So, before I start with the update I want to dedicate this part to my lovely friend on India Forums, Gita, or as she is popularly known, mem1. She was generous enough to write an entire section about my writing on her brilliant thread 'Musings of Arnav Singh Raizada' and this dedication is my little way to express my gratitude for all this free publicity :) Love you dear :)
The Raizada Men!
“Okay Mr. Raizada, I understand your
frustration but I’d expect a well educated and proficient man like you to
respect the professional decorum of my work place.” Dr. Sinha said in a calm
voice while looking through the forms that Mrs. Raizada had filled as per the
hospital requirements, not even sparing him a single look. And to the credit of
the said Mr. Raizada, he had the decency to look visibly embarrassed at his
previous conduct. He mumbled a hasty apology that to his further annoyance went
unacknowledged.
“Okay, so Mrs. Raizada your form says that you
are twenty-three and that you have been married for almost a year now.” Dr.
Sinha looked directly at Payal.
“Ji.” she replied softly.
“Hmm! Now I need to ask some questions from you
before I proceed with the second level of diagnosis. And these questions are of
an intimate nature, so are you comfortable with your husband here or would you
prefer some privacy.” Payal looked a little unsure at this and before she could
make her mind her husband spoke for her,
“Ofcourse I’ll stay.” Dr. Sinha wondered if she
had imagined the hint of panic and vulnerability in his voice.
“Well, it is not your choice to make Mr.
Raizada.”
“Ji, I want him to stay.” Payal said trying to
defuse the tension that seemed to surround the trio. And her husband did seem a
bit relaxed after that.
“Sure.” Dr. Sinha said , her voice still calm,
cold and devoid of any sort of emotion. Payal felt a little intimidated by her.
“So, Mrs. Raizada is your menstrual cycle
regular?”
“Ji.” Payal replied in a small voice, she knew
that they were seeing a gynecologist and these were the most obvious sort of
questions to expect and yet she couldn’t help but feel a little uncomfortable.
“Do you keep track of the dates of your cycle?”
and at her patient’s slight nod she further continued, “when did you get your
last period?”
“More than three weeks ago.”
“So you are expecting your next cycle somewhere
around this or the next week? I see. Do you face any physical discomfort during
or around your cycle?” Dr. Sinha asked while taking notes,
“Nothing severe, just slight cramps in my
abdomen on the first day.” Payal started feeling a little at ease,
probably owing it to her doctor’s professionalism.
“Anything major in the past?” the Dr. Krishna
asked.
“No.”
“Okay, so in the initial stages of your
marriage were you on any kind of contraceptive medication?” Payal looked a
little confused and so the doctor clarified, “birth-control pills?”
“Yes, I used Sronyx for about six months, but I
haven’t been taking any medication for the last four-five months. Doctor do you
think that these birth control medicines could have had done some permanent
damage to…” Payal couldn’t finish, unable to continue for the fear of actually
getting an answer.
“See Mrs. Raizada we wouldn’t know anything
unless we run some tests but yes continual intake of birth control pills is not
a very safe method and one with long-term side-effects. Anyway, no need to
panic for now for if taken under correct guidance they are also one of the
simpler ways to avoid pregnancy and there are many couples who actually prefer
pills to other methods.” she tried to comfort her patient while making her
aware of the harsh but no less real medical facts. This had always been Dr.
Krishna Sinha’s way, striking perfect balance between sugar-coating and an
almost robotic insensitivity.
Aakash tried to soothe his wife, lightly
patting her shoulders, while silent sobs rocked her frame despite all her
efforts to control them. Their doctor gave them a much required moment before
continuing further,
“Look Mrs. Raizada we should not arrive at any
conclusion for now, lets just wait until your tests are done. Please don’t
worry sometimes these things take a little more time than normal and even if there
is some complication we will try our best to find a way around it.” she smiled
at Payal and received a forced teary one in return. She gave Aakash a list of
prescribed tests as they stood up and he shook her hand thanking her, but they
were halted in their process of leaving as Dr. Sinha further added,
“Oh Mr. Raizada, here are some prescribed tests
for you as well. Please get these done as soon as possible.”
Aakash looked at the prescription, a look of bafflement on his face, while his wife’s face mirrored the same.
“Well doctor I think there is some sort of
misunderstanding, our appointment concerns my wife only.”
“Oh! Okay so have you been seeing some other
doctor?”
“About What?” a look of utter bewilderment
crossed his face.
“About this… this right here.” Doctor Sinha
said showing him the prescription still in her hand, before adding further,
“Mr. Raizada, you do realize that there is a
50% likelihood of you being the physically inadequate one, right?” the
frustration finally showed on her face following his ridiculous behavior.
