Happy Reading

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"Toh jo Swati ke saath hua uski wajah se tu TV ke ubharte sitare se lift lene se mana kar rahi thi ("So ... What happened with Swati was the reason behind you not taking a lift from ITV's rising star?")" Preeti, being her dramatic self had started her interrogation with Naina.

"Naina jaane de na. What we see on our screens is not how the person may be in reality. Accept it" Swati tried to control her friend's raging anger.

"Baat kuch aur hai ("The matter's somethin' else.") Preeti's Byomkesh Bakshi mood was on "Jaldi bol actual me kya problem hai? ("What's the actual problem?")"

Naina let out a long breath and said "We did our high schooling together... 11th-12th matlab"

"Isiliye tu itna chidhti hai usse? ("So that's why you don't like him?") " Preeti raised her eyebrows.

Swati's eyes widened in shock. "Tu ne kabhi bataya nahi yaar! ("You've never told us that!")" She said in disbelief.

Naina lowered her eyes and rubbed her hands.

"Tu theek hai?" Swati held her hand to provide the much needed support.

"Naina kya baat hai? Tujhe pata hai na tu humse sab share kar sakti hai ("What is it Naina? You know you can share anything with us.") Preeti had barely finished her sentence and a tear escaped Naina's eyes. She bit her lip to control herself.

"P..preeti paani la. ("Preeti ... Get some water.")" Swati ordered and Preeti did as directed. Naina gulped the entire 1 Litre bottle in one go.

A heavy silence filled the entire room.

"Hum same school me the..." Naina began her story "... Mai starting se usi school me thi, wo 11th me aaya tha. Alag hi style tha uska and dekhne me bhi theek thaak hai... ("We were in the same school... He had joined in 11th ... He had a different style and his looks were okay-ish too...")"

Swati raised her eyebrows

"... Accha theek hai bhai... Salman Khan jaisa dikhta hai, bahut cute hai" Naina's lips curved in a smile without her permission "Har ladki ka crush tha uss par... Normal hai, teenage me sabko hota hai ("Oh Fine! He looks like Salman ... Everyone had a crush on him... It was teenage... It is normal.")"

"Naina Aggarwal, Topper of the century! Tu bhi flat ho gayi thi uss par! ("You too Naina!")" Swati was almost shouting in disbelief

"Poore Mumbai ko bata de tu. ("Yeah, let's tell the entire city about it.")" Preeti hit her with a pillow "Tu aage bata kya hua. ("Naina ... Continue")"

"Mera ... Mai ... Mera bhi wahi case tha" Naina was looking for the most decent words to describe the upheaval he had caused in her heart "Uske alawa kuch dikhai nahi deta tha, uski har choti choti cheez, har baat mere liye ... important thi ... ("I belonged to the same case. I couldn't see beyond him. Everything he did, he say was ... Important to me.")"

"Ohooo" Preeti gave a cheeky smile to Naina but controlled her overflowing expressions when Swati eyed her angrily.

"... Meri aankho par jaise patti bandhi hui thi. Mai... " Naina stopped to curb the growing lump in her throat "... Mai uski har buri aadat ko uski naadani, innocence samjh kar ignore kar deti thi. Humari class me ek ladki thi, wo kaafi din se school nahi aa rahi thi... Kaafi din baad humein pata chala ki Sameer aur uski school bus wale dost ... Senior the wo ladke ... Wo usko roz bully karte the... You know how bad bullying gets... Wo sambhal nahi pai iss situation ko aur school hi aana chod dia... Aisa ... Aisa lagta tha jaise usko sadma lag gaya hai kisi baat ka ("A girl of our class was absent from the school since a long time. We got to know that she was being bullied in the school bus by Sameer's senior friends. She couldn't handle the situation well. One look at her and you could make out the trauma she was going through.")

"To fir? School authorities naam ki bhi koi cheez hoti hai! ("Then? Didn't the school authorities step in?") Preeti was hell angry now.

"The Sameer Maheshwari, aisa bhi kar sakta hai ("The Sameer Maheshwari can stoop so low?") Swati flipped out thanks to the shock

"School authorities ko pata laga to unhone action lia kuch... Assembly bhi hui thi lambi si awareness ke liye ... Baad me pata chala ki wo ladke bus ke saare baccho ko bully karte the... unko suspend kar dia tha ("School authorities did something .. Later an assembly was held for awareness ... The guys used to bully everyone in the bus... They were suspended later.")

