╰┈➤ AUTHOR'S POV

The sweet scent of incense sticks was all over the living room as Manjiri's Aai finished doing the puja in their small house temple.

Manjiri- as usual was up early- even earlier as her Baba would be here any moment. She had been assigned the task of making coconut chutney for breakfast to eat along with the freshly prepared idli by her Aai.

Abhijeet was already off to the station to pick his dad up.

Manjiri was lost in her own dreamland- the one that included him. Surprisingly, she couldn't stop thinking about the interaction with Rahul.

‘Rahul, naam toh suna hoga?,’ she recalled his exact words and unbeknownst to her, a small smile appeared on her face.

Her Aai, who had just come into the kitchen to make sure everything was ready, caught Manjiri daydreaming. She was amused seeing Manjiri completely lost. So lost that she had not even plugged the mixer’s wire.

“Zali ka chutney?” Her Aai asked.

(Is the chutney ready?)

Manjiri, now out of her lala land, focused her attention on the mixer.

She realised that the mixer’s button was on but it wasn't working.

“Aai, the mixer isn't working,” she said, turning the mixer knob in all directions.

“How will it work without plugging the wire in?” Came her Aai’s sarcastic remark.

“Oh…I must've forgotten,” she mumbled.

“Yes, you were so busy dreaming with your eyes open. Now plug it in and work faster,” said her Aai.

“And this time, don't forget to turn on the button after plugging the wire in,” she added, laughing at her own joke.

“Aai, I'm not dumb,” Manjiri said.

“Accha?”

(Really?)

“Aaiiii!!!!”

“Okay let it be, I'll do the rest. You go, get ready,” Manjiri’s Aai said.

“Pakka?”

(Are you sure?)

“Yes, now go.”

──── ୨୧ ────

The house was tidied up perfectly. The curtains had been changed. The old flowers in the vases were replaced with freshly bloomed, fragrant flowers. Manjiri and her mother sat on the couch waiting for the arrival of Manjiri's father.

And then, through the main door walked in a man, almost 6ft tall, a broad stature and a powerful aura.

Brigadier Arvind Deshmukh- the man known for his discipline. Being an army officer, he always carried himself with poise.

He was a man who would walk around with a stoic face most of the time but a wide smile spread across his face as soon as he saw his wife and his daughter.

“Baba!” Manjiri chirped in excitement, as she ran towards her father.

Her father gladly opened his arms and hugged his daughter.

“How are you, Manjiri?” he asked, his tone softer but the authority in his voice still lingered faintly.

“I'm fine Baba. How are you? We missed you,” Manjiri said, her father patted her head with a smile in return.

Abhijeet- who was holding two of his father's suitcases- stood at the door watching Manjiri hug their father without any hesitation unlike him, as the father-daughter duo had blocked the entrance to the house amidst their reunion.

Once Manjiri broke the hug, her father walked up to her mother. He hugged her and asked about her well being.

“How was your journey?” Manjiri’s mother asked.

“Good,” he answered.

“You should go and freshen up, I'll serve breakfast,” she said.

He nodded and went inside the bedroom. Manjiri’s mother Rama also went to the kitchen and got busied in setting up the breakfast.

Meanwhile, Manjiri still standing at the doorstep watched the little exchange between her parents affectionately.

“Will you move inside or do you want to spend the day at the doorstep?” Abhijeet mocked, irritatedly.

Manjiri rolled her eyes and stepped inside.

“Khup upkaar zale tujhe,” he said sarcastically.

(Thank you very much.)

Manjiri hit his hand with her elbow.

“You know I won't hit you back until Baba’s here, so you are taking advantage of the situation. Fine, enjoy your forty days in peace. I'll get back at you then,” saying that, he followed his father inside the bedroom with the luggage.

──── ୨୧ ────

The four of them had breakfast together.

Arvind, taking a bite of the idli said, “I always miss eating food made by Rama at the camps.”

Rama smiled at her husband's compliment and served him another idli.

“Abhi, you aren't eating. Didn't you like it?” she asked.

“Nahi Aai, it's delicious. I'm just not hungry.”

Rama nodded in understanding.

“So, Manjiri. How's your new job? Are the students good to you?” Arvind asked.

“Yes Baba. The job is great. My colleagues are very supportive and the students have finally started to take me seriously but….” Manjiri paused, the spoon in her hand falling back on the plate.

