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Part 60

December 30^th 2011

10:20 PM

Rec room

Mangal Kunj

Khanak: Do you feel like you are swimming? (husky)

Ritu: When I swim I do…

Both girls are watching  chick flick in the rec room, the bottle of bourbon is fast emptying…

Khanak is sipping her third glass…

Her insides feel like jello

It goes down like fire, every sip… igniting her insides… the aching throb on her wrist is almost gone now…. Infact its hard to feel the fingers, she flexes her arm…

Ritu gets up to close the curtains…

Khanak: Wow! (looks down from the couch)

Ritu:You had too much to drink…

Khanak: It feels like a drop… bungee jump…

Ritu worries…

R:Are you OK mystery?

K:Great! (eyes closed)

R:Phir meri taraf dekha

K:I cant… every time I open my eyes, things spin…

R:OKKKKK… yep! That’s what I feared…

K: If I didn’t unpack… can I go with you?

R:Kahan?

K:Dilli?

R: Who to tum pack karke bhi ja sakti ho

K:I am on time on all my payments… (random)

R:Matlab?

K:He said… I am not… he didn’t say it… but he meant it…

R:Kab? (amused)

K:I hate his eyes…

Just as her husband walks in… Ritu jumps up and hugs him… Shaan follows…

R:Apni biwi ko sambhalo Gujral… shes drunk

K: I actually hate his eyes more than … (eyes closed)

Shaan sits by her…

K: He wants me to give up…

Ritu:I better go! Oh god! (shuts her eyes and ears)

Kritik:This should be fun, lets listen…

Shaan:How many did she have?

R:That’s her third…

S:STRAIGHT? (horrified)

K: He can be so disapproving when it comes to me! (eyes closed) He didn’t call ONCE… I lied to Bai that he did…weve only kissed… jussssst kissed…..

S:Isnt she on pain killers?

R:She said she took one at Noon Gujral.. that must have worn off… (reassuring)

S:Khanak… (gently touching her)

K opened her eyes… with difficulty… “Its still swaying” “I am just going to lay here with my eyes closed”

S:You are drunk! (in her ear)This is not good (serious)

K: Intoxicated with you! (turning her face to graze his cheek) and yes, I agree this is cant be good…(helpless)

Ritu and Kritik exchange a look, as they leave the room quietly… shutting the door behind them

Part 59

December 30^th 2011

Monday

Mangal Kunj

Nandu Massi: JUST look at her WHAT a DOLL!

Khanak smiles a half smile…

Nandu: those big eyes and that flawless skin… I need to raid your closet one day beta, HOW many silver trinkets do you have? 

Khanak shrugs confused “Kaafi” she admits

Nandu: I haven’t seen you repeat ONE thing in the last two years…

Madhavi: Almost for a year they were separated! (matter of fact)

Nandu: ummm… I mean… (suddenly lost for words)

Khanak is staring at her brace…

Madhavi: Sunil is thrilled they decided to reconcile

Nandu:If she were my daughter in law, I wouldn’t have let her leave my house… bête se jo lad rahi hai who apna ladti rahe, mainnu ki farq painda hai…

Madhavi laughs

Dadi:That’s right.. I agree Nandu….

Dadi:Khadi rahogi beta, wont you sit?

Ritu is on the phone, she walks over and sneaks into Khanak’s purse… “Kya laayi?”

Khanak: Umm… not a thing…

Pradyun:See my sideburns… they are the shape of a castle…

Khanak giggles aloud…

Ritu:Sar par birds bana le…(Hanging up on her call)

His hair has grown… but it’s a thick mat covering the scalp

Ritu:I can do it for free… NOT free… but.. let me think…

Pradyun:IF I let you do it it would cost you Ri-2

Ritu:THU yar, not 2

Pradyun shrugs… sheepishly “Its going to cost you anyway”

He darts a look at Khanak….

K thinks “Don’t say ANYTHING Pradyun… you don’t want to get yourself killed” she prays…

Pradyun:I want..

Ritu: Agara itne conditions hain to phir main koi art work nahi karoongi… friend meri artist hai waise bhi…

Hugs Khanak…

Dadi:Ab baithogi ya nahi?

Khanak takes a step forward…

Dadi:Why did you go tow ork?

