Shravan Ki Sumo, Sumo Ka Shravan

Umricaaa...

Sumo was in her room twiddling with her ring. For the past two hours she was on her bed pretending to sleep. Having made a lame but satisfactory excuse she had returned home and faked giddiness, following which she was confined to her room and allowed some quiet. She knew she had to hide the ring. She would have happily put it in a beautiful little box and preserved it away from prying eyes and peeked at it every free minute but now things were different.  It was not a gift.. not a souvenir to preserve.  It was an engagement ring. She could and would not remove it and wear it whimsicaly.She had herself commented and committed to that.
Sumo ab kya karoon? Itni tension ek ring la sakto hai to log bhaag kar shaadi kaise kar lete hain.. nahi usme kya, wapas ghar aakar chai thodi na banani padhti hai.Ab standard protocol.. kuch palster laga kar chupa doongi... But fir mein kaise dekhoongi😭.. Lambu, khadoos.. first kiss bhi bina soche samje ho gaya aur engagement bhi.. Arey Sumo! Tujhe bhi to ring dena hoga?.. Ab dekhte hain wo kaise chupayega..
Nahi nahi uska kya. Sir ke upar hath rakhega to us floor mein kisi ko uska ring nahi dikhega..
Shravan Shravan Shravan!... tu na sabse ..saaaaabse bada idiot hai..
Ab soch Sumo.. OK parcel time. Agar mein ring nikal kar plaster daal doon to? Use lagega pehna hai.. baaki ko lagega chot lag gayi and mujhe bhi ring dekhne ko milega.👏👏
No Sumo.. khud se dhoka nahi. Aaj ring nikalegi, kal mangalsutra!
Hey hold on.. ! Ye kya sagayi huyi?. Halat to wahi hain.. ring ka heart alag kar dega uska Mogambo baap.. 🙈

Fine then.. daalo plaster.. She carefully covered the ring with non sticky tape so the glue does not touch the surface. Then she used cotton and bandage and managed a reasonable cover , big enough to hide the ring and small enough to still be relatively inconspicuous.

She gave one long look and hoped that it will soon shine in front of everyone and soon bring light to her life and love.  She kissed the bandaged finger imagining a miniature Shravan trapped in the emerald. Her little own fiance 😍

A CRASSH!
Sumo rushed out and found mami hysterically screaming. After mausi managed to calm her down, they told Sumo that Anuj had taken seriously ill and had been shifted to the ICu. Mami had put her foot down that she was to leave the very next minute. Once pacified, mama and mami went to Nanu's room while Sumo contemplated what this would mean to her.
Will there be a hurried wedding? Will nanu leave? Will everybody leave? Will she be asked to come? Oh god.. was Anuj bhaiya really serious? Will he come to India and settle? They had never really liked each other but she would not want her sick brother to be left alone. And after all we grow up and get more polite.
Man! Can Nanu handle this? Kahin nanu ne koi nayi zid kardi to?

Finally Sumo decided to stay out of the whole situation. She would rather blame destiny than her tongue if her relationship with Shravan had to test waters now. Occasionally offering her shoulder for mami to cry on and staying out of sight if her wedding came up was all Sumo had planned for.
Suddenly Nanu came down for lunch with a very decisive frame of mind.  Sumo shivered as she wondered what he might sentence her to.

"Rachna beti, aaj tak meine tumhe meri ladli beti ke roop mein hi dekha hai par ab waqt aa gaya hai ki tum apne kandhon mein saari zimmadariyaan uthao. Manju aur Sameer ka America jaana zarori hai. Bete ko is haal mein akela chodna har ma baap ke liye ek badi saza hai lekin mere mana karne ke bawajood bhi Manju ne zid pakad li hai ki mein unke saath jaoon.
Isliye kuch mahino ke liye hi sahi, mujhe jaana padhega. Mujhe bhi Anuj se milne ka man kar raha hai aur us bache ko bhagwan sahi salamat rakhein.. Kahin meri pareshani Manju aur Sameer ko wahan bhi na satayaein..
Rachna aur damaadji... Mein chahta hoon ki jab tak mein wapas na aaoon tab tak Sumo ki shaadi ke bare mein koi faisle na liye jaye. Par ladka dekhna aur Suman se zaroor uski manzoori mangna . Baaki bhagwan chahe to meri Priya ki beti ka kanyadaan bhi kardoon. Uske baad jeevandaan hi baaki hoga."

"Papa"
"Nanu"
"Papa kaise baat kar rahein hain aap. Aap kisi bhi cheez ki fikar mat keejiye. Hum sab sambhal lenge.  Suman meri bhi to beti jaisi hai . Aap dekhiye, use aapki yaad bhi bilkul nahi aayegi " Rachna mausi assured.