"To send or not to send, that is the question." Arjun chuckled.
Taani, Arjun and Purvi were sitting in their college canteen. Taani had typed her application letter to SRS Creations and was having second thoughts about sending it. The other two had already sent in their applications.
"Shut up Arjun!" Taani reprimanded.
"Arjun cut her some slack. Abh jiju ki company mein apply kar rahi hai, nervous toh hogi hi na?" Purvi bit back her laughter.
"Firstly, it's not his company. Secondly, I'm not applying for the post of his secretory. And lastly, jiju?" Taani retorted.
"Tera hone wala pati mera jiju hi hoga na." Purvi teased.
"Uss hisab se toh mujhe Arjun ko bhi jiju bulana chahiye." Taani smirked mentally knowing that she had struck the right chord.
"Chee NO! You dare not!" Arjun warned her and left giving an excuse as Purvi wanted to talk to Taani.
"Waise Taani, teri baat hoti hai Reyansh ke saath?" Purvi asked after he left.
"Haan, matlab jab bhi milte hai.."
"Jab milte hai? Roke ke baad kitne baar mili ho?" Purvi narrowed her eyes at her.
"Roke ke baad nahi mile hai hum par.."
"Matlab peechle ek hafte mein teri uske saath koi baat nai hui?" Purvi interrupted her.
Taani moved her head sideways.
"Baat karne ke liye koi topic bhi hona chahiye na?" Taani argued.
"Tujhe uske baare mein sab pata hai jo topic nahi hai?" Purvi asked in a stern voice. "Taani if you really want to have a relation with him, you'll have to put in effort. Tera nature main jaanti hoon, jab tak saamne se aake koi baat nahi karega, tu bhi nahi karegi. You'll have to change this habit of yours."
"I know. But it's awkward." Taani shrugged.
"Tu na bohot stress le rahi hai. Just forget ki tera roka hua hai uske saath. Just talk to him like you would with a new friend. Make him your friend. The awkwardness will go away."
"Hmm.." Taani agreed.
"Hmm kya? Number ghuma aur baat kar!" Purvi instructed.
"Unka number nahi hai." Taani replied meekly.
"Tum dono ka roka hua aur tumne numbers exchange nahi kiye?" Purvi asked in disbelief.
"Hum baat karne mein itne busy the ki iske baare mein socha hi nahi."
"That is a good thing but you need to keep these talks frequent. Now, give me your laptop."
"Kyun?"
"Number nahi hai but social media toh hai." Purvi grinned.
She picked the laptop, which was in front of Taani and positioned it between them so both could access it. But in doing so, she accidentally clicked enter and Taani's application was sent.
"Aaj nahi toh kal yeh send ho hi jata. So welcome." Purvi smiled sheepishly at Taani.
"Thank you." Taani replied sarcastically and shut the laptop. "Aur yeh social media hunt ki koi jarurat nahi hai!"
'Reyansh Singhania' Taani typed in the search tab on Facebook. The conversation she had with Purvi made her realize that she knew nothing about him and Purvi's juvenile idea might help her get a few insights on him. A few hundreds of accounts matched the name. She scrolled through them to find his account. She stopped on an account which had a photo of him and opened it.
"Account private hai." She huffed. "Friend request bheju? Par DP kaafi purani lag rahi hai aur last 2012 mein update ki hai. I think inactive hai. Instagram check karti hoon."
She then repeated the entire search process on Instagram.
"Reyansh Singhania. Architect / explorer / adventure enthusiast." She read his bio. "Interesting. Luckily yeh private nahi hai."
The first post gained her interest and she opened it.
"Yeh toh unhone roke ke din pehna tha."
She looked at the day it was posted and it cleared her confusion. It was indeed posted on the day of the ceremony. It had no caption. But the comments section caught her attention.
sharr what's the occasion?
rey25 shaadi hai meri
sharr accha? kiske saath?
rey25 of course with you!
sharr
Taani opened sharr's account instantly but was disappointed on finding out that it had privacy setting on. Cursing her luck, she came back to Rey's profile and went through all his uploads.
