Part 4
ASR looked down at the courtyard of
Sasi Gupta’s house, the phone held to his ear. From his vantage point, he could
see the shed in which Khushi cooked.
A wry twist of his lips displayed his
satisfaction when Aman said, “The papers are ready, sir. You own Sasi Gupta’s
loan now. Tiwari signed on the dotted line ten minutes back.”
“Good,” he replied. “Contact Sasi
Gupta and ask him to repay the loan immediately. His time is up.”
“Yes, sir,” Aman replied. “Our
arrangements are all in place now. The boy too is ready.”
ASR tensed.
“The married actor you wanted me to
find, sir, for Khushi Kumari Gupta,” Aman explained.
A strange numbness spread over his
limbs and something fluttered within his rib cage. ASR drew in a deep breath. This
was no time for weakness. He wanted the deed done and over with. The very air
of Lucknow was killing something within him. He undid the first button of his
shirt to breathe better.
“Sic him on the family,” he ordered.
“Immediately.”
“Yes, sir,” Aman responded.
***
The doorbell rang.
ASR frowned, looking up from his
laptop. Who had dared to ring the bell of his house?
He strode down and threw open the
door to see Sasi Gupta standing on the doorstep.
“Yes?” ASR asked, his eyes stern.
“Arnav Singhji?” Sasi Gupta asked
politely.
“Yes,” ASR replied in the least
encouraging way he could.
The older man was unfazed. “I am Sasi
Gupta, your neighbour.” He nodded at the house next door. “I live there with my
family. Khushi told me that she met you today at dawn?”
“Yes,” ASR replied shortly.
Khushi appeared behind her father
with a laden tray, her delighted eyes taking in the cute picture her
cross-faced neighbour made with his lovely eyes and rumpled hair. He looked
more handsome in the light than in the dark.
Sasi took the tray from her and
offered it to ASR.
ASR frowned.
Khushi beamed as she said, “Arnavji,
leejiye na? I made the poori with my own hands.”
Arnav’s chocolate eyes fell and
stayed on her face. Golden sunlight fell on her flawless complexion and her
hazel eyes seemed lit from the inside.
ASR had to swallow hard to remind
himself of where he was and what he was here to do. He took the tray
reluctantly from Sasi who said with a smile, “You have no one to cook for you
and the shops will open only at ten. Please have your breakfast. Some one will
come to get the tray and utensils later.”
ASR nodded.
Khushi beamed, her busy eyes taking
in all of his gorgeousness for future reminiscence.
Sasi said politely, “Don’t hesitate
to ask us if you need anything. Sharmayiyega mat, Arnavji. You are in a new place
among strangers and it will take you a couple of days to make friends. There
will always be some one at home in Gomti Sadan. Just holler for help.”
Khushi seconded this wholeheartedly.
ASR managed to nod.
“We will see you later, Arnavji,”
Khushi said with a smile before she left with her father.
‘Not if I see you first,’ ASR
thought, his heart filled with hatred and fury.
***
“Sasiji, it is a miracle, I tell
you,” Ramlal said, slurping tea. “I was sitting at home and an elderly man
walks up to me and asks me if I am Ramlal, the wedding broker. When I said I
was, he said that his nephew had seen Khussi bitiya somewhere and that he
wanted to marry her.”
Sasi’s mouth fell open.
Garima gasped.
Madhumati exclaimed, “Hai Re
Nandkisore! Marry off Khussi when her jiji is unmarried? What will our biradri
say?”
Ramlal placed the boy’s photo on the
table before him and said, “BA pass he ladka. Sarkari naukri he. Don’t let this
boy slip through your hands, Sasiji. Aur Payaliya ka kaa he? I will find a boy
for her. A month or so after Khussi’s wedding, we can arrange Payaliya’s. If
this rishta is lost, your biradri won’t bring a similar one for Khussi.”
***
“Ee kaa ho raha he?” Sasi whispered
as he sank into a chair, the receiver still in his hand.
Garima took the receiver from his
hold and replaced it. “What happened, Payaliya’s father?” she asked, his pallor
scaring her.
“The loan...Tiwariji...,” he gasped.
Madhumati joined them. “Kaa hua,
babua?”
“The loan I took from Tiwariji to
rebuild our shop after the fire...I have to pay it back now, abhi ke abhi. Nahi
to, we will lose Gomti Sadan,” Sasi replied, his voice trembling.
“Hai Re Nandkisore!” buaji exclaimed.
“Now? Such a large sum! Hum kaisen
bhar payenge?” Garima asked hopelessly.
Sasi hung his head. “It is my fault,”
he admitted. “I should have paid him back last month. I had promised him,
signed the contract, lekin...”
“How could you pay him back?” Garima
asked despairingly. “It was only when you started repairing the shop that you
realised how bad the damage was.”
“Kya hua, amma, babuji?” Khushi asked
as she and Payal entered the house with baskets of sweets in their hands.
“The loan your babuji took from
Tiwariji...he wants us to pay it back immediately,” Garima said, choked by
tears.
Khushi and Payal stood still, blown
away by the news.
Madhumati frowned. “Sasi babua,
Tiwariji is our friend. He knows how hard times are for us. Can’t you talk to
him, Nandkisore? Maybe he will give us more time to return the loan?”
Sasi sighed. “It is not Tiwariji,” he
admitted. “A company, AR Designs purchased the loan papers from him. Now I have
to pay the company or they will take this house. We will all be on the streets.”
