Sach hote Khwaab

Chandni Chowk

It had been rather an eventful morning. I and Vashma were clearing the kitchen after lunch.
The main door of our house opened into the drawing room. The stairs leading to bedrooms were situated on the left. Towards the right, a door led to the dining area. The dining area had an open kitchen on its left as one entered.
Just then I heard a slight sound from outside. I wanted to rush outside, but did not dare to. I peeked at Vashma, who was staring at me with her eyes narrowed. After a moment, in an intimidating tone she said, 'Tu yahin ruk main dekhti hoon.' I made a face after she went outside.

She came back after a while and I looked at her in anticipation. 'Kabir ne awaaz ki thi', she said and returned to her work. My face fell. She soon was done and before leaving the kitchen, she sternly said 'Main taiyaar hone jaa rahi hoon. Tu bhi kaam khatam karke jaldi taiyaar ho. Aaj kapde silwaane nahi diye to shaadi tak nai bann payenge.
Aur do ghante mat lagaana. Pehle hi paanch bajne wale hai'.
I had no idea if she was pretending to be angry or she actually was. I had truly tested her patience today. I decided I'd try not to upset her further.
Finishing my work in a couple of minutes I hurried to get ready and before taking the stairs I peeked outside. Just in case.

I took out a green salwar-kameez. In fact I got ready earlier than her, hastened downstairs and lingered outside the house, keeping an eye around to catch a glimpse of him before departing. But moments later Vashma emerged from the main door, with an annoyed look. She beckoned the first tanga she saw and ushered me into it with her. We left for Chandni Chowk.

I looked at Vashma but she had her face turned away. Now this was becoming unbearable.
'Vashma ?'
'hmm'
'Vashma !', I said pleadingly
'Kya hai !'
'Sunn to !',
She turned a bit towards me.
'Mainu maaf karde', I said holding my ears promptly.
She turned away her face again.
'Nai baat karni mujhe tujhse.

Kya kar rahi thi subah se ? Atta lagaane mein adha ghanta laga diya. Adha ghanta ! Kisi kaam mein dhyaan hi nahi tha tera. Meri awaaz to jaise tere kaan mein hi nai pad rahi thi. Aur bahar se zara si awaaz aayi nahi ki aise bhaage jaa rahi thi.
Uday ko jali hui rotiyan parosi tune ! Vo to tere bhai itna seedha hai ki chup chaap khaali usne.'

I looked down with a guilty expression. Kya bolu ise ? Ki tum sab gayab ho jao kuch din ke liye ? Obviously not ! I dismissed that thought the very next minute.
I had been distracted the entire day. But what could I do, I hadn't met Randheer after returning from Raizada Sadan in the morning. Where was he busy?
I returned to the task at hand – to appease Vashma.
'Acha ab se tu jo bologi main poora dhyaan dungi.'
'O rehne de rehne de. Abhi thode din to tera yahi haal rehne waala hai.
Yahan shaadi sar par hai. Itne kaam hai par nahi ! Vashma Baig ko to is sarfiri ladki ko samhaalna padega pehle'
I pouted.
'Oye ! Ab tum muh mat fula. Ye sirf main kar sakti hoon', she retorted.
I smiled at her.
'Aur sunn aisi khoyi khoyi mat reh. Ab to mujhe meri Amrit wapas chahiye jo poore ghar ko sar pe utha le. Main hoon na tere nakhre uthaane ke liye !" she beamed.
I grinned at her.
'Tere Veerji ne waise bhi bohot araam farma liya. Main akele uski jaan kha rahi hoon itne waqt se. Ye bhi koi baat hui !'

'Tujhe mere veerji nu sataye bina chain nahi hai na ?!'
'Bilkul nahi !', and we burst out laughing.

We navigated through the crowded streets of Delhi. Chandni Chowk was a fifteen minutes ride from our house. It was a delight of every person who loved shopping and eating. The main Chandni Chowk road had so many streets running off it. A person new to this place would be very confused where to go and where not to.
We ourselves had been in awe the first time we had visited this place. The area is lined with shops and is teeming with peddlers, some selling sherbet, some gol gappe, some ice-cream and so on. One will find eager shoppers all around - some walking, some in tangas and some in cars.