"Aur Sameer ko? (And what about Sameer?")" Preeti asked

"... Usko nahi kia tha... Apparently, wo sirf unn ladko ke saath ghumta tha usne kabhi khud kisi ko bully nahi kiya. Uski company theek nahi thi. (".. He wasn't punished much. Apparently, he was just hanging out with the guys he didn't do anything mean.") " Naina sounded low.

"Mujhe to pata hi tha mera hero kuch galat nahi kar sakta. ("I knew my hero can never be wrong.") "Swati chimed

"Wo unn ladko ke saath rehta tha Swati. Wo bhale hi kuch na kehta ho par galat ka saath deta to tha na. ("He was in their company .... He did not stop them either.") Naina was shouting now.

"Relax yaar Naina. Mai to bas tera mood theek kar rahi thi. ("I was just trying to lift your spirits.")" Swati tried to calm her down

Naina pressed her eyelids against each other. She tried swallowing her anger by clenching her fist as hard as she could.

"To tu iss liye naaraz hai kyuki Ms. Naina Moral Police Agarwal ke radar ke galat side par aa gaya wo ("So you are angry 'cause he came on the wrong side of Naina Moral Police Aggarwal.") " Preeti tried to reach a conclusion.

Naina shook her head in a vigorous no. She looked away and wiped her tears.

"Mai gussa hu... Bahut naaraz hu... Par usse nahi, khud se. ("I am angry ... With me") " It took great efforts for her to speak every word.

No one said anything for a while.

"I was an idiot. How could I get blinded by his looks and fall for him without knowing him completely? He... He was my first crush and ... I made a wrong choice. It felt like my entire belief system crashed in those moments. How could I be so wrong? How could I live in a mirage for one and a half year?" Naina was about to burst into tears any second now.

"Its ok" Preeti rubbed her arm. Naina looked into her eyes and gave up on all attempts to hold her emotions.

"I really, really liked him Preeti and I was wrong. I made a wrong choice"

Those were her last words and what followed was a flood of tears. Her pain managed to reach Swati and Preeti's hearts. Their eyes moistened seeing their friend's plight. Maybe this is how true friends are. They aren't just there to do a monkey dance in your success, they cry for you, with you and will fight all odds to keep you safe, to bring you back to light every time you slip into the dark

"To isiliye tu uss baalon ki dukaan se bhid gayi thi?" Swati asked "Purana account settle karna tha? ("So you fought with him to settle an old score?") "

"Nahi pagal" Naina nodded her head in a no "Tujhe protect karna tha, tera badla lena tha. ("No. I just wanted to protect you.")"

Preeti smiled simply adoring how their bond had grown in the few months they had been together but suddenly she joined her eyebrows when a thought struck her

"Par Naina log badalte hai time ke saath. Kya pata wo sach me unn lafango ke saath phasa ho? Kya pata wo regret karta ho jo bhi hua usko? Tu aise judge mat kar na. What about a second chance? ("But what if he has changed? Maybe he regrets his action.") " She said

"Second chance? He was my first crush and I wanted him to be worth it" Naina wasn't going to melt that easily.

Preeti opened her mouth to cajole Naina but Swati interfered.

"Fridge tak jo pehle pahucha wo double scoop ice cream khayega. ("The one who reaches the fridge first gets double scoop ice cream.")" She screamed and ran out of the room. The other two followed her as quickly as possible but ended up getting stuck in the door of the room together.

__________________

Sonakshi opened the gate of her car.

"Ouch!"

She heard someone hiss in pain.

"Aaj kal izzat se darwaza kholne ka zamana nahi raha. (Its an MPK dialogue recreation can't translate it)." Dev was leaning against Sonakshi's car with his hand on his stomach. She had finally bought one by her own salary.

"Are you okay?" Sonakshi came out of her car with a terrified expression.

"Bechare actor ko uske hi set par maar dia! ("A poor actor was hit on his own set!")" Dev winced in pain.

"Dev let me see" Sonakshi said

"What? My abs?" Dev covered his chest to protect his izzat.

"What! No! I..." Sonakshi moved a step back and her back hit another car parked there.

"We're even. My pain subsided. It was nice meeting you." Dev waved a good bye and left the scene.

