Raman's office- some hours later
"Yeh lo Bhai, yeh contact numbers ki aap ko shayad zaroorat pade." Mihir said, handing a folded note over to Raman. "Saari taiyaariyan ho chuki hai aur ghar ke butler aap ka intezaar karega. Jaisa ki aap ke bataya tha, sab kuch ka intazam ho chuka hai, aur dinner bhi jaisa aap chahte hai waisa prepare hoga"
(Here you go bhai, these are all the contact numbers you might need. All the preparations are in place, and the butler will be waiting for you. Everything you asked for has been arranged and your dinner will be prepared just as you had asked for.)

"Thank you Mihir" Raman was surprised to find that his hands shaking as he took the paper proferred by Mihir, tucking it away in his wallet.

"Nervous ho Bhai?" Mihir asked mischievously. "Don't worry, bas aap Bhabhi ko honestly aur sincerely apne dil ka baat bata dijiye - she is very understanding. Woh ab aap ko maaf kar hi degi. Aur Bhai, yeh shave wagera kar ke bahut handsome lag rahe ho aap.
(Are you nervous bhai? Don't worry, tell bhabhi honestly and sincerely what is in your heart. She is very understanding and she will forgive you. And bhai, you look very handsome with this freshly shaved look)

Raman laughed and heading to the door, retorted " Tujhe lagne se kya fayda? Matangi ko lagoonga ya nahi?"
(What's the use of looking good to you? The question is whether my Matangi will think I look handsome?)

And then with a final reassuring nod from Mihir, Raman set out to put their plan into action.

***********************************
Ishita's clinic - soon after
It was 2.00pm and Ishita had no other patients waiting.

There was still an hour to go before she had to leave to pick up Ruhi from school, so she was sitting at her desk making some patient notes. The air conditioning was chilly and she pulled her blue and white chiffon saree around her shoulders

Kapde ki thaan she remembered her Raavan Kumar used to call her saris.

Stop thinking about him, Ishita she admonished herself, as she bent her head again to her notes.

Her concentration was disturbed as the door flew open and her clean shaven, black suited and scowling husband strode into the room. He was closely followed by the temporary receptionist, Rita, who was filling in while her secretary, Sarika,  was on leave.

" You can't just go in sir" Rita was saying, vainly trying to impede his strides.

"Rita, it's okay" Ishita said quietly. "Yeh meri beti Ruhi ke papa hai" (This is my daughter Ruhi's father)

Raman slammed the door in Rita's face and walked up to the desk. "Tumhari beti ke papa hoon? What the hell is that supposed to mean? Tumhara pati nahin hoon?"
(Your daughter's father? What the hell is that supposed to mean? Am I not your husband?)

"What do you want Raman" Ishita asked quietly.

For a moment, Raman had forgotten the purpose of his visit, his plans to woo her. His anger when she called him " Ruhi ke papa" was real and overwhelming. He was her husband, dammit. That she should refuse to acknowledge him as such cut deep. He grabbed her arm, but then as she flinched back he recollected himself and with an effort, stepped back.

"It's about Ruhi, Ishita. Ruhi ki school se call aaya tha, unhe kuch urgent verification ki zaroorat hai, Ruhi ki subject choices ke liye, toh abhi bulaya hai."
(It's about Ruhi, Ishita. I had a call from her school. They need us to go there for some urgent verification, for Ruhi's subject choices. We need to go now)

" Verification? Subject choices? What's so urgent about that? And why did they call you? Ruhi's school always calls me"

"They said they couldn't reach you. Maybe your new secretary didn't put the call through. And it's not urgent but I told them I would be out of town from tommorow so this is the only time I have. So let's go." Inwardly, he was cursing at himself for Mihir's flimsy story. His Jhansi Ki Rani was too intelligent and quick off the mark.

"Mein school call karti hoon. ( Let me call the school) I am sure it can wait" Ishita said reaching for her phone. She wondered as she did so just where he was going the next day, and for how long. It hurt that he didn't think it necessary to tell her, but then, that was how their relationship was, wasn't it. She was his wife in name only. It was not like he had to share his movements, his life, with her.

She was just about to pick up the receiver when Raman impatiently grabbed the phone off the table and pulled her forward. "I am already here Ishita, so just come to the damned school with me. Call kar ke kya hoga. Sirf time waste hoga" ( What will a call achieve? It will just waste time).

