Chapter 5
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Jaanib-e-Manzil
~~~ Part 1 ~~~
~~~ Part 1 ~~~
My story starts at a very busy, overcrowded railway platform where travelers are pushing their way through the crowd to catch their trains. Other than the constant noise of the trains' engines, its whistles and steam.. there is the hustle and bustle of the hawkers, the porters, beggars here and there…for everyone it is just another day... living their normal day. Amongst the crowd, there is this one handsome young man who is walking across the platform with a very calm posture in his approach in order to search for his seat in the train. He does not seem to be tensed or stressed at all, traveling light seems to be his nature as he is carrying limited luggage with him and the crowd does not seem to bother him in his organised way of catching his train. Now…if we look at the other side of the platform, here comes the exact opposite and the extreme side of the the traveling phenomenon…very much laden with the heavily packed bags, hands fully occupied with magazines and handbags with a paper slip caught between her lips…she seems to be struggling to even take a step at a time as she constantly tries to organise her stuff to be able to get on to that train. So…as they both start walking towards each other and finally when they do reach their ultimate destination i.e. their carriage, at the entrance door, Mr. Well-Disciplined-Organised (Mayank Sharma) collide with Miss. Never-My-Fault (Nupur Bhushan) and their story begins….
N: o hello…dikhai nahi deta? Allah mia ne itne baray baray jo aankhein di hai unko kabhi istemal bhi ker liya karo!! hamara saara saaman gira diya…
M: Sorry…woh ghalti se…
N: ghalti se?? dekho mister…agar tumhe lag raha hai k akeli larki hai..safar kar rahi hai aur tum usse pareshan kar sakte ho to bohat bari ghalat fehmi hai. iss route me 32 daffa safar karte hai hum har saal…to beshara aur majboor mat samajhna…huh
M: jee…(as the poor fellow is quite shocked at the reaction of this stranger but rather not say too much)
N: ab jee jee kya kar rahe ho…itna saara saman jo gira diya usse uthaake do
M: yeah..sure (as he quickly starts to pick her magazines and bags)
As he hands them over to her…
N: ab utha hi diya to saamnewale seat tak le aao. isi carriage per to ho na!
M: haan! jee…zaroor. kaunsa seat hai aapka? (seems like he is not left with any choice and the sooner he gets rid of this chatterbox better it is)
N: hoga yehi per kahin (she has actually no idea about her seat no. So she keeps roaming around to search for an empty seat whilst Mayank is following her with her luggage like a porter)
After a while the tired Mayank dares to speak up
M: humain lagta hai aapko apna seat no. pata nahi hai..hai na?
N: kisne kaha tumhe seat no. pata nahi hai. bas yehi kahi per …shayed woh wala…nahi woh to poora ka poora sardarji ne li rakkhi hai..
M: aapka ticket kahan hai…dijiye zara
N: kyun tum ticket checker ho?
M: nahi…(before he could utter another word)
N: ohhh accha to khud ne ticket nahi liya to socha kisi akeli bechari larki ki ticket chura lauge??
M: (looking around him..)
N: kya..kisse dhoond rahe ho?
M: nahi woh "bechari" larki ko..
N: yahaaan…iss taraf ..hum apni baat kar rahe hai..ufff kis bewkuf se paala para hai
M: AAp…aur bechari???
N: what?
M: please ticket dijiye…wahan pe aap ki seat no. likkha hoga
N: arre haan…ek minute (and she scrounges thru her handbag to find that piece of paper). And finally she finds her seat no and the seat itself
As soon as Nupur arrives ot her seating location, Mayank immediately leaves the vicinity thanking God that the chapter is over and heads towards his own seat. Funnily enough…after 15-20 mins he finds himself right in front of Nupur ..AGAIN...as his seat is facing her seat.
N: tum? phir se yahan?? ajeeb badtameez kism k insaan ho!! pehle to dhakka diya…saara saaman gira diya…ab picha karte karte mere seat tak aagaye!
M: (completely baffled at what the girl is talking about as he is the one who helped her handling her unlimited baggage and find her seat) yeh meri seat hai yahan
N: accha! ab hamari saamnewali seat hi aapki hogayi…poore train me aur jagah nahi mila na!
M: dekhiye yeh hai hamara ticket…seat no. yehi hai.
