ArHi SS: Vertigo - Completed [Sequel link on Page 1] - Page 15

Chapter 7: The tiny band of area where black and white merge...

"Payal, I am hungry." Khushi whispered to her sister earning a frown from her aunt. It was still early in the morning on a Saturday and her aunt had taken the two girls to temple as the temple was hosting a holy ritual.

"Settle down Khushi, its only matter of few more minutes," Payal whispered back. Khushi groaned. She had worked late into night on Friday and her dinner back home was quite light.

"Okay, get up now you two. Let's finish the final rites first and then we can do the normal ones," their aunt stood up and hurried the two girls. "Khushi, be careful with the plate," she warned not so gently. Khushi nodded.

But unfortunately luck was not on her side. As she made her way amidst people balancing plate in one hand and holding the pleats of her sari up in another, she stumbled making the flowers on the plate fall on the ground. Within moments they were stomped upon by the moving crowed making it impossible to pick them up; not that their aunt would ever let them to do so.

"When will you learn to be docile like your sister Khushi? Can't you pass one day without giving me or your parents' headache about what mighty problem you can trudge upon us?  Sometimes I wonder why you were even..." Her aunt ranted in anger at the fallen flowers which in her mind would make the entire ritual pointless but not heading how her words were probably bruising a girl's heart.

"Don't mind aunt's words Khushi...you know how she gets when things don't go the way she wants. She doesn't mean any of the things she says...but the anger gets best of her," Payal tried to pacify her sister. Khushi didn't react to her sister's words but simply nodded. Payal didn't like the way Khushi nodded her head and excused to go outside. Their aunt scolding Khushi wasn't a new scene which always had Khushi sulking for few minutes and then cajoling their aunt to forgive her. Their aunt would be relentless for many minutes and would finally give away. This was a ritual that was common in their household and every time Khushi messed up something or the other.

Payal looked at her sister walking with indifference to the whole incident; either it was indifference or the continual verbal onslaught had finally made her snap.

She wondered what had brought changes in her sister.

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"Is this seat taken?" She looked up when a familiar voice asked. She smiled wanly at the amused face of Arnav who was dressed casually in a pale shirt and dark trousers. She knew if she peeked in his car she would find a blazer matching the color of his trouser.

She looked around the temple premise to see most benches occupied but there were few still with empty spaces. He understood her glance and the drift of her thinking and said, "I was sitting next to this woman who spoke twenty minutes about a pair of earrings her neighbor's cousin's daughter was wearing. I thought its best to walk away from there before I committed a homicide." She burst into a gay laughter, her eyes crinkling as her smile stretched. She scooted over the bench making enough space for him and a separation between them.

"Yeah, the womenfolk here tend to get a little carried away," she said once recovering. "But what are you doing here anyway?" She added once she realized where they were.

"The entire clan is inside," he said pointing to the temple.

"And you are here?" She asked raising an eyebrow.

"I am an atheist. I don't believe in God Khushi," he said casually. She looked surprised.

"Why are you here?" He asked without missing a beat. She was taken aback at the suddenness of the question as the words of her aunt bombarded her mind. Tears sprung in her eyes and she turned away from him.

"I...needed a breather." She said softly. He knew something was wrong. He had a sudden urge to turn her around and wipe away her tears.

"Khushi, is everything alright?" He asked equally softly.

"Why don't you believe in God?" She asked him discreetly wiping her eyes away. The urgency of her words made him realize that she didn't want to answer and it was her attempt to change the subject. He looked at her and searched her eyes which were begging him to let go of the matter.

He nodded and said, "Alright, then."

"I think its collective incidents in my life that led me to believe that existence of God was a placebo at its best. And the mass hysteria surrounding it made all the conventional beliefs to be suspended and sweep away the victories under the carpet of miracle. Somehow I couldn't believe that," he said.

It was probably the first time he had actually answered someone honestly for the question he was asked by everyone who had enough courage to ask him. In reality his sister didn't know the real reason either.

"Was it because the beliefs never materialized for you or that you didn't expect the change that is supposed to happen when the beliefs are suspended and you prayed with a single minded faith?" Khushi asked. He looked at her sharply. Her face had no hints of malice or even traces of snide. It was mere curiosity that was seeking out an explanation.