Ishita wondered whether to object to his high handedness, but then decided that arguing was not worth it. So to his utter relief, she said nothing and got up quietly, grabbing her handbag and following him towards the door.

"Damn, almost got caught there Raman beta" Raman berated himself silently. "Mihir ka plan toh shuru hone se pehle hi khatm hone wala tha"(Mihir's plan had been about to end almost before it started).

The waiting room was empty and silent as they walked out of Ishita's office, heading for the exit. Rita looked with curiously at the lithe attractive scowling man who Dr Bhalla had called her daughter's father, as she listened to Dr Bhalla telling her she would not return that day.

"Listen Rita, did my daughter's school call...." Dr Bhalla had started saying, but he had interrupted her, insisting they leave.

They looked so good together, Rita mused, as he ushered Dr Bhalla out, his hand under her elbow. I wonder why Dr Bhalla flinched at his touch. It's so obvious that she loves him. Then with a shrug of her pretty head, Rita bent once more to her paperwork.

********************************************
Raman had parked his car just beyond the door and he strode ahead to open the passenger door for his wife.

Ishita shook her head, motioning to her car, parked in the covered portico close by. "Aap chaliye, mein apne car mein aati hoon" ( You go ahead, I'll come in my car) she said quietly, relieved that he had left her arm.

His touch distracted her, brought her back to the time they had been friends, their little caring touches, their special glances.

"For Gods sake, Ishita" Raman was starting to panic as he saw his grand plan unravelling once again. "We are going to the same place so just get in. I'll drop you back here. Kya tumhe mahurat ki zarurat hai car mein ghusne ke liye" ( Do you need an invitation to get into the car)

Ishita was surprised both by the tone of his voice and his taunts. For the past month, he had been treading softly around her, hesitating when he spoke, but now he was talking like her old Raavan Kumar again. And as she had told Raman at the satyanarayan puja before their estrangement, she preferred Raavan.

As she stood hesitating, he gently pushed at her and accepting defeat, she sat down. Closing the door with a silent sight of relief, he walked around to the drivers side.

For a moment, he stood and watched as she fumbled with her seat belt, knowing that stormy weather lay ahead in this journey, and not knowing how she would react. Then gathering up his courage, he opened his door. Getting in himself, he waited until she had put on her seat belt, then auto locked the doors and sped away.

**********************************************
As Raman skillfully negotiated the Delhi traffic, Ishita sat quietly. A song was playing on the car radio:

Jise zindagi dhoond rahi hai...Kya yeh woh makaam mera hai
Yahaan chain se bas rukh jaon, Kyon dil yeh mujhe kehta hai...
Jasbaat naye se miley hai  Jaane Kya Asar yeh hua hai
Ek aas mili phir mujh ko Jo qubool kisi ne kiya hai

Kisi shayar ki ghazal Jo de ruh ko sukoon ke pal
Koi mujh ko yun mila hai Jaise Banjaare ko ghar
Naye mausam ki sehar  Yaa dard mein dopahar
Koi mujh ko yun mila hai Jaise banjaare ko ghar

That's what I imagined , Ishita thought sadly. That I had finally found my destination, my home, with you. That you would soothe my soul, take away all my hurts... But life isn't a fairy tale, is it Raman.

She looked down sadly, missing the glances that Raman was throwing at her, and the tightening of his hands on the steering wheel...

He had been listening to the song too, wondering at how perfectly it fitted what she meant to him, what she had become for him - the refuge of his gypsy soul, the home his heart had been searching for. He had found her and then, he had let her go.

He couldn't help his eyes straying constantly towards his beautiful wife, and he was struck at the sadness in her downcast gaze, her defeated pose. This defeat, this melancholy ..... this was his fault. He needed to get his feisty wife, his argumentative, opinionated, fire spitting Jhansi Ki Rani back.

So he gunned the engine and drove on.

********************************
Ishita had been so caught up in her thoughts that it was several minutes before she realised that they weren't on the route to Ruhi's school, but instead approaching the motorway leading out of the city.

"Raman, yeh kahan ja rahe hai hum" she asked, looking at him anxiously.
(Raman, where are we going?)

"Jahan hame jaana chahiye" ( Where we are supposed to be going)  he said firmly, looking straight ahead, realizing that the time of reckoning was here. "Just sit back"

"What is that supposed to mean? You told me we were going to Ruhi's school" There was surprise and shock in her voice.

