5: A Memory, A Reluctance:

“This is limits dad! Just because I agreed to nominate myself in the festival doesn’t mean I will do everything and anything that you planned to impose on me, definitely not this! You cannot just pick up the phone and decide my accommodation alright? I can take care of myself!” Arnav yelled completely exasperated with the whole turn of events.

*

“If he is coming to participate in the fringe festival, it’s quite obvious that he will be staying here Khushi, what’s with the over dramatic reaction?” Sameer talked keeping his patience as usual quite contrast to his daughter’s outburst.

“Over dramatic? Seriously? Don’t you think you should check with me before promising something so big dad?”

*

“What? You are going to Scotland and of course you will be staying with them, where else? Why are we even discussing this?” Arnav’s father asked him incredulously.

*

“What do you mean where else dad?” Khushi asked throwing her hands in air, her fury mounting with every passing second. “The great Raizadas can definitely afford as much, they make a good fortune in case you have forgotten. I’m sure he can find himself some luxury place to rent and live…”

*

“You definitely can live in a hotel son, but we don’t want you to be easily accessible to the media now, do we? Guptas stay in a village on the shore of Scotland. Belhaven is a place just two hours away from Edinburgh. It gives you perfect privacy away from everyone’s reach, and the much needed space.  I have my logics right Arnav. Would you please put aside your problems with Khushi and think rationally for a change?”

*

“My problems? My problems with Arnav? Are you kidding me dad? I don’t even remember that person, I don’t even know if he still existed anyway! It’s been what 10 years?” Khushi rolled her eyes vigorously pushing away the sudden disorientation threatening to settle in her thoughts.

“And moreover, whatever relation we had with that family was years ago. They don’t mean anything to me. Why are you even giving importance to them dad? Those people, who didn’t even bother all these years about us? Why?”

“Khushi!” Sameer cut her off by taking her name sharply his voice raising by a few syllables, though just a little louder than his usual calm stance, Khushi knew that was the tone enough to let her know that her father was angry. A seldom occurrence for Sameer Gupta and it was finally her clue to reduce her own voice to make it sound even.

“I… uh, I’m sorry” she said finding her own voice low and surrendering. “but dad?”

“That’s enough Khushi. I have heard enough of your baseless complaining okay? I promised Sidhanth, and that boy is staying with us, it’s final. Whether you chose to live with him or not, is what you can decide for yourself, yeah?”

Stumped by her father’s abnormal outburst, Khushi stood still across the kitchen platform, her eyes filling her face and her jaw wide open even as she let her pupils follow her father’s angry body language as he walked out of the kitchen through the back-door, banging the door close.

Arnav Singh Raizada!

The name was enough to irk her all over again. Omnipresent even, he had managed to yet again turn her parent against her. This is what happens, when they both would be around together. This is what will happen and is going to happen every time she thinks she can spend some civil time with that person.

**

Arnav-Khushi @ 8:

The two large wooden doors opened into an equally vast room, as the ambience echoed with the ‘swaras’ and the combination of various ‘swarasnthans’. The children seated in rows sang the ‘sargams’ of the typical Indian Hindustani classical music, their hands lifting and falling open their own laps in a perfect choreographed way as the ‘thal’ produced by their action provided the required background music for their synchronized singing.

“Very good, class, now let us rehearse the two lines of the song we have learnt yesterday, sing along with me, okay?” Smitha, the music teacher spoke sitting with her tangled legs on the floor on a small stage at one of the room as she faced her students, in front of her was a mike placed being supported by  a low stand.

“Albela sajan aayo ri
Albela sajan aayo ri”

“Sajaan aayo ri….” Khushi corrected Arnav as she found him taking the note much higher and into a wrong raga, from what the original was supposed to be.

“Sajaan aayo ri….” He repeated in his own raga, flipping his eyes to meet that of Khushi’s annoyed almond-shaped hazels.

“Albelaa, sajan aayo ri ….” Khushi sang again, perfectly taking the note in correct sync with her teacher, while Arnav rolled his eyes and continued his own imperfect tuning.

