"Aane ketlanu chhe? (How much is this?)" Shiva twisted the carrot in his hand, scanning it from top to bottom.

"Chosath rupiya. (Sixty-four rupees.)" The vendor said after glancing in his direction once. "Ek kilo maate chosath rupiya. (Sixty-four rupees for one kilogram.)"

Shiva looked at the vegetable-seller, nodding his head in understanding once.

"And this?" He said, picking up a bundle of spinach kept near the previous item.

"Ognees. (Nineteen)."

Shiva again nodded his head with understanding, his mouth being turned into a perfect o shape. This whole thing was new to him. With nostalgia lifting his feet, he had come here without a thought. However, now that he was here, he realised he had never done this before. He just didn't know how to shop for items. Vegetables, to be specific. He had no idea either of the money or the quantity one was supposed to take from these local markets. This was all his Dhara Bhabhi had always done back home. And he, had only ever shopped from stores and shopping malls.

"A hundred grams of cilantro too, please." He heard the lady next to him - the one in the lilac Anarkali - place her order in a gentle voice.

The vendor began packing her order and adding the newly informed item to it. Soon, it would just be the seller and Shiva here. And Shiva, knew nothing of the needed conversation between them. He decided he wanted to leave before the lady. From the looks of the vendor - a middle aged man with slight grey hair at the temples - he didn't seem to be a man with patience. And Shiva didn't want to bother him anymore with his cluelessness.

Clearing his throat once, Shiva decided to speak again.

"A hundred grams of potatoes, please." Said he modestly.

And as soon as he did, the vendor paused his hands, only to look at him with all his attention, his eyes then scanning him from top to bottom.

Had he said something wrong? He noticed the lady next to him pause in her work for a moment, then continue with checking the items of the shopping bag in her hand.

"Su, bhai? Don't joke around at the hour of work." The vendor said to him, raising a palm in the air.

Joke around? What was wrong with buying vegetables? Did he say something in an alien language? Why was the vendor giving him such a look?

"Na, na, Kaka." Shiva immediately said apologetically. "I really want to buy potatoes. Also, umm, a hundred grams of tomatoes, chillies, ginger, radish, eggplants, bitter gourd and...a hundred grams of carrots. Yes." He quickly let his gaze brush upon the vegetables lying on the cart before him. These were the things he knew were healthy for the sick.

The vendor only gave him a puzzled look, before scratching the back of his head. What was this young man saying? Had he been out in the markets for a first time in his life?

"Young man, what do you need these vegetables for?" The man asked him. And as if the heavens were waiting for a signal, he sneezed there again.

"Um, for a vegetable soup." He said, sheepishly. "Actually I just arrived here last night, and I'm down with a cold due to the night rain. I'm here alone, so... I'm sorry I've never shopped for vegetables before. So-"

"Do you-"

"Kaka." He heard the feminine voice speak for the second time since his arrival. And he could sense a tone of suppressed laughter in her voice.

"Please pack one kilogram of carrots, peas...spinach, cabbage, tomatoes, and some...ginger and coriander with it." The lady requested in a calm voice. Shiva looked at her side then back to the vegetables and again to her side all the while she spoke, with slight awe at the knowledge she had and he didn't.

The lady ended her statement with a polite smile. Then turned to look at him for the first time. Shiva noticed, she was beautiful.

Her doe like eyes looked into his, and his subconscious was immediately reminded of another pair of similar eyes that used to look into his the same way a thousand times in a day, years ago. Would his Chipkali still look at him with her innocent, big eyes like she did years ago? He prayed for the innocence, the playfulness and sparkle to still be there in her beautiful eyes when he sees her next.

"Don't worry." The lady said to him, her voice pulling him back to the reality. Now that he saw her completely, he noticed she had a voice that complimented her aura - peaceful. Sweet and tender. And hearing those words in the stranger's voice, he suddenly didn't feel so stupid anymore.

"These items shall perfectly go into your soup." She smiled a little. Her almost round, fair face glowing even more in the fresh morning, faint golden rays of the sun as she did so. And Shiva felt something, a weird feeling in his heart right then and there, a feeling he couldn't exactly pinpoint or even really pay attention to at that moment.

