Part 73: Lions and lambs
She felt like a voyeur standing by the door and watching her
Bhaiya and Bhaabi's sensual play that they put up in the living room. Beyond
the guilt that was prima donna inside her mind, the next thought that stuck her
fathoming nerve was the fact that they were so hopelessly in love with each
other. Even given the tensions that each could not wrap a finger around, they
had willingly embraced and given into one of life's delicate moment. There was
something that the picture perfect scene was telling her, she pondered as she
walked back, closing the door. As she lay on her bed, she could not help but
think if she had, even only for a moment, let herself get carried away by her
husband's frivolous efforts to cajole her. Well she had been too serious and he
had donned the part of a joker, making their marriage a circus ensemble. But
which marriage isn't? And this was her blind spot. Her presence here at Maan's
place was dawning upon her an insecure feeling about the decision in her marriage.
It had only been a few hours, but the couple already had their charm working on
her. She smiled as she realized Maan's plans and his strange insistence to have
her come down to his apartment suite. Something he simply never gave up
on...Her.
Daadima walked out to see Maan sulking and rolling in the
narrow couch as he shook his feet that now dangled over the armrest. She was
quite puzzled to see him doing his penance, when the chain of events some half
hour ago had had an entirely different motive. Given her curious self, she
quietly prodded into the situation.
"Maan beta...aap bahar kyon so rahe hain? Kuch hua kya
aap dono ke beech main?" She knotted her eyebrows as she came to a
standstill behind the sofa.
He did not want anyone to delve further into the cold
shoulder he had been receiving from Geet. And indeed it was a bad time to give
out the gory details too, right when he was beating himself up for not having
sorted out the tiff earlier. Ever since his time in NY, Maan had kept to
himself and had come to consider his love life a private affair. Well what part
of Maan was not personal or classified? And so he did the usual; he attempted a
cover up.
"Aisa kuch nahin hain Daadima...Lagta hain bedroom ka
darwaja atak gaya hain...aur Geet bhi sogayi hain...Main bus vuse disturb nahin
karna chahta hoon" He said as he let out an embarrassing smile, knowing
well, Daadima knew how to spot a white lie when she saw one. But that never did
stop Maan and so Daadi couldn't let go either.
"Arey aap bahar kaise so sakte hain Maan...Phir se try
kijiye ga...nahin tho mere room mein so jaiye..." she said
authoritatively.
"Chaliye...pehle aap yahan se vutiye Maan" she
said, gently nudging his shoulder, as Maan made a face as that of a five year
old. The look on his face made him all the more adorable for Daadi, making it
harder for her to give up toying with him at the juncture.
As he got up from the couch, he tried convincing Daadi that
Geet would wake up in a while and would let him in, but a persistent Daadi, did
not budge. And so they came to a stop by his door.
In the meanwhile, Geet had heard voices picking up from the
hallway towards their room and had alighted from the bed to eaves drop on the
daadi, grandson conversation. In no time she had made sense what the argument
had been about and she soon knew that Maan was about to make another attempt to
open the door. She secretly wished for the things that now messed with her mind
to come into reality and so it did.
Outside the door, a reluctant Maan, clasped the handle tight
and berated it in all directions to show Daadi that the lock was indeed jammed.
"Dekhiye Daadima, yeh atka hua hain.." he said
annoyed.
"Hatiye hum try karte hain..." She said as she
pushed Maan aside and clasped the handle gently and twisted the same down
firmly.
What came next shocked both Daadi and Maan for the door had
given out a slow creaking sound and had opened up just as much was required
when Daadi had pushed it inward.
"Huh! yeh kaise ho sakta hain?" Maan was taken
back. Was he imagining things? He poked Daadima to give way for him and peeked
into the dark room to see Geet sleeping on the bed. Perhaps the bump was
messing with him, for a moment ago he had been sure that the door was locked.
He was only glad that he didn't have to suffer a fateful slumber on the narrow
couch and so he turned to bid Daadi away for the night.