" I lied" Raman said calmly. "We are going to Mr Tandon's farmhouse. I need to talk to you, and you are so caught up in your work and in things at home that you always find an excuse to avoid me. So I am taking you somewhere where you have no excuses, where you have to listen to me."

"Farmhouse? Damn it, I am not going with you. Let me out" Ishita was shocked, furious, and she was trapped inside the car as Raman sped away ignoring her entreaties to let her out. "Raman, I don't know what the hell you think you are playing at, but this is not done. You tricked me by using Ruhi's name. You told me we had to go to Ruhi's school and now ... now, I don't know what damn nonsense you think you are going to achieve. I have clients waiting for me. Take me back now Raman"

"Stop lying madrassan, I heard you tell that girl you weren't coming back. And even if someone was really waiting for you, I don't care" Raman responded calmly, even though he quaked inwardly at the fury in his wife's voice. " I really don't care. This car will only stop at the farmhouse, and the doors are locked, so you may as well sit back."

"Raman why are you doing this?" Ishita felt hot tears pricking her eyelids, but she blinked them away. She would not cry in front of him - never again. " I don't want to talk to you. I have nothing to say"

"But I need to talk to you Ishita" Raman said softly. "We can't go on like this, I can't go on like this."

"It's always about you, isn't it" Ishita said furiously. "You need to talk, so you kidnap me. What about how I feel? Why doesn't that matter?"

"It does matter Ishita" Raman said quietly, slowing the car down.

They were on the outskirts of the city now, and he pulled into a bylane.

"If you really don't want to come with me, then we will go back. But I request you, one last time, to come with me. We need to talk. To take some decisions about our lives. I goofed up Ishita. I admit that. And I know you don't want to forgive me. Well, so be it. But can't we just spend an hour together, in peace, and talk about how to move forward with our lives. All this tension affects Ruhi, and our parents. For their sakes, for our sakes, just give me an hour Ishita"

Ishita sat very still, looking straight ahead. The sincerity in his voice was unmistakeable. The pain she heard, the regret, the pathos - it reflected and echoed the pain in her own heart. Long moments passed in silence. He said he needed to talk to her, maybe she needed to listen. Because he was right - they couldn't go on like this. She couldn't.

"What about Ruhi" she said finally. " Who will pick her up from school"

"Don't worry about that" Raman responded, a little flicker of hope rising in his heart. "I have arranged everything with Mihir and Mihika."

"But the Tandon's farmhouse is hours away Raman. Why do we have to go there. Couldn't we just go anywhere closer?"

"I wanted to go somewhere private Ishita. Somewhere where we would not be disturbed. Where we could speak frankly, without distractions"

She finally turned around to look at her captor. He was staring at her, and for the first time in weeks, she met and held his eyes.

What she saw in his eyes surprised her. There was no arrogance or impatience, but there was none of the self pity of the past month either. Instead, a fire seemed to be burning in the depths of his soul, a smouldering intensity which rocked her, but a fire tempered with a softness which she could not comprehend.

She looked away in confusion, "Okay, fine. But we won't stay long." He smiled and nodded his head, his gaze lingering on hers, her eyes looking into the distance.

Then she closed her eyes, sitting back in her seat, as Raman re-started the car.

Jaise koi kinaara
Deta ho sahaara
Mujhe woh mila kisi mod par
Koi raat ka taara
Karta ho ujaala
Waise hi roshan kare woh shehar

Dard mere woh bhula hi gaya
Kuch aisa asar hua
Jeena mujhe phir se woh sikhaa raha

Jaise vaarish kar de tar
Ya marham dard par
Koi mujhko yun mila hai
Jaise banjaare ko ghar
Naye mausam ki sehar
Yaa dard mein dopahar
Koi mujh ko yun mila hai
Jaise banjaare ko ghar

Muskaata yeh chehra
Deta hai jo pehra
Jaane chupaata kya dil ka samandar
Auron ko toh har dum saaya deta hai
Woh dhoop mein hai khada khud magar

Chot lagi hai usse
Phir kyun mehsoos mujhe ho raha hai
Dil tu bata de kya hai iraada tera

Main parinda best at
Tha uda jo darbadar
Koi mujh ko yun mila hai
Jaise banjaarey ko ghar
Naye mausam ki sehar
Yaa dard mein dopahar
Koi mujhko yun mila hai
Jaise banjaare ko ghar