We took the lane leading to Kinari Bazar, stopped infront of a store named 'Paridhaan' and entered it. It was a fairly large shop. All around there were shelves and shelves stuffed with salwar-kameez, sarees, ghagras, wedding finery and other traditional wear with one dressing mirror for every section. They had four gaddis placed at different corners, each near a particular type of clothing. There were a few more customers sitting in the shop. We seated ourselves near the section displaying salwar kameez.
Kulwant Singh, the owner - a middle-aged Sikh gentleman greeted us was a smile and asked us to wait for a while as his wife would soon attend to us.

Just then I thought I saw Randheer's reflection on the mirror opposite to me. I quickly turned around but no one could be seen. Was I dreaming? Vashma interrupted my train of thoughts.
Gurbaaniji- Kulwantji 's wife, had come to us with a salesman behind her.
'Amrit shaadi ka joda to humaare paas hai hi. Mujhe pata hai tu wo Lahore wala joda hi pehnegi. Vo taiji ne banawaya tha khaas.
Ab baaki rasmon ke liye kapde chunlete hai. Kuch socha hai tune ?'
Now this was the difficult part. I'm too choosy when it comes to clothes. Vashma too was picky but not as much as me. Mummyji used to get so irritated with me for this. She was so easy to please whereas I'm extremely fussy.

The salesman brought a big pile of clothes some with Zari work, some with Chikankari, some with mirrorwork and I rejected half the pile citing various reasons – too dark; too light; too flashy; too much of work; too gaudy and so on.

'Nai yaar Vashma, mainu kuch pasand hi nahi aa raha',
'Acha ruk.
Bhai Sahab aap Phulkaari aur Gota Patti ke kaam wale kapde bhi dikhaiye. Aur main jo rang batati hoon, aap un rango ke salwaar kameez laiye .'
'Aur Janaab inhi rangon ke lehenge bhi laiyega'
I turned in a flash. There he was, standing with that charming smile on his face.
I turned towards Vashma and she said, 'Itni bhi buri nahi hoon main'
'Maine kab kaha tu buri hai !', I said meekly and she nudged me.
Wait a second ! He was wearing a green suspender shirt, which I bought for him. I surveyed him top to bottom and looked again at Vashma quizzically. She winked at me. This girl was full of surprises!
Our clothes were colour-coordinated. And this was not planned. I beamed.
Randheer presented me with a bouquet of pink tulips. I looked at him and blushed while taking it.
I quickly shifted to make space for him.

Gurbaaniji looked astonished. 'Maine aj tak bohot kam mundo vekhe jo apni votti nu khareedari lei liaunde hai. Par tuhada to vyaah bhi nai hoya ab tai ! Puttar, tenu heere varga dulha mila hai. Inha da khyaal rakhi !', she said to me. A scarlet blush crept into my cheeks as I nodded.

And soon after the salesman got another huge pile of clothes and placed it in front of us.
Rubbing his hands Randheer said, 'To fir chaliye kaam pe lagte hai !'
Gurbaaniji started to show us the clothes one by one but we sabotaged the entire pile.

Vashma found a mustard yellow salwaar-kameez with Chikankaari. 'Amrit ! Ye hai to sundar par iska dupatta bhi isi rang ka hai ! Fir ye achi nahi lagegi'.
'Haan Vashma, iko rang di achi nahi lagegi'.
Randheer took out a white Salwar-kameez and a beautiful white dupatta with orange-red-pink Phulkaari work. 'Ye dekhiye Amrit ! Ye kitna Khoobsurat hai ! Aap par bohot jachega !'
'Haan Randheer ye bohot sundar hai ! Ise alag rakh dete hai'
I showed them a bright yellow salwar-kameez which had a rose-red dupatta paired with it. 'Ye dekho!'
'Haan Amrit bohot pyaara hai ! Isse bhi alag rakhwa de'
Vashma showed me a bottle green lehenga with golden work and an equally beautiful golden chunri. 'Vashma ! Ye to bohot sundar hai ! Amrit ye to aap le hi lijiye !', Randheer exclaimed.
I nodded. Vashma further showed me a similar golden lehenga with a green chunri. 'Ye mujh par kaisa lagega ?'
'Bohot sundar lagega ! Ye hum mehendi ki rasm mein saath mein pehenenge !', I beamed. I spotted a stunning peach sharara set amidst the lehengas. 'Vashma ! Ae to tenu lena padega.
Bhaisaheb isnu bhi rakhwa do'. She grinned.
I pulled out a sky blue lehenga from the pile. 'Ye kaisa hai ?'
'Nahi !', both of them said together. All of us looked at each other and started laughing.

