Ch11: Tug of War
Nakkusha walked up to his room with his tea late night. He
was on the phone again. She kept the cup on the boulder and walked down. It has
been a week since Dinky's wedding. During that week, he had been too engrossed
with Meghna to think of anything else. He had pursued her with a single minded
determination that had startled Meghna and burned nakkusha with envy. He did
not discuss Meghna with nakkusha and she thanked god for that but she felt too
restless when he was with meghna or when he was on the phone talking to her.
She had tried not to catch their conversations on the phone but she still would
hear some snippets which made little sense to her. They talked about things she
hadn't even heard of. What was Tweeting and FB anyway? What was pubbing and
disc? What is brunch? She wanted to ask him but hesitated to do so as he would
then ask her where she had heard it and she didn't want him to think that she eavesdropped
on them, which she didn't.
Kalawati didi was happy that he was interested in a girl she
had chosen. She felt it would be ideal match. She never said it to nakku but
nakku could make out that she approved of Meghna. Nakkusha had once asked her
about meghna indirectly- didi, aapne to kaha tha…aapko apne bhai ke liye koi
naukriwali ladki nahi chahiye hai na? phir ye meghna ji to doctor hai..unke
tarah. Kalawati had answered her in a hesitating voice- nakku, dekh…ussey kya
pasand hai kya nahi main nahi bata sakti..asal mein main khud nahi jaanti ki wo
kya chahta hai..par jab usne meri passand ki sab ladkiyo ko naa keh diya to
maine bas aakhri koshish ki..ab lag raha hai ki Dutta ko wo pasand hai…hum to
bas millwa saktey hai..aagey to dono khud samajhdar hai.
Nakkusha snapped back to reality at Dutta's husky laughter.
He was smoking again, she noticed and frowned. Now he didn't even bother hiding
it in front of her. He barely registered her presence sometimes. She felt
cheated and used in a way. Like she had been an amusement, a way to spend his
time when he didn't have anything to do. She had known that all along, had told
herself that all along but to see the proof of it was far more difficult. She
turned to go away without disturbing him when he held her wrist and stopped her.
He pulled her closer to him still laughing at something she was saying on the
phone. Nakkusha tried to pull her wrist away from his when he looked at her
sideways and frowned making her go still. Dutta spoke on the phone- accha
meghna! Main dekhta hoon if I can fit in a few special classes for the BC
Medical college. Sure! He listened to the voice on the other end- Well, the
enticement is too much to resist. Noramlly I hate these kind of lectures
especially when I am the lecturer. But…Hmm…Of course you have to take care of
me..it's a given. He grinned looking at Nakkusha as if sharing a joke with her.
Nakkusha looked back without flinching looking down at their clasped hands.
Dutta followed her gaze and looked up at her asking with his eyes, what was the
matter with her. Dutta- hmm..no no…I am here..just that…yeah…sure..But before I
commit I would need an advance. Yup..you know the price….a date..tomorrow
night..no? OK..hmm….sure…Goodnight. He switched the phone off and looked at
nakkusha- Toh tu aaj bhi chup chap khisak rahi thi, haan? Nakkusha- main aapko
disturb nahi karna chahti thi. Waise bhi aap log kuch kaam ki baatein kar rahe
the..toh…Dutta finished for her- toh tune socha ki nikal leti hoon. Kyun? Main
kissi se baat karoon toh tu do minute intezaar nahi kar sakti. Roz yunn chali
jaati hai. Baat nahi karni to chai lane ki kya jarurat hai. Jamima ke haath
bhejwa de, ek hi baat hai.
Nakkusha- main..main kya baat karoon…aap se kya baat
karoon..mujhe..mujhe nahi paata.Dutta looked at her surprised- matlab? Nakku tujhe
kabse mere sath baat karne ke liye topics ki kami honey lagi? Kuch baat hai jo
tujhe pareshan kar rahi hai. Kya hua? Nakkusha looked at him with frustration
and removed his hand from her wrist- koi baat nahi hai. jaruri nahi hai ki main
har waqt barbarati rahoon..ya aapki baatein sunti rahoon..Dutta aapke aaney se
pahele bhi meri koi zindagi thi…mujhe bhi koi kaam ho sakta hai…dinbhar aapke
aagey picchey ghumne ke alwa..aap chute par hai..main nahi. Aapki chai rakhi
hai. Cigarette peene se fursat mille to pee lijiye. She walked away without
looking back at him as Dutta watched her go with questions in his eyes.