What kind of an item is he!

Sona thought for a while and left the parking to join the rest of the creative team.

After a short walk Sonakshi entered her battlefield; the room where her team met and discussed the future story,script, dialogues, situational songs and how the canteen served sweet,black water in the name of coffee.

"Sona di ... You're here, FINALLY!" Nikki grabbed Sona by her arm while she was still at the gate. Sona was her boss but she never let anyone feel inferior to her. Her job was mainly to supervise others while they spill their creativity on blank paper. She had to give everyone the space they needed to script their thoughts. She was personally apprehensive of sharing her creative space with others but now, everything had fallen into place for everyone. They were one, tight, little writing family now.

"Theek hai ye scene? ("Is the script ok?")" Nikki asked.

"Don't you think that Arjun's character is going too much out of their era? He sounds like someone from 2018 not from the 90s....Sourabh Da! Help Nikki with this scene please."

That was how each day Sona tried to improve her team by not just blankly rejecting or accepting their ideas but also adding her inputs and then letting them work on it together. It gave her KG teacher feels at times but then the result was usually appreciated.

"Sona" Khatri and Radha Rani called her aloud

This was the toughest part of her day! She had to deal with senior writers whose thoughts about the script's progression were not just over the top but could not even be accepted by cartoon channels. She wondered why the production even hired them in the first place?

For instance, the ML falls and an earthquake occurs, volcano erupts, the ghantis in mata's mandirs go taang taang tiiing tiiing in full swing and some random singer in a jagran goes aaaaaaaaa.

Why? Why? Why?

She always asked but could never reach a satisfactory answer.

"Sona tu ye dekh" Khatri passed over some pages to her.

"Duniya maange apni muradein...." Sona began reading "Mai to mangu saajan! Ye kaisi ladki hai? (*Reads the lyrics of a song ... "What kind of a girl is she?")"

Khatri stopped rolling the ends of his moustache.

"Aage padh na. ("Continue reading.") Radha Rani urged her

"Rahe salamat mera sajna ... Aur sajna ka aangan!! Ye kaise lyrics hai? Kya hai ye? Kyu hai ye? Ye kaisi dharti pe bojh type ladkiyan hai. Career par koi focus hi nahi hai. (*Reads the lyrics again* The girl singing this has no ambition in her life. She just wants the well being of her lover? Aaahh what kind of a girl is she?") " Sonakshi looked up to face R&K's amused expressions

"Sonakshi ji" Sourabh joined the trio "Yeh na un dinon ki baat hai aapko samajh nahi aayegi. ("You won't get it.")"

"Aise kaise?" The curious kid in Sonakshi surfaced "Mujhe bhi samajhna hai. ("Why won't I get it? I wanna know too.")"

"To writer saheb ye un dinon ki baat hai jab ishq saccha aur accha hua karta tha. It was always me before you and emotions always held priority before the entire universe. Mere time mein humans were humans and not money making machines." Sourabh explained

"Huh! losers." Sonakshi cursed "Submitting yourself before a boy! How stupid can girls get!"

"It's better to lead a life full of selfless love than running around materialism and who said that the boy won't respect his girl? Bolo?" Sourabh spoke in defense but Sonakshi just dropped her shoulders in ignorance.

"Never been in love. Don't know."

Two unkempt sentences, vaguely thrown around to end the debate were the end of that discussion and the team got back to work but an unnamed desire raised its head in Sona's heart.

Could life ever be dealed with emotions? Could she ever be selfless; that too in love? Wasn't she happy by increasing her possessions and improving her living standards? Or was there something missing?

Love was a concept from the unrealistic fairy tales she read as a child. At her age, she used fairy tales only to bruise them by creating their 'retellings' or by bringing twists in them. She was making money out of her childhood fantasies.

At the end of the day while leaving for home, Sona saw the crew stationed near Film City's temple. She instantly recognised the scene.

As a child, Sonakshi had fallen of the stairs from the temple and had twisted her leg. She had used all her might to get up but her elbows and knees were bruised and were bleeding. Her parents had accompanied her to the temple but they had been busy quarreling near the flower vendor and didn't pay heed to their surroundings.

They were always quarreling.

