Chapter 8: Bambaai Maami**
Geet
walked to the baggage claim when her phone rang. She looked at the caller ID
and beamed to answer it.
"Hey
Bambaai Maami**" the person on the other side greeted.
"You,
you, you," Geet said faking anger.
"Haan,
me me me" the person on the other hand said laughing out loud.
"Mr.
Arjun Singhania, agar tum ek aur baar vaise pukaara na, toh I don't even know
what I will do once I see you," she threatened.
"Miss
Geetanjali Handa, don't worry even in actuality you will not know what you
would do. So please jaldi aa, its been ages since I have seen you Maami," Arjun
teased.
"Haan
baba, once I get my luggage together," she said juggling between the cell phone
and her suitcase off the conveyor belt. She finally gathered all her luggage
and walked out to be greeted by tall, lean, and young man waving to Geet. She
waved back with zeal and ran to hug him. She was given a huge bear hug and he
lifted her and almost twirled her petite form.
"Uff!
Arjun, stop twirling me like a little kid and put me down," Geet ordered
lightly hitting the man who was practically twirling her to her embarrassment.
"You
kidding me, its been so long since I have seen you, at least I need to make it
up all these years that I have missed you," he said finally putting her down.
"So how are you Bambaai Maami, how has Bombay been treating you?" Arjun said
with a wide cheeky grin on his face.
"Well,
it's not been treating as well when you were there," she paused looking at his
response and finding him arrogantly smirking, "its been treating me better!"
she said chuckling to see him frown at her remark.
"Accha?"
Arjun said with a tinge of disappointment.
"Achacho
(Oh my god), Arjun kuzhanthaai (child) azhathe ma (don't cry)," she said cupping
and shaking his chin.
"Woh
kya kehte hain Tamil me, haan I remember," he said thoughtfully, "Podi (Go!),"
slightly pushing her away.
Not
wanting to tease her best friend anymore, she placed her hands on her ear and
asked to be forgiven for her teasing. Seeing him smile from the corner of his
lips, she again hugged him and said, "I did really miss you, bas, I was pulling
you leg. Tume pata hai na I cannot sleep without teasing you."
Arjun
just shook his head and smiled at her, happy that she was same old bubbly Geet.
He took all her luggage from her, placed it on the cart and started walking
towards the parking lot when Geet again began her non-stop chatter. He asked
her about her parents were and what all she was up to all these years when he
was not with her. Both settled in Arjun's sleek Audi and zoomed out of the
airport to the Singhania Mansion that was situated in the midst of beautiful
woods, a little off of the city of Delhi.
"So
tell me how was the flight journey, kitne logon se dosti ki," Arjun said,
knowing very well Geet would always end up making new friends wherever she
goes. The person unable to take her non-stop babble would accept defeat and
extend a hand of friendship to shut her up or would be charmed by her cute
little baby talks would end up becoming her friend. Whatever may be the reason,
she would make instant friends be it in a boring area as the courthouse where
she often visits to see her dad or in one of the loudest nightclubs in Bombay.
"Ayyo
(Oh my god)! Arjun tume pata kya hua?" she said remembering meeting the man who
got on her nervous. "This flight journey was the worst journey I have ever
been," she said shaking her head in disbelief. She related her accidental
meeting with the most obnoxious and arrogant man and how he ended up sitting
next to her the whole of the flight journey. She finished her narration without
a loud sigh and prayed looking up at the sky, "Muruga! Aise jellyfish walon se
mujhe protect zaroor karna, aur haan like always please help me."
As she was finishing up her story,
Arjun was laughing his head off as he imagined the scene Geet just explained.
"Usne tume," he said stifling between laughter and his words, "kya kaha, what idiot?"
"Irritating idiot," Geet said
frowning her face thinking about what that man had called her. Arjun again
burst out laughing while he slightly lost control of the wheel. Straightening
back he oscillated between laughing and mocking Geet. She got angry that he was
laughing at her plight and hit him a few times. Seeing that her hitting just
made him laugh more, she turned around and slumped back into her car seat,
mumbling she would get her revenge very soon.
They soon reached the Singhania
Mansion located in the outskirts of Delhi. The front portion of the mansion
contained a huge garden with the most exotic flowers from all over the world.
And in the middle of the huge garden there was a little fountain made of greek
architecture. The Singhanias were known for their classic taste in design and
architecture, and that clearly reflected in the place they called home. As soon
as Arjun pulled up in front of the house, Geet opened the car doors and rushed
inside the house shouting, "Gowtam Uncle! Aap kahan ho?"
"Main kitchen main hoon Geet," the
voice came.
