I woke up with a start. It was eight in the morning. O God ! I was late. Kabir had to be sent to school within half an hour. Breakfast had to be prepared. Oh ! And we had to go to Raizada Sadan at the earliest. Randheer was finally back. Panditji had been summoned today to select the first suitable date for Amrit's wedding. We'd have to begin the preparations today itself. There was so much to do. Thank God, there was no college today otherwise we would be in a fix.
And this burly man here was sleeping like a log without a care in the world ! O What do I do about him !
'Uday uth !', I shook him hard.
'Sone ne de na Vashma. Mainu bohot neend aa rahi hai', he mumbled in sleep.
'Oye uth. Bohot kaam hai aaj Uday'
'Oye tera pati itti door se safar karke lauta hai. Thoda reham kar merepe. Sone de mainu'
'Kabir nu school bhi te chhadna hai. Oye utth', shaking him harder.
'To roz kaunsa main jaata hoon. Tum dono mein se jisko mann ho chhod aao use school. Mainu sona hai. Haye Rabba kaisi votti di hai mainu. Chain se sone bhi nai deti !'
'Oye tenu koi fikar vikar hai ki nai. Teri behen da vyah hone waala hai ! Kitne kaam hai aaj. Aur tujhe sone ki padi hai. Oye uth. Aaj te tujhe sone nai milne wala. Utth'.
I dragged him out of bed with much difficulty and pushed him into the bathroom.
'Jaldi Taiyaar hoke aa. Je mere puttar ko tere karan school mein daant padi na to tu dekhna !'

I hurried to wake Kabir up, got him dressed and took him downstairs to feed him.
I wondered how come Amrit was still asleep !

Meanwhile my dear lazy husband came downstairs, as drowsy as ever and sat down beside Kabir.
'Uday tujhe neend kaise aa sakti hai. Mujhe to aisa lag raha kya kya nahi kardu. Meri Amrit ki shaadi hone wali hai ! Mujhe kitni kharidari karni hai ! Kitne logon se baat karni hai ! Kitne kaam karwane hai ! Ammi Abbu ko khat bhi likhna hai ! Uday ! UDAY ! O tu sun bhi raha hai ! Ya Allah ye to baithe baithe so gaya !
Aur ek iski behen ! Vo bhi kaise soyi hai ab tak ! Use neend bhi kaise aa rahi hai !
In dono bhai behen ne pagal kardena hai mujhe ek din.'
I got some water from the kitchen and sprinkled it on his face. Mann to kar raha tha saara paani iske muh pe maar doon. But a little water was doing the job pretty well. He flickered his eyes open and seeing me so jumpy he calmly made me sit on a chair and said,
'Meri sohni sohni votti. Meri gal sun. Pehle Panditji ne aake tareek nikal dene de. Uske baad mein jee bhar ke naach leyi. Abhi shaant hoja. Kal nahi hai Amru ki shaadi !
Je panditji ne 3-4 mahine baad ki tareek nikali to saari teri taiyaariyan dhari ki dhari reh jaani hai'
'O vo panditji ka gala daba dena hai maine ! Taareek to unko issi mahine ki nikalni padegi !'
'Haan haan fir te tenu panditji ke saaamne lejaane se pehle das baari sochna padega mainu. Main na shaadi ki taiyaariyaan bhi tenu ni karan doonga. Kahin kisi se kuch galti hui nai ki tune to sabnu maar hi daalna hai !'
'Oye tu kaun hota hai beech mein padne waala ? Tu ruk. Tujhse to itna kaam karwaaungi ki merese ulajhne se pehle das baar sochega agli baar. Aur Panditji ko to main dekh lungi. Shaadi to issi mahine hogi, tu dekhna'
'Acha ji. Jaisa tuhanu acha lage. Ab main aapke ladle puttar nu school chhad aaun ? Je isnu deri hui to bhi aapne meri hi khabar leni hai !', he laughed and led Kabir out.
I waved them a goodbye and then rushed upstairs to see Amrit. 
But Amrit was not in her room ! Where had she disappeared ? Even the bedsheet was lying on the bed, unfolded. The almirah was open. Some of the clothes Amrit had bought for Randheer were lying on the bed. Her diary was open on her desk. Ye ladki kar kya rahi thi !

