FF : Bas Pyar Ho Gaya | Part 32 pg 153 updt 11.12. 2016 - Page 25

Ram was tossing and turning in bed unable to get even a tinge of sleep. He reached out for his watch and checked; it was around 1 am.

Priya must be very upset with what I told her... He thought to himself. Probably I was being very selfish .. was just thinking about myself and Pihu. May be Priya has some other dreams in her life...may be she is still open to a proper relationship.. and I was forcing my idea of "friendship wala" marriage to her! His thoughts were disturbing him...and he could not control the urge of sharing with Priya.

He picked up his phone and messaged : I am sorry if I have hurt you. I have always spoken out my heart to you .. today also did the same. Tujhe agar bura laga ho toh I am sorry!

He immediately got an answer : Its okay Ram.. main bilkul hurt nahi hoon! Please sleep.. kal baat karte hai.

Priya's answer kind of calmed Ram from inside, and slowly he dozed off to sleep.

Ram had to leave for office early the next day to attend an early morning meeting; he did not get a chance to speak to Priya. It was a hectic day in office but in the midst of all work, Ram was restless and could not concentrate. He did not even know whether he owed an apology to Priya. A couple of times he walked towards the glass partition of his cabin that separated it from Priya's, and pulled up the blinds to gauge if Priya was all right. Finally it was lunch time, and it was customary for them to take lunch together.. mostly in Ram's cabin. Ram thought it the right time to talk to her openly about the matter. Just when he was engrossed in his thoughts Priya walked into his cabin with the lunch box.

1-30 ho gaya ... lunch nahi karna ?

Haa karna hai..

Priya started arranging the plates while Ram left his chair and settled in the sofa at one corner of the cabin. Ram started the topic slowly...

Priya.. kal raat ke liye I am sorry. Bas mujhe jo thik laga woh...

Priya did not allow him to finish his words : Ram .. please isme sorry bolne ki koi zarurat nahi hai. Waise .. maine bhi sochke dekha.. and even I feel that's how it should be!

Ram could not believe what he had heard.

To .. Priya .. tu shaadi ke liye taiyyar hai?

Priya nodded her head in agreement as a mild smile flashed across her face.

Ram immediately took her hands in his : Thank you so much Priya.. You don't know how apprehensive I was.. darr lag raha tha mujhe..

Priya looked at him with surprise : Kis baat ka darr?

I just thought that I had hurt you ... aur kahi iske wajay se apni dosti me darar na aa jaye! Priya ... your friendship means everything to me ... and I cant afford to lose it ...

Priya gave an assuring smile to Ram : Same here Ram. Waise tu hi to bolta rehta hai ke hum dono ek dusre ko sabse acchi tarah jante hai .. phir tujhe aisa kyun laga ke I will not understand your point of view?

Because Priya.. .. we have completely different experiences from our earlier marriages.. Ram continued.. Dekh ... zindagi mein pyar ek hi baar hota hai.. and in my case that was Geeta. Par tujhe toh pyar mila hi nahi.. I mean mujhe aisa laga ke you must be still waiting for a proper relationship... jisme tujhe saccha pyar mile!

Nahi Ram.. Priya smiled .. You know what... ek zamane mein main bhi aisa hi sochti thi... ke har insaan ko zindagi mein ek baar saccha pyar zarur milta hain. Par now... I don't think so..matlab aisa koi rule thodi hain! Bohot kam log hote hain jo sach mein lucky hote hain.. aur jinhe woh pyar milta hain. Baki jinhe nahi milta... Unhe jo bhi milta hain usi ko saccha pyar ka naam deke zindagi kat lete hain! I tell you Ram.. I have no such illusions about love... so dont worry!

Ram smiled.. Jane de Priya.. hum dono mein pyar nahi hai toh kya hua.. dosti toh hai! Aur bohot kam logon ke naseeb mein aisi dosti likha hota hai..

I know.. Priya smiled back... Chal ab khana kha le bohot late ho gaya hai..

Priya handed over the lunch plate to Ram, and Ram started nibbling at the food. Priya took up her plate too... but was engrossed deeply in her thoughts, and was hardly eating anything.

Ram...ek baat bolu.. if you don't mind.. she finally asked hesitatingly...I mean shaadi toh thik hai.. par I cant share the same room with you.. I mean .. I am not comfortable ...

Oh its absolutely fine Priya... even I am not comfortable sharing my room with you yaar! Ram assured.. Don't worry I will take care of that. Mere room ke adjacent jo Choti ka room hai na.. woh tere liye renovate kar denge... koi problem nahi hogi yaar...

Haa... par Papa aur aunty..Priya gave a dubious look..

Arey I will talk to them .. Tu chinta mat kar.. main mana lunga unhe... he said in a confident voice..Aur agar kahi woh nahi mane na toh ek secret door bana denge mere bedroom se tere bedroom tak... kisi ko pata bhi nahi chalega .. he he he ... He chuckled...

