Khushi took her stance yet again on the raised dais in the terrace, that over looked the busy Lucknow streets outside her house and also had a clear view of the starry sky; which was orange at the moment for dusk, had not fallen quite yet. It was the afternoon and Madhumathi and Garima were busy in the kitchen making last minute preparations before their son-in-Law Aakash arrived to whisk away Payal. Payal had stayed back after the wedding, when Aakash went back to Delhi to secure an apartment for them. He had called last week saying how he had found one and would be moving in a few days and so would come to pick Payal up on the weekend. Thus the frenzy of cleaning and cooking had started reaching its climax today when both the girls had been pushed out of the kitchen by Garima and Madhumathi who did not want any of their accidents ruining the meal they were preparing. Seeing as they weren’t going to let them do anymore work Payal had gone off to shower in order to get all the dust off her, that had accumulated on her from the vigorous cleaning of the house they had been doing earlier and Khushi had taken her position in the terrace yet again.
A whole month had elapsed since Payal and Aakash’s wedding but the gloom still loomed on Khushi as if it had been mere hours since everything had occurred. The wedding had gone off without a hitch, thank fully; no one had asked her too many questions upon her late arrival, they were just glad that she had made it. After the Pheres Madhumathi had taken her aside to berate her at her irresponsibility but her tirade had been cut short when she had been called away, Garima and Shashi had been too busy to ask her regarding her absence; Shashii had been glad she had appeared while Garima had pierced her with a stern gaze for being MIA for part of the ceremony, but nothing more. But even if they had asked, she could have handled them, for it would have been easier to convince them that she had just started bawling in her room at the thought of Payal’s ruksathi and therefore lost track of time, than convince Payal. Thankfully, she was spared that scrutiny, not because Payal wanted to spare her but her being the bride meant that she was the centre of attention and was required for all the rasams hence unable to corner Khushi as much as she may have wanted too. She did get her chance to question her though, just before she was escorted into the palanquin, when Khushi came to hug her goodbye; Payal taking the advantage of the hug, whispered urgently in her ear ‘Khushi where were you? Is everything ok? I was so worried? Is there a problem Khushi, tell me…..’That question had bought a smile and a tear to her eyes, even in this moment Payal was more worried about Khushi than herself. ‘Hey ssshhh, I’m fine Jiji, just got overwhelmed by the thought of you not being around the house anymore….I love you Jiji….’ With that she moved back, gave her a kiss and the turned away, to hide her eyes that would betray her, leaving Payal to say her goodbyes to the rest of the family and then take her seat in the Doli.
Thus Khushi had managed to avoid any major attention during the wedding but afterwards she had a lot of explaining to do.
‘Parmaishwari!! Where did you disappear to?!’
‘Yes Khushi bitya where were you, do you have any idea how worried we were….how worried Payal was how could you do that to her on her wedding day….’
‘I’m sorry I didn’t mean to…I-’ but what could she say, how was she to relate all that had taken place, but she had to for the questions wouldn’t stop, plus she needed to convey to them that her own wedding was off now.
‘Khushi, what happened? You weren’t absent because you were upset about Payal’s ruksathi, that wouldn’t have stopped you from being there, what happened bitya tell us…’ asked Bau ji, the only other person after Payal who could read her.
She walked over to him, rested her head in his lap, ‘I will, if I don’t tell you then who else will I tell? Bauji something did happen, I….I met Shyam on my way to the Ballroom.’ She figured sticking as close to the truth as possible was her best way to hide the things she didn’t wish for anyone to know. Like her night with Shyam and what had transpired in that suite with Arnav Singh Raizada, she wasn’t sure why she didn’t want to tell them about him but knew that she would avoid it if she could.
‘Shyam?!’ they asked confused.
‘Yes Shyam, I-‘
‘Wait, how could you have met Shyam, he wasn’t even at the wedding?’ asked Bua ji
‘Yes, that’s because I told him not to come.’
‘Why?’
‘Because I didn’t want him there.’
‘Hunh?! What is wrong with you Sanka Devi, you stopped your own fiancé from coming to your sister’s wedding?!! Are you insane, what must he think, just because you have known the boy all your life doesn’t mean you don’t give him the due respect he deserves as your husband, you will have to stop this childish behavior, he is no longer your friend he is going to be your husband in a months’ time!’
‘No he won’t! And if you allow me to explain, before berating me you will know why.’ She added peeved by her Buaji’s onslaught.
They all just gaped at her; as she went onto explain why he would not be her husband.