"Teek hain Daadima Good Night...Main bahuth tak gaya
hoon" Daadi smiled at his fake tiredness that he bolstered now and
strutted towards the living room. She was suffering from jet lag and hoped for
television therapy to ease it a bit.
But as she was halfway through the corridor, she heard
struggling grunts back from the way she had just come from. Swiftly turning
back, she saw Maan once again fight with the door handle as he was leaning on
it sideways and was pushing the door to open. Oddly the story of Samson and his
secret of strength being his uncut hair came back to Daadi's mind.
Unfortunately her grandson's strength seemed to have shifted into Geet hands
ever since their marriage and at that, she broke into a guffaw.
The duo understood the game Geet had been playing from
inside. And to take the matters into her own hand, Daadi knocked on the door
and called out to her.
"Ab abhuth ho gaya hain Geet...Bahar aajiye" She said.
Once Maan gave up his efforts to almost break open the door,
Geet calmly opened it with an evil grin at Maan. If it had not been for
Daadima, there would have been a cat and mouse chase, but given her presence
Maan fisted and folded his arms hoping the physical action curbed the mental
thoughts that ran wild in him.
She had showered and changed into his favorite white-green
saree. But the part that Maan couldn't quite put a finger on was the waist
chain, that now tugged her hip, kept well hidden, underneath the folds of her
saree that went around her mid section. An onlooker would have never spotted
the waist embellishment even with careful inspection, but this was Maan and
that was his job; to ogle her to his heart's content every time she made an appearance.
So this was her plan B to torture him, had he been successful to share the bed
with her, he thought making sense of her new outfit for the night. Not bad for
the 4 weeks that had passed by and he smiled as he realized that she was on par
with him on the subject.
Geet lowered her shy eyes and came out holding her ears to
convey an apology.
"Aap dono ki shararaten, pata nahin, kab katam
hogi.." she rolled her eyes as she patted Geet by her shoulder.
"Mujhe yeh tho pata nahin ki aap dono ke beech main kya
hua hain...lekin jo bhi kar rahe ho aap dono, vo bus hasi mazak mein hi lijiye
ga...samaj gaye?" She asked as she walked away without waiting for a
response and Geet followed her too, but not before turning to deliver him a
cheeky smile.
Well he had to start somewhere and so he decided he would
follow them as another one of his "Get Geet" ideas flashed in his
mind. This one was aimed to pass on his apology straight to her for starters
and then get her away from Daadi to have a chat with her.
Geet and Daadi settled in front of the television and she
cozied up next to her favorite Daadi. Maan followed them and sat in the
opposite chair, scheming all the while to separate the two.
It was not that his ego came along from stooping down to
her, but somehow the truth had gotten lost in the element of time. And he did
not know if he had been truly responsible for what he felt he had done to her.
It was like Roshomon, they all had their own tales to tell but not in the
presence of the other, which made it all the more difficult to come to terms
with each other. He had practiced too well to keep Naini out his life that it
had become second nature to him to consider Daadima the sole blood relation to
him. Now that he suffered at the consequences of his, a little too well done
job, of blocking her memory out, he marveled at his own capacity to be in
denial over his past. He prayed such would never be the case with Geet. He had
decided that he would tell her all of his side of story and would beg away for
her to end his misery. There were no highways now and it was only her way from
here...
"Daadima, Kya aap kuch peeyenge? Main khud bana ke
doonga haan..." Maan said leaning forward.
"Kya baat hain Maan...aap hamare liye kuch banana chate
hain...tho hum aapko mana kaise kar sakte hain...chaliye...jo aapki marzi"
she said as she patted Geet's cheeks who was resting her head on Daadi's
shoulders.
"Mera special decadent hot chocolate aapke liye...10
minutes mein ready ho jayega Daadima" He got up to leave to the kichen, eyeing
Geet as he passed behind the couch while she ignored his ever present gaze.