Geet rushed to kitchen to see a man
in his early fifties seriously contemplating between what to put next in the
dish that was simmering on the stove. He was well-built, handsome man. In fact,
his charming features showed that he might have broken a lot of young girl's
hearts in his days. Geet concluded that Arjun would have his charm and good
looks from his dad, Gowtam Singhania. "What's cooking uncle?" she asked walking
near him and giving a huge hug to him.
Arjun came from behind, "Wahi
tumahari favorite, butter chicken," he said mockingly.
"Chi chi Muruga! abacharam
abacharam! (yuck)" Geet said closing her eyes and ears and shaking her head.
"Stop it Arjun, why do you have to
always tease my little princess," Uncle said softly punching Arjun on his
shoulder. "Nahi beta, I am not cooking any non-vegetarian dishes for a week
since you are going to be here. I decided to make your favorite paneer butter
masala. Magar, I think I forgot something. Mujhe samaj main nahi aa raha what
did I forget," he said looking a little confused.
"Uncle, did you put salt?" Geet
asked.
"Arre, haan, that was the one I
forgot." With that Gowtam Uncle walked to the nearest cabinet, pulled out the
salt and added a teaspoon before stirring the creamy gravy on the stove.
Geet bent to get a whiff of the
yummy looking dishing and was pleased with the pleasant aroma filling her
nostrils. She gave a huge smile and a thumbs up sign indicating the dish he was
preparing was superb indeed. She looked at Arjun fidgeting something near the
refrigerator and remembered that it was payback time for Arjun and went near
Gowtam Uncle.
"Uncle aapko pata hai, aaj Arjun ne
kya kaha?" she said making a sad face, "He said that he never missed me since
he left Bombay and in fact he is glad to have left as he did have to deal with
seeing me everyday."
Arjun's head shot up to Geet who
was gesturing that this was her payback for laughing at her in the car. Arjun
was alarmed that he would have to deal with his dad's lecture, so before his
dad said anything he interrupted, "Nahi dad, Geet jhoot bhol rahi hai. She was
the one who said that she didn't miss and that Bombay has been treating her
better since the day I left." Geet could clearly see Arjun was caught and he
had to dearly defend himself in order to prove himself right.
Laughing at Arjun's plight she
moved away from Gowtam Uncle and went near Arjun to whisper, "Achacho paavam
kozhanthai (so sad my child)." Arjun shot an angry glare at her and continued
to plead innocence when his dad continued to lecture him about how to behave
around others.
Once the dinner was ready to be
served, the dinner table was arranged and set by the servants. Geet refreshed
herself in the room and came down to eat dinner with Arjun and Gowtam Uncle.
While eating Gowtam Uncle asked about his dear friend, Arvind Handa and whether
he was treating his wife properly. And how well Geet was prepared for the
interview and what she was planning to do once she gets the job here. Geet related
how good her dad was treating her mom and that they were in fact all very
happy. And the time effort she had put into preparing for this interview and
all other stuff that had happened in his absence. Arjun silently listened and
filled into the conversation whenever possible. Finishing up the dinner,
everyone cleared up table and went into the living room to watch some TV before
retiring to bed as Geet had to wake up early for the interview tomorrow.
It was 10PM so everybody decided to
call it a night as Geet had to wake up early in the morning for the interview.
Gowtam Uncle wished her good night and retired to his study to finish up his
work while Arjun and Geet walked towards their respective rooms. Arjun entered
his room that was adjacent to Geet's. But then he quickly peeked out and called
out to Geet.
"Miss Bambai Maami does Anu mamma
still wake you up or do you wake up on your own?" he asked in a mocking tone.
"Oh please, of course I do wake up
on my own," Geet said faking anger.
"Oh really? Then you don't want me
to wake you up tomorrow for the interview. You shall be fine. Hai na?" he said
fully knowing she was lying.
"Nahi, mera matlab haan," she
stuttered
"Teekhai toh I don't have to waste
my energy trying to wake you up," he said turning away into his room when he
felt a slight poke on his shoulder. It was Geet.
She stood nervously trying hard to
say something while trying hard to swallow her saliva. "I mean I do wake up on
my own but just for tomorrow could you please wake me up?" she pleaded.
Arjun smirked at her plea
and taunted a bit before agreeing to wake her up. With that said both bid good
nights to each other before retiring to bed. Geet changed into her pajamas and slid
into her bed. She quickly slipped into her dream while praying the coming
morning present her with new beginnings.
**Bambaai Maami: this is a term commonly used down South. It literally means a female chatterbox. Bambai is also referred to Bombay in Tamil. And since Geet is from Bombay and she is a big chatterbox, Arjun refers her as Bambaai Maami, a term he learnt from his Tamil friend when he was in 4th Grade.
Okya guys sry for the delay. was bz with coll so i wont be able to update regularly. please bear with me. and dont forget to comment or at least hit the like button!
Edited by Maaneet_09 - 12 years ago