‘When I met Shyam I found him with another woman, and no I didn’t jump to any conclusions from what transpired I knew she wasn’t just some colleague but actually a mistress and he didn’t deny it. Thus we had an argument and I broke our engagement.’
‘You did what?!! Without even consulting any of us, Khushi a broken engagement isn’t something one flaunts, you should have consulted us, should have let us talk to him maybe we could have solved it without us having to call the wedding off.’
‘Amma! He was having an affair, after being engaged to me! With only a month away from our wedding, how can you even be suggesting this….I did what I thought was right!’ she said exasperatedly, but then uncertainty gripped her and she turned to her Bauji for reassurance, ‘I did the right thing, yes, Bauji?’
He looked at her poignantly before he responded. Beckoning her to him, he cupped her face and said, ‘Yes. Yes you did the right thing Khushi, when a man is unfaithful, no amount of talking in the world will change him, and if he is unfaithful right now then you can count on him being unfaithful after marriage too. You did the right thing Khushi, that man does not deserve you.’ Eyes brimming with tears she gave her Bauji a bear hug, it felt good to have his support. She didn’t let go until Buaji’s words cut in through there embrace.
‘That’s all right but Shashi who will marry a girl with a broken engagement have you thought about that, you both are taking decisions emotionally, what-‘
‘Jiji’ Shashi held up his hand, ‘I would rather my daughter grows to become a spinster in this house than let a part of her heart die every day in a marriage with a man who does not love or respect her. We are lucky that we are made aware of his true colours before they tied the knot. And may be I am taking this decision emotionally, but all my life I have taken all my major decisions according to my emotions and they have not failed me yet, so I don’t see why they would do so today. And this is my daughter not just any person, with her I will take every decision according to my heart, and my heart has decided that she will not marry Shyam and no one will discuss this matter ever again under my roof. My daughter has suffered enough of a heart ache she doesn’t need a constant reminder of it!
‘Now we have all had a long day and Payal will be coming over in the morning for her Bhutt Phere so let’s retire to our beds please.’ With that he had ended the discussion and saved Khushi from anymore comments about a broken engagement from Garima or Madumathi and from having to explain the other cause of her delay which would have definitely gotten them to hit a cresendo, for a broken engagment had only made them shimmer, her alone in a room with a man would have resulted in them surpassing their boiling point.
Although Garima and Madhumathi abided Shashi’s proclamation to not discuss Shyam or the engagement in the house again, it didn’t stop her from seeing the sadness in their eyes for her. They too had come to agree with Shashi that she was better off without Shyam, after Shyam had made an appearance the next day, drunk and claiming that yes he had many girlfriends so what, he had chosen Khushi to be his bride and they should be grateful to him to be willing to marry an orphan. That had made any thought of him marrying their daughter dissipate and in fact had lead to Buaji slapping and kicking the fiend out of the house herself. But the damage was done the whole neighborhood knew as well as did Payal and Aakash for the incident occurred just after the two had arrived for the rasam. Payal instantly broke into tears and stated how she knew something bad must have happened for Khushi wouldn’t have left her alone like that without cause, with that she had taken her sister into a spine-cracking hug and only let go of her when Aakash seeing Khushi turn blue due to lack of oxygen had put his hand on her shoulder to make her release her. Although the situation then had turned awkward for him, as she turned into his open arms and wept all over his shirt in front of the family. Now while he loved her, public display of affection and that too on the very first day of their marriage was not what he had bargained for. However, he managed it well, realizing that Payal at that moment was too overwhelmed to realize that she was hugging him in front of the family. He patted her to calm her down, whilst embarrassment glowed in his cheeks. The others turned around to give them some privacy, until Payal, finally, realized that she was in the living room with everyone around her. She jerked back apologetically cleared her throat and inspected her toes with great interest as the others tried to salvage the situation but were unsure how to.
It was Khushi, who then broke the intense silence, ‘Uffo, Amma aren’t you going to start with the rasam, I’m starving and I’m sure Jeeju is too…. you’re in for a treat, all of Amma’s specialties have been made especially for you just wait till you try them you won’t be able to stop….oh come on stop looking at me like that, today’s a day for celebration, please no more tears, I hate crying….I’m fine but I won’t be if I don’t get to eat….oh come on Jiji I have been waiting to have breakfast with you, forget everything else and let’s get on with it shall we?!!’ with that she had managed to get them past Shyam and the conversation that had transeferred between them before they had all arrived on the scene. That conversation had broken whatever was left inside of her. She hadn’t realised she had hoped or still believed that he had loved her, but apperently she had for when he broke that façade in his heartless manner she felt each shard of her broken hope peirce her shattered heart.