***********************************************************************************************
The next morning kalawati called Dutta from the kitchen
where nakkusha was grinding the spices for that days cooking. Nakkusha didn't
own a grinder so she would always bring the spices from her kitchen to kala
didi for blending. She would blend kalwati's spices together with hers. Kalawati raised her voice
to be heard above the loud sound of the blender,"Dutta, wo sunaar ka phone aaya
tha. Mere haar ka hook wo theek…" She looked at nakkusha who was still
operating the noisy machine. She
grimaced and called nakkusha,"nakku, bas bhi kar..meri baat to khatam
hone de." Nakkusha switched off the machine and looked apologetically at didi
and fidgeted with her duppatta. Kalawati shook her head at her odd behavior and
continued,"haan to kya keh rahi thi main? Amm..haan, toh wo Jeweller keh raha
tha ki mere haar ka clasp wo theek nahi kar pa raha tha..is liye usne ussey
aapne bade bhai ki dukan mein bheja tha Raipur mein..parekh jewelers. Ab wo
bann gaya hai. tere jamaidada to busy hai..aur maine aaj parvati ka vrat rakha
hai. Raipur shaher bas ek ghanta dur hai. Tu jake le aa." Dutta- main? Par mujhe
rasta kahan pata hai. Kalawati- arey highway 6 par bas 50-60 km dur hai..ek se
dair ghanta bas..aur Raipur aatey hi wahan bazaar mein dukan hai..market ka
naam aur dukan ka address mere paas hai..tu phone number bhi le le. Dikat ho to
call kar lena.
Dutta thought for a second and then looked at nakkusha who
was trying to avoid him at any cost since morning. He knew she was annoyed with
him for ignoring her for last week but he had not done it on purpose. Meghna got
time at night after dinner which unfortunately coincided with his night chats
with nakkusha. He had believed that nakkusha would wait till he got off the
phone but she had not. He missed her, missed their easy friendship, the
comfort. Meghna was interesting and great to talk with, she was witty companion
. Nakkusha was witty and intelligent too. But with Meghna , it was different. While
nakkusha's wits made him pause and think with Meghna, he knew the drill and repartee.
He knew how to proceed as her wits and comebacks were not unique. Then there
was the fact that even though she was a physiotherapist and he a cardio surgeon
they basically belonged to the same world and after weeks in this town he had
began to miss his work a little. He missed the medical chats and discussions.
He stilled called the hospital on regular basis and kept his secretary on her
toes by asking her to keep him updated on his patients and cases. He talked to
his team and chatted online and via emails. But all said and done these took
only a few hours of his day.
He knew he had to make up to her, to nakkusha but was not
sure what he was making up for or why. Dutta looked at kalawati- theek hai tai.
Main le aunga. Kalawati- accha, ek kaam kar main charan singh ko bolti hoon. Wo
tujhe drive karke le jayega. She turned to call the watchmen cum driver of
their household when Dutta stopped her- koi jarurat nahi hai tai. Main khud
drive kar loonga.. in fact, main car mein nahi jaa raha.. jamaidada ki engfeild
hai na. uski chabbi do. Kalawati was stunned- dutta, pagal ho gaya hai. Tere
jamaidada ne wo bike kai saalo se nahi chalayi. Kya pata kis haal mein hai. tu
car le jaa. Dutta- tai, main jaunga toh engfeild mein hi jaunga. Chabbi? Kalawati
muttered angrily as she wiped her hands on her sari and marched to her room to
get the keys- jo mann ki baney wo kar. Koi suntan hi nahi. Ek kaam bolo to
usmey bhi tai ko pareshaan kiye bina nahi chodega..jaa bike mein hi jaa. Meri chinta
ki chinta hai tujhe.
