About an hour ago, before Arnav reached the station: Sitting in the AC Chair car compartment of the train, Khushi was getting restless. It had been more than an hour since she last talked to Arnavji and she wasn’t getting any signal on the phone. She looked around the compartment. There were many known faces who would travel regularly to and fro Delhi and Lucknow. One of them was Mr.Sharma. Khushi and Payal had befriended his wife during one of…
It had been just about an hour since Khushi’s train left and Arnav was already missing her badly, even though Khushi had talked to him on the phone twice already. ‘Call every half an hour’, Arnav had instructed and Khushi had agreed to oblige happily. Her giggles still resounded in his ears. ‘I will go mad’, thought Arnav and decided to go to the living room area. Nani would have gotten up from her afternoon nap. Just as he had…
“Wha … t, Luck … Kh .. Khushi”, Arnav shouted. Khushi came running back as if pulled by a magnet. “What happened Arnavji?”, asked Khushi. “What do you mean ‘what happened’? Lucknow? You didn’t say anything about Lucknow, dammit. You are going to Lucknow,today?” Arnav blasted. Khushi was surprised and confused. “Haan. I thought you knew Preeto now stays in Lucknow. It was you who had transferred her husband to Lucknow on promotion as the Chief Manager of the Lucknow…
Arnav awoke with a jerk. ‘Khushiii’ … he let go a whisper of his beloved wife’s name. He looked on the other side of the bed that he was sleeping on. The beautiful woman he loved staring at wasn’t there. Just the crumpled bed sheet. He knew she had gotten up early. He knew she was downstairs with the other women in the house. Yet there was this restlessness. Why? And why that dream after all these years? Why now?…
“hume lagta hai, you need a hair cut, arnav ji!” khushi blurted out when asr suddenly looked up while fixing his tie and caught her staring at him. (i think… you need a hair cut, arnav ji!) it was seven in the morning, she was still half asleep in bed. she’d heard some noise and her eyes had opened for a moment. he’d walked into the room from the adjoining dressing room just then, in a charcoal waistcoat over a…
INDEX he held her close to him, his arms tight around her. he wanted her there, just like that for a while. everything was spiraling into chaos within. he had to tell di… it would shatter her. again. this world never stopped being cruel… nothing good ever lasted. he’d give anything to see di happy. anything. but how could he turn a cheat into a faithful loving husband. husband. pati. some even said pati dev… god. he flinched at…
INDEX he snapped open his macbook and started punching keys, in seconds absorbed in work, his brown eyes fixed on the screen, their little movements indicative of a mind at work, assessing, evaluating, pondering. a tiny frown on his forehead as he worked with complete absorption. he had moved back to his window seat across the aisle. the cup of black coffee lay next to him on the wide arm rest. miss rao refilled it quietly every time it…
INDEX she’d learned his name much later. when she and jiji were trying to explain to babu ji exactly what had happened, why there was a problem with the sheesh mahal job. the hotel had called babu ji and explained, despite the great inconvenience caused and the grave mistake committed by one of his daughters, the client had decided to make the payment, but really next time, mr gupta must make sure such things don’t happen. a bit of…
you who demolish me, you whom I love, be near me. remain near me when evening, drunk on the blood of the skies, becomes night, in its one hand a perfumed balm, in the other a sword sheathed in the diamond of stars. ~~~ faiz ahmed faiz ~~~ he lay there staring up at the stars. the night sky beckoned, inky and clear. winter was on its way in, a slight chill blew in the air, she shivered a little,…