The third episode of Pushpavalli opens with Pushpavalli in the same Food Expo. She makes some tea for herself and goes and sits on a staircase. Nikhil joins her to give company and asks her name. As Pushpavalli lets Nikhil know her name, he finds it a bit long so he shortens it to “Li” for convenience and now we know their interaction which led to the comfort we saw in their interaction in Bangalore. He asks Pushpavalli if she would like to go for the ongoing seminar on organic foods. Pushpavalli denies it upfront as she is not fond of the people conducting the seminar. According to her, they are lying and fooling the pretentious rich people around. They do not understand the importance of the ‘organic product’ label which they flaunt extensively by putting it up on regular items. They have no clue about the struggles of a farmer to obtain a license in organic farming, she thinks. Well, I am not sure of the complexities of organic products but I do agree with her. In the name of organic food, a huge chunk of people are easily bluffed on a regular basis.

After this angsty rant by Pushpavalli, Nikhil asks her if she would be interested in the next session - a talk on okra. However, she rebukes this speaker as well. Pushpavalli believes that the speaker is ashamed of calling it ‘bhindi’ and is a “pretentious fart”. The scene is extremely funny. The way Sumukhi performs the rant is iconic. And after all the bashing she does of the speaker for calling it okra, it turns out the speaker is Nikhil himself.

After the introduction montage, in the present Pushpavalli wonders if she should call Nikhil. It has been two days since she met him at the tea stall. He hasn’t contacted her since. She asks Tara and Srishti if calling him will be fine or seem desperate. Tara and Srishti in their twin-like motion, say that following Nikhil till Bangalore is desperate, calling is not. Suddenly, Vasu enters the room and asks Pushpavalli if she has a suitcase. Vasu then asks her to open it and starts to throw Pushpavalli’s clothes from her cupboard in the suitcase. Pushpavalli begs Vasu to let her stay, but Vasu’s isn’t a heart that melts. She wants Pushpavalli to leave right away. 

Tara and Srishti intervene. They ask for their deposit refund. They have regularly been paying the rent but are not receiving food. The two put up an amusing play of complaining to the CBI that Vasu is running a brothel and forcing young girls into prostitution. Vasu is stunned to hear this plan. In no time Vasu turns into a scared cat and begins with the issue of not being able to find a new cook for their house. Pushpavalli quickly chips in. In order to save herself from being thrown out, she offers to cook for the girls till the time Vasu finds a new cook. This time, Vasu is caught so she accepts Pushpavalli’s offer at the behest of Tara and Srishti.

The next morning, Pushpavalli cooks dosas for the girls. All the girls appreciate Pushpavalli’s cooking skills. However, Vasu warns her of not cooking dosas as the oil used in cooking them is extremely expensive. She commands Pushpavalli to follow the board in the kitchen from the next day.

Then we see a conversation between Pushpavalli and her mother. Her mother is extremely happy as the parents of a boy who lives in America are really interested in Pushpavalli. Pushpavalli’s mother is so impressed that she says yes to the boy’s family on behalf of Pushpavalli. Pushpavalli is not pleased at all. She tells her mom that she will talk to the boy and only if she likes him will she say a yes.

Next, we see kids blowing bubbles in the library while Pushpavalli guides them. Whereas Pankaj is at a corner speaking with someone on the phone. The soft smiles on his face indicate he is talking to a girl, as Pushpavalli finds out eventually. She teases him a bit and asks how they met. Pankaj after his usual expression of angst and daily dose of insulting Pushpavalli, tells her that he met the girl through his cycling group and he’s going for dinner with her tonight. Pushpavalli is interested and asks him where they are planning to go. Pankaj’s quota of talking straightforwardly ends for the day so he reprimands Pushpavalli and asks her to get back to work instead of being so interested in his personal life. 

In the next scene, as Pushpavalli clicks photographs of kids blowing balloons, the tea boy enters with a special surprise for Pushpavalli. He manages to somehow get Nikhil’s phone. As Pushpavalli tries to unlock it, she finds out that Nikhil has a plan to go out for dinner with someone through a text message. Now as Pushpavalli’s alternate job in Bangalore is to stalk Nikhil, she will definitely not miss this chance of following Nikhil. She states that she will go. The tea boy is also a creep indeed. He asks Pushpavalli with whom she will go. She responds that she will go alone. For no particular reason, the tea boy insists that she not go alone. He suggests that she go with Pankaj. But Pankaj already has a date. 

However, now the continuous insistence of the tea boy has got Pushpavalli thinking. Stupidly enough, she invites Pankaj and his date to come along with her to a wine tasting she has been invited to. Pankaj obviously refuses and goes out for a smoke. 

Pankaj’s date comes to the library when it’s time for their date. However, in his absence, Pushpavalli tells the girl a fake story about Pankaj getting involved with different girls every Sunday. She tells the girl that Pankaj has included Pushpavalli in this racket as well and he asks her to make videos of him, presumably while having sex. The poor girl gets terrified and leaves. 

Pankaj sits alone in his room. Despite knowing that his date won’t come now, Pushpavalli goes and asks Pankaj about the date. Pankaj dismally tells Pushpavalli that he has been stood up. This is the moment Pushpavalli was waiting for. Now she coerces Pankaj to come along with her to the wine tasting. 

While sitting in the restaurant, Pankaj and Pushpavalli get into a conversation about how Pushpavalli used to have his back when they were in school together and other students used to tease him. They called him names like “Upma Boy”, “Chutiya Chutney” etc. Ah this is where the title for this episode comes from. Pankaj was not aware that the full form of “Chu Chu” was this. The name is hilarious though. Pankaj is offended that Pushpavalli did not tell him this earlier. While Pankaj loses his temper, he goes out for a smoke. 

Right after Pankaj leaves, Nikhil enters the restaurant. Nikhil and Pushpavalli see each other. Pushpavalli panics because Pankaj is not there and she does not want to be seen alone. But she is compelled to greet Nikhil formally again. After doing that, she hurriedly picks up her bag to leave but ends up breaking wine bottles kept on the table and spilling them on the floor.  Embarrassed Pushpavalli runs out of the place and hides behind a bush. Pankaj, peacefully smoking a cigarette outside, sees her and is perplexed. Nikhil comes out to look for Pushpavalli. He asks Pankaj if he saw a girl running. Pushpavalli signals to Pankaj to not tell Nikhil about her so he lies. Nikhil goes back in. 

Pankaj now asks about this man and what is going on. He asks Pushpavalli if everything is alright or if this man is stalking her? Pushpavalli pauses for a second and thinks, and then says a yes to Pankaj. But is it Pushpavalli who is stalking Nikhil or vice versa? We all know the answer to that question. The real question is - when will Pankaj find out? 

Episode Rating: 3.5/5

Episode 2 Recap: Eagle Attack

Episode 4 Recap: Sab Scam Hai