Dutta called after her- aur aap rastey ki chinta mat karo
main apna guide le jaunga. He walked
towards nakkusha who had turned and started the blender as soon as kalwati was
out of the kitchen. Dutta- tu jaake tayaar ho.. tu chal rahi hai mere saath.
Nakkusha resolutely avoided him and pretended that she had not heard him. Dutta
repeated himself twice before angrily pulling out the electricity source. She
looked aghast at the cord in his hand while he smirked at her. Nakkusha- main
kya meri jooti ki chauthi kil bhi na jayegi tumhare phatphatiya pe. Dutta- teri
jooti ki chauthi kil bhi jayegi, teri jooti bhi aur jooti mein tera pair bhi…aur
pair ke saath tub hi. Ab ye saara dramabaazi chod aur tayyar ho jaa. Mujhe intezaar
karna passand nahi. Nakkusha pulled at the plug- nahi aungi. Mujhe didi ka
bahut saara kaam karna hai. Dutta pulled back the cord- kab tak chupegi didi ki
aar mein, kabhi to ayegi bhindi bazaar mein. Nakkusha tugged the cord again-
bhindi banao tum tumhari pune ki billi ke saath. Mera pichcha chodo, akdoo hari
sardu kahi ke. Dutta tugged back- meri billi ke saath hi to jaana hai. par pune
waali nahi yahi rajnandgaon waali. Ye waali to billi auro ke samne meow karti
hai aur chupke nauch deti hai. Nakkusha was baffled a little but she regained
her balance and pinched him hard making him cry out and release the plug. She
triumphantly twirled it once in front of his face and plugged it starting the
blender and tapped the top of the cap throwing a haughty look at him while he
rubbed the bruised spot.
Kalawati walked in with the keys-ye leh dekh chalti bhi hai
ya nahi. Dutta took the keys and threw an evil look at nakkusha who had
immediately stopped the blender again and was packing of the blended spices in
jars. Dutta turned to kala trying to act
shy- tai, wo..main..wo. kalawati looked at him questioningly- haan, bol kya?
Dutta scratched his forehead and gave an embarrassed look at kala- wo tai…meghna
ke liye gift lena hai..we are going on a date tomorrow. So mujhe gift lene ke
liye second opinion chahiye..to main nakku ko le jaun. Kalawati's face stilled
for a second as she looked at nakkusha. She felt torn as to what to do. For
past few days nakkusha and dutta were growing apart as she had wanted. She had
felt that this will make any hurt on nakkusha's part when Dutta left less but
now she felt herself caught. Kalawati – dutta, kya jarurat hai? nakkusha ko
kitna kaam hai..aur phir..Dutta looked disappointed- theek hai tai. Aapko agar
aisa lagta hai ki main bekar hi nakku ka waqt barbaad ka raha hoon to…wo to
main bas meghna ko kuch accha dena chahta tha. Kalawati saw the disappointment
on his face. It was a good thing that he was thinking of meghna right? That means
things were going good between them. But making nakkusha go will it be fair to
her. She still felt that nakkusha might be in love with Dutta, maybe she was
falling in love with him. She could still remember the pained look on her face
at the holi incidence. But since then she had never seen anything on nakku's
part, making her doubt what she saw. Dutta- tai? Kalawati gave up- nakkusha, tu
jaa jaakey tayyar ho jaa. Dutta sambhal ke bike challana, highway hai. nakku ko
bike ki adaat nahi. Aur..aur sham se pahele laut aana. Dutta grinned- thanks
tai. Aye nakku sau ghantey mat lagana. Jaldi aana..main tab tak bike start
karke check karta hoon. Nakkusha looked at him astounded as he left with a wink
at her for getting his way. She turned to kalawati when he was gone- didi? Main…kya..Kalawati
stopped her apologetically-nakku, main jaanti hoon. Par wo nahi manta tu jaanti
hai na ussey. Nakkusha said sternly- Didi, aapka bhai aapka ladla ho sakta hai.
par uski har cheez dukaan ka khillona to nahi ki usne maangi aur de di.
Nakkusha walked away before kalawati could say anything. Kalawati closed her
eyes as she knew she might have done an injustice to nakkusha but felt that
somehow things were going out of her control.
