Part 9 Dreams and
Plans
I think we dream so we don't
have to be apart so long. If we're in each other's dreams, we can play together
all night. ~Bill
Watterson
"Chotte, abhi bhaarish rukha nahin, aapke
naav tho doob jayenge. Thode der baad
try karte hain na?" called out Anjali from the shelter of the front porch. Rains at naani's haveli were almost the norm
during Janmashtami.
Arnav merely looked up;
his lips pursed stubbornly, water trickling from his hair over his eyes in a
steady stream as he put yet another paper boat in the rivulet of rain-fed water
by the curved driveway. Anjali sighed,
as it promptly got drenched by the steady raindrops even before it floated a
few inches and her chotte's jaw clenched tighter in determination. He was merely five and yet he would not cease
his efforts until atleast one of the boats had sailed around the bend in the
driveway.
An idea struck Anjali and she
quickly ran inside to emerge a few minutes later, fully dressed in a raincoat
and with daadaji's humungous umbrella in her hand. Just as Arnav put the last of his boats in
the water she held the open umbrella over it shielding it from the rain. They both walked along with it as it sailed
in all its glory. Chotte was besides
himself with joy as he clapped and jumped in the water in ecstacy. He always had such a wonderful laugh; much more
beautiful than a thousand rainbows thought Anjali as she watched him unmindful
of the water seeping into her shoes and wetting her feet.
The soles of her feet were
getting wet, but wait---- there was no rain------so how could it----- and it
didn't seem like wetness due to seeping rain, but due to some kind of a coarse
wet rag being dragged across it back and forth, and'' it tickled. Her eyes flew open and Anjali sat bolt upright
in bed to find herself looking into the melting eyes of the largest mutt she
had ever seen. Lying across the foot of
her bed was a huge ginger brown Labrador with its mottled black-brown-pink tongue
making its way across the length of her foot in one long and lazy liiiccckkk. Anjali jumped up and pulled her feet under
her thighs, settling down on her knees as she heard Tashi's giggles.
"Good morning Anjie aunty. Yeh hai Dobby, my bestest friend; jaisa
Atticus papa ka best friend hai. Hum
tabse wait kar rahethe ki aap utt jaye taaki hum aapko haveli ka tour de
sakhen. " She piped, her eyes dancing in
glee.
Anjali
smiled and stroked Tashi's cheek. "Aap
jaayi ye, hum tayyar hoke neeche aajayenge, phir aap jahaan hume lejayenge
wahan chalenge. Theek hai?" she asked
with a bob nod of her head, cupping Tashi's chin.
"Ok!
Don't be late" instructed Tashi as she jumped down from the bed and
rushed downstairs followed by Dobby, who briefly paused at the doorway to look
back at Anjali with soulful eyes; as if to re-iterate Tashi's message, before
he bounded downstairs.
"mmmhmmm"
the low hum and smile on Arnav's face in
his sleep, brought on a tender smile on Khushi's. She tossed her towel on the recliner and walked
over to sit by him on the bed. Slowly tracing his cheek with her index finger,
she whispered in his ear, "Arnavji, kuch sunahra sapna dekh rahen hain kya? Hume bhi batayiye na? "
Arnav opened one lazy
eye and pulled her closer to him with a gentle tug."Di aur mein paani mein
paper boats float kar rahen hain" he said, his eyes closed burrowing his face
in her belly.
"Kyaaa!" Khushi exclaimed in
utter surprise.
Of all the possible explanations
she had not seen this coming. A vivid
image of a miniature ASR floating paper boats emerged in front of her eyes and
the vision melted her heart and widened her smile as she stared back at him,
waiting for him to elaborate.
Arnav
chuckled, imagining her face to perfection even with his eyes closed. Oh! How he loved the astonished expression
on his wife's face. Even after two years
of knowing the man that he was, she still did a double-take when he revealed
some of his sweeter child hood memories like this one. There were several stories from his childhood
and many more layers to him, that she had not yet seen and he reveled in
revealing them to her when she least expected it. It always brought them closer than ever. After all isn't that what a marriage is supposed
to be? Each constantly rediscovering the
other and falling in love all over again.