There was a long silence broken only
by Garima’s sobs.
“Yeh sab kaa he, Nandkisore?”
Madhumati asked in bewilderment.
“Pata nahi, jiji,” Garima sighed,
trying to control her tears.
A pale Khushi placed the basket of
sweets on the table and said softly, “I am going to the temple.” She left.
***
Part 5
Khushi left the house and walked
listlessly towards the temple, her mind whirling. What would babuji do? How
could they pay the huge amount?
Caught up in her troubles, she failed
to notice the dapper gentleman following her.
‘She is going to the temple?’ he
mused. A wry smile twisted his lips. ‘Looking for divine intervention, is she?’
Little did she know that no one could help her or her family from being crushed
under the bulldozer that was Arnav Singh Raizada.
As she neared the temple, the elderly
man selling flowers called, “Khussi bitiya, won’t you take flowers today?”
She jumped, jolted out of her
worrying thoughts. She managed to find a smile. “Nahi, chachaji. Not today.”
“Fought with Devi Maiyya, haven’t
you?” he asked with a chuckle.
Khushi smiled with difficulty and
walked ahead, followed by ASR.
“Bhaiyya, take flowers?” the elderly
man asked.
“No,” he growled.
His voice stopped Khushi’s feet even
though her mind was preoccupied with her family’s pecuniary difficulties. Her
eyes wide, her heart thumping, she turned around to see her formally-dressed,
gorgeous neighbour with the captivating eyes. The sunlight highlighted his
strong nose and chiselled jaw, throwing into relief the fascinating curve of
his lips.
“Khushi,” he murmured, his eyes
holding her gaze.
She nodded.
He walked towards her, his eyes
noting the strain on her face and the worry in her eyes.
“What is wrong?” he asked.
She was startled. A moment later, she
asked, “Aap ko kaise pata chala that I was worried?”
He shrugged even as his mind raced.
She was sharp. He needed to step carefully.
“From your face,” he replied
casually.
“I am fine,” she said, brushing aside
his token concern. “Aap yahan kya kar rahe ho?”
“What do people normally do in
temples?” ASR asked sarcastically.
Khushi smiled, easily admitting the
inaneness of her question.
“Chaliye, let’s pray to Devi Maiyya,”
she invited him along.
He walked with her into the holy
space, witnessing her interactions with the vendors and other devotees. She was
apparently a frequent visitor.
Standing before the beautiful idol of
Devi Maiyya, he gazed at Khushi as she prayed with her hands folded and eyes
shut. A small smile teased the curve of his lips. There was no escape from
Arnav Singh Raizada. No one, not even her Devi Maiyya could save the Guptas
from retribution. As his eyes traced her fine features, he saw her swallow. The
muscles of her throat moved and her eyelids pressed tight together as though
she were trying not to cry.
He blinked.
She was so young, so
frail, so feeble. Something like regret flitted through his mind. He turned his
eyes away from her. The news of a pending loan had broken her spirit and sent
her running to Devi Maiyya for succour and support. She was no fit enemy for
him, he told himself as a way out of hurting her. Heck, he could break her in
seconds. What was the fun in fighting an enemy who was not in his class? Better
destroy Sasi Gupta and Garima and then move on, he decided.
“Finished praying?” she asked, her
eyes clear and bright.
He looked at her warily. Was she
going to weep?
“Shall we leave?” she asked
cheerfully.
“Did Devi Maiyya hear your prayer?
You seemed to be very focused on asking something from her,” he fished, his
eyes ridiculing her belief.
She looked at him for a long moment
and then smiled. “Yes, I got my answer,” she murmured.
“So quickly?” he asked, mocking her.
Khushi smiled and replied, “Yes. Devi
Maiyya told me to work harder.”
“What the!” he burst out.
Khushi smiled and said her goodbye.
“I need to get back home, Arnavji. If you have time, stop at Nathulalji’s shop
near the gate and have thandai,” she suggested before walking away on quick
feet.
***
“We will have to sell the jewellery,
Nandkisore,” buaji declared.
“Yes, jiji,” Garima seconded her.
“Take amma’s gold too, buaji,” Khushi
offered.
“And the money we have been saving in
the gullak,” Payal added.
“It won’t make the full amount,” Sasi
murmured as he studied the calculations he had done. “On the phone, the officer
said that the money had to be paid back in full and that we wouldn’t be
permitted to do so in installments.”
“Hai Re Nandkisore!” buaji lamented.
“Ab hum kaa karenge?” Garima asked,
scared.
“There is only one way out,” Sasi
replied, his heart heavy. “I will pledge the shop, lekin iss baar, at the bank.
Sureshji, the manager, had offered me a loan when the shop burned down, but
I...” He looked at his family, his eyes grave. “We will lose the jewellery and
still be left with the bank loan to pay off.”
“We will work hard, babuji,” Khushi
said with a smile. “If we take turns at making sweets, we can work day and
night and take large orders.”
Sasi nodded with a heavy heart.
***
ASR clenched his jaw when Aman told
him that the money had been repaid in full by Sasi Gupta. The deeds of Gomti Sadan
had been returned to him.
“How?” he asked.
Aman explained.
ASR understood what Khushi had meant
about working harder. Smoke had been coming out of the chimney of the shed all
night and day for the last few days.
“Push Gupta for Kh-Khushi’s wedding,”
he instructed Aman.
“Yes, sir,” Aman responded.
ASR pushed his phone into his pocket.
It was time to pay her a visit, but at night.
***