******************************************************************************************
Nakkusha sat on the back of the bike with her legs on one
side and eyes closed tightly. She was holding the bar at the back so tight that
her knuckles had turned white and she could not feel her hand anymore. Dutta
could feel the tension in her. It was getting difficult to maneuver the bike
with her sitting dangerously close to falling off. When a bike speed away.
overtaking them very closely, his handle wavered. He braked the bike to a side
of the highway and barked at her to get down. She got down half falling on the
road and pressed her hands together. Dutta- tujhe bike pe baitna nahi aata to
theek hai par khursi pe baitna to aata hai na? Waise hi baitna. Teri wajah se
mera balance bigard raha hai.
Nakkusha shouted back at him- maine kaha tha mujhe
jabardasti lane ko. Kaha tha naa mujhe bike pe nahi baitna..par nahi purey
muhalley ke samne zor jabardasti se beetha ke le aaye..ab beech raastey lake ke
data rahey hai..meghna ko hi le aatey uska tohfa lene..waise bhi ussey to aata
hoga bike pe baitna. Badey shaher se jo hai. mujh gawar ko kyun laye saath.
Dutta sighed and bit the insides of his mouth to stop himself from screaming at
her. He noticed her hands were red and grabbed them- yeh kya hua? Nakkusha pulled
back her hands- kuch nahi. Dutta looked up at the sky in frustration.
Dutta- accha theek hai. main tujhe batata hoon kaise baitna
hai. dekh! Pahele apna left leg waha us rod par rakh ab apney haath mere
kandhey par rakh ab aisey dusra pair upar se us taraf. She followed his
instruction and arranged her kurta over her thighs modestly. She was so light
that when she put her weight to cross over her other leg, he felt nothing.
Dutta- ab theek hai? dar to nahi lag raha? Comforable? He could feel her nod.
He turned his neck to look at her as she was reaching behind her to hold the
rod at the back. Dutta released the handle and grabbed her hand and placed it on
his shoulder. Dutta said softly- paas aakey bait to girne ka dar nahi lagega.
She slipped a little closer. Dutta whispered- aur..She slipped some more.
Dutta- aur. She slipped closer till he could feel her body pressed to his back.
Dutta looked ahead straight- mujhe..matlab mujhe acchey se pakad ke bait. She placed
her hands tentatively on his shoulders. Dutta picked them from his shoulders
and brought them to his chest from under his arms like she was hugging him from
behind. Dutta turned a little towards her- ok. She nodded. He kicked started
the bike and drove away.
They reached the shop easily as it was quiet famous among
the locals. Dutta showed the receipt and collected the box while nakkusha
checked the contents to verify the work. Nakkusha asked dutta what he planned
to give meghna. Dutta grinned- arey wo to tujhe lane ka bahana tha. Gift ke baarey mein to socha
nahi. Nakkusha smiled- to kya hua. Ab yahan aaye hai to gift le lete hai. aapki
date ke liye. Dutta- theek hai. ek shart hai.
nakkusha- wo kya? Dutta- tujhe bhi mera ek gift lena hoga. Nakkusha
shook her head- nahi, bikul nahi. Dutta shrugged- to uska gift bhi cancel.
Nakkusha- aap har baat mein zidd kyun karte hai? nahi le sakti kaha na. Dutta
growled- to mat le kaha na. tu legi to meghna ke liye gift lunga nahi to nahi.
The saleman thinking it was a chance of major sale chipped in- le lo madam,
aapke msiter itna zor de rahe hai. Nakkusha looked at the salesman shooked and
stammered in confusion- n..na..nahi..ye..matlab. hum…Dutta- aapko beech mein
bolne kisne kaha. Apne kaam se kaam rakhye. Nakkusha felt herself color deeply
and she rushed out of the store. Dutta followed her out- nakku, aye nakku! tu
itne jaldi kyu ghabra jaati hai. ussey bas galatfehmi hui thi hai na. toh kya
hua? Nakkusha didn't answer and looked away. Dutta put his hand in his denim
pockets and said,"accha chal! Hum kissi aur jagah jayenge,ok?" Nakkusha said
softly,"yahan ek mall hai. wahan chale maine kabhi mall nahi dekha. Is liye. Wahan
meghna ke liye bahut acchi cheese millengi." Dutta nodded and pulled her to the
bike in the park.