Randheer obviously did not know anything about the fabrics or the work on them but he did have an amazing understanding colours ! He was so excited to help me choose clothes. And I was so excited getting all the clothes approved from him.
We asked the salesman to bring us some sarees now.

I picked up a red-violet organza saree with tiny flowers embroidered here and there. It was paired with a baby pink blouse. It looked gorgeous !
'Randheer ?!', I asked with a glint in my eyes.
'Beautiful ! Bikul aapki tarah.' I turned red.
Vashma drew out a rose-pink saree with a white blouse. It was lovely!
'Haye ! Ye bhi hum le rahe hai Amrit'
'Haan Vashma ! Bohot sundar hai ! Rakhwa de'.

Soon after, we were leaving the store, having purchased clothes to our hearts' content.

Randheer opened the door for us.
'Randheer aap kapde kab khareedenge ?', I looked at him hopefully.
'Shayad do-teen din mein'
I looked down dejected.
'Aey main mazaak kar raha tha. Ab aapki khareedari humne milke ki to meri bhi to milke karenge na. Vo bhi aaj. Uday Katra Neel mein humaara intezaar kar raha hai. Vo mujhe aaj khareedari karaane hi laaya tha. Main hi use bitha kar yahan aa gaya', he said stroking the back of his neck.
'Veerji itni der se akele baithe hai wahan ?!'
'Haan', he said sheepishly. Bichaare Veerji !

'Hum sab ke chakkar mein na humesha Uday hi fasta hai', Vashma said. 'Use bhook bhi lagi hogi ! Ek kaam karte hai. Pehle kuch kha lete hai.
Randheer, hum Paranthe Wali Gali jaa rahe hain. Aap Uday ko lekar wahi aa jayega'. And we split up.

We went straight to Baburam Paranthewala and ordered four gobi paranthas.
Before long we saw Veerji arrive with Randheer behind him. He did look starved.
'Oye tum dono kya kam thi jo Randheer sahab ko bhi paltan mein shaamil kar liya ?', He said crossly.
We looked at each other and suppressed a giggle.
'Veerji, chhado na. Ye lo garam garam paranthe khao !'
Inhaling the aroma of those delicious paranthas, Veerji forgot that he had to be angry. He was so adorable!
'Randheer !', I turned towards him, 'Mummyji na mere aur Veerji liye bilkul aise hi paranthe banaati thi. Hume jab bhi unki yaad aati hai, hum yahan chale aate hain ! Haan aur is jhalli ko bhi le aate hai', I said glancing at Vashma.
'Oye! Taiji paranthe mere liye baanti thi ! Vo to tum dono aas paas hote the to tumhe bhi khila deti thi', she said brushing us off.
I and Veerji exchanged an amused look and Randheer smiled.

While we were eating the paranthas, Randheer started coughing. He had to put down his plate as he was coughing so badly. Veerji kept down his plate and started rubbing his back. He soon had a runny nose and his eyes had become watery. Probably the parantha was too spicy for him.
I rushed to get him a glass of water. But Baburamji did not have water! Really now!
'Paani nahi hai matlab ?'. But it was useless arguing with him right now.
I dashed to the other nearest Paranthewala and got a glass of water for Randheer. I was almost in tears. He gulped down the water in one go but was still huffing and puffing.
I gave him a handkerchief to wipe his face. Wiping his nose he said, 'Aksar ladke rumaal dete hai ladkiyon ko. Humaare maamle mein utla ho raha hai'. I chuckled. He had the knack to make me smile even in this situation.

After a while Baburamji brought us a glass of cold lassi. I thanked him and handed the lassi to Randheer.
Vashma said, 'Aise to dikkat ho jaegi. Amrit ko to teekha khaana bohot pasand hai. Aur aapko to mirch bardaasht nahi !'
'To main nahi khaungi teekha. Isme kya baat hai.', I looked at him.
'Arey nahi Amrit. Aap aisa kuch nahi karengi. Main na dheere dheere seekh jaunga teekha khaana. Phir aap dekhna hum dono yahan aake parantha khaane ka muqabla karenge !', he said with a sparkle in his eyes.
'Aur us muqable mein main jeetungi !', Vashma said haughtily.
We looked at Vashma, then at each other and started laughing.

