It was a fine morning. I and Vashma lay on the bed, facing each other, our heads propped up with our hands, chatting.
'Ab aage bhi toh bata!! Pehle rasoi mein kya kya banaaya tune??' , she asked impatiently.
'Maine chole-kulche banaaye, aur kalakand banaya!' I filled her in with the details eagerly. 'Aur... pudding bhi banayi maine!', I added with a pleased smile.
'Dhatt!', she said clapping her hand to her forehead. ' Fir toh saari mehnat gayi paani mein!'
With a tiny frown, I said, 'Aise kyun bol rahi hai. Bohot achhi bani thi sacchi!'
'Amrit! Pichhli baari tune pudding banaayi thi toh jala di thi. Sirf tere laad mein Uday aur Chachaji ne khaayi thi chaav se! Tune bekaar hi jokhim liya! Pehli rasoi thi, gadbad ho jaati toh?!', she rebuked me.
'Mainu pata hai khaayi toh tune aur Mummyji ne bhi thi', I replied whimsically. 'Aur darr toh mainu laga tha par mainu bada mann tha pudding banaake ka! Mummyji ne bataya tha Randheer nu kitni pasand thi! Ek baar koshish toh karni hi thi na!', I clarified. ' Aur tujhe na Randheer na chehra dekhna chaiye tha! Kinne hairan ho gaye the vo! Aur unhe kinni pasand bhi aayi pudding', I said with a wide-eyed smile. 'Agar koshish hi nahi karti toh vo waali khushi kaise aati unke chehre pe?'

With a shine in her eyes, Vashma said, 'Tujhe pata hai tu Randheer ke baare mein kaise baat karti hai?'
'Kaise...?', I asked, slightly holding my breath.
Softly she said, 'Jaise aasman mein taare unhone hi jade ho!'
A soft blush crept up on my face. 'Tu dekhti bhi unhe waise hi hai!', she added. I stole a glance at my ring and asked with a twinkle in my eyes, 'Uh..aur... vo mainu kaise dekhte hain ?'
'Oye hoye hoye hoye!', she exclaimed with a teasing smile.
'Bata na Vashma!', I pestered her a bit, with a curious yet embarrassed smile.
Holding my chin, she said, 'Jaise kayi sardiyon ke baad dhoop khili ho'
I looked down, turning crimson.
'Acha ab ye toh bata ki tujhe nek mein kya mila??', she asked eagerly.
'Ye dekh!', I said, flaunting my new watch before her.
'Ghadi!', she exclaimed. 'Waah Amrit!'
I beamed. Just then she grabbed my hand and pointing towards my ring exclaimed, 'Oye ye Randheer ne kab di?! Tu na aajkal kuch nahi batati mujhe!!', she complained noisily.
'Ek hi din toh hua hai Vashma! Zahir si baat hai ki abhi hi di hai!', I stated as a matter-of-fact. 'Tu bhi na!'
'Amrit tu toh ab chhoti chhoti baatein bhi nahi bataati!' Suddenly she grabbed my dupatta, pulling me with a jerk, and tracing my arm with a mischievous smile, she said, 'Mujhe toh aur bohot kuch poochhna tha teri 'shaadi-shuda' zindagi ke baare mein...'
'Vashma bakwas na kari mere naal!', I said glaring at her, completely flustered, freeing myself from her hold. I hit her with a pillow and turned to the other side. 
She crawled to me and put her arms around me. 'Acha baba maaf kar mujhe'

Just then Kabir scampered in with a paper and pencil in his hand. Ah, my little one was a true savior! We sat upright as he climbed up the bed.
'Kya laya hai bacche? Dikha na mujhe!', Vashma asked curiously, holding out her hand.
'Dikhaunga dikhaunga Ammi! Aap thodi der ruko!', he stopped her, holding up his hand cutely. Turning to me, he said,
'Mummy! Ab main jo jo poochhunga uska aap sacchi sacchi jawab doge! Thik hai?'
I looked at Vashma questioningly. She too shrugged with a doubtful smile.
With a confused smile, I replied, 'Thik hai. Poochh kya poochhna hai!'
'Fufaji ne poore din pyaar se baat ki aapse?
'Haan!', I said with a smile, though I had no idea why was he asking this. He ticked off something on his paper.
'Unhone aapko tang kiya?'
'Nahi'
He ticked off something yet again.
'Aapko almaari mein jagah mili?', he questioned.
'Haan'. Another tick. I and Vashma looked at each other with clueless smiles.
'Aapka kamra sundar hai?'
'Haan par bata toh kya hua?', I asked twitchily.
'Oho do mint ruko!', he said with puckered eyebrows. 'Fufaji ne aapko samay se khaana khilaaya?'
'Haan', I nodded still confused.
'Samay se sone diya?'
Vashma almost let out a laugh. I glowered at her, turning scarlet. She held up her finger to her lips, still suppressing her laugh. Meanwhile, I nodded timidly looking at Kabir. Not caring a bit about our reactions, he just ticked off one more thing from his list.

