Head over Heels (IPKKND)

🎶Wajah Tum Ho - Hate Story 3

Teej, a celebration of everything holy between Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati, the ultimate commemoration to the goddess’s unwavering dedication to her husband.

Arnav began to see the fascination from his sister’s perspective, much to his annoyance. Her devotion almost rivaled that of the gods.

He had kept a close watch on his sister throughout the car ride to the temple, her eyes had looked tired, she had constantly fumbled with her words - it had taken all of his self-control not to whisk the thaal away and replace her hands with some food.

It agonized him to witness her swoon at regular intervals, his faith in her lord trickling away by the minute - not that the pool was full to begin with. He was fiercely glad that his entire family was participating in this venture, between worrying for Di and his constant thoughts of Khushi, he was driven nearly insane.

At every waking hour, Khushi’s rage surrounded him like wildfire. Her resignation letter had been torn to pieces, his carefully tended plants had met the same fate, and yet - nothing sated this maddening urge to confront her.

The nights were a lot harder, he had tossed and turned, falling asleep to his wild strategies at accosting her to his much grimmer fantasies. He was not blind to her feminine traits, since the very first time he had laid eyes on her. The attraction was almost instantaneous but he had fought it, tooth and nail.

“Yes, I was also looking forward to seeing Lavanya-ji,” said Di, breaking his reverie.

Arnav tuned into the conversation in the car, berating himself for letting his mind wander where Khushi was involved. Lavanya’s name sent a prickle of regret in his insides. His temper had soared at the arduous plan of having his girlfriend join in the festivities to appease Nani-ji, to which he had vehemently refused.

He shifted the gear violently, like it had somehow insulted him, Akash looked up with concern. Arnav took a deep breath and tried to control the inferno, it wouldn’t do his Di any good to fret over him. They were almost reaching their destination, this was a new temple they hadn’t visited before - almost a two hour ride from New Delhi.

The temple was now visible up a hill through the boulevard of banyan trees. The mountain was engulfed in a thick forest, they all collectively admired the beauty of the green peaks. A break ahead would get them to the foot of the hillock. Arnav’s misgivings increased - on top of her weakness, Di would have to battle stairs?

Arnav growled his displeasure out loud, Di pacified him with a hand on his shoulder.

“Where there’s a will, there’s a way!” she chirped cheerfully while Mami-ji chuckled, in complete contrast to his blackest of moods.

Upon reaching their destination, they collectively shuffled out of the car. Arnav had been wrong, it was barely two flights of stairs to the temple, and the incline was not too steep. He voiced his observation to renewed giggles from Di and Mami.

“What,” said Arnav grumpily. Di shook her head and took his waiting forearm. They steadily made their way up to the garbhagriha. Despite himself, Arnav began to revel in the magnificence surrounding them. The rainforest added to the serenity, the lush greenery still wet from the recent drizzles.

They had reached the portico, the temple interiors surprisingly small for such a high structure. Arnav’s quizzical look reflected in his brother’s face.

“Is this it,” asked Akash, glancing around him as few people scurried around the temple. In response, Di guided both her brothers to look past the structure.

A narrow path wove through a break in the forest up the hill. Their eyes followed the given route to reveal a partially hidden gopura high upon the mountain top. Understanding came to Arnav, soon followed by his temper. He rounded on his sister, furious. She cringed away with a smile.

“We’ll make it back in time when Shyam-ji arrives in the evening, we’ll meet him here to break my fast. Besides, the pathway is not so bad, Chotte, I did my research! They have handlebars and everything for lame-os’ like me.”

“Shut up, Di. You can’t guilt trip me with that. This is impossible! It would take hours to reach the top!”

“Yes, but so what?! We have all day, that is if y’all don’t mind me slowing you down.”

"Nonsensewa,” cajoled Mami-ji. “Our phool jaisi bitiya can never be a burden to us. But I don’t count on your mama-ji to keep up!”

Mama-ji responded and the banter continued. Frustrated, Arnav checked his phone - his brother in law might have better luck at dissuading his wife’s idiocy.

“I have to make a call,” he said curtly. The family looked between Arnav and Anjali.

“Fine,” sighed Di. “Listen, why don’t we get started, and you can catch up with us at the first checkpoint? There’s a pooja place we plan to stop at first, it’s barely three flights of stairs.”

Arnav was torn between accompanying his sister and making a call to Jija-ji in private. Akash placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed in reassurance. Arnav conceded grudgingly and nodded. He’ll probably have better luck with his brother-in-law by his side.

A steady gust of wind blew, twirling his hair, his thoughts strayed automatically to Khushi Kumari Gupta. The rhythm of his heartbeat increased when he turned to the stairs, air leaving his lungs.

Khushi ascended the stairs with her sister, she was resplendent in a burnt orange saree. Her auburn hair was unbound, reminding him of that fateful night at the guest house, his hands twisting in her gorgeous hair as she lay unconscious in his arms.

“Khushi-ji?” called Di, surprised, as the family turned their attention to the pair.

Khushi stilled her progress, her eyes roved the party of onlookers and found Arnav’s, they widened at the sight of him. Her lips parted with a tremble. Did Arnav sense trepidation in her or was it something else?

Payal stopped when she noticed Khushi hadn’t moved. Upon her sister’s questioning look, she resumed her trek, her movements clumsy. They reached his family and stopped, nervously glancing at them all.

“What a coincidence! Are you also here to celebrateTeej?” asked Di, enthusiastically.

“Yes,” muttered Khushi, peeking at Arnav through her lashes. It invoked a hunger in him as he openly stared at her, surprised at finding her here rooting him to the spot.

“Why don’t you join us? More the merrier! Hai na, mami-ji?”

Mami-ji tutted and threw in a comment about extra-phittings. Arnav cleared his throat and looked away. Akash seemed to be lost, open mouthed, and staring at Payal. Seriously?

Payal and Khushi exchanged looks, suddenly the daunting road up ahead looked bleak to Arnav. Khushi gave a dazzling smile and agreed to Di, taking his breath away.

"Hai Devi Mayya,” exclaimed Khushi, staring at her thaal. “I forgot the raksha dhaaga!”

Payal gasped, “But you have to head all the way down to the entrance!”

“Um...” said Khushi tentatively while Mami-ji huffed like an angry goose.

“How about this”, said Di, after a moment of hesitation. “You go ahead and retrieve it, then you and Chotte can join us together at the first checkpoint - anyway we’ll be slow with our ascent so you’ll probably catch up in no time.”

Arnav stared at Khushi, his frown belying his inner turmoil, he waited with bated breath for her reply. She glanced at him and quickly looked away, her fingers twisting in her pallu.

“I can wait for her,” interjected Payal with a worried glance at Khushi.

Arnav felt his stomach drop, was she so afraid to be alone with him?

“But Payal-ji, Chotte is anyway staying behind to make a phone call. It wouldn’t make sense for the two of you to wait.”

Payal surveyed Arnav, disdain emanating from every fiber of her being. He remembered the last time he had faced her - the usually demure woman was supremely fierce in her support for Khushi. He looked away, not wishing to be alone with the intimidating figure either.

Khushi gave a small reassuring smile to Payal and urged them to go ahead. They bid their short farewells and left Arnav and Khushi in the portico.

“Hurry up, I don’t have all day,” said Arnav, hoping his jacket wasn’t moving in tune with his hammering heartbeat.

Khushi looked enraged, she gritted her teeth and turned away, her hair swung to the side revealing her red and gold blouse barely covering her back, the thin material of her saree hugged her exquisite curves like second skin. Arnav let out an inaudible groan, agonized with the self inflicted torture. His fantasies didn’t hold a candle against the real deal.

Balancing the thaal on one hand, and holding up her saree pleats with the other, she rushed down the steps. Arnav cursed at his words, his fear mounting at her uneven footing.

His phone chimed, reminding him of his original task. The screen showed an alert stating low network. He swore and raised the phone skyward but immediately lowered it. He was forcibly reminded of the elderly waving their phones high above their head to magically acquire full signal.

Rolling his eyes at his foolishness, he typed out a message explaining the absurdity of the situation and urged Shyam to hurry up. Hoping the message would be delivered when he moves up the hill, he leaned against the wall and waited for Khushi to arrive.

About twenty minutes later, Khushi huffed her way up the stairs, she almost reached the top step when Arnav sensed something was terribly wrong. She let go of her saree pleats and raised her hand to her head, the scene all too familiar, Arnav’s body moved on its own.

Her name tore through his lips as he covered the distance between them and grabbed her slight form. Her head slid onto his shoulder, the thaal fell from her limp fingers and clanged to the ground.

“Khushi,” he demanded, his hand tapping her cheek. She was unresponsive, he hooked an arm under knees and easily hoisted her up. The place was deserted, he desperately looked around and found a large mud pot by the seating area.

Arnav deposited Khushi onto a seat and gathered water into a glass from the earthen pot. She swooned and laid her head against the arm rest. Arnav was torn between reviving her and letting her rest. The latter opinion won and he took a seat next to her.

Thoughts from the past few days plagued him, had she still not recovered from the guest house episode? She was in blooming health yesterday when she handed in her resignation.

Arnav took out his phone to notify Akash about the delay, then remembered the low network. He was tempted to follow the nuska of the elderly again. Sighing, he sat back, his eyes drawing to Khushi’s face every few seconds.

Devoid of all expression, her face was a sight to behold. He fisted his hand in an attempt to stop himself from moving her fringe off her forehead. He instead busied himself in wrapping her with her pallu. When she ultimately resembled an orange burrito, he stood up and paced, not trusting his hands with the proximity as the time passed.

A slight drizzle began, the droplets traced her face, she jerked upright. Arnav was instantly by her side, he brought the glass of water to her lips. She automatically took a sip and moaned. She accepted the glass with a shaking hand and took a few more noisy gulps.

Arnav took a seat next to her, a hand on her shoulder. Khushi’s eyes widened, she lowered the glass and looked at Arnav, aghast.

“You- I- you broke my fast!!”