The Beginning

This is a continuation of the fiction under the label: Meghana


"Abhinav Varma is his name.” She repeated that a thousand times, to fix it in her memory, lest someone should ask and she would embarrass God and company by being dumbfound or abashed at not knowing his name! She wondered if she could call him "Abhi", or probably not. Their families followed the customs of an eon-old, which went against calling husbands by their names. So, perhaps, she could not call him that. How sad would it be, to always address him, "dear" or "darling"? How can you convey that you are angry, when you are calling him, "dear"? She tried using her rude voice to match that sound and a ripple of laughter came out. She tried using her insolent tone with "dear" and she started giggling all of a sudden.

She was packing her suitcase for her private time with him, which every one called, honey-moon. She was good at repressing shuddering memories and this certainly is not something she wants to think about, at this moment. She was picking a few books, when her aunt walked into the room and exclaimed, "What do you need the books for?!!!"
She could hardly compose her expression from stark irritation to plain indifference, when she said, "I need the books. I cannot be without them for a couple of weeks."
Her aunt responded, "You are going on a honey moon, to have some private time with your husband, to get to know him. Perhaps he might not like it that you are spending time with books."
"I have a life time to get to know the person and even then, I am sure I would hardly understand him. And I am sure I would get a couple of hours a day to spend with my books", she countered. "And besides, books keep me sane", she continued.
"Fine, then pick a couple of books and no more", her aunt stared at her, making that pronouncement.

Meghana let out a sigh and took four books. Two in her hand bag, one in her hand and other in her baggage. Her flight is set to leave the next morning at nine and it was already eleven. She needs to catch her shut eye, though she doubted she could sleep.

The uproar in the house was close to that of a festival, with people from both the families trying to get to know each other, telling out family stories from their medieval times. She closed her baggage and locked it. They were going to Kerala and he specifically asked to pack a couple of jeans and couple of capris. She smiled at the memory of his hesitant way of asking if she had any! God, did he think she was the girl-next-door type? He should have asked if she had any ethnic wear that hesitantly. Boy, would he be in a shock! Perhaps, he should have asked and then, he would have gone into a shock and then, the trip could be postponed and she would be with her parents, she thought. Gah! What a dumb idea! This trip was his planning and she would get to see how efficient he is and she is already looking forward to see his taste. Very subtly, she hoped to see his romantic side as well.

"Oh!!!", she exclaimed. She suddenly remembered that she has not packed her laptop. Just when she was about to push that into the bag, there was a knock on the door.

"Come in", she said, working her way to putting that laptop in her bag and thinking that she will have to remove a few things and re-pack her baggage.
The door opened quietly and a voice said, "hi".
She turned very slowly, folding her hands behind and managed to greet him.
"I was wondering if you are alright and ready for tomorrow", he said. His tone is very soothing most of the times, she thought.
"Just about done, I need to re-pack, my laptop is not fitting in", she said.
"Laptop? Why would you want a laptop?", he asked, frowning.

She wondered if they are leaving the civilized world and entering some barbaric times to not need a laptop, but responded, "You know, just in case, to browse or watch movies or ...", she left the sentence hanging.
"We will have TV with cable connection, that would give us enough channels and I am pretty sure they have a DVD player to watch movies. Besides, there is no net in that place," he said.
She looked at him as though he pronounced her death sentence.

"I ... we ... we work twenty-four-seven with those laptops. I thought, it would be a good break to not have them with us", he stammered, bemused at her expression.

"Oh... that is alright. On the bright side, I don't have to re-pack", she said, in a subdued tone. She desperately wanted to ask, if she could get books or if he planned some activities that would pack the day and night of their stay, but held back.

"I have loads of DVDs. Perhaps you can look around the collection and select a few...", he trailed off looking at her expression and then added, almost pleadingly, "may be, you can tell me your preference and I can pick a few?"
"I trust your choice", was all she said.

He looked at her a minute longer and when she just stared back, he broke into a warm smile and said, "Goodnight, Mrs.Varma. Sleep tight. We will start at six in the morning."