'Par ye sab poochh kyun raha hai ??', Vashma asked.
'Main toh bas dekh kar raha tha ki Fufaji inha da khyaal rakh rahe hain ki nahi!', he said adorably. 'Aap sab toh khaali khushi mana rahe ho ki Fufaji kinne ache hai. Kisinu toh dekhna padega na ki sahi mein ache hai ki bas aise hi!', he said in a matter-of-factly tone.
'Hayee! Mera puttar kitna samajhdaar hai!', she said pulled one of his cheeks affectionately.
I too looked at him with an impressed smile.
He wound his arms around Vashma with a self-satisfied smile. 'Sirf samajhdaar nahi, sabse samajhdaar!'
'Ha ha sabse samajhdaar!', she obliged with a chuckle.

In the meantime, I picked up the piece of paper that had kept him engaged all this while.
It had only words in his broken handwriting and ticks beside them, 'Baatein, almaari, kamra, khaana, sona'
My small baby had literally made a list?! He was literally turning into a tiny version of Veerji.
I almost leapt over and hugged them both tightly.
'Ki kar rahi ho tussi?! Main chap jaunga naaa!', he complained loud and cute.
'Chap jayega to chap jayega!', I said adamantly. 'Itta pyaara hone ki na yehi saza hai!'
We rocked him about a bit in the embrace.
'Meri toh kisinu fikar hi nahi hai!', he protested again and we laughed him off.

*

I got dressed in a blaze orange organza saree with a crisp white blouse paired with it and braided my hair. As I moved downstairs, I found it bustling with activity. Kabir was playing around with his tiny hockey-stick , with Iqbal Chachaji chasing him. 'Kabir! Nai bacche kuch gir jayega, kuch toot jaayega! Aise mat bhaago!'
At the foot of the stairs, I caught Chachaji's eye and greeted him with a nod, which he reciprocated.
Kabir impatiently replied, 'Nai naanu!! Inne din waise hi inne log bhare rehnde ne itthe! Mainu khelne hi nahi diya kisine! Bohot ho gaya, khelna hai mainu!! Koi nai rokega mainu aaj!!'
'Kabir fufaji aane waale hai na! Aisa mat karo! Bas kuch der aur, fir jee bharke khelna!', Chachaji pleaded again, still trailing behind him, huffing and puffing, trying to catch him.
'Naanajaan voh koi pehli baar thode hi aa rahe hain! Roz hi toh aate hain!', Kabir argued sweetly.
I slowly held my forehead, with an embarrassed smile.
With a quick look at me, Chachaji turned to Kabir again and said, 'Haan bhai roz aate hain. Par shaadi ke baad toh pehli baar aa raha hai na! Ab bas aur behes nahi!' Finally getting a hold on him, Chachaji made him sit a takht and told him off. ' Ab chup chaap yaheen baithoge tum! Bilkul Vashma ki tarah zid karte ho!'
'Ammi ka beta hoon toh unhi ki tarah zid karunga na!!', he said with a half tooth-less grin. Then suddenly standing up on the takht, he said, 'Naanu aapki ye pagdi badi changi, mainu bhi laa do!'
Fondly caressing his face, Chachaji chuckled, 'Tumhe pagdi laa toh doon, par meri pagdi mein toh tumhara poora sar ghus jaayega. Bohot badi hai na! Aur fir tumhare kapdo ke saath achi bhi nahi lagegi!', he added in a serious tone.
'Acha? Nai nai agar achi nahi lagegi toh mainu nahi pehen-ni!', he said, hands on his hips.
Seeing that Kabir was keeping Chachaji sucessfully busy, I walked past them over to the door which led to the dining area and thus the kitchen.

