Doriyan- a collection of short stories

Epilogue: A drunken call

"Kya hua?" thirteen year old Arnav asked his ten year old sister in confusion upon seeing her come out from their parents' bedroom with a gloomy face.

"Aur kya? Papa aur mama ki ladai ho rahi hai." Asha replied shaking her head dramatically. This was their usual routine.

"Phir se?" Arnav asked, raising his eyebrows in shock.

"Haan haan, phir se." Asha replied with a sigh as she made herself comfortable on the sofa that her brother had been sitting on.

Arnav closed his history book and looked towards his parents' bedroom in disappointment. He couldn't help but wonder how long this was going to go on.

"What happened this time?" He asked Asha curiously, who had her full attention towards the T.V. as she switched between various videos in YouTube, keen on picking out a show or cartoon to watch.

"Do they need anything special to fight, bhaiya?" She asked in exasperation as if her brother was asking her a stupid question.

She was definitely right. He shouldn't bother himself with their silly fights. The two fought like Tom and Jerry, teasing and roasting eachother at every opportunity but at the end of the day, they were as thick as thieves, each other's best friends. Asha would often refer to them as two love birds who kept bickering. Oh the things they had to witness!

"Tumse na baath karna hi bekhar hai!" Both, Arnav and Asha turned their heads towards their parents' bedroom in sync, hearing their mom's voice as she came out of the bedroom in fury and made her way towards the kitchen.

"Aur tum toh badi gyaani ho!" his dad replied as he followed her towards the kitchen. Although Arnav didn't see his dad's face, he knew his dad rolled his eyes saying that.

"Agar hoti toh tumhare saath thodi na hoti!" they heard her reply.

"Acha. Toh tumhe pachtava ho rahi hai ab." Dev asked in disbelief. "All I did was write Ashvi instead of Aashvi in that card. You can't even forgive me for missing out on one A?"

"Acha? Dev, you know how many years it has been since our marriage?" She asked in shock.

"Fifteen years." He replied with a shrug.

"Exactly, Fifteen years since our marriage. And we've been friends even before that, yet you could not even spell my name right?" She asked incredulously.

"Galti ho gayi meri ma, aur maine maafi bhi toh maang li." Dev replied sheepishly.

"Galti nahi gunah hai yeh! Apni khud ki biwi ka naam tak nahi pata tumhe. Kaise pati ho tum? Thodi na bagal mein rahne wali Savita ji ka naam tha. Tumhari apni biwi ka naam tha! Aur woh bhi galat likha tumne!" She said in disbelief. "What was the point of staying so many years with you? You couldn't even spell my name right! Bada aya pati kehlane wala!"

"Sorry meri jaan, aaj ke baad kabhi aisa nahi karunga. Woh jaldi jaldi mein..." He trailed off, unsure of what to say. He was an idiot and he knew it. Today had been Valentine's Day and like every year, they had gone out for dinner and a long drive. At the end of the day, they would give eachother cards. It had been something they had been following ever since they had first confessed to eachother However, this time he got her name wrong on the card and she had been upset with him ever since.

"Go to hell with your sorry, to whoever that Ashvi is!" She snapped at him as she started to arrange all the utensils. It was a Saturday night so the kids hadn't slept yet. Instead they had been witnesses to their dad's great blunder. Watching the after effects of his dad's mistake, Arnav made a mental note to never get his future wife's name wrong no matter what the circumstances were.