Aakash knew better than to argue at this point. He quietly took the papers from
her hands and they were about to leave when once again Dr. Krishna’s voice
stopped them.
“Oh! Also I have mentioned a site on the
prescription, I’d request you to visit the site for you can find some brilliant advice on dietary and other such factors that
effect fertility. And one last question, now though many people are oblivious
to this but many a times, inability to reach mutual climax could affect
fertility. Now in case of men it is relatively easier to both attain and
decipher it, but female sexuality is relatively much complicated. So I hope both
of you do share a mutually satisfying physical relationship?” she looked at the
couple questioningly while they stared at each other for a moment before
stuttering their answer,
“Yes.” claimed Aakash.
“Ji.” his wife followed the suit.
While they left
the cabin, Dr. Krishna Sinha was left wondering if she saw a look of confusion
in their eyes for just a second there…
_______________________________________
_______________________________________
“Good Lord! Is that Arnav Singh Raizada?”
Samay’s eyes zeroed on the tall, handsome man sitting opposite his boss,
continuously staring in their direction. His colleague who had just
straightened herself and was about to thank him for breaking her fall stood
frozen there for a moment as she heard his excited whisper. Finally collecting
herself she followed Samay’s gaze, hoping against hope that just maybe… just
maybe Samay had made some mistake… And yet the next moment she found herself
staring into a pair of deep brown eyes, glowing… glowing with something that…
that gave way to a not very comfortable, fluttering in her stomach.
“I don’t know if you know this but he is like
the LeBron James of the Indian fashion industry.” Samay whispered again. But
all his comments and compliments fell on deaf ears for Khushi stared
unblinkingly as her lover stood up and straightened his coat. She knew that
look… it spelled disastrous trouble for her. Oblivious to all else, she saw her
tormentor take measured steps in her direction. She had seen that graceful walk
enough number of times to know that in that instant he was the embodiment of
Devil himself. Her breath got stuck somewhere in her throat as her husband
stood less than a foot from her.
“Are you alright?” he asked her in a gentle voice. Nothing out of
normal about his question or his tone, it seemed just a gentlemanly gesture and yet Khushi knew better than to
override her instincts that screamed at her to just disappear. Arnav Singh
Raizada the passionate lover and the possessive husband not reacting to the
sight of his Khushi in someone else’s arms was just too good to be true.
“And thank you Mr.?” Arnav looked directly at
Samay questioningly and yet Khushi could clearly see signs of recognition in his eyes.
“Joshi. Samay Joshi. It’s a pleasure to meet
you Mr. Raizada.” he held out his hand for Arnav, before further adding,
“And what exactly are you thanking me for?”
Samay asked a little doubtful of what he might hear, after all the elder
Raizada was quite famous for his cynicism.
But Khushi knew. She was one hundred percent
sure of what would follow and yet she hoped and prayed with all her heart that
she was wrong. After all Lavanya did say that she had already told him that she
didn’t want anyone at KaLa to know…
“Oh, for saving
her, Khushi here. You do know that she is Khushi .Singh .Raizada, right? My .
Wife.” and all her hopes of him ever understanding her crashed once again as
her husband Arnav Singh Raizada staked his claim on her… very conveniently
dropping the Kumari Gupta from her name.
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
“No, you cannot play in our team.” Anurag, the
captain of the Junior Basket Ball league of Faith Academy
“But why? I qualified in the selection round
and the Coach let me in.” Aarav reasoned with his senior.
“Yes Anurag, he got in fair and square.” another
kid piped in, while others shook their heads in support of this claim
“No he cannot play with us, my mom said kids
from good families like us should not
mix up with such boys. Just ask him his father’s name? Or leave that, just ask
him what the SR stands for in his name? Anurag mocked demeaning Aarav.
“And he
calls himself ASR.” Aarav stared at him unblinkingly, his eyes stinging due to
all the effort he was putting in to block the flow.
“So ASR , do you know what kids like you are
called in our society or should I spell it out for you.” Anurag said
menacingly. Aarav wanted to run from there, to hide somewhere so that no one
could ever find him… so that no one would call him that one thing that he knew
was true about him. But no, he was ASR and he wouldn’t let out these
insecurities, even at barely nine his pride wouldn’t let him. And so he did not
run or hide, he just stood there staring at him. The other kids had also made
their distance from him, in fact some had actually taken a few steps back.
Anurag blinked
his eyes, while Aarav maintained his cold stare, finally forcing his senior to
look elsewhere. He then kicked the ball, catching it and then finally throwing
it towards the hoop. It fell right into it. Truly saying, it wasn’t really a
very difficult or heroic shot, like in the movies but making it right did mean
a lot to him. He then took slow steps towards the exit of the playground,
convincing himself for the nth time in his life that it didn’t matter, that he
didn’t need these guys or anyone else… not even his dad. No, he was fine…
because life didn’t give him a choice.
