Set in the pre-wedding phase. The wedding gets postponed for six months here and thus, everything that we saw Netra doing after Shashank and Apurva’s marriage in the show – she does it here before that. You’ll know the rest as you read.  

| Part Five |

The hospital visit turned out to be more chaotic than Shashank had expected it to be with Apurva panicking as if it was the end of the world, the doctor assuring her multiple times that her fiance did not need hospitalization and Shashank having to be utterly quiet throughout as instructed by Apurva. 

Oh how truly he wished Dr. Kaushik wasn’t out of town that day! Shashank let out an exasperated sigh, watching Apurva still discussing something with the doctor who was attending him. He was sure that Dr. Kaushik would have handled Apurva better.

He looked at his bandaged hand and his sprained ankle wrapped in an elastic bandage and concluded that it just wasn’t his day. First Netra’s mess and now this. His thoughts came to a halt when Apurva and the doctor walked back to his bed.

“Your ankle should be fine in a week or two. Just remember what I said. Don’t-“

“Put any pressure on it. Complete rest for two days. Keep it elevated and-” Apurva abruptly stopped when the doctor and Shashank’s face screamed what she was doing.

While Shashank couldn’t help but bring his palm to his face, the doctor laughed, patting Apurva’s shoulder. “Paath zaalela distay. Dr. Kaushik bol-le hote tumchi arranged marriage aahe mhanun… mhanje I know lagna vhaychay ajun pan ek saangu,” he whispered to Apurva, “tumchya kade baghun ajibaat waatat nahi.” 

Apurva couldn’t even look at Shashank once the statement was spoken aloud. Why couldn’t she keep her mouth shut? What must he be thinking about her? Who was she supposed to blame for falling into the pit of embarrassment that she herself had dug?

“Kahihi kay boltoys, Kaka!” She tried to shrug off Dr. Metkar who also happened to be her father’s very good friend. “Te bas… asach… rahla mazya lakshaat!” 

Dr. Metkar’s teasing smile just grew wider. Shashank stayed completely out of the matter, a bit too flustered to intervene. 

“Mi medicines gheun ghete!” And with that, Apurva rushed out of the room. 

How clever! Shashank was stunned by how she just left the scene, leaving him to deal with the awkward conversation alone but to his fortune, Dr. Metkar didn’t touch on the topic again. 

He just left after reminding Shashank about the necessary precautions for one last time. 

Shashank sat back comfortably leaning against the headrest of the bed in the dressing room, pondering over Dr. Metkar’s words. 

Dr. Kaushik bol-le hote tumchi arranged marriage aahe mhanun pan ek saangu… tumchya kade baghun ajibaat waatat nahi.

Did they really look like a couple in love? But how was that possible? That sounded insane to him. 

Apurva aani mi… kasa shakya aahe! Pan ek tar aahe… maza traas aaj paryant fakt maza aani mazya kutumbacha hota. Aata to ajun eka vyakticha zala aahe. A small smile unknowingly crept over his lips, remembering the scene that unfolded in front of his eyes minutes ago where the instructions that were meant for him… his fiancee did not just know them but in fact had them by heart. 

It had been a while and Apurva hadn’t returned. He looked at his watch and clutched his legs as he put them down from the bed. It was getting late. He needed to drop Apurva home.

He pressed his left foot down while still keeping his injured one in the air for a bit. Holding the bed for support, he put his sprained ankle to the test, not knowing it didn’t have it in it to carry his weight. 

Just as he tried to take a step forward, his knee gave up and he lost balance but before he could fall, a pair of hands wrapped around his back, holding him in his place. 

Her fragrance alerted his senses, letting him know that it was his fiancee again… to his rescue. His head had fallen to her shoulder when she had hugged him to protect him from the fall. 

The whole moment ended a bit too soon when she made him sit back on the bed right away. And as her hands went to her waist, he knew that he was in trouble. 

He hung his head, preparing himself for the scolding and as expected the volcano of his fiancee’s anger erupted and he had no hope for survival. 

“Tuza doka-bika firlay ka? Aatach Kaka- I mean doctor… aatach sangun gele ki tya payavar taan nahi yeu dyaycha aahe, ho ki nahi?” She crossed her arms to her chest, keeping the bag of medicines on the bed. “I asked… yes or no, Mr. Kanitkar?” She stomped her foot down. “What do you think of yourself, Khadoos? So careless? So careless?”

“Kalji karayla ek vyakti pureshi aahe. Aapan dogha hi kalji karayla laglo tar kaljicha overdose vhaycha…” he muttered under his breath, not quite intending to make it audible to her but to his bad luck, it was.

“Maskari suchtey tula?” She couldn’t believe her ears. She wondered if she should call the doctor back and get his brain checked. It clearly seemed affected. “Kalji karnyat aani kalji ghenyat farak asto, he mi tula sangayla hava?”

“Tu aahe ki… donhi kartech aahe!” he said, pulling the bag of the medicines that she had brought closer.