Ha ha ha Ram tu bhi na.. Priya burst out laughing nudging him with his elbow.. Apne hi ghar mein secret door banayega.. woh bhi apne bedroom se apni biwi ki bedroom tak... hadh hai!

They both laughed together heartily ... easing out all the tension that had been accumulating in their minds from last night.

That very evening Ram and Priya sat with Sudhirji and Krishnaji, and explained to them their point of view about their marriage. They insisted that they would just be friends even after marriage, the way they are right now, and emphasized that they would not be sharing room... though they were ready to adjust for a few days if the situation demanded so. This arrangement would only be known to Ram and Priya and their immediate family, apart from of course the domestic helps . Sudhirji was initially a bit sceptical and uncomfortable, he had never heard of such protocols' for marriage! But Krishnaji persuaded him , stating that this was a golden chance to bring them closer. She was sure that the day their friendship progressed towards love, all these protocols will be washed away. Finally all agreed and Ram and Priya took great care to sit together with Pihu, and tell her about the impending marriage and its implications. The five year old brain could not grasp much of it, all she could understand is that her "Priya aunty" would become her new mummy forever, and that was enough to make her jump with joy!

Within a week Krishnaji arranged for a roka ceremony and broke the news to close family and friends. There were mixed feelings among the all.. some were happy, some were critical, some were sceptical...but most of them felt this was something obvious that had to happen. Though Ram and Priya insisted on having a simple ceremony, but both their parents started making elaborate arrangements, with a series of functions like sagai, sangeet , mehendi and finally the marriage. Ram's sister Natasha came down from US and took charge of arranging everything.

Ram and Priya's facebook profiles were flooded with jokes and teasing remarks by their common classmates and friends, their office e mail inbox were overflowing with congratulatory messages from colleagues, clients and associates. The ever enthusiastic Guptaji already started making arrangements to change the board outside Priya's cabin from Priya Sharma to Priya Kapoor, while their common secretary Jenny started shuffling their dates to accommodate for the marriage and other ceremonies.

It was their sagai ceremony, and close family and friends had gathered in the Kapoor house for the function. Ram had still not come down in the hall inspite of repeated reminders by Bansi Kaka, and all were waiting for him. Meanwhile, Krishnaji whisked Priya away upstairs to show her the final dcor of her room, and Priya loved the way Krishnaji and Natasha had made up her new room. While going downstairs, Krishnaji requested Priya to call Ram quickly so that the sagai ceremony could be started.

Ram... Priya called out while entering his bedroom...Niche aaja jaldi sab wait kar rahe hai...

Arey main yaha hoon .. Ram's voice echoed from the washroom.. ..Idhar aa na ek minute ...

Priya walked towards the washroom... Ram was standing in front of the wash basin..he had applied soap all over his ring finger and was struggling to pull out his earlier marriage ring ...

Priya stared for a moment and then commented... Itna jabardasti karne ki kya zarurat hai.. agar nahi nikal raha hai toh chod de. Main mera ring tere left hand mein dal deti hoon...

Nahi Priya.. accha nahi lagta.. Ram replied... Hum waise bhi saare rituals dil se maan ke hi shaadi kar rahe hai.. toh yeh bhi karenge. After all... you are going to be my wife... us rishtey ko samman to dena hi padega. Baki rahi is ring ki baat toh Geeta ko yaad rakhne ke liye mujhe kisi ring ki zarurat nahi hai! Chal ab thoda help kar please...

Priya stood standstill... Ram's words were slowly sinking inside her.. .. she never expected Ram to attach so much of respect to their new found relationship.

Kya hua... jaldi kar na.. Ram's words snapped Priya out of her thoughts. She held Ram's finger and tried to pull the ring out... within 2-3 minutes it slipped out of his finger...

Ishh itni der se try kar raha tha main ! Samajhna chahiye tha .. yeh akele ka kaam nahi hai! Tujhe bulata pehle to jaldi ho jata tha.. ..Ram remarked...

They smiled at each other and walked down the staircase together. The gathering started to cheer at them ...

"Hayee kitne acche lag rahe hai dono..."

"Itne der tak kya chal raha tha upar..."

"Shaadi ke liye toh sirf two weeks baki hai... itna bhi control nahi ho raha hai kya..."

Yeh log itne khush ho rahe hai jaise ke unki khudki shaadi ho rahi ho.. Ram gritted his teeth and whispered into Priya's ears as they both went on posing plastic smiles on their faces..

Finally the ritual started and Ram put his ring into Priya's finger. Then Ram extended his palm... there was a deep impression of the old ring at the base of his ring finger. Priya slowly slipped her ring into his ring finger...and it settled cosily on the top of the impression... but could not cover it completely...