Sidharth Shukla, the celebrity had turned into Sid Bhaiyya - tha toli leader, like every other year. The yearly transformation was amusing to say the least. The day Janmashtami was a week away, men of all ages - the kutti 7 year olds and 50 year olds would be drawn to him for counsel, strategy and participation. He was the matki leader of the society and ensured that the celebrations were up to the mark, the structural formation of the participants could ensure the matki to be broken in fifteen minutes of the beginning of the formation.
His wife of two years, however, this year seemed very annoyed with him. Facing the other side on the bed, she had her eyes closed, but felt nervous.
"Mujhe pata hai tu nahi so rahi hai, aisa hai na, zyada natak mat kar Shehnaaz" he said, snaking his arms around her waist. She gasped and moved his hand away.
"Abbey, kyun natak kar rahi hai, kal aa jayega na saaman", he pleaded.
"Sidharth, saaman ki baat nahi hai! Abhi itna corona ho raha hai, ye sab karna zaruri hai kya?" she whined, without even looking at him.
"Baby hum bas 12 log hain, sab masked ekdum, bacche toh shield-weild lagake mast! Sabne sanitise kia, sabne therman checking karwayi, abhi itna dar kar nahi reh sakte baba! Aur hum me se koi bhi bahar nahi nikla hai!" he explained, but she shrugged his hand away again.
"Kyun? Tune sabke ghar ke bahar camere lagwa rakhe hain, ye pakka karne ke liye ki kaun ghar se nikla hai aur kain nahi?", she argued.
"Abbey yaar, tujhe abhi bekar me irrational hoke behes karni hai toh woh alag baat hai, tum kar lo..." he said, finally resigning and sleeping on his back with an arm covering his eyes.
"Main jaa rahi hun Mummy ke room me sone", she said, picking up her pillow and blanket. He was aghast!
"Tumhara dimag kharab ho gaya hai kya? Ye satak gaya hai kya? " he screamed at her, sitting back up, feeling very upset at her irrational actions.
"Tujhe jo samajhna hai tu samajh le" she yelled back and moved out, leaving him completely astonished. She had never done this before - leave the room after a fight or not sleep next to him. He was hurt and bemused, to say the least.
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Next morning, he had decided to give all his attention to the event for which everyone was so excited, instead of focusing his energy on a useless fight with Shehnaz which was bound to get resolved on its own.
Wearing a blue kurta and white jeans, his hair in his element - he looked no less than krishna himself. He saw Shehnaz sitting at the dining table with her head on the table and Ma eyeing her from the kitchen while stirring something in a steel glass.
The fight had affected him as well, but she was sulking and he melted seeing her all bogged down, but at the same time did not feel an ounce of sorry. She was clearly over-reacting, the way she had done when the city was on a cyclone alert and she had created a ruckus when he had to go just across the road to a coffee shop for a meeting. So much so that the meeting had to be rescheduled and they hadn't spoken for the whole day.
"Shehnaz, kya hua?" he asked her softly, standing across her .
"Kuch nahi hua, jaa" she mumbled, not looking up the table.
"Baccha, uth, ye pi le" Ma walked over to her, glaring at him, gesturing him to go away.
"Kya hua? Ma? Shehnaz? Tu theek hai?" he softly asked, confused.
"Soyi nahi hai theek se" Ma replied, caressing her back, lovingly.
She looked up, her eyes looked swollen and she looked weak.
