Always and Forever
Part - 3: Keys to Eternal Sunshine

The serenity of the afternoon was punctuated by the repeated clickety-clacks, as the woman dressed in baby-pink salwar-kameez, sat cross-legged on the chair, her eyes on the journal, and fingers moving swiftly over the typewriter keys. She hardly paid attention when the door opened, and wouldn’t have paid any heed to any sound, if Preeti hadn’t placed a hand on her shoulder, “bas kar Naina. Do din se lagi hai. Aaj subah se nashta bhi nai kiya, chal uth ab khana kha le.”

“Bas thoda sa aur kar lene de Preeti”, Naina pleaded while still typing.

“Nai, mereko aur kuch nai sunna. Chal ab jaldi”, she almost dragged Naina away from the typewriter.

Naina looked up frowning, and saw Preeti glaring at her, she knew her sister wouldn’t give up, so she gave in, “thike chal.”

Two days ago, Sameer had told her on their date that she was ready to write her first book, and since then Naina had been busy typing out a partial draft of her first story. She didn’t need to think about the story, she already had it written in the journal, but now she was typing out a formal draft. She didn’t know how long it would be before Sameer could talk to any publisher, but she was excited, more excited than she had been while stepping into college. Even while writing the story, her mind had wandered repeatedly to the evening of her first date, she sighed remembering the look in Sameer’s eyes, the way he had held her hand, the way he had touched her. She also couldn’t help but feel that she had missed something during that whole time, something was nagging in her brain, but she couldn’t place it. She was missing Sameer, talking on the phone didn’t seem enough anymore after that evening, but she couldn’t pester him to meet, after all he had a business to look after, and she couldn’t take undue advantage of her family’s permission to meet Sameer. So, she had tried to keep herself as much busy as possible with her story, and tried to be comforted with his daily phone calls.

Just as they finished lunch, the phone rang, and Naina immediately scrambled up, hoping it was Sameer, “Hello.”

“Naina beta?”, it was Vishakha’s voice. Naina was slightly disappointed that it wasn’t Sameer, but extremely surprised to receive a call from her future mother-in-law.

She fumbled a little, wondering what to talk to her, “umm… ji haan Aunty. Aap kaise ho?”

Vishakha started to say something, but stopped herself, instead replying to her question, “main thik hun beta. Tum kaisi ho? Sameer se mili?”

“main achchi hun. Haan hum do din pehle mile the”, Naina said, then hurriedly added to avoid questions, “Sameer ne bataya tha ke aapne unko call kiya tha. Woh furnitures ke baare me.”

Vishakha laughed, “Haha… Haan. Tumhe to pata hi hoga na ke Sameer ka bed kaise tuta.”

Naina chuckled, “Haan pata to hai. Par dekhne me zyada mazaa aata.”

“Hahaa… haan woh to hai”, Vishakha laughed again, “achcha, beta main to wahan hun nai lekin tum thik se sab kuch dekh lena aur Sameer ki madad kardena selection me. Warna pata nai woh kaise furniture select karega khudse.”

“Ji haan… Main dekh lungi”, Naina said wondering what to talk next. This was so new to her. How were girls supposed to talk to their mother-in-law? Maybe she should have asked for some tips from Pooja di.

“Beta tumhare Chachaji ya Chachiji ghar pe hai? Baat ho sakti hai abhi?”, Vishakha asked.

“Haan, Chachiji hai. Chachaji to office me hai, rukiye main Chachiji ko bulati hun”, Naina said, calling for her Chachi.

Chachiji talked for around fifteen minutes, the conversation too confusing for Naina to understand, but she heard Bela assuring that Chachaji would talk to her as soon as he came back from office. Naina wondered what had happened. She even asked Chachiji, but she said it wasn’t anything for her. The worry didn’t leave her even when she returned to her story, but she didn’t tell Sameer about it when they talked that evening, just told him that his mother had called her.

The next day was Sunday, and Naina woke up with hopes to meet Sameer. Sameer too wanted to meet Naina, he had thought of dropping by at her home multiple times in the last two days, he even had time to do it, but he hadn’t. He wanted Naina to miss the time they spent together, it was part of his plan, but apart from that he couldn’t risk meeting her daily, her family had been understanding of his situation, but he couldn’t take advantage of it. But today they could meet, he thought of his next plan as he sat reading the morning newspaper, a cup of coffee in his hands.

