'I'm not doing it Aakash.'
'Please. Please, I…I don't know any women around here. And this means a lot.'
'You don't know women…what are you? Gay?'
'KHUSHIII'
They both sat outside Khushi's cottage, overlooking the immaculately manicured garden that seemed to be overwhelmed by a splendor of mauve wisterias. Khushi kept laughing at Aakash as he tried to convince her to dance at one of the festivals that were being held due to the upcoming Eid month. Khushi's head kept replaying the one sentence that kept her awake the whole night yesterday.
'See you tomorrow doctor.'
She couldn't stop herself from thinking, when would he come down, and Aakash's incessant chatter wasn't helping.
'Khushi, you'll get to see him there too.'
'I don't want to see Arnav.'
'You are blushing Khushi. And didn't even say his name.'
That earned Aakash a painful punch on his chest and the image of a furiously blushing Khushi.
'Why the hell are you after my life?'
'Okay see it the other way. A bunch of school kids and a few nurses are dancing too. And it's just to bring the locals out of the recent loom that has descended here. To make them happy.'
'I hate you. I knew you would bring up the emotional quotient to blackmail me into this.'
'Please?'
Khushi nodded reluctantly at his puppy dog face. That immediately changed into an exuberant smile and a bear hug. Khushi was about to enter the cottage when Aakash called out again.
'And don't forget the bonus Khushi, he will be there.'
This time Khushi didn't bother to retort. She smiled down at the floor, closing the creaking teak doors behind her.
---
They had reached Aasha Vidyalaya, the place where the function was supposed to be held the next morning. Rouf, the dance the women and the little girls had to perform that day, was a special dance performed on the occasion of Eid. All the women were to be clad in phirans of different colors, with exquisite zari embroidery. Two troupes had to face each other, holding hands, moving in a to and fro, in a rhythmic motion along the Sufi songs in the background. This was what Aakash had told her, along their journey to the little school located at the end of the Gulbara Road.
It was another beautiful day, periwinkle blue skies hovering over them, as Arnav looked out of one of the windows of the halls of the school. He saw them, Aakash, Payal, her father and then Khushi, as they reached the gates of the school. His eyes concentrated only on that one face that had haunted his sleep for the past few weeks. He had literally given himself a pep talk to convince his feet to not walk towards the Base Hospital to go and see her. The very scope of a relationship, or anything for that matter between them seemed like inviting danger, but he couldn't stop himself from wanting to look at her, see her, and think about her with each passing second. He saw her, searching for something, or maybe someone, as her eyes darted from one corner to the other scrutinizing the campus of the school. He moved away from the window and headed towards the empty classrooms.
---
Khushi was struggling to braid her hair as the chaunk phool, a soft silver scarf kept coming in the way of her hair. She looked behind to call out to one of the other women who were getting ready in that classroom, but she didn't respond. Khushi understood why, they all spoke Koshur, almost all natives spoke that Indo-Aryan language in that district. She still couldn't converse in that language properly. She turned back, facing the antique mirror the troupe had so thoughtfully brought along with themselves.
Arnav saw her, facing the glass surface, her hands struggling with her hair. She was a vision. She was not by birth a Kashmiri, but if anyone would have seen her then, they would have thought otherwise. A silver maang tika adorned the side of her forehead, hovering over the black of her hair. Her face looked dewy, her cheeks shaded with the softest of pinks. A tiny dot of silver and turquoise was set softly on the porcelain skin of her nose. Her amaranth pink lips seemed to be muttering to themselves. His eyes moved towards the silver jhumkas, kundalas, adorning her ears that seemed to be swaying with the cold breeze that entered from the open windows. And the maroon phiran that she was clad in made her look ethereal. He didn't know how long he had been just standing there in the shadows, just absorbing her. And as his eyes fell on the delicate wrists of her hand, he let go of a soft chuckle that her ears didn't miss, as she swiftly turned around.
'Oh, hi,' her voice trembled, slightly, partially at the shock of seeing him and more because of her attire.
'Hi,' his husky voice came back, as he walked towards her.
Before Khushi could say something back, he took hold of her hand, his fingers grazing over her wrists, then over the silver bracelet studded with semi-precious stones and mirrors, hanging loosely on her hand. A few seconds after, he spoke, a very amused smile playing on his lips.
