Bholi surat dil ke khote

Chapter 7

Anuj eagerly reached into the box, his eyes sparkling with anticipation. Little did he know, his excitement was about to take an embarrassing turn. The first thing that Anuj pulled out of the box was a khaki cap.

"Acha hai.... Umm kafi acha hai," he said, trying to mask his confusion. Anu suspected that the confusion in his voice wasn't as clear to Bhairavi as it was to her, and she was grateful for that. 

Then, Anuj pulled out a khaki shirt with a badge on it. Devika couldn't hold back her giggles, and Mukku gave her a sharp elbow jab. Anu could see that even Devika was struggling to keep a straight face. Anuj held up the shirt and said, "Ye bahut acha gift hai," Clearly, he had no clue what else to say.

"Police inspector ka uniform hai!" Bhairavi shyly remarked, "Bilkul waisa hai na jaisa aapke pass hua karta tha"

Anuj's face turned into a perfect picture of confusion, while Anu started to piece things together. "Annoooj...," she whispered, her voice barely audible.

"Bhairavi main kabhi police nahi tha. Main toh businessman hu," Anuj gently clarified.

"Annooj..." Anu repeated, her voice growing softer.

"Nahi... Nahi mera matlab hai ki jab aap chote the tab aapko police chor khelna pasand tha na."

"Anuj..." Anu repeated more urgently, and her husband turned to her with a confused expression just as Bhairavi spoke again.

"Vo Anupama aunty ne kaha tha ki aapko pasand tha par uski sabhi cheeze kho gayi hai... sirf haathkadi bachi hai"

Anu barely registered the rest of Bhairavi's words because she saw Anuj's eyes widen with a look of dread as he turned to her, silently pleading for her to assure him that his suspicion was wrong. She could only nod, feeling the heat of embarrassment returning to her cheeks once more.

Bhairavi now reached into the box and pulled out some gray plastic toy handcuffs and said, "Ye wala main aur Choti use karenge aur aap apna use karna"

Anuj nodded somewhat helplessly, and the room fell into quite a moment.

"Papa ko police chor khelna bilkul pasand nahi hai," Choti said. "Aur unke pass hathkadi bhi nahi hai!"

"Ha unke pass hai," Bhairavi timidly insisted.

"Nahi hai. Tumne unhe ye gift diya because tumhe princess tea party khelna pasand nahi hai," Choti interjected.

"Nahi maine isliye ye nahi diya" Bhairavi exclaimed, "Main toh bus unko vo dena chahti thi jo unhe pasand hai"

Although nobody burst into laughter, there were several strained expressions on the adults' faces. Anuj seemed almost paralyzed, while Bhairavi was on the verge of tears due to Choti's accusations. And as much as Anu wished the ground would swallow her up, her priority was to calm down her little girls.

"Bhairavi," she began to say, but before she could continue, Choti interrupted.

"Nahi hai unke pass. Tum ye sab isliye bol rahi ho kyuki mera gift best hai aur tumhara popat ho gaya"

"Hai unke pass" Bhairavi yelled again and then ran out of the room.

"Choti ye kya kiya tumne!" Anuj said sternly, finding his voice again, "Vo abhi nayi hai. Vo mere baare main itna nahi jaanti" He took a deep breath. "Ha abhi princess tea party mujhe pasand hai par bachpan main kuch aur bhi pasand ho sakta hai na?" he added softly.

That stopped any further protest from Choti and she asked, "Par aap princess tea party sabse best khelte hai... Aapko sabse zyada vo hi pasand hai... Aap kyu police chor khelenge"