At the Agarwal residence, Sunday started with Rangoli at 8am, followed by a breakfast of fafda-jalebi. This Sunday however was slightly different, Tauji didn’t talk about his new case, or how the younger generation was destroying their own future with movies. Instead he rounded up the family to discuss about Naina’s marriage preparations, starting with the dowry. Naina tensed on hearing the topic, the discussions during Pooja di’s marriage coming back to her, along with Taiji’s taunts on how nobody would marry her because her father didn’t have enough money for dowry. She wasn’t worried about marriage, she had full faith on Sameer and their love, but the topic of her dowry in itself had potential to raise full-fledged arguments.

“Hume achche tarike se soch lena chahiye ke kya kya dena hai Naina ki shaadi me. Aakhir itne bade gharane me shaadi ho rahi hai. Hamari bhi izzat ka sawaal hai”, Tauji voiced his opinion.

“Neva! Yeh bilkul sahi kaha aapne. Waise bhi aap itne bade vakil hai, aur Anand bhaisaab bhi itne bade CA hai”, Taiji started with a hint of sarcasm, “hume to sochna padega hi. Warna kuch log to ab tak haath pe haath dhare bethe hai”, she finished with a glance towards Rakesh.

“Mujhe pata tha”, Rakesh’s harsh voice rang out, “pata tha mujhe, ke aapki suyi mujhpe hi aake atkegi. Aapko mere alawa aur koi to milta hai nai bhabhiji.”

Taiji moulded her face in a shocked expression, “Oh bai! Zara dekho inhe. Galat kya bola maine yeh batao. Naina aapki beti hai, to sabse zyada farz to aapka banta hai na. Ab hum to chandan ki tarah ghiste rehte hai, pehle Pooja beti ki shaadi me diya tha, ab Naina beti ki shaadi me bhi denge. Aakhir bin maa ki bachchi hai.”

Chachiji who was sitting beside Naina at the dining table immediately placed a hand on her shoulder, “Bhagwan jhuth na bulaye bhabhiji, main hoon na iski maa. Waise bhi itni khushi ka mauka hai, kamsekam abhi to aisi baat mat kijiye.” She always felt a pang in her heart when Naina became sad on hearing about her mother.

“Aree waah Bela. Tujhe bada dukh ho raha hai. Agar aisa hi chalta raha to shaadi ka saara kharcha Anand bhaisaab ko hi karna padega”, Taiji reasoned, “Rakesh bhaisaab to kuch karne se rahe. Dekho na ab tak sharam nai aai inhe.”

“Kyun sharam aaye mujhe? Haan?”, Rakesh stood up from the sofa, “Naina ki shaadi aise waise ghar me nai, Maheshwari parivaar me ho rahi hai. Mujhe paiso ki fikar karne ki zarurat nai hai, woh log khud aaye the rishta lekar mere paas, to ab shaadi ka intezaam bhi wahi log dekhlenge.”

 Naina flinched on hearing these words, wondering what she would tell Sameer. Preeti immediately understood her sister’s dilemma and grabbed her hand lending some support. She wished the discussion would stop, she didn’t like Naina being subjected to this.

“Bas ho gaya Rakesh”, Tauji ordered, “yeh kya bakwaas lagake rakha hai. Ab ek aur shabd nai. Maana ke who log saamne se rishta leke aaye the, lekin hum ladki wale hai, hamara farz banta hai”, he tried to explain, “aur tum Naina ke pitaji ho, tumhara saubhagya hai kanyadaan karna, lekin saath saath shaadi ki taiyarion me bhi apna kartavya nibhana padega tumhe.”

Before Rakesh could hurl some more hurtful comments, Chachaji’s sane voice presided over the situation, “Naina hamari bhi bachchi hai. Jaise maine aur Bela ne Pooja aur Preeti ki shaadi ke liye itne saalo se paise jode hai, thik usi tarah Naina ki shaadi ke liye bhi kiya hai. Woh hamari zimmedari hai. Rakesh bhaisaab jitna kar sakte hai karenge, lekin kisiko bhi iss baat ki chinta karne ki zarurat nai hai ke Naina ki shaadi me paise kam padenge.”

Everybody was surprised to hear this, including Naina. She had always known that her Chachaji and Chachiji loved her immensely and treated her like their own daughter, but she hadn’t expected them to take full responsibility of her marriage also, the love and respect she had in her heart for them overwhelmed her, bringing tears to her eyes.

