~ 🄹🅄🄻🅈 14, 2021~

The dark sky was littered with twinkling stars, the moon rose to the mid sky setting a creek to the next day. A peaceful night ended with the rise of a new day, for some it may be a normal routine, for some it might be new beginning or for some special one it may be the most awaited day of the year, their birthday.

Here, our birthday girl was expected to be happy, enjoying all the pampering one gets on their special day, and await eagerly to unfold all the surprise planned for her. But in contrast to all this, our Shashi, our dearest Pratyusha was cracking her nuckles with a disappointed frown on her face. It's going to be mid noon but apart from her family members none of her friends wished her. She was expecting a special surprise from last night but they haven't even wished her. She was already irked by the way it all started, she was forced to stay away from her phone all night and now there is nothing unique happening.

FLASHBACK:

After wishing, her mother got up and took her phone along, bidding her a goodnight, she walked out. The moment Pratyusha realised, she ran behind her calling out loudly, "Mummy aap mera phone kyu leke ja rahe ho?"

"Kyu matlab, abhi time kya hai?" She asked casually.

Pratyusha gave her a puzzled look and said "Sade barah.."

"Aur iss time pe normal log kya karte hai?" Her mother questioned, raising her brows.

"Soo..." Realisation struck her, making her whine, "Mummy please na, aaj to mera birthday hai na...."

"Jee nahi, jake soja chup chap, thoda taras kar apni aankho pe. Jab dekho tab phone mein ghusi rehti hai."

"Acha thik hai, sojaungi, lekin phone toh dedo." She pleaded, knowing very well that there was no point in arguing over this topic.

"Okay fine." Her mother gave in her demands and gave her phone instructing her to not stay awake late.

Pratyusha excitedly took her phone back, but was extremely disappointed as she got no pings. Will she be celebrating a normal birthday as every year, with no special plans from her freinds' side? She sat down on the bed fretting "Surprise toh dur, kisi ek ka bhi wish nahi aaya. Pata nahi sabko yaad hoga bhi ya nahi... Raksha aur Pahul ne bhi wish nahi kiya... matlab aaj koi special plan nahi... ab kya... baithi reh ghar pe chup chap, koi nahi aane wala tujhse milne"

FLASHBACK ENDS

She was surfing aimlessly on her phone, lost in her thoughts. Suddenly, the door bell rang. Pratysha sprang towards the door but her smile dropped as she found nobody. She closed the door with a bang. Along with the bang one more loud voice boomed behind, making her scream in fear.

She opened the door a bit and smiled widely as she saw Raksha standing there. "Tum yaha kaise? Mujhe wish kyu nahi kiya, muje laga kisiko yaad hi nahi hai, aur sirf tum aayi ho aur koi nahi? Mujhe pata tha tum mera birthday nahi bhul sakti, kya kya socha hai? Ashi aur Randeep bhi... "

"Arre break lagao zara, ye kya CID ki tarah ek ke baad ek sawal. Pehle wish toh karne do mujhe." Raksha hugged her and handed over the gift wishing her again before she could start her interrogation. Pratysha quickly opened her gift and gasped seeing a beautiful flower printed sky blue frock.

Pratysha immediately changed into the dress and they went to watch a movie. Both of them entered a movie hall where they saw an empty movie hall, making Pratyusha confused, "Yaha to koi bhi nahi hai."

"Tumne pura hall book kiya kya?" She asked in excitement and shock.

"Nahi baba, wo lockdown ki wajah se zyada log nahi hain. Tum tension mat lo, aa jayenge sab dheere dheere." They settled on their seats and the projector flashed lights indicating that the movie is going to start.

"Ye koi aisi waisi film to nahi hai na." Pratyusha asked her suspiciously.

"Ye tum kya bol rahi ho... Tauba tauba! Hum to bohot sidhe sade masoom nirdosh bache hain, aisa kuch thodi karenge." Raksha replied dramatically to which Pratyusha rolled her eyes, making Pratyusha chuckle.

Raksha then gave her 3D glasses as the movie started. Surprisingly there was no credential nor any movie name, it directly started showing an ancient colossal wall and the mighty iron doors opened revealing a dense jungle.

The movie proceeded and owing to the 3D effect it seemed like they are walking in the jungle and everything is moving past them. The climate was mild while they were surrounded by mighty trees on all sides with the wild wind blowing, chattering of the trees and rippling of dry leaves under their feet. As they moved ahead, they came across wild growth of creepers hanging vertically. Curious to know what it was, they tore apart the creeper making way for them to go to the other side. A dome shaped structure was standing alone where Pratyusha entered in and gasped.