_________________________________
_________________________________
“What the hell was Mr. Singhania thinking? How
could he let Khushi work with us and that too on such an important project?”
Celina groaned in frustration before continuing further,
“That young witch queen has destroyed his
mental faculty, I knew it, I told you that this La bitch would destroy KaLa one
day.”
“Celina, there is nothing we can do about it,
so why the hell are you even fussing about it. What, are you going to go tell
that ageing idiot that his fiancé is a conniving witch?” James tried to reason
with her for what felt like the millionth time in the last fifteen minutes and
now even the ever cool James showed some signs of irritation.”
“Oh don’t challenge me James, you know I can. And
bloody hell I will. What the fuck was he thinking, she is Arnav Singh Raizada’s
wife. KaLa’s biggest competitor’s fucking wife! I don’t give a fuck about this
Singhania empire but I have bought twenty percent shares of KaLa with all my life’s
savings and I cannot afford to lose it.”
“Celina please
calm down, we’ll talk to him about it, but not like this, you need to calm down
first. Okay listen, you just take the day off and relax. It’s anyway post lunch
and we have nothing major lined up for now. Just relax and don’t worry I’ll
inform Mr. Singhania.” but Celina didn’t even stop to acknowledge his statement
and rushed out of the room, flinging her hand-bag around her shoulder with
force. She stepped out, shutting the door behind her and moved towards the main
entrance/exit… while the figure standing pressed against the wall near
Celina’s cabin held her breath.
________________________________
________________________________
For the last forty-five minutes, since the
moment Arnav Singh Raizada had staked his claim on his possession, her, she had
stayed locked in a stall in the ladies room, hearing to the endless taunts of
the each and everyone, who were unaware of her presence. They had all cursed
her for trapping a man so out of her league and then had accused her of working
as an AR spy at KaLa. Some wondered if Lavanya was also involved in all this,
after all she was ASR’s ex-girlfriend. In fact some even claimed to have heard
Lavanya and Khushi talking about taking over KaLa.
Khushi dragged herself towards her cabin, Koyal’s taunts still ringing in her ears.
Celina’s accusations felt like a sharp slap across her face, and the sting was
still there. Lost and unfocused she entered her cabin and was further
distressed by the sight of her egoistic fool of a husband standing against her desk.
“What the hell Khushi! Where were you? I looked
for you all over the place, I even called home to check and Lavanya is still looking around in the office.” Arnav came next to her in a flash and berated
her for her childish behaviour.
“Did you have anything important you wanted to
talk about Mr. Raizada, for you seem to have created a ruckus over not finding
me?” she said in a flat businesslike voice.
“Khushi why are you acting like this? I was
worried about uyou.” his hands reached out to cup her face, but she took a step
back just then.
“See Mr. Raizada, if there is nothing work
related you want to talk about, I suggest we wait until this evening.” and
saying so she turned back, only to be pulled in her husband’s embrace as he
locked the door and pushed her against it, pushing his body against hers, staring
deep into those pools of hazel. She didn’t push him and didn't make any other physical
attempt at distancing herself from him. But the very next moment he was thrown
off-guard as once again her flat cold voice pierced his ears and then his
heart…
“Okay Mr. Raizada, I understand your
frustration but I’d expect a well educated and proficient man like you to
respect the professional decorum of my work place.”
__________________________________-
To Be Continued…
Author's note: hey guys, so how was this? Comments and criticisms are always welcomed, in fact they keep me going. Oh and this is not it, there is a little surprise for you guys here, a peek into a one shot that I am working on, will probably update it in like two three days, tab tak ek jhalak...
Author's note: hey guys, so how was this? Comments and criticisms are always welcomed, in fact they keep me going. Oh and this is not it, there is a little surprise for you guys here, a peek into a one shot that I am working on, will probably update it in like two three days, tab tak ek jhalak...
On a Highway to Hell…
It all happened in the expanse of one day, one
bloody freaking awesome day. One fucking day fucked up her entire world
She wasn’t a bad
person… or a bad sister… or a bad daughter… Or so she would have said… Nope not
just said but actually believed with all her heart and mind up until this
morning and everyone would have vouched for her, she was more than sure. Heck,
they would vouch for her even now. For they still lay wrapped in the warm
cocoon of ignorance. Looking at the happy content faces of her mom and dad, she
felt a sharp pang of envy and in that moment she had an epiphany, ignorance
indeed was bliss, that Gray dude got this crap right and all those people who
advocated knowledge were bloody sadists. Well whatever, she had seen the light
and there was no going back now. Kushi Gupta had made a deal with the Devil
himself…
How was it guys? Do lemme know what u thought of it. And for now I shall take my leave.
Toodles
Srija :)
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