring as everyone said he was, then why would a girl like Kuhu even be with him? Did she even like him?
As the night came to a close, the four bid adieu to the other guests and left. Since the two couples had come in separate cars, they parted ways. As Kunal drove in silence, Kuhu talked endlessly about the party.
“Ugh, that Shonali was such a #FemaleDoggy. College mein sirf tolerate karti thi, kyunki bechari ke paas aur koi doston nahin the. But she doesn’t have to become a freaking Regina George about everything. Tumne dekha na, kaise woh Mishti se baat kar rahi thi? And before you say, ‘Kuhu, tum bhi Mishti ko bohot sunate ho’, woh baat completely alag hai. Main—“ Kuhu stopped chattering at the speed of light to look at her husband, wondering why he hadn’t interjected this whole time.
“Kunal? Tum sun rahe ho, na?” Kuhu asked him, putting a hand on his arm.
Kunal jolted out of his trance. “Huh? Oh, yeah.”
Kuhu sighed. “Waise toh tum hamesha #SilentMode mein rehte ho, lekin aaj kaafi zyaada silent ho. Kya baat hai? Koi pareshaani?”
Kunal was silent for a few seconds, then suddenly pulled the car over on the side of the road and stopped. He turned to face Kuhu.
“Kuhu, am I boring?” Kunal asked her.
“What?”
“Kya main tumhe boring lagta hoon?”
Kuhu looked at him, puzzled. “Tum… aise kyun pooch rahe ho?”
“Just answer the question,” Kunal said, anguished.
Kuhu stared at him for a second, then burst out laughing.
“Arey yaar, tum bhi shuru ho gayi!” Kunal said, his face falling.
“Lekin aise kisne kaha tumse? Ki tum boring ho?” Kuhu asked, noticing his disappointment.
Kunal looked at her, helplessly. “Woh…”
“Abir bhai ne, right?”
“Haan, lekin usse pehle…” Kunal narrated the event to her, how Kavya had told him that he seemed really down to earth, but Abir had said that it was just code for boring.
Kuhu put her chin in her palm and rested her elbow on the armrest. “Hmmm… Problem thoda serious hai.”
Kunal looked at her, annoyed. Here, he had been pouring his frustrations out to her, and she was mocking him for it. He was about to open his mouth to retort, but Kuhu got out of the car. She beckoned him. “Come on.”
Kuhu leaned against the side of the car, and Kunal walked around the car to join her. The two of them stood in silence, breathing in the cool night air, enjoying the silence. Kuhu finally broke the silence.
“Do you think you’re boring?”
Kunal stood up a little taller. “I’m not. At least, I don’t think I am. Am I?”
“That’s not an answer,” Kuhu sighed. “Okay, fine. What do you love to do? What could you never get bored of doing? What is your passion?”
“Mera kaam, of course. Oh, and family ke saath time spend karna,” Kunal said. “But I guess that’s what makes me boring, right?”
“Okay. So apne kaam ke baare mein batao. What do you love about it?” Kuhu prodded him.
“I love business. The negotiations, market analysis, giving presentations, marketing and advertising strategy, sab kuch. Tumhe pata hai, jo deal maine pichle hafte crack kiya tha? The negotiations took forever, but finally I worked it out. The deal I structured was really out-of-the-box. Even Maa and the client were impressed!” Kunal said animatedly, his eyes sparkling.
Kuhu looked at him, a shadow of a smile on her face. “Aur family ke baare mein? What do you love about spending time with family?”
“Kahan se shuru karoon? Ketu aur Maamu ke saath Ludo khelna, Nanu aur Bhai ke saath hasna, Maami ke bak bak sunna, sab kuch achha lagta hai mujhe,” Kunal said fondly.
Kuhu gazed at him, lost. Kunal looked at her, wondering why she wasn’t saying anything. “Kya?”
Kuhu snapped out of her reverie and shook her head. “Kuch nahin.”
“Nahin. Kuch toh baat hai.”
Kuhu thought for a minute and then spoke. “Kunal, tumhe lagta hai ki tumne jo kuch bhi kaha abhi, usme se koi bhi baat boring thi?”
“Nahin. Lekin dusron ke liye boring lag sakti hai.”
Kuhu chuckled. “Kunal, with that mindset, everyone would be the same. They would all like the same things. Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.”
Kunal looked at her, surprised. “You read Emerson’s work?”
“What? Nahin. That was from a daily inspiration account I follow. You should follow it too,” Kuhu said dismissively. “But that’s not the point. Point yeh hai, ki tum dusron ke opinions ko itna value kyun de rahe ho? Agar tumhe yeh sab pasand hai, toh it’s completely fine, no? Problem kya hai?”
Kunal opened his mouth to say something, but hesitated.
“Kya?” Kuhu asked, sensing his hesitation.
“Mujhe dusron ke opinions ki padi nahin hai,” Kunal said.
“Toh?”
Kunal wrung his fingers and cleared his throat nervously. “Do… do you think I’m boring?”
Kuhu paused, surprised. But then she smiled and looped her arm underneath his, and rested her head on his shoulder. “Nahin. Lekin agar puri duniya yahin keh rahe ki tum boring ho, toh main sabse kahungi ki mujhe boring hi bohot pasand hai. Bohot zyada.”
A content smile grew on Kunal’s face, and he rested his head gently on top of hers, pulling her tighter next to his side.
“Kuhu?” Kunal said softly.
“Kya?”
“I love you.”
Kuhu chuckled and looked up at him. “I know.”
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
Cricket