"Inke photos dekh ke lag raha hai ki yeh kaam kam aur photoshoot jyada karte hai. Aur bike ke itne pics? Kuch jyada hi pyaar hai apni bike se unhe." She giggled.
"Yeh kaun hai? Bohot pics hai inke saath?" She opened a picture which was with Swayam and Sharon.
"swayamshekhawat and sharr." She checked the tags. "sharr?" She thought, "shayad friends hai." She made a conclusion and turned to the next picture which had Sharon tagged in it. She was wearing an ethnic wear and the location looked exotic. She opened it and read the caption:
Many many happy returns of the day my girl, may God bless you with lots of happiness and keeps you shining. I love you muaaah :* #birthday #family #love #life
sharr love you too mah boy :*
"Who is she? Maybe yeh unki behen hogi. Par unhone kahan tha ki unke behen ki shaadi hogayi hai. She looks too young to be married. Account bhi private hai!" Taani made a face hitting the back button.
"I should stop obsessing over whoever she is and complete the task at hand."
She hit the follow button and opened the direct messenger.
"Hello" *delete* "Bohot formal hoga."
"Hey" *delete* "Hi" *delete*
"Forget it!" She closed the application and went to sleep.
...
Rey was going through the notifications on his phone, when one caught his attention:
taanirai started following you. 1h
"Taani Rai? Short for Raichand maybe." He thought and opened her profile.
"Locked! That's great!" He rolled his eyes and sent a follow request.
"Abhi accept karne ka wait karu? Chod so jata hoon. Waise bhi bohot late hogaya hai."
He lied down comfortably and just then his phone started ringing.
"Now what?" He answered the phone with irritation.
"Why so grumpy?"
"Shar it's two thirty in the night. Let me sleep!"
"Accha sorry. But uska kya hua?" Sharon asked.
"Kaam chalu hogaya hai. Next week tak complete hojayega, hopefully."
"Hopefully nahi, hona hi chahiye complete. Next Wednesday we are returning!"
"Tab tak hojayega meri maa. Abh so jau?"
"Maine kab mana kiya."
Before Rey could reply, she disconnected the call.
"I hate her!" Cursing Sharon, Rey went to sleep.
...
The first thing that Taani did on waking up was check her Instagram. There it was, a follow request from Rey. She clicked accept and the very next minute a message popped up.
"Morning."
"Good morning." She replied.
"Apna number do. Yeh texting nahi jamti mujhe."
She forwarded her number and hoped, for a brief second, that he wouldn't call her at that instant. Her hope was crushed when she saw an unknown number flash on her screen.
"Hey." He greeted.
"Hi." She replied in a sleepy voice.
"Abhi uthi ho?" He asked.
"Nahi. Thode time pehle." She lied, stifling a yawn.
"Jhoot kyun bol rahi ho. Abhi tak neend mein ho." He chuckled.
"Main jhoot nahi bol rahi." She pouted.
"Chalo maan leta hoon. Waise aaj free ho?"
"Voh.. erm.. college ke baad thoda kaam hai. Kyu?"
"Main soch raha tha ki hume milna chahiye."
"Aaj thoda mushkil hai. Kisi aur din?"
"Sure. Accha fir rakhta hoon. Bye."
"Bye."
"Oh hello? Kahan khoyi hai?" Purvi waived her hands in front of Taani.
"Kya?" Taani snapped out of her thoughts.
"Hai kidar tu?" Purvi questioned.
"College mein." Taani answered unsure.
Arjun burst out laughing and Purvi slapped her forehead.
"Kya hua? Tu hass kyun raha hai?" Taani eyed Arjun.
"College mein." Arjun mimicked Taani and continued laughing.
"Tu na bas ek hi piece hai!" Purvi laughed too.
"Tum log pagal ho gaye ho." Taani got up to leave.