Mogar bhua stopped me right outside the kitchen. 'Oye kudiye? Aethe kitthe?!'
Casually I said, 'Bhuaji, madad kar deti hoon na aaplogon ki nashta banaane mein!'
'Hum teen log kam hai tere gharwaale ke vaaste khaana banaane layi?', she retorted with raised eyebrows.
Coming out of the kitchen Zaida Chachiji added, 'Ya ek hi din mein tera miyaan kisike aur ke haath ke khaana nahi khaayega ?'
Completely flustered, I promptly said 'Aisa kuch nahi hai main toh bas –'
'Main toh, main toh kuch nahi!', Bhuaji said. 'Aaj koi kaam nahi hai tera itthe. Chal, bahar ja!'
Meanwhile Chachaji came in eagerly, 'Aur kitni der lagegi khaana taiyaar hone mein? Jo tum sab itna waqt laga rahe ho na - Khana lajawaab hona chaahiye, main keh de raha hoon!
'Amrit!', Chachiji turned to me. 'Tu inko samhaal-le, bada ehsaan hoga humpe! Subah se chauthi baar rasoi mein aa chuke hain!'
'Arey mera damaad aa raha hai bhai! Khatirdaari mein koi kami nahi rehni chahiye!', Chachaji replied enthusiastically.
'Haan toh hume aati hai khaatiri karni, aap zara shaant rahiye!', Chachiji responded.
'Main shaant rahu? Arey tum dono thodi furti laao kaam mein! Aur bahar baithak bhi koi sawaar do!', Chachaji exclaimed. 'Badi mushkil se Kabir ko behla-fusla ko ek jagah baithaaya hai, par vo bhi bhaag gaya upar. Koi meri sunta hi nahi hai!', he ranted.
Taking me by my arm Mogar bhua said, 'Tainu kaam chaiye tha. Lae mil gaya kaam! Ja zara baithak dekhle theek hai ki nahi. Warna bhaijaan ne hume dum nahi lene dena hai!'
I nodded with a suppressed laugh.

In the baithak, everything was neatly arranged. I looked around if I could find something to put in order. A vase near the telephone looked a bit misplaced. Finding nothing else to do, I decided to rather keep it on the table beside the takht.
I carried it to its destination and started putting in the flowers with a smile. I should stop smiling to myself so much. Everyone would think I'm crazy. But I really couldn't help it.
Out of nowhere Randheer whispered, 'Good morning Amrit!', making me turn around in a flash. There he stood, towering over me with a big wide smile on his face.
He had given me a jolt yet again – his favourite occupation these days.
Gently taking my hand, and keeping it over his heart, he said, 'Ab dil sahi jagah par hai!'
I lowered my eyes with my cheeks reddening.
'Zara jaldi nahi aa gaye aap?', I said, looking up again, with a mischievous glint in my eyes.
'Jo der aayein to sanam ke rooth jaane ka dar sataata hai
paband-e-waqt hona aashiqon ko khoob suhaata hai!', he said with a smirk.
'Ab tak toh naashta bhi bana', I said in a matter-of-factly tone.
'Aji naashte ki kisko fikr hai. Main toh aapko lene aaya hoon... Aap kahein toh yoon hi le chalu aapko. Kisiko pata bhi nahi chalega main kab aaya aur... kab aapko le gaya!', he said with a wide-eyed smile. He had this ability to make me bereft of speech and this was not fair.
Trying to redeem myself, I replied, 'Yahan sab aapke liye palke bichaaye baithe hain aur aap-'
'Zara ye bhi ginwa dijiye ki 'kaun kaun' mere liye palke bichhaaye baitha hai?' His eyes glinted as he leaned over a bit more towards me. I leaned further behind, supporting myself by the edge of the table, my heart rate picking up.

Just then Kabir came hurrying down the stairs, stopping dead in his tracks, capturing our attention. And we, like idiots, did not even move.
After a moment of consideration, he scuttled across the baithak, climbed the takht and pecked me on my cheek.
'Buddhu Raisahab!', he smacked Randheer gently on his head and ran away.
Randheer was struck dumb for a while and I burst out laughing, resting my forehead against his chest.
He too chuckled after a while. 'Aap bhi has lijiye mujhpar!'