“But?”

“Uh nothing Baba. It's good so far,” Manjiri covered it up.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes Baba. Anyway, you tell us about Amritsar,” Manjiri hesitantly changed the topic but it didn't go unnoticed by Abhijeet.

“So Amritsar…..” her father started narrating stories of his recent Amritsar posting.

──── ୨୧ ────

After dinner, Manjiri and Abhijeet were taking a stroll on the terrace.

“So….what is it?” he asked.

“What?”

“You were about to say something in the morning during breakfast but then you hesitantly stopped. What is that?”

“It's nothing Dada,” she tried to shrug it off.

“Manjiri, we both know you can't lie. Especially not to me,” he remained stern.

“But you also don't tell me everything,” she protested.

“Because I have my reasons, Manjiri. And for a fact, you already know that you would be the first person I ever share my thoughts with,” he explained.

“Yes but…..,’ she took a deep breath and continued, “I don't want to do this job.”

He patiently listened to her.

“I mean….I don't hate my job. I love teaching the kids, everyone is good to me but I want to study literature,” she said.

“Manjiri, that's a good thing. Why were you being so hesitant about telling this to Baba?”

“Dada, I'm 23. Doing a Ph.D in literature will take at least three years. By the end of next year, Aai will start pestering me for marriage,” she explained.

“Manjiri, do you think marriage is above your dreams?”

“No Dada but you know how the society works, right? God forbid a girl decides to stay unmarried over the age of 25 and they start assuming things and character assassinate the girl. It's disgusting.”

“Even if a girl gets married at the age of 20, they will still assume things and taint her character. Log toh bolenge hi. But giving up on your dreams just because ‘log bolenge’ is not worth it.

Manjiri, you aren't the type of a girl who tries to fit into the shoes of the ‘perfect girl’ according to the society, I never saw you like one. You are the kind who’s born to chase dreams,” Abhijeet made her understand.

Manjiri processed each word that he said and finally asked the big question in her heart, “What about Aai-Baba?”

“They will definitely support your dreams, idiot. They will be overjoyed to know that their beloved daughter has such big aspirations.”

“Really?”

“Ofcourse. And if you still doubt it, ask them yourself tomorrow.”

A smile appeared on her face as he said that.

“Okay. And I think I'll continue my job for a month or two until I get admission into a PhD program,” she said, excitedly.

“That's great. All the best,” Abhijeet patted her head.

“Thank youuuu Dada,” she exclaimed happily and hugged him. He laughed at her excitement.

“Acha, now you go back. I'll quickly go see my friends and come.”

“Okay.”

As she descended the stairs, she saw a kid sitting on the stairs near her house, crying.

──── ୨୧ ────

Rahul stood in the middle of the house looking at how messy it was. He looked at Amar, his colleague and now roommate who was busy munching on banana chips.

“Kaise reh leta tha yaar tu yaha?” Rahul said, folding his sleeves as he got ready to clean the room up.

“Bas thoda sa saaman faila hua hai….it's okay yaar,” Amar said with his mouth full of chips.

Rahul threw a glare at him and began cleaning the mess.

“My Chacha-Chachi are coming to see the house in the evening. If they see this mess, they will take me back with them,” he said, as he picked up piles of magazines and newspapers and dumped them into a cardboard box.

“Kyu? Tu chhota baccha hai kya?” Amar said and laughed at his own joke.

“Ye ghatiya jokes apne paas rakh. And if you are done eating, help me.”

“Yes boss,” and then just like that, with snarky remarks being thrown at each other and with a little office gossip, the two finished up the cleaning.

Later, Amar helped Rahul arrange his stuff into the cupboards.

“All set?” Amar asked, once everything seemed perfect.

“Yes, perfect. Thanks yaar,” Rahul said, shaking hands with him.

Later that evening, his Chacha Chachi visited with Golu.

“Bhaiya, ab aap yaha rahoge?” he asked.

“Haa,” Rahul answered.

“Aapka naya ghar accha hai. Kya mai bahar jaake dekh sakta hu?”

“Haa haa, jao.”

The moment Golu got the permission, he ran outside. While playing, he stumbled upon a flower pot and fell down, scraping his knee. His eyes welled up at the pain.

“Hey. Are you hurt?” A soft voice caught his attention. He looked up with his doe eyes to find a pretty girl, much older than him looking at him with concern in her eyes.

