The next day was a free day. There was no function on that day. It is because Grahmukh and Haldi are supposed to be done a day before the marriage. So, Grahmukh was on the morning of 29th and Haldi in the evening .
Raghav was going to JJ(Jayati Jewelers).
He purposely wore a formal shirt and pants. Aaji inquired him about where he was going.
"Mandar, baccha itna jaldi taiyar hoke kaha jaa raha hai?"
"Woh Aaji mera office ka Hyderabad branch mein mera kuch kaam hai isliye jaa raha hai."He thanked Pallavi in his mind for already telling him an excuse.
"Theek hai beta jaake aaja. Kab tak aayega waapis?"
"Mein 11 baje tak aa jayega kyunki uske baad mera kuch meetings bhi hai. "
"Tu aaj ke din bhi kaam kar raha hai? Tere behen ki shaadi hai aur tu ghar aakar meeting attend kar raha hai?" Aaji complained.
"Aaji, par aaj koi function nahi hai na toh aaj kam karne mein kya problem hai." Raghav defended himself.
"Function nahi hai toh apni biwi ke saath thoda time spend karle."
Raghav looked at Pallavi.
"Dekhta hoon Aaji." He said this and went to JJ for his meeting.
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It had been some time since, Raghav had returned. They were all sitting together for lunch. It was a new experience for Raghav as he never had a family lunch with so many family members all together. Aai and Aaji were pampering him with lot of delicacies. He had never ever experienced this and was really happy. Everyone was chit chatting while having food.
"Mandar, tu itne dino baad ghar aaya hai toh Pallavi ko time de thoda. Kya pura time kaam kaam karta rehta hai. Kahi bahar ghumne leke jaa use." Aaji said.
"Theek hai Aaji."
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It was evening and Raghav and Pallavi were leaving as per Aaji's advice.
"Jao dono khub maje karke aao. Aur photos jaroor khichna. "
"Ho Aaji. Hum chalte hai abhi." Pallavi said to Aaji.
They left together. After they were out of sight of the family members they maintained a distance between them.
"Tumhe tumhara kuch kaam hoga toh woh karke aao. Main apni kuch shopping karne jaa rahi hoon. Hum 7 baje isi corner pe milke ghar saath mein jaate hai taki Aaji ko shaak na ho." Pallavi told Raghav even though she wished to go with him somewhere.
"Hum saath mein chal sakta hai Saree Ka Dukaan." From the moment Aaji told Raghav to take Pallavi out he was looking forward to it.
"Tum mere saath shopping chaloge?" Pallavi asked in disbelief.
"Kyu? Nahi jaa sakta kya?"
"Aa sakte ho par tumhe bore hoga wahape."
"Aisa kya shopping karne jaa raha hai tum?"
"Woh mere kuch Saree ke liye matching jewelry leni hai."
"Tum na roj subah badam khao. Jab tak mein waha hai mein khud tumko roj subah badam khilayega. Tum itna bhullakad kaise ho sakta hai. Main ek jewelry designer hai aur tum bol raha hai ki main waha pe bore ho jaayega. Kamal hai Saree Ka Dukaan tum." Raghav said.
"Theek hai chalo."
"Waise jaa kaha rahe hai hum?"
"Woh imitation jewelry ki dukan par."
"Kyu?"
"Tum na Raghav roj subah uthkar badam khaya karo, kya pata tumhari yadash wapas aa jaye. Mein ek middle class ladki hoon. Mein asli gold ya diamond afford nahi kar sakti isliye imitation jewelry. Uparse imitation jewelry mein bohot saari variety bhi hoti hai." Pallavi gave it back to him in his own words.
"Theek hai abhi chale?"
"Haan."
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They reached the shop. Pallavi showed her saree to the shopkeeper so, he could show her the perfect piece for it.
Even after half an hour, she had not found the perfect piece. She was confused between 3 to 4 necklaces. Raghav was waiting for her to finish but she was confused all the time. He took her mobile and saw the saree. He immediately selected the necklace which would look good on it.
"Yeh wala lelo Saree Ka Dukaan yeh jyaada accha lagega." He insisted.
"Haan par yeh waala bhi toh accha lagega. Theek se dekho na tum." She showed him the other necklace set.
"Jewelry designer kon hai? Tum ya main? Main na? Toh mujhe jyaada pata hai. Tum yeh waala hi lo. Yeh jyaada accha lagega."
"Theek hai. Par agar accha nahi laga toh tumhe aake yeh change karwana padega."
"Okay."
They took the set and went to the Hussain Sagar lake.
"Hum yaha kyun aaye hai?" Raghav asked.
"Kyunki humne necklace tumhari pasand ka liya hai toh ghumne ki jagah mere pasand ki."
"Isse accha toh Charminar jaate."
"Nahi waha bohot bheed hoti hai. Yaha pe dekho na kitni shanti hai."
"Haan. Par Charminar is better."