“Aur haan ek aur baat hai”, Chachaji continued, “kal hi Sameer ki maa Vishakhaji ka phone aaya the mujhe. Unhone bade saaf shadbo me dahej me kuch bhi lene se inkaar kar diya hai. Unka kehna hai ke unke parivaar ko Naina jaisi beti milegi usse zyada badi baat kuch nai hai. Sameer ki zindagi me Naina ki jo jagah hai uske liye koi zevar, bartan, ya kapdo ki aupchaarikta zaruri nai hai.”

“Bhagwaan jhuth na bulaye, Vishakhaji ne mujhse bhi iss baare me baat ki thi. Aur sahi to kaha unhone, hamari Naina hai hi itni achchi ke jiske saath bhi iska bhagya judega woh khushnaseeb hoga”, Bela added proudly placing a loving motherly hand on Naina’s head.

If Naina was surprised to know about her Chacha-Chachi’s savings for her marriage, she was even more stunned to hear about what Sameer’s mother had said. She finally understood why she had called yesterday and what was the important discussion she had with Chachaji. And it was not just Naina, everyone else was equally stunned, especially Taiji, whose eyes were round like buttons on hearing that no dowry was required for Naina’s wedding. She had always felt and said multiple times that they would have to give more than necessary dowry for getting Naina married, but now she was not only getting married in a rich family, to an extremely good-looking boy, but they even said no to dowry. All her predictions had been proved wrong. After another hour of discussion, it was agreed upon that only the necessary number of gifts will be given and Tauji announced that he would give a full gold set to Naina as well as a gold chain for Sameer. Taiji almost fell off the swing at this declaration.

 “Hi sweetheart”, Sameer’s voice flowed over her like warm honey.

Naina blushed, “Hi. I was waiting for your call”, she blurted.

Her wait for Sameer’s call had finally ended at noon. She felt so happy and was bursting to talk to him about everything.

“Really? Why? You were missing me?”, he questioned wanting to hear her admission of missing spending time with him.

“Umm… why? Weren’t you missing me?”, she asked back.

Sameer made an impatient sound, “maine pehle pucha.”

Naina laughed hearing his tone, “haan kar rahi thi miss. Ab batao ke kab miloge?”, she couldn’t stop herself from asking.

At the other end, his lips curved in a satisfied smile on hearing her question, “aaj hi. I am coming to pick you up at 3pm. Its time for furniture selection.”

Her excitement increased with each passing minute, as she pulled out a green churidar, dressing herself up. She sat in-front of the dressing table hardly aware of the efforts she was putting in getting ready for just meeting Sameer, she just knew she wanted to look the best. On the other hand, Sameer was exactly expecting this kind of reaction from her. He knew that if his plan was successful then Naina would be extremely excited to meet him, and she would prepare for it, which included getting ready for him. He never mentioned it to her, but he loved it when Naina put in extra efforts to woo him with her beauty, he loved her just as she was, and thought she looked absolutely stunning even in a simple dress, but he also liked when she would put in time to get ready for him, like on their Roka. Once during one of their college parties, Naina had dressed up in black jeans and pink sequined top, he was a goner, he hadn’t been able to utter one single word for whole ten minutes.

The phone rang, and Naina rushed to pick it up, “Hello.” There was silence at the other end, but she could even read silence, and knew immediately that it wasn’t her Sameer. Her brow furrowed in confusion, “hello, kon bol raha hai?” Still no answer. The phone was disconnected after another moment. She was perplexed. Who would give blank calls? She didn’t need any verification of voice to know it wasn’t Sameer who was calling, her heart would tell her. Besides, he would be on the way to pick her up, she checked her watch. Five minutes later the phone rang again, and she picked it up, “hello.” Nothing. One minute later, she hazarded a guess, “Hello. Rohan?” The person at the other end dropped the receiver, she could hear the thud.

“Bhabhi… aa…aapko k…kaise pata?”, Rohan stammered, picking up the receiver, unable to keep quiet.

Naina chuckled, “lucky guess”, she was amused, “umm… ruko main Preeti ko bulati hun.”

Rohan was nervous, “na…nai Bhabhi… main to bas aise hi. Aapse baat karne ke liye hi call kar raha tha.”

“Achcha, to aap mujhe blank calls kar rahe the devarji”, Naina mused, “hmm… yeh to aapke bhaiya ko batana padega. In fact, woh abhi aate hi honge ghar pe, main kehti hun unse ke aapse baat kare.”

“Oh no”, Rohan muttered at the other end, forgetting that Naina could hear him, “bhai to mereko maar daalenge.”

