Chapter 4

*None of my works can be copied without my explicit written permission. It is not polite to steal ideas*

Writer's Note: Okay I have NEVER NEVER NEVER updated so quickly in ONE day! This is like a personal achievement (I'm tapping my back for it don't worry 😛)

So part 4 for all you hungry souls. Now I need comments people! no update till this chapter's feedback reaches 35 pages bawahahahaha! and I hope to wrap it up before the big dhamaka expected tomorrow night at 8. So just one more update to go (or maybe two, I really don't know right now hehehe)

And for all of you who are liking and commenting, I LOVE YOU ALL DAMNIT (totally ASR isshtyle) and a BIG HUG to all you lovelies

I took the poem so generously given to me from GodHelpUs (it's here if you want to read it), I added some more meat to it 😉(haanji, hum poetry bhi likh lete hain kabhi kabaar. Padhni ho to PM karein please)

Okay continuing!

PART 4

Dhoondhe tumhe meri nazarein,

kho gaye tum jane kahan.

dono ke dil pe jane kyun,

uth rahe hain sitam bar-baan.

shikayat kare bhi toh kya tumse?

sapnon mein basaya tha ik ashiyaan.

Par dhund mein tum ghul gaye yun,

Ki reh gaya bas siskiyo ka samaan...

Dhoondhe tumhe meri nazarein,

kho gaye tum jane kahan.

The three brothers had driven off in three different axes, all confident of finding her. After all, it hadn't been very long since she'd left Shantivan. But the digital clock sat blinking on his dashboard mocking him. And he watched helplessly, as minutes kept passing by and he was no way close to finding her. The wheels of destiny, the wheels of time, the wheels of fate, things that Arnav Singh Raizada always prided himself to have control over were in fact slipping out of his grip.

In desperation, he calls up Aakash again. "Nothing," Aakash replies as soon as he picks up. Arnav quickly disconnects and redials NK. He too replies in negative. Arnav slips off the Bluetooth and bangs it on the dashboard in frustration. Arnav's gaze again falls on the clock; it had been over an hour since he had been driving like a mad man on the streets of Delhi, wondering the same thing over and over in his mind - Kahan ho tum Khushi (Where are you, Khushi)?

*

Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage. Khushi doesn't know about the former, but she does know she loves Arnav with all of her heart.

For it is courage that is guiding her feet away from inflicting pain on the man she loves. For she knows, pained he will be while taking sides; the hatred of 14 years or the love of 14 months. It is courage that is making her believe that everything will be alright and time will heal all wounds. And it is courage that is reminding her to place all her trust in Devi Maiyya, for nothing happens in this world without her divine intervention.

She steps out of the auto and looks around at the familiar walls. She looks at the lights adorning the threshold. She can smell the fresh flowers wound around the pillars. Even in the dead of the night, there were people around her, some stopping to take a second look at her, some smiling conspicuously at her, as if they are included in her plans. Khushi smiles back gaily, and climb the stairs, welcoming the cool graphite floor under her bare feet.

She was home.

*

Panic is one of the worst emotions a man can endure. A sense of acute helplessness harbouring the darkest of fears, finally enveloping oneself with it and feeling suffocated inside the bubble; it is a vicious circle. Khushi had left alone, decked in bridal attire, dead at night into the streets of Delhi. A sense of dread is creeping into his heart What if someone tried to...? NO! Stop thinking that way. He immediately admonishes himself.

Yes, panic is one of the worst emotions a man can endure.

It's been two hours since Arnav reversed his car out of the driveway of Shantivan and was still clueless about Khushi's whereabouts. He had tried to be calm when he checked the temple twice. He had failed. He had tried to sound calm on the phone when NK told him Khushiji wasn't at the bus stop or the railway station. He had failed. He had tried to be calm on the phone when Aakash told him that she hadn't returned to Laxmi Nagar. He had again failed. How could she disappear just like that? Right then, he got a phone call from Aakash. He quickly parked the car on the side of the road.

"Ya Aakash? Kuch pata chala (Anything?)?" Arnav asked eagerly.

