Happy Reading

Naina had entered a distant colony. She recognized the place instantly. Fate has twisted ways of working.

She was looking around and was walking backwards when her waist hit something very hard.

"Ouch!"

She turned around and saw that she had hit a parked car's bonnet.

"Chalti gadi se takkar khane se koi marta nahi hai. Kaho to gadi start kar du fir iske aage kud jaana?" She heard a very familiar voice.

She turned around to face the one person even she didn't know she needed the most. Layers of numbness came falling down. Just by the sight of him, she could feel again. She could feel pain right in her heart, the void had melted. Tears had started lining her eyes.

"Karu? Gadi start karu?" Sameer said to draw her attention.

That was it. Naina ran to him and hugged him tightly. Her mehndi clad hands were clutching the back of his shirt as tightly as they could.

Then came the downpour, one tear after another.

"Naina?" Sameer tried to pull away from the hug and ask her but she didn't let him go.

She broke down in his arms. He held her, preventing her from falling apart.

When Naina finally got a hold of herself she broke the hug, a little embarrassed because of how weak she would've come across to Sameer and began walking back.

"Naina!" He called her.

She stopped instantly.

"Kya hua hai? Ye kya haalat banai hui hai tumne apni?

"Kuch nahi." She smiled. "Mai theek hu."

"Accha! Bilkul! Tumhe lagta hai tum mujhse jhooth bologi aur mai maan lunga?"

In a short span of time he had mastered the art of seeing through her.

"Kya hua hai? Tum mujhe bata sakti ho. Itna bharosa bhi nahi hai?" He asked, a little hurt.

"Papa ... nahi hai. Mummy ..." She spoke incoherent sentences.

He jogged to the tea stall and got a glass of water for her. She reluctantly took a sip or two.

"Mai - Mai ghar jaa rahi thi. Darwaza khula hua tha. Sab baat kar rahe the ki mai Rakesh Tauji ki beti hu. Maine apni maa ko maar diya. Papa ... Mummy ko mujhe a-adopt karna pada." She said in between muffled sobs.

He had no idea how to react to this. So he just pulled her closer and rested her head close to his heart. He kept a hand on her head and caressed her hair slowly, to give her some sort of relief. He kissed her head, softly. She was beginning to relax.

"Maine aaj tak Taiji- Maa." She was confused how to address her biological mother. "Unki photo dhyan se bhi nahi dekhi. Rakesh Tauji se toh baat bhi nahi  ... sab kehte hai mai unpe gayi hu... Mai toh Papa par gayi hu na, Sameer? Tumne dekha hai na?"

He nodded.

They sat together, quietly. None of them spoke a word. Sameer ordered two cups of tea. He didn't leave her hand for a second.

The tea arrived and they began drinking in silence.

"Tumhari mummy kaisi hain?" Naina asked.

"Theek."

"K-koi letter aaya tha?"

He nodded. A small smile crept on his lips.

"Tumhe chitthi likhna bilkul bhi nahi aata." He said.

"Tumhe kaise pata chala?"

"Handwriting se."

"Tumne kab dekhi?"

"Aur kaun likhta meri taraf se itna bhayanak letter?" Sameer joked.

"Toh ... Tumhari mummy ne padha?"

"Nahi."

"Kyu?"

Sameer turned to face Naina, completely.

"Kyuki mujhe pata hai ki tumne wo letter sirf meri wajah se likha tha, mera accha soch ke par agar kisi aur ke haath wo chithi lagti toh kaafi drama ho jaata."

"Kyu?"

"Hmmm ... Shayad kaafi izzat se likha hua tha isiliye."

Naina immediately looked away. This was the second time she felt embarrassed in front of him in the same night.

"Tumhe bura laga?" She asked in a barely audible tone.

"Mummy ... ne mujhe chod diya tha. Shaadi me bhi wo sirf mehmaan hi bankar aayi hai par tum khud dekho na Naina, Mummy ne mujhe chod diya isiliye mujhe Nanu, Mama-Mami, Bhaiya-Bhabhi aur Munna-Pandit mile. Agar mai Ahemdabad nahi aata toh humari shaadi nahi hoti."

