Happy Reading

The song isn't from 90s but I love it. So deal with it :p

"Toh ..." Sameer cleared his throat. "Kuch khaogi?"

Days had passed since Naina interrogated Munna but the passing of time now felt easier. Samaina had fallen into a schedule of calling each other every night and discussing whatever happened in their day. Naina made it a point to make him listen to her favorite Bollywood songs.

A day could only feel complete when they heard each other speak.

Sameer, now knew the little nuisances of Naina's speech. The way she gasped or laughed at the right time, how her tone fell when she didn't like something. Naina too understood how his voice became huskier and deeper when he told her things he liked about her, how he childishly said "Naina, Naina, Naina" when he was excited about something and how sheepish he sounded every time she praised him.

They had intertwined into each other's lives without any efforts.

SwaMun, on the other hand, were braving their difficulties with their friends' help. Swati's mom hadn't banned PreeNa from their house, maybe because she trusted them to have no hand in Swati's affair or because she knew that her lifeless daughter needed her friends, who probably would help her contact Munna. Naina had her doubts that if persuaded probably she would eventually agree to their marriage.

SamAina had been busy with the preparations of their upcoming engagement. So, it was mostly Preeti and Pandit helping out with smuggling SwaMun's letters to each other.

Munna would write a letter and hand it over to Pandit, who would meet Preeti and give her the letter in exchange of the letters Swati gave her.

" Mere dono jijaji kitne acche hai pata nahi uss Pandit jaisa dost kaha se utha ke laye!!" Preeti often came back home frustrated.

"Meri dono bhabhiyan kitni shaant, kitni acchi hai aur wo Preeti? Mujhe toh shaq hota hai wo bhabhi ki behen hai bhi ya nahi." Pandit too would complain.

The water snatching and chilli serving incidents were still fresh in their minds.

"I don't like him."

"I don't like her."

On a similar routine, Preeti and Pandit were heading towards each other to exchange letters. This time they had decided to meet at a Samosa shop. Pandit had suggested and for the first time in life Preeti had agreed, instantly because for them food is, was and will forever be LOVE, first love.

Pandit was already sitting on a bench near the Samosa shop when Preeti arrived at the scene.

"Do." She stretched her palm in front of him. Her eyes were still on the road.

"Samosa?" He replied with a puzzled look.

"Samosa nahi duffer!! Letter, letter do."

"Yahi baat aaram se bhi bol sakti ho."

Preeti pressed her temples in annoyance.

"Waha road ki taraf kya dekh rahi ho?" He asked while taking another bite of the Samosa.

"Safety ke liye. Koi aa gaya, toh?"

"Arey! Koi nahi aayega. Baitho baitho, lo Samosa khao." Pandit patted the bench for her to sit.

Preeti sat down and took the snack from him.

"Paise khud dene honge." He added after she had taken her first bite.

She looked at him. Surprised, shocked. He was unbelievable!

"Tumse udhar lena bhi nahi hai mujhe." She told him.

He took his last bite and dusted his hands. He asked for a glass of water, drank it as if he had all the time in the world. Meanwhile, Preeti was finishing hers.

He got up after some time and said, "Mere bhi."

"Kya?" She was confused.

"Mere paise bhi dene honge. Pichle mahine ka udhar bhi baaki hai." He smiled.

"Mai tumhare paise kyu du?"

"Kyuki mere paas Munna ka letter hai."

"Mere paas bhi Swati ka letter hai."

"Toh rakh lo."

"Ugghhh"

Preeti had had something in her hand, she would would have hit him for sure. She was about to look for something to break his head when her eyes fell on something familiar.

Pralay!

Pralay was playing with a ball outside a shop, across the street. Preeti immediately jumped and hid behind Pandit, clutching the hem of his shirt.

"Pralay! Pralay!" Preeti kept pointing to her cousin's direction.

"Abhi nahi aaya pralay." Pandit replied looking at the land for some sort of destruction.

"Mera cousin Pralay." She hit his shoulder.

He looked at the little, harmless looking kid.

"Ye kya karega?" He laughed

"Ye Pralay layega! Iski Mummy ne dekh liya na toh hum dono ka swarg ka ticket kat jayega." She tried hiding a little more.

"Mujhe tumhare saath kahin jaane me, mujhe koi interest nahi hai." Pandit cleared.

Preeti was holding Pandit's shirt tightly. As soon as she heard him say the last line, she pushed him with a force that he almost got thrown away. Pandit jumped on one foot, hands stretched out in an attempt to maintain his balance.

"Mujhe bada interest hai." She added sarcastically.

Suddenly, Taiji came out of a shop. She was looking for Pralay when Preeti saw her.

"Taiji!!" She squealed and hid behind Pandit, again.