Madhavi and Nandu discuss something they are seeing on an ipad

Ray is getting her hair braided by Khushboo.. who is definitely not doing a good job.

Khanak looks everywhere: wheres the baby?”

Ritu:Baitha hai na tere saamne unshaven…. (as he scratches his 7 O clock shadow)

Khanak: AMOGH!

Shaan answers a call… still staring at her…

Dadi:Toota to nahi?

K looks confused “Umm.. well they are not.. sure… it could be… it may not be…”

Dadi:Yeh kya ho gaya Dr Vohra ko?

K giggles, actually Dadi, its faint…

K:I moved my Godrej a lil last week, ghar par (whisper)

Dadi: Tum Complan peeti to nahi…

Khanak laughs… “dadi” “Your jokes are…” (stops, getting worse)

Dadi:Why did YOU move stuff? (angry)

Khanak: I wanted the bed to be the other way, 3 saal se bore ho gayi dekhkar…

Khanak:Aada helped me…

Dadi: I am worried now, aage se tumhe apne ghar bhejoon ya nahi

Nandu:I am willing to take her! (raises her arm)

Khanak: Har mahiney London?

Nandu:Tum har mahine jaati ho ma ke ghar?

Shaan hangs up just at that time

K thinks “I would LOVE to” her husband waits…

Nandu:Where is that whip? I mean, kya shaadi hai… har mahiney?

Shaan chuckles derisively…

Dadi: Yeh usko saal mein ik vaar jaane nahi deta…

Nandu:That’s my man!

Shaan waves HL down… “Kya hai khaane ko?”

HL:Khushboo bhabhi ne soup salad aur garlic bread kaha sabke liye

Shaan:How many? (looks at Boo)

Khushboo “I give up Ray… this is too hard”

Shaan: Bhabi what kinds?

Boo: Chicken noodle, tomato bisque for your love… (Khanak turns crimson when Ritu whistles on that word)

Sunil: Kitni badi awaaz hai tumhari beta, just what we want in this house!

Shaan looks at the color coating her face…

Khushboo:I LOVE your jhumkas too, gorgeous… they make your face look like a doll..

Khanak:Thanks! (feels them)

Khushboo: Beef & lentil for you..

Ritu:Gujral, maha paap! Beef?

Shaan:That’s right!

Dadi:Isko kuch kehna bekaar hai, isko aur Akshay ko

Kritik returns from wherever he had disappeared…

Krit: How about a game of tennis?

Shaan:Done!

Khanak:dadi I will go change…

Dadi:Don’t.. you look lovely…

Khanak: Subah se pehani hai…

Sunil:Zara iski Hindi suno!

Pradyun who is playing on his ipad pauses to look

Sunil:PEHANI… wah wah beta

Pradyun:She wont teach me!

Sunil:Free mein? Ha!

Pradyun:Ofcourse not! I would…

Khanak: Dadi.. main apna bag oopar rakhlar aati hoon…

Shaan:Let me change.. Krit..

Khanak thinks “Oh great!”

HL: Bhabhiji aapka daak oopar rakh diya…

Khanak nods wonders why he said that specifically…

Her husbands eyes convey “Yet another missed payment Mrs Gujral?”

She ignores that look and starts to walk, he follows, since he is taller and quicker he catches up both walk and them climb in unison…

He just yanks her heavy laptop bag from her shoulder ignoring her hiss and “Tchhh”  bringing her dupatta sliding down…

“Is it your imac or your Windows desktop?” he asks cynically

She ignores the jab.. and reaches “agar aapko bhari laga to mujhe lautiayiye”… they are up by the time… she finishes that sentence……..

He walks to the study… with it

She goes into his room

Dadi is the only one watching them…

Ritu is flirting with her husband…

Pradyun is looking too but surreptiously…….

The bottle of bourbon lay on one of the many slim tables lining the walls with Tiffany lamps on both ends… She walks up to it “Its only 2/3rds full, he said 3/4ths” she thinks…

He walks in… stops and stares… at her nurse her wrist by the bottle of bourbon…

“Drowning in your sorrows?” he asks

“Not yet” she says… as he goes in for a quick shower.. while she fantasizes how he must look with his clothes off….. too proud to go check it out…….

