Apurva’s Family – Written By An Anonymous Writer

Written By – This writer friend wishes to stay anonymous for now.

This explores something that we had discussed quite a lot of times – how Apurva has made Kanitkars her everything but Shashank cannot bring himself to switch from Dr. Kaushik to Baba. It’s all about how involved Apurva is when it comes to Kanitkars and how distant Shashank has been when it comes to Vartaks. 

The dialogues are a mix of Hindi and Marathi because this writer doesn’t speak Marathi which happens to be my favorite thing about her stories. I find her dialogues extremely sweet. I always tell her that as much as I enjoy how brilliant she is at Marathi now, I don’t want the cute mix of Hindi-Marathi when it comes to her dialogues to change. She wishes to be anonymous because she is a bit hesitant. If you happen to read and enjoy this piece, please do drop a comment to let her see how lovely her work is.

“Apurva, ata mala kutheyhee nahi jaycha aahe. Mala khoob kaam ahes. Tu ja ani nantar jevha tula ghari anares mala call kar, I will come to pick you up.” Shashank opened his laptop to get to work.

Apurva was furious. “Nahi, mala nako tujhi charity. I can come back on my own!” Apurva nearly shouted. Shashank looked up from his laptop screen and sighed and attempted to reason with her one more time.

“Apurva, tithe mi kaya karnares? Tuja ani enjoy with Sir and Sarika Atya.” Apurva widened her eyes and stood in front of him. Shashank gulped and immediately stood up.

Before he could utter another word, Apurva poked his chest repeatedly as she spoke. “Yehi…yehitujhi problem ahes…tuazun Baba ani Atisobat aupacarikaahes. Azuna….Baba is Sir and Ati is Sarika Ati. Azuna, mala Baba fakta tichasaati Sir ahes.” Apurva nearly screamed with tears in her eyes. She grabbed her bag and left the room.

Shashank stood dumbfounded as he replayed Apurva’s words in his head. She was right. Apurva had embraced his family as hers and he still hadn’t been able to develop a relationship with in laws. Shashank paced his room still in thought. He was different to Apurva and more reserved but for her he could have at least tried. Shashank tried to recall a moment when he attempted to spend time with his father-in-law or call him just to talk. Shashank’s mind blanked. Rubbing his forehead at the thought he ran out the door hoping she hadn’t left yet.

Seemingly luck was on his side, Apurva had just stepped outside the front door when he held her hand back. She turned and tried to shrug her hand out of his hold but his hold remained firm. After catching his breath, Shashank stood in front of her letting go of her hand. He wiped her tears and raised his hands to his ears as a gesture of apology.

Apurva looked away and attempted to sidestep him. Shashank followed preventing any further movement. “Apurva mala mahenti ahes I am wrong and I am sorry. I should have tried more with your Baba and Ati since they are also my family.”Apurva’s smiled slightly but refused to look at him. “I will also go with you and spend the day there. I have been meaning to talk to Kaushik Baba about a research of mine, so I can do that too.”

Apurva’s smile widened at “Kaushik Baba” but her ego prevented her from caving easily. She turned to face him, “No, ata kya faida…let me go.” Shashank sighed, “faida hai karan this is the nature of our relationship…we tell each other when we’re wrong and then work on it.” Apurva became speechless and was in thought.

Before she could say anything, Shashank lifted her effortlessly, one arm supporting her while the other was under her knees. He walked over to his bike and placed her down right next to it, glaring at her as if asking her to not move. Apurva acquiesced under his stare. He shot a small smirk in Apurva’s direction when he saw her rest her free hand on her chest, calming her nerves.

Apurva reeled from the suddenness of her husband’s actions. She had not expected him to just carry her wordlessly like that. And boy was he strong! It was not the first time he carried her, but it amazed her every single time. Especially now since she believed she had put on a few pounds.

Regardless, he carried her like as though she was piece of paper. She blushed furiously at her thoughts that were wandering shamelessly at that point. She shook herself out of it and watched Shashank as he sat on the bike starting it.

He turned slightly waiting for her to seat herself behind him. Apurva rolled her eyes and reluctantly sat on the bike. She knew she should hold on to him to secure herself but she did not want to give him the satisfaction. She skeptically placed both her hands on the metal rod behind her to secure herself. She could feel Shashank stare at her through the mirror in the front. Why didn’t he just wrap her arms around his chest instead of staring?

Shashank watched Apurva amusedly. It wasn’t every day that he got to ruffle his bayko’s feathers. No matter how much his brain tried to stop him, he still loved how affected she was by his proximity even after so many intimate moments.

Slightly turning, he grabbed her hands and wrapped them around his chest. He didn’t need to move her closer to his body, but he did anyway. He could feel her breath get more erratic on his cheek, and he began to smile involuntarily. Putting an end to her misery, he finally started his bike and began their ride to the Vartak house.

Parking outside, Apurva got off and stood patiently waiting for Shashank. She began to run her fingers through her hair, in an attempt to make herself look more presentable. By then, Shashank took his keys out and turned to face her. He couldn’t help but freeze as he watched Apurva play with those beautiful tresses of hers.

“Do I look okay?”Apurva asked, turning her head from side to side for Shashank to inspect. He almost nodded. When did she not look okay? In fact, she always looked more than okay. But another idea sneaked into his mind, and so he shook his head. Apurva frowned at his response.

“Your hair… I’ll do it for you,” Shashank said, unable to come up with a proper excuse. Apurva’s hair had fallen nicely into place just as it usually does, but Shashank lied anyway. He lifted his hand towards her hair agonizingly slowly, before slowly running his fingers through it. Shashank tried his best to keep his face straight, as he continued to feel the softness of Apurva’s hair on his palm. He’d been looking for an opportunity to touch her hair again. He loved the feel of her hair.

“Zhalla?”Apurva asked softly, after she’d realized that her husband was taking much longer than needed to set her hair in place. Shashank snapped out of the haze he was in and removed his hand from her hair, nodding once as he did. Apurva smiled at him and folded her hand with his and both proceeded to enter the house.

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