Naina barely controlled her laughter. At the same time, there was a knock on the door, and she turned to see Sameer smiling at the door. She signalled him to be quiet, and beckoned him to come in, offering the receiver as he came closer. Sameer was bemused but accepted the receiver to surprisingly hear Rohan’s voice at the other end, “Bhabhi please bhai se mat kehna blank-call ke baare me. Woh to main aisai…”, Rohan trailed off.

“Rohan!! Tum…!”, Sameer exclaimed. A moment of silence, and then the call was disconnected.

Sameer turned towards Naina, utterly confused, “blank call? Mera bhai tumhe blank-call kar raha tha?”

Naina chuckled, “mujhe nahi budhdhu, tumhari saali saahiba ko.”

“Ohhh… interesting”, Sameer snickered.

Sameer looked at her, satisfied, elated, his plan had worked. Naina was dressed in mehendi green churidar, her hair left open just as he liked it, matching bangles, golden jhumkas in her ears, and a small green bindi gleamed on her forehead. She looked stunning. “Kamaal lag rahi ho aaj”, he flicked one jhumka, gazing in her eyes. Naina thought she saw a flash of triumph in his glittering eyes, but it was gone the next moment. She didn’t ponder on it, just drank in the sight of him. He was dressed in blue jeans and grey t-shirt. “Umm… koi dikh nai raha, baki sab kahan hai”, Sameer looked around. “Afternoon siesta”, Naina informed, “wait I will wake up Preeti so she can close the door.”

His hand was back on the small of her back, as he guided her into the car, making her shiver. As soon as they were seated, Naina told him about the discussions this morning, and how his mother had talked to Chachaji yesterday about not wanting dowry. Sameer was so surprised that he had to stop the car on the side of the road to take in the news. He had remembered the dowry discussion, had intended to talk to his mother about it, because he hadn’t known how to deal with it, but he was immensely surprised and thankful to know that his mother had taken the initiative herself, without any prompting from his side. He took a deep breath, warmth spreading in his heart, he looked at her beautiful face, and couldn’t resist touching her silky hair lightly, “I am glad she did this. I will have to call her up and thank her”, he started the car again, nudging it in the traffic.

“By the way, Naina, aaj tum itni taiyar kyun hui ho?”, he asked while driving. Naina frowned, looking down at her dress, realizing that indeed she was dressed up, as if she was attending a function, rather than just meeting Sameer.

“Umm… woh to bas aisai. Man hua mera”, Naina tried to explain.

Sameer smiled, “achcha… aur yahan main khush ho raha tha ke tum mere liye taiyar hui ho.”

“Haan to aur kisse mil rahi hun, tumse hi to milna tha”, she blurted before she could stop herself.

He gave a lopsided smile, “fir thik hai”, he let it go, for now.

She sighed in relief, but the next moment she tensed on seeing the house, “hum yahan kya kar rahe hai Sameer?”

He was expecting this reaction. He knew they had talked about buying furniture during their date, but he also knew that he had kept her so occupied with his actions that she hadn’t realized that she would have to come to his house for checking what furniture pieces needed to be replaced. He knew she would be nervous, but this was important.

“I told you… we need to buy new furniture”, Sameer gave a nonchalant shrug.

Naina was anxious, “yes, but I thought we will go to a shop. Why here?”

He looked at her as if she wasn’t speaking sense, “because, the old furniture is here”, he said in the tone of explaining a child, “c’mon.”

She stared at huge white bungalow, stepping out of the car, her heart was thudding. She had come here before, but this was different. She couldn’t understand the strange nervousness. What was different? She tried to think but couldn’t place a finger on it. Sameer looked at the frown on her face, her eyes seemed lost, he thought he knew what was running through her mind, he hoped he was right in understanding her. She was so occupied in her thoughts that she didn’t even notice when he came beside her, he placed his hand on her back as usual, the touch jolted her out of her reverie, “Let’s go”, he smiled.

“Where’s Ramdhari?”, she asked on seeing Sameer unlock the door.

“He is on leave today. It’s Sunday, so he wanted to spend some time with his relatives”, Sameer said focusing on opening the lock. He was conscious not to look at her, lest she saw that he was lying. Naina had an amazing capability to read him, to read his eyes, which is exactly why he had to exert excessive control to not let his emotions reflect on his face. She frowned, something again nagged in her mind, but she couldn’t form a clear enough picture to understand. He ushered her inside, with the customary hand on her back, he noticed that she didn’t stiffen or jerk this time, he was pleased.