Part 58

Dec 30^th 2011

Monday

8:08 PM

Mangal Kunj

Dadi:Kidhar hai?

Ritu:Mujhe laga AAPKO pata hoga Dadi

Dadi:I was out at the Duggals all day beta…

Ritu:I called her when I left Mamiji’s at 5 PM, she said she was in a meeting.. aaj to chhutti thin a uski?

Madhavi: I thought so… (confused)

Khushboo: His workaholic bug has bitten her (shudders)

Pradyun:She is at work dadeee?

Ray:Great! We were going to go to Linking Rd for shopping

Nandu Maasi: CALL HER, people!

Shaan walks in…

Nandu:Dono humse peechha chhudakar, Oberoi Towers chale gaye honge… he looks so well rested (laughs)

Madhavi:On the contrary, Nandu…

Nandu:Didi… lets wait for her

They all stare at the open door…

Pradeep walks in with a bunch of blue prints and a case…

Shaan:Where is Kritik?

Ritu:Oopar, apne friend se baat kar raha hai, MERI friend ko kya kiya tumne Gujral?

Shaan is not amused…

He goes to the bar and pours himself a drink, his hair is tousled…

Nandu:I told ya.. the guy was busy!

Madhavi giggles…

Sunil: Ofcourse he was busy, isne mujhe ek chhoti si gudiya promise kii hai

Ritu:REALLY UNCLE?

Shaan sulks “Pfffttt!” gulps…

Sunil: kahan hai gudiya ki ma?

Ritu and Pradyun and Madhavi all laugh out loud…

Shaan:Sound like a soap Dad!

His Dad raises his empty glass, Shaan refills it with Scotch and throws some ice in…

The men are having a good time, Akshay and Kritik join in…

Dadi frets about dinner… calls Khanak… no response

Her Bai calls Ritu…

Ritu chats for a while… “Aap uske var se baat karengi?”

Her Bai is shocked…

Ritu just blindly hands the phone….

Bai:Ummm Khanak?

Shaan:Main Shaan…

Bai:Kaise ho beta?

Shaan:Good… Thanks Aun… (stops)

Bai:Khanak hai waha?

Shaan:Ummm… (looks everywhere) nahi..

Whispers to Dadi, “Where is she?”

Dadi: You are asking ME?

Shaan:Did she go to work?

Ritu:Ladna baad mein, pehle Bai se baat karo! (whispers)

Shaan:Umm.. she is at wor(stops) shaayad office mein hai

Bai: Kal shaadi mein gayi?

Shaan:Haan

Bai: Aaj subah phone aaya uska, main Dadi ko lekar check up ke liye gayi (Bai mutters half the words in Gujju)

Shaan is upset with his wife, tired… frustrated with gridlocks over work issues, the Gujarati almost sends him over the edge…

Shaan: Can I ask her to call? Usko call karne ko kahoon?

Bai:Kal Hanuman ji ka 16 mangal chhe..

Shaan:Err!

Bai: Beta usko keha foon karegi..

Bai is clueless… she has no idea what to say and how to speak to her impatient angry young son in law… Sooraj would listen… tell her about his day… ask about local news… discuss Narendra Modi… this young man… was restless and sullen…

Shaan:Haan kahoonga…

Bai:Aana ghar, tumne usko bheja, par lene bhi nahi aaye! (almost fully in Gujarati)

Shaan: Yes.. haan…mujhe kaam tha

Bai:Milne aana (polite)

Shaan: Jee! (spontaneously… his wife’s fave word)

Just as she entered…….. in a turquoise kurta and an orange salwar…she wore lots of chunky silver jewelry… like she was heading to an art show with the artsy crowd… extra kohl lined her eyes… her bindi was a kohl arrow…her wrist was in a cast…

Her eyes were unwittingly drawn to him, as she hid her wrist in the folds of her chunky mirrorwork orange dupatta , he stood there drinking… holding the phone to his ear… long after Bai had hung up…

Ritu was flirting with Kritik

Pradyun rushed to her “HERE you are.. we were worried…”

She looked at her husband and said softly “I almost believed that”

Part 57

Mangal Kunj

After 10 AM

He is downstairs hurriedly finishing up the last crumbs of bacon on his plate…

Madhavi:Did she have an xray appointment? (worried)

Shaan:Yep! She may have broken her wrist

Madhavi is shocked “HOW?”