"Tha-thank you." Shiva managed to say, flushed.

"Three hundred and nine." The vendor interrupted his thoughts, packing the vegetables in his shopping bag.

"Four hundred and thirty-two, beta." Shiva heard the man say affectionately to the lady beside him while he reached for his wallet. And his tone made him doubt if he was the non-amiable guy Shiva had previously judged him to be.

Sh*t.

He could see the word written in bold in his head as he put his fingers inside the black wallet, only for them to be met by nothing but wet papers.

Ugh. The rain!

He had taken out his wallet to pay the driver, and then very conveniently forgot to put it back into the suitcase where he had kept it before as a protective measure from the heavy downpour. And here was the result - worth eight thousand rupees of wet, almost stuck together, currency notes.

"O Bhai?" The vendor called out to him. Shiva looked up and saw him counting the money probably the lady had just given him. "Do you not have money?" He asked Shiva upon seeing him staring at his open wallet for the past one and a half minutes.

"I do, Kaka." Shiva replied honestly. Then with a faint blush. "It's just that, the notes have turned wet due to the rain last night. I forgot to dry them and..." He cut off, biting his lower lip.

Shiva had thought his return to Somnath after such a long span of time would be exhilarating. Nostalgic, and bringing a feeling of relief, to say the least. However, his first morning here, and he was already embarrassing his own self like that pea-headed Chipkali always used to do years ago. 

"Tsk. Tsk. Tsk." The vendor scrunched his nose. "I understand your problem. But I cannot accept those." He placed the shopping bag on his cart with an apologetic look for the first time.

"It's fine. I understand you can't." Shiva smiled at him. "I'll just-" Sneeze.

"Sorry." He said, rubbing his almost red nose now.

"Here." A feminine hand was outstretched before him, some currency notes clutched beneath the delicate fingers, forwarded in the direction of the vegetable seller. "The money for his purchase."

The lady handed over the money to the vendor, who then returned her the extra amount in coins, ignoring Shiva's 'No, please. You don't have to do this.'s interrupting her occasionally.

Lifting her own bag off the cart, she turned to Shiva again with her small, charming smile. Blushing slightly, he scratched the back of his head.

"Thank you...And...I'm so sorry for all the trouble."

"It's alright." She replied politely. "Just make sure you research a little before going to shop anywhere the next time." She suppressed a giggle.

"I'll be sure to take that advice, I guess." He smiled a little at his own self. "Your money-"

"That's no issue. My Kaki used to say nothing comes before someone's health. Just treat yourself and take care. " She smiled, genuinely yet pretty formally.

Shiva nodded his head. That's what his mother always says as well.

The vendor held out the shopping bag to him, stuffing in everything properly. Shiva took the bag then turned back to the lady with a "I would surely return you the money the next time we-"

But she was already gone.

Shiva sighed, amused. Or maybe there wouldn't be a next time then.

He looked at the shopping bag in his hand. Then at the empty roads before him. Where did she go so quickly?

Not giving it much thought, he began checking the items in his bag as he went back to his house.

---

After about two hours of cooking, Shiva gently poured the vegetable soup in his bowl. Hmm. It smelled fine. The soup, that was a product of a combination of different recipes he saw online since the last couple of hours. And one hour before that had to be dedicated to the helpers he had asked for to check and set up the regular commodities he needed to live in the house abandoned since years.

And now - after three hours of work - that he was done, he was feeling really hungry and exhausted. The aroma of the vegetables somehow pleased his appetite. Picking up a spoon kept nearby, Shiva went to the medium-sized balcony attached to his room, settling on the chair kept a side of it with the steaming bowl in his hands.

As he blowed on the liquid to cool it down, something suddenly made its way to his mind, stopping everything he was doing at the moment.

"Shiva!!!" A little Raavi yelled barging into the buff house, as she always did.

Entering the house with her enthusiasm at its peak as always, and a large box in her hands, she walked through the large courtyard until she came near the subject of her attention, and stopped.