‘Shyam?! What are you dong here? I thought I made it clear I wanted nothing to do with you yesterday!’ said a shaken Khushi who had been closing the courtyard door when he had appeared, she hadn’t expected to see him, especially not today. However, a part of her was pleased to see him, foolishly hoping he had come to apologise and beg for her forgiveness.
‘I don’t want anything to do with you either. Who would? You’re a tainted woman now! I just came for my ring.’ Replied Shyam in his obnoxious way. His breath smelt of alcohol causing Khushi to back away from him, although that was not the only reason, his viscious label had gutted her. ‘You know, I didn’t think you had it in you Khushi, to sleep with a man you’re not married to, but you surprised me. I thought with you I would have to go through all the Pheres in order to get in bed but no, turns out you enjoy riding with no strings attached too and quite good too may I add. If I didn’t know any better I would think the other night wasn’t your first night Khushi…’ he taunted her as an evil smile curved his lips.
‘Uh-en-uh! Not this time Khushi…’ he fisted her hands that had risen to attack him again. ‘I know it’s hard for a girl like you keep your hands off men, but I’m a respectable man, or so pretain the image of one in this neighbourhood and would like to continue to do so. So if you will give me my ring back I will be on my merry way….I don’t have all day to humour your anger, I have “clients” waiting’ he added deliberatly to goad her. She wanted to hurt him badly for the agony he was putting her through but she was inferior to him physically, and as for emotionally…well she didn’t see how she could hurt him emotionally for the man had no emotion, what she had believed to be feelings had been an illusion, a charade to lure her in. All she could do was just stare at him with deep disgust. ‘Khushi enough of your silence where is my ring, that was a very expensive solitaire I bought you and your one night doesn’t even come up to cover it, so give me back my ring…wait why am even bothering with this,’ he said as he grabbed both of her fists into his one hand and turned her left hand to look for the ring, ‘I have your hand in my grasp I don’t need you t-wait…Where is my ring Khushi?!!’ now his eyes lit up with fury as he saw the ring was not on her ring finger. He hadn’t come all the way here just to ridicule her, well he had but the ring had been his priority.
So there was one emotion he was capable of, greed. A smile curved on Khushi’s lips too, he wanted the ring but she didn’t have it, it was lying on the carpet somewhere in the Maha-Raja suite. She may not be able to hurt him the way he had hurt her but at least she would deny him the thing he desired. ‘Khushi, I am in no mood for games, just give me the damn ring and then we both can go our separate ways.’ It was sick how he was so involved yesterday that not only did he not notice her come in but he hadn’t even realised that she had thrown the ring at his face. That hurt again, how could this man still manage to hurt her? How could she still expect anything from this man after everything he had said and done?
She had been mulling over these things while Shyam got angrier by the minute when Buaji and the rest came out to investigate what was keeping Khushi in the courtyard. That was when his whole drama of how they should be grateful had begun, ending in how their orphan daughter was a theif for she wasn’t giving his ring back, that was when Khushi found her voice, she had had enough of his accusattions and told him to go ask the skank he had bedded about the ring for she had discarded him and his filthy ring in the same room. Hearing about the affair from his own mouth and him calling her darling neice an orphan and a theif had made Madhumathi’s temper sky-rocket leading to his beating and being thrown out, where the reputation he had hoped to maintain had been slurred for everyone to see.
A whole month had elapsed since Payal and Aakash’s wedding but the gloom still loomed on Khushi as if it had been mere hours since everything had occurred. The wedding had gone off without a hitch, thank fully; no one had asked her too many questions upon her late arrival, they were just glad that she had made it. After the Pheres Madhumathi had taken her aside to berate her at her irresponsibility but her tirade had been cut short when she had been called away, Garima and Shashi had been too busy to ask her regarding her absence; Shashii had been glad she had appeared while Garima had pierced her with a stern gaze for being MIA for part of the ceremony, but nothing more. But even if they had asked, she could have handled them, for it would have been easier to convince them that she had just started bawling in her room at the thought of Payal’s ruksathi and therefore lost track of time, than convince Payal. Thankfully, she was spared that scrutiny, not because Payal wanted to spare her but her being the bride meant that she was the centre of attention and was required for all the rasams hence unable to corner Khushi as much as she may have wanted too. She did get her chance to question her though, just before she was escorted into the palanquin, when Khushi came to hug her goodbye; Payal taking the advantage of the hug, whispered urgently in her ear ‘Khushi where were you? Is everything ok? I was so worried? Is there a problem Khushi, tell me…..’That question had bought a smile and a tear to her eyes, even in this moment Payal was more worried about Khushi than herself. ‘Hey ssshhh, I’m fine Jiji, just got overwhelmed by the thought of you not being around the house anymore….I love you Jiji….’ With that she moved back, gave her a kiss and the turned away, to hide her eyes that would betray her, leaving Payal to say her goodbyes to the rest of the family and then take her seat in the Doli.
