Chapter 20: Not Pe
Not (Knot pe Knot)
"Maan, sach mein aapse
koi dusht danav ka competition nahi jeeth sakta!" she said frustrated at his
nagging to make her eat "angrezi" breakfast.
"Geet, thanks for such
a lovely title. I am sure no one can come up with such wonderful titles like
you," he smiled while his tone was peaked with sarcasm. "Ab now come on jaldi
se finish karo, we need to start moving," he said sternly.
"Hmph!" she huffed
picking up the toast with a disgusted face. "Maan mujhe yeh sab nahi khaana.
Mujhe na, garama garam aalu paratha chahiye," she said smacking her lips.
"Ugh Geet, early
morning how could you even think of such oily foods?" he frowned. "Yeh sehad ke
liye bahut accha hai. Now finish up your breakfast please," he ordered before
walking to washroom. She made a disgusting face at the food and scrunched her
nose at the food before gulping it and draining the remnants with the juice not
wanting the "angrezi taste" to stick.
Geet settled in the
car while Maan came to take the driver seat before putting the luggage in the
backseat. He had checked out of the hotel while Geet tagged along with him,
grumbling about the things she had to go through since morning because of him.
He listened with amusement as she cutely complained to her Babaji.
"Geet, stop
complaining to your Babaji. He knows I am always right," he winked adding to
her frustration and started driving.
"Aaha. You aur right?
Agar yeh joke hai toh mujhe bilkul hasi nahi aa rahi hai," she scoffed. "Aap
yeh sab aapka haq jatane ke liye kar rahe ho na. Forcing that tasteless
breakfast on me. Aur phir kal, kal raat you were holding me in your arms as
though I was some kind of a rag doll," she said not minding the depth of the
accusations.
"Geet!" he shouted
being hurt at her accusations of using her. She just looked away in anger.
"Fine agar tumhe lagta hai ki main haq jata raha hoon, then let it be. I shall
never try to interfere with you," he declared.
"Good Mr. Khurana. I
am glad to know. Agar aap yeh faisla kar liya toh ek aur choti si request hai,
you shall not let anybody in the marriage know about our marriage or the
relation we share," she finished coolly. "At least that will keep you off from
trying to force your rights on me."
Maan was shocked at
her accusation but soon calmed down remembering his resolve to win her heart.
He saw this as another challenge to win his love and simply acquiesced hoping
to outwit her in her own challenge. He was determined to make her come and
claim the very relationship she refused to acknowledge and that too in front of
everybody. "Fine, as you say!" he said without emotion and continued to drive.
Geet was initially
surprised when he readily agreed to her demand. Although she felt relieved he
had agreed to keep their relation mum, somewhere she felt drained that he had
instantly agreed. Immediately her ego overtook her and smiled victoriously as
she felt she had overpowered him. But she didn't know she had lost to him long
back.
They finally arrived
at their destination, a small village that located at least an hour from the nearest
town. Technology and IT seemed to not have touched it as the fields were still
occupied mostly by bullocks plowing away the land while the womenfolk sang away
traditional folk songs helping them forget their fatigue while they toiled in
the fields. Geet was overtaken by the beauty and simplicity of the village
wondering how come such places of heaven still existed in this country where
pollution and corruption grew exponentially in the name of technology and
economic growth. She was mesmerized in the serenity of the place and didn't
realize they had reached the marriage house that bustled with a lot of activity
until Maan came to pat on her shoulder. He was about to touch her when he
remembered his resolve to not interfere with her and quickly moved back to take
his luggage.
"Geet hum pahunch gaye
hain," he said plainly before picking his luggage and walking into the house.
Geet was pulled out of
her dreamland and looked around to see him carelessly walking into the house
not bothering to even give her a look back. She was peeved with his attitude
and stomped out of the jeep and picked up her luggage to walk into the huge
marriage house. She stepped into the busy house as people scuttled around here
and there looking like a typical scene from those family Bollywood scenes.
Being new to the place and not knowing anyone she stood rooted at the door
wondering where to go next. An old lady seemed to pass by her and saw her
bewildered state and turned around to ask her if she needed to meet someone.
"Oye kudiye, tussi
kaun dhoond rahi ho?" she asked adjusting her eyewear and squinting her eyes.