They walked through the stores in the mall looking at the
merchandise. Dutta hated shopping yet nakkusha's wide eyed excitement was too contagious.
He began to enjoy showing her the different shops and felt contended to give
her such happiness. She was bubbling with questions and curiosity. She was
deeply offended by the prices and hissed loudly at him that had they used
golden threads to weave the clothes as the saris were more expensive than her
mother's gold earrings.
Nakkusha stoped at a gift shop window and looked at the
display. She called dutta and pointed at the figurine of two people entwined
together in embrace- ye meghna je eke liye. Dutta smiled- ok. Nakkusha was glad
that he had let go of the nonsense about buying a gift for her. He went in to
get the figurine while she looked around at the other items.
He came back with the packet in few minutes-Chal! bhook lagi
hai? She nodded happily. He held her wrist and made his way towards the
foodcourt. He asked her what she would like. She hesitated a moment and said
she wanted to try thai food. He was surprised a little but didn't show. When
the food came she looked carefully at all the dishes and leaned towards him to
say conspiratorially- dutta, agar mujhe ye sab passand aaya to kya main cook se
iska receipe poch sakti hoon? Dutta burst out laughing and promised her before
the day was out she will know all about thai cooking, he'll make sure of it.
She smiled at him thinking he will ask the cook about it for her. She dug into
her ki krop noodles with a fork while dutta smiled indulgently and ate his
rice.
After lunch he took her to crosswords and bought her a huge
edition of international cru sine recipe book by a famous chef. She shook her
head refusing to take it but he paid for it nevertheless and said it would be
useless for him as he didn't cook but now that he bought it at least she should
use it. Dutta- dekh nakku, simple funda hai. Tu khana banna aur mujhe khilla. Is
tarah to ye gift nahi hua na. issey mera faida hai, hai na. It was a silly
logic but she loved the book and couldn't hide her excitement and temptation to
try out some of the dishes.
On their way back, nakkusha was exhausted by all the
excitement. She sat pressed against his back holding him from behind as he had
shown her in the morning. The wind whipped her hair and made her already wild
hair to run free in disarray. Without realizing it her head lolled down on his
shoulder as she fell half asleep leaning on him.
Dutta could feel every soft counter of her body on his back.
She moved her hand slowly up his chest in sleep making his body jerk in
attention. He slowed down a little not wanting the journey to end. Each bump
and hole on the road he felt through his body. It became a lesson in endurance as
she slept on unaware of his predicament. He kept his hand on hers holding to its
place on his chest where his heart was playing a crazy tempo. When he realized
where his thoughts were leading and about whom he jerked back to reality and
accelerated to reach home fast.
Nakkusha realized she had slept through the road. She also
realized that if they entered her town and locality together on bike like this
it would literally be the talk of the town. She asked him to stop right outside
the entrance of the town and got down. She then climbed back again in a decent
side saddle style as in the morning while leaving and sat as far away from him
as possible holding the seat rod by one hand and clutching the packets with the
other.
He braked in front of her house. The sun was setting in the
horizon. She looked at him as he looked back at her. Something felt different but
she couldn't point out what it was. His gaze made her feel uncomfortable. She wanted
to thank him but felt tongue-tied. She gathered her courage to thank him for her
gift when Kalawati came out of her house.
"Aaa gaye tum log, thank God! Chal nakku mere saath. Jaldi tayyar
ho jaa. Dutta tu jara nakku ke ghar mein jaake bait..tere jamaidada aur
nishikant babu bhi andar baithey hai mehmaano ke saath..tu bhi jara bait ke
unhe entertain kar tab tak main nakku ko tayyar kar ke lati hoon." Dutta nakku
looked at her surprised. Nakkusha mumbled- tayyar matlab? Dutta-tai, kai zaala?
Kaun aaya hai? what's up? Nakku ko kis liye tayyar karna hai?
Kalawati lovingly caressed nakkusha wind-blown hair and
smiled- dutta, meri chotti si nakkusha ko dekhne ladke waale aaye hain..toh
tayyar naa karoon meri guddiya ko?
………..To be continued
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