I moved to her desk and found a note.
'Vashma, Main bahar jaa rahi hoon Randheer ke saath. Thodi der mein aa jaungi. Tu samhaal lena'

Yahaan main soch rahi hoon ki bechaari ko neend bhi kaise aayi hogi. So bhi paayi hogi ki nai. Ye to pehle hi faraar hai !
Aise kaise mujhe bina bataye chali gayi ! Haan matlab thik hai saath mein to nai leke jaati par utha to deti ! Ek din mein bhool gai mujhe. Aaane do isse. Batati hoon.
And why was this room so messy ! How unlike Amrit !
I was going downstairs thinking about the treason when Uday called out. He was back home.
'Vashma, Amru kithe hai ? Abhi tak uthi nai ?'
'Pata nahi', I replied rather rudely.
'Pata nahi matlab ? Ghar pe nai hai ?', he asked casually
'Nai Uday. Upar to nahi hai. Pata nahi subah subah kahan chali gayi'
'Oye yaad kar. Kuch kaam tha kya use ?'
'Use kaunsa koi kaam yaad rahega ab !', I muttered under my breath.
'Hein ?!'
'Nai.. nai to. Mujhe to aisa kuch yaad nahi hai. Aur dekh na kamra bhi kaise faila hua hai uska . Amrit to aisa kabhi nai karti. Uday mujhe na darr lag raha hai !'
'Oye kya bol rahi hai.'
'Tu chal mere saath'.
I dragged him upstairs, showed him the messy room and perking up the drama a bit more, I convinced him that something was definitely wrong. And my husband already started to panic.
'Amru kaha jayegi. Daftar gayi hogi... nai to college gayi hogi.. hai na ... usnu jaana tha na shayad... Hum phone karte hai na.. abhi pata chal jayega... Yahin kahin hogi...'
I was pitying him a bit. But it's ok. This was just for a few hours.'
He had already made a few calls. I tried to divert him.
'Uday, ho sakta hai Randheer se milne gayi hogi !', I pretended as if the idea had just struck me.
'O haan. Main bhi na. Ruk main abhi dekhke aata hoon !'. And then he stopped.
'Par vo aise subah subah akele thodi unke ghar chale jayegi !'
'Oye tu dekhke to aa', I pushed him out and heaved a sigh of relief.

There I could see, Chachaji coming towards our house equally panic-stricken. Evidently Randheer had not even left a note there.
'Puttar tune Randheer nu dekhiya ki ? Subah se nai hai ghar pe'
'Chachaji ! Amru vi nai hai ghar pe. Kithe gaye dono ! Amru da kamra bhi poora bikhara hua si. Mainu darr lag raha hai.'
I was having a hard time controlling my laughter. Poor Amrit and Randheer! Little did they know that their early morning get-away had stirred up a storm here !
'Puttar Randheer ki maa ka to ro-ro ke bura haal ho gaya hai', Chachaji exclaimed.
I hurried to Raizada Sadan to console Chachiji. Uday too followed behind Chachaji.

For about an hour, everyone was so anxious, they did not even register that Amrit and Randheer both were missing. They would probably be together. My naïve family !

After some time, Randheer leisurely walked in, oblivious of the trouble here and then stopped dead seeing his parents crying.
'Mummyji ? Bauji ?...', and before he could say another word, Chachiji ran and hugged him. But after a few minutes, breaking the hug, Chachiji and Chachaji started scolding him severely.
Meanwhile, seeing Randheer enter casually, Uday rushed outside for Amrit. Akkal aa gayi isko shayad.
Amrit was coming here, finding Prem Nivas locked. Seeing her, Uday first assured himself that she was completely alright but then understood the entire story. And seeing me giggling, he realised that I had been fooling around all this while.
'Vashma ! Merese kya dushmani hai tenu ! Kabhi to mainu kuch bata diya kar !'
Here, Amrit stood perplexed as Randheer was received a good dressing down from his parents. Bechaare ki muh itna sa ho gaya tha.

Amrit pulled me aside.
'Oye ! Maine tere vaaste note chhoda to tha. To yahan sab itne pareshaan kyun hai ?!'
'Hein ? Note ? Kaunsa note ? Mujhe kuch nai mila !', I completely denied receiving any such note.
'Bann mat. Jaan mooch ke natak kar rahi hai', she looked daggers at me. But then she pleaded,
'Bechaare Randheer ko kitni daant padd rahi hai ! Kuch kar na Vashma !'
'Thik hai thik hai. Tujhse main baad mein nipat-ti hoon', and I went over to pacify the angry parents. Uday and Amrit backed me. We persuaded them to forgive Randheer. Ab meri baat koi taal sakta hai bhala !
Randheer mouthed a thank you and replied with a grin.