Behind us we heard Chachiji remark, 'Maana ki ishq aur mushq chupaaye nahi chhupta-'

Randheer staggered back, in an attempt to withdraw and fell down, getting disbalanced. Chachiji chortled behind and continued, 'Par bande ko koshish zaroor karni chaiye thodi si, chhupaane ki!' Absolutely embarassed, I looked behind for a moment and turned back promptly, trying hard to keep up a sober face. 

Getting up clumsily, Randheer joined his hands and wished her awkwardly, 'Satsrikaal chachiji'
'Satsriaakal satsriakaal!', she greeted back with a chuckle. 'Baitho!'
He was dressed in a coffee brown shirt paired with a honey-colored waistcoat and trousers. My handsome, handsome husband.
She offered him a tumbler of water. 
Turning to me, smiling for a while, and suppressing his smile the very next second, he sat down on a takht and gulped down the water in one go.
'Kaise ho? Ghar par sab kaise hain?', she asked him.
'Ji chachiji sab ache hain!', he replied, still awkward. I was just trying to stifle my giggle.
'Aa gaye beta!', Chachaji greeted him enthusiastically. He got up with a start and Chachaji embraced him. 'Ye shaadi byaah ke pher mein humaari tumhaari toh ache se baat hi nahi hui! Koi baat nahi aaj dono sasur-damaad baithke itminaan se baatein karenge! Thik hai?'
'Ji ji zaroor!', Randheer said with a courteous smile. Both of them sat facing each other on the takhts. I too took a seat beside Randheer. An advantage of being banished from the kitchen.
'Amrit ne bataya mujhe tumhaare 'sampaadak ke naam khat' waale naye column ke baare mein. Badi achi tarkeeb hai waakayi!', he said with an impressed smile.
'Chachaji, Amrit ne bilkul galat bataya hai aapko!', he said, shooting me a look.
'Haan tarqeeb bhale hi meri ho, par column par hum dono hi kaam kar rahe hai. Ise kisi bhi surat mein meri column toh nahi kaha jaa sakta!'
I looked down and smiled. Just him being him.
He continued, 'Aur mera ye maan-na hai ki press mein ye taqat hai ki logon tak nayi baatein, nayi soch, nayi vichaar laa sake to ye bhi takaat hai ki logon ki musibatein, unki pareshaaniyan sahi kaanon tak pohoncha sake! Isse logon ki mushkilon ka hal bhi hoga aur baaki log is baare mein hoshiyaar bhi ho jaayenge.
'Saath hi saath, logon ke ache vichaar bhi duniya mein baantein jaane chaahiye. Issi se toh samaaj ki tarrakki hogi!', I added.
Randheer nodded. Chachaji too smiled in affirmation. 'Bilkul!'
We conversed for some time about worldly affairs. There was a time, when Bauji and Chachaji sat in the baithak of Om niwas or Baig Manzil, having these conversations. I and Vashma - we just stood and listened. We never were a part of the conversation, ever. I thought, we would never be either. But to sit here with Chachaji and Randheer and have a meaningful conversation about news and the world, was a completely different feeling. Now these conversations were common in office obviously - in college too for that matter. But this still was very different.

After some time, Chachiji and Mogar bhua came in. Turning towards the kitchen door, I wondered where Vashma was.

Just then we heard a commotion outside the house. Chachaji started to get up when Randheer stopped him. 'Aap thehariye, main dekhta hoon'
He had only stood up when a swarm of men burst in our house, chattering. After a moment I realized it was Veerji's playmates, or rather his entire team. Ashwin bhai, Amardeep bhai, Ikraam bhai, Pawan bhaiya, Manjeet bhai, Nirmal bhaiya, Mir Bhaijaan, Gaurang Bhaiya – everyone. The last person closed the main door behind them.

