Flustered for Another Reason

Naina Sameer Maheshwari was flustered… Her fingers moved agitatedly over her empty neck. She had lost her mangalsutra. Oh what a disaster! How could she be so careless? It seemed as if her married life was off to a very rocky start. First the fiasco of getting caught in room together, then her hair, then halwa, and now this mangalsutra.

As she threw some cushions from sofa in frustration, Preeti asked, “tu kabse kya dhund rahi hai?”

Naina looked up at her with tears in her eyes, “mera mangalsutra kho gaya Preeti. Pata nahi kya ho raha hai mere saath… ek ke baad ek musibat aa rahi hai. Sameer ko pata chal gaya toh…”

“Ji…jijaji”, Preeti’s fearful whisper made her stop speaking, and she whirled around to be greeted by a furious faced Sameer.

He stalked inside upto his wife, “kya kaha tumne? Magalsutra kho gaya?”

Naina’s eyes widened in misery and tiny shivers ran through her body at the anger in his eyes. Preeti tried to intervene to save her sister, “jijaji woh…” Without even sparing a glance at his saali, Sameer held up his hand to demand silence. He wanted his wife to speak up. Naina took a long moment before slowly confessing, “mera mangalsutra kahin mil nahi raha.”

His eyes narrowed until they were intensely focused on her face, and he bit his lip in an attempt to control the tirade that was threatening to spill out of his mouth. He had almost started shouting, but he didn’t know why just at that moment he somehow recalled Nanu’s words. Once when he had misplaced a very expensive watch that belonged to his Nanu he had been scared a lot of his reaction, especially because that pocket-watch was made of gold and belonged to Nanu’s father. He had tried to lie twice, but then when Nanu had asked the third time he had confessed of having lost it. Sameer had been surprised when instead of the expected scolding; he just received a small smile from Nanu. He was even more surprised when Nanu asked him questions about when he discovered the watch was gone, and what were his activities during the day. Together they had back-tracked through the entire house, checking in places where Sameer had been throughout the day, and had finally discovered the watch stuck in the crevice of the sofa’s seat and arm. Sighing a breath of relief he had asked Nanu as to why he didn’t get angry. Nanu had said, “dekho beta, gussa toh main ho sakta tha. Lekin gusse me kahi hui baate dil ko bahot chot de sakti hai. Aur fir main tujhe ek ghadi ke liye chot kyun du… Yeh toh ek cheez hai, kho gai to nayi mil sakti hai. Haan maana mere liye khaas hai yeh ghadi, lekin tujhse khaas nahi hai.”

Recalling these words now helped him calm down. There was nothing more precious in his life than Naina. He knew that Naina wouldn’t have lost the mangalsutra on purpose. She was completely distraught by the loss, and he screaming at her would only add to her misery. He knew how much this relation and anything related to it meant to Naina. So he took a deep breath and placed his hands on her shoulder, “shaant ho jao pehle Naina. Aise pareshan hone se kuch nahi milega.”

She looked up surprised, “lekin Sameer… mera mangalsutra…”

“Mil jayega”, he assured, “aur nahi mila toh hum dono jaake naya kharid lenge, same design wala. Ghar pe kisiko kuch pata nahi chalega, fikar mat karo.”

She still looked upset, so he decided to get to the point and gently asked, “tum pure din kahan thi? Socho… hum milke dhundte hai. Preeti bhi madad karegi. Teeno milke dhunenge, jaldi mil jayega.”

Naina thought about her activities, then said, “main ghar se bahar nahi nikli thi. Kamre me thi, aur shaam ko thodi der kitchen me.”

He smiled, and indicated the tossed cushions, “toh fir sofa ki yeh haalat kyun kar rahi ho?”

She glanced at him as if trying to make sure that his smile and nonchalance wasn’t an illusion. His gaze softened as he suggested, “chalo andar dhundte hai.”

She nooded and all three of them moved to the room shared by Preeti and Naina, and began to search of the beaded necklace at every possible place. Suddenly Sameer stood still, his gaze fixed on a door, and he enquired, “Naina… Tum nahai thi subah ko?”

Naina gasped, “yeh kaisa sawaal hai Sameer?”

He looked over at her irritated, “jawaab do na sidhe se.”

She rolled her eyes, “nahaungi kyun nai? Subah ko hi naha liya tha.”

He grinned, and stepped inside the bathroom much to the confusion of the sisters. After two minutes he came outside, his grin wider than before, and he was holding up Naina’s mangalsutra in his hands.

Preeti squealed, “jijaji! Aapne dhund liya!!”

Naina just kept looking at him with a beautiful smile and tears in her eyes. He was her oasis, the only one who understood her without words, who always supported her, and who always had solutions to her problems.

He stared at his wife’s expressions, and murmured, “Preeti… zara bahar jaana please.”

Preeti chuckled, “haan haan jaati hun. Ab toh main kabab me haddi hun. Lekin jijaji iske badle chocolate chaiyega mujhe.”

“Puri dukan kharid dunga, ab jao”, he immediately responded. He moved to lock the door after his saali left, and then sauntered over to his wife. She was still staring at him, so he leaned and whispered, “aise ghurti rahogi toh firse pyaar ho jayega.”

She blushed and her eyes lowered. He cupped her shoulders and turned her to face the mirror, then slowly removed her pallu from her head making her gasp as she remembered her permed hair. But when she looked up at him through the mirror, there was no anger in his eyes; instead she saw the usual love shining in his eyes. He held the mangalsutra in-front of her, then gently looped it around her neck, and hooked in at her nape. His eyes glittered as he murmured, “hook zara loose hai mangalsutra ka.”

Her brows furrowed and she blurted, “toh tight kardo.”

He grinned, and before she could understand anything he had dipped his head, his lips brushing her nape as he tightened the hook with his teeth. She inhaled sharply, her eyes closed shut as his lips lingered evoking sensations within her that she could barely comprehend. Slowly, he turned her towards his again, cupped her face, his thumb tracing her lower lip as leaned to whisper against her ear, “baki ka hamare ghar jaake.”

Her fingers clutched on his shirt, tingles ran along her spine, anticipation fizzing through her veins, and Naina Sameer Maheshwari was again flustered for another reason.