N: hmm ..thik hai per…(pointing her finger near his nose) thik tarah se samajh lo…agar tum humain koi kamzor…naadan larki samajh rahe ho na bohhhat bari ghalat fehmi hai tumhari. tum jaise kitnon ko hum apne college me chutki me ghuma dete hai. so aisa waisa kuch sochna bhi mat..samjhe?
M: (nods his head from right to left and says to himself) kis musibat daal diya Khuda ne. iss larki k saath poora safar kaise beetayga! pichle 15 min me dimagh khaa gayi poora ka poora.
So he pretends that the message has been loud and clear and picks up his book to avoid any further interaction with her. The train has slowly begun to depart from the station now. Whilst Mayank gets more and more cozy with his journey and starts diving into his novel, Nupur, on the other hand is constantly shuffling and reshuffling her bags to find one thing or another. Mayank feels utterly disturbed by her continuous blabbering with God knows who.
N: pata nahi kahan pe rakh diya. isi bag me to rakkha tha. yeh Diya bhi na…sahi tarha se koi kaam nahi ker sakti. 3 din se piche pari thee k packing karlo..packing karlo. aur jab aakhir me khud hi ne packing ker k diya to koi cheezein nahi mil rahi hai. aaah mil gayi...(and at last she finds it…her ipod!)
So she settles down (at last) to listen to her music when she notices that the headphones are missing!
N: yaa Khuda…(startles Mayank as he takes a peek from behind his book)
M: aap thik to hai na?
N: hamari headphone! ghar bhul aaye hai hum. ab kya hoga hamara!!!
M: kya hoga se kya matlab? aap to aise keh rahe ho jaise train miss hogayi
N: itnaaa lamba safar music k baghair kaise guzrega..she starts to weep. Nupur tu itni unorganised kyun hai!!!!
Mayank ignores her but in few minutes time Nupur is heavily bored.
N: ahemm…
Mayank notices that gesture but yet again ignores her. Nupur goes again..
N: yeh aap kya parh rahe ho?
To avoid any further progression of this conversation, he puts his book high up on his face so that she can read the title of the book and let him be. Nupur does manage to read the title…
N: ohh…The Mysterious Affair at Styles! thik hi hai bas. pata hai kaun tha murderer??
M: nahi..plz (before he can complete)
N: Alfred! ab Poirot ko koi dhokha de sakta hai kya? waise dono ne milke chaal acchi chali Emily ki property ko hatthyaane ki. wah wah...humain Poirot ki saare series acche lagte hai. yeh novel to bohaat pehle se pari hui hai. waise tum continue kar lo..
M: (shuts the book and slams it on the seat as he looks at Nupur with annoyance and fury)
N: ohh nahi parni novel? koi nahi…waise bhi hum bore ho rahe the. to aap ne bataya nahi aap kahan jaa rahe ho
M: zahir si baat hai..jahan yeh train jaa rahi hai wahin pe jaa rahe hai..Bangalore
N: accha…kamal ki baat hai ..hum bhi wahin jaa rahe hai …hehheee
M: aap kya mazak kar rahi hai hamare saath?
N: mazak? kisiko yeh poochna ya batana k kahan jaa rahe hai woh bhi kisi safar me ab mazak hogaya hai? aur agar hai bhi to sanu ki farq painda hai. mera to yehi philosophy hai k bahana kuch bhi ho bas muskurate raho…hehhee. waise aapko kya beemari hai?
M: beemari?
N: haan..kab se dekh rahe hai mun latkaye baithe hai. pait me dard hai kya?
M: dekhiye aap..
N: dekhne me to nahi lagta k beemar ho. accha khaasa baangru jawan lag rahe ho…hehhee. per shakal pe hamesha 12 kyun baja rehta hai. pichle der ghante me tumhe ekbar bhi muskurate nahi dekha
M: (wants to say something but resists himself. Instead he puts his hands into the side pocket of his rucksac and takes his headphones out and hands it over to Nupur) please…I insist (there was no other way to shut her mouth as it seems)
N: ohhhoo…shukriya shukriya! yaad se wapas zaroor le lijiyega. woh hai na ..humain bhoolnay ki beemari hai ..:)
As Nupur gets busy with her ipod Mayank takes a sigh of relief and prepares to take a nap. Little does he know that this journey is going to get tougher for him but perhaps the most memorable journey he will ever take in his life.
To be continued…..
-Neela-
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