You and I!

"Done with dicing the vegetables." Ravi got up from the chair and stretched his hands lazily.

"Where are you off to? Grate the coconut." Kirti said crisply.

Ravi glared at his wife for few seconds and with a tired and dramatic sigh, sat down to grate the coconut. He looked at the watch. It was just 6.30 am. Remind me again, why did I take up retirement? Oh yes, to 'enjoy' and 'relax'. Right.

"Why do you need coconut?" he asked.

Kirti placed her hands on her hips and stared at him. Uh oh.. this cannot be good. Nothing good has followed this pose. Ravi gulped uncertainly, trying to put on a brave facade. You don't scare me, woman. You will never know that you scare me, woman!

"Someone said yesterday that he wanted saambar rice for lunch today. Remember? There are no free meals, mister. You earn your saambar and rice here." She said in a serious tone and he nodded his head.

Remind me to not to ask for saambar again. Daal. From now on, it is always Daal on the menu.

An hour later, Ravi came out of his room, the aroma of breakfast wafting towards him. He chuckled.
Not aroma. Seems like it is Paratha for breakfast today.  And that means, some teasing is on the cards.

"You turned fifty-years-old this year, didn't you?" Ravi asked her lightly as he entered the kitchen and bit back a smile when she turned around and gave him a frosty look.

"I turned fifty. Your point is...?

"Fifty years, and still you can't make a paratha without burning at least a part of it," Ravi said with a slight laugh, gearing himself up for the inevitable fight that was to follow.

She shot him a disgusted look. "I believe you will be turning fifty-five years old this year?" She asked him angrily.

He nodded, controlling his impulse to laugh.

"And how many perfect parathas have you made in your fifty-five years of life?" Kirti asked with a tight smile.

Ravi burst out laughing and Kirti hid her smile.

An hour later, Ravi was blissfully reading the newspaper when Kirti came to him, all dressed up for going out.

"I need to go to the temple." She told him.

He looked at her curiously. "Okay. Since when do you need my permission to go anywhere, sorry, do anything at all?"

She shook her head in exasperation. "Old man, I need a drop to the temple."

"Fine. I will book a cab for you." Ravi said with a twinkle in his eyes while she shot him a challenging look.

"All right. I will wait. Go ahead and book the cab." She sat on the sofa with a smile. Let me see you book the cab.

Ravi took his own time with his mobile. "Hmmm. It appears that there are no cabs today. Looks like I will have to drop you myself." He got up from his chair with an overly-dramatic sigh. "What is the use of retiring early if you have to work even more than you used to?" As he went to his room to get his scooter-keys, Kirti rolled her eyes. Such over-acting! 

"You have put on weight," Ravi said as they were riding on his scooter and felt Kirti stiffen in response.

"What makes you say so?" She asked stiffly.

"I am finding it difficult to ride fast on the scooter, with you seated behind me. Remember how I used to speed up?"

"Why can't you simply accept that you are not as young and bold as you used to be? I have not put on weight." Kirti said stubbornly and Ravi laughed out loud. She hit him softly on his hand and smiled.

Fifteen minutes later they reached the temple. Kirti got down from the scooter and looked at Ravi. He looked everywhere except at her. And then finally gave up. "All right, I am coming in too. But only so that you will leave me in peace for the rest of the day."

"Ha. Dream about it, Old man. Trust me, your days of peace ended on the last day of your office." Kirti said smugly and Ravi just shook his head with a smile. "Go ahead. I will park the scooter and join you."

They both stood in front of the temple deity with folded hands.

Kirti bowed her head. Thank you for Ravi, the most beautiful part of my life. 

Ravi closed his eyes. Hey, it's not that I don't believe in You. How can I not believe, when someone as wonderful as Kirti is present in my life! It's just that, I put up a pretense before her, of not wanting to go to temple or praying. It makes her feel that I am doing all this on her insistence and that is how I want it to be. Will always be grateful to you for the greatest blessing of my life - this wonderful woman standing and praying beside me. Thank you!

They sat inside the temple for a few minutes and got up to leave. Ravi looked out of the temple towards the bay on whose shore the temple was situated. Endless water stretched up to wherever he could look.

"Want to sit by the shore for some time? I know you will have some work for me the moment we reach home. I want to enjoy at least some moments of peace and tranquillity." Ravi teased her.

"All right if that is what you want. It is better to spend some time here, rather than listen to you whine about the housework or hear the news blaring from the television." Kirti shot back.

"We might as well enjoy a cup of coffee at the coffee stall there. At least you won't fight with me when there are witnesses around." He laughed as she hit him on his hand playfully.


And then, by an unspoken understanding, they both held hands and walked towards the coffee stall.