Thus Khushi had managed to avoid any major attention during the wedding but afterwards she had a lot of explaining to do.
‘Parmaishwari!! Where did you disappear to?!’
‘Yes Khushi bitya where were you, do you have any idea how worried we were….how worried Payal was how could you do that to her on her wedding day….’
‘I’m sorry I didn’t mean to…I-’ but what could she say, how was she to relate all that had taken place, but she had to for the questions wouldn’t stop, plus she needed to convey to them that her own wedding was off now.
‘Khushi, what happened? You weren’t absent because you were upset about Payal’s ruksathi, that wouldn’t have stopped you from being there, what happened bitya tell us…’ asked Bau ji, the only other person after Payal who could read her.
She walked over to him, rested her head in his lap, ‘I will, if I don’t tell you then who else will I tell? Bauji something did happen, I….I met Shyam on my way to the Ballroom.’ She figured sticking as close to the truth as possible was her best way to hide the things she didn’t wish for anyone to know. Like her night with Shyam and what had transpired in that suite with Arnav Singh Raizada, she wasn’t sure why she didn’t want to tell them about him but knew that she would avoid it if she could.
‘Shyam?!’ they asked confused.
‘Yes Shyam, I-‘
‘Wait, how could you have met Shyam, he wasn’t even at the wedding?’ asked Bua ji
‘Yes, that’s because I told him not to come.’
‘Why?’
‘Because I didn’t want him there.’
‘Hunh?! What is wrong with you Sanka Devi, you stopped your own fiancé from coming to your sister’s wedding?!! Are you insane, what must he think, just because you have known the boy all your life doesn’t mean you don’t give him the due respect he deserves as your husband, you will have to stop this childish behavior, he is no longer your friend he is going to be your husband in a months’ time!’
‘No he won’t! And if you allow me to explain, before berating me you will know why.’ She added peeved by her Buaji’s onslaught.
They all just gaped at her; as she went onto explain why he would not be her husband.
‘When I met Shyam I found him with another woman, and no I didn’t jump to any conclusions from what transpired I knew she wasn’t just some colleague but actually a mistress and he didn’t deny it. Thus we had an argument and I broke our engagement.’
‘You did what?!! Without even consulting any of us, Khushi a broken engagement isn’t something one flaunts, you should have consulted us, should have let us talk to him maybe we could have solved it without us having to call the wedding off.’
‘Amma! He was having an affair, after being engaged to me! With only a month away from our wedding, how can you even be suggesting this….I did what I thought was right!’ she said exasperatedly, but then uncertainty gripped her and she turned to her Bauji for reassurance, ‘I did the right thing, yes, Bauji?’
He looked at her poignantly before he responded. Beckoning her to him, he cupped her face and said, ‘Yes. Yes you did the right thing Khushi, when a man is unfaithful, no amount of talking in the world will change him, and if he is unfaithful right now then you can count on him being unfaithful after marriage too. You did the right thing Khushi, that man does not deserve you.’ Eyes brimming with tears she gave her Bauji a bear hug, it felt good to have his support. She didn’t let go until Buaji’s words cut in through there embrace.
‘That’s all right but Shashi who will marry a girl with a broken engagement have you thought about that, you both are taking decisions emotionally, what-‘
‘Jiji’ Shashi held up his hand, ‘I would rather my daughter grows to become a spinster in this house than let a part of her heart die every day in a marriage with a man who does not love or respect her. We are lucky that we are made aware of his true colours before they tied the knot. And may be I am taking this decision emotionally, but all my life I have taken all my major decisions according to my emotions and they have not failed me yet, so I don’t see why they would do so today. And this is my daughter not just any person, with her I will take every decision according to my heart, and my heart has decided that she will not marry Shyam and no one will discuss this matter ever again under my roof. My daughter has suffered enough of a heart ache she doesn’t need a constant reminder of it!