"Aaj kal ke bacche!" The shop owner sighed. "Aise kaam hi kyu karte ho ki maa baap se chupna pade."

"CHUP KARO NA!" Pandit and Preeti replied together.

Preeti tapped Pandit's shoulder and asked, "Bike hai?"

He nodded, eyes fixed on Taiji.

"Bhaage kya?" She asked.

He turned around, faced her, held her hand and ran towards the bike. Hurriedly, they sat on it, ignited the engine and zoomed off.

Taiji heard someone screaming 'PAISE KHATE ME LIKH LO'. She saw a boy and a girl running away on a bike. She twisted her mouth in disgust, tsk'ed and ordered Pralay to follow her home.

In her letter, Swati had expressed her wish to meet Munna and he couldn't say 'no' this time but Preeti and Pandit had clearly declined helping them this time because they didn't want to see each other's face. So, it was Sameer and Naina who had to take time out to help their best friends.

Early morning, Naina went to Swati's house to seek her mother's permission to take her for a little visit to the temple. Her mother easily agreed. So, both the girls set off for the temple where Munna and Sameer were waiting for them.

The plan was to let Swati and Munna spend their quality time in the park, in front of the temple while SamAina would wait. Yes, that's what they were going to do - just waiting, or it was what they told themselves because they, too, were getting anxious as the time for the date was coming closer.

Sameer's eyes were set on the road, he was waiting for the girls with crossed arms when he saw Swati and Naina get down the auto. Munna had been leaning on the bike. He, too, straightened his back.

Sameer felt his heart pounding in his chest as Naina and Swati walked towards them, after all it was his first date too.

Naina noticed that Sameer's eyes were fixed on her. She looked down, away, anywhere but not straight in his eyes. After all, it was her first date too. She was nervous too.

With every step she closed the distance between them and his heart felt like it would burst out of his chest. It took her a few minutes but it felt like she took ages to stand right in front of him, approachable.

Talking to each other every night was definitely not the same as standing right in front of each other but hadn't they met before. So, what had changed?

Munna and Swati were meeting after a long spell of separation and uncertainty. Their eyes were locked and were brimming with tears. Swati took a step towards Munna and hugged him. Munna, for a moment, looked at the people staring at them but he too had been yearning for this moment and wouldn't waste it for random onlookers. He hugged her back.

Watching SwaMun hug suddenly made Naina conscious. She was standing in the vicinity of her husband-to-be and his presence affected her. The weight of the fact that she was going to get married had slowly started falling on her.

Sameer signalled her to leave the two of them alone. She nodded.

"Toh ..." Sameer cleared his throat. "Kuch khaogi?"

For a second he too had imagined him and Naina in their place.

"Nahi... Mandir chaloge?" She asked him.

"Mandir?" He was amused.

"Haa... Mandir. Aise kyu pooch rahe ho?"

"Nahi ... Wo ... Tum bhagwan me manti ho?"

She nodded.

"Chalo phir chalte hai."

They began climbing the steps together. The sun was hiding behind the clouds and the weather had cooled off.

They touched the last step before entering the temple courtyard to seek blessings. They entered the sanctum and prayed in front of the deity. Naina had joined her hands, with her eyes closed she was praying. Sameer was observing her quietly. She paid her respects to the aarti and went ahead for the parikrama. He followed, without a question.

Naata mera teri rooh se
Aise juda hai ye ... Ke kya kahe
Bhaye koi aur na re

They turned around and joined their hands in respect one last time before descending from the steps.

Dono milke chalte hai na
Sapno me hi rehte hai na
Sirf tu-mai, ho jahan re.

Haath me ho haath tera
Chute kabhi na saath tera
Mujhko aisa tu bhi vaada de

Saathiya mere,
Mai toh tera deewana hu
Saare jahan se begana hu
Meri dhuno ka tarana tu

Saathiya mere,
Mai toh tera deewana hu
Saare jahan se begana hu
Meri dhuno ka tarana tu

They were out of the temple now. There was no sign of SwaMun, so they continued walking.

Walking idly, the side of their hands rubbed against each other. No one spoke a word but a million thoughts were exchanged. This silence was comforting.

Khoobsurat raat yeh,
Hai saath tera maange
Dil yeh mera khush rehta hai,
Bas saath tera paake

Teri khushbhu jaise jaadu
Tere baad bhi reh jaati hai
Main mangu uss rab se
Tujhe har dua me hi,
Har dua ...

Saathiya mere,
Mai toh tera deewana hu
Saare jahan se begana hu
Meri dhuno ka tarana tu

Saathiya mere,
Mai toh tera deewana hu
Saare jahan se begana hu
Meri dhuno ka tarana tu

A drop fell from the sky. Petrichor had filled the air and in no time a heavy rainfall had enveloped them.

