'kya hua? Aaj office nahi jaana?' asked purvi as she saw her sister sleeping.

'nahi, woh shaadi ke das kaam hai, maine kavita se kaha ki ghar se kaam kar rahi ho main tab ke liye..' replied ishita as she lazily woke up.

'ishu! Tumhari tabiyat toh thik hai na?' panicked their mother as she checked her temperature by touching her forehead.

'haan, maa, kya ho gaya?' asked a weirded out ishita.

'arre, jab uthi toh dekha koi nashta hi nahi banna raha hai, main dar gayi tujhe kya ho gaya!'

'di ke liye dar gayi ya iss baat se ki ab toh mujhe na milna nashta?' remarked an annoyed purvi.

'ab kya karun? Tere upar bharosa karun nashta karne ke liye?'

'na hi karo, aapko taane mil jaate hai deneko, aur mujhe shaanti.' Said purvi while clasping her hands together, 'mujhe maaf karo!'

'waise tum ghar pe kaise?'

'woh maine socha ki shaadi ke kaam aap kahan akeli karogi, toh maine keh diya ki kuch din ghar se hi kaam karungi.'

'acha kiya tune, iske bharose toh kuch hota bhi nahi!'

'maa..' requested ishita, not wanting another argument.

'yaar tumhara khaana nahi pachta hai kya mujhe das baar sunaye bina!'

'haan, main toh shauk se karti hoon yeh, tu toh kuch karti hi nahi hai.'

'yaar aap na...' purvi was about to say something but stopped after ishita left the room in irritation.

'dekha, subah-subah bechari ka mood kharab kar diya!' exclaimed their mother as purvi too left the room, just appalled.

                                                         ***

'toh aaj hum moharat nikal lete hain. Hanji-hanji. Phir yeh bhi dekhlenge, ji bilkul..ji-ji-ji!' said their mother on call.

Kavin, teasingly, mimicked the sound of the band-baja in the wedding, mostly into dushyant's ear, who gave him a death stare,

'kya problem hai tera?'

'main toh bas aap ke liye khush ho raha hoon..ab yeh problem kaise hui?'

'saale tu koi doodh ka dhula ram nahi hai, toh acting toh mat hi kar!' said dushyant, as shyam bhaiya, privy to the jokes about his name that come from kavin's mouth, had that 'not again' look on his face.

'arre, ab har baar aapke naam pe joke thodi hoga...' said kavin as shyam bhaiya left with a sigh of relief.

'tum dono kab bade hoge, shaadi wale ghar mein bete bad-chadke kitn kaam karte hain aur ek tum log!' scolded their mother.

'arre naraaz mat ho yaar mom, batao kya kaam hai?' said dushyant as he moved towards her.

'arre tum dono bas taiyaar ho jao, hume nikalna hai!'

'arre, mummy tumhe lagta hai wahan jaane ke liye bhai ko taiyaar hone ki zaroorat hai!'

'arre main toh kuch bhi nahi hoon, kavin ko toh aadhi raat ko bistar se bhi uthake le jao wahan toh bhi chalega..'

'haan, haan, aap hi uthaoge na bistar se. Bachpan se khambe jaise the upar se yeh daaku wale gundh!'

'kavin! Aise bolte hain bhaiya ko!'

'arre par..' kavin pleaded as dushyant chuckled,

'yes kavin, where are your manners?' he said jokingly.

'mummy, agar aap nahi chahti na ishita bhabhi sohagan banne se pehle vidhva ho jaayein, toh inko kaho mere saah bakwaas na karein!'

'acha? Tu baneyega usse vidhva? Shakal dekhi hai?'

'tum dono agar abhi chup nahi hue naa, toh maine ishita aur purvi dono ko vidhwa bana dena hai! Samjhe!' commanded their mother in annoyance, as they both left now, knowing very well it was the best thing to do.

                                                                  ***

Ishita, who was putting on her earring, was interrupted by the doorbell and the voice that accompanied it,

'arre koi kholo darwaza yaar!' yelled purvi

'arre kuch toh khud karlo!' yelled their mother back.

Ishita, frustrated, went ahead and opened the door. Only that when she opened it, her eyes met with dushyant's.

(full-on bollywoood cliché, but, let's face it, we really like some of them. Waise i think meri fantasy ismein yahi hai ki iss story mein covid nahi hai!)

A nice, romantic moment, but ishita had to come out of it. She had people to greet.

'namaste, aunty!'

'arre, mujhe mummy hi bola karo ab, thik hai!'

'waise aapki original mummy kahan hai?' said kavin jokingly, as he looked around, actually looking for purvi.

'hmm, 'original mummy' ki khooj mein hai tu toh...' dushyant remarked sarcastically.

'arre, aap log hain, aayi na, please..' said purvi as she entered, while she yelled, 'mummy!' while still keeping a smile on her face. Today, she was pretending to be ishita, completely.

'arre, aap log, toh badi jaldi aa gaye! Baitheyi na, chai lenge?'

'di gayi banane!' remarked purvi to her mother, with that same spite as in their arguments, it was great to see her come back in to her own.

'dekh lijiye! Isko pehle hi pata chal jata hai! Said their mother accompanied with a fake laughter. While she settled down, to start chatting, ishita brought in tea with biscuits, dry-fruits and namkeen, all perfectly organised, signature trademark of hers.

'beta, woh mere mein..' dushvin's mom was about to speak when ishita said,

'yeh aapke liye hi hai, bina cheene wali.' Finishing with a smile, obviously.

While purvi and her mother were having arguments with mere eye contact, as her mother gave her a look of, 'kuch seekh le tub hi.' and purvi, with her typical disgusted look saved just for her mother.

'ab samajh aaya aap chai ki taareef kyun kar rahi thi...nahi sach mein, inhone toh ked diya tha bhai ko, kahan milegi itne pyaar se chai pilaane waali...' kavin intervened admist all this, as he was never a fan of drama, but rather adding a spice into dull situations.

'arre di ke liye toh...' purvi, who was about to add to this, was stopped by an intense glare by none other than her mom.

'sorry.' Said purvi, as she sipped on her tea and kavin, whispered to her,

'kaisi se situations hote hai ki khulkar bol hi na pao...'

'i hate it!' they said it together, secretly, of course.

their eyes met and they shared a chuckle. It must be a great pleasure to find someone who gets you.

Now, while kavi being the younger, fun siblings, ishyant were the serious elder ones, as they were too busy seeing what all has to be done, to even give each other a second glance.

'toh thik hai main banquet halls final karlungi, phir hum dono saath mein dekh aayenge aur decide karlenge.' Said ishita as dushyant nodded and added,

'catering waala ek pata hai mujhe, usse main baat karlunga.'

'pandit ji kahan reh gaye?' asked dushvin's mother.

(guys, believe me, all mentioned below has directly been picked up by a real experience, no joke.)

'arre woh keh rahe the unhe teen-chaar last minute antim sanskar mil gaye, toh woh mohrat whatsapp nikalenge.' Informed dushyant as all eyes fell on him.

'kya? Mujhe bhi abhi hi pata chala hai woh whatsapp pe bhi hai!yeah, he's not online...' he exclaimed

'how dedicated!' remarked ishita, as ishyant shared a chuckle.

'kya sirf main hi mare hue logon ke baarein mein soch raha hoon? Oh tum bhi, thank god.' Remarked kavin as purvi nodded.

Life is the strangest joke ever.