The Dream

11.

In the evening, Raavi sneaked off to Pandya store to secretly admire Shiva. She couldn't stop thinking about him and she really needed to see him. When she went there, she found only kaka, who said Shiva hadn't come in today. He was at home. So, Raavi took a U-turn and went to Pandya house.

Now that she was at Pandya house, she couldn't secretly admire Shiva. She had to be clever about it. Dhara di invited her inside and asked if she wanted some chocolate milkshake. Raavi said yes. She saw Krish studying.

"Krish, Shiva kaha hai?" She asked.

"Nahane gaya hai. Par aap bolo. Kya gul khila rahe ho aap dono?" Krish asked.

"Kuch bhi toh nahi!" Raavi said. "Tu na padhai pe dhyaan de."

"Haa haa. Main chota hu toh sab mujhe padne bitha do. Par main andha nahi hu. Yeh Shiva subah se itna khush hai jaise koi lottery jeetli ho. Aur aap uchal uchal ke aa gayi, Shiva kaha hai puchne."

"Krish beta, yeh sab nahi aane wala exam mein." Raavi said. "Maths pe concentrate kar."

Raavi walked away and she suddenly came across Shiva, freshly emerged out of the bathroom, in just a towel wrapped around his waist. Raavi blushed and turned her face away.

"Ae maami ki behen ki beti, tu kaha se aa jati hai har jagah?" Shiva asked.

"Main... mera mann main kahi bhi kabhi bhi aau." She secretly peeked at him. "Aur tu yaha towel mein khara mere saath jhagra kyu kar raha hai? Jaa jaake kuch pehenke aa."

Raavi's secret peeks were getting more and more obvious because she just couldn't stop herself from staring. After a while, she stopped trying to hide it and just stared at him to her own satisfaction.

"Mera ghar hai toh mera mann. Main kapde pehenu ya nahi pehenu. Tujhe kya?"

Raavi didn't mind at all, but she couldn't tell him that. "Shiva tu jaa!"

Shiva rolled his eyes and went to get his clothes. "Yeh bhabhi ne mere kapde nahi nikale."

"Sab kaam kya bhabhi kare? Bechari Dhara di. Unko kitna kaam karna parta hai." Raavi said. "Achha tu ruk, main kapde nikal deti hu tere."

Before Shiva could say anything, Raavi went to his cupboard and started looking through his clothes. His entire wardrobe was a mess. She wanted to find at least one good shirt, and at last she found a white shirt.

"Shiva, yeh pehen!" She told him. "Kitni achhi shirt hai."

"Nahi."

"Pehenni toh tujhe yahi paregi!" Raavi shoved it into his hand.

"Main yeh nahi pehenunga!" He shoved it back into her hand.

"Tu yahi pehenega."

Dhara entered hearing their quarrel. She had to avert her eyes for a second, because she felt as if she had intruded upon their privacy. Shiva was wearing just a towel, and Raavi was standing so close to him. When Raavi saw Dhara, she moved away from Shiva.

"Tum dono kyu jhagra kar rahe ho?" Dhara asked.

"Bhabhi, yeh mere saath faltu mein biwi biwi khel rahi hai." Shiva said. "Aap koi aur shirt nikaal ke do."

"Nahi. Maine kaha tha na ki main tum dono ke beech mein nahi bolungi." Dhara said. "Aur usne bohot achhi shirt nikali hai."

"Dekha! Har waqt kiraane ki dukan banke ghumta rehta hai. Kabhi meri bhi baat maan liya kar."

Dhara hadn't actually noticed this before, but Raavi had always behaved this way with Shiva, like she was his wife. Now she was really feeling like an intruder so she left them alone and walked out of her room.

Shiva noticed Dhara di wasn't in the room anymore and this chipkali was going on fighting with him. So he decided to take a chance. He pulled her closer by her waist and Raavi gasped. He liked the look of surprise in his chipkali's face. She looked so innocent.

"Tu kya kar raha hai Shiva?" Raavi asked, struggling to get out of his grip.

"Tu biwi biwi khel rahi hai toh main bhi pati pati khel raha hu."

Raavi blushed. She couldn't believe how shameless he was being. "Koi dekh lega. Chorr mujhe. Dhara di aur Krish bahar hi hai."

"Aur agar woh bahar nahi hote toh tu chorne ko nahi kehti?"

Raavi blushed even more. Shiva was having a hard time controlling his laughter. He decided that he loved seeing her cheeks redden. Ever since she had broken her marriage with Dev, Shiva had been thanking Bholenath every second. But this chipkali simply ran home. Now that she was here, he didn't want to let go.

"Shiva, chor mujhe warna main Dhara di ko complain kar dungi."

Shiva left her and Raavi was disappointed. She didn't actually want him to leave her. "Tujhe jo pehenna hai pehen, main jaa rahi hu."

Raavi walked out of the room. Dhara brought chocolate milkshake for Raavi so she couldn't leave. After a while Shiva came out of the room, wearing the same white shirt Raavi had picked out of him. Raavi couldn't take her eyes off of him. He looked so handsome! Both Krish and Dhara were also awestruck at Shiva's change of clothes.

"Mera Shiva kitna handsome hai!" Dhara said. "Kisiko nazar na lage."

"Nazar toh lag chuki hai." Krish said. "Dekho, kaise nazare nahi hat rahi kisi ki!"

Raavi looked away hearing Krish's comment.

"Yeh shirt main tere liye chaar mahine pehle layi thi. Aaj tak toh peheni nahi aur aaj jab Raavi ne kaha toh jhat se pehen li?" Dhara asked.

"Woh... iss chipkali ne shirt ki istri kharab kar di toh socha pehen leta hu."

"Bara khyaal aa raha hai istri ka." Krish said. "Tu na istri se shaadi kar le."

"Ae tu bohot kharab jokes marne lag gaya hai aajkal!" Shiva said.

"Mere Shiva se jo shaadi karegi, woh iss pure Somnath ki sabse lucky ladki hogi." Dhara said.

Raavi suddenly remembered Anita Di's comment about another girl taking her Shiva away. That bought tears into Raavi's eyes. She couldn't understand why she was feeling like this. When Dhara spoke about Shiva's future wife, Raavi almost got a heart attack thinking it would be some other girl. Unable to control her tears, she ran out of Pandya house.

"Ae maami ki behen ki beti, kya hua tujhe?" Shiva asked. He had followed her outside.

"Kuch nahi." Raavi was having a hard time understanding her feeling.

"Ab toh teri pasand ki shirt bhi pehen li. Ab kya hua?" Shiva asked.

Raavi looked at him and a fresh stream of tears started flowing out of her eyes. She went and hugged him tightly.

"Hua kya batayegi?" Shiva asked.

Raavi was about to say, but she remembered her resolution of not saying anything to Shiva until she figured out her feelings. So she shook her head. When she was all cried out, she rushed back to her house.