Naina stood in the living room, looking around, she had seen it before, but never paid attention. She didn’t know why but today it seemed important to her that she memorize the details, so she tried to take in the arrangement of the sofa, the tall floor lamps, the copper vase on the cabinet, the colour on the walls. Her eyes fell on the big photograph adorned with a garland, and she moved towards it, looking at the kind face. She felt Sameer come and stand behind her, he placed his hands on her shoulder, he didn’t realize he had done that, and she didn’t feel that the touch was unknown.

“He would have loved to see you here. He wanted to meet you so much, I wish I had brought you here earlier. I thought we had lot of time”, his voice was thick with tears.

Her eyes became moist, she turned to look at him, the pain in his eyes melted her heart, and she slid her arms around him, resting her head on his chest. Sameer stood stunned, he wasn’t expecting this, he looked down at her, saw the track of tears on her cheek, slowly as if afraid to break the serenity of the moment, he wrapped his arms around her lightly, holding her to him.

A few moments later Naina straightened, and took his hand, “c’mon. I want to see your broken bed.” Sameer followed the tug of her hand, as she led him upstairs, wondering what exactly was happening. This was not his plan. He had wanted to bring Naina here to make her more comfortable to his touch, to make her more used to be around him in the privacy of home, he had wanted to hold her hand, tease her with innuendos of intimacy, he hadn’t thought she would hug him, he hadn’t expected she would hold his hand herself.

Naina laughed on seeing the remains of the wrecked bed, the splintered frame had been shifted to one side of the room, the mattress stood against the wall. “You know Sameer, I have been in here before, but I never looked properly”, she moved around, her fingertips trailing along the surface of his desk, his telephone, she stood and eyed the Julia Roberts and Michael Jackson posters. He watched her face light up with delight on seeing her photo on the bedside cabinet.

“So, this is your room”, she said registering the details in her mind.

Sameer smiled, moving towards her, held her hand, pleased when her fingers twined with his without hesitation, “no sweetheart, this is our room”, he said gazing into her eyes.

Tiny lines appeared on her forehead, as her brows furrowed in confusion, he watched her face closely, waiting for her to register the fact. The casual way she had discussed about buying furniture, he knew that even though logically she was aware that she would stay with him, this fact hadn’t registered with her emotionally yet, she was still in mode of buying furniture for his home. He was so attuned to her at that moment, his heart beating in a heavy rhythm, that he was aware of the exact second, she became fully aware of the meaning behind his words. Her eyes widened, she suddenly felt shaky, short of breath, and he immediately wrapped one arm around her shoulders to hold her steady. He could feel the fine tremors running through her body. He guided her to the wooden sofa, and she gratefully sank in the cushion, she felt as if her legs were no longer strong enough to hold her upright.

Sameer crouched on his toes in-front of her, turned her hand palm up and took out a bunch of keys from his pocket, placing them in her hand. She looked at them, “your bunch of keys for our home”, he said softly. Her fingers trembled as she closed her fist, holding the cold keys, she looked up in wonder, taking in her surroundings in new light of understanding. This was what was different. This was why she kept feeling as if it was important to remember the details of this house. It was not just Sameer’s home, but their home. An unexpected wave of contentment and possessiveness swept over her, she looked at him, “I am pulling the Julia Roberts posters down”, she said indignantly.

Sameer laughed, feeling that he wouldn’t mind even if she changed every single thing in this room, “alright sweetheart, no Julia Roberts.” He rubbed his chin thoughtfully, then added, “will Jennifer Aniston be okay?”, he couldn’t help but tease her.

She huffed, “NO”, lightly slapping his shoulder, and he laughed again.

Naina grinned, happiness fizzing along her veins like champagne. Sameer looked at her radiant face, and he impulsively ducked, placing his head on her lap, wrapping his arms around her waist. She looked down at him, her heart beating fast, the familiar fluttering returned to her belly, but this time she didn’t move away, she didn’t want to, instead she raised a shaky hand, and touched his head. He sighed, his eyes closed, she smiled, and threaded her fingers through his hair.

The furniture selection was still pending, but he didn’t move one inch from there, everything could wait, he just wanted to cherish this new feeling. This wasn’t what he had planned, but most of the time life didn’t happen as planned, this was better, much better than any plan he could have ever made, because this was straight from heart. Outside the sun had moved to the western horizon, darkness preparing to creep in early because of winters, but inside the room, she felt as if she had found the keys to eternal sunshine.