Chapter 14

rulama

@rulama

[MEMBERSONLY]

[NOCOPY]

MARRYING KHUSHI

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Part 16

Payal said, "Don't cry, Khushi."

Khushi sobbed, "How can I not cry, Jiji? Preetho left us. And Mittu!" She dropped a wet, sympathetic kiss on the parrot's head.

Mittu squirmed as saline drops fell on her.

Payal smiled. "Pagli, she has to go to her sasural. How can she stay here all her life hugging that parrot?"

Khushi cried copious tears. "Mittu is better than any dulha... she doesn't get angry... she doesn't scold me... she can dance and sing... and she loves me!"

"Khushi! Tum bhi na!" Payal smiled, amused. She led Khushi towards their house. It was getting late.

"She is not like an akhdoo, khadoos Shaitan..." Khushi muttered as she accompanied Payal to their house.

Payal was too busy looking at the cars parked near the entrance of their house to pay much attention to Khushi's utterances.

"Khushi! I think we have guests..." Payal muttered uncertainly.

Khushi sniffed as she walked in to the living room with her sister. And stopped short.

The Rakshas was ensconced in her living room, sipping ginger tea without sugar.

Her grasp on Mittu eased, and the bird, thanking a kind fate from saving her from a watery grave, flew up to perch on the mantle.

Khushi stared suspiciously at a smirking ASR.

Arnav ran his eager eyes over Khushi. She looked beautiful! Beyond beautiful! The yellow and green lehenga, though modest, emphasised her full figure. Her hair, clipped lightly at the back of her neck, fell down her back like a dark waterfall. The maangtikka, her bindi, her nose pin, her necklace, her bangles, her payal... ASR studied her closely, his heart thumping in eagerness to claim her as his.

His burning eyes moved up from her feet to her face, only to be trapped by her furious eyes. ASR had to swallow a smile at the disgruntled look on her face.

What was the Rakshas doing here? And why was he looking at her as though he could see through her clothes? She adjusted the dupatta to cover more of her bosom. And who were the people crowding her living room? She looked around with wide eyes.

Anjaliji... Nanheji... Akashji... she knew them. Who were the others?

"Khushiji! Payalji! Hi!" Nanheji smiled away.

"Namaste, Nanheji!" Khushi managed to smile. Payal responded in kind.

Akashji smiled at her. She smiled back. He looked at Payal and blushed. Payal blushed back.

Anjaliji said, "Khushiji, Payalji, let me introduce our family to you. This is our Nani."

Payal & Khushi touched the old lady's feet. Nani blessed both of them, glad at the choice of her grandsons.

"This is our Mama & Mami." Anjali smiled. "That is, Akash's parents."

The girls touched their feet, Khushi passing a wondering look at the many hues on Mamiji's face.

"So these are the culprits, Hello Hi Bye Bye!" Mami laughed. "They made our boys go-went-gone!"

All laughed.

"Our boys are not any less naughty, Manno! If the girls have to be punished, our boys should be jailed along with them!" Mamaji added, laughing.

All laughed.

Payal & Khushi looked at each other, wondering if they had strayed in to a madhouse. Mittu surveyed the motley crowd from her place at the top, hopping on one foot and then the next, waiting for something exciting to happen.

"Payaliyaa, Titliyaa, you go inside, Nandkisore! We will come to talk to you in a few moments." Buaji said.

"Ji, Buaji." Payal led Khushi in to their bedroom. Mittu followed.

"Jiji, why are they all here?" Khushi frowned.

"How do I know, Khushi?" Payal asked, scared, excited.

"Each time the Rakshas comes, he brings more of his family with him!" Khushi fumed, muttering under her breath.

"What did you say, Khushi?" Payal asked, sitting down on the bed.

"Nothing, Jiji." Khushi smiled at her. She moved to the window to look out. "I should hang a board on the gate saying that Laad Governaars are not welcome here!" she muttered. "Why is he here? That smile of his! I don't trust him an inch. He will have planned something in that khurafaathi brain of his!" she murmured.

Khushi paced the length & breadth of her room, worrying about the man in the next room.

"Khushi, sit down. What is wrong with you?" Payal asked.

"Nothing, Jiji." Khushi smiled, but continued to measure the room on restless legs.

"If I go to the market, he wil appear there. If I go to work, he is sure to be there. If I dance at Preetho's sangeet, he is there in the audience. If I leave his job, he will come after me. If I hide in Preetho's room, he will seek me out! Pagal he! And he wants to marry me? Kyon?" Khushi grumbled. "I was so happy in Lucknow, Devi Maiyya! Why did you import this typhoon in to my life? Aap hamse naraaz ho?"

"Payaliyaa, Titliyaa!" Buaji called out as she and Garima entered the room.

Payal stood up.

