Chapter 6

IshqKaRang

@IshqKaRang

Chapter 6 Kis taraha girha yeh suljhe

Shiva dropped himself into the chair. All around him, members of the Pandya family were pouring out their reactions to his announcement that he would find a groom for Raavi, just to get rid of her once and for all. But he was oblivious to the noises in the background. What the heck had he gotten himself into? He had to find a groom for that chipkali? His chipkali? She had been a part of his life since forever. From the time he could remember, she had been in his orbit. Growing up, she had always harped about how she would marry into the Pandya family, so there never was an occasion, despite the thousands of times he said he wanted her out of their lives, that there was the actual possibility of Raavi no longer being that thorn in his side. He had read somewhere that if you leave a thorn under your skin long enough, your body envelops it and absorbs it. Maybe that was what had happened with him too. Maybe he had absorbed her into his being. Now how would he get her out?

“Ha! Yeh sahi hai. Jis ladke ne aaj tak Raavi ko chhodke kisi ladki ki taraf aankh uthakar nahi dekha, jo ladka shaadi ke naam se dur bhagtha tha, ab woh Raavi ke liye ladka dhoondega?” Krish laughed. “Haan tho baath Raavi ki shaadi ki ho rahi hai, Shiva ki nahi,” Dev said, confused. “Wo hi tho.. Shiva kaise dhoondega Raavi ke liye ladka? Loudspeaker leke poore Somnath mein announcement karega? Ya akhbar mein ishtehaar dega?” Krish tried to explain. “Na tho iske paas social media hai, na hi iska koi friends’ circle.. Arey Raavi, unka parivaar, hamara parivaar aur Kaka ke alava yeh kisi ko jaantha bhi hai?” Shiva’s frown deepened. Great! His brother just gave him one more reason why he was not a good match for Raavi. He was a loser and a loner. 

“Don’t worry, Shiva. Main tumhari madad kar doongi,” Rishita piped in and everyone turned to look at her. “Why is everyone looking at me like this? Shiva and Raavi are both adults and they are taking these decisions for themselves and as family, I think we should support them. So, Shiva, I will be helping you in finding a groom for Raavi. In fact, I think I might know some guys.. My dad’s business partner’s son..” “Nahi!” Shiva shot out of his seat. Everyone turned their attention to him. “I mean.. Sorry, Rishita Bhabhi.. But.. I.. don’t want anyone from your father’s work or friends’ circle for Raavi. She is.. She is just not cut out for that kind of a family.”

“Well then, I guess our next option is maybe a matrimonial site. Come with me and help me make Raavi’s profile on the site,” Rishita said as she led him onto the swing and plopped down beside him. “Waise, what do you think, Shiva? Should we put her profile up on a dating app first? What if she wants to test the waters? She hasn’t even had a chance to look around, you know,” Rishita suggested. The whole family looked alarmed as Shiva clenched his fists tightly. “You know, dating apps nowadays have this cool feature where you can swipe one way to hook up with someone and swipe the other way to reject them. Some of them even let people rate your profile..” Rishita went on. “Rishita bhabhi, if you have any consideration at all for your and perhaps our lives, you should probably drop the dating idea,” Krish warned her. Rishita looked up from her phone and noticed Shiva looking like he was about to explode. A small smirk crept up her face but she shook her head and tried to hide it. 

“Okay, okay. I guess no dating apps then,” Rishita said. The whole family, except for Shiva, noticed that she seemed unusually cheerful.

“Rishita bhabhi jaanti hain na, ki Raavi ke jaane se agar Shiva aangan mein sone bhi laga tho bhi woh khud ek time pe ek hi kamra use kar payengi?” Krish whispered into Dev’s ear. Dev kept looking on, confused. What was Rishita up to?

“Shiva, you should go to the store. Whatever needs to be discussed and decided, we can do that later. Rishita, come help me with some work in the kitchen,” Dhara tried to intervene. Rishita held onto Shiva’s arm preventing him from possibly escaping.

“Dhara Bhabhi, you know I am going to mess things up if I try to help you in the kitchen. But I am really good with technology and I can be of more help to Shiva. And this groom hunting is a process. The sooner we get started, the better,” Rishita explained, “Hai na, Shiva?”

Maybe she did have a point, Shiva thought. The sooner, the better. “Haan.. Sahi kaha aapne, Bhabhi.”

At Shiva’s response, the rest of the Pandya family dispersed, leaving Shiva and Rishita on the swing.

“Haan tho Shiva, Raavi ke baare mein batao.. Height?”

“5 feet 6 inches”

“Weight?”

