Nawal - Missing Moments

28. Holi - Part I

28. Holi - Part I

"Bhabhi...ek hafta hone wala hai. Ye kab tak chalega?" Dhawal lamented to Hetal as he entered the kitchen one evening.

The one week of orientation was almost complete and Natasha was still at Pandya House. It was as if he had gone back to being unmarried because Amba was showing no signs of asking him to bring Natasha back. He was getting frustrated with this. Why was Maa behaving like this? Yes, this boyfriend girlfriend like situation was nice in the beginning but this had gone on too long now. He was missing his wife.

Hetal pursed her lips as she bustled around the kitchen preparing for dinner and putting a pot on the stove for the evening tea. It had gone on too long and she was feeling bad for Dhawal and Natasha. Maa was behaving a bit immature in this matter. No matter what had happened. They had married and Natasha was the bahu of Makhwana house. One day or the other she had to come back. Maa couldn't keep this going for too long.

She sighed and turned to Dhawal who was propped up against the kitchen counter with a morose look on his face. "Main aaj baat karti hu Maa se jaa ke....Kal holi hai wese bhi ghar ki sab members ghar me hone chahiye. Aur teri aur Natasha ki to pehli Holi hai na...usse wapis lana hi padega. Maan jaengi wo dekhna. Thik hai na?" She smiled and patted his cheek in reassurance.

He smiled at her words, hope building up inside him. It was Holi and he had been looking forward to celebrating their first Holi together. He wanted to splash her in every color possible and drench her completely with him.

"Aap jao abhi Maa se baat karne. Chai main bana raha hu" he took the milk from her hands and pushed her towards the door, making her let out a laugh at his impatience.

"Acha baba ja rahi hu! Dhyan rakhna gas ka.." she shook her head and went to look for Maa. She had to do something for these two.

Amba was in the living room and had seen Dhawal go in and talk to Hetal about something. She wasn't blind. She had noticed that since the past week Dhawal had been a bit too happy that she had expected him to be and also that he had been leaving early and returning back from his college later than usual. She wasn't dumb. She knew he was going to meet that Dukan Wali Ben and in fact, her plan and backfired on her and they were getting unrestricted license to go anywhere together without her supervision on anything. And that was the reason that when Hetal came and asked about bringing Natasha back from Pandya House, she agreed without much opposition. It was better that that Dukan wali ben stayed here under her watch than influence her Bakuda from outside.

***

The next day Dhawal was parked in front of Pandya House early morning to pick her up. Dhama opened the door as he rang the bell.

"Arey Dhawal...aaj subah...itni jaldi? Aaja andar..."

He bent down to touch her feet. "Namaste Dhama. Wo Natasha ne bataya nahi?"

"Kya nahi bataya?" she said, blessing him and gesturing to come inside.

"Main usse wapis le jaane aya hu aaj..." he explained, a bit surprised. Natasha hadn't told anyone she would be going back today? Was she not expecting him to come?

"Oh han!? Bataya tha...mujhe laga ke tu dopahar tak aega. Main to khud hi soch rahi thi Ambaji se baat karne ki iss baare me...chalo Holi bhi hai bohot acha din hai!" said Dhama, folding her hands together in a silent prayer to Somnath that finally her Chukti was going back to her home.

He turned slightly pink. "Nahi...wo actually aaj Mots ne ghar pe holi ki party rakhi hai to isiliye Natasha ko jaldi lene aagaya. Pehli holi hain a humari...Wo aapko bhi invite krne ke like call karne wale hai abhi. Sabko aana hai aaj!"