"Ruk ruk ruk." Arjun stopped her and made her sit. "Abh bata kiske khayalon mein khoyi thi tu?"
"Offo! Abh Reyansh ke khayalon mein hi khoyi rahegi na yeh." Purvi teased.
"Tum logon ko batana hi nahi chahiye tha. Yeh roz roz ke teasing se toh bach jaati!"
"Chal abh gussa mat kar aur bata kya hua?" Purvi nudged.
"Voh aaj sube Reyansh ka call aaya tha."
"Usko tera number kahan se mila?" Purvi asked.
"Voh maine hi send kiya."
Taani narrated how she got influenced by Purvi's idea and searched for him on social media and how she ended up giving her number to him. She didn't give out any details of her stalking his profile.
"No hi hello, seedha number mang liya?" Purvi asked astonished.
"Arre good morning bola na." Arjun pointed out while keeping a straight face.
"Hehehe.. Toh kya baat hui?" Purvi asked.
"Voh mujhse aaj milna chahate the but maine mana kar diya." Taani spoke out meekly and braced herself for the outburst.
"Pagal hai kya tu? Aise seedha na bol diya?" Purvi burst out.
"I panicked." Taani explained.
"Accha abh call kar aur usse bata ki jo tune reason diya tha sube na milne ka voh bilkul bakwaas tha aur tu usse milna chahati hai." Arjun picked up her phone and held it in front of her.
She sneered at him.
"Okay, fine. Jo bhi reason tha voh sort out hogaya. Now, call!" He demanded.
"Abhi?" She asked. Both Arjun and Purvi nodded.
She dialed his number and nervously held her phone next to her ear. An automated message played after a few rings and she disconnected the call.
"Shayad busy hai." She spoke after heaving a sigh of relief.
"Phir se try kar. Shayad silent pe ho." Arjun suggested.
Taani redialed his number and this time he answered within two rings.
"Taani, I'm in the middle of work. I'll call you later." Rey said and before she could answer he disconnected the call.
"Bola tha na maine ki busy honge." Taani said looking at Arjun.
"Accha theek hai. But next time se aisi stupidity mat kariyo."
It was close to midnight when Rey took a little break from work and checked his phone to see if he had any urgent messages. He saw Taani's missed call from morning and cursed himself for forgetting to call her back. Without thinking twice, he dialed her number.
"Bol." Taani answered the call.
"Hi? It's Rey." He was startled by her abrupt greeting.
"Sorry voh main Purvi, I mean, meri friend ka call expect kar rahi thi. Aapne itni raat ko call kyu kiya?" Taani flushed in embarrassment.
Rey checked the time and was shocked. "Sorry I didn't realize ki itna late hua hai."
"It's fine. Waise aap kahin bahar hai?" She asked when she heard loud noises.
"Haan voh ek site pe hoon." He answered.
"Itni late tak?" She wondered.
"Haan, kaam thoda urgent hai."
"Par aap kyu supervise? Mera matlab hai yeh kaam toh builder ka.."
"Yeh personal project hai toh karna pad raha hai. Waise tumne subah call kyu kiya tha?"
"Voh aap keh rahe the na ki aap milna chahate the toh matlab, main sham ko free thi. So wahi batane ke liye call kiya tha."
"Tum free hogayi aur main completely busy."
"Matlab?"
"Sir aapke liye call hai." One of Rey's immediate subordinate handed him a phone.
"Taani do minute hold karna. I have to take this." He told Taani and answered the other call.
"Shar calm down!" Taani heard Rey over the phone and it caught her attention. She could hear the one-sided conversation.
"I know mujhe wahan aana pad raha hai, isiliye overtime karke yeh khatam kar raha hoon. Abh yeh kyu chahiye?" He further asked getting frustrated. "Haan theek hai, but rakha kidar hai? Bedroom mein? Wait let me see."
Taani was trying to figure out what the conversation was about.
"Haan mil gaya box. Waise tera photo bhi hai. Woh bhi loon?" He chuckled and then disconnected.