'Ab tu chal mere saath', I impatiently dragged her home.
'Oye tujhe sharam nai aati ?!
'Kya hua ?!'
'Subah subah gayab ho gayi ! Pehle kuch bataya bhi nai ?! Aise chhup ke nikal gayi ! Mainu baat nai karni tere se', I crossed my arms grumpily.
She put her arms around me, ' Meri jaannnnnn ! Ab tu hi bata. Tujhe saath thodi leke jaati ?!'
'Le chalti na'
'Hein ?!
'Nai matlab main bhi ghoom leti tum log jahan bhi gaye the. Main pareshaan thodi karti tumlog ko.', 'Tu na poori jhalli hai', she said suppressing her laughter.
'Acha ye to bata gaye kahan the tum ?', I was so excited to get the details.
'Vo Sultanpur mein jo sarson ke khat hai na wahan gaye the hum', she beamed
'Aur ye socha kisne ?!' I asked questioningly.
'Maine ' she said timidly, turning red.
'Sabr to tujhme hai nai. Aur jhalli mujhe bolti hai ', I nudged her.
She filled me in with the details, earning aahs and oohs from me every now and then
'Par ye sab tay kab kiya tum dono ne ? Tumlog to bohot jaldi nikle hoge na ?',
' Vo to ...'
'Dekh sab sach sach bata. Ab telephone tumhare kamre to hai nai, ki raat ko baat karli aur subah chal diye. Aur tu jhalli hai par itni bhi nai ki bhor mein uske kamre mein tapak jaye. Aur ek baat bata tera kamra itna bikhra hua kyun tha ? Tujhe to bikhra hua kamra bilkul pasand nahi ?!'
'Tu aam kha na guthliya kyun gin rahi hai', she tried to turn away.
'Oye tu aakhen na chura. Idhar dekh', I turned her towards me, holding her chin.
Could she stop blushing for once and tell me !
'Vo maine na ek paper pe likhke unki balcony mein feink diya'
'Acha, aur use sapna aaya ki use bhor mein uthke tera ye feinka hua paper padhna hai ?!'
'Par vo Balcony mein hi to so rahe the na',
'Hein ?!'
'Jaane de na Vashma'
'Nai nai nai nai nai. Bata mujhe.'
Realising that there was no way out, she revealed that Randheer had come to meet her last night.
'Amrit !' I literally screamed, but she shushed me down.
'Kya kar rahi hai ?!'
'Randheer ?! Adhi raat ko tere kamre main aaya tha ?! Sacchi !? Oye tu ruk !', I dashed from there and Amrit tailing behind me, trying in vain to stop me.

As I entered Raizada Sadan, Amrit slowed down her pace behind me. Seeing us, Chachiji asked
'Vashma, kya hua tumhe ? Bohot khush lag rahi ho !'
Just then Randheer came out of a room with Chachaji
'Kuch nai Chachiji, mujhe apne "Jijaji" se kuch baat karni hai'
And probably seeing my face, Randheer realized what was coming. He swifted turned and hastened upstairs pretending he hadn't seen me. I hurried behind him.

'Randheer ! Kal raat ek ghuspaithiya aaya tha humare ghar. Aapne dekha tha kya use ?'
'Acha ! Sachi ? Main kaise dekhunga use ? Aap bhi na kamaal karti hai', he replied trying to get away.
He was climbing the stairs and I was just behind him. Pity I couldn't see his face !
'Bada shatir chor lag raha tha. Ek awaaz nai kari usne. Aur seedhe Amrit ke kamre mein gaya ! Pata hai !'
'Acha ? Amrit thik hai na ?'
'Hein ! Aap to subah se usike saath the. Haath pakadke poochha nai usse ? Ki 'Amrit aap thik to hai na ?'
He almost slipped on a step.
'Vashma, ki bole jaa rahi hai ?!' Amrit muttered in my ear. She was still behind me.
'Sun. Ye mere aur mere jijaji ke beech ki baat hai. Tu jaa yahan se.'