"Batayiye na Arnavji, kyon satarahe
hai? Hume neeche bhi to jaana hai, naashta
banane. Aanya uth gayi hogi aur unki dai
aati hi hongi unhe massage dene" pleaded Khushi with a slight pout.
Arnav sat
up and pulling her closer;he twirled a strand of her semi-dry hair as he began
relating his dream. He had been dreaming
of the time when he and Di were kids and having fun in the rains floating paper
boats at Vrindavan, and Di his staunchest of allies had helped save them from
drowning.
Just as his narration ended, his
phone rang, the highlighted LCD declaring that it was Anjali calling. In a
flash he answered, "Hanh di, aap theek to ho na?"
"Chotte, Kaise hain aap? Hum theek hai aur naaniji bhi. Aap apna Khayal tho rakrahen hain na? Hamara Haveli ' Vrindavan bahut sundar hai
chotte. Mein aur Nitin kal preliminary
inspection report review kar chuke hain.
I am so excited, kitna potential hai, aur kitna history bhi." The dream
had left Anjali homesick for her chotte.
She could not contain herself and had called up Arnav.
"Khushiji, hume aap sab ki bahut
yaad aarahi hain. Ek din hi guzra hain,
par aisa lagta hain ki aapko dekhkar na kahin maheene bheet gaye hain. Payalji, Akash aur Aanya kaise hain? Aur mamaji, maamiji?" She continued her
conversation as the phone was passed around to the various members of the
family in Shantivan including the Prakash brothers.
By the time the call ended,
Anjali had cheered up considerably. Her step
was light and a smile played on her lips as she made her way to the dining table
for breakfast. To top off her
happinesss, she received a text from NK and Maya, accompanied by pictures of
the two of them.
"Naani, NK aur Mayaji
Teej tak India mein honge. Kitni acchi
baat hai na? Hum NK bhai ko bahut miss karne lage the" she said, handing naani
her phone with the pictures that she had just received from NK.
"Kitne khush lag rahe hain ee dono.
Waise, Teej ko to bas do hi hafte rahgaya hai.
Tab tak hume Dilhi jaane ka padi" said Devyani.
Ajay who had been quietly working through his
breakfast lifted his head and swiftly flicked his gaze from naani to Anjali. Teej brought with it sweet and sour memories
and Anjali quickly turned away from naani's penetrating gaze, under the pretext
of settling down. There was a raw nerve
there, decided Ajay who had neither missed the sudden cloud that cropped over
her face, nor her deliberate attempt to avoid her naani's gaze.
"Rajastan mein, Teej bahut hi bada utsav
hain, aur khaas kar Jaipur mein dekhne laayak hota hai. Tho aap uss waqt kaise
Delhi jaa sakte hain?" questioned Virenji, whose shrewd eyes had promptly noted
Ajay's reaction to Devyani's statement with great satisfaction.
"Baat
to sahi kahat hai aap" said Devyani with a slight smile, picking up on
Virenji's cue, "Par, Dilhi ma hamra parivaar hai,aur-------" she drawled out casting a glance at Anjali,
who merely focused on her food and remained silent.
"Tho unhe bhi yehan bulvalete hain. Hame bhi badi khushi hogi sabse milke aur
hamara Haveli bhi khil uthe ga aap sab ke aane se. Kyon Ajay, kya Khayal hai?" asked Viren
Chacha.
Ajay shrugged, glancing around
genially and replied, "Jaisa aap theek samje chachaji."
"Chachaji, aapko pata nahin hain ki aap kya
kahrahen hai. Chotte, Khushiji, Akash, Payalji,
Aanya, mama, maami, aur ab NK bhai aur Mayaji, itne saare logon ko yehan
par? Aap kaise sab ko sambaal
payenge? Yeh sab bahut mushkil hai. Iss se asaan tareeka hain, naani aur hum
Delhi jaayen".