"Yeah sorry hum kya baat kar rahe the?" Rey asked Taani.
"Voh aap kuch keh rahe the ki busy hogaye."
"Oh haan. Well mujhe New York jana pad raha hai on urgent basis."
"Ohh." Taani didn't know what to say.
"Tum, uh, next weekend free rahogi? We can meet then?" He asked.
"Yeah, we can meet then."
Her phone beeped and she saw that Purvi's call was waiting.
"Meri friend ka call aa raha hai." Taani stated.
"Tum attend kar lo. I'll get back to work. Bye."
"I can't believe ki itne se kaam ke liye meko vapas aana pada." Rey hit the couch and closed his eyes.
"Itna thaka hua kyu hai?" Swayam asked.
"Jet lag." Rey answered getting comfortable on the couch.
"Waise Rey wahan pahuchne ke baad ek call karne ka bhi time nahi mila teko?" Swayam complained.
"Itna thaka hua hai bechaara, tu kyu usse aur pareshaan kar raha hai?" Sharon hushed Swayam. "Aur Rey tu room mein jaake thodi der so ja."
"Tu theek toh hai na?" Rey sprung up hearing Sharon and looked at Swayam who looked equally shocked.
"What the hell! Koi genuinely care karna bhi chahe toh usse karne nahi doge tum dono!" She left the room huffing and heard them laughing at her expense.
...
"Kya hua aise kyu dekh raha hai?" Swayam asked Rey at dinner.
"Meko tum dono ko kuch batana hai."
"Toh bata na! Itna bhaav kyu kha raha hai!" Sharon exclaimed.
"Abh kahan gayi teri genuine care?" Rey taunted.
"Voh teko hazam nahi ho rahi thi toh karni chod di." Sharon smiled sarcastically at him.
"Rey, you were saying something." Swayam stopped their banter.
"Haan voh Mumbai mein kuch hua.." Rey said dramatically.
"Accha? Kya hua?" Swayam inquired in the same tone.
"Jyada kuch nahi, bas mera roka hua." Rey simply stated.
"Bas roka? Shaadi hi kar lete." Sharon taunted.
"Teko bina bataye karta toh tu meko zinda thodi chodti!" Rey chuckled.
"Point!" Sharon agreed.
"But seriously Rey kya batana tha teko?" Swayam asked not buying what he said.
"Bata toh diya." Rey tried his best to hide his smile seeing their confused expressions.
"Kya?" Both asked.
"Ki mera roka ho gaya hai." Rey answered.
"Fine, act pricey!" Sharon sulked.
"Shar, I'm serious." Rey said with a straight face this time, shocking the two.
"Rey, that's a really bad prank." Swayam managed to say.
"I'm not joking guys. Maa se puch lo agar yakeen nahi ho raha ho to."
"Voh toh main abhi hi puchungi!" Sharon dialed Juhi and kept the phone on speaker.
"Lagta hai bata diya." Juhi giggled as she answered the call.
"Aunty are you serious?" Sharon asked in disbelief.
"Haan beta. I know shocking hai, but it's true." Juhi giggled.
"How?" Swayam asked.
"Vo sab tum apne dost se hi puch lo." She disconnected the call.
"Satisfied?" Rey asked.
"No! I need the entire story!" Sharon demanded.
"Me too!" Swayam added.
Hello everyone
I've edited this chapter extensively, to make it kinda perfect. Not quite sure how it's turned out.
Finger's crossed, I hope it was worth the wait.
For the question of the update
Has anyone stalked their crush/partner on social media?
Please comment down below
...
~| Special Mention |~
Thanks a lot Ale.
For what you ask?
For the username of Taani.
Thanks for suggesting that
Posted: October 10, 2017
A widow, Gauri met her long lost friend Omkara in a family function, who still ...
Life Journey of two people poles apart in career, status and style. One is the ...
Drabbles for Shrimad Ramayana Contest
Comments (0)
View all