"Nahin Bhai," Aakash replies hesistantly. Arnav sighs resignedly. "Actually, meri baat DSP Bhardwaj se hui. Unhone mujhe FIR ki formalities poori karne ko kaha hai. Aur unhone assure kiya hai ki Khushi ji mil jayengi. To main abhi police station hi ja raha hun. (Actually, I had a call with DSP Bhardwaj. He asked to me to do the formalities of the FIR. And he assured me that Khushiji will be found.)" Arnav remains silent as he listens to his brother's words.

"Bhai aap sun rahe hain na (Bhai are you listening)?" Aakash asks tentatively. Arnav grunts in reply. "Aur, unhone kaha hai ki finally ek baar un sabhi places ko check kar lein jahan Khushiji regularly aati jaati hain. Hamari satisfaction ke liye (He further said to check the places that Khushiji frequents once more, for our satisfaction)." Arnav doesn't reply and disconnects the phone.

He stares straight ahead of him; the road ahead bathed in the glow of the car's headlights, but his eyes don't register the light. It actually feels to him that he is sinking into darkness with every passing moment. He knows life without Khushi will be like this; without her sunshine-like smile, without the happiness she spread, without her share of madness, without her pranks, without her undying faith...

Faith.

Arnav stills. His heartbeats start racing with hope. He had checked there twice without success. Could he be lucky a third time? Arnav folds his hands and bows his head down in earnest prayer.

Hey Devi Maiyya, Khushi ko apne paas hi rakhna. Main aa raha hun... (Hey Devi Maiyya, please keep Khushi safe with you, I'm coming)

*

"Bitiya? Itni raat gaye, yahan akeli kya kar rahi ho? (Dear, what are you doing here alone so late at night?)" the weary old voice floated into Khushi's ears. She looked up to see an old wrinkled man, propping himself with a walking stick standing in front of her. She smiles at him serenely but doesn't reply.

He looks at her appearance. Even though his sight was fading, there was no mistaking that red was still the colour of a bride. Suddenly he chuckles. "Pata hai? Humne bhi bhaag kar shaadi ki thi! (Do you know, I eloped as well!)"

Khushi stares at him startled. The old man smiles a toothless smile at her and nods understandingly.

"Humari patni thodi paglet thi. Bahut daudaya usne apne peeche (My wife was a little mad. She made me run around a lot)," his eyes glint mischievously. "Par hum usse bahut pyaar karte the. To hum bhi bhaagte rahe. Fir ek din, usko bhaga kar yahan le aaye. Aur isse pehle ki woh kuch kehti, humne phat se poojari ji se keh ke apni sahiba se shaadi kar li. (But I loved her a lot, so I kept running after her. Then one day, I chased her here. And before she could say another word, I asked the priest to marry us.)" he laughs reminiscently. Khushi's face breaks into a smile imagining how it all must have happened.

"Aap itni raat gaye yahan kya kar rahe hain Baba? (what are you doing here so late at night, Baba?)" she asks him. He looks at her in sadness.

"Hamari patni ke dehaant ke baad se, akele rehne ka mann nahin karta tha. Isiliye hum yahan poojari ban gaye. Woh kya hai na, usne humse waada karwaya tha, ki hum hamesha saath rahenge. Isiliye hum ab yahin rehte hain, uske saath. (After my wife passed away, I couldn't live alone. So I became the priest here. Actually, she made me promise her that I'll never leave her side. And so I live here now, with her.)" With veined knotted hands he slowly points to a banyan tree in the distance. Khushi realise she has tears in her eyes listening to the old man's tale. She too remembers the silent promises she had shared with Arnav: of being together, forever.

The old priest seems to understand her silence correctly this time. "Tum bahut pyaar karti ho na usse? (You love him a lot right?)" he suddenly asks, again taking her by surprise. She nods in assent. "To chinta mat karo bitiya, woh zaroor aayega, (then don't worry dear, he'll be here definitely)" he says and presses his palm to her head in blessing.

Right about then, a white tata safari screeches to a halt outside the temple steps.

LAST CHAPTER (CLICK)

Writer's Note: AILA!! CLIFFHANGER! (Do I hear you moan, smitzy! NOT AGAIN!) 😆 Actually I wanted the conversation between them in one chapter entirely. Sorry kaan pakad ke! 😊

smitzy2012-09-25 10:29:05