Page 114 of Love after Marriage

“One cup should be good,” she replied.

He took the rice, rinsed it one time, and added two cups of water and left this pan on the stove. Roshni chopped green beans, potatoes and carrots. He decided to mix all three vegetables, placed a skillet on the stove, and added oil. To the heated oil, he added the seasoning ingredients and vegetables. He looked for spice powders and couldn’t find them in the cabinet. “Roshni, where are the spices?”

Roshni slowly walked into the kitchen and showed him the spices: cumin and coriander powders, red chili powder and turmeric powder. Deepak took pride in his cooking skills. Very confidently he added the spices, salt and water, and cooked the vegetables. Then he seasoned the dal. Intermittently, he sniffed the aroma emitting from the spices and smirked.

Roshni watched Deepak and secretly admired his efficiency. How well he had everything under control in the kitchen. Within an hour, Deepak had made a simple lunch – dal, curry and rice.

He came to Roshni. “Roshni, unfortunately I cannot roll chapathis well, so we will have to manage with rice, or if there is a caterer close by, we could buy chapathis?”

“I do not know of any caterer close by…let me talk to aunty next door; she might know of someone.”

Roshni called next-door aunty and found out that aunty herself made chapathis and sold them – some pocket money for her! Roshni ordered a few, and aunty agreed to have them ready in one hour. Roshni gave this information to Deepak, and he was happy.

When the chapathis were ready, both Deepak and Roshni were hungry, and Deepak warmed up the food. Roshni was quiet most of the time, and Deepak did all the chatting as they ate their lunch. Roshni was impressed! Deepak did a good job balancing the flavors and tastes with salt and spices. She took her first bite, and Deepak waited for her feedback.

“Good job, Deepak, perfect blend of spices. Thank you!” she said, smiling at him.

Deepak acknowledged her compliment and smiled at her.

“So where did you learn to cook?” she asked.

“In the US…necessity is the mother of invention, and practice makes man perfect, so this is the result.”

“Very nice, thank you again.” Roshni really meant it.

After lunch Deepak was in the kitchen doing the cleaning, and Roshni wondered how he managed all this work with such efficiency and was so proud of him. She wanted to test him for his patience, and here was the result…she was impressed.

Sheetal came home in the evening and could not believe Deepak had prepared the meal. She came to Roshni. “Roshni, you are so lucky, Deepak can cook such wonderful food.”

Deepak waited to hear Roshni’s response, but Roshni had no reaction at all. They had dinner, and Deepak made sure Roshni had her medicines before she retired. Sheetal was curious to know how the day went between the two of them, but she never got an opportunity to talk to Deepak without Roshni around.

~ ~ ~

The next day began as usual with Roshni again getting ready early before Sheetal left so that Sheetal could help with her clothes. Roshni kept Sheetal company in the kitchen for chai, and they decided to have toasted bread, butter and jam for breakfast before Sheetal left for work.

It was again Deepak and Roshni back on their laptops, they cooked, ate and spent time together. Roshni didn’t say much. She watched Deepak closely, and as he had mentioned, she agreed to be patient until December 14th.

Deepak was back on his laptop when his phone rang. He recognized Sheetal’s number, and they had a brief conversation. Sheetal asked if all was well, and Deepak assured her it was. Deepak expressed his happiness that they’d sent Aunty to Mumbai, and Sheetal agreed. They hung up after a few minutes.

The idea of sending Aunty away triggered a thought in Sheetal’s mind. She wondered if she could do the same and go away to Poona, leaving Deepak and Roshni alone. This would give them the ‘bonding’ time they needed.

With this thought, she looked into the details at work and found out that she did have plenty of vacation time accrued that she could take advantage of. She wanted to do everything in her capacity to bring Deepak and Roshni together.

~ ~ ~

That evening, Sheetal was home, and as usual Sheetal helped with the cooking and they had their dinner. Sheetal discussed her vacation, saying she was over the limit to accumulate any more vacation days and that her boss had suggested she take some time off. Deepak asked her if she had any plans. She told him she’d like to go to Poona to visit her parents, especially since it was Dashera and Diwali time. Roshni had almost forgotten about these two major festivals, and Deepak had been out of the country for so long, he did not even remember the rituals and ceremonies associated with them.

The thought of festivals made Roshni sad. She was reminded of her babuji, and Deepak noticed this. He gently rubbed her shoulders and consoled her. She was happy Sheetal would be able to spend time with her parents during this festive season.

A few minutes later Roshni asked Sheetal, “So when do you want to leave, Sheetal? It will be a long break for you! I am so happy. When was the last time you visited Poona?”

“It has been about two years. Last year we were so busy with the launch of a product, I had no time to think of anything else.”

“You deserve this break. Enjoy!” said Deepak.

Sheetal was delighted, and Roshni and Deepak were happy for her. Roshni was more concerned now. Hey, Devi Maiya! This means I will be here alone with Deepak. Is this a good idea? she thought.

After dinner, Sheetal cleaned the kitchen while Deepak helped Roshni with her medicines. Deepak reminded Roshni of her appointment the next day. It had been two weeks since they came home, and Roshni showed good improvement.

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