ANUGAAMINI- The Boundaries

13. Flimsy

"5 bajne aaye hain aur Maharani abhi tak ni aayi... Arey aisa kaun sa college hai jo khatam hi ni ho ra...", Leela sat sulking on the swing.

"Ye roz roz aise itni itni der tak baahar rahegi to... Log kaisi kaisi baatein karenge... Arey sasural ki bhi apni ek maryada hoti hai kuch niyam hote aur use bhi vo maanne padenge!", Leela said to herself infuriating.

Moti Baa's ignorance of Leela's opinion was hurting her like hell. She couldn't digest the fact that she got no say in matters of her own son's and his wife's life. She was overwrought with the possibilities of how Anupamaa's studies could divert her attention from Vanraj. Who would serve him then?

"Main meri bahu ke baare me koi faisla kyun nahi le sakti...!!!", she said to herself all frustrated.

"Kyunki tu jo faisla lena chaahti thi vo galat tha Leela!", Moti Baa remarked as she overheard her.

"Aap!! Mera vo... Matlb... Ni... Tha...", Leela tried to cover up.

"Aa ha ha ha... Tera mtlb main ni samjhti kya Leelu?? Par tu bhi samjh... padhna uska haq hai aur uska mann bhi haii... To padhne de use... Aur phir padhegi to aur samjhdaaar hi hogi... Vese meri Anu abhi bhi bahut samjhdaar hai haan!! Aur aurat hokar aurat ki padhaii par aur udaan par rok ni lagaate hain Leela...", Moti Baa tried to convince her.

"Ji... Jiii... Baa...", Leela conceded unwillingly aware arguing won't be helpful. Moti Baa left.

"Huh! Anupamaa ka mann Baa ka mann... Iss ghar me sabka mann hai... Bas mere aur mere bete ka hi mann ni hai!", she hit the floor hard with her foot.

~

"Anu... 6 baj gaye... Teen ghante se baithi hain... Library band hone ka time ho gaya... Chal", Devika whispered in Anupamaa's ears.

"Haan... Bas ye ek line reh gayi haiiii... Aur... Ye... Ho gayiii...", Anupamaa said satisfactorily, "... Bahut kaam chhoot gaya hai thoda thoda karke baaki ka bhi kar loongi... Chal."

"Tu humesha itni late tak rukti library me...? Koi kuch bolta ni? ", Devika asked surprised.

"Nii koi kya bolega? Haan jaada der hoti thi to Maa ko aese chinta ho jaati thi kyunki vo... Koi... Phone ni hai na mere pass... Par phir Maa hi kehti thi ki padh liya karoon ruk ke kyunki mera ghar to tune... Dekha hai na... Aur abhi yahan... Ghar ka main saara kaam kar ke aayi... Shaam ka nashta bhi bana ke rakh ke aayi hoon to koi kyun bolega kuch?", Anupamaa said carelessly packing her stuff in her sling bag.

"Nice yaar... Par... Koi... Tujhe... Ghar par... Mera mtlb... Saas ya koi... Kuch poochega nahi tu itni late ruki to?", Devika framed her question cautiously not willing to instill something in her mind that's not there already.

"Niii Devikaaaa... Bol ke aayi hoon college jaa ri... Aur poochega to bata doongi na... Ki library me baith ke kaam poora kar ri thi... Mein koi timepass thodi na kar rahi hoon! Aur apne hisse ka kaam kar ke aayi thi... Koi kyu aur kya hi bolega? Tu bhi pata ni kya sochti hai." Anupamaa said with a chuckle as to how could Devika be so stupid to make, god knows what, weird imaginary scenarios.

Devika watched Anupamaa as she stopped near a flowering plant and bent down to took in its sweet scent. She worried how is Anupamaa so stubbornly innocent and unworldly. But Devika was also convinced to some extent that if Anupama is so confident about her family they might actually have given her wings to fly high.

Anupamaa kicked a random pebble gently and giggled- stopped- looked around- giggled again. She felt so happy to be back in college after this long a gap. Devika followed her from a few steps.

Anuj, who was addressing her from a far, smiled at her innocuity. He had stayed after classes for organizing rehearsals for college freshers, next month, for the upcoming batch of which his sister is gonna be a part of.