Smita,😊

Sorry to hear about the sad demise of your friend and fellow IF member. Do accept the condolences.

May her soul rest in peace.

Here is the interpretation to Section 2 of Part 18.

Arnav was watching the guests and family having a wonderful time. With their ring leader NK who was devising game after game teasing the newly weds by keeping them away from their suhaag raat, had the rest lapping it up at the expense of a heckled Akash and a coy Payal, an epitome of ruddiness. He looked at Khushi on whom his Di had an arm slung over shoulders and both laughing at Buaji's remarks that even had Mami chuckling beside them.

Deciding that the revelry had gone quite late into night, he asked his Nani whether they could wind it up as it was quite late. Nani with a smile consented.

Akash and Payal had relieved smiles to be up from their seat. The guests too rose along with them.

At the nod and a wide smile from his Di, Arnav pulling out the Jewel box from his pocket, walked upto Payal. Placing it in her hand he told her that she was welcome to the family. The Guptas and the Raizadas were stunned by his gesture.

Payal who was momentarilty taken aback, recovered and bent to take blessings from her Jethji. Arnav nearly jumped out of his skin in shock as he had not expected such respect from Payal who was now his sister. His gesture made all happy. Di asked Payal to open the box and check out whether she liked the contents. When Payal opened it carefully Akash too had a good look at it. It was a jewel set containing, necklace, bangles, earrings, maangtikka and anklets of diamonds, rubies and emeralds.

It is beautiful was Payal's exclamation on seeing it and Bhai you shouldn't have was Akash's response. Why shouldn't he asked Nani who was pleased with Arnav's gesture. NK completed her sentence saying that Payalji is now Nannav's sister. Both the family were touched by this generous gesture of Arnav's.

Khushi stared at Arnavji. His words, low aukat, choti family, a girl like you will do anything for money, what does it matter if your Jiji loses one groom? Girls like you will always snare another man, reverberated in her ears. She wondered was this the same man who was welcoming her Jiji into his family?

Let me tell you the significance of the gemstones chosen to make the beautiful Jewel set. Quite interesting!

Diamond stands for purity, preserves peace and prevents storms.

Emerald stands for immortality, incorruptibility, conquers sin and trial.

Ruby is for charity, dignity and divine power.

By giving the presentArnav showed that he had accepted Payal as the member of his family. By chosing the particular gems he was trying to atone for the undesirable words that he had constantly used against Khushi and her family!

By giving Payal the diamonds he showed that he considered Payal as pure and unlike the words he had thrown to describe her to Khushi low aukat, choti family, a girl like her will do anything for money, what does it matter if her Jiji loses one groom? Girls like her will always snare another man.

By giving her the Emeralds he was assuring that he never considered her to be the one to stoop low for the sake of money, incorruptible.

By giving Rubies it was his way of showing that he was restoring her dignity and would think her to be charitable enough to forgive him for his erring thoughts.

It was his own way of showing Khushi that he had changed from what he was to what he is now.

As she watched this man endowed with savoir faire, he gestured NK to lead Akash-Payal to their room and gently directed the guests to be on their way helping his family to retire for the day.

When Arnav received a call from Khushi stopping his work he got ready for the talk with her by stretching himself on his recliner, to savour the moments of listening to her lilting voice that had the capacity to set his heart on fire as well as calm it.

Her hesitant Arnavji and hum was enough to convey to him that something was amiss. He asked her what happened. Haltingly she started to tell him that her Vimla chachi wants her to return to Lucknow with them as, Sudhakar Chacha needed medical care for leg pain. She was needed to help in their shop. She had promised them earlier before her sister's marriage that had broken due to Sheesh Mahal fiasco and both her sister and herself had come over to Delhi. By the time, she said so her words trailed away. She was uncertain how it was being taken by Arnav. There was only perfect silence that was coming from the other end. Arnav who was at the other end had difficulty to swallow when she was midway through her talk itself. All he could think and that kept hammering in his head was that Khushi was going away, leaving him. He could feel the constriction squeezing in his heart. When she did not get his response, she tried again, explaining that her uncle and aunt owned a textile shop in Lucknow and managed it by themselves. Still there was no response. When she told him that it was for just two weeks, she heard him say disjointedly, Khushi, your work, Delhi, Buaji. Understanding his perplexity as it was a bolt from the blue and what he meant she assured him that Buaji and her parents were happy that she would be going to Lucknow to help out her uncle and aunt. By going there she could also check on their house and clean it out.

All Arnav could think of was Khushi leaving him and going away. He again tried to stop her from going away by trying to block her move. When again Arnav used just the word Munshiji, she caught on what he meant and informed him that Munshiji had given her two weeks off saying that the files in the godown would still be there when she came back and she needn't worry about it as the work they have would even see her working through her old age leaning on a stick for support. Khushi narrated this with a laugh. Arnav was desperate to get a viable reason to stop her but was clueless as how to go about. He felt as though a road roller had run over his chest making it difficult to breathe. Khushi hearing no response from him thought that she had pushed him to cut the call with her chatter and asked over the phone, whether he was listening to her? Finally she got a response when he asked her what about us? She was perplexed to hear and repeated his words. A distraught Arnav found it difficult to articulate. Again with disjointed words and phrases, are you, we, Khushi, You will be in Lucknow and I will be in Delhi, he struggled to express his desperation. Being a man of few words and having difficulty in expressing his emotions, it was an uphill task. Though it elicited a smile from Khushi she was confused and told him that, it is just for two weeks, mere fourteen days. After that she would be back in her work place, the godown. Arnav's fingers that were clutching the phone tightened into a vice like grip nearly pulverizing it.