Chachiji and Mogar Bhua were the nearest to the door. And one by one they entered each one wishing them 'Satsrikaal chachiji, satsrikaal buaji!' sweetly with big wide grins.
'Satsrikaal chachaji', Ashwin bhai and Gaurang bhai approached Chachaji.
'Kaisi ho Amrit! Sab khairiyat?', Mir bhai came up to me, Amardeep bhai, following him.
'Parjaayiji kitthe hain?', Amardeep bhaiya asked, looking around.
Nirmal bhaiya rushed and embraced a bewildered Randheer, 'Rai Sahab! Kaise hain janaab'
Kabir rushed downstairs hearing the ruckus. 'Aap sab kab aaye??!'
He ran into Manjeet bhai's arms.
'Aaye shabaashe!', he exclaimed, lifting him up. 'Abhi abhi aaye puttar!'
Chachaji and I had recognized them. Even Chachiji had smile on her face while greeting them. But Mogar bhua looked blankly at them, absolutely clueless about the chaos they had brought in.
'Oye ruko ruko ruko. Aethe kitthe chale aa rahe ho saare? Satsriakaal Satriakaal ki jhadi laga di hai! Hein? Ho kaun? Kisnu milna hai?!'
'Oh Buaji tussi saanu pichaaneya nai? Hein?', Amandeep bhaiya remarked, confused.
That's when Veerji stepped down from the stairs. 'Oye ki ho raha hai itthe?', asked a befuddled Uday Veerji. None of them paid him the least bit of attention.
'Inmein se aadhon ko toh vyaah mein dekha tha maine!', Mogar bhua muttered, looking at each of them carefully with puckered eyebrows. 'Oh nahi nahi saare saare dekhe dekhe lag rahe hai mainu!', she said after a moment's thought. 
 Mogar bhua hastened to Veerji's side. 'Ye hai kaun saare?'
'Meri vaanar-sena', Veerji said, still perplexed. 'Par ye sab aethe ?!'
Just then Vashma walked out of the kitchen with a big tray full of glasses. 'Satsrikaal ji!', she greeted them with bright smile.
'Satsriakaal parjaayiji!', they greeted back with broad smiles. 
Oh so she knew.
Veerji rushed to her side and muttered, 'Tainu pata si ki ae saaare aaune waale si?'
Before she could reply, Mir Bhai spoke up courteously, 'Maine kal raat hi Bhabhijaan ko telephone par iktilaah kar diya tha!'
Placing an arm on Pawan Bhai's shoulder, Nirmal bhaiya remarked with a chuckle, 'Maine hi kahan tha Mir nu ki parjaaiyiji nu khabar dede. Aise hi dhamak jaate to Uday nu parjaayiji se dande nahi pad jaane the?!'
They turned to each other and slapped each others hands.
Vashma turned to Veerji with murderous look. Horrified, Veerji exclaimed, 'Oh nai nai nai maine kuch nahi kaha, ye log toh-'
Mir Bhaijaan chimed in, 'Bhabhijaan aap inki baaton ko tawajjoh na dein. Inki toh aadat hai mazaak karne ki!' and glared at Nirmal and Pawan bhai.
She turned her face away from Veerji with a hmph and moved about offering them all a glass of water each.

The noise outside had still not subsided. Mogar bhua came to Chachaji and asked, 'Darwaaze ke bahar abhi bhi kuch awaazein aa rahi hai na bhaijaan?!'
'Poori hockey team yahaa ikattha hui hai! Saare mohaale mein khabar ho gayi hogi!' Thoda shorgul toh hona hi hai na Mogar!'
Bhuaji nodded thoughtfully. 'Ae toh ji tussi thik keh rahe ho'

Meanwhile Amardeep Bhai cried out, 'Oh Uday yaar! Milaaya hi nahi tune Behnoi Sahab se hume toh! Kaam toh saare karaaliye vyaah mein'
Veerji tried to reply but Pawan Bhai retorted, 'Tum saare toh ho hi nikamme! Main aur Nirmal toh khud hi aake mil liye the!'
Randheer smiled unsurely as everyone else came and shook his hands hard and introduced themselves, some embraced him. 
'Ohji main Amardeep Sandhu!': 'Main Mir Maqbool'; 'Janaab main Manjeet Anand! Satsriakaal' 'Ji main Gaurang Desai!'; and so on. After meeting him, they all moved over to my side with a spree of 'Kaisi hai Amru?' 'Sab thik?' 'Padhai wadhai sab changi chal rahi hai?' 'Sasural mein sab changa?' and so forth. 

Last one to come up to him was Ikraam Bhaijaan. He held him by his shoulder firmly. 'Toh aap hain humaare behnoi sahab!'
Dekhiye! Behn vyaahi hai aapse humne. Agar hume kuch ulte siddha sunne ko mila toh yaad rakhiyega! Hume mustande bulaane ki bhi lod nahi hai ji!', he said in a resolute tone.
I and Vashma exchanged wide eyed. amused smiles. 
Randheer threw me a confused glance and returned him a perplexed smile.
Panic stricken, Veerji sprinted to Ikraam bhai's side and promptly said, 'Iski baat pe dhyaan mat dijiye Raisahab, ye - ye kuch bhi bol deta hai'. He gave Randheer an awkward smile, glared at Ikraam Bhai and led him away. 

