ShaRa: The Journey Begins

Puranpoli ... Ek Prem Katha

Isha checked Twitter and announced that ShaRaFam had started a trend that morning with the tagline "Shamita Makes Puranpoli". It had already crossed a million tweets and was trending at the number two position worldwide. All their hashtags—#ShamitaShetty, #RaqeshBapat and #ShaRa—were trending too on fourth, fifth and sixth places, respective.

For the past year, her kanda poha and puran poli had been kindled national interest. Though she did visit Pune a couple of times before, the rushed-up visits and her busy schedule never quite ended up testing her puran poli-making skills. But now, it was as if the whole nation was interested in Shamita's puranpoli-making skills, putting unimaginably undue pressure on her.

Once the lunch was over, some people left after blessing the couple. Close family and friends stuck around waiting for the epic puran polis. They sat in the living room, chatting over tea and coffee and chilling. Samisha and Viaan played with Murphy.

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Shamita was a flutter of nerves as Tai showed her around the kitchen. Shilpa and Akku accompanied them. Shilpa seemed just as tensed as Shamita since it had become this major izzat ki baat.

While Tai was taking out the ingredients, Nishant came in smiling, "Shamita, ready?"

She looked up at him, rolled her eyes and made her famous baby face, as if to say, "Please rescue me."

"Sorry, Shamita. Too late. No getting away now. But I am there, na." Nishant giggled.

Tai laughed, "I don't think Shamita needs help."

Shamita looked around helplessly. Though she and Nishu had discussed the recipe umpteen number of times, in theory, they couldn't manage to find time for a practical. And now Shamita was regretting it.

"Come on, Shamita! You can do it." Nishant thumped her back.

Congealed into a lump of nervousness, Shamita realised that this puran poli was causing her more performance anxiety than she ever felt. Not even during her last web series, which led to her nomination for the National Award for the Best Actress on OTT platform.

To ensure her saree didn't get messed up, Tai handed Shamita a new, red-coloured apron that matched her golden yellow navvari with scarlet edges. Shamita unfolded the apron and her face lit up as she read the embroidered words. The others went, "Awwww". It had "Team Puranpoli" embroidered on it. She was touched with the enthusiasm and gave Tai a warm hug. She braced herself for this challenge for the love of her man and her new family.

"Do you want us to stick around?" Tai asked. "Sakku bai is there to help you if you need anything," pointing towards the kitchen help.

"I'll be fine. It's you all who will face the brunt if the puran poli goes wrong," she assured them with a smile.

Almost alone in the kitchen, Shamita got started with kneading the dough. She was adding ghee and milk with her left hand and kneading with the right when a strand of her hair landed on her face, covering her eyes. She tried blowing it away to no success. Both her hands were messy. Just then, Raqesh burst into the kitchen.