“That’s wrong, you are taking it much higher, we haven’t reached such high note yet Arnav” she spoke, as her hand paused the rhythmic thal, while she now faced Arnav completely who was sitting beside her amidst the multiple rows of students.

“This is the note where the song should go, how can you forget? Didn’t dad teach us this song already?”

“—but there is a process to learn Arnav, go with the class, we have just learnt the song as it is, not the sargams. Your singing is even disturbing my own tuning”

“Stop being the dumb one, maddy…”

“—Don’t call me that, you badd---”

“What’s going on there? Khushi Arnav, stand up!”

The both of them looked petrified at being addressed suddenly even as the whole class turned their heads around to stare at them. Slowly glaring at each other Khushi and Arnav stood up and looked at their teacher apologetically.

“You both are disturbing the class, is there a problem?” Smitha asked quite politely looking between the both of them. Khushi instantly flipped her head to glare at Arnav before looking back at her teacher.

“Ma’am, he is taking the wrong raga” Khushi spoke pointing her finger at Arnav.

“No Ma’am, it is the correct tune I’m singing”

“No you took the wrong note!” Khushi protested severing her eyes to her side directly at him.

“Okay stop with the argument. Arnav sing what you know” Smitha ordered and Arnav immediately used his hand, to draw the note in air just like his voice was pitching into the melody of  not just the two lines the class have learnt, but also a note extra, a tune extra and a sur extra of the original song that he had learnt from his father and Khushi all the while was looking squarely at him, though she knew he took the perfect pitch as per the song.

“Good” Smitha appreciated before looking at Khushi.

“But Ma’am the sur he took will come much later, we haven’t learnt that part yet and his off-beat voice is disturbing my concentration” Khushi confessed pouting a little, while Arnav poked at her irking her even more.

“Right, looks like even you are aware of the song already?”

“Ye—yes Ma’am”

“So why don’t you both come forward and lead the class for today’s lesson?”

And then like it always happens, yet again Khushi felt she was stuck with him. She glared at him even as he smirked back, as they walked amidst the rows onto the stage and took their places beside their teacher. The next fifteen minutes that followed saw both Arnav and Khushi sing the same classical song, perfectly in sync with each other, quite oblivious to their own selves, as their combined voices teamed with their taal, tuned into each other in perfect harmony, filled in the entire room, mesmerizing and awing one and all.

**

“God Arnav, why do you have to interrupt everything that I plan to do?” Khushi spat at him as soon as they got down of their respective cars, one following the other, which eventually stopped right at the entrance of her home.

“Oh, get a life Khushi, I was just singing my own thing. It’s you, who have to make a fuss about everything” he answered nonchalantly, walking ahead of her into the entrance.

“Please Arnav! You just don’t get anything right. What was the need to sing the whole thing you learnt today? We would eventually reach there anyway, wont we?”

“So? Why should I not sing what I already know? Why should I unlearn anything? You seem to have good fun doing it, not me..”

“Why don’t you just say that you like to show off every opportunity that you get?”

“Yes, I like to show off, so?”

They were now standing in the center of the hall-way, with the servants in the home almost alarmed pausing whatever they were doing before the storm of Arnav and Khushi entered.

“Maddy…” Arnav muttered looking away from her.

“You didn’t just say that!”

“Yes I did”

“Don’t call me that Arnav!”

“Really? And what about the swearing word you were about to call me back then? Mad- ---what was that? Ass? You learnt that from the latest English movie we have seen, haven’t you? Shall I tell Cathy about it?” Arnav asked quite seriously turning to face her, folding his hands across his stomach.

“Mom. She is my mom, don’t call her by name!” Khushi corrected him, her voice turning into a sudden yell alerting everyone all over again.

“Whats going on here?” Catherine Gupta walked from the kitchen, her even soothing voice causing the both of them to momentarily snap out of their anger moods, as they looked at her watching her walk towards them.

“Would you guys ever stop with this?” she asked her hands going on her hip.