"Voh daadiji, main,"
she said looking around to find Maan. She saw him greeting a few people and
standing in corner when she pointed to him making the old lady turn around to
the direction she was pointing to. Seeing her point at him, he came walking
towards them before excusing himself from the group. "Main, inke saath hoon,"
she said smiling and pointing to Maan.
"Tum mere saath ho?"
he asked feigning surprise and looked at the old lady. "Hume maaf kardijiye
daadiji mujhe pata nahi yeh ladki kaun hai," he said shrugging his shoulders.
Geet looked at him
incredulously. Did he just refuse to acknowledge and recognize her! The guts of
that man, she thought anger and hurt boiling inside her. "Maan yeh mazak ka
time nahi hai," she said gritting her teeth. He smirked at her annoyance yet
kept an innocent face and refused to recognize her.
"I am sorry miss main
aapko pehchaana nahi. Do you hold any relationship to me?" he asked innocently.
Oh he was taking his
revenge for her challenge, wasn't he? If it were any other time she would have
given a piece of her mind but right now she was in the receiving end. She felt
embarrassed to come to a place where she knew no one except Maan, Anushka, and
Arjun. The fighting duo, Arjun and Anushka seemed to be missing in action so
she only had Maan to depend on. And here he was having fun putting her on the
spot. If he was Maan Singh Khurana, she was Geet Handa, and she was never taught
to give up. She would play the game until he pays, she smirked and she looked
around when she finally spotted her innocent devar. "Arjun!" she screamed, her
tone hitting the high octave.
Arjun who had just
entered into the haveli while talking to his group of friends saw his bhabhi
screaming across the hall for him. She smiled sweetly at him and was confused
but was happy they had reached. He walked towards them smiling back at her but
was confused to see her shooting sparks of anger towards his brother while his
bro stood carelessly looking somewhere else. "Oh hi bha'" he began only to be
instantly overpowered by her voice.
"Arjun, my sweet and
darling friend, tum kahaan chala gaya yaar?" she asked winding her hand around
his while her eyes strictly instructed him to keep shut. "Daadiji mein inke
saath hoon. Peeche se yeh bandha mera hatta khatta dost jaise dikh raha that
toh isiliye galati se maine use point ki," she smiled hoping the lady would buy
her lame excuse. "Haina handsome?" she asked sweetly batting her eyelashes
looking at Arjun who still seemed utterly confused.
"Ha, haan," he nodded
unwillingly but Geet tugged his arm and looked sternly scaring him and
instantly shaking his head vigorously, "haan Daadi yeh humari saheli hain."
Just then some girl
from behind called. "Maan," an extra sugary voice was heard from behind. Geet
peeked to see a girl sporting extra make-up and wearing a traditional saree yet
exposing every single of her womanly asset as possible was standing out of the
crowd of women with her hand on her hip. Instantly Geet turned to look at that
girl, her eyes spitting fire. "Chudail kahin ke," she mumbled under her breath.
"Haan sweetheart, main
abhi aa raha hoon," Maan replied equally sweet while his eyes didn't avert from
Geet. "Now if you'll excuse me miss, vahan mera intezaar ho raha hai," he added
and turned to walk away with a huge smirk on his face.
"Haan, haan mujhe dikh
raha hai kis tarah ka intezaar," she said, her tone rising before jerking Arjun
with her in the opposite direction. Seeing Maan and Geet walk away in opposite
direction, the old lady shrugged her shoulders in confusion and went away.
"Maan Singh Khurana,
tumhe chodunga nahi. Mujhse, Geet Handa se panga le rahe ho huh? Nahi chodunga,
chun chun kar badla loongi, hmph!" she spat animatedly as she walked through
the house with a very confused Arjun following her.
"Bhabhi kya hua?"
Arjun asked with uncertainty.
"Mat kaho mujhe
bhabhi. Yahaan na main tumhaari bhabhi hoon na uss dust danav mera pati hai,
samjhe?" she threatened angrily pointing her finger at him.
"Jj ji," he nodded
incessantly. "Magar kyun?"
"Go ask your lovely
brother." Arjun nodded and turned to go ask his brother when her voice stopped
him again. "Oi before that show me my room," she ordered.
"Oh sorry," he mumbled
before picking up his cell phone to call Anushka so she could take Geet to her
room.
Meanwhile, Anushka who
was walking by towards Arjun and Geet, saw them and greeted them. Geet smiled
half-heartedly as she was still planning ways to extract her revenge from Maan
while Arjun asked her to take Geet. Arjun took leave of them and headed to talk
to his bro while Geet and Anushka walked silently to their room. After
refreshing herself from the tiresome journey, Geet decided to catch some sleep.