“You’ve scraped your knee. Wait a minute-” she went inside the house and came back with a handkerchief and an antiseptic.

She wiped his tears away with the handkerchief and then applied the antiseptic to his wound. He winced at the pain.

“Kuch nahi hua. It will burn a little but you are a strong boy, haina?”

As soon as she called him a ‘strong boy', he immediately wiped his tears off.

“Done,” she said with a smile. But then her eyes fell on the broken flower pot.

“I'm sorry, galti se gir gaya,” Golu said, in his softest voice.

“Arey it's okay. Galti se gira na. And don't worry, I can get it fixed,” she assured him.

“Pakka na?”

“Pakka.”

“Thank you, Didi.” He said, with a big tooth smile. He searched in his pockets and pulled out an Eclair.

“For you,” he handed her the chocolate and then ran inside Rahul’s house.

Manjiri smiled at the kid for one last time before going in.

Meanwhile, Golu went inside, slightly limping and showed his wound to his parents.

“Tumne hi koi shaitaani ki hogi, isliye laga,” Golu’s mom said.

“Nahi mummy, galti se gir gaya. But that Didi helped me and put an antiseptic to my knee. Now I'm fine.”

“Kaun Didi?” Rahul asked.

“Jo baju ke ghar mein rehti hai. She is very pretty also,” Golu said.

“Did you thank her?”

“Yes Bhaiya, I even gave her one of the Eclair chocolates that you gave me,” Golu said, proudly.

“Good,” Rahul said, ruffling his hair.

“Chalo Rahul, hum chalte hai. The house is really nice. But jab yaad aaye tab aate rehna,” his chacha said before taking leave.

Rahul returned to his room after bidding bye to his guests. On his bed, he saw a female handkerchief lying there. It had a little peacock motif embroidered on it. It had a distinct fragrance that of mogra, very similar to hers.

He smiled to himself at her thought and kept the handkerchief in his drawer, safely.

Meanwhile, Arvind and Rama who had been walking in the corridor saw Rahul's guests leaving.

“Rama, who are they? Joshi’s new tenants it seems,” Arvind asked.

“Yes, he has given his room on lease to bachelors this time,” Rama explained.

“But why bachelors? There have never been bachelor tenants in our society.”

“Jaude na. Aplyala kay karaycha aahe,” Rama said.

(Let it be, what do we have to do with it?)

“Kahi nahi, I just hope they don't cause any trouble,” he said in a firm voice.

──── ୨୧ ────

Present Day

[From Prologue]

Manjiri had been thinking about him a lot more than she should have. She was lost in her own thoughts when her father cleared his throat.

“Uh- haa Baba?” she stuttered, hoping her father hadn't seen her smiling like a fool. As much as she loved her father, she was also a bit scared of him as he was a strict army officer. Very disciplined.

“Are you ready? I will drop you off at the station.”

“Yes Baba, I'm ready.”

“Come downstairs, I'll wait by the scooter,” her dad said in a soft yet firm tone.

She nodded and grabbed her jhola-bag. She glanced at the keychain hanging to its chain. Her broken jhumka. And her mind went back to his thoughts again.

“Don’t cry over your broken jhumka. Instead, think about how you can still keep it close to you,” he had said and then turned that broken jhumka into a keychain and attached it to her jhola-bag.

She wondered what he had done to the other jhumka that he took from her.

Did he throw that away?

Her chain of thoughts broke due to the loud honking sound of her father's scooter.

“Stop thinking about that fool,” she scolded herself and after saying ‘bye’ to her mom, she stepped out of the house….only to get stunned.

Meanwhile, Rahul grabbed his bag and house keys to leave for work. He smiled as the small jhumka dazzled from the keychain.

“Oh lord, I hope I meet her again today,” he said to himself with a dreamy sigh.

He stepped out of the house and locked it.

He heard a soft familiar dangling of anklets and turned around to find its source only to be amazed.

His dark orbs locked with her brown ones and the world seemed to have stopped for the two of them.

“Did god just conspire to bring me face to face with him/her again?” Both had the same question in their mind. While one was elated, the other one was unable to comprehend what they were feeling about this.

“You?”

“You!”

And they stood there, one cursing god’s conspiracy while the other thanking him for this pleasant surprise.

TO BE CONTINUED…..

-⋆˚࿔ Riii𝜗𝜚˚⋆