Shrishti Reborn

Chapter 22. Spending a day with Raghav

'I.....', Raghav murmured, 'I am sorry.'

Shrishti frowned as she turned to look at him. It was the noon and she was at Raghav's house watching him cook the lunch. She was holding her phone, camera pointing towards the meal, taking pictures of the cooking process just for fun. Her Dadi had left early morning and Shrishti had come over to Raghav's house one hour early to see Raghav cook.

'Why are you sorry?'

'About your Dadi.'

'What are you sorry for?' Shrishti was baffled.

'Am I not the reason your Dadi left?', Raghav wondered.

Shrishti looked at him and gasped in the most exaggerated manner, 'Oh. So it was you who argued with my Dadi yesterday?'

'What?'

'I mean you did say you are the reason she is gone so that means you are the one who argued with her that made her leave. Or it means you were the one who grabbed her and dragged her to the main door and asked her to leave.'

'Stop being sarcastic.', he murmured as he focused on kneading the dough.

'I am not being sarcastic. I am trying to show you that sometimes great Raghav can be stupid too.'

'You are way too snarky today.'

Shrishti chuckled. 'Guess I am still irritated by yesterday.'

'Was the fight that bad?'

'The fight was not bad. It was the accusations lobbed at me that was bad. She had cooked up her own story in her head and nothing could budge her from it.'

'You and Uncle must be sad. I saw her leaving.'

'Sad? The only reason we two did not throw a party was because if she heard it, she might come back home just to spite us!'

Raghav looked at her sharply and she shrugged and smiled. 'She is my Dadi, Pappa's Ma but as Pappa said yesterday, we can deal with her only in small doses. I did not even know how much Pappa struggled with her constant nagging till we talked yesterday. Forget me, I am just happy that Pappa will have some peace at home for a while.'

Raghav nodded.

Shrishti shook her head vigorously. 'Leave this topic. Forget it. Let us focus on something else. Tell me more about what you are making.'

Shrishti spent a fun noon with Raghav talking about the lunch and later having that lunch with him. She posted the pictures, got the usual comments, replied to some of them and in general had a great lunch with Raghav.

Later in the evening, Shrishti happily bounced over to Raghav who once again helped her ride the cycle with one hand on the rear rack while other grabbed the handle during the turns. Shrishti was still not confident about her skills so she refused any time Raghav suggested that she rode without his grip on the cycle.

'No way! I don't think I can do it. Don't do this to me, Raghav. I swear if you let go, I will complain to Pappa and he will scold you.' She did not know whether her threats worked or the fear on her face and in her voice but Raghav did not let go and continued to grab some part of the cycle as she rode.

After an hour, Raghav suggested ending the session. Shrishti agreed but she did not want to go home.

'Can we walk for a while? Nothing to do at home.'

'Ok.'

So Raghav and Shrishti walked from the end of the society to the other end after parking the cycle in Raghav's lawn. As they walked, Shrishti looked around, enjoying the children shouting as they ran around, the cars honking as they entered the society or left it.