Perfect Mismatch

Ch 44 - Sights and some sightseeing

"Kahan hai tu?" she called him after sleeping for good 2 hours.

"Sat-sri-akal" he said in a whisper, making her giggle.

"Hans kyun rahi hai, sahi bol raha hun main. Itna bhi gadha nahi hun, thodi punjabi aati hai" he said, frowning.

"Haye mera bebu, tere muh se cute lagta hai. Kidhar hai tu?" she asked him, wearing her slippers and getting out of bed finally.

"Papa ji aur Baaz ke saath hun, woh khet dikhane laye they mujhe" he told her.

The 'Papa-Ji' left her speechless for a moment as her heart throbbed with pure happiness and she bit her lip thinking about how the families were bonding together.

"Abbey, kya hua! Jaldi bol, wait kar rahe hain woh log. Aur teri ye jo piddi si cousins ghoom rahi hain na jeeja-ji jeeja ji karke, jaise hi main phone me haath lagata hun woh "aww aww"shuru kar deti hain. Abhi Ken ka call tha, aur unhone seeti marke chehdna shuru kar dia. Phir bataya maine ki unki behen ghode bechke so rahi hai apne room me" he told her amusingly.

She giggled and told him how she used to do the same till last year to the new-jeejas in the extended family.

"Accha, theek hai, wapis aayega toh baat karti hun, mujhe bhi tujhe leke jaana hai pind dikhane" she pouted and he could literally see it hearing her whine on the phone.

"Toh uthna tha na baby! Abhi kal ka din bhi hai. Flight parson din ki hai, hum chalenge kal. Chal ab bye" he hung up on her abruptly.

"Hadd hai. Mera phone fatt se kata. Baaz aur 'papaji' ke saath zyada maza aa raha hai, lagta hai" mumbling, she went on to take a quick shower.

Dressed up into a baby pink plain patiyala salwar and kurta, she put on a blue bindi and a phulkari dupatta, looking fresh as a flower. She was a happy butterfly, as she hopped on from one room, pecking her grandparents on the cheeks and not listening to their instructions for her to take care of Sidharth that followed to her parent's bedroom where her mother and Rita Aunty were sitting between a pile of sarees. The room had turned into a store room with an array of mithai dabbas, a lot of what seemed like pooja samagri and baskets of fruits and dry fruits.

"Ma!" she exclaimed from the door as she saw the excess of 'shadi type goods' in the room, which she had not bothered to notice as she had reached home in the wee hours of the morning and was super exhausted.

"Haan Sanu" and "Haan baccha" echoed together as the mothers looked up from their conversation. She felt as if she would turn into liquid and evapourate with the love she was receiving and beamed at the two women with a toothy grin. Rita Aunty, on the other hand, flinched, realising that she was probably calling her mother. She was still 'Aunty' and did not want to force Shehnaz into calling her anything else till she felt comfortable. She smiled back to Shehnaz and made space for her to sit.

After months of staying together, Shehnaz knew by the movement of her twinkling eyes, what was going on in her mind and would often guess what she was thinking very accurately. This was a similar ocassion and she didn't have to ask her about it. Sitting between the two women, she stretched her arms to pull both of them into a hug.

"Good morning, Mummy", she kissed her mother's cheek.

"Good morning, Ma" she kissed Rita Aunty's next, who looked at her in astonishment.

Her own mother was oblivious to the fact that her daughter was calling her to-be mother-in-law, "Ma" for the first time and kept talking about the sarees, they were earlier discussing about.

"Love you baccha", 'Ma' kissed her forehead and pulled her into a hug. Her eyes were kind and moist as she whispered. She wasn't crying, but was immensely moved by the girl's gesture.