‘Now we have all had a long day and Payal will be coming over in the morning for her Bhutt Phere so let’s retire to our beds please.’ With that he had ended the discussion and saved Khushi from anymore comments about a broken engagement from Garima or Madumathi and from having to explain the other cause of her delay which would have definitely gotten them to hit a cresendo, for a broken engagment had only made them shimmer, her alone in a room with a man would have resulted in them surpassing their boiling point.
Although Garima and Madhumathi abided Shashi’s proclamation to not discuss Shyam or the engagement in the house again, it didn’t stop her from seeing the sadness in their eyes for her. They too had come to agree with Shashi that she was better off without Shyam, after Shyam had made an appearance the next day, drunk and claiming that yes he had many girlfriends so what, he had chosen Khushi to be his bride and they should be grateful to him to be willing to marry an orphan. That had made any thought of him marrying their daughter dissipate and in fact had lead to Buaji slapping and kicking the fiend out of the house herself. But the damage was done the whole neighborhood knew as well as did Payal and Aakash for the incident occurred just after the two had arrived for the rasam. Payal instantly broke into tears and stated how she knew something bad must have happened for Khushi wouldn’t have left her alone like that without cause, with that she had taken her sister into a spine-cracking hug and only let go of her when Aakash seeing Khushi turn blue due to lack of oxygen had put his hand on her shoulder to make her release her. Although the situation then had turned awkward for him, as she turned into his open arms and wept all over his shirt in front of the family. Now while he loved her, public display of affection and that too on the very first day of their marriage was not what he had bargained for. However, he managed it well, realizing that Payal at that moment was too overwhelmed to realize that she was hugging him in front of the family. He patted her to calm her down, whilst embarrassment glowed in his cheeks. The others turned around to give them some privacy, until Payal, finally, realized that she was in the living room with everyone around her. She jerked back apologetically cleared her throat and inspected her toes with great interest as the others tried to salvage the situation but were unsure how to.
It was Khushi, who then broke the intense silence, ‘Uffo, Amma aren’t you going to start with the rasam, I’m starving and I’m sure Jeeju is too…. you’re in for a treat, all of Amma’s specialties have been made especially for you just wait till you try them you won’t be able to stop….oh come on stop looking at me like that, today’s a day for celebration, please no more tears, I hate crying….I’m fine but I won’t be if I don’t get to eat….oh come on Jiji I have been waiting to have breakfast with you, forget everything else and let’s get on with it shall we?!!’ with that she had managed to get them past Shyam and the conversation that had transeferred between them before they had all arrived on the scene. That conversation had broken whatever was left inside of her. She hadn’t realised she had hoped or still believed that he had loved her, but apperently she had for when he broke that façade in his heartless manner she felt each shard of her broken hope peirce her shattered heart.
‘Shyam?! What are you dong here? I thought I made it clear I wanted nothing to do with you yesterday!’ said a shaken Khushi who had been closing the courtyard door when he had appeared, she hadn’t expected to see him, especially not today. However, a part of her was pleased to see him, foolishly hoping he had come to apologise and beg for her forgiveness.
‘I don’t want anything to do with you either. Who would? You’re a tainted woman now! I just came for my ring.’ Replied Shyam in his obnoxious way. His breath smelt of alcohol causing Khushi to back away from him, although that was not the only reason, his viscious label had gutted her. ‘You know, I didn’t think you had it in you Khushi, to sleep with a man you’re not married to, but you surprised me. I thought with you I would have to go through all the Pheres in order to get in bed but no, turns out you enjoy riding with no strings attached too and quite good too may I add. If I didn’t know any better I would think the other night wasn’t your first night Khushi…’ he taunted her as an evil smile curved his lips.
‘Uh-en-uh! Not this time Khushi…’ he fisted her hands that had risen to attack him again. ‘I know it’s hard for a girl like you keep your hands off men, but I’m a respectable man, or so pretain the image of one in this neighbourhood and would like to continue to do so. So if you will give me my ring back I will be on my merry way….I don’t have all day to humour your anger, I have “clients” waiting’ he added deliberatly to goad her. She wanted to hurt him badly for the agony he was putting her through but she was inferior to him physically, and as for emotionally…well she didn’t see how she could hurt him emotionally for the man had no emotion, what she had believed to be feelings had been an illusion, a charade to lure her in. All she could do was just stare at him with deep disgust. ‘Khushi enough of your silence where is my ring, that was a very expensive solitaire I bought you and your one night doesn’t even come up to cover it, so give me back my ring…wait why am even bothering with this,’ he said as he grabbed both of her fists into his one hand and turned her left hand to look for the ring, ‘I have your hand in my grasp I don’t need you t-wait…Where is my ring Khushi?!!’ now his eyes lit up with fury as he saw the ring was not on her ring finger. He hadn’t come all the way here just to ridicule her, well he had but the ring had been his priority.