'This is called a Halqband Khushi. It's a choker and generally people wear it on their neck.'
Khushi had only managed to utter a soft Oh, as she felt his deft fingers unclasping the choker, as his hands moved towards her face, going around her neck. She heard a soft click, and the touch of the cold metal surface over her skin, as her eyes that were previously concentrating on her bare feet, now darted up to meet his. She didn't miss the fact that his fingers were still lingering over her nape. She didn't attempt to shake of his hands. However much she hated to admit to herself, she liked it. She liked the silent ache that erupted somewhere down the recesses of her thirsty throat. She liked the proximity of his body against hers, the touch of his cool fingertips on her skin. A slow sense of exhilaration surged through her veins. He finally broke into the silence, sliding off his hands over her shoulders.
'So…eh…you dance?'
'No. Aakash forced me into it. I told him, I hadn't even heard of Rouf before, but he told me to just move around my legs. So that's what I will do.'
Khushi watched as he laughed softly. She turned away towards the mirror, trying to finish braiding her hair.
'You should do that more often.'
'What?'
'Laugh.'
She saw, from the corner of her eyes, as he suddenly became serious, but nodded silently. She turned away and had started walking towards the door, when she heard his voice.
---
'You look….'
Arnav was mentally cursing Khushi for turning around to face him again, as his previously thought words died on his lips. He croaked out a few seconds later.
'You look, different.'
She sort of raised an eyebrow, before tripping a little over her phiran and walked out clumsily, leaving a slightly grinning, Arnav behind.
---
Khushi wanted to walk out of the troupe and go and smack Aakash's head. She was sure that she looked like a complete buffoon shaking her legs in the middle of the wooden floor. She couldn't help but wonder how would it have mattered if she hadn't danced and only ten girls would have carried on with the Rouf dance. And probably the only good thing about the whole dance thing was the soulful Sufi music playing in the background. Although she admitted to herself, that it was actually a quite pleasant experience, dancing under the open sky, with the backdrop of the snow-capped mountains, an experience she wouldn't forget ever. But it remained pleasant only until, she noticed a certain man leaning across one of the flag bearing poles looking straight at her. She almost stumbled on looking at Arnav with her already clumsy footwork just supporting her.
The troupe went about moving in alternate circles, and Khushi's eyes seemed to have been connected by an invisible source to his black eyes. A certain hesitating desire seeped into her making her ankle twist suddenly as the dance came to an end.
---
Aakash lead her towards an empty room and told her to wait. But he didn't come back, however, his brother did. And putting a steaming mug of coffee right under her nose, sat across her on a green wooden bench.
'Are you okay?'
'No.'
Arnav noticed, she was angry and irritated, a lethal combination, he concluded. Before he could speak, she interrupted.
'It's all because of you. If you wouldn't have been looking, then I….I---'
'Oh. I did something? And what would it be exactly?'
Khushi half realized what she had just said, on seeing the amused, yet pleased look on Arnav's face. He was openly smirking at her. At any other time she would have sat and admired that lopsided grin lighting up the contours of his face, but then she wanted to slap him. But before she could, his hands moved forward and touched her knees slightly, as if asking for permission.
'I can help.'
Khushi didn't trust her voice that second, so she mutely nodded. His hand slid down her right foot, and his fingers grazed over her ankles, before he pulled up the rim of the white salwaar slightly, and with his other free hand massaged her skin with an ointment. His deft fingers drew soothing circles over her ankle, and his eyes bored into hers. And for the second time that day she noticed the familiar glint of desire brewing up in those beautiful black orbs.
A few minutes like that, before he got up, his eyes not leaving hers for a moment.
'Your coffee is gone cold I think.'
'Yeah. Thanks.'
'No problem. You are okay?'
She nodded. And then he sat beside her silently, inches apart though, waiting for her to finish the coffee, after which he gently placed his hands over her shoulders, supporting her and lead her outside the room. Making sure she was seated comfortably on the jeep, and talking to Aakash for a few moments he walked back towards the school.
Khushi watched his retreating figure, waiting for him to turn back once, and he did. Maybe it had been a figment of her imagination, but she thought she had seen a slight smile on his face when he looked back at her. She turned back, smiling all the way down to the Base.
---
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