9)ᥫ᭡.WAITING

ANAISHA ✿

I was really happy and excited today, rejoining my academy.

Ekansh had taken me to the temple; we had sought Bappa's blessings before coming here. I had learned Kathak from this very academy, and now I was teaching here.

It was the time when I completed college and was searching for a job. Luckily, I even got one. But I never found peace (sukoon) in my heart, maybe because it was never my dream. One night, as I was sitting in my room, everything felt unbearable, suffocating—a deep, heavy silence in the middle of a restless night. Then I opened my cupboard to take something out, and my eyes fell on a wooden box. I opened it, inside lay delicate memory….. ghunghroo my Nani gave me, these were my nani's ghunghroo. My throat tightened instantly, fingers trembling as I touched them. She gifted me these ghunghroo. Tears fell from my eyes….. a sob escaped my lips….. the memory hit me hard of my Nani, her support, her trust in me….. I wiped the tears from the back of my hands and tied the ghunghroo on my feet, and it was as if a fresh breeze had passed through me, as if I was alive again.

That night, I didn't stop. All the pain I had built up inside, I washed it all away with my tears. I drowned out the world's taunts with the sound of the ghunghroo. I found peace in those spins of Kathak. It was as if my lost soul had returned; the girl was only breathing before, now she was alive again.
That night, I forgot everything, and the five-year-old Anaisha returned—the one who didn't care about the world's cruel reality; she was just happy in the sound of those ghunghroo. That day, I realized that Kathak was not just my passion; it was my peace. I started online Kathak classes. That’s how Kathak found me back, or better to say, I found my passion, my soul, the missing piece of myself back.

The dream I once left behind for my parents’ happiness, to fulfill their dreams… but destiny has its own paths, its own ways. No matter how much you turn away from that thing, what is written in your fate, the universe always brings it back to you. Destiny has its own ways.

Today, stepping through the wide double doors of the academy again, I was hit by the familiar, comforting scent: a blend of aged wood polish, faint sandalwood incense, and the subtle, metallic dust from countless spinning ghunghroo. It was the smell of home, the smell of peace.
I moved into the main studio. I kicked off my sandals and placed my feet on the vast wooden floor. Instantly, I felt grounded. When I started dancing Kathak, a wave of deep peace and pure happiness washed over me. I felt like myself again. The fast spins (chakkars) didn’t just turn my body, they turned off the noise in my mind, creating a quiet space. The rhythmic taps of my feet (tatkar) hitting the oiled wood matched perfectly with the bright, sparkling sound of my ghunghroo.
I forgot everything—

EKANSH ✧

I was dying because of this headache. Back-to-back meetings, files scattered all over my table, drinking coffee to keep the world from spinning—but it was no help.

I just wanted to keep my mind busy. But my mind kept drifting back again and again to that one person, My Wife, Anaisha.
Her mere glimpse was enough to break that calm in me. I didn't know what was happening with me, but whenever I looked at her—oh fuck! Forgot look, even heard her name—unknown emotions rose in my heart unknowingly. On the first morning after our marriage, she looked breathtaking in that red saree, her wet hair clinging to her waist, droplets flowing from them, her shy smile, her lowered eyes...
...and her lips—damn, those were like petals—

I groaned in annoyance, running a hand through my hair.

Fuck! Ekansh, get a grip man. Focus!

I looked at my wrist watch. It was time to pick her up. I gathered my car keys. I drove off. I could have sent a driver, too, but I wanted to do it myself.

I took all the responsibilities of family and business when I was an eighteen-year-old boy. Papa's health wasn't good; that’s when I started coming to the office, started learning things and the business. I was sixteen that time. The day I stepped into this office as a businessman, from that day I never stopped. I just buried myself in work. The passion to take the Rajvansh empire to greater heights never allowed me to rest or think about anything else. I forgot myself, living for my family and business. I worked day and night like a robot, locking my feelings in some corner of my heart. When you were the elder son of the family, you had to forget about yourself for your family, for the responsibilities.

But when she came into my life, the emotions I had forgotten I had started rising unexpectedly, unknowingly.
Whenever a smile touched her lips, my heart forgot to beat. She made that kheer on her pehli rasoi that was genuinely delicious. When I complimented it, her face lit up. I wanted to give her something that truly belonged to me only, so I gifted her my chain, the one I bought with my first salary, my hard-earned money. The peace and happiness I felt after making her wear my chain was unexplainable.