The ladies hugged the girls.

"Today is a happy day for us!" Garima said, smiling, tears in her eyes.

Why was Amma so happy that Preetho got married? Khushi wondered.

"Yes, after so many years! Garima, Nandkisore is great!" Buaji seconded her.

Or were they happy because the Rakshas introduced his family to them? Khushi looked at Payal, both of them confused.

"Payaliyaa, do you like Akash Bitwaa?" Garima asked, hugging Payal.

Payal blushed as red as she could, and lowered her eyes.

Buaji & Garima had a hearty laugh at her expense.

Khushi stared at all three of them, wondering what was going on.

Finally, fed up, she asked, "Buaji, Amma, what is happening here? Why are the Raizadas here?"

"O pagli, they have brought a proposal for Payaliyaa. Akash Bitwaa wants to marry her." Garima said, smiling.

Khushi gasped. What was happening to her world? First it was Preetho. Now Jiji too was abandoning her?

"Marry! Jiji!" she asked. "Why should they ask for Jiji? Why can't they find some other girl? Are there no other girls in Lucknow? Why should they take my Jiji away from me?" And what was wrong with the Raizadas? Why had they succumbed to the marriage fever, Khushi wondered, mad at them. First it was the Rakshas chasing her. Now it was his brother chasing Jiji? Soon Nanheji would demand Mittu's hand in marriage!

Buaji & Garima had a good chuckle at Khushi's petulance.

Khushi sat down on the bed. If Jiji married Akashji, she would have to see that smirk on that evil face all her life! The challenge in his eyes! He Devi Maiyya! On Jiji's shagun, on her sagai, on her mehendi, on her sangeet, on her haldi, on her marriage, on her suhaag raat... no, not on her suhaag raat... Khushi's imagination drew gory pictures.

"They are not taking your Jiji away from you, Khussi!" Garima laughed. "They have made sure that you will be together all your life."

Khushi frowned. He would kiss her on her palm and her cheek and her... Khushi paled. Together all their lives? She and Jiji? Khushi struggled to bring her attention back to the problem at hand. "What?" she asked.

Buaji nodded. "Arnav Bitwaa wants to marry you, Khussi. Do you like him, Nandkisore?"

There was one moment of silence. The ladies watched Khushi's eyes and mouth widen as far as they would go.

"Nahi..." Khushi screamed.

Buaji, Garima, & Payal laughed.

"Pagli kahin ki! My Sanka Devi!" Buaji pinched her chin fondly.

"You make all those newfangled things that you used to make at Sheesh Mahal and feed him daily. You take good care of his health..." Garima advised Khushi.

Khushi smouldered. There was more danger of her feeding the Rakshas poison instead of food, the way her temper was soaring.

"And thoda control mein rahio, Titliyaa! Don't behave like a wild girl, Nandkisore! What will his family think?" Buaji asked. "What will Arnav Bitwaa think?"

She would show him what he could think! Khushi seethed, dwelling on the many things she wanted to do to that smiling face!

Buaji looked at Khushi's set face and whispered to Garima, "Garima, are you sure Devyaniji mentioned a marriage between Arnav Bitwaa and our Parmeswari? I didn't imagine it, did I?"

"No, Jiji. You didn't imagine it!" Garima smiled.

Buaji sighed in relief. "I was so worried, Nandkisore! Khussi and Payaliyaa can never be happy in two houses, separated after marriage. Nandkisore realised how anxious I was and brought these two boys for us."

Garima nodded. "Now they will never have to leave each other, Jiji. They are very lucky. And such good boys! So sanskari!"

Buaji nodded. "How will Arnav Bitwaa manage our Sanka Devi?"

Garima looked at her, lost for an answer.

"And they want to conduct the marriages immediately, Nandkisore! Garima, we will have to make all the arrangements at the earliest. There is no time to be lost!" Buaji warned her.

Garima nodded, and the ladies prepared to leave the room.

"Buaji! Amma! I want to talk to Laa... Arnavji!" Khushi gasped, feeling the sand give way from under her feet.

Buaji & Amma frowned. "Haven't you talked to him before?"

"Yes, but..." Khushi tried.

"How can we ask him to come and speak to you when his family is sitting with him in our living room, Nandkisore?" Buaji asked.

"Thoda sabar karo, Khussi! You can talk to him all your life!" Garima giggled.

The ladies left the room chuckling.

Payal stared in to the air, her eyes filled with sweet dreams.

Khushi collapsed on the bed, her head in her hands.

Mittu sang, "Banno terii ankhiyaan suramedaani
Banno tera mukhadaa laakh kaa re
Banno tera kangan hai hazaari
Banno teraa kangan..."

Khushi threw a pillow at Mittu.

Part 15: 95836522 Part 17: Section 1: 96069736