His casual attitude had her more irked than she already was. She banged her fist on her forehead. “Mala khup raag yetoy!”

“Tula raag nahi yet aahe, Apurva, tu panic hoteyes,” he said, checking the prescription and the medicines one by one, “aani te mala janavu na denyachya prayatnat honari hi chidchid aahe!”

Not too keen on making the situation awkward, he sternly commanded his eyes to stay away from her sight. 

He didn’t have to look at her to know how her lips parted in shock when he pulled the curtain of her anger down, revealing the palpable anxiety behind it though. 

He didn’t have to look at her to know how she internally cursed herself for failing to mask her emotions though. 

He didn’t have to look at her to know that she was going to change the topic in the next one minute though. 

He didn’t have to. 

Apurva Vartak, though the unfathomable ajab rasayan most of the time, was pretty predictable in certain situations.  

She cleared her throat, almost snatching the medicines from his hand and quickly put them back in the bag. “Itka doka tuzya institute madhe chaalwat ja. Ithe garaj nahiye tyachi!” 

“Jashi aapli iccha,” he obeyed, biting back on his chuckle. He couldn’t believe that he was enjoying being roasted. “He kay…” he uttered when a wardboy pushed a wheelchair inside the room. His mind was too sharp to need an explanation. “Apurva… garaj nahiye. I can walk.” 

She rolled her eyes. “I saw that.” She quickly reached out for her bag that she had kept on the chair beside the bed while the wardboy helped Shashank get into the wheelchair. 

“Thank you, Dada.” She smiled, grateful for his help and let him take the wheelchair out to where her car was. 

“Hatti kuthla!” She huffed while adjusting his leg on the elevating wedge pillow. “The world would have ended if you had stayed downstairs in Prachi’s room, no?” 

“Tu aadhi saang hi ushi kuthun aanlis?” 

Her hand stilled on the pillow before she balled it in a fist. Her enraged eyes glared at him. “Tula pillow chi padli aahe? Ithe vichar karun karun maza doka kharab hotey ki itkya paayrya chadhun tuzya payala aankhi traas zala asel aani tula… ya pillow chi padli aahe?” Her sarcastic claps followed her evident frustration. 

Her fiance was clearly out of his head, she concluded. How on earth was he more concerned about the pillow that she had brought to help his ankle heal faster than the whole damn staircase that he insisted on climbing that could potentially worsen his injury? 

“Ho aahe padli! Wayfal kharcha nusta. Ekda vicharla hi nahi mala vikat ghyachya aadhi?” Now he could see what took her so long to come back when she had gone to buy the medicines. He couldn’t believe that she was sharp enough to put the pillow directly in her car without letting him have a glimpse at it, knowing that he would force her to return it. 

Apurva mala itka chaangla olkhayla laagli aahe! It surprised and annoyed him at the same time. Baykoche gun tar bhar-bharun aahe hichyat. Navra nahi mhanel he mahit asun nemki tich goshta karaychi aani ashi karaychi ki bichara navra bolnya vyatirikta kahi karuch shakat nahi. His monologue continued, silently sulking, suddenly counting himself among the list of the oh-so-bichare navre.

His internal ranting went on till the gravity of the words he was saying and the emotions he was experiencing hit him like lightning. Bayko… navra… kay boltoy mi? He… asa kasa bol-lo mi jasa kahi aamchya lagnala 30 varsha zaalit. 

Mai and Dada’s cute bickering flashed before his eyes and he couldn’t believe how similar his complaints sounded to the usual ones that Dada made about Mai. 

Laagla payala aahe pan parinaam menduvar zaalela distoy. Doka firlay tuza, Khadoos. Doka firlay tuza. 

He stopped himself again. Mi aata swatala… Khadoos mhanalo? Ugh. He slammed the pillow that was beside him on his face in sheer irritation. He had lost his mind, he accepted. 

Apurva who had been observing his voiceless antics for the past couple of minutes couldn’t decide if she should call the psychiatrist at home or take him to the mental asylum instead. 

Her constant gaze on him worked like an alarm for him, forcing an invisible hit to his senses. He seemed to have forgotten that she was still there. 

Not willing to accept that he zoned out, he got back to the conversation. “Prachi chya room madhe rahna ashakya hota, Apurva. Maza sagla samaan ithe aahe. Institute ch kaam hi aahech. Kahi laagla tar parat parat var khaali karna jasta problematic rahla asta mazyasathi. He chadhna bas aata ekdacha hota…”

“Mi kashala aahe ithe? Mi dila asta na hava te aanun!” She argued, letting go of the topic of the pillow. 

“Tu ek 5 minute vagere deshil pan tu ghari gelyavar problem zalach asta na?” 

“Tula koni sangitla mi jaatey mhanun?”

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Much love.

I N D E X

Part One

Part Two  

Part Three

Part Four

Part Five

Part Six

Part Seven

Part Eight

Part Nine

Part Ten

Part Eleven

Part Twelve