*
We entered Katra Neel. As usual it was lined with sherwaanis, kurtas, and pathaanis in shelves as well as in piles here and there.
Seeing the Vashma and Veerji had busied themselves in a particular section, I gently pulled Randheer towards a section in the other direction. Pretending to see the fabrics placed on the table in front of us, I asked in a complaining tone, 'Kahan the aap subah se ?!'
'Aapne miss kiya mujhe ?', he said bending a bit towards me.
'Bohot miss kiya.', I said, still looking down. 'Aap aise gaayab mat hona agli baar se. Mainu bata ke jaana agli vaari'
'Par kyun ?', he asked with a mischievious smile.
'Nai te maine intezaar kar kar ke pagal ho jaana hai', I muttered under my breath. I don't know if he heard it or not.
'Ab aise to hum dono ka kaam karna, office jaana mushkil ho jayega !'
I looked at him confused.
'Maine Dainik Bhaskar mein sub-editor ki post ke liye arzi daali hai. Wahin tha aaj subah se'
'Randheer !- ' I was about to scream but he shushed me down.
'Hum saath mein kaam karenge ?! Sachhi ?!'
'Par Amrit', he said thoughtfully, 'Aap kahan office jaati hai ? Aap to ghar pe baithke likhti hai na ?!'
'Arey main jaungi na office. Roz jaungi aapke saath', I grinned.
'Nai na Amrit. Aapko to waise bhi ghar se hi likhna pasand hai. Aur aapko college bhi toh jaana hai. Main akela hi chala jaunga'
'Arey main keh rahi hoon na. Main roz chalungi office. Mainu nai rehna ghar pe.'
'Acha. Abhi tak to aapko ghar pe rehna tha. Ab kya ho gaya ?', he asked with a glint in his eyes
'Aap aa gaye na !', I said looking down, my cheeks getting heated up.
'Amrit ! Aap aise muskura muskura kar jaan le lengi meri !'. I blushed harder.
'Acha ab kapdon par dhyaan dein ?!' I said. Every time I had visited this place, every time I was choosing clothes for him here, I had imagined that one day he would be here with me and I'd get him piles of clothes, make him wear them all and then we'd together choose which ones to buy.
This was really happening. I was bubbling with excitement.

'Hasan bhaijaan !', I called the salesman who assisted me whenever I visited here. 'Inse miliye. Ye hai Randheer', I said with a broad smile.

'Oh, to jinke liye humaari adhi dukaan khareedli aapne, vo aakhir kaar aa hi gaye!', he said.
Randheer looked at me with a sly smile.
Everyone was hell-bent on embarrassing me today !
'Bhaijaan aap batein mat banaiye. Kapde dikhaiye hume', I said trying to change the topic.
'Ji Didi, abhi laaya. Silk ya cotton ?', he asked with a smile.
'Dono le aaiye'

Randheer eyes were still on me. He was making me nervous.
Thankfully Hasan bhaijaan brought the fabrics very soon.

'Randheer ! Hum na harr rasm mein ek hi rang ke kapde pehenenge'
'Haan Amrit. Humari shaadi na sabse alag hogi !'
We soon got absorbed in feeling the fabrics, discussing the designs and selecting them.

'Amritt !'
'Hmm'
'Mujhe na lagta hai shaadi mein dulha feeka pad jayega.'
'Kyun aapko pasand nahi aaye ye sab ? Hasan bhaijaan -'
'Amrit aap samajh nai rahi hai. Ab aap to pari jaisi lagengi. Main chahe kitne bhi ache kapde pehen loon, aapke saamne to feeka hi lagunga na!', he said leaning towards me.
I couldn't even find something suitable to reply, I was blushing so hard.
'Mera dulha na is jahaa ka sabse haseen dulha hai! Tussi onu nazar na lagao', I said haughtily and again focused my attention on the fabrics.

We finally ordered a green patthaani matching with my green lehenga; white cotton and yellow silk kurta-pyjama set respectively with my matching salwaar-kameez sets.

As we neared the gate, we found Vashma and Veerji standing there with their arms crossed.
'Haan bhai, ab hume koi kyun yaad rakhega. Chal Vashma, saanu inha de naal ithe auna hi nai chahida si.', they turned to leave.

I and Randheer looked at each other and darted after them to pacify them. After much persuasion they did forgive us but with a decision that they would not accompany us anywhere – a decision I secretly pleased with. Soon we left for home in two tangas – I with Vashma and Veerji with Randheer.

On reaching home, I went right up to the terrace. I wanted to sleep there today.

In the years gone by, many a times I had slept here, but all those times I had been lonely. Today I was extremely happy. I spread out the mattress there and lay down staring starry at the sky and enjoying the breeze.
 What an amazing day it had been !



'