“Dinosaur jitna,” he said as he smiled. “Lekin sach mein, halki-phulki.. Ekdum phoolkumari.. Kabhi kabhi lagta hai hawa ke agle jhonke se udd hi jaayegi. Haveli mein ek baar main lakdi kaat raha tha aur ek tukde se uske haath mein lag gaya aur khoon nikal aaya. Itni badi badi aankhein karke dekh rahi thi mujhe. Itni halki phulki hai na, issi liye hamesha girti padthi rehthi. Aur patha hai mujhe kya bulathi hai? Chattan Pandya. Apna bodyguard hi bana liya tha usne mujhe tho.”

Shiva went quiet as he got lost in thoughts of her.

“Aur uske baare mein batao? About me waale column ke liye,” Rishita said, pretending that she didn’t hear the fondness for Raavi in Shiva’s voice. 

“Nafrat karna tho jaise usse aatha hi nahi hai. Choti choti, kabhi ajeeb ajeeb cheezon mein apni khushi dhoond leti hai - jaise aam pe mirch lagake khaana. Bas wait karti hai ki koi uski taareef kar de aur bas, chane ke jhaad pe chad jaati hai. Khud ko badi sherni samajhthi hai par hai ek dum darpok chuhiya. Jab usse gussa aata hai, tho uska ittu sa naak laal ho jaata hai. Parivaar ke naam pe jaan chidakthi hai, aur yeh sirf kehne ke liye nahin,” Shiva replied fondly.

“Kamaal hai, Shiva. Raavi itni sundar hai, stylish hai, padhi likhi hai par tumne woh sab tho bola hi nahi! Shaadi ke liye, kisi ko pasand karne ke liye yehi tho sabse important hain na? Isi liye tho tumhe lagtha hai ki Raavi tumse shaadi karke khush nahi thi, hai na?” Rishita asked softly. 

Shiva looked up at Rishita, “Nahi.. matlab.. main..”

“Achcha woh sab chhodo. Yeh batao uske liye kaisa ladka chahiye?” Rishita dropped the topic and moved on but what she said stuck in his head. He hadn’t once mentioned about the way she looked or she dressed or what qualifications she said. He genuinely hadn’t. It didn’t matter.. to him. But he was sure it mattered to her. She had said that wasn’t the case any longer but that couldn’t be true. Or could it?

“Shiva! Kahan kho gaye?” Rishita shook him out of his reverie. “Ji bhabhi?” Shiva hadn’t even heard her. “Maine pucha kaisa ladka chahiye Raavi ke liye?” Rishita repeated. “Actually, rehne do, yeh tho simple hai. Yeh tho main bhi jaanti hoon - padha-likha, gentleman aur handsome. Bas itna hi na?” Rishita asked him. “Haan.. matlab.. nahin.. insaan achcha hona chahiye. Baaki sab baad mein,” Shiva replied. Imagining another man with Raavi felt like being eaten alive. “Insaan tho tum bhi achche hi ho.. aise tho phir tum donon ke alag hone ka koi point hi nahi raha na?” Rishita argued. “Focus karo, Shiva! Focus! Point yeh hai ki Raavi ke liye aisa aadmi dhoondna hai jo tum jaisa na ho. Kyunki tum hi ne tho kaha ki tum zameen ho aur Raavi ko aasmaan chahiye. Chalo, requirements ka section tho itna easy nikla!”

“Nahi, Bhabhi! Uski lambi chaudi list hai!” Shiva exclaimed. “Kaisi list?” Rishita asked. “Usko ek bada parivaar chahiye. Bahut saare log jinhe woh apna maane,” Shiva said. “Woh tho tumne bhi usse diya tha na? Ab Pandya parivaar se zyada apna tho usne shayad apne khud ke parivaar ko nahi maana hoga. Sirf woh hi socho jo tum usse nahi de paaoge,” Rishita replied. “Koi jiss se woh pyaar kar sake, usse samajh sake..” he said, a tad bit defeated. “Samajhthe tho tum bhi ho usse itne achche se. Haan, aur pyaar tho woh sirf padhe-likhe gentleman se hi karegi. Aur waise bhi pyaar tho bahut baad ki baath hai. Arranged marriage mein thode na pyaar mein padne ka waqt milega shaadi se pehle. Ek, do mulakatein hongi, baatein hongi baaki tho chehra aur personality dekhke hi decide karna padega na. Ab kahan usse arranged marriage mein aisa insaan milega jisse woh bachpan se jaanthi ho, jiske saath uska poora bachpan juda ho, jisse dekhke parakhke jaanke uske saath rishtha nibhana chahe? Tho back to square one. Uski requirements ki list sirf itni hai ki koi padha-likha handsome gentleman ho,” Rishita said, hitting save on the profile they’d created. 

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