"Shiva!" She yelled again, making him flinch at how close she stood to his hear and close his ear in frustration.

"Kya hai kaki ki behen ki beti? Muh me scooter ka horn fit karwa ke aayi hai kya?!" Said he, wincing.

"Aisa bhi karwa sakte hain?!" Questioned Raavi, her eyes twinkling.

Upon receiving Shiva's death glare, she burst into fits of laughter with a "Pata hai mujhe tu mazaak kar raha tha. Dobi (fool) nahi hun main!"

"Kitna pyaara hai tu Shiva!" She said suddenly, reaching up to pull his cheek with a hand that he swapped away with irritation clear on his face.

"Kya chahiye tujhe?" Asked he, eyeing her figure from top to bottom.

"Mujhe? Mujh jaisi perfect ladki ko tujhse kya chahiye hoga? Ulta main to tujhe kuch dene aayi hun." She chirped.

"Nahi chahiye mujhe." Shiva said uninterested, his gaze shifting to the box in her hands for a brief second then turning his neck away from her.

"Dekh to sahi, Shiva!" She opened the lid, absorbed in her own little world, ignoring his denial completely. Well, not that his approval really mattered here. "Kitna sundar bana hai na!"

Raavi lifted the lid off the box in her hand, and placed the box in her outstretched palm and right in front of Shiva's face.

The warm smell of cocoa gently filled his lungs. There it lay on her palm, right before his eyes, the brownish black dessert. She had decorated it tastefully with cream and colourful candies. To be truthful, it looked delicious.

"Ye dekh." She squealed with joy. "Kitna tasty dikh raha hai mera cake. Pehli baar banaya hai maine. Phir bhi bilkul meri tarah perfect hai!"

Shiva shook his head at her childishness.

"Khaa na! Bataa kis scale ki perfect bani hai!" She grinned wildly, exposing all her teeth and the gap left by a broken one at the side of her mouth.

She lifted the cake even closer to his face. The delicious aroma of the food item before him churned his stomach slightly. Well, it wouldn't hurt to have a bite or two.

However, before he could do or say anything else, another yell from the entrance to the house filled the courtyard.

"Raavi! Ae Raavi! Kya gaya hata?! (Where did you go?!)" Prafulla's voice could be heard on the street just outside and then into the house seconds before Shiva saw her figure entering the Pandya Niwas.

"Aa chhokarine ju'o! (Look at this girl!)" Said she, as soon as she spotted the person of her quest standing right in the middle of the courtyard of her neighnour's house with the cake she (Raavi) just baked outstretched on her palms towards Shiva, and her turned towards Prafulla due to the call of her name.

"Ae mereko pata tha! Tu idhar hi hogi." Prafulla said with annoyance on her face, marching upto where the kids stood reactionless to her words.

She walked quickly towards the two, before her gaze fell on Shiva standing beside Raavi and her feet slowed automatically.

Shiva! This was a mischievous kid. And a notorious one too when it came down to the two of them. He had always troubled her a lot. The entire Somnath was aware about their bitter reactions towards each other. For some reasons, Shiva didn't seem to like Prafulla. And Prafulla too had come to dislike him for the devil of a kid he was. She wouldn't admit it directly, but by now she was also habituated to and scared of him. Him and his temper, that knew no bounds anytime, no matter what.

Halting her steps just before the duo, Prafulla let out a series of a nervous, animated laughter with "Ae, Sivaa! Tu bhi yahan hai."

"Tu kyun yahan hai?" Shiva asked in a no nonsense tone. The tone he normally used to talk to her, that made her flinch. "Dhyaan se dekh. Mera hi ghar hai ye, Kaki. Yamraj se milne mein der hai abhi."

Prafulla mock laughed again.

"Sivaa beta, tu bhi na! Kitna majaak karta hai, haan!" She said awkwardly with her typical Gujarati accent that she used.

"Arre main to bas ye-" She tunred to Raavi. "-iss Raavi ko lene aayi thi. Pata nahi kya bana rahi thi pichle paanch ghante se! Phir dekhne aayi to rasoi mein na ye thi na iski koi kartoot!" She made an angry face at Raavi, who grinned back at her.