That was the first time she realized that she is a "Mrs". That would take some time to get her head around and she fought the panic that started creeping into her and smiled pleasantly and said, "Goodnight, Mr.Varma. I shall be ready by six."

He left the room with a smile on his face, closing the door behind him. She had no idea what her words did to him. Hearing her say, "Mr.Varma", albeit as a jab, did arouse the pride in him. He is married and to the person he wanted to get married to.

She lay restless, thinking about the next day. She could hear voices outside and tried to think of them as a lullaby, putting her to sleep. She could not. She lay there, looking at the ceiling, counting the seconds in her mind. She inhaled and exhaled, concentrating on an even breath. She gave up the pretense of comfort and just sat on the bed, leaning against the headrest. As the clock ticked, she wondered if he was asleep. “Mrs. Varma”, she mused. She closed her eyes and let her mind drift. She woke with a start at the knock on the door and she saw her aunt walking in.
“Get up, you need to get ready”, she said. Meghana groaned, it was like a minute ago that she closed her eyes. She got up and got ready.

The knock on the door at six sharp and the voice that said, “Maggie, are you ready?”, made her quiver. He is punctual or perhaps, he too did not sleep. As he said earlier, he too shared the same worries. She walked out of her room, with the suitcase and he took it from her hands, ignoring her protests.
He staggered a bit and said, “I hope you did not pack a laptop and a TV in here”, he winked. She gave him a discomfited smile, when he lifted the suitcase as though it weighed nothing and walked further, amidst the delighted cousins and her aunt’s reply, “Only books, tons and tons of books” reaching her ears. He turned around and gave her a look that she could not quite fathom and did not even intend to. She stood a step behind him, waiting for him to lead. His cousins picked up the suitcases and took them outside, while other cousins stopped in front, blocking his way, hands outstretched. He gave an exasperated sigh and mumbled, “I am going to be bankrupt soon” and gave them a few bucks.

Meghana stood there, looking amused by all that was happening, when the small crowd zeroed in on her. She gave them a flabbergasted look and stood there, not knowing what to do.
“Go ahead, give them a ten, that should keep them off you”, he said. She looked at the notes in their hands and they had a bundle of hundreds in them. She did not have that kind of money at this moment, but, she did not want to back down. She looked at the youngest of the lot, the sweet little kid, kneeled next to her and gave her a kiss on her cheek and promised that she would get all of them something from their trip. But, for now, she took out a couple of five hundred notes and put them in their hands. The lot did not move. She stood there, helpless and looked at him. He let out a theatrical sigh and walked back to her and placed his hands around her shoulders and said, “Stop troubling my wife. We are on a schedule.”
The oldest of the lot, twelve year old Karthik, responded, “that is precisely why we are blocking. You either give us what we want or kiss your trip good-bye”, he said, threatening.
Abhinav looked as though he would strangle him and asked, “What exactly do you want?”
“Either she could give you a kiss or give me a kiss”, he responded, with a crooked smile, shocking Meghana.
She looked at him and she looked at Abhinav. Abhinav looked like he was about to explode into laughter and Karthik looked like he would just about roll on the floor. He winked at Abhinav and she was sure he was in this game. She stood her ground, while the little mob stood their ground and her husband gave up being composed and started laughing. After a couple of minutes, he started pushing her forward, but the little crowd held their place. Meghana cowered into her husband and let out a small sigh. She turned into his arms and looked at his eyes and gave him a light kiss on his cheeks. His eyes were as wide as saucers. When she stood next to him, he looked at her in shock and the claps and little murmurs around them left her blushing from head to toe. He recovered fast and hugged her closer and started walking towards the car. The car ride was quiet with polite conversation.

They got down at the airport and collected their boarding pass and started towards their gate. As they entered the security check, he saw the contents in her bag and gave a look of pure amusement. She could feel the blush coming on, but fought it and collected her bag and walked past the security guard and into the gate. They were seated in the flight, she took the window seat and he took the aisle. As soon as she settled, she did not wait for the stewardess instructions. She buckled her seat belt and flipped open the novel she brought with her. She did not stop to think if it was impertinent, this sort of behavior. All she could think of was her nerves and her thudding heart, that threatened to get out of her, any moment now. She desperately needed to get hold of her sanity.