He leaned back on the bench as a breeze wrapped them in its embrace. The veil of her sari buzzed in its wake and tendrils of her hair glazed her cheeks. She had just questioned his disbelief in deity and had already spoken a prelude to an argument yet he felt content. It was undefined, unknown but severely intoxicating.

"You can say that. I have seen tragedies in my family followed by strings of disappointments. When good people get punished and the other party triumphs, all bets on God are off." He said with a smile. She hummed in response.

"Arnav, why do you think the core team in your company didn't quit when the market was extremely good?" Khushi asked. He noted that she had taken his name with ease and she was talking to him as she would talk to a peer. There was something terribly beautiful about it.

"I paid them well," he said with a smug smile. She smiled and shook her head.

"I don't think so. I think they are here for the long run." She said furrowing her eyebrows.

"What do you mean?"

"The way I look at God is how few people follow principles and morals in their lives. The senior folks in Raizada industries have stuck with you during worse recession and during the best times the company has ever seen. I always wondered why they never quit when recession hit or when the company didn't do enough profits."

"It could be loyalty." He said.

"It could be. Or maybe they saw the collective potential of the company and what you could deliver along with it and knew that one day it was going to come. The day did come and all their efforts and sacrifices were rewarded." She said shaking her head.  "I am not making much sense now, am I?" She said sheepishly.

"Honestly, you aren't." He replied with a smile.

"I don't believe in God because I am expecting something out of Her in return. It isn't a transaction between her and me. It's a continuous process, this belief, for which I am signed up for the long haul. I may go through some worse times and wonder why I didn't get any help from her; why is that sometimes she makes my own kith and kin tell me words that would cut me over and over again. Why would she..." Khushi trailed and looked at Arnav in horror. Arnav was looking at her strangely. She cleared her throat and shook her head.

"I have come to realize that a storm always passes and sunshine is just few moments away. That's why I believe in God." She said looking into his eyes and hoping against hope that he would understand what she wasn't saying.

He had no idea what she was talking about exactly but he understood that a fresh incident had made her more emotional than she generally was.

"There you are Arnav," Anjali came towards Khushi and Arnav.

"What are you doing here Lavanya?" Arnav asked flatly. He was surprised to see her in this temple and that too along with his sister.

"I thought I will surprise you today ASR. I called up Anjali last night and she said I could come since I was kind of family after all," she replied with a smile, her eyes glancing over Khushi for a fleeting second and then settled back on ASR.

Khushi looked straight ahead with a gentle smile which he couldn't decipher.

"Arnav, I am really glad that Lavanya came to this temple today. It's nice to see you with someone else," Anjali said happily.  

At that moment Khushi glanced at him thinking that she was discreet but he caught her eye. The smile was still present but the eyes betrayed her disappointment. He sighed. He had no idea why he wasn't happy at his sister's approval of his girlfriend.

"ASR, we will be waiting for you inside okay? See you around Khushi," Lavanya said and walked inside with Anjali.

"I should probably go. Payal will be looking for me," she said. He nodded.

"Khushi," he called out when she was several steps away from him.

"Every time there is warmth of sunshine and gentleness of breeze around me, a storm comes in and always chases them away. That's why I don't believe in God."

He walked away without waiting for her response acknowledging what she had said earlier to him and had managed to reply her after whatever happened before.

She turned around sharply at his words only to see him walking away from her, her heart hammering at the words he had uttered.

The current that flowed between them ebbed and flowed in greater intensity. A pang of longing swept her as she slowly made her way back to the temple. This time, she prayed her Goddess to keep the storm away from a certain someone.

(TBC)
Edited by Thyme - 12 years ago

res Edited by slgirl - 12 years ago

amazing update they are bonding but not realizing it that la is up to no good she want to sink her claws in to asr family love how they spoke about the belief and lack of thanks for the pm

Ww that was was a heart to heart conversation b/w them

I guess Khushi and Arnav both believe that life moves in waves, up and down. And they both have a different perception of it. Beliefs are complicated, to answer why we believe in something can get messy. I must say you handled it quite well.

awesomeness...loved dis part

Great update. I liked the interaction and discussion between arhi

Thanks for the PM. Awesome. Loved that Arnav was so honest with Khushi. It is like she is the only person that has seen a different side of Arnav. 

this update was great!!!!!! love the way they are slowly bonding!! thank you so much for the pm!!

Awww the Arhi part was so sweet.👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I hate Bua so I am leaving it at that.