Free Palestine 🇵🇸

•••

“Ranbir, this is heaven.” And Veer showed him the jar of Achaar sent by Jigyasa's friend.

“Veer, it's just Achaar.” It would be an understatement if I say Ranbir was tired of Veer's obsessing over Achaar rather than pretty girls.

“No! It's heaven! It tastes like elixir to me.” Veer uttered those words with emotions. But Ranbir only cringed.

“Veer, I will hit you with my hockey stick if you started your Achaar nonsense now,” Ranbir warned his best friend. The urge to smack his head was strong, but Ranbir controlled himself.

“What enmity do you have with my beloved Achaar?” Veer pursed his lips and put the jar against his chest lovingly. Ranbir hadn't seen something more cringe than that.

“It's just Achaar. You don't have to treat it like your lover.” Ranbir could have puked. That's the intensity of his repulsion towards Veer's weird obsession for Achaar.

“Ranbir, Achaar is my first love,” Veer uttered those words dramatically.

“And beating idiots is my hobby. Wanna try?” Ranbir flexed his muscles and successfully scared Veer who began coughing to hide his nervousness.

“No, thanks,” Veer replied and walked out of Ranbir's apartment.

✿ ✿ ✿

“Hello, Yash-” Veer had just started to say something but Yash immediately cut him off.

“Why are you calling me? I already gave you the maintenance cheque.”

“Yash, it's not about maintenance cheque,” Veer clarified, but before he could come to the point, Yash again interrupted him.

“I also paid for the window of your apartment that I broke while playing cricket with the kids last week.”

“It's not about the window damage either,” Veer again clarified but Yash again interrupted him.

“Then? If you want to come over breakfast tomorrow then it's a big no.”

Now Veer was annoyed by this chatterbox Yash who wasn't letting him complete his sentence. So he ended up shouting at him over the phone call, “Arey pagal, mala bolu de na! I called you to tell you that I liked the sample of Achaar Papad so ask the lady to send me more Achaar Papad.”

(Idiot, let me speak!)

Yash fell silent in embarrassment, “Oh... Wait! It's been only three days since I gave you the sample. You finished the entire jar in just three days?” But the embarrassment was soon replaced by disbelief.

“Yeah, it was delicious.” Yash could imagine Veer licking his lips while saying that sentence.

“Are you pregnant or something? How can you finish a jar in just three days?” Yash was astonished.

“With my mouth. Bye!” Veer replied annoyedly and cut the phone call.

✿ ✿ ✿

“Jigyasa, here's your neighbour's order.” Anokhi handed the bag of Achaar and Papad to Jigyasa.

“He will be returning from work anytime now. Why don't you meet him before you leave?” Jigyasa suggested while putting the bag on the dining table.

Anokhi liked the idea “Yeah, sure. Then can you make your special Ginger Tea for me?” Well, she liked the idea because she would get to enjoy Jigyasa's delicious Ginger Tea.

“Of course,” Jigyasa agreed with a smile.

“I also want some Ginger Tea,” Yash said while typing on his laptop.

Jigyasa's smile turned into a frown, “Yash, you already drank tea three times today.”

Yash had a lot of comebacks. But he knew better than making his wife angry. So he said, “Then, can I get a glass of water?”

Anokhi looked at their interaction with amusement from where she was sitting.

Jigyasa was about to enter the kitchen when all of them heard loud voices coming from the society compound.

“It seems like there is an argument happening downstairs,” said Jigyasa.

Yash shut down his laptop and put it aside, “It's Veer and Rastogi uncle's voice.”  And he ran downstairs.

Anokhi and Jigyasa went to the balcony to see what exactly was happening in the compound.

✿ ✿ ✿

Veer had just entered the society compound after parking his car when he encountered Satyavan Rastogi, who used to be the society's secretary before him. It was a huge blow to his ego when Veer won the seat of society's secretary by a hundred votes. And since then, the old man with a protruding belly never left a chance to pinpoint Veer's mistakes and incompetence. Many a times Veer felt the urge to pull out the gun hidden somewhere in his closet and put a bullet into the old man's empty skull.

“Rastogi uncle, don't you have anything else to do that you keep nagging me?” Veer asked annoyedly.

“I won't be nagging you if you were working properly as the society's secretary. The parking is a mess. The garden is a mess. The compound is a mess,” the old man was blabbering anything and everything.

Veer glared at his annoying face, “Are you kidding me? You are just holding a grudge against me because I defeated you in the election by whopping hundred votes.”

Mr Rastogi chuckled sarcastically, “Huh, your victory was a joke. You won because of your good looks. What else do you have? Nothing.”

Veer folded his arms, “I have degrees in Mathematics. Do you think I became a professor of Mathematics just because of my good looks? And, by the way, the society is in a much better condition than what it used to be in your tenure.”

Mr Rastogi lashed out immediately after hearing the last sentence, “Excuse me, I'm the best secretary this society ever had! Whoever agrees with me please raise your hand!”

Both, Veer and Rastogi looked around at the crowd of society members gathered around them. No one, literally no one, raised their hand. Mr Rastogi was flushed in embarrassment.

Veer smirked, “I think you got your answer, Rastogi uncle.”

Rastogi scuffed and walked away arrogantly. Veer felt like throwing his shoe at the annoying man. But his shoes were quite expensive to be thrown at that cheap man. The crowd dispersed and Veer headed to his wing.

✿ ✿ ✿

Anokhi and Jigyasa witnessed the fight from the balcony. Anokhi recognized the guy in blue shirt immediately. It was him who broke her Burnee in Ratnagiri. And apparently it was also him who wanted to buy Achaar Papad from her.

What a perfect opportunity to avenge her forty-year-old Achaar.

She quickly slipped away from the balcony as Jigyasa was invested in the drama going on in the compound. Anokhi went to the kitchen and picked the bottle of red chili powder. The fear of losing a customer didn't stop her from emptying the entire the bottle of chili powder into the jar of Achaar. She smiled with satisfaction instead.

“This is what you get for wasting my Nani's forty years of hard work and patience.”

•••

I'm already pitying Veer. 😔

•••

This morning my periods started. And the period cramps were a torture this time. I was feeling cold but I was sweating too. I ate little bit of Seviya Badana (don't know what it's called in English) and ended up puking. But I took painkiller and rested till afternoon. I hadn't experienced such periods for like more than a year so it was a bit shocking to me.

But then I decided to take a cold shower. Because it was afternoon so temperature was hot and I ASSUMED that I'll be okay after taking cold shower in November month. But as expected, I began sneezing non-stop. But got better after some time.

So it was an eventful Sunday for me. But honestly, the relief you feel after the cramps stop is priceless.