Chapter 27

RR through our eyes (Chapter 27)

 

Mano, you are a dear. Thanks for making the edits in spite of your injuries.

This chapter is written partly by me and partly by Sonia (desisoapie).

And I am sure all of you know which part is hers. She is such a gifted writer.

 

 

Gitanjali is a very genuine person. Who always poked her nose into her dear and near ones’ lives –with an intention of sorting things out. The way she dressed up Paro in Jaipur, the way she made Paro and Rudra get drunk. In order to help them lose their inhibitions. If you remember that was a turning point in Paro and Rudra’s life. Paro who has never been to a big city got a chance to visit Jaipur, to be the Cindrella of the evening, to dance with her Prince Charming and to sleep in his arms.

 

Gitanjali is also a very curious person by nature. But she knows curiosity killed the cat. Sometimes it is better to keep quiet and let things take its own course. There is always a right time for which you have to wait. Even if it means your best friend will have to suffer for more days by keeping the secret within.

 

Poonam knew that she had kept the secret for a few years now. Just between her and Rajeev.  They never talked about it. Except sharing a feeling of melancholy at odd times. When a few specific words or instances triggers their worst memories and guilt. There were a few who knew it. But some of them were quite loyal to the Mehras and never brought it up. And they had given up contact with the remaining ones. Poonam was very close to Gitanjali. The kind of friendship which can stand the passing of time and the physical distance between them. And Poonam was waiting to unburden her thoughts to Gitanjali. But the time never came in that evening. It was not wise to discuss such things in haste and in places where others can over hear it. So she also did not bring up the topic. Time will come when she can get Gitanjali alone and she will wait for that day and hour.

 

So the rest of the evening flowed quite naturally. And Ranawats and the Mehras together convinced the Singhs to stay back for dinner. A grand dinner put together in the short time by the family. Rudra was reminded of his birthday years back when Gitanjali Mam and Singh Sir had visited them. They had been there for the cake cutting and the celebrations. Even given him their car to drive away with Paro to a place quiet and romantic. He looked at Paro who was happily chatting away to glory with Mam. How can he forget the first gift from Mam for him and Paro ? The Jaipur trip which was like a page out of a romantic classic novel. He can never forget Paro’s eagerness to pack for thr trip. Her happiness in seeing a hotel room for the first time – the soft bed, the air conditioner, the champagne, the chocolates, the rose petals on the bed. Yes he had peeped in from the bathroom and seen her dancing oblivious to his presence. He was pulled back from his thoughts by Singh Sir’s question about the date of marriage.

 

“Within a month is what we would like it to be. To give enough notice to all our relatives and friends to be here. Earlier we were planning to have the wedding reception in NY but now since Myrah is going to be in India we want all our people to come over here.” Rajeev replied implicitly giving his and Poonam’s consent for the wedding. A big round of discussion happened and the plans were put in place. It was decided to have the wedding in a five star hotel as the list of invitees grew like anything on both the sides and the haveli was not enough to accommodate all. And members were assigned responsibilities as below

 

Mohini to arrange for the Pundit and all the religious ceremonies

Kakusa to arrange for the hotel for the wedding day and the decorations

Samrat and Maithili to assist in all shopping of gifts , jewels and dresses

Sumer and Shatabdi to oversee catering

Sunehri and Aman to get the wedding cards printed and list prepared

 

Rajeev’s statement seemed to have set the ball rolling leaving the love birds to lose themselves in each other. Rudra felt happy and elated. All his worries and fears of the morning seemed baseless. Finally happiness is here to stay.

 

This time around things were done differently. Kakisa was bent on making the ceremonies a happy event. Unlike the last time.

 

This time around Paro and Rudra sat for the Pooja with happiness in their minds.

 

This time around Paro was not standing in the first floor and looking down at the Sangeet function. She was part of it. Dancing with Sunheri and Shatabdi. Rudra also participated in the dances. There was merriment all around. There was even a special number played for Parud and Dhruv to dance together.

 

This time around Rudra ran his fingers over Paro’s hands lovingly before the Mehendi. And she blushed. Mehendi design was made by the city’s most sought after beautician. And Paro wanted Rudra to write the “R” himself. After all she remembered. Rudra did not want to change that part of the Mehendi ceremony. He had wanted to write the “R” himself. And when Paro requested him to do it – it was the case of dreams come true.

