Chapter 15

EPISODE-15

 

"Waise kya baat hai Raj? Mera favorite restaurant, mera favorite color!!!"

"Color?"

"Yeah...Black...tumhari shirt."

"Oh that... Well tumhara favorite restaurant isliye because main tumhare saath dinner pe aaya hoon and for your favorite color...well that's just a co-incidence. Mujhe nahin pata tha black is your favorite color."

"Matlab agar pata hota to nahin pehente?" Rajveer was a bit shocked at a question.

"What kind of question is that?"

"Okay-okay...I was just joking. Waise suddenly yeh dinner ka plan kaise."

"Yun hi...maine socha phir mauka mile na mile."

"What?? Raj you sound as if tum border pe war ladne jaa rahe ho. Come on!!"

"You are right."

"Right? What do you wanna say?"

"Naina... Navin ne tumhe kuch nahin bataya but somehow I think you should know."

"Know what? Raj you are scaring me now."

"Naina you know ki Pulwama mein recently kuch terrorist attcks hue hain. Aur uske baad wahan se arms and ammunitions bhi baramad hue hain."

"Yeah... so?"

"Yeh actual incident ka official version hai... I mean filtered version."

"Raj...what does all that mean?"

"That means Naina ki sach yeh hai ki wahan pe haalaat kafi kharab hain. Army in that area right now has been put on Red Alert. War can break out any moment. Naina... we are not going on a terrorist attack site.... we are going on a war front."

"What? Lekin bhaiyya ne is bare mein kuch kyun nahin bataya?"

"Because this information is highly confidential."

"Then why are you telling me?"

"Honestly... even I don't know. Bas mujhe laga... you should know."

"Raj....." Naina was at the loss of words. She didn't know how to react to this. She knew that Rajveer and Navin were army men and that was one situation they are prepared for throughout their training. But still

She didn't want to accept that they were going to fight a war.

"And what about Neeti?"

"Nahin Neeti nahin aa rahi hai."

That was somewhat relieving for her but the thought of Rajveer and Navin going for a war was too taxing for her. She kept quiet for the entire evening....without a word. She didn't speak even when Rajveer dropped her home. Finally Rajveer broke the silence.

"Won't you wish me luck?"

Naina gave him a half-heartedly smile and said "All the best Raj. I'll see you in the morning." Saying this Naina turned to get down from car but she could not. Raj's words stopped her.

"We won't be meeting tomorrow."

"But why?"

"Because I'll leave when you'll be on your show."

"But why Raj.... you cant do this. Tum mujhse mile bina kaise jaa sakte ho."

"Isiliye to yeh dinner plan kiya tha maine....Just to spend some time with you and to meet you for one last time before war."

 

On hearing this Naina's eyes were moist. Something inside Naina wanted her to hold him by his hand and stop him from going. She wanted to tell him that it was too dangerous there…. That he was going to a place from where he might not come back. This thought gave her a pain….deep inside her heart. All this while she was just looking at him. She didn't even blink. But the next moment she came out of her thoughts… back to the reality. The reality that he had to go, no matter what and nothing can stop him…..and being a soldier nothing should stop him. She hugged him. "I'll miss you Raj"

"Me too." Rajveer's voice was also heavy. He held her tightly in her arms not wanting to let her go. Naina was special for him…..she has always been special. She has always been one person whose thought was enough to bring a smile on his face. The thought of going away from her and her moist eyes were getting painful for him.A tear came down rolling Naina's cheek as they separated. An awkwardness somehow unknowingly crept between them.

 

"Come on Naina... I want to see you smile before I go."

"Sure... Jeet ke aana." She said that forcing a smile on her face.

"Of Course... Haarna to hum afford hi nahin kar sakte."

"I'll be waiting for you and Bhaiyya to return. Bye."

"Bye...and take care"

"You too."

Naina turned to get down but Rajveer held her by hand.

"Naina what if I don't come back?"

"Shut up Raj…You don't even need to think about something like that because you are coming back…… You get that."

"C'mon Naina lets be practical…it's a warzone…anything can happen."

"No Raj…nothing bad is gonna happen and I know that. And don't you dare speak even a single word after that." Naina was enraged.

 

They didn't even realize that they were holding each others' hands. They didn't look at each other…they didn't even talk to each other. They sat there like that for a while. Then finally Rajveer turned to Naina and gave her a smile. Looking straight into her eyes he went closer to her and gave a peck on her cheek.

"Goodnight Naina."

"Goodnight Raj."

Naina got down from car with a heavy heart. Deep down she was scared...even though she had no idea what the coming days had in store for her.