One Day At A Time

Chapter 7 - A Bad, Bad Idea

September 13, 1993
Pune

The Joshi family woke up to an unusually cloudy and beautiful September Monday morning. The sky was painted in various shades of grey, and there were places where chink of golden light managed to break through the clouds, adding splashes of oranges and reds onto the grey canvas. The scent of rain hung in the air as it seeped in through the vents of Khushi's bedroom windows.

As the light behind the curtains grew slightly brighter, the alarm on the bedside clock buzzed at the usual time in front of her wide-awake eyes. She smashed the alarm button shut in irritation and decided to get out of bed.

No, she hadn't slept a wink.

Khushi had spent her entire night looking at the arms of the clock tick and change position, fretting herself over the call that Arnav had promised to arrange during the day to talk to her. She had tried hard to fall asleep, admonishing herself every passing moment for being so jittery about a 'simple call'. It was just another call from Arnav, she kept telling herself as she tossed and turned in her bed, but the eyes wouldn't shut. Frustration and irritation followed the realisation that the world around her had slept all night peacefully, but she hadn't.

After Arnav had left for London, she had had a good few days to contemplate and assess the situation between them. It made her nervous for reasons more than one. Despite deliberation over the issue for so many days, she was still as lost as she was on the day he had confessed his feelings to her. She had also gotten some time to warm up to the idea of him being interested in her, the thought making the butterflies in her stomach flutter around madly. Only if things were so simple! The thought tugged at her heartstrings.

As she crawled out of her bed, she saw her Aai carrying a tray laden with two cups of tea and some biscuits towards her parent's bedroom. She frowned and followed her, wondering about the reason for the change in venue for the morning tea routine.

"Morning Aa— Baba? Why are you still in bed?" Khushi shrieked seeing her father lying down in his bed, looking drained and pale. Her father, although an intimidating personality, was a principled and hardworking man. Finding him in bed on a working day was a shock to her system.

"Morning, Mithhoo!" Avinash wished his darling daughter as he sat up in bed with a smile and opened his arms to her. Khushi ran into his arms immediately and made herself comfortable.

Being the only child to her parents, Khushi was the centre of their universe. She had her father's eyes and colour and her mother's smile. Boundless love flowed freely from both of them, something Arnav had always asked her to thank the gods for every single day of her life. With a sibling, love came in instalments—it was the universal truth; he had always told her. But Khushi disagreed. Being the only kid came with its pros and cons. She was spoilt rotten by both of them, but the flip side was, they had just one child to concentrate all their energies on. There was no respite at times! And although she was their only daughter, they never handed anything to her on a silver platter. She had to work hard to earn things in life. They stood by her when she fell and stood well back while she tried to reach for the sky.

"Baba is not feeling well, Mithhoo. He will be home today." Anagha smiled as she handed the tea to Avinash.

Khushi's heart sank. You got to be kidding me! She cried inwardly. At that moment, she felt like the worst daughter in the world for not caring about her father's illness, but she was more stressed than apologetic this morning.

"You want me to call Doctor Kaka?" Khushi asked, placing her palm over his forehead. "You have a fever, Baba."

"A paracetamol and some rest should fix it." He smiled and sipped on his tea.