"Only a set of pencils? That's it?" Romi commented.
"Romi!" Vandu signalled towards an already irritated Shravu who wasn't impressed at the Shuklas' gift-giving ability. "No Shravu, these pencils are very nice. We'll write them a thank you card too."
"I'm just saying, they could've done better," Romi shrugged.
"Shravu, dusre gifts kholo na?" Vandu encouraged. [Shravu, open the other gifts too.]
Shravu went on to unwrap the rest of the gifts in the pile. Mihir and Mihika had gotten him a new set of red and blue swim gear including goggles, a swim cap, a snorkel set, and a kickboard. Romi and Rinki had pitched in together and gifted him a Batman themed wristwatch. Simi and Pulkit had given him a set of three race car themed jigsaw puzzles. Shravu loved it all. They were nearing the end of the pile, when Vandu noticed two different gifts from Ishita and Raman.
"Ishita, Raman, tum dono do alag gifts kyun laaye ho?" she asked as she stretched over and grabbed both packages. [Ishita, Raman, why did you bring two different gifts?]
"Arey Vandu, tumhari behen ka gift bahot boring tha. Isiliye maine ek aur exciting gift khareed liya. Tingu, tu khol ke dekh, tujhe kaunsa zyada pasand hai?" Raman said.
[Vandu, your sister's gift was very boring. So I bought another more exciting gift. Tingu, open then and tell us which one you life more.]
"Shravu ko mera gift zyada pasand aayega, dekhna," Ishita interjected. [Shravu will like my present more, I bet.]
"Ab woh to waqt hi batayega." Raman took a sip of his drink. [Time will tell that.]
Shravu tore off the wrapping paper of Ishita's gift and opened the box inside to reveal navy blue jeans and a red t-shirt with Marvel Avengers print.
"Wow Chitti! I love this! Thank you!" Shravu exclaimed and gave a big hug to Ishita. Ishita raised her eyebrow at Raman as a gesture of saying 'told you so.'
"Ab mera gift dekh, Tingu." [Now check out my gift, Tingu.]
Shravu sat down again and now attended to Raman's gift. He opened the box after tearing off the gift wrap and out came a stack of Marvel comic books and action figures of Captain America, Ironman, Hawkeye, Black Widow, Thor, Hulk, Loki, Spiderman, and Scarlet Witch. Ishita sighed. Raman won hands-down.
"Itne saare superheroes?! Thank you Chittappa!" Shravu ran over to Raman and almost toppled him over with the force of his hug. [So many superheroes?!]
"Accha yeh bata mujhe, tujhe aaj ke saare gifts mein se kaunsa sabse zyada pasand aaya?" [Now tell me, out of all the gifts you got today, whose did you like the most?]
"Aapka! Aapka!" [Yours! Yours!]
Raman raised his hands having won the debate.
"Ek minute, ek minute," Ishita stopped him. "Abhi bhi ek gift baaki hai, dekho." She retrieved a box wrapped in red gift wrap that lay in the far corner of the living room. "Shravu, yeh gift bhi kholo," she said, handing him the present.
[One minute, one minute. There's still one present remaining, look. Shravu, open this too.]
Shravu opened it but what came out was disappointing to say the least. There were baby clothes, including a onesie, a bib, a hat, and socks.
"Yeh gift kisne diya?" Shravu asked. "Main koi baby thodi hoon?" [Who gave this? I'm not a baby.]
Vandu gasped. This wasn't supposed to happen. She should've been more careful. She quickly grabbed the baby clothes from Shravu's hands and stuffed them into the box again, trying to hide a massive goof-up.
YOU ARE READING
Connected: A YHM Story ✔️
FanficFour separate souls -- Raman, Ishita, Ruhi, and Adi -- in four separate cities; but somehow CONNECTED. How? Read to find out.... Ishita Iyer has been dreaming of a life as a dentist, wife, and mother, but destiny plays a cruel joke on her, as her dr...