Abhinav looked at her through the corner of his eyes. He waited till the take-off and made himself more comfortable, relaxing his seat to fall back at an angle where he could observe his wife. His lips twitching in the corner, he looked at the book. Some chick-lit by an author not known to him. He read a lot of books, but most of them were non-fiction and sometimes, purely business. Not that he had any aversion towards the fiction, just that there was never a need to indulge in fantasies and fiction, anchored by someone else's thoughts. But, looks like, he just found a reason, if only to have conversations with his wife that revolved not just about daily chores, but about something that would keep her interested in the conversation. Perhaps, she read serious fiction too, may be crime. He looked at her face. He could see her eyes moving through the page. The set of her mouth, the non-blinking of the eyes. He recognized that look, the state of mind, where one is engrossed in something and forgot the world around them. He saw her twitch her lips to form a smile – perhaps a joke. She flipped the page and already held the other page in her hand. He is familiar with that too, the anticipation of something significant that you want to breeze through the pages and find out what is going on. A signal to the mind to not wander, because, she wants to know what is happening and fast too. He saw her eyes rest on a page, her eyes blinking at a steady pace. She was thinking, perhaps something in the book triggered a thought. She let out a sigh and looked at the page bottom, perhaps noting down the page number and leaned back. Perhaps, she is absorbing the words and thinking about them. He wanted to ask, to know what made her think, but, he kept quiet. There would be a time to talk about those, he thought. He heard the stewardess approach with drinks.
“Juice, sir?”, she said.
“Apple juice, please”, he said.
“Ma’m?”
“Can I have a glass of water? Chilled?”, she said.
He maneuvered his seat to sit upright and looked at her.
“What is the book about?”, he asked, conversationally.
“It’s about a lot of things, but the theme is about a girl trying to find her place in the world. The author’s style is witty, funny yet thought provoking. The kind where you laugh, but then, there is something inside you that picks up the undertone and starts thinking, how would it be, if things were different. It’s quite interesting”, she said.
“Ok. So, you read a lot of books”, he said. A statement, rather than a question.
She smiled. He was falling for her again. The polite smile, when something was obvious, something that you do when you don’t want to call the other person a moron. He got that. He laughed. When she looked at him questioningly, he said, “Nothing. Just, to see that smile, I don’t mind making myself a moron.”
She narrowed her eyes and took a sip of water, wondering how in the world he figured that out!

She gulped down the remaining water and opened the book. He took that as a cue to be quiet. So, he leaned back in his seat and took his job of observing her very seriously. He could see that she is not into it, as much as she was before. Her focus is not there. He smiled, knowing that his focus on her is making her nervous. He closed his eyes and wondered how long it would take for her, to look at him. He was sure he could feel her eyes on him, just as she felt his eyes on her. Sure enough, she turned after a good five minutes and looked at him. He waited a few moments and knowing that she was still looking at him, he opened his eyes and caught her. She held his gaze for a moment before she turned her look away, flustered. Though he wanted to tease her, he held back his voice and just returned to willing her to look at him. This two hour flight journey is turning out to be entertaining, each trying to assess the other one. But, being the elder and more experienced, he is having an upper hand, so far. But, then, being young and smart, she might just outsmart him, if it is just words, he thought. He recollected the morning’s incident and thought, may be, she already won the first round of who is bold enough to express themselves in front of everyone. Man, that was a shocker! His wife made a statement with that act. “I am a little hellion. You better watch out”, it seemed to say. And while he was lost in that challenge, the announcement that they were about to land was made. He sat upright and fastened his seat belt. Smile playing on his lips, he was already looking forward to their time together. Out of the corner of his eyes, he noticed that she sat quietly, book closed and looking out of the window. The flight came to a halt and it coursed through the runway, promising a breezy ride for the next few days – the pace, the leisure, the luxury and the comfort.


... to be continued...