"Ghamandi Rao tumhe bhagwan ne dimag kya locker mein band karne ke liye diya hai kya? Hyderabad mein already itni garmi hai uparse itni bheed matlab maut hi aajani thi."
"Mereko dimaag hai. Main toh check kar raha tha ki tereko hai ki nahi. Itna garmi mein mereko kaha leke jaayega wahi dekh raha tha main."
"Ulta chor kotwal ko daante."
"Tum na itna bhari bhari hindi mat use karo. Mereko pura bouncer jaata hai."
"Okay."
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They sat there for some time and walked around for some time. It really was peaceful there. There were some beautiful spots to click pictures.
"Come. Let's take a selfie." Raghav said.
"Excuse me. Why do you want to click pictures with me?"
"Saree Ka Dukaan, did you forget that Aaji told us to click pictures together."
"Ohh right!! I forgot."
"It's okay. No need to worry because I will be there for you forever, Saree Ka Dukaan." He gave a cheeky smile to her.
They clicked a few selfies and headed back home. On the way home, they went to eat Biryani in Paradise Biryani which is the most famous Biryani house in Hyderabad.
"Ghamandi Rao, seriously hum Biryani khaane jaa rahe hai?"
"Ofcourse, Saree Ka Dukaan. Ab tum ek hyderabadi se yeh puch raha hai?"
"Aaj nahi, please."
"Kyu?"
"Aaj mann nahi kar raha isliye. Phir kabhi aayenge na."
"Accha toh tumko waapas mere saath bahar aana hai?"
"Mera matlab w..woh nahi tha. Please kahi aur jaate hai na."
"Saree Ka Dukaan, hum ghumne tera pasand se gaye toh khayenge hum mera pasand se."
"Theek hai chalo."
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They went inside and ordered two plates of Biryani. Raghav ordered Special Mutton Biryani (Courtesy- Sai Ketan Rao's love for Mutton Biryani) while Pallavi ordered Nizami Chicken Biryani. They were waiting for their food.
"I thought that you are pure vegetarian and would lecture me on how I am killing animals by eating them." Raghav spoke.
"Oh hello!! What do you think of me as? I do eat non-veg. I am from Kolhapur and noone eats non-veg as we do. Also, I am here to have Biryani and not Pulao."
"You surprise me everyday. Also, there was only veg food food for lunch today and yesterday in Mansi's Sangeet. So, I thought that you guys don't eat non-veg." Raghav told his observations.
"Aaji does not eat non-veg so, we had to keep vegetarian food in the lunch. About Mansi's Sangeet, it was Tuesday yesterday so we don't eat non-veg on Tuesdays."
"Why is it so?" He was confused as he never did something like this. He ate whatever and whenever he wanted.
"Due to some religious beliefs."
"It is so stupid."
"Ikr. But then you have to follow certain things." Pallavi spoke.
The waiter came and served the Biryani. They took one bite from each other's plate.
"You know before coming to Hyderabad I used to think that Biryani is quite overrated because we did not get such good Biryanis back in Kolhapur. But now I love Biryani so much that I need to have it once every now and then." Pallavi told about her Biryani love to Raghav.
"Hyderabad makes everyone love Biryani." Raghav said with pride laced in his voice about his city.
"I agree." She said while eating the chicken. "I had my first Biryani in this hotel itself. We sat there on the corner table." She pointed towards the corner table.
"We?"
"Me and Mandar. He introduced me to Biryanis and now there's no looking back. There were times before our wedding when I used to have my breakfast, lunch and dinner here only, because we were in Hyderabad for all the wedding preparations." She remembered the good old times with Mandar. At times, she really missed him. He had become a good friend to her in that short span of time.
He felt jealousy while listening about her and Mandar. But, he did not let it come on his face.
"And you say that you don't know if you loved him or not." Raghav spoke with great difficulty.
"Just because I am remembering the moments I spent with him doesn't mean that I love him. I even remember the moments where we (Raghav and Pallavi) fought with each other. Does that mean that I love you? No, right? The times when we met we really enjoyed each other's company. He had become a great friend to me in that period. I had some inhibitions about marriage but he cleared all my doubts. He was always there to support me. More than a husband or a lover, I miss the friend that he was." Pallavi opened up about Mandar. It was the first time since, Mandar passed away that she spoke so much about him.
On the other hand, Raghav was very happy. First reason being that Pallavi and Mandar did not share a romantic relationship and the second reason because Pallavi remembered their moments too even if they were fights."
Soon, they finished Biryani and headed back home.
Author's Note - This chapter is filled with Raghvi moments. I have also added their nok jhok in the start as all of us absolutely love it.
Also, I know that this line "No need to worry because I will be there for you forever, Saree Ka Dukaan." is completely out of place. It's just that I wanted to add it somewhere as I absolutely love this line and the way Ketan said it. So please forgive me for that.
Hope you all like this chapter. Do let me know your thoughts about it in the comments.
Date - 1st May 2022.