It had taken a good 17 minutes before he showed up with two
piping hot cups of his decadent hot chocolate, with a spiraling dollop of
whipped cream on top. Geet wondered what was decadent and special about the
drink, when it was the same ready-to-mix pack from the Max Brenner basket, that
he had presented her right after marriage, had been used. Show off was Maan's
birthright, she thought as she smiled and went for the cup and saucer he was
handing them.
"Ye lijiye Daadima...aur ye..." He gave their
promised treats and left to fetch his own. Just as Maan was on his way to the
kitchen, Daadima turned to call out for Maan, when Geet interrupted.
"Kya hua daadima?"
"Hume aur bhi whipped cream chaiye. Yeh Maan bhi
na...bahuth bada kanjoos hain"
Quite obvious it was that Daadima was upset. It was one
thing to receive her favorite drink to be made by Maan and whole another thing
when he took control even when he was trying to impress her for reasons she did
not know.
"Daadima aapko tho diabetes hain, isiliye Maan..."
Geet smiled tilting her head and tried to speak for her husband's good
intentions. But would she understand it if were her? Two can play that game,
she thought when there was all of life ahead to overshadow and misread each
other.
"Bahuth pyaar karti hain na?" Daadi asked unable
to contain her satisfaction when she saw Geet not give up on Maan yet again.
She was too pleased to say anything further, but the words continued to mull in
her head that she could not have found any other girl for Maan, not when she
did all that was expected and more of a Khurana bahu just as Daadi had dreamt
of. All was good when it came to putting up a show for the others, but only
they knew they still did things to make the other into a ticking time bomb.
As Daadima affectionately tapped her cheek once again, Geet
went on to exchange their cups.
"Aap mera wala le lijiye aur main aap ke cup le leti hoon"
Maan panicked instantly when he saw Geet's cup shift from
her hand to Daadima's. He ran the remaining length hoping not to spill his own
drink; he came to halt in front of them and protested the swap.
"Nahin nahin...aap dono cups kyon exchange kar rahe
ho?" He was quite surprised that the lord did not favor him that day from
any angle there seemed to be.
"Kyon...Geet ka cup special hain kya?" Daadi asked
in a serious tone, suspecting every bit that there was more to the eye, than a
plain cup of hot chocolate in her hand.
"Haan...mera matlab nahin...isme aap ke liye kum
whipped cream aur sugar milaya hain maine" Maan stuttered as he made up
reasons on the go, which was indeed believable. But that did not stop Daadima
from lifting the cup off the saucer, when she stumbled upon a small yellow piece
of paper that was hidden in plain view.
"Ye kya?" She said, as she placed the cup on the
coffee table and grabbed the chit from the saucer. Geet flushed and tried to
snatch the paper away from Daadi's hands as Maan gestured the same. But all in
vain, the paper was safely out of reach from both, when Daadi quickly got away
to read the same. Knowing some embarrassing statements were to follow, Maan
decided to excuse himself as Geet stayed behind to suffer from Daadi's tease.
"Daadima...mujhe ab jaana chaiye"
He could really use a good night's sleep he thought; given
the proceedings of the last couple of days, his wants had dwindled down to bare
necessities and some one hour ago, even his own bed had seemed to be a distant
dream. Maan slowly disappeared into the hallway, ignoring the message in
Daadi's hands. He knew he was a goner, once things got into her clutches and so
he ran for the life of him.
Daadi started reading the chit, shedding all shame in going
through his grandson's love note to his wife. "Geet main tumse bahuth pyar
karta hoon...sorry...Aaj se main tumse kuch chupavoonga nahin...abhi mujhe ek
kiss de do aur...Arhm!" Something's were better left for the imagintion,
she thought as she folded back the paper and handed it back to Geet.
"Lagta hain phir se galat haat mein aa gaya hain
beta" They joked and broke into a laughter as they watched Maan peek shyly
from the bedroom.
