Hi friends...thanku so much for your encouragement...your likes and comemnts...buht accha laga wo sab pdke. Here is the next part...hope ye bhi accha lage apko...pls read and let us know 😊
Part 5: Addictedly Yours
Extremely excited to be able to finally relax and sleep at the usual time, Priya started briefing her parents and Karthik about the cheque and the house drop by Ram. Karthik usse chedne laga ki ab Priya bhi big-shot ban gayi, uski autograph leni hogi, ab se chaffeaur-driven car se ghar aayegi wo bhi THE Ram Kapoor ke sath...ye wo kehta gaya...aur Priya kabhi hans rahi thi to kbhi bhaav kha rhi thi...it was fun. Priya then went to bed andclearly, Ram was in her last thoughts before falling asleep.
Ram did not think too much about the evening. Sid ka call aaya to kafi der tak project discussions chala. Ram was sneezing continuously so he ended the call and went to take another doze of medicines. When he opened the bottle, use Priya ka sawal yaad aaya ki "Aap theek to hai sir? Kuch minute pehle apne kitne sare medicines liye..ab fir se". Ram bottle ko dekte huwe, muskurate hue bola"bakwas sawal. Theek hota to kyu leta tablets...Isi liye kehte h ki common sense is not so common." Ram swallowed the tablets thinking of her and then continued "Jo bhi ho, I shudnt have been rude to her." Ram then went to bed and clearly, Priya was in his last thoughts before falling asleep.
Next morning jab Priya college gayi, usko bataya gaya ki annual day programme me Ram Kapoor ke liye usko welcome speech deni hai. Priya ko accha laga parthoda nervous bhi hui. After 2 hours uska free hour tha to wo staff room me jo PC tha...waha gayi and internet par Ram Kapoor ke details dhundne lagi for the speech. Dher saare web pages the about Ram Kapoor and Kapoor Industries...Priya padhti rahi and she got more and more knowledgeable about Ram. Par uske personal life ke baare me zyada kuch nahi tha. Business data hi tha...so she was confused what to do. Usne socha ki sab ek file me copy karke khud ko mail kare filhal...to mailboxkhola.
At Kapoor Industries Vikram came to Ram's cabin and handed over a file that had the documents which Priya and her principal had given him the previous day. Ram relaxed lag raha tha, zyada busy nahi laga. To Vikram started a casual convo, fir bola: "Neha ne bataya kal Priya Sharma se mile, unhe ghar tak drop kiya...it seems unhe gaadi me bithane ki chakkar me bheeg bhi gaye. Aur raste me kafi baatein hui..."
Ram muskuraya: "Haan wo...barish ho rhi thi na kal, aur uska ghar raste me tha..isi liye. Nothing else."
Vikram was thrilled: "Arewah, itna concern...sun kar accha lag rha h Ram!"
Ram was embarrassed: "O hellooo...there is no need to read too much into it. Tu jaa apna kaam kar."
Vikram smiled at Ram and justbefore leaving the room, turned back said "Abhi jo papers diya hai na Vidyaniketan college ke...unme se ek letter hai jo Priya Sharma ne khud tere liye likha hai, thanking you for your donation...padh lio." And winked. As soon as Vikram left, Ram grabbed that file aur usme se wo letter dhundne laga. Par letter mila nahi. He searched again more desperately, fir bhi nahi mila. Once again he searched more frantically. Itne me darwaze par knock hua. Ram looked up and saw...it was Vikramagain...who opened the door and laughed loudly: "Sahi jaa raha hai yaar... I just wanted to see your reaction to jhut bola tha. Koi letter nahi di thi Priya Sharma ne."
Ram who felt caught, could not say anything. Vikram muskuraakar hans kar chala gaya. Ram sochne laga: "Ye kya ho raha h mere saath? I get so many letters thanking me for donations par aaj letter padne ko itna excite kyu ho gaya? Ajeeb hai." saying so he opened the fileand started going through it. One of the papers had Priya's signature (for having received the cheque). Ram us signature ko ghaur se dekha for a long time. Fir muskuraya, "Hmm stylish signature hai...Priya Sharma" and file band kiya. Achanak socha "..ohh Priya Sharma naam se yaad aaya... mujhe apology deni thi na Dukhiram ID se...bhul hi gaya tha. Abhi message kar deta hu". He logged in to his chat ID.