It had a modern ambience totally in contrast to what it looked from outside. It seemed like some research lab. Suddenly, a virtual screen popped up in front of her. A palm image appeared in the center, and without giving a second thought, she placed her palm over it. And in the next moment, the screen changed into a huge pendulum, the large bob was at the other end, she could hear tickling sound of a digital clock, she flinched when she realised if the bob is released it would be coming towards her. Before she could step back, it moved in a brisk swing and hit, making her shriek.

After what seemed like an eternity, Pratyusha opened her eyes and looked at herself. She was all fit and fine and one look ahead made her clasp her mouth. She was no more in the lab, she was standing in middle of a street. People moving around stopped once and looked at her with wide eyes and went away muttering to themself which left her conscious. She looked down at herself again everything seemed normal. She was still wearing Raksha's gifted frock, hair were neatly kempt, a sling bag on one shoulder, a wrist watch and a pair of pretty shoes completed her look.

She shrugged wondering why people are giving her such looks. It was then she noticed the people themselves seemed different, all ladies were wearing a saree with pallu covering their head, and hardly one or two wearing a simple suit and men in shirts and lose trouser while a few were wearing simple kurta and paijama. She looked around, there were small shops and kiskos on the both the side and all the name boards were written in Gujarati.

There were some people selling various things, vegetables and fruits on a cart, everything was extremely old fashioned, it seemed like the place is very know but unknown at the same time.

She suddenly realised Raksha has gone missing and that she is standing alone. She panicked and started looking here and there, wondering where on earth has she landed. The strange look people were giving her, scared her now. A radio in the adjacent shop played her favourite 90s song Chhukar Mere Man Ko.

Nervousness was not allowing her to acknowledge the place. She just wanted to get out of there. She mustered courage to ask one of them were she is. She hesitantly went near a lady who gasped looking at her and ran away, which left her all puzzled.

Suddenly a postman came near her on his cycle and threw an envelope at her and went away without waiting for her to react. She scrunched her brows and picked it up and the first thing she noticed jolted her. The date column mentioned the year 1994 and the place- Ahmedabad.

She hurriedly looked around once again and the realization made slap her forehead. She was there, right there, in the sets of Yeh Un Dino Ki Baat Hai.

"Lekin main yahan aayi kaise?" She spoke aloud, not able to control her excitement which earned hard glares from the passers-by. Another fact jolted her senses as she realised why people were staring at her, she was in the 90s and they can move around freely like their earlier days without any worries about the Corona Virus. She quickly removed her mask and stuffed it in her bag, settling in the realisation that this wasn't just the set, she was indeed present in Un Dino. She then opened the envelope which had a piece of paper in it. It said, "Wakt ne kiya ek haseen sitam, le aaya tujhe sadiyon se paar. Dur se dekhi jo duniya humari, aaj usi ka ek sadasya hai tu. Aur na socho kon, kyu, kaise, chal pado iss safar mai humare saath."

She grinned. Finally something special is happening on her birthday. The mere thought of meeting her favourite actors made her jump in happiness. She was thinking where she could find them when a small boy came running towards her and presented her a bouquet. A card attached to it had a birthday wish from Pahul and the card had a riddle.

"Dhund sako toh dhund lo mujhko muskhil nahi hai kaam,
iss safar ka suruwat hu main.
Mere aangan mein jo pale the Mani Ben aur Baalon ki Dukaan banke aaj wo mashur lekhak laute hain."

"Pragati Vidya Ka Mandir!" Pratyusha muttered in delight, guessing the answer in seconds. She was about to run towards PVKM but stopped, how will she reach there if she doesn't know any routes here. And as if someone heard her thoughts, a rickshaw stopped in front of her out of nowhere, asking if she wanted to go somewhere. She thought for a second and then denied as she didn't have the 90s currency to pay him, but the rickshaw wala insisted, "Madamji, paise de rakhe hain aur bola hai ki aap aaj ki spe... secial gast... gue wo kya hota hai..." He scratched his head

"Special guest..." She replied, still in a daze.

"Haan haan wohi, humare maalik ka hukum hai ki aap ko jahan bhi jana hoga hum chhod denge." He chriped.

"Kon hain aapke maalik?" She immediately asked, wanting to know who had planned it all.

"Wo hum nahi bata sakte aap khud pata karlo." He urged her to get in. As soon as she sat in, she noticed two papers stuck to the seat. She quickly plucked them off and saw wishes from her community friends written all over them, making her eyes shine.

They drove off to Pragati Vidya Ka Mandir and her eyes twinkled as she walked in, with a feeling of nostalgia seeping in.

She entered in the school corridor where all classes were full of students who were dressed in white and pale turquoise uniform. As she walked through the corridor, she found some more papers attached to the wall and all of them again contained wishes from her friends.