She lay on the road with dust in her mouth. She had called her maa-baba but they didn't listen. She had rested her head on the road looking at another family of three entering the temple courtyard. The father was carrying the child on his shoulders while the mother looked at them with affection oozing from her eyes. She had instantly known what envy was! Strangers had passed by her and then a lady had helped her get up. She had been down on the floor for barely a few minutes but the wait had felt endless back then. The lady was dusting the dirt off her clothes when her parents had noticed her. Later, Bijoy carried her away on his shoulders.

Sonakshi had recreated this incident for Chahat. Jyotsna was a klutz in her youth and Aneesh had to handle her. So, Sona had no issues in slipping this scene in the show.

Elena had to fall from the stairs of the temple but she couldn't do it right. On the nth take Elena (Chahat) fell from the stairs and Dev (Sahil) instantly rushed to her help. Not out of love but plain concern for his classmate. Elena had to act as if her leg was twisted and Dev had to help her get up.

The idea of you living for someone and someone living for you striked Sona again. How good would it be if someone would have helped her earlier that day! What sin did she do to get such a father?

Sona looked at Sahil (Dev) holding Chahat (Elena) like she was a delicate flower. He helped her get up and made her sit on a near by bench and examined her foot while Chahat, who had slowly began falling for him, admired him.

Sona stood away from the crew and began noticing Dev. He was funny, a little crack for sure and he had those features who could make anyone fall for him! A perfect jawline. Deep eyes. She could count many more attributes and there she stood, basking in the evening sun, just admiring the persona of Dev Dixit, who was the personification of Sahil.

__________________

Sitting alone near the drinks stall Sameer was smiling at all his relatives that were passing by. He had been forcefully sent to attend a distant relatives wedding.

"Sameer beta, Tu Mumbai me hai na? To chala ja na Manju Mausi ki beti ki shaadi me. ("Sameer beta, you're in Mumbai. You should attend your cousins wedding.") His mom had tried to reason with him but he wasn't ready to make an appearance in a relative's function whom he didn't even knew.

"Jaata hai ki do thappad lagau? ("Will you go or do you want a slap?")" That was the end of the conversation. His mom's virtual slap had sealed the deal much like any typical desi mother - child duo's conversation ends.

He had to visit the wedding alone, bear all his relatives calling him by his nickname (Sonu) and had to force a smile and get his cheeks pulled by random aunty jis.

Strange girls were passing him smiles and were sending drinks for him which were kept untouched on the table. He could not fool around with any girl especially now that he knew where Naina was! His mind was preoccupied in hatching plans to break the ice with her.

Just then his eyes fell on a familiar face. He was the same guy he had met on the road rolling incident day! What was his name? Sheela? Munni? Munna! Yes Munna. He waved at him and he came running in his direction.

"Hi" Sameer beamed with happiness.

"Kuch chahiye tha aapko? ("Do you need something?")" Munna asked

"Are nahi ... Tum ne shayad mujhe pehchana nahi mujhe. Mai ... Wo ... Naina ke saath tha na us din ... Hum mile the... Tum mujhe marne wale the... Frock wale pandit ke liye... Yaad aaya? ("No no no... You don't remember me I guess ... We met that day... I was with Naina ... You wanted to hit me ... For frock wala Pandit... Remember?")" Sameer tried his best to make Munna's doors of memory open

"Hehe... Wo to mujhe yaad hai. Mujhe laga tumhe kuch chahiye hoga isiliye mujhe yaha bula rahe ho aakhir ladki ka bhai jo hu ("Hehe.. I remember that incident. I thought you need something and were calling me for assistance. After all, I am the bride's brother.")" Munna raised his invisble collars.

"Tum? Tum Manju Mausi ke bete ho? Tum Manoj ho? ("You? You're Manju's Mausi's son? You are Manoj?")" Sameer asked in disbelief

"Shat pratishat. ("100%")" Munna smiled again

"Hum to bhai huye yaar! ("We are brothers!")" Sameer pulled Munna into a brotherly hug.

He couldn't remember when was the last time he was so happy. He had two reasons to celebrate. One, he had someone to talk to and two, with this unexpected rishtedaari popping in front of him he had come a step closer to Naina. He now, didn't just know where she lived but he had a reason to be around her whenever he wanted after all Manju Mausi had asked him several times to visit her house more often. He couldn't deny her.😉

Manju Mausi ki Jai!
R&K ke ideas ki bhi Jai!

Precap - Preeti kho gayi. All ships together.

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