Kartik has rushed to the office after completing breakfast. I cleaned up our table and got ready to go. I left for Ashram soon after that. The place needed some renovation, small furniture, and kids and me loved doing it. We had done it several times in Hrishikesh.
It is fun, and the fact we were so many of us made it even more interesting. We painted on the walls, on ourselves, even on each other. Holi had arrived a month early. As the time passed by, the amount of paint on walls was growing lesser than that on us. That was when papa came in. Seeing us all covered in paint he asked, “Did a colour volcano erupt in this area and I was unaware?” giving us a stern expression, well he tried to but it was somewhere between, amusement and grimace. Which turned out to be quite funny.
“Princess you are old enough, you shouldn’t have had allowed the kids to do this. But knowing you, you probably were the one to start the war, weren’t you?” he asked. “Guilty” I replied, raising my hands in surrender.
I asked the children to stop playing and get on with the work, otherwise it won’t be completed by the end of the day. We finished it somewhere around the afternoon. Kartik still wasn’t here.
Well he had to work, Bhai had always worked in Krishna, he didn’t know as much about Diamonds as Kartik. He was striving very hard to allow Singhania Diamonds and Co. reach newer heights. His family wasn’t very happy, but he wouldn’t work in Goenka Diamonds, where he was a board member, even without stepping a day in office.
Kartik wanted success. He was ready for failure, but his ultimate goals included starting up with his own firm of diamonds. Singhania house offered him a good start, both in experience and knowledge. And his relationship with papa allowed him to learn more and more everyday. One would think him being so engrossed in his love life, would care less about business. But no, he knew how to balance them. Always keeping his work and family at par. I was proud of him.
By the looks of it, he wasn’t going to turn in today, I thought of calling him, but it really want necessary. He would when he was free. Why disturb and distract him. I went back to our flat.
I was sitting in our place, getting bored, when yesterday started playing back in my head, how we went back to GV, and how we in anger left it. How much pain was visible on the faces of….Oh god. This is too much. I want a release, I grabbed my pair of Ghungroos and tied them on my legs.
To a very high pace classical music I started dancing. High pace was essential, so that I do not end up thinking about stuff which wasn’t required. I started matching my speed to the music, which was increasing in tempo, I increased mine too. How could we have left everyone. How would they think of me? I was to be blamed for him leaving the house. Everyone was so upset, Manish uncle was plain angry, his son had broken another one of his promise. So was dadi. Her face revolved around me, and I turned around trying to get the face off, not wanting to see, the anger, disappointment, sadness on her. Suvarna aunty and Keerti di were disappointed, they knew it would be difficult to keep Kartik in that home, but they had hopes in me, which I shattered in matter of weeks. How much would Luv Kush miss their brother, I had taken away from them.
How much would Kartik miss his family, he never says anything. He never did previously either. He claimed there was no family. But then there were times he slipped. When he broke this barrier he has created over the memories which includes his family. He is a very happy go lucky person, but as soon as these memories resurface, he prefers to go in shell. I remember that day when he told me about everything, the way he had broken down.
How difficult it would be for a child to imagine that his father has killed his mother, not by committing the act itself, but by leaving suicide as the only option. He hated the word suicide, I remember when I was in Hrishikesh, and angry on my mother, I was once tempted for it, he reacted so vehemently to me, for a unknown person he had those reactions. His face was what that was going around my head, his happy face, which was lost somewhere, I wanted to find it. Grab it and keep it with me forever.
“Naira. Stop this.”, someone buzzed. I didn’t really pay attention to it, when someone grabbed my shoulders and physically restrained me to stop, what the heck what did this person want. I was going to give him piece of my mind, but suddenly my feet gave away. But this person didn’t allow me to fall, just picked me up in his hands, and took me to the room. I blacked out somewhere in between, but the person stayed close to me.
I opened my eyes sometime later. “Welcome back.” Kartik said. I had a question written all over my face. I had pain in my legs, not too much, just a little throb. That made me realise I was indeed out of practice.
Kartik didn’t sound so good really. “You fainted.” Answering an unasked question. Well explains his reaction, he would be out of his self worrying for me. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realise I was so out of practice.” I said.
“Out of practice without any energy either, when was the last you ate?” oops… I had missed my lunch. Everyone in ashram had their, while I was waiting for him, and then I forgot I hadn’t eaten. I didn’t want to admit this to him, he’ll never leave house if he thought I wasn’t happy alone.
“As I suspected, why didn’t you eat?” he asked.
Why didn’t I eat. “I forgot” I said in a small voice. He gave me a very bad look. Like who forgets to eat. “Are you insane? I have never heard anyone say that. How can one forget to eat?”
“Well just. There is no protocol to forget things. You just happen to forget them. How can I know I would forget the thing before I have actually forgotten.” I said. He gave me an amused look.
“How may times can you say forget in one sentence” he asked raising an eyebrow. I smiled. It was funny. I tried to get up, he said, “No. Stay there. I’ll get food for you. And the doctor told me that you have to stay put. Atleast for tonight. Do not dare move ok?”
“Yea. Well okay. But only for tonight. I cannot stay put. You know that.” I told him, pulling my best puppy eyes on him. “Don’t do that. You brought this on yourself. If you didn’t want these restrictions, you shouldn’t have danced like you did”
He turned around to go, I didn’t want him to, I held his hand. Asking him to stay. “I’ll be back in a minute. You need to eat.” He said. I sighed. Now he’ll shove food down my throat if he has to but won’t stop until I have eaten as much as he wanted me to. Uhh.. over caring husbands. Who made them. But we loved them anyway.
He got food and began feeding me. He asked, “What were you thinking? While dancing, that you were so lost. I rang bell several times, called out to you several times, I literally had to stop you by grabbing. Where we’re you lost sweetheart.”
I didn’t want to tell him I was fussing over family. He would know, but real extent cannot be known to him. “Noting really, just that the academy would start in another month or so, that I should be dancing better, so that I can teach better. And that I should work on my skills.” He was judging my words, thinking if he should accept them. I hated lying to him, “Tell me later if you wish. But don’t lie, I hate it when you do that.”
I couldn’t lie very well. And in front of Kartik, he could pick up each and every of my expression, each of those nervous tics. Each of those small little changes he could pick up.
I went and gave him a hug, sorry for lying. But I couldn’t tell him not yet. But he was there yet, as always loving me.
Authors notes-
So another chapter done. I wanted to write Naira dancing in frustration since like forever it seems. So I grabbed the first opportunity which presented itself. But I couldn’t really write dancing so imagine our beautiful shivi, she is a fabulous person really.
How did you like the chapter guys.
And there is a poll now,
Options –
A) Honeymoon in India and then solve the Goenka problem
B) Solve the Goenka problem and lavish honeymoon (Goenka style)
Do tell me what you want. It’s just a poll guys.. I’m yet the author, all rights of changing anything anytime are reserved ;P
And the bride, groom and royal gharatis and baratis are ready. Marriage would begin almost anytime, don’t dare miss any episode. Tune in to star plus to watch yrkkh.
Keep commenting, you know how much I love them.
Keep loving Kaira, Shivin and yrkkh
Happy reading.