As she walked along, passing all the classes, she stopped beaming when she noticed Shanti Teacher sitting on her desk. She turned to look at /Pratyusha and smiled indicating her to come in. The moment she entered in, the whole class wished happy birthday in chorus. She thanked them looking for the most wanted people but all of them were new faces. Shanti teacher came ahead a wished her along with a gift and answered her unasked question, "Tum jise dhund rahi ho wo to yahan nahi hain."

"Aapko pata hai wo kahan hain?" She asked expectantly.

Shanti Teacher raised her brows as if thinking something, "Umm... yahan" she gave her a paper again and this time it had a riddle.

"Dhund sako to dhund lo mujhko muskhil nahi hai kaam,
Kabhi hasi ki gunj, kabhi mayusi ka sanatta, kabhi gusse ki garaj, to kabhi payal ki khanak sang rahe hain hum har padhao mein.
Duriyan chahe kitni bhi badi ho, iss babul ki gali ko yado se na mitana"

She racked her brain, trying to guess the place and babul ki gali reminded her of only one place. She sprinted towards her auto, heading towards the destination. Every time the driver halted, a local vendor moved around selling things and surprisingly handed her small presents and wish cards from her freinds. Her exceitment increased by every passing moment. Soon, the rickshaw stopped in front of Nirmal Jyoti Society. She hopped down and saw another wish on the gates and other one on the walls of stairs as she climbed up.

She clasped her hands, unable to believe that she is actually in front of Chachaji's house. Her thoughts were broken by Chachiji's lively voice "Bhagwan jhuth na bulaye Pratyusha, darwaze pe hi khadi rahegi kya? Andar aaja."

She entered in, looking amused at the scene. Chachaji stood up from his seat folding the newspaper and smiled at her and Taiji was sitting in on the swing sipping her favourite cardamon tea. Chachiji cupped her face and wished lovingly "Janamdin ki dher saari shubhkamnayein. Hamesha khush raho."

Chachaji patted her head and blessed her giving his good wishes. She uttered a thank you, elated by their pampering, when Taiji's sharp voice made them turn towards her, "O bai lihaaz naam ki chiz hi nahi hai, Bela tujhse to koi umeed hi nahi thi, lekin Anand Babu aapne bhi nahi socha ki bade buzurg baithe hain yahan to sabse pehle unse milana hai, lekin aap to khud hi guftagu karne mein lag gaye."

Chachaji chuckled and said, "Bhabhiji ye Pratyusha hai, aur aaj iska janamdin manane aayi hai yahan."

Pratyusha stood grinning, making Taiji frown, "Tum itne daant kyu dikha rahi ho aur aashirward lene ke liye bhi mahurat nikalna hai kya?"

She quickly went ahead not wanting to get scolded. Taiji adjusted her pallu smugly and said in a honey coated tone "Sukhi raho, khub tarakki karo aur man lagake padhai karna. Pura din TV, VCR ke saamne mat baithi rehna iss Bela ki tarah."

"Ji Taiji." she nodded with a silly grin, wondering how she will react to the latest gadgets of our generation like mobile phones.

She looked around, wanting to see our all time favourite Naina and Preeti but they were no where to be found. Taiji rolled her eyes, looking at her eyes wandering here and there and asked, "Kise dhund rahi ho?"

She spoke up, wanting to end the long wait, "Wo Naina Pre..."

But Taiji interrupted her, "O bai! Unn dono se milke kya karogi, tum apni Taiji ke saath baitho. Ye Naina Preeti ko to naye zamane ki hawa lag gayi hai. Dekhna ek din naak..."

"Bhagwan jhuth na bulaye Bhabhiji, aap aise kyu keh rahi hain? Meri betiyan to badi sanskari hain. Ghar se callege aur callege se ghar, yahan vahan kahi dhyaan nahi bhatakta unka." Bela instantly defended her daughters.

"O bai, tujhe kya main bewakuf lagti hu? Udti chidiya ke par gin leti hu, saare rang roop janti hu mai inn dono ka." Taiiji glared at Bela and turned towards Pratyusha, "Beta tum batao, tum bhi to dekhti ho na, kya nautanki karti hain wo humare peeth piche."

She stood flummoxed, what should she say now? Or whom should she support?

Bela answered on her behalf, "Bhagwan jhuth na bulaye Bhabhiji, wo to sabhi ko dekhti hai. Ab kis kis ki sachai batayegi?" She said with a straight face.

"O bai! Bela kya matlab hai tumhara? Kehna kya chahti ho tum?" Taiji stood up in anger, while Bela bit her tongue cursing herself for blurting out.

Chachaji called Pratyusha aside, "Yahan ka drama to chalta rahega, tum jao maze karo." He said with a knowing smile and gave her the next riddle.