'Haan to. Poochha nai aapne ?'
'Kya aap bhi. Mujhe thodi pata tha koi chor... mera matlab koi aaya tha unke kamre mein. Kuch nuksaan to nai hua na?' he asked pretending to be concerned. 'Matlab usne kuch churaya to nai na ?'
We had reached the first floor. I rushed in front of him.
'Meri saheli ka chain-o-sabr churaya usne', I replied seriously.
'Ji ?!', trying but failing miserably to hide his blush.
'Aajkal to bhalai ka zamaana hi nai raha. Ek din darwaza khula reh gaya, munda seedhe kamre mein aa gaya. Tayaji hote na to dande se pitayi karte uski !' He was getting so embarrassed.
'Waise Amrit bata rahi thi, munda bada sohna tha. Kad-kaathi bhi kuch aapke jitni hi thi. Bas na darwaaze se aaya. Balcony se aata kya baat hoti. Nai ?!'
'Ye to soojhha hi nai mujhe!'
I suppressed a giggle. He realized what he had just blurted out.
'Kuch keh rahe the aap ?'
'Nai.. Nai to'
'Par agar koi aur munda tha Amrit ke kamre mein to fir Amrit aapse thodi vyaah karegi. Hai na. Main na chachiji ko mana kar deti hoon. Bekar mein panditji ko kyu bula rahi hai !
As I turned to leave, he stopped me
'Arey nai nai'
'To matlab aap maan rahe hain ki aap Amrit se milne aaye the kal raat ?!', I asked with a glint in my eyes.
Stroking the back of his head, he nodded.
'Amrit agli baar na balcony mein hi baithi rehna. Tab shayad inhe yaad aaye balcony se aana hai', I said tilting towards Amrit who was behind Randheer.
I was thoroughly enjoying myself seeing them both turn red.
'Subah tak ruk nahi sake aap ? Amrit kahi bhaagi thodi jaa rahi thi ?!'
'Ji ,
Dil to musalsal besabr rehta hai, bhala ise kaise samjhae
Jo chhup kar na mile unse, to fir kya aashiq kehlaye'
'Waah Waah. Mashallah !

Soon we heard chachiji call out, 'Baccho, neeche aa jao. Panditji aa gaye hai.'
I led the way and these adorable love-birds followed me, exchanging looks and blushing every now and then.
Uday was already sitting in the drawing room with Chachaji and Panditji.
'Panditji, taareekh issi mahine ki nikaliyega. Warna aapko pata nai aapke saath kya hoga', he said, shooting a look towards me.
'Ji Jajman ? Main kuch samjha nahi !'
'Ji Ji kuch nai aap taareekh nikaliye ji', he said smiling.
Three of us went and stood behind the diwaan.
'18 March kaisa rahega Jajman ? Koi samasya ?'
'Nai nai ji. Bohot badhiya hai', I butted in. 'Taiyaariyon ke liye bhi waqt hai. Sab ache se ho jaega ! Kyun thik hai na ?' I looked at everyone for their approval.
Instead they started laughing. Amrit and Randheer were smiling too.
'Puttar dulha dulhan se jyada to tu uchhal rahi hai !'
Ab Dulha Dulhan par to bharosa hai nai mujhe. Panditji door ki bhi taareekh nikalte to ye dono shayad kuch bolte nai. Aur paas ki nikalte to bhi bas andar hi andar khush ho jaate. Inki naiyya paar to maine hi lagaani hai !

Aloud I said, 'Chachaji, meri saheli ka vyaah hai. Sabse zyada to mujhe hi khush hona hai. Acha aap sab bataiye. 18 March to bilkul sahi rahega nahi ?!'
'Haan beta. Bilkul thik hai. Mere bacchon ka vyaah hai. Badi dhoom-dhaam se karenge hum !
Bohot intezaar kiya hai hum sab ne', Chachiji said joyfully.
Oh finally Amrit was getting was married. I was so so excited.
I turned towards Amrit and Randheer, but they were lost in their own world. I gave Amrit a slight push and stood back as if nothing had happened. She lost her balance and Randheer caught her.
Everyone looked at them and giggled. This brought them out of their trance and they straightened themselves. They were going red in embarrassment and I was having the time of my life.

I prodded Amrit on the elbow. 'Taareekh bohot jaldi ki nikal gayi na. Tu bole to ek-do mahine intezaar karlein ?'
'Oye, 15 din tujhe jaldi lagte hai ?'
'Oye hoye ! Dekho to. Kaise mare jaa rahi hai', she turned crimson. 'Tu kahe to kal kara du tera vyaah ?!'
'Tu bhi na Vashma'
'Acha chal ab. Boht saare kaam hai aaj.'
I pulled her out of the house while she waved a goodbye to Randheer.