Series of OneShots on Kanum - Kanak and Uma

Swami's birthday

Scenario: It's Uma's birthday, and Kanak is working on a surprise.

Toshniwal Haveli was bustling about. It was after all, Umashankar's birthday, and the whole house was full of josh.

Massisa had wanted to go to the shiv temple to pray with Uma on his birthday. Kanak had excused herself saying there needed to be someone to take care of Maasa and the visitors who'd come today. She asked Saras to stay with her, while shooing out Payal and Palomi along with Suman to accompany Massisa and Uma. Shiv unilaterally declared he was the only other man in the house, so he was going to stay.

Kanak sighed a sign of relief that there was no longer anyone in the house who could harm her work. She had been toiling hard to keep Uma's gift a surprise from prying eyes.

Saras helped Kanak in preparing dinner, whereas Shiv had helped decorate his Dadusa's office and the dining area. 

"Haan Bhabhisa, maine pulao bana diya hai." Saras confirmed to Kanak.

"Perfect, just puree the tomatoes. I'll make the chhole and paneer makhni along with rasamalai. Uma loves rasamalai." Kanak responded.

"Waise Bhabhisa, Dadusa loves anything that you make for him. Even that namkeen spicy halwa!" Saras laughed.

Kanak was surprised, "How did you know it was spicy and namkeen?" Kanak asked.

"Well the way you made a beeline for the kitchen to drink water. It is always amusing to see the one-upmanship battle between the two of you! It's kind of like that book you had suggested for me to read - Pride and Prejudice." Saras gave her pure lovely smile.

Kanak laughed, "Yes, your Dadusa has gotten a bit smart! And Shiv unknowingly helped him!".

Kanak then went to assemble her gift. It was a vertical hydroponic stand placed in Uma's office near the window. Kanak, on her trips to collect medicinal herbs, had gathered a few with their roots intact so that they could be cultivated at home to facilitate Uma's work.

Hiding this surprise was indeed tough. She had to get Vansh to get the hydroponic system delivered discreetly at home. First, she had it delivered at Suman's friend house, from where she slowly gathered all the parts and placed it in her room without Masisa and Palomi's notice.

She had gone to Ladnu bazaar with Shiv on her various sojourns, and bought other herbs that she had seen Uma use. The thought behind the present was to gift Uma a complete Ayurvedic medicinal herb garden ready for his use.

As Kanak finished the garden setup,  the landline rang.  It was Suman inquiring about how long she should stall Uma.

"Bhabhisa, can we come now? Are you done?" Suman asked.

"Well, I'm just headed to cook dinner, and need some time to dress up after it. So travel is about an hour. You think you can manage to delay half hour more so that I have enough time to look presentable?" Kanak spoke.

"Bhabhisa, Dadusa ko ghar jaane ki badi jaldi hai. And you should know why!" Teased Suman.

"Yeh Uma bhi na! Saara surprise bekaar ho jaayega!" Kanak replied.

"Hello Kanak,  how is everything going? How is Maasa doing?" Uma had taken the phone from Suman to talk to his wife.

Umashankar, at the start of day had been annoyed that Kanak didn't accompany him to the temple. However as the day passed, he understood that she wanted to handle the kitchen alone today, to cook for him. That thought made him smile inwardly. His wife was a gem who knew the importance of family and how make someone feel special - Aaj woh saara khaana mere liye hi bana rahi hai, swayam apne haathon se.