So there was one emotion he was capable of, greed. A smile curved on Khushi’s lips too, he wanted the ring but she didn’t have it, it was lying on the carpet somewhere in the Maha-Raja suite. She may not be able to hurt him the way he had hurt her but at least she would deny him the thing he desired. ‘Khushi, I am in no mood for games, just give me the damn ring and then we both can go our separate ways.’ It was sick how he was so involved yesterday that not only did he not notice her come in but he hadn’t even realised that she had thrown the ring at his face. That hurt again, how could this man still manage to hurt her? How could she still expect anything from this man after everything he had said and done?
She had been mulling over these things while Shyam got angrier by the minute when Buaji and the rest came out to investigate what was keeping Khushi in the courtyard. That was when his whole drama of how they should be grateful had begun, ending in how their orphan daughter was a theif for she wasn’t giving his ring back, that was when Khushi found her voice, she had had enough of his accusattions and told him to go ask the skank he had bedded about the ring for she had discarded him and his filthy ring in the same room. Hearing about the affair from his own mouth and him calling her darling neice an orphan and a theif had made Madhumathi’s temper sky-rocket leading to his beating and being thrown out, where the reputation he had hoped to maintain had been slurred for everyone to see.
Although she had managed to salvage the situation that day due it being Payal’s Bhutt Pheres it had only been one day, every day after that had felt like a new battle, where she tried to keep a smile on her face for her family while her heart bled inside. Try as she may she couldn’t find her way out of the pit that she had dug herself by trusting Shyam and giving everything to him. The guilt, the disgust, the betrayal all ate at her inside, leading her to the terrace where she wept openly in front of her parents and DM. Asking for forgiveness, for penance, for them to guide her, help her find a way out of the downward spiral she had pelted herself in.
‘Khushi.’ Payal’s soft voice cut through her thoughts. She had come out to hang the wet towel and found Khushi yet again on her seat under the sky.
‘Jiji.’ Khushi jerked up and quickly raised her hands to wipe away the tears, but Payal beat her to it. Lovingly, she dried her tears and then looked up at her seriously.
’I can’t go Khushi.’
Khushi stared at her, ‘Hunh? What? Why not Jiji? You were so excited when Jeeju called, now what happened? Is something the matter?’
She nodded.
‘What Jiji? Tell me.’
But Payal only gave a wry smile as she brushed a stray strand off Khushi’s face. ‘You tell me Khushi.’
‘I don’t understand Jiji’ said Khushi blankly, not comprehending Payal’s train of thought.
‘Neither do I Khushi. Tell me, weren’t you the one who promised that neither of us would ever hide anything from the other. That if any problem arose we would battle it together. That even when we were married and would have husbands nothing would change, we would still have each other. We’d always be each others’ confidants.’
‘Yes. But why are you saying all of this. I meant what I said then Jiji, nothing will ever change. I will always be here for you when you need me. I am here now; tell me what is bothering you.’
‘You. You are bothering me Khushi.’ Payal stated to a wide-eyed Khushi.
‘Khushi.’ Payal’s soft voice cut through her thoughts. She had come out to hang the wet towel and found Khushi yet again on her seat under the sky.
‘Jiji.’ Khushi jerked up and quickly raised her hands to wipe away the tears, but Payal beat her to it. Lovingly, she dried her tears and then looked up at her seriously.
’I can’t go Khushi.’
Khushi stared at her, ‘Hunh? What? Why not Jiji? You were so excited when Jeeju called, now what happened? Is something the matter?’
She nodded.
‘What Jiji? Tell me.’
But Payal only gave a wry smile as she brushed a stray strand off Khushi’s face. ‘You tell me Khushi.’
‘I don’t understand Jiji’ said Khushi blankly, not comprehending Payal’s train of thought.
‘Neither do I Khushi. Tell me, weren’t you the one who promised that neither of us would ever hide anything from the other. That if any problem arose we would battle it together. That even when we were married and would have husbands nothing would change, we would still have each other. We’d always be each others’ confidants.’
‘Yes. But why are you saying all of this. I meant what I said then Jiji, nothing will ever change. I will always be here for you when you need me. I am here now; tell me what is bothering you.’
‘You. You are bothering me Khushi.’ Payal stated to a wide-eyed Khushi.
*****