Ram (as dukhiram) typed: "Hi...sorry I couldn't meet youyday. Got to know you waited for long" and smiled, seeing that she was online.
Priya us waqt browse kar rahi thi Ram kapoor ke bare me. Since her mailbox was open, usko Dhukhiram ka message dikha. She read it. Par react kese kare pata nahi tha daant lagana tha par busy thi. After 2 mins she replied: "Hmm so you are apologizing only becoz Ram Kapoor asked you to do so? Warna nahi karte na?"
Ram: "Mae apko bata nahi skta ki kal kyu nahi aaya...par Im really sorry about it."
Priya: "Its ok, bye"
Ram khush hua ki itni jaldi maan liya. He typed: "Wow...aapne itni jaldi maaf kiya?"
Priya was irritated: "Nahi maaf nhi kiya par mae busy hun aur filhal buht stressed bhi. Please don't disturb."
Ram could not stop himself from asking: "Stressed kyu? All ok?" After sending it, he was keenly waiting for her reply. Seat ki edge par aa gaya
tha anxiety me.Priya was super-angry now. She didn't respond. But he re-sent the same sentence3 times in 5 minutes, forcing her to reply. So she replied: "Stop it mister.Apko kyu batau? Jaan kar kya karenge?" And closed the window.
Ram felt uneasy. He was curious as to what stressed her...so he again sent: "Please tell me...I insist. If there is anything I can do, I WILLDO this time!!"
Priya took a deep breath and thought to herself: "ufff ye chodega nahi" And typed: "Ram Kapoor ke baare me speech dena h. Im searching for some good info about him but finding only his business details. Okayyy??? Now bye."
Ram could not stop smiling and thinking: "How interesting. Jisse ab chidh rahi hai usi ki acchhaiya karni hai. Hath me makkhan hai par puure sheher me ghee dhundrahi hai ye madam. Wo bhi stressed hokar...(after a pause) I think mujhe help kar deni chahiye. At least dukhiram par iska gussa kam ho jayega, aur fir madad bhi ho jayegi. What have I got to lose?"
Then he replied: "Bas itna hi? I know Ram Kapoor well. You can ask me anything about him and I will try to answer."
Priya read that twice and thought for a while "Hmm agar ye sach me Ram Kapoor ke kehne parapologize kiya hai to shayad unhe acche se jante honge. Nahi jaante to bhi mujhe kya? Itna keh rahe hai to kese bhi pata karke information denge shayad. Wese bhi mere paas koi aur source nahi hai madad ke liye...Neha ko Ram Kapoor ke baare me zyada nahi pata ...aur fir usko aur kitna disturb karu? Bechari mere liye itna sab kar chuki hai (after a pause) Theek h...trust krke dekhungi Dukhiram ko ek aakhri baar. What have I got to lose?"
She replied: "Ok, I agree on 2conditions - I need your responses quickly. Also, whatever you tell me about him must be true...agar pata nahi ho to bhi
chalega, par galat details nahi chahiye."
Ram sochne laga "Ekdam sherni hai. Koi baat nahi, mae bhi to sher hun." And agreed to her.
Priya: "Fine then. I want to collect as much info as possible. Uske baad decide karungi ki speech me kya include karu, kya nahi karu."
To ab kya tha... shuru ho gayi priya ki sawalon ki barsaat. Bechara Ram apna next meeting bhi cancel karke Priya ko jawab dene baith gaya. With each question, two things happened - Ram was slowly getting to know her better, he enjoyed answering her. And Priya was more impressed about Ram Kapoor' in few aspects and found him to be strange in others...here is their convo...
Priya: "Whom does Ram Kapoor love themost?"
Ram (as Dukhiram) jhat se type kiya: "Natasha, his younger sister..he can do anything for her."
Priya smiled: "That's so nice. Unki favorite holiday destination?"
Ram: "Nothing specific. He doesn't go on vacations, bas business tours par jaate h kam khatam krke wapis Mumbai."
Priya: "What! Kitne boring hai...mae hoti to world tour kar leti. I mean unhe Switzerland, Dubai, New Zealand jaana nahi pasand? There is so much scenic beauty."
Ram: "Dekhiye unko garmi se aur sardi se nafrat hai to wo bas climate-controlled air conditioned rooms prefer karte hai."
