Chapter 35: Chapter 35
As the clock struck two in the afternoon, a tall, chubby girl entered the house in a happy mood. Clad in a school uniform, with a school bag on her right shoulder and couple of books in her left hand, she walked into the living room and was shocked to see the scene in front of her.
Anvesha was sitting on the sofa in their rustic styled living room engrossed in the conversation with the old man while his wife was cooking in the kitchen. Looking at his tired daughter, Mr. Hariprakash Joshi said, “Parisa, look who is here?” smilingly.
Parisa glanced at charming Anvesha and admired the journalist sitting in front of her. She had been excited to meet Anvesha but not today especially when she knew her brother had acted disgracefully with his charming girlfriend who was sitting in their house right now unknown to the issues of the Joshi family. She scratched the back of her neck as she realized her brother was doomed.
“Hello, ma’am”, Parisa said smiling meekly towards Anvesha who returned a whole-hearted smile to her.
Shaking her hands with Parisa, Anvesha greeted her normally trying to reduce the awkwardness as they both shared an eye contact. Parisa rushed to her room after excusing herself to get freshened up. In her bedroom, she picked her phone and called Adhyayan.
Adhyayan, who had been shouting at one of his workers for a petty reason, received the call of his sister in five rings.
“Bhaiya, you are doomed”, Parisa said immediately without even greeting him. She was panting hard as she wondered what would have happen if her father gets to know that Anvesha was dating Adhyayan.
“What?” Adhyayan questioned getting puzzled as he tried to comprehend things.
“Bhaiya, I am telling you, your doomsday has arrived”, Parisa reiterated the same statement trying to gain the much-needed attention.
Adhyayan was beyond irritated at the moment. Taking a deep breath, he said, “Pari, calm down and tell everything properly”.
“Bhaiya, your girlfriend is having a lively conversation with father and papa, introduced me by my name. Moreover, she is all alone for a lunch without her team”, Parisa said getting impatient.
Adhyayan sighed as he realized Anvesha was intelligent enough to connect the dots. He said, “Pari, go downstairs and make sure she doesn’t question about me directly. You know how things are, right. I would have told her everything but she is not talking to me”.
Parisa sighed as she reprimanded her brother, “So you ruined your present because of that bitch, right?” cursing her brother’s ex-girlfriend who was the cause of the problems in their lives.
Adhyayan smiled as he realized his baby sister was grown up enough to curse in front of him. With a thin lipped smile, he said sternly, “Pari, don’t curse.”
“That ugly Sarah deserves to be cursed”, Parisa whined while Adhyayan just smiled. He realized he should have explained everything to Anvesha before her trip to the Joshi house because now she must have developed the curiosity to know everything. He mentally prayed the Almighty to make everything fine between him and his girlfriend because he was not only missing her but also feeling guilty to have kept her in dark. She deserved to know everything, Adhyayan thought.
“Pari, I know how Anvesha is. If she is all alone, that means, she has realized the truth. Now it is your duty to make sure she is not at all humiliated by our great father. I will personally visit her and apologize her once she returns.” Adhyayan instructed his baby sister who nodded in affirmation and mumbled a ‘yes’ before disconnecting the call.
In net five minutes, Parisa changed into casuals and rushed to the dining table to make sure there is no damage. She smiled looking at the joyful atmosphere in the house. Her parents were talking to Anvesha sitting together on the dining table while Samar, their house-help served the food. She joined them with a full-blown smile on her face.
Trying to make small conversation, Parisa talked with Anvesha praising her wholeheartedly about her show, her speaking skills, her aura and her love for food while Anvesha just smiled wondering why no one was talking about Adhyayan.
They were chit-chatting on the dining table while the proud father, Mr. Hariprakash Joshi kept on bragging about the achievements of his daughter and how he supported her ambition to join the Indian Air Force. Relishing upon the delicious biryani, Anvesha made up her mind to clear her doubts. After all, she had ditched her colleagues because she was curious about the celebrity chef, Adhyayan Joshi.
Taking a deep breath, Anvesha said, “Parisa, you are lucky to be the most pampered one in the house. Perks to be a single child, I see”, and observed the reaction of Joshi family.
Mr. Hariprakash Joshi stiffened while his wife choked on her food. Parisa gave her a pleading look when her father said, “You’re right, Anvesha. Parisa is our only child”.
His features softened for a while and tears began to form in his eyes which did not go unnoticed by Anvesha. The old man quickly masked his emotions, as he continued, “I am waiting for her to carry our legacy of serving the nation. She will be entering into defence career and make our forefathers proud who had sacrificed their lives for the nation”.
Mrs. Lakshmi Joshi bowed down her head in shame as tears brimmed in her eyes. She wondered why the journalist had brought the sensitive topic of their family. She controlled her tears as she pondered what made her lively husband so heartless and past memories flashed in front of her eyes.
Mr. Hariprakash Joshi tried hard to swallow the morsel of the meal. He missed his son for the first time in six years as he felt a pang in his heart. He was accustomed to people asking his son Adhyayan in the past but this girl, who was having lunch with his family, had wiped out the existence of his elder son for once. He sighed realizing his son was indeed, ‘good for nothing’ and deserved this treatment. The old man was ashamed of Adhyayan.
Parisa realized the conversation was getting awkward and she said, “Ma’am, how do you manage to bring out emotions on your show?” quickly changing the topic. She wanted to hug the intelligent Anvesha who had purposely used the phrase, ‘single-child’. For the first time, Parisa had seen her father stiffening with unknown pain and her mother crying in front of her father when the conversation indirectly pointed out at her elder brother.
Anvesha smiled taking the hint Parisa was trying to give and she said, “The conversation comes right from heart”, adding fuel to the burning fire in broken hearts of the old couple who were definitely longing for their son. Anvesha did not know the reason but she realized there was something wrong with Adhyayan and the Joshi family. Her doubts were cleared and hence, their lunch was carried out in utter silence.
After the lunch, Anvesha thanked the Joshi family for a scrumptious lunch and wonderful time profusely and was about to leave the place when Parisa chimed in, “Ma’am, can I just have few minutes of yours? I am preparing for a debate about ethics of media. I guess, you can help me, please”, with the most innocent face.
Her father glared at his daughter while Parisa looked at him with a pleading face. Anvesha smiled as she realized the little girl wanted to talk with her all alone. Before Mr. Joshi could say anything, Anvesha smiled and said, “Sure, dear”.
Parisa literally dragged Anvesha to her room for a small talk while her parents sat together in the living room in silence. Both of them had happy memories of their son running in their minds.