"Tumhe bura nahi laga?"

"Sach hi likha tha tumne aur sach ka kya bura manna." He looked down with a sad smile on his face.

"Naina, jo humare bina jeena seekh jaaye unke bina jeena humein bhi seekh jaana chahiye. Hai na?"

She nodded.

"Kabhi kabhi sochta hu ki meri apni maa mujhe chod ke chali gayi, meri hi koi galti rahi hogi fir mai un saare logon ko dekhta hu jinhe mujhse pyaar hai, meri fikr hai toh khud ko kosna bura lagta hai."

His words were healing her wounds. She had always thought she'd be the one to heal his.

"Tumhe yaad hai, Naina? Tumne uss din kya kaha tha? Jaise toofan ke baad koi jagah hoti hai waisa lagta hu mai... Ujda hua, udaas par toofan ke chale jaane ki khushi aur uske baad aane wali umeed ... Sab dikhti hai tumhe mujhme. Kitne kam samay me tum kitna kuch jaan gayi na!"

He cupped her face and made her look in his eyes.

"Rakesh Tauji ne tumhe chod diya lekin tumhari maa ki maut ki zimedaar tum nahi ho. Mummy, Papa, Preeti aur Pooja didi, Swati ye wo log hai jinhone tumhe aaj jo tum ho wo banaya hai. Mai tumse ye nahi keh sakta ki udaas mat hona par ye yaad rakhna ki jo bhi tum karti ho uska asar un sab logon par padta hai jinse tum pyaar karti ho. Tumhari family, tumhare saare dost aur ..."

He stopped for a while before continuing and said, "Aur ... Mai. Naina, I -"

"I love you Sameer."

Her eyes were pouring into his. He was still cupping her face. They were mere inches apart, physically but emotionally they had come closer, miles more than they were earlier.

"Mujhe pehle bolna tha." Sameer whined.

"Apni biwi se koi nahi jeeta aaj tak, mister." She winked.

The tea vendor came to collect their cups. They parted a little.

"Ab jawab do." She urged him.

"Kis baat ka?" He asked innocently.

"Sameer Maheshwari." Naina eyed him authoritatively.

"Naina Magarwal." He joked in response and after a brief pause, with a smile and stars in his eyes, he replied, "I love you too."

A radio was playing in a distance as the two of them sat together, in silence, in harmony.

Ek din aap yun humko mil jaayenge
Phool hi phool raahon me khil jaayenge
Maine socha na tha

Ek din zindagi itni hogi haseen
Jhumega aasman gaayegi ye zameen
Maine socha na tha

Dil ki daali pe kaliyan si khilne lagi
Jab nigahe nigaho se milne lagi

Ek din iss tarah hosh kho jaayenge
Paas aaye toh madhosh ho jaayenge
Maine socha na tha

Ek din aap yun humko mil jaayenge
Phool hi phool raahon me khil jaayenge
Maine socha na tha

Jagmagati hui jaagti raat hai
Raat hai ya sitaro ki baarat hai

Ek din dil ki raahon me apne liye
Jal uthenge mohabbat ke itne diye
Maine socha na tha

Ek din zindagi itni hogi haseen
Jhumega aasman gaayegi ye zameen
Maine socha na tha

Ek din aap yun humko mil jaayenge
Phool hi phool raahon me khil jaayenge
Maine socha na tha

Maine socha na tha

Maine socha na tha

____________________________________

Sameer's car stopped in front of Naina's society. The feeling of sitting in his car again hadn't even sinked properly when her house arrived.

"Apni shaadi ka card bhejwa dena. Apne chai wale dost ko bhoolna mat." Sameer joked, again.

"Mai soch rahi thi, na hi keh deti hu" Naina  played along.

"Tum ab naa bhi nahi keh paogi." Sameer said it confidently.

With a heavy heart, she got out of his car and bid him a goodbye.

Naina climbed the stairs to her house. She sneaked inside and went straight to her parents' room. She looked at them sleeping peacefully and felt some sort of relief even if the shock was still too large to handle. She went back to her room and hugged Preeti to sleep.

Precap - Sangeeet!!!!!