two stories of marriage

chapter 9

'kya hua? Aaj office nahi jaana?' asked purvi as she saw her sister sleeping.

'nahi, woh shaadi ke das kaam hai, maine kavita se kaha ki ghar se kaam kar rahi ho main tab ke liye..' replied ishita as she lazily woke up.

'ishu! Tumhari tabiyat toh thik hai na?' panicked their mother as she checked her temperature by touching her forehead.

'haan, maa, kya ho gaya?' asked a weirded out ishita.

'arre, jab uthi toh dekha koi nashta hi nahi banna raha hai, main dar gayi tujhe kya ho gaya!'

'di ke liye dar gayi ya iss baat se ki ab toh mujhe na milna nashta?' remarked an annoyed purvi.

'ab kya karun? Tere upar bharosa karun nashta karne ke liye?'

'na hi karo, aapko taane mil jaate hai deneko, aur mujhe shaanti.' Said purvi while clasping her hands together, 'mujhe maaf karo!'

'waise tum ghar pe kaise?'

'woh maine socha ki shaadi ke kaam aap kahan akeli karogi, toh maine keh diya ki kuch din ghar se hi kaam karungi.'

'acha kiya tune, iske bharose toh kuch hota bhi nahi!'

'maa..' requested ishita, not wanting another argument.

'yaar tumhara khaana nahi pachta hai kya mujhe das baar sunaye bina!'

'haan, main toh shauk se karti hoon yeh, tu toh kuch karti hi nahi hai.'

'yaar aap na...' purvi was about to say something but stopped after ishita left the room in irritation.

'dekha, subah-subah bechari ka mood kharab kar diya!' exclaimed their mother as purvi too left the room, just appalled.

                                                         ***

'toh aaj hum moharat nikal lete hain. Hanji-hanji. Phir yeh bhi dekhlenge, ji bilkul..ji-ji-ji!' said their mother on call.

Kavin, teasingly, mimicked the sound of the band-baja in the wedding, mostly into dushyant's ear, who gave him a death stare,

'kya problem hai tera?'

'main toh bas aap ke liye khush ho raha hoon..ab yeh problem kaise hui?'

'saale tu koi doodh ka dhula ram nahi hai, toh acting toh mat hi kar!' said dushyant, as shyam bhaiya, privy to the jokes about his name that come from kavin's mouth, had that 'not again' look on his face.

'arre, ab har baar aapke naam pe joke thodi hoga...' said kavin as shyam bhaiya left with a sigh of relief.

'tum dono kab bade hoge, shaadi wale ghar mein bete bad-chadke kitn kaam karte hain aur ek tum log!' scolded their mother.

'arre naraaz mat ho yaar mom, batao kya kaam hai?' said dushyant as he moved towards her.

'arre tum dono bas taiyaar ho jao, hume nikalna hai!'

'arre, mummy tumhe lagta hai wahan jaane ke liye bhai ko taiyaar hone ki zaroorat hai!'

'arre main toh kuch bhi nahi hoon, kavin ko toh aadhi raat ko bistar se bhi uthake le jao wahan toh bhi chalega..'

'haan, haan, aap hi uthaoge na bistar se. Bachpan se khambe jaise the upar se yeh daaku wale gundh!'

'kavin! Aise bolte hain bhaiya ko!'

'arre par..' kavin pleaded as dushyant chuckled,

'yes kavin, where are your manners?' he said jokingly.