Page 125 of Love after Marriage

“Actually since you mentioned ras malai, you can get ready quickly and get some ras malai from the store while I make other sweets. It will be less crowded now,” she suggested to him.

Deepak agreed and headed out to a mithai shop. He was so captivated – the crowd bought so many sweets in preparation for Diwali, and there was a wide variety of sweets in the store. He always loved to eat sweets, and coming here was a treat for him. Getting excited, he decided to buy a whole bunch of varieties so Roshni did not have to spend time working hard in the kitchen. He came home with a huge bag.

Roshni was stupefied to see the bag. “What did you bring? You went to buy just ras malai, right?”

“Roshni, oh, that mithai shop was so full of fresh sweets, I could not resist and bought few more than what we had talked about.”

He started taking the boxes out, one after another, and explained what was in each of them. Roshni had her mouth wide open. “You bought gulab jamun as well?”

“Yes, I did. They were so fresh, and more importantly, I did not want you to go through the trouble of making them.”

Roshni was disappointed because she wanted to make some, but now with all these sweets – what was she going to do? “Okay, since you bought all these, I guess I don’t have to make any. Deepak, you may want to keep all these in the refrigerator.” She slowly walked away to the kitchen.

Deepak noticed she was not pleased with the sweets he’d bought. She was disappointed, and he did not understand. He walked behind her and held her hand and turned her

to face him. “Roshni, what happened? Are you upset because I bought these?”

Roshni stared into his eyes. “No.”

He wrapped his hands around her waist, holding her. “You seem to be upset, why? Did I embarrass you by getting all these?”

“You did not upset me. It’s just that–” She stopped without completing her sentence.

Deepak was still holding her. “Just what?”

“I can understand you getting excited and buying all the sweets, but we have to follow the tradition too.” She looked at him very caringly and tried to explain. “I have to make some sweet dish to offer at the time of Lakshmi pooja, and now with all these…what can I make…and with just the two of us, how many can we eat? Even if I distribute a few to the neighbors – you bought so much, Deepak.”

Deepak now understood her point. He quickly glanced towards the kitchen and noticed Roshni had roasted something, for he could smell the wonderful aroma. Sniffing, he asked, “Looks like you have already started something? What is it?”

“I just roasted the besan for laddus.”

Deepak still held her hand. “So make the laddus. I didn’t buy any laddus. Can we offer laddus to Devi?”

Roshni nodded.

Deepak continued, smiling, “Roshni, sweets are my weakness. I can eat them on and on, and–”

“You can keep these for only so long, Deepak,” she interrupted.

“You know what – after you give some to the neighbors for Diwali, whatever remains we will eat. If not, maybe we can freeze them and eat them later.”

“Freeze them…why?”

“So we can eat them for a longer time, and hopefully they will taste the same after thawing.”

“Why freeze and eat when we can get them fresh?”

“Oh yeah, I forgot…you can get everything fresh here, unlike the USA, where I freeze the sweets and eat them when I’m in the mood,” he said.

All this time he had continued to hold her. She did not make any attempt to free herself; she was absolutely fine being held by him. After a few minutes, she freed herself and moved away. Looking into his eyes, she continued, “Deepak, can I ask you for some help, please?”

Deepak nodded.

“My left arm is not strong yet. Would you help me make the laddus?” she requested.

“Certainly, you’ll have to show me how, though,” he said and was all ready to help her.

They went into the kitchen, and Roshni demonstrated making laddu to Deepak. He was excited to help. They made the besan laddus, and all the other sweets got transferred to the refrigerator.

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