Sunil looks up from his paper “Do you really want to know Madhavi?”

Shaan shakes his head “That’s right!”

Madhavi: It cant be Shaan!

Sunil bursts out laughing “Tum bus apne charitable efforts kiya karo Madhavi, you shouldn’t worry”

Madhavi:I have a wife beater at home?

Shaan: You guys need to pick on Bhayya, here he comes

Akshay: I don’t need my car today, I am riding with Dad, if Pradeep is out, Khanak can have mine…

Shaan:I will push her apt out, she is still asleep

Akshay:What about the rest of the crew, Ritu, Nandu mausi etc…

Dadi walks in from the pooja room “Why are you up so early Ma” Sunil demands…

Dadi:11 baj gaye… aur kita

Sunil:Meri bahu ko dekho, she will sleep through… days and nites… Rip Van Winkle

Shaan chuckles

Dadi:Isko need ki zaroorat nahi… (scolding her grandson)

Shaan:I have to be on site at Noon

Sunil:Ofcourse!

They all talk about the wedding, Senior Duggal and Dadaji were business partners… started small… Dadi still considered them family…

Vivaan and Shaan were good buddies as well

Hence the reason the family stayed all nite at the wedding…

Dadi:Main chali jaaon uske saath for the xray

Shaan:She is asleep… I will have to move it

Sunil:Don’t! Beta, Go check… try waking her

Shaan has a mock terrified look on his face… “Casa at Navi Mumbai” is riding on me, Dad….. Rahat will hate you if something happens to me”

Madhavi laughs loudly

Dadi: Shaan how mean beta! Stop it!

Sunil:Go wake her… if its broken, then it needs to be seen

Shaan’s phone rings as he makes his way up… answering it

She is sleeping face down… wearing an orange  full sleeve V neck tee and orange polka dotted draw string shorts… the satin tie… hanging loose……..

She is wearing anklet on one of her feet………. Its out of the blanket… he gently toys woth it, laying in bed………

She moves her foot………

Her hair is splayed all over his pillow…….

He plants his chin on her neck… tracing…

K:I have the day off Shantanu (pleading, muffled, into the pillow)

Shaan:You have an appointment at Noon……

She opens her eyes reluctantly “I don’t want to go”

S:Do you want me to move it?…

There is no response…

S:I will pick you up at 11:30 ish..

Umm… umm… no response…

K:I want to sleep!

S:Look at me and say it!

She turned promptly, tearing her eyelids apart… “… I don’t want to go… its not broken..”

S:Now you are a doctor?

He retrieves her wrist from under her pillow… the rings are back but the wrist is swollen red… she winces and wakes fully…

S:This is bad Khanak!

K:Well… you parked at the wrong spot!

He bursts out laughing… “Thanks! I knew it had to be my fault”

K:It always is”

S:Shall we go?

K:Nahiii… abhi nahi…

S:I am off to work, I will let Ritu know…

K:I don’t need her help. I can do it on my own… (She had to go to Mamiji’s (Trishna’s Mom’s) for lunch…)

S:I know you don’t need anybody Khanak! (firm, bitter)

K pulls her hand out of his grip….. miserable

K: My family depends on me!

There!

Finally!

S: Ofcourse they do! They will always! (biting)

K is fully awake… her wrist is hurting and her eyes fill up with tears…

He steps away from the bed, dressed in khakhi dockers and a red/khakhi checked full sleeve shirt with shoulder straps… suede shoes complete his look…… some expensive coffee-leather watch hugged his wrist…

He is furious……..

She is sitting up in bed… her tattoo completely hidden under the v-neck full sleeve tee… in orange…

He had messed with it this morning… moments before she went completely still… fast asleep

“I hid it” “I know you will wake me”

“If you show me I wont” he challenged…

“The tattoo’s resting” she murmured in his arms, as he held her tight.. watching her drift off… like a baby………

K:You should have married a wealthy heiress (Tara Vivaan’s new wife)… only fools rush in!(self deprecating).

He walked out slamming the door to the seating area followed by the suite door…