Manjeet Bhai stroked Kabir's head fondly and asked, 'Bade din se practice pe nahi aaya bacche? Tere saath khele bina toh mann hi nahi lagta practice mein!'
Nirmal bhaiya added, 'Haan bhai, tu thodi housalaafzai karega, stand mein khade hoke chilaayega nahi toh josh kaise aayega hum-mein? Haan?'
Kabir clapped a hand to his head and replied, 'Shaadi waale ghar mein inne kaam hote hain na! Kuch nahi pata aapko!'
All of them let out a laugh, 'Haan bhai Kabir nu hi toh saare kaam karne hai!'
'Balbir kahin dikhaayi nahi de rahe?', Chachaji asked.
'Ohji unko toh bataya hi nahi humne! Class thodi lagaani hai yahaan!', Nirmal Bhaiya responded with a chuckle. 'Kaptaan sahab ko maidan tak hi rehne dein!'
'Isiliye main tum saareyaan de 'nyote' da intezaar nahi kitta!', came Balbir Bhai's voice from the door. He had big bags in his hands.

'Kaun hai bhai mukhbeer yahaan!', Pawan Bhai demanded. 'Kisne bataya inko? Hein?'
'Aur kaun batayega ? Ye hain na Mir ! Isine sara sabkuch bataya hona hai!', Manjeet Bhai answered.
Balbir bhai greeted us all, glared at his mates and moved over the Vashma.
'Parjaiji! Ye lo ji insab ke khaane peene ke intezaam warna thodi der mein inhone sar kha jaana hai tuhaada! Inke chakkar mein bhala aap kyun pareshaan ho!', he said politely.
Iski koi zaroorat nahi thi bhaiya. Maine saare intezaam kar rakhe hai!', she replied respectfully.
Uday darted to his side, 'Acha hua ji tussi aa gaye! Maine toh pagal hi ho jaana tha ji itthe!'

Leaning a bit towards me, Randheer asked with an unsure chuckle, 'Ye kya ho raha hai Amrit?!'
Suppressing a giggle I said, 'Oodham!
Par... inke liye badi aam si baat hai!'
He looked at me with an amused smile and straightened again.

They chatted, made noise, babbled stupid remarks on each other, joked with Kabir, astonished Randheer some more, calmed down a bit at Balbir Bhai's one look, broke out into laughter every now and then, petted me, trifled a bit with Vashma with their 'Parjaayiji Parjaayiji' rattle, and annoyed Bhuaji.

'Parjaayiji ab toh badi bhook lag gayi ji!', Amandeep Bhai exclaimed impatiently.
'Arey bhaiya bheetar chaliye! Chaliye main naashta lagaati hoon!' , Vashma said eagerly,
'Aaiye sab ikatthe baithte hain naashta karne!', Chachaji said leading them inside.
'Chachaji aapko toh hum andar leke chalte hain, aap chaliye!', Nirmal Bhaiya said with a chortle.
I and Vashma took out mats to spread them, but they took the mats from our hands and distributed them amongst themselves. Everyone spread out one mat for themselves and sat down with a big wide grin.
Veerji rushed upstairs to get thaalis and bowls for everyone. Randheer offered to help but the offer was politely declined by us. Chachiji rather ordered him to sit down right then. And my husband went ahead took a seat beside Ikraam Bhai deliberately. I chuckled. By the end the meal they'd be laughing together I knew.

Mogar bhua urgently whispered to me, 'Ab samajh aaya mainu ki Vashma ne inne saare naashta ki taiyaari kis vaaste kari thi!'
I nodded in affirmation. I turned towards our seated guests and found my husband staring at me. I widened my eyes and gestured him to look away. He just shrugged a bit with a dreamy smile. I looked away and blushed hard. Bhuaji prodded me, 'Chal Amrit! Kahan dhyaan hai?!'
'Ji ji chaliye!', I said sheepishly.

