Win - Win

"What shall we cook today for lunch?" enquired Neelu, dressed in a peacock blue salwar kameez sipping her morning tea post breakfast.

In her mid-40’s, Neelu is beautiful in the most classical way. She is a little over five feet and four inches with a gorgeously sculpted face that is home to a pair of hazelnut brown eyes rondure with alluring hickory spheres that reminds one of the earth kissed by summer rains which promises to stir life into dormant seeds and a cloud of kohl-black hair with few silvers that fall well beyond the shoulder in soft curls seamlessly.

Summer vacation and her recess from lunch packing for a month was here and she decided to visit her sister Numa in the city for couple of days along with her kids. 

No matter what the season is or which day of the year it is, the prime question after every meal a mother asks is "Kya khana hai ______ ko?", where the blank can be filled with any segment of the day. 

  

After careful scrutiny of available groceries Numa and Neelu got engaged in the kitchen and orchestrated a tune of cookhouse. This tune was composed of clinks and clanks of ladle over pots, slight thuds of knife on chopping board, crumpling clatter of masalas in mixer and isolated whistles from pressure cooker. 

The air that carried melody from the kitchen was gingerly brimming up with a fragrance. A light aromatic steam leisurely permeated every room.

“Biryani!”

The tantalizing redolence of herbs and luscious meat slowly simmering on the stove watered everyone’s mouth. It was indeed a perfect soul mate masquerading as a delectable bed of rice with appetizing marinated spices and succulent meat cooked together.

  

The sensational spectacle of sounds and fragrance put up by wind was abruptly interrupted by a call. 

“Hello Neelu", said Nuraz in deep husky voice.

"Hello dear! I and Didi just cooked biryani for lunch. We are planning to try out a new snack in the evening. I found it on the cooking page." rambled on with excitement Neelu.

"That's superb dear! I called to tell you that I have cut short the trip and I’ll be home by evening.” he said.

“That’s great! See you soon.” she replied.

“Didi! we have to leave before sunset Nuraz should be home by then.” he heard standing outside the locked door of the house as Neelu shrieked before hanging up the call. He knew that she was pretty excited about her new cooking adventure. He unfailingly acknowledged that as a homemaker she is always there for him and kids from sunrise to moonset and rarely gets a chance to relax and experiment with her life.

Numa and Neelu's trail with the snack was grand success which was rewarded with praises and yummy noises. 

The tangy ball of fire in the sky was retiring for the day and before moon could take over Nasr stepped outside announcing that he'd hire an auto for Neelu and children's ride back home.

“I booked a cab, bargaining with auto drivers is painful and not worth the effort chote abbu” muttered the little one.

“These are techie kids, bhaijaan, they don’t step out for anything they have apps for everything” laughed Neelu.

The cabs services these days effortlessly provide air conditioned cars with a promise of a haggle-free ride have tapped into an unexplored market and has put the city on move. The sky was slowly greying into night when the trio reached home. Neelu threw a quick glance at the door and sighed with relief.

"Thank god we are back before your dad came" she declared while unlocking the door because the thought of him waiting out of the door was something she didn’t even welcome in her imagination. The kids got glued to the TV screen and Neelu got busy in the production of last meal for the day. Hours ticked by steadily and the smoky sky metamorphosed into pitch black.

"Why hasn't he come home yet?" thought Neelu uneasily as she dialed up his number.

No answer.

She called again.

No answer!

"Aqsa call your dad from you mobile" yelled Neelu like Aqsa's network guaranteed hundred percent call acceptance.

NO ANSWER again.

Slightly antsy now Neelu and kids walked in the balcony with throng of thoughts racing through their brains. None would utter a word as each one could read the terror in other’s eyes. As time passed they grew edgier and even googled ‘ways to find someone who wouldn’t lift his call’ or similar tracking apps. However, thunder stuck them when Mrs. Ayer who had come to borrow some sugar, told that she saw Nuraz in the afternoon outside the door.

35 missed calls!

Nothing is scarier than having a missed call from your wife. Envisage man’s expression on receiving a number that read 35 next to the missed calls.

“Oh, dear God! I am in for a big big trouble” thought Nuraz as he cursed the inventor of silent mode.

  

“Where have you been!!!” three of them shouted from the balcony as he got out of the car.

Nuraz quietly handed over the movie ticket to Neelu and said, “Thought I could catch baahubali once more and you could conduct your culinary experiment” 

"Win - Win" he uttered with a nervous smile.