"Geet...Maan teek hi keha raha hain...hamari ghar ke
haalath ko nazar main rakte hue...aap dono ka jagda teek nahin hain" She
said taking Geet's hand in hers. Geet had not failed to notice the glum tone
that had trailed off towards the end. Daadi heaved and let out a sigh,
confirming the thought that had just crossed Geet's mind. It could get
complicated, true, but she knew this was no petty botch to overlook either. She
wanted to give the man a try; at last.
"Ji Daadima..main samaj thi hoon" She placed her
other hand to assure daadi.
"Chaliye...ab aap jaake so jayiye" As they
switched off the television and picked up their cups to retire for the day,
they wished good night and went into their rooms.
Just as Geet entered, an expectant Maan greeted her
stretched on the bed, arms folded and clothed in nothing but his sleeping
track. His high and mighty chest, in bare view for her; a little temptation
never did any harm, was how he perceived his revealing act.
"And so here we are...Finally" He looked up as if
some prayer of his was being answered and got up to get close to her. Walking
backwards to place the cup by the table, Geet coursed the room in the opposite
direction from which he was approaching her.
"Maan iska matlab ye nahi ki main aapki har baat maan
ne waali hoon...You crossed the limits this time. Itni badi baat chupana aur
vupar se ye naatak jaise kuch hua hi nahin" She yelled as he chased her
around the room. All the while running to avoid his open arms that menacingly
came to arrest her in his hold.
"You can't take me for granted" She said, turning
to face him and ran around him as she was already being backed into the wall.
It was no use stalling the inevitable and so she purposefully slowed down, when
he hugged her straightaway and picked her up in his arms.
"Geet...You have to first settle down...agar tum mujse baat nahin karogi tho kaise pata
chalega ki main kya karna chahta hoon" He said on the way to their bed.
Laying her down on the soft plush, he jumped in promptly, fearing she would try
and escape his fond clasps again. He laced his fingers with hers and pinned
them above her head to steady her under his body. As he bent down to kiss her
abruptly, she instantaneously turned away resisting his show of affections.
"Nahin...mera patience chala gaya hain Maan...I can't
wait anymore" She was right in more ways than one. A simple sorry was not
going to cut it, when he had conveniently omitted a whole being, his own
sibling, from his narration. And just as she was at that, she realized that
Daadima had left her out too when she had stayed with her a couple of days. She
was now confused and perhaps it deserved some explaining from him to make sense
of the situations that had caused the matter to be expelled. For now she
reserved her judgment at that self-analysis she had just completed even before
he could utter anything to compose her.
"Just trust me..." He said as he lifted her chin
to face his confident gaze.
"Subhe jaldi tayar ho jana...hum kahin pe jaa rahe hain
and I know you will like it" He said with a persuading smile as he got off
her and pulled the sheets over them.
She lay as is in the same position for a while, not
attempting to move closer.
When the long dark hours passed and the morning light had
started to come out, she had woken up unexpected to find herself resting her
head on his shoulders, the rest of her lean form reclining on him, her hand
positioned on his bare chest, with his one arm going beneath her to clutch her
waist chain firmly, that traced her lower hip.
She smiled as she adjusted her aanchal and inched in to
settle comfortably on him. There were ways one could fight back at all that was
unsaid and undone, but she knew well, now was not the time to hold revenge
against him, not when such serene moments could sign closure that no actions
could do. It would be her own loss to part from him consciously, when in deep
slumber her being had held onto what it had pined for. She was learning, and
that she did swiftly as she realized she needed mean warfare the next time,
something like this came around. She didn't know if it was time or him, or both
that had broken into her skin, more than she had done his, but she could bear
no longer to continue the reticence between them.
And so she raised her head and held on to both his cheeks to
awaken him. Lowering her lips into his, she breathed her dream into form.
Two updates the same day? What can I say? Hope you like it. Please post and comment. Do not forget the like button. I might stay away for a little this week, not sure of my schedule...So until we meet again, Cheers peeps.
People I have not been able to comment for your feedback on the earlier posts. Sorry I was lost in the writing. But thank you all for posting and encouraging me. Those who haven't done it, please let me know how you liked it.
Edited by 6thElement - 13 years ago
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