Tewari & Sons, 23, Chandni Chowk

Chapter 23: An Evening in Nizamuddin

Monday

"I am not sure what we are doing," Arnav muttered, half under his breath and half to his brother-in-law, with whom he had come on a shopping expedition. This was a first. He had never gone shopping with Jun Jeeju, in fact, if Anjali Di was to be believed, Jeeju did not believe in trivial things such as shopping. At least that was the reason given to him each time he was saddled with being Di's shopping partner. So imagine his surprise when late last evening when he was still at work at AR he got a call from Jun Jeeju saying that he was organizing a cycling tour the coming Sunday, and needed to pick up a few cycles, and asked if Arnav was okay accompanying him. As requests went, it was bizarre. Why was Jeeju organising a cycling tour? What was even a cycling tour, he was unsure. He had a buttload of work to get through in the coming week. But he had no doubt that should he turn down this request, Di's wrath would descend on him and that he could not risk. In the last two days he had already ticked off both his mother and Khushi, he could not add Di to that list, lest all the women in his life would be up in arms against him. Wait, was Khushi among the sum total of all the women in his life? He still felt unsure about where their destination was, but he was enjoying the journey. Or at any rate he was until two days back.

It happened over lunch, that they had managed to catch up on finally, after a number of hit and misses. Khushi was having a good run at Tewari & Sons, the orders were piling up and now with her father and brother both getting involved, the load was shared. They catered for a mid-sized wedding thanks to Minu Sabharwal, which in turn had led to a few more orders. She also seemed very excited at the prospect of joining Alchemy and could not wait for colleges to open in mid-June. She had a three-week breather until then, so she was in a good place. They were having lunch at Coffee House in Connaught Place. Khushi's brief to him had been "no fancy place please". Coffee House was a good middle ground for them, it had an old-world charm, and was both iconic as well as not intimidating by any stretch of one's imagination. While it was originally a coffee place, the menu had been revamped over the years and now there was a lot more on offer, from South Indian food to, mughalai cuisine, to even horrific fusion. Of course, both of them settled for a plate of vadas, which they shared and a dosa each, hers with masala, and his without.

Their conversation that afternoon was a little bit of this, and a little bit of that, as their conversations often were. They discussed Payal who was in the news courtesy the massive INP revival that she was championing, they discussed their shared UP heritage, the subject on which Khushi insisted that she was a true UPite even though his grandfather was a well-regarded poet in those parts.They discussed Baig Sir and Khushi mentioned how much she missed him in her life. Baig Sir had been an influential figure in her life, almost like a parent to her, and had not forsaken her when even her own father had. Of course, this had sent Arnav into a somewhat melancholic frame of mind, seeing Khushi bring up their intertwined past always did, often with him feeling both guilt as well as helplessness.

"I am sorry, Khushi," he had said, placing his palm on hers, and then absently playing with it. He was shaken off his reverie when a voice said," Arnav and Chandni?"

Khushi had snatched away her hand right then and they both looked in the general direction of the voice. It was their former New-On classmates Karthik and Veena.

"Hey guys," he got up and hugged them. Khushi did the same. He noticed the relative ease with which she interacted with them. She knew that they she was somewhat in touch with them, and even in school, had a somewhat easy-going relationship with them.

"So how come you guys are here," Veena had asked.

"And more importantly Chandni and Mr India together, will wonders never cease," Karthik had added.