Khushi was flashing a look of irritation at her phone that was silent. While in Delhi when she was at work, her Arnavji would call her often. In the beginning, Munshiji used to go out to give her some privacy but later he had given it up as he would not have got any work done given the frequency of the calls. It was irking her that now at Lucknow for the past one week and one whole week, he could not even call her more than thrice a day! The thought made her sigh and another thought replaced it. If he didn't call her, it was fine. She need not mop around. She would call him. As soon as this thought sprouted she tried the connection but kept getting the recorded message that it was switched off. Khushi biting back the sob that was trying to come out from her throat, trying to hide from her aunt, her glistening rheumy eyes that were shimmering with unshed tears, peered through the window at the bustling street. Seeing her crestfallen face, Vimala Maasi with a gentle smile asked Khushi why don't she go to the cellar and bring the latest consignment of the Banarasi saris? Without glancing at her, Khushi with a nod left to do the bidding. Her mind was on Arnav. It had been one full week, excruciating seven days without him! It was seven long nights of dreaming about him as she lay in the narrow bed of her childhood at Gomti Sadan, her ancestral home, made her sigh. Khushi pulling out a chair, climbed on it to reach the top shelf where the stock was stored all wrapped. Heaving out the pack she undid the knot that held them together. Though her gaze was on the brightly colored sari's with gold woven designs, her mind was dwelling on the thought how could she feel so lonely while being surrounded by people? Why was she feeling the need to be in Delhi as Lucknow was her home? How could just her thoughts of a man make her feel alien in her own bastion? She blinked her rheumy eyes that had tears pooled in it and turned around with her pack of silk. She gasped. The saris in her hand fell down in a multi colored fluttering heap of silk, while she teeter tottered on the delicate chair, struggling for balance.

I am going to title this update as RECOGNIZE.

Seeing both the families getting on well and the happiness on their faces, Arnav Singh Raizada recognized that if it was not for the advent of Khushi in their life it would not have been possible.

"Joy is what happens to us when we allow ourselves to recognize how good things really are"

~ Marianne Williamson

He noticed that it was getting late and set about to wind up the function.

With the confirmation from his Di, he presented the Jewel set to Payal welcoming her. It was his way of acknowledging her and his acceptance into his family. It was his way of expressing to her his appreciation for not coloring her views on him on to his brother. It was his way of restoring the dignity that he had stripped of her, though unknown to her but known to her sister Khushi with his unfair thoughts and scathing words. It was his way of admitting to Khushi that he had been wrong to harbor such thoughts on her, her sister and her family. It was also his way to make Khushi understand that he was a changed man, not the one on whom she had reservations to place her trust upon.

"Experience enables you to recognize a mistake when you make it again"

~ Franklin P. Jones

During their telephone conversation he recognized his need to be with Khushi all the time. He also realized that how much he depended on her to sustain himself. She was the sustenance of his soul. It brought him to his knees and made him admit to himself that all things were not under his control. It made him appreciate that his life without her was like a barren desert, wide, golden expanse without life, but filled only with sandstorms that occur every now and then that needed to be battled forth to survive. She was his Oasis. She was his Personal Guiding Star.

"Dwell on the beauty of life. Watch the stars, and see yourself running with them"

~ Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

Khushi Kumari Gupta, was astonished when Arnav gave her sister, Payal a jewel set. It was a moment where she was surprised to find, that the very man who had no qualms in vilifying her sister, her family and herself was now redressing his folly by gifting her sister with an expensive jewel set and acknowledging her to be part of his own family and accepting her as his sister. His reservations on their status, middle class mentality and lack of money and and low in character were being redressed. She questioned herself whether he was the same one who had broken her trust. It made her realize that it was a public apology on his part and his acceptance of Payal as his sister was irrevocable as it was done in the midst of their family. For him now status, middle class mentality and lack of money held no significance and had deemed it fit to give a Royal Welcome to Payal. She noticed that he was the one who strove for the comfort of the rest.

"It is by doubting that we come to investigate, and by investigating that we recognize the truth"

~ Peter Abelard

While talking to Arnav about her departure to Lucknow, she realized with trepidation how it was affecting him. His silence and halting words, confirmed to her that it was a struggle for him to voice out his feelings. Though she was spot on on her conclusion of what he meant she knew however much she assured he was restless with her going away.

"Forget yesterday - it has already forgotten you. Don't sweat tomorrow - you haven't even met. Instead, open your eyes and your heart to a truly precious gift... today"

~ Steve Maraboli, Life, the Truth, and Being Free

For Khushi though she had trust issues with Arnav, he was her daily dose of sustenance. This she admitted to herself when in Lucknow. When he used to call her often, she never felt it. But the day it got reduced to just three calls per day, she had to acknowledge to herself that without listening to his voice she was primarily becoming restless and life even amidst people was lonely and barren like a desert. It was merely an unending expanse of sand leaving one parched for water under its scorching heat. She too admitted to feeling the pangs of separation making her feel desolate.

"It's a helluva start, being able to recognize what makes you happy"

~ Lucille Ball

Finally, the lines Vimala Chachi smiled at the defeated posture of Khushi and She gasped left us the readers to recognize that the wind at Lucknow had changed into a breeze that begins to blow only when Arnav Singh Raizada is around Khushi Kumari Gupta!

"Close your eyes and turn your face into the wind. Feel it sweep along your skin in an invisible ocean of exultation. Suddenly, you know you are alive"

~ Vera Nazarian, The Perpetual Calendar of Inspiration

That is why it is RECOGNIZE.

That's it from me. Hope you enjoy it.

ADDENDUM

Glad that you proved me wrong in the previous update. But you had left the line open ended. Though knowing that you would go the way that you took I had to point out that it was not really very clear. Just that part could go either way and I had to cover both the ends! Love this path you have taken.

rulama2013-04-12 09:47:57