She quietly slipped out smiling as the Agarwal devrani jethani continued their banter. Coming back to her auto, she opened the paper hoping this is the final one and there is no more delay in meeting them.

"Dhund sako to dhund lo mujhko,
muskhil nahi hai kaam.
Mehkaati hai meri khushbu tujhe pal pal,
Door na ja sakoge tum.
Khushiyon se bhara hai aangan mera,
Gulaab hai mera naam."

As usual, it was another cake walk for her to guess this place. She kept urging the driver to drive fast who made faces at her impatience, and this distraction made him bump into a car parked in the middle of the road.

Thankfully there who no major mishap. She palmed her face while the driver glared at her. The lady in the car yelled at them, "Andhe ho kya, dikhayi nahi deta, meri Bombay se aayi itni mehengi gaadi kharab kar di. Oye rickshaw wale, bahar nikal. Tu janta nahi hai Prabha Maheshwari ko, dubara kabhi rickshaw nahi chala payega Ahmedabad mein."
The driver rushed out and pleaded her to forgive him.

Hearing Mamiji's voice, Pratyusha jumped out and stood there innocently looking at the scene created. Mamiji looked at her and she quickly folded her hands wishing sweetly "Namaste Mamiji."

Mamiji gave her a perplexed look, "Kon ho tum? Mujhe kaise janti ho? Bombay se aayi ho kya?"

"Nahi main..." Before she could explain, Poonam Bhabhi saw her and came ahead speaking in a chirpy voice, "Are Pratyusha, hum tumhara hi intezar kar rahe the. Many more happy returns of the day." She took her in a side hug and addressed Mamiji, "Mummy ji humne bataya tha na aaj ek khaas mehman aane wali hai, ye wohi hai."

"Acha... to aaj tumhara janamdin hai. Happy birthday." She patted her head with a wide smile and started again, "By God agar Bombay hota na to main 5 star mein party arrange karti, sabko pata hona chahiye na Prabha Maheshwari ki khaas mehman ho. Kuch bhi kaho, mere Bombay ki to baat hi alag hai. Yaha to Sameer ne sab intezam kiya. By God achanak college se phone karke bolta hai Mamiji jaldi se gift leke aao meri koi khaas aane wali hai. Ab mujhe kya sapna aayega ki ye khaas Sunaina hai ya Naina isliye maine dono ke hisaab se le liya." She handed her a large bag containing lots of gift wrapped boxes.

While her heart fluttered listening to Sameer planning her birthday, Mamiji nudged her and said, "Ab jaldi jao, zyada intezar mat karao mere hero jaise bhanje ko."

She quickly got in the rickshaw and headed towards the final destination- Red Rose.

As she opened the door, the whole room was filled with darkness and the moment she stepped in, the poppers burst and lights were turned on. The room was decorated with balloons and streamers and the whole red rose gang together wished her loudly.

This time, even Hema and Kamya were present. Naina pulled her in and asked "Kaisa laga sabse milke? Tumhara birthday to full packed combo bangaya."

"Aur iss combo mein drama, comedy, tradegy, romance sab hai." Preeti chirped in.

"Are Preeti, romance ka quota abhi shuru kahan hua hai, humare laila majnu ne aaj ka din tumhare naam rakha hai. Bichare ke saare armaano pe pani ferdiya Naina ne" Swati sniggered, earning deadly glares from naina.

"Din abhi pura nahi hua hai Swati, jaldi se cake kato jisse hum bhi apna kaam shuru kar sake." Sameer winked at his girl.

"Sameer chup raho, bacho ke saamne aise baat nahi karte." She chided him tucking a hair strand behind her ear.

And the kid who was listening to them with most interest blurted, "Mujhe koi problem nahi hai, aap kuch bhi..." She shut her eyes realising her blunder. When she opened them, Naina was looking at her with wide eyes while others bursted out laughing.

Sameer grabbed the opportunity and pulled Naina closer to him, "Dekha, birthday girl bhi yahi chahti hai ki tum mujhse door na jao."

"Are yaar, ab jaldi se cake kato isse pehele ki Bhai ka mood badal jaye aur ye dono fir gayab hojaye." Pandit narrowed his eyes at Samaina and ushered her to the center table which had a large chocolate cake.

The cake cutting happened with all of them singing birthday song. Finally the day which started with a frown ended with an everlasting smile.

✩̣̣̣̣̣ͯ┄•͙✧⃝•͙┄✩ͯ•͙͙✧⃝•͙͙✩ͯ┄•͙✧⃝•͙┄✩̣̣̣̣̣ͯ

𝙵𝚘𝚛: Psr1403
𝚆𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚗 𝙱𝚢: mahi2325
𝙴𝚍𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝙱𝚢: pahul_gpk