"Waha chalo." Sameer pointed to a tea stall.

He grabbed Naina's arm and pulled her with him. Her eyes momentarily fell on his hand that was securely clutching his arm. She looked away instantly and ran with him.

They stood under a tree's shade, next to the tea stall and watched the rain fall, together. In countless rows rain drops descended from the sky. The road turned into a deeper shade of black. Kids had taken over it, and were sailing paper boats. The people who had taken shelter near the tea stall were either sipping tea or were ordering more.

"Chai peoge?" Naina asked after a long time.

"Mai chai nahi peeta." He shrugged.

"Ajeeb hai! Uss din toh tumne chai pee li thi."

"Kab?" He absentmindedly asked her.

"Jab pehli baar mile the."

"Jab tum ghar se bhag gayi thi?" He mocked her.

"Aur tum raat ko chowkidaari kar rahe the." She returned the favor.

"Tab ki baat aur thi."

"Kaise?"

"Tumse baat karni thi na, isiliye."

She was caught off guard. She hadn't expected him to give a straightforward answer but she liked it. She liked the way there were no inhibitions between them while they talked, the way they trusted each other enough to share their thoughts. So, she smiled fondly.

"Bhaiya, do cup chai dena." Sameer ordered.

"Fir aaj kyu chai pee rahe ho?"

Naina leaned against the tree with crossed arms. She knew the answer but asked anyway.

"Tumse baat karni hai, isiliye."

He took the hot glasses filled with tea and  passed one of them to Naina.

"Coffee pasand hai." He said after a while.

"Waah! Kitne lucky ho tum, pata hai? Mai world ki best coffee banati hu." She raised her invisible collars.

"Apne muh miyaan mithu!"  He teased her.

"Bacchu, kisi din mere haath ki coffee piyoge na tab pata chalega."

"Ok ma'am." He saluted her and chuckled.

They kept sipping their tea in silence and watched the kids play on the road.

"Waise Sameer... Ek baat puchu?"

Anything you want. He wanted her to know that she needn't think twice before asking him anything but how deep did he wanted their conversations to go? They had just started knowing each other. Would it be right to completely bare his heart, his past to her? So, he just nodded while gulping his not so favorite beverage.

"Tum bhagwan me nahi maante kya?"

His mannerisms at the temple were enough to tell her that he didn't but she wanted to hear his story from him.

"Kuch khas nahi." He said after a while.

"Kyu?" Her question came instantly.

"Thoda personal hai. Kabhi jab mauka isse zyada accha hoga, tab baat karenge."

He saw her face fall a bit. The curious look on her face was gone. She became a lot more serious than she usually was.

"Ms Fan #1, ek nayi kavita sunogi?"

She nodded her head vigorously. Her smile was back on her face.

"Katore me rakha tha aloo dum,
Bahar baarish ho rahi thi jhum jhum jhum...
Waah! Waah!"

She began laughing.

"Ye kya tha?"  She asked.

"Itna bura bhi nahi tha." 

"Rehne do tum."

She was still laughing at his terrible poetry.

"Tum hi kuch suna do?"

"Mai nahi likhti." Naina said while keeping her glass on the bench. The thud that came with it had a finalizing feel to it.

"Apne hone wale pati par ek essay sunao." He ordered, suddenly.

"Kya?"

"Ha! Jaldi sunao."

"Ek number ka gadha hai."

"Aur?"

"Akal toh bilkul nahi hai."

"Accha?"

"Ha aur ..."

"Aur?"

"Kaafi bekar jokes maarta hai aur ..."

She fell silent.

"Aur ..." She continued after a heavy pause. "Shararati hai par ajeeb si shanti hai usme. Ek gehrai hai jo sirf uski kavita me dikhti hai. Jaise toofan ke baad koi jagah hoti hai waisa lagta hai wo... Ujda hua, udaas par toofan ke chale jaane ki khushi aur uske baad aane wali umeed ... Sab dikhti hai usme."

Her eyes were locked in his. His eyes were lined with tears.

He was overwhelmed.

In a short time, she had read a lot about him and was trying to read more. It was claer he could see she was searching for it in his eyes. In her gaze, he could see the little wish to heal him.

She had heard his family story, that his mother had abandoned him. She had wanted to run a hand over his wounds and heal him and glimpse of that wish was visible to him too.

"Sameer..."

He heard his name but he didn't want to reply.

"Sameer..."

If only this moment could last forever...

Precap - Sneezes in the engagement.

A/N - This was looooong.

I'm sorry for the delay. I had to move in and out of cities last week because of some work and then I feel sick. College has been giving me jitters too.

I was really excited for this one and it didn't come out quite as planned. Sorry for any errors in this chapter :(

Much love <3