Ajay's eyes widened at the long
list while Tashi's glowed in delight"Wow! Ek family mein itne sare log. What fun!
Dadaji, papa please, sab ko yaheen bulayenge. It'll be fun.
I have never seen such a large family" she squealed, clapping her hands
gleefully.
"Theek, hai, tho, yeh thai raha ki aap ka poora parivaar iss saal
Theej hamare haveli mein manaayega. Hamare Shivji ka mandir jo Haveli ke
grounds pe hain, vahin par saalon se har tyohaar hum manate aarahen hain. Iss baar sabke saat manane mein bada mazaa
aayega. Aur hamare haveli mein sabke
liye rahaneka intezaam hojayega. Gabrayiye
mat bitiya." Assured Virenji, his smile a mile-wide.
"Hey, Ajay''. Namaste chachaji, naaniji. Hello Anjali" greeted Radhika as she breezed
in, playfully ruffling Tashi's hair along the way. She wore a crisp white shirt, navy blue trousers with suspenders and sported think black framed glasses that made her look incredibly cute. Anjali smiled at her. She had chatted with her in last night's
party, and Nitin had said that she was Ajay's PRO as well as his right
hand. Ajay let her deal with his
numerous agents, publicity campaigns and any and all of his pet projects and
adhoc requests. She was not just his
employee, but also his confidante.
Ajay
dabbed his lips with the napkin and rose from his seat, "Chachaji, Naaniji, I'll
see you all later. Hamare mining office
mein kuch urgent Government contract related issue hai, aur uske baad apne agli
series of paintings ki exhibit ke bhare mein Radhika ke saat discuss karni hain."
murmered Ajay, excusing himself "aapke tour ke anth mein, stables pe apse milta
hoon. Naaniji, Tashi aur chachaji aapko
Haveli ka sair karvane ka poora plan bana chuke hain, tho I am sure, aap bilkul
bhi bore nahin honge." With a quick hug
and peck on Tashi's cheek and a passing glance at Anjali, Ajay left the place
engrossed in his conversation with Radhika.
************
"Yeh to
bada hi khatin kaam hai Shyamji." Said the woman looking up at the resolute
face of the man seated across from her at Cafe Coffee day. She was definitely a few years older than him
and was dressed in a cotton saree with her hair tied up in a low bun at the
nape of her neck.
He paused while the
waiter served them their coffee and only resumed after ascertaining he was out
of ear-shot. "Arrey aise kitne khel hum
dono khel chuke hain. Aap to iss khel ke
purane khiladi hai. Phir hum hai na
sambaal ne ke liye. Agar sunehara bhavishya
ki aapeksha ho, to thodisi jhokam uthani padti hai na?
The woman thought for a full five minutes and
then slowly nodded her head. Theek hai,
par agar muje khatre ki zarasi bhi jalak lagi to mein turant wahan se
rafoo-chakkar ho jaoongi, aur baaki ka khel sambaal na apke haaton mein hoga.
"Manzoor hai" replied Shyam gleefuly his
handsome face rendered sinister by his twisted smile. "Tho aap aaj shaam hi apke saheli se mil
lijiye aur poori jaankari prapt karleejiye.
Dyan rahe, Rani Sahiba aapko pahele dekh chuki hai aur apko pahchan legi,
isliye savdhani se kaam lijiye. Aap unke
nazar mein na pade.
"Ji Shyamji" she
said and left the place.
Shyam leaned
his neck back stretching out the strong column of his throat and closed his
eyes. It was time to wait patiently, for
the kill belongs to the predator that waits for the right moment to strike. He inhaled deeply, a long meditative
breath to ease his nerves.
************
"Akash,
did you call Ajay? Is everything set?"
asked Arnav at lunch.
"Ji bhai,
everything is set." Smiled Akash giving his bhai a thumbs-up.
Khushi squeeled and squeezed Payal's
hand. "Hey Devi Mayya. Unka chehra dekhne layak hoga."
Arnav looked at his wife with a smile as her
infectious excitement made its appearance in the pit of his stomach in the form
of flutters and bubbles of anticipation.
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