"Chal ab!" She said, grabbing Raavi's arm. "Mausa Pa tera intejaar kar rahe hain. Jo banaya hai vo khilaegi nahi humein?"

"Khilaungi na!" Raavi said, freeing her arm from her Maasi Ma's grip. "Pehle scoreboard to dekhne do."

"Score kya?" Prafulla scrunched her face in confusion.

"Khaa na, Shiva! Bata to kitne marks milenge mujhe hundred mein se!" Raavi urged him, thrilled at the idea of Shiva's reaction to her masterpiece.

What would he say? Would he come under the spell of her cooking and accept that she was the best, or worship her from now on? Or would he fall at her feet and hail her from now on? Probably all of them! She couldn't wait to see!

"Ae! Humein itna intezaar kara ke, tu iss shaitaan ko pehle khilane aayi hai?! Wo bhi pura ka pura cake utha kar?! Chal yahan se!" Prafulla almost yelled, losing her temper now.

"Ae, Kaki." Shiva called out to her, and she dropped her attempt to yank Raavi's arm this time. "Kyun chilla rahi hai? Teri tarah dhol nahi hun main. Sara nahi kha jaunga."

Prafulla made a face at that, and ran her hands over her neatly pleated saree that covered her bloated belly, glaring at Shiva with a frown on her face. This kid was really one of a devil!

Seeing her frowning face, Shiva decided now would be the perfect timing to taste the food ahead of her and irritate her a little more. He had to admit, he loved doing it.

He lifted a large piece off the cake, putting it in his widely parted mouth. Raavi's eyes grew bigger with excitement as he closed his mouth and chewed a couple of times. Without her notice, Prafulla too had picked a large piece of the dessert just after Shiva but he beat her to the silent competition of 'Who Ate It First'. Nevertheless, she forced the large chunk in her mouth too.

Then suddenly, Shiva threw something from his mouth onto the floor with a hard blow. Then coughed. As she saw him, Prafulla realised it was too late for she could feel her taste buds turning ugly already.

Raavi watched Shiva wide-eyed with confusion, following him as he ran to the kitchen and drank a cup full of milk.

"Kya hua, Shiva?" She asked innocently, peeping at him from the side while he drank. "Pasand nahi aaya tujhe?" That was impossible!

Shiva waited to finish his cup. And Raavi kept on staring him with big eyes all the while. Then he turned to her, placing his hands on his waist.

"Pasand?!" He coughed again. "Kaki ki behen ki beti! Tu sach mein mujhe marna chahti hai na?"

Raavi opened her mouth, however, couldn't receive the chance to speak anything.

"Pichhli baar tera sadaa hua soup pi liya to tera to roj ka hi ho gaya! Ye kya zeher bana ke layi hai iss baar?"

"Zeher nahi hai! Cake kehte hain ise, Shiva!" Raavi crossed her hands across her chest defensively. "Tera taste hi kharaab hai!"

"Ae, dobi! Mera taste nahi teri aankhein kharab hain!" He said, almost gritting his teeth. Someone please tell this girl to stop cooking!

"Soup mein chini daal deti hai! Cake mein namak bhar deti hai!" He informed her, making her look at him in surpise. "Bol raha hun tujhe, apna ilaaj karwa jaake! Abhi bhi time hai."

"Namak?" Raavi looked at him, flabbergasted. "Tu sach bol raha hai?" She was still shocked.

"Nahi, nahi. Main to masti kar raha tha. Tu khud khaa ke kyun nahi dekh leti?" He suddenly said with a sweet smile to her. And Raavi knew these words couldn't be trusted.

The cake was awful. Not just salty, it was burnt too with some hard-as-rock parts in the middle of it while the cream on it was somehow tasteless. Well, turns out, it did hurt to have a bite after all.

"Ae, Raavi!" Prafulla suddenly yelled from the aangan outside, capturing both their attention. From her voice, it seemed she had been coughing hard too.

"Bhaiii main bol rahi hun! Agar teri aisi harkatein chalu rahi na to koi ladka tujhse saadi nahi karega!" She yelled, then coughed again.