Mogar Bhua, Chachiji, Vashma, I and Veerji served them all one by one.
'Parjaayiji poori itthe!', someone cried out.
'Parjaayiji halwa!', someone asked. Someone was cracking a joke, someone was cackling with laughter. Someone was narrating some incident. It was all so chaotic yet so delightful! And we hurried back and forth from the kitchen all the time.
'Aha bhabhijaan Lajawaab! Kya khaana banaati hain aap!', Mir bhai exclaimed.
'Aaplog thode thode dino mein aate rahiye! Mere rasoi aapka intezaar karegi!', Vashma replied with a pleased smile.
'Ye Uday hi nalaayak hai, kabhi yaad hi nahi karta humko!', Nirmal Bhaiya complained.

With a lost look, Veerji turned towards him.
'Arey iske bolne ka intezaar kyun karna hai! Parjaayiji aap fikar na karein hum aate rahenge!', Amandeep Bhai reassured her.
'Ye hui na ji baat!', Vashma responded.

As I knelt down to serve Randheer, he winked at me.
I gasped a bit and looked around. Thankfully no one had noticed. I glared at him with an embarrassed smile and escaped.

kahan ye khel seekha?
nazar se khelte ho?
zubaan chup hai tumhaari
magar kuch bolte ho!

Ye kartab hai niraale
kyun mere dil ko uchhale
mera dil udta jaaye!
Kyun utthe dil chhod aaye?
kyun utthe dil chhod aaye?

After breakfast, they didn't stay for long. At about half past nine, they all stood up to leave. They touched Chachaji, Chachiji and Bhuaji's feet.
'Agli baari aise toofan banke na aana!', Bhuaji told them off with a sugar-dripping sarcastic smile.
'Bichaari bhuaji kit oh jaan hi nikaaldi thi hum sab ne!', Mir Bhaijaan replied with a chuckle.
'Oye kaun bichaari? Main koi bichaari wichaari hoon. Aur koi jaan shaan nahi nikli thi meri! Woh toh bas- '
'Woh toh bas dil ka daura padne waala tha inhe', Vashma muttered to me, under her breath, suppressing a laugh. I looked around with at her with a similar expression.
'Kuch kehya tune?', Mogar bhua asked Vashma.
'Nai nai bhuaji. Maine toh kuch nahi kaha!', she said innocently.
'Haan haan, hum khat bhejke aayenge bhuaji!', Pawan bhaiya replied sheepishly.
All of us chuckled.
'Acha ji! Aate hain hum!', Balbir Bhai said, looking at them all meaningfully.
All of them left with a wave of goodbye.

'Chachaji fir hum bhi nikalte hain!', Randheer said politely.
'Haan beta zaroor zaroor.
Hum bhi bas ek ghante mein hawai adde ke liye niklenge', Chachaji said.
Bringing an arm around both me and Vashma, he said, 'Wahan toh dil hi nahi lagta humaara!'

Chachiji added, 'Abrar toh apne kaamon mein mashroof rehta hai! Hum miyan biwi hi reh gaye hai ek doosre ke saath! Tum dono toh yoon udd gayi chidiya ki tarah!'
With a chuckle Chachaji said, 'Tum dono na apne apne chide lekar chalo wapas humaare saath!'
I and Vashma exchanged smiles with our respective husbands.
With hands on his hips, Kabir said, 'Ek chidiya ka chhota sa baccha bhi hai na!'
'Usko toh hum yoon le jaayenge! Chidiya chale ya nahi!', Chachiji said, bending down to him and flicking his cheek gently.
He hurried and wrapped his arms around Vashma, 'Mainu nahi jaana kahin! Kahin nahi jaana! Mummy bhi chali gayi! Ammi ke paas se bhi le jaaoge! Mainu nahi jaana! Kahin bhi nahi! Kabhi bhi nahi!', he said adamantly, burying his face.
I slightly drooped my shoulders with a sigh.
'Kabir! Nahi leke jaa raha tujhe koi kahin nahi le raha', Vashma pacified him tenderly.
'Pakki baat?', he asked peeking out.
'Haan haan pakki baat', she said stroking his head.
'Phir theek hai', he said, loosening his hold around her.

We were about to leave when Vashma went running into the kitchen and returned with a steel tiffin.
'Ye aapke liye!', she said. 'Shaahi tukde! Aapne ache se khaaye hi nahi! Par maine dekha tha aapko pasand aaye the!'
Randheer took it with a gracious smile and bowed a bit. 'Shukriya!'
I seized the tiffin from his hands and said haughtily, 'Ye mere liye hai. Shukriya'
He gave me an amused smile and then turned back to everyone.
'Aaate hain hum!', he said sweetly. They waved us goodbye.