Sapno Ka Shaher

55. Burning Flames

Vanita made sure that the grass in the center of the garden was cleaned. As the darkness took over the sky, Dhondu arranged the firewood, placing them supporting one another. The residents of the Sea Queen Society started gathering one by one on the ground as the clock passed by 8pm. Some cow dung cakes and camphor set the base and ghee was poured onto it.

The Maheshwari family joined the ground and mixed with people for pleasantries. When a good number of families gathered, Vanita requested Rakesh to be the first one to light up the fire for Holika Dahan.

Rakesh was astonished. It has been a tradition of the Sea Queen Society to invite some senior residents as the honorary guest and commence the event. From what Rakesh had seen over this time was people who were the members of the society from more than 10-15 years to be chief guests. But Vanita inviting him for them being not even two years in this society made him question her 'why me?'

"Rakeshji," Vanita enunciated, "pichhle saal ki Holi tak hum aap teenon ko shaq ki nigahon se dekhte the... humne aap par kitne ilzaam lagaye, kitna galat samjha aapko... zaahir hai aapke mann mein bhi koi kadwahat aa hi sakti hai... isliye aapke dil mein agar zara si bhi ranjish ho, toh hum chahte hai woh sab kuchh aap iss holika mein dahan kar dijiye... kyunki ab aap bhi iss society ka utna hi hissa hai jitna hum sab... toh yeh haq aapko zaroor milna chahiye..."

Rakesh was pleased to hear a soft apology from Vanita though she need not do it. "Nahi Vanitaji," he said with a smile, "hamare mann mein koi kadwahat nahi hai... lekin phir bhi mai iss samman ka sweekar karta hu... aur aapse yahi binti karunga ki aap bhi purani baatein bhool jaiye..."

Smiles were exchanged by Vanita and Rakesh, and all the other people. Naina handed the thali to Rakesh and he performed holi pooja as per the ritual. He first applied haldi-kumkum and gulaal to the firewood, followed by akshat and a garland of marigold flowers. Dhondu helped him with lighting up the dry wood first and then the Holi. He then offered battasha, coconut and also puranpoli Naina had prepared. Later, he performed five parikrama by giving arghya with water.

Everyone prayed to ward the evil eyes off and others proceeded to perform the rituals.

Tonight being a Sunday night, almost everyone from the society was present in the ground. While some left after their offerings, some stayed and groups were formed as people chatted.

Some of them grabbed chairs and stools to sit in a big circle especially to chat with two special additions– Capt. Maan, who had returned from ship for two months and Sejal's husband Shashank Gadkari, who had come for two weeks' holidays. Sameer, Aditya and Shubham chose to sit on the floor close to their respective families, while they offered the stools to ladies and seniors to sit. Vanita and Jatin sat on a bench, the two friends Mrs. Gadkari and Nirmalaji sat close to each other on plastic chairs, while Sejal and Sahiba sat next to their husbands.

Initially a brief discussion on the next day's planning took place, where they decided about the food and music arrangements and finalized the time to gather. It followed with some old tales of Holi celebration from Mr. and Mrs. Gadkari, which everyone listened to keenly.

The tales took a detour and reached to Sejal and Shashank's love story when Sameer and Naina expressed their wish to know more about it. The Gadkari couple was blushing hard while talking about their college romance, being aware and conscious of their parents sitting right there.

When Shashank was getting teased by Jatin and Maan, Sameer nudged Aditya, signalling him to bend towards him.

"Tujhe sabke saamne maar khani hai kya?" Sameer mumbled, pretending as if rubbing his mouth.

"Apan ko? Nahi toh... kyun?" Aditya too responded in a whisper.

"Toh phir Tanvi ko aise ghurna band kar..." Sameer sniggered and passed an ear to ear smile to Aditya, who started coughing after getting caught.