"Chalte Chalte yunhi koi mil Gaya tha,
Yunhi koi mil Gaya tha,
Sar-e-raah chalte Chalte"

Mishti was humming the song that played in her car radio as she drove up on the hills towards the town of Palampur in Himachal Pradesh. Being a lone traveller, Music was the only companion she had. Mishti was a girl next door with a twist, an explorer, an adventurer. She had trust issues and she was aware of it probably that is why she never had many friends and then the very few she had, had a personal life of their own and she knew she wasn't a part of it. She stayed away from family for almost 11 years owing to her college and work. Looking at her one would have pitied her for her loner lifestyle but what set her apart was the fact that she never pitied herself. She enjoyed the life to the fullest, be it watching movies alone or dining alone in a restaurant, she never shied away from doing what her heart desired. She learnt driving and soon found driving herself to far off locations. Traveling made her a good observer of people and places and she documented it all in the stories she wrote on Wattpad. Amidst all this, the other thing that set her apart was the support her parents gave her. She was their only child and they made sure that they encourage her into doing everything that she ever wanted and made the trust they had on her evidently visible, for instance when they used to meet families for alliance prospects, they would straightaway tell others, "our girl has always lived her life on her terms and we expect her partner to value that". Mishti on the other hand never took the trust her family had on her for granted.

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"Chalte Chalte yunhi koi mil Gaya tha,
Yunhi koi mil Gaya tha,
Sar-e-raah chalte Chalte"

The radio on the tea stall was playing the song from the yesteryear classic "Pakeezah". Advik who was sipping his fourth cup of tea asked the owner of the tea stall, " Kaka yahan se kitni door hoga hotel, chalke nahi jaa sakte kya? The owner replied, "Sahabji chal toh sakte ho par aap bade insaan ho kisi be pehchaan Liya toh phas jaoge..!!" Advik nodded his head in agreement, for this wasn't something new for him. Ever since he became a rockstar, he was a known face everywhere he went and to say he hated the attention coming his way would be a blatant lie, he loved it all. He was not just a singer-composer but also an actor, a hotelier and a team owner in Sport leagues. He always had a plethora of friends surrounding him, everyone loved him for the person he was, the kind, lovable, absolutely adorable homo-sapien. But then, one can't just walk over him anytime for he was a great judge of people, for instance amidst his hundred friends, he knew who were with him for his fame and who were his genuine friends. At at age of 29, such maturity was a very rare trait. No matter how high he climbed on the ladder of success he always stayed grounded and that was solely because of his parents who were his biggest strength and best critics. Being their only child, his parents gave him the freedom to choose whatever he wished to do and he never took that freedom for granted

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After waiting for almost thirty minutes, Advik saw a car approaching and took a sigh of relief. Mishti stepped out of the car to greet the tea stall owner "Namaste Kaka, Kaise hain ? Ek chai bana dijiye Kadak..!!"
"Aray Mishti bitiya iss baar toh 6 mahine baad aayi aap"
"Bas Kaka Kaam mein thoda phas gayi thi, Acha Jaipur Jaane ka Mauka Mila tha, aapki family ke liye razai lai hoon iss baar"
"Aray bitiya har baar aap shehar se kuch na kuch leke aa jaati hoon..iski kya zarurat hain..!!"
"Zarurat hai Kaka aap nahi samjhoge"
Just then her attention got diverted towards Mr.Advik Singh who was keenly listening to the conversation
"Advik Singh..!!", she asked unsure if she was dreaming
"Yes that would be me"
"But here..Kaka yeh..aap jaante hain yeh kaun hain"
The old man replied "Haan bitiya woh Sahabji ki gaadi kharab ho gayi, doosri aane mein waqt lagega..isiliye yeh yahan rukh Gaye..waise sahabji aap bitiya ke saath jaa sakte ho" Advik looked at him unsure, "Sahab ji Chinta mat karo, bitiya aapko sahi salamat aapki manzil par pahuncha degi aur waise bhi aap dono ki manzil toh ek hi hain"

"Chalte Chalte yunhi koi mil Gaya tha,
Yunhi koi mil Gaya tha,
Sar-e-raah chalte Chalte"

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Readers who must have read my stories before would know that I am not into fairy tale stories but then every girl dreams of one..doesn't she??

This is my attempt towards writing one such short story. Initially there were faces to the characters but then i realized that story should garner response basis the content and not basis the actors, especially when it comes to general fiction. Hence a faceless new cover (designed by yours truly, that is me), you can imagine whoever you wish to as leads while reading the story

So people..do you want me to continue with this short story..Let me know..!!

You can now stay in touch with me on Instagram and Twitter, "akriti_mishti" is my username

Love,
Akriti💞