Raavi suddenly burst into a heartfelt laughter. Hands crossed against his chest, Shiva looked at her with narrowed eyes. This girl was a totally different case.

Erasing his confusion, she then yelled back to her Maasi Maa's direction in between her giggles.

"Chinta mat karo, Maasi Maa! Main usi ladke se shaadi karungi jise khana banana already aata ho! Ye sab specials to sirf aa logo ke liye hai!" She said, confidentlty, turning to Shiva again at the last phrase.

And he immediately burst into a run as soon as he saw her getting prepared to chase after him with the box of the remaining disaster clutched in her hands.

The memory effortlessly warmed his heart, the corners of his mouth curving on their own, while his eyes were fixated at nothing in particular, staring far ahead into memory with the taste of warmth spread on his relaxed features. And the taste of that awful cake somehow returning back to his tongue. Chipkali!

A drop of the overflowing soup in the bowl fell on his hands making him flinch all of a sudden, the hot liquid instantly bringing him back to reality. Shiva blowed on his hand, shaking it lightly in air occasionally. However, that occupied just a small part of his attention.

For the majority of it was covered with the idea of something else.
Well, now, he was a perfect candidate.

Shiva smiled again, still relishing the memory fondly, feeling proud of himself at the new thought added to it. Putting the first spoonful of the liquid inside his mouth, the feeling only increased in intensity. He was a good cook! Chipkali will have to accept that.

As he was enjoying the bowl of steaming liquid, something right in front of him caught the attention of his subconscious. And as the thought slipped into the more conscious part of his brain, Shiva unknowingly had paused everything he was doing and continued to stare at the view before him with absolute stillness. His mind blanked for a second. His heart stopping all of a sudden.

There, right before his buff house - in the peach and rosewood tinted house that had always stood there for as long as he could remember, the house he could associate with the name of his best friend - he saw a figure moving.

In the same house, the same floor he had played on a million times in his childhood, the same balcony she used to stand and talk to him while he stood in his own - where he currently was - he could see someone.

Someone, a young girl, stood there. Right before him. Her face not turned towards him. The long, dark hair loose behind her reaching almost upto her waist with slight curls at the bottom. The lilac dupatta she wore creased and resting on her right shoulder and tied into a small knot beside her left waist. A woman of a thin, delicate frame.

Shiva's heart was now speeding up with each second that passed between him and the familiarly unknown girl before him.

With grace, she bent down and picked something Shiva was too preoccupied to notice. She then turned, and Shiva's breath almost stuck in his throat. The girl, not taking notice of him, waved the object in her hand harshly in the air twice, before hanging it on the clothing wire that hung above her head.

She spread and shifted the already hung clothes on the wire with a calm yet busy demeanour. And it was not until then that she took notice of his presence a street across, right before her.

She stilled as her eyes met his. Shiva had already recognised her to be the woman who had helped him earlier the day with his shopping. And if that woman lived in this particular house, could it be that she was his...?

Except that by the looks of this woman, he could tell that she was married.

Flabbergasted, his eyes remained locked to hers for an amount of time that seemed like too short and like forever to him at the same time. Apart from that, he couldn't react. He couldn't move, and so couldn't she. The possibility of her being her and numerous other things following it was enough to stop his senses immediately as soon as the thought had dawned on him.

She suddenly flinched a bit. As if having suddenly been pulled out of something she was deeply dug into. Shiva still couldn't gather the courage to move, when he saw her turn her head towards the door behind her once, then back to him for a brief second, before lifting the bucket off the floor and disappearing into the door behind as if someone had called her from the inside.

The girl left, without another reaction, leaving Shiva staring at an empty balcony before him.

Could it really...be her?

He still couldn't finding himself being able to think well. The thought had exploded emotions within him, emotions of various kinds he could and couldn't name at the moment. It was as if something close yet unknown to him had just passed by him, touching him with it's silent fingers, leaving him staring at the empty column before him, blank and frozen.

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// Bold - Flashbacks //

To be continued.

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-Your Author
Sara