 

This time around there was nobody to poison the Haldi. He stared at Paro’s beauty throughout the ceremony while Poonam and others applied Haldi on her. And much later he whisked Paro away to a far corner of the haveli to apply Haldi on her himself.

With his cheeks on her cheeks,

with his arms on her arms,

with his legs on her legs,

with his nose on her nose.

 

He ran his arms covered with the yellow paste unabashedly on her bare back to his satisfaction making her cheeks become a shade of orange – a mix of red and yellow.

 

The last few days time flew like a super sonic jet. Before anybody knew it they were all sitting in the haveli after dinner to discuss the last minute activities. It was the eve of the wedding.  And finally when Poonam and Maithili had checked off the last item in the list everybody heaved a sigh of relief. And with a great sense of satisfaction and an anticipation to make the next day’s event a big success they all returned to their rooms. Rudra also went back to the guest room which he occupies nowadays. Just one more day - he thought looking outside through the window.

 

To see Paro’s smiling face in the night before retiring to his room has become a must for him nowadays. Else he just cannot have a peaceful night. She did not oblige him today. Not after the small tiff they had downstairs earlier in the evening. He has to go back to her and pamper her enough to get that smile back. He waited for some more time – to allow all the others to sleep before he tiptoed to Paro’s – and his – room to give her the gift. The peace offering.

 

 

Standing outside her room, he hesitated for a moment. His hands shook as he stared at the package in his hands along with a single red rose. Deliberating on the wisdom of going in to see the object of his desire, Rudra fidgeted with the ribbon tied a little crookedly on the boxed and wrapped gift.

 

He hoped that Paro would like the sari he had bought for her. The blue sari as she had held it in her hands, stroking the fabric so lovingly was still engraved in his memory.

 

Of course, they were living under the same roof in an enormous Haveli but it was always swarming with an army of family members! He could barely get her alone, all to himself even for a few minutes without any interruptions and it grated on his nerves at times.

 

Was it too much to ask that one be able to spend a few moments with the love of his life without being disrupted? At least enough time to bring her back from the lover’s tiff they had ? His arms ached as he thought of holding Paro close to him, to his heart. The truth was that he wanted to not only hold her in his arms but also kiss her, touch her. It had been too damn long!

 

Just one more night before she would be his, once again, Rudra thought excitedly. Yet, he couldn’t wait-----the anticipation was too much! He had to see her, give her the gift and make sure that she was not upset with him anymore. He didn’t want a pouty bride tomorrow!

 

Paro heard the slight knock on the door and she closed the box containing her bridal necklace for tomorrow’s wedding, placing it inside the cabinet.

 

“Kaun hai…..who is it....come in….,” Paro replied wondering if it was Maithili or Sunehri who had come to see her, maybe even talk to her. Or perhaps, it was Dhruv who had gone out earlier to watch a movie with his cousins and Sumer and had returned now

 

The door opened and she was surprised to see Rudra standing in the doorway with his hands behind his back.

 

Surprised to see him, Paro asked curiously, “Rudra……tum yahaan kya kar rahe ho…..what are you doing here?”

 

So, she was still upset with him and he replied, “Kyun…..kal shaadi hai humaari…..tujh say milnay aaya tha…..Why...Tomorrow is our wedding...I cam e to see you....” as he moved inside the room, closing the door with one hand quickly behind him

 

There was a look in his eyes that Paro tried very hard to discern. It was a look that she had seen often enough in the last few days and she had to admit it to herself. That particular regard of his frightened her yet excited her, sending her senses spiralling

 

Trying to recall that she was mad at him for what he had said earlier to her, she made a slight scowl as she reminded him, “Rudra……did you forget…..bhool gaye tum….kay mein naraaz hoon tum say….that I am angry with you?”

 

During a casual conversation earlier, she had mentioned all the romantic things that a man could do for the woman he loved and bringing her flowers was one of them.  Instead of agreeing with her, Rudra had told her that he wasn’t used to doing such clichéd acts and that had really irked her.

 

Of course, he had been partly joking but before he could rectify his mistake, she had been called away for some wedding related chore. And now, she was annoyed with him, he could tell.

 

Wasn’t the man supposed to be marrying her tomorrow? Shouldn’t he have just agreed with her, Paro thought as she looked at him standing in her room? Well, it was his room, not hers, at least not until tomorrow anyway and she blushed at the train of her thoughts.

 

He saw a tint of colour on her cheeks and wondered what she was thinking about. She looked slightly anxious as he walked towards her.