Anushka told that she would be going to meet up with her friends so it would be
easy for Geet once she wakes up in the evening in case she needed to find her.
Anushka walked down to
find Maan because she wanted to know of any latest development in her plan. She
figured having them travel alone would have had at least some improvement in
their relationship. Keeping her hopes high she walked to Maan with a satisfied
smile on her face.
"Toh Maan babu, kaisa
tha tumhara romantic trip down here?" she playfully slapped Maan's shoulder
while stressing on the word romantic.
"Ek dum bakwaas!" Maan
said with irritation.
"Kya!" Anushka
exclaimed startled at his response.
"Haan. Seriously yaar
voh ladki mujhe ek din pagal kar degi. Even if her heart allows her to accept
her love for me, her stubbornness shall never allow an iota of change," he said
shaking his head in defeat. "Uska zidd hi mera ek number ka villain hai."
"Uff ho Bujji, bas
itna hi problem hai kya?" she asked relieved.
"Bas? Tumhe mera
problem sirf itna ho gaya kya!" he asked incredulously, his tone tinged with
anger.
"Arre gussa mat ho
darling. Main hoon na," she said pointing to herself proudly. "Accha kaho what
are the latest developments?"
"She declared that no
one here should know we are married. Use lagti hai ki uspe haq jata raha hoon.
You know forcing her to do things she would otherwise not want to do," he
sighed.
"Perfect! Isse accha
mauka nahi milega tumhe," she beamed causing Maan to scrunch his eyebrows in
confusion. "Listen Maan, you never got to make Geet fall in love with you
before marriage making her think you have forced her. Now she wants to break
free of the relationship she thinks is restricting her. So that actually gives
you an advantage. You are now just her lover. You didn't get a chance to show
her your lover boy side without reminding her that you hold a forced
relationship with her. So now show her your love without any strings attached,"
Anushka said warmly.
"Magar, if she hasn't realized
my love for her yet what's the use now?" Maan asked still doubtful.
"Dekho beta kabhi
kabhi ek problem ko solution dhoondne ke liye ek aur problem hume create karni
chahiye," she said alarming him. But before he could voice his fear she
continued, "Ah wait don't jump to conclusions. Yeh gyan tumhe samajh mein aane
ke liye bahut time lagega beta. Toh isiliye just allow me."
"Sweety, mujhe samajh
mein nahi aata ki tum hume ek saath karni chaahti ho ya alag," he said
scratching his head.
"Bujji yeh tumhe na
tab pata chalega jab tumhari pyaari biwi shall come running into your arms,"
she said faking a smile at his trust on her.
"Uh oh, I guess meri
Sweety ko gussa aa gaya, kya karoon mein," he said tapping his chin, looking as
if in deep thought. "Haan maine suna hai ki, uska naam kya hai, that hero, arre
kya naam tha uska?" he asked, pretending to not know. "Haan some Ram Charan has
arrived," he began but Anushka began to jump in excitement.
"Kya Cherry yahaan?
Kab? Kaise? Oh God mujhe abhi usse dekhni hai," she said jumping like a school
kid.
"Wait, wait. Suna hai
ki voh bandha uss ladki ka cousin hai. So he has personally come here and even
planned to stay this whole week until all the marriage functions are done," he
smiled seeing his best friend's enthusiasm.
"Haye mein mar jawan.
I am going to meet him. Cherry I am coming my darling," she declared looking
dreamily. "Main kaisi dikh rahi hoon?" she said adjusting her hair and dress.
"Yahaan tum dekhti hi
reh jao vahaan aur voh kisi aur ko dekh reh hoga," he cautioned.
"Arre haan, chalo
chalo," she said ushering him to the main hall.
"Oi wait, wait, tenu
mujhe maaf kiya ki nahi kudiye?" he asked in a typical Punjabi accent.
"Haan ki ki," she said
absentmindedly, hurrying downstairs.
"Oh aise kaise chalega
kudiye, itte aa," he said purposefully trying to prolong her stay and irritate
her a bit.
"Maan," she said her
voice rising a bit. Maan knew she called him by his name and in that tone only
when she was dead serious about something.
"Accha teekhai tum keh rahi ho toh okay," he said
side-hugging her and pulling her
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