“Cathy, she started it today!” Arnav answered even before Khushi can and opened his mouth again to explain further just when Sidhanth Raizada and Sameer Gupta descended the stair-case, quite indulged in their own discussion. Just as they reached the bottom step, the two older men looked at the scene in the hall and grinned as they walked reaching out to their respective kids.

“I hear you guys did some magic in the music class today?” Sindhant spoke to his son, to which Arnav just nodded and before he could say anything else Sameer spoke interrupting him yet again. “Honey, your music teacher says you were just perfect together and she asked us about nominating you two together for the inter-school competition”

“You two are doing great job! Keep it up!” Sameer added and looked at his wife.

“And they end up fighting even after doing good?!” Catherine exclaimed.

Sameer just laughed it off, just when Sidhanth remembered something as he walked his friend away, continuing with whatever discussion they have been having. Catherine looked at the two men, at their retreating backs, quite confused with her own self.

Sidhanth Raizada and Sameer Gupta, the two musical legends of Indian Cinema, or so people said; the musical duo that created music magic with everything that they touched; the proud owners of SS musicals; the best friends who have grown up together learning and creating music and now expect the same from their children as well. Little did they know that their children are far from being friends with each other and she was the lone witness to their growing wrath over the years. Doing music together was far, they couldn’t even have a proper civil conversation with one another. Catherine looked down at both the kids who seemed to be still fighting with each other in little monosyllables, quite inaudible to her.

“Okay, who wants the creamy pudding that is getting baked?” she asked trying to get some enthusiasm back in the air.

“Me..”

“Cathy ME!!!!” Arnav exclaimed his voice quite loud, effectively cutting off Khushi’s answer and Khushi just narrowed her eyes at him as he walked closing the distance between him and her mother.

“Did you put the dry-fruits in it Cathy?”

“MOM! She is MY Mom!” Khushi yelled cutting him off alarming the vicinity yet again. “Mom tell him to call you aunt or aunt Cathy and not by name!” she said walking and reaching out to her mother’s hand.

“She is my Cathy” Arnav answered before Catherine could say anything else.

“My mom! Just because your mother is not alive, you have no right to call whatever you want to my mother-----”

“Khushi!” Catherine’s warning tone stumped Khushi causing her to look up at her mother hurt filling in her eyes.

 Gayathri Raizada left her last breath in the very hospital in which Arnav was born moments after he took his first breath. Complications in her pregnancy ate her up. And since then Catherine have been the only motherly figure that Arnav ever had. And she wouldn’t allow her own daughter to hurt him, definitely not in this way. Khushi needed to learn and allow him in, it’s high time and for that she needed to do something.

“Apologize” Catherine ordered.

“Apologize right now!”

Khushi squirmed a little at that voice and mumbled a sorry before running away into her room within the split of a second.

**

“It’s not that I was angry on you honey”

“I love you more, you know that don’t you?”

“Just watch your words when you are angry Khushi, you can never take back things that you say in anger. People tend to perceive that it had been in your mind always”

“I just didn’t want to you to say anything hurtful that you couldn’t take back”

**

And the soothing voice of her mother continued to echo in her mind, the words that were told to a younger Khushi, who had been the possessive kid, possessive of her own mother, insecure if her own mother would love someone else more than her.

She squeezed her eyes shut just as her taxi came to a halt at the Edinburgh airport.

“You will have to give him a chance Khushi. You will have to look at him in a different way, keeping away all your complains”

“---but mom, he..”

“Yes, I know, but someone have to take the first time, will you not be my good child?”

“Yes Mom?”

“Promise me that you will never speak to him like that just to hurt him, promise me Khushi”

“I’m sorry mom, I didn’t mean to..”

“If you want me to believe that, prove it. Never ever say the kind of things what you said today again, okay?”

**

Khushi saw her young self nod in complete honesty and smile up at her mother. She did live up to the promise that she made that day, she did take the first steps needed for whatever that was between the both of them, because if there was one person who can make her do anything, it was her mother. But then did her efforts, any of her efforts pay off? In any good way?

She found herself wondering drowning deep into all those submerged memories, even as she reluctantly waited for the person of her thoughts to arrive out of the flight.