I didn't like it when she panicked and apologized to me about her things being on the bed. I felt like someone stabbed my heart. It was her room too, my everything was hers. When I declared that to her, she was staring at me with her innocent eyes. And what I told her, I meant every word of that. It was Us now and forever.

She was all good, smiling, talking, until Maa mentioned the pagphera rasam. Her face instantly fell after learning that we had to go to her parents’ house for the ritual.
I didn't ask her the reason, and I didn't want to. I thought maybe she was hesitant to refuse Maa and Dadi. I didn't know what the reason was, but she didn't feel like going, so she didn't have to go. I pressed her many times, but she cut me off by murmuring, "I'm fine," but I knew she was not at all fine. Something was bothering her so much. And that was killing me from inside.

I could sense that something was not right with Anaisha and her family. They didn't greet her with that enthusiasm; their eyes were distant, smiles forced. And her eyes, I could feel, were moist and heavy with emotions… She was trying very hard to hide it from me. But I could understand her without a single word, see the emotions behind her mask of happiness, her smile, from the day I saw her. I didn't know what this emotion, this connection was, but there was something deep, raw, pure. I could feel it, but I didn't know or understand it yet.

When she was recounting her childhood, her passion, her achievements, her room, there was a spark in her eyes with that bright smile on her face. Her room was ivory-colored, calm and beautiful, just like her. I was so proud of her.

At lunch, I didn't like the way her family spoke to her; it made me lose my calm. They tried to put her behind me, because she was my wife. She is my wife, not behind me, and why would she eat after me? Nonsense. We are husband and wife, partners. We are equal. And no one can insult My Wife, not in front of me, not behind my back.
I just wanted that smile on her face always. Her tears were like a stab in my heart.

I reached her academy and dialed her number. "Hello," her soft voice came from the other side.

"Yeah, I'm waiting in the parking lot," I replied.

"Bas panch minute, aati hun," she answered.

"Hmm," I ended the call and started scrolling through my phone. My head was still throbbing. When I sensed her and looked up, there she was, coming towards me with a soft smile on her face. And I forgot the pain, everything for a moment. I felt an unknown relief. Her smile was so pure, so angelic. “ Chale” she asked i finally came back to reality and looked away after realizing that I was staring at her for quite long, I composed myself, cleared my throat and nodded. Opened the door for her. She settled on the passenger seat. I came to my side and drove off.

The drive was silent. We didn't utter anything, neither she nor I. She was looking outside the window, lost in her thoughts, and my eyes kept drafting to her. "So how was your day?" I inquired, breaking the silence.

She flinching a little at my sudden voice. "It was good.” She continued “Everyone was so happy and congratulated us," she responded, her eyes sparkling, a genuine smile tugging at her lips.

I nodded, and a smile tugged my lips.

"How was your day?" she asked.

"Hectic, back-to-back meetings and loads of pending work," I sighed, rubbing my forehead with my two fingers and thumb.

"Ekansh."

"Hmmm."

"You really don't have to come and pick me up. I can just go with the driver, or I can manage, honestly" she murmured.

“I'll stop if you don't like.” I glanced at her.

“ I don't have any problem. I just….. I really don't want to bother you unnecessarily” she replied instantly her voice barely audible.

I chuckled "It's not unnecessarily, Mrs. Rajvansh and I wanted to" I stated, staring straight into her eyes. Her face flushed, all red. She nodded and instantly turned her head back towards the window to hide that shy face, but it was too late. I smirked.

Silence fell again in the car, but it was not awkward now. I dropped her at home. She inquired if I wasn't coming. I explained that I had meetings.

It was late night, 1am, when I came back home. God, this headache was killing me. Everyone was sleeping. I usually came late at night because of work, exhausted, so I went directly to my bed and slept. I was stepping on the stairs
when—

"Ekansh," her voice called out, and I halted in my tracks. I turned to look; she was there at the dining table, eyes sleepy. What was she doing here at this time?

"You didn't sleep yet? Why are you awake at this hour?" I asked, confused. And her next words froze me.