Rab Rakha

Chapter 6

"Happy New Year Anju! Kaise hain sab ghar me?" Rita Ma was talking to Sheena's mother the other day.

After returning home that day, everybody was having tea in the living room together. Since the mother was on a call, the rest of them had paused their conversation to focus on hers. Preeti was scrolling through her social media feed while her brother was reading newspaper in pretense.

"Acha! Kab aa rahe ho tum sab?" Rita ji further asked, excitedly.

"Oh, arey ye kya baat hui? Teri nanad bhi na! Shopping ke liye bacche hi toh sabse zyada excited hote hain." She frowned and it made Sidharth and Preeti look at their mother curiously. The siblings exchanged a questionable look and then waited for her to finish her call.

"Ha thik hai, aao tumlog. Chai, nashta aur khana sab mere pe chhod do. Bas apne kaam pe dhyan do. Hum haina yaha." She added.

"Acha thik hai, rakhti hu." With that she hung up.

"Kya hua Ma?" Preeti asked.

"Anju and family aayenge Mumbai, Mickey ki shaadi ki shopping karne. Keh rahi thi, usi dukan se legi jaha se humne Neetu ki shaadi ke time kapde liye the." Rita Ma answered.

"Aise bhi wo dukaan humare pehchan ki hai, lene dene ke liya kafi kapde chahiye. Maine bola tha Anju ko, bhaisahab se mai paise ki baat kar lungi, tu bas aa jana." She added. Indeed she got two of her daughters married and bought all the clothes from that one particular store of her husband's acquaintance.

"Hm, thik kiya aap ne." Sidharth told his mother, sipping his tea.

"Par Ma, aap kya keh rahe? Aunty ki nanad?" Preeti asked.

"Sari baatein sun rahe the na tumlog, kaan laga ke!" Rita Ma rolled her eyes at her kids, such gossip mongers they were.

"Ab toh sun liya, batao na Aunty kya bol rahi thi?" Sidharth insisted with a grin.

"Shaadi ki shopping me madad karne ke liye Anju ki jethani aur nanad bhi aa rahe hain, aaj Delhi aaye aur kal sab niklenge Mumbai ke liye. Mickey ki ek dost rehti hai unke sath, wo bacchi bhi shopping ke liye sath aane wali thi lekin Anju ki nanad, ne us bacchi ko mana kar diya." Their mother further informed them.

Sidharth understood that she was talking about Shehnaaz, the girl had told him that she'd come with Sheena for the shopping. He felt bad for her, she seemed pretty excited about this shopping thing.

"Arey!? Kyu bhai?" Preeti wasn't happy about it.

"Haina?! Mickey ki dost 2 saal se unke sath rehti hai. Bichari ka mann kyu na ho apni dost ke sath jane ka?" Rita Ma agreed.

"Vaise Montu, tu aur mai chalenge sabko station se pick karne. Thik hai? Raat ki train hai unki, kaha bichare cab book karte rahenge." She asked her son.

"Ok Mom." He nodded, shifting his gaze back to the newspaper.

Meanwhile in Delhi, Anju and her sister in law had an argument whether Shehnaaz should tag along in their trip to Mumbai or not. Anju told everybody that she had always treated Shehnaaz like her daughter and wanted her to be there with them in Mumbai. However her sister in law, didn't counter back but was quite displeased to know that she'd have to travel with the girl who was living off her brother's expenses.

"Mumma, bua kon hoti hai ye bolne wali! Ke Sana ko leke jana extra kharcha hoga? Wo Bareilly se Delhi aayi, ab Mumbai jayengi humare sath.. in sab kharcha toh jaise wo khud de rahi hai? Papa ne hi unki tickets karayi hai na!?" Sheena was mad at everybody because they just let her aunt disrespect her best friend.

"Sana jayegi humare sath, maine bol diya. Baat khatam kar na, dimag thanda rakh. Ja, ja ke packing karwa apne Papa ki." Anju tried to handle her daughter.