 

Standing right in front of her, he said softly, “Tere liye tohfa hai…a present for you..aaj raat hi dena chaahta tha…..wanted to give it tonight itself”

 

Something in the way he spoke and the way he looked at her, with such affection melted her heart but she tried to hold her ground, “Nahi….Nope....mujhay koi tohfa nahi chaahiye….I don't need any gift...” and he placed the box on the bed to his side.

 

He saw her eyes look at the box inquisitively but she didn’t make any attempt to pick it up. Nonetheless, her words of refusal didn’t hold any heat and he could sense the playfulness behind them, so he asked, “Phir bataa…..kya karoon mein……jo tu maan jaaye……kal shaadi hai……,Okay then tell me..What shall I do to make you agree.....tomorrow is our marriage “and he paused to look into her eyes, and then told her that he didn’t want an angry bride tomorrow but a loving one.

 

The implication behind his words was not lost on her as she suddenly became shy and her face turned warm. Rudra saw her blush and he was so reminded of his Paro and how she had always managed to become embarrassed so easily. Some things never changed that much, Rudra thought amusingly.

 

When she didn’t respond immediately, he asked her, “Accha  tou tu bataa day…..kya karoon mein jo teri naraazgi khatam ho jaaye….Okay then tell me what should I do to take your anger away.....”

 

Tapping her fingers against her chin as if in deep contemplation, Paro tried to think of ideas or deeds he could do to pacify her.

 

And he vividly recalled the day when he had placed the mangalsutra around her neck, finally doing the right thing by her, making her his wife. It was right after he had sort of fulfilled her wish of snowfall as the specks of soft, fluffy cotton had floated all around them.  He could only hope that she wouldn't wish for something as difficult this time!

 

Then she smiled, looked into his eyes and answered, “Ok, Rudra….tum agar mujhay manaana chaahte ho....if you want to cajole me…….tou mujhay koi gaana sunaa do….come on, sing a song for me…..Ok, Rudra.......”

 

He cringed at her request as he had no illusions about his singing skills. As he thought of a way to get put this conundrum, she startled him by asking, “Kuch kuch hota hai…..Rudra, tumhe yeh gaana aata hai na……have you heard this song ?”

 

Shocked momentarily by her request, Rudra just stared at her, completely speechless, wondering if she had recalled something from their past but there was no such cognizance in her eyes.

 

Her fingers snapped in front of his eyes as she asked casually, “Kya hua, Rudra....what happened……yeh gaana nahi aata kya…….chalo koi  baat nahi……koi aur gaana suna do…….theek hai….if you don't know this song it fine...sing another one ?”

 

Staring at her keenly, Rudra couldn’t help but ask her, “……tune yeh gaana kyun kaha….why did you select this song ......?”

 

Oblivious to his reason for asking, she replied nonchalantly, “Pata nahi…no idea..aisey hi dimaagh mein aagaya…just came to my mind..waisey yeh gaana mujhay kaafi pasand hai…I like this song by the way…just so you know……” and smiled at him.

 

 

With his mind made up, he decided to sing the song that she had unwittingly requested, hoping against hope that perhaps it might jog her memory somehow. While he could not knowingly force her to recall for health reasons, it might not be bad if she somehow just remembered her previous life with him.

 

Rudra started to sing the song but he had barely sang a couple of lines when he saw a huge smile on her face, which turned into full blown laughter as she placed a hand on her mouth, trying to hold it back.

 

He saw her laughing at him and remembered the time she had laughed at him that night in their room asking him never to sing again, under any circumstances. And he also recalled how he had backed her against the wall and his heartbeat escalated.

 

She saw him stop singing as he stared at her as if upset and she tried to keep a straight face as she told him that she wouldn’t ask him to sing again. Suddenly, Paro stopped laughing as she saw his eyes looking at her lips hungrily and suddenly, she found it hard to breathe

 

“Ru……Ru….Rudra……,” Paro stammered and her feet moved of their own accord as she treaded backward and yet he moved forward. Her heart hammered wildly against her chest as she felt the hard wall behind her and she turned to see that she had nowhere else to go.

 

She was trapped. And she liked it.

 

***********

If you reached till here I am assuming you read the chapter fully. Please leave your comments, thoughts and feedback. If you are facing issues in posting comments please send a mail to jjkkliftkaradey@gmail.com We would like to here from you.