Priya: "Matlab nature ko bilkul enjoy nahi karte?! How sad. Wese sirf sardi aur garmi se hi nahi,barish se bhi nafrat hai unhe. Mumbai ki barish me bheegne ka maza hi kuch aur hai. He doesn't know what he is missing. Next time jab aap unse milenge to samjhayiye ki nature se thoda dosti kare, use enjoy kare."
Ram smiled: "Mae samjahu?? Ram Kapoor to khud ki bhi nahi sunta, meri kya sunega."
Priya giggled: "Aap se nahi hota to rehne dijiye. Mujhe kabhi mouka mile to samjha dungi."
Ram was laughing: "Not bad...Good luck to you. Next question please."
Priya was smiling: "Don't underestimate me. Wo sher hai to mae bhi sherni...ok, next question - At least shopping pasand hogi na unhe? What does he like to shop? Does he spend lavishly...recently kya shop kiye?"
Ram: "Khud ke liye zyada nahi leta, family par kharch krna pasand krta h. Aur...lavish ka pata nahi. Recently...haan last week Nuts ko kuch ek lakh
lakh ka suit dilaya aur Rishab ko ek Sports bike."
Priya: "Hawww 1 lakh ka suit! Itne me to 4 mahino tak ghar chalta hai hamara."
Ram was not sure if she was taunting him or she was just saying it...he replied: "Ab bhagwaan ne paise diya h, aur bhai-behen bhi diya hai to un par kharch kyu na kare?"
Priya: "Haan ye bhi hai. Mae shikayat nahi kar rahi thi, I was just saying."
Ram: "Next question please.."
Priya: "Wait a minute...aap itna sab kese jante hai unke bare me?"
Ram thought "shuru ho gayi jasuusi" and typed: "Mae unka duur ka rishtedaar hun"
Priya: "Durr ke rishtedaar hai to unke last week ka shopping details kese pata apko??"
Ram was stumped...he thought "arreee fas gaya, ab kya bolu (and thought for a while before replying): "Ji wo mere baap ki dukaan se hi suit khareedta hai...aur sasur ke dukan se bikes. Isi liye pata hai."
Priya: "Oh ok...bura mat maniye par at least Pitaji' and sasurji' boliye... izzat se baat kijiye. Bade hai umar me."
Ram was laughing: "Ok ji"
Priya smiled: "hmm better...unki hobby kya h?"
Ram: "Khaana ...jab bhi waqt mile khana khaata h. Wo bhi Aloo parantha."
Priya laughed: "Tabhi itne gol hai aalu ki trha. Par ye bhi koi hobby h? Ye to galat h itna khana."
Ram replied instantly: "MOTA MAT KAHIYE!"
Priya: "Theek se padhiye maine mota nahi kaha...well...that's not important, par koi unka acchhe se khayal nahi rakhta hai kyaghar me?"
Ram could not understand so he asked: "Matlab?"
Priya: "Aap hi sochiye - Unke food habits galat hai. Fitness ka matlab tak nahi pata hoga unhe. Din me shayad 10 meter se zyada chalte bhi nahi honge. Nature se itna duur bhaagte hai ki har mousam se problem hai. Kal to sirf boonda baandi thi fir bhi aise react kiye jese zoron ke barish me bheege ho. Pata hai...unke laptop bag me itne medicine bottles rakhe huwe hai jaise wo medical representative ho. Sirf rakhna kya...aadhe ghante me 10 tablets khaye. I mean...duniya bhar ki daulat hai, desh me itni izzat h, kitne nek khayal hain, dusron ke khushi ke liye dhadakne wala dil bhi hai...par us dil ka khayal rakhne wala bhi to koi hona chahiye... hai na? Koi to unka apna ho jo unki khushiyon ka khayal rakhe...unke jeene ka andaaz badle. Don't you think so?"
There was a long silence. Ram simply stared at each word, reading them again and again with the sincerity of a saint. In one paragraph she had summarized what he was and what he lacked. Being a stranger, she had noticed so much more than her own family...at least that's how he felt. Her concern took him by surprise. Wo kuch type hi nahi kar paya. Ram was weighed down by in the intensity of her words. Almost 5 minute tak padhta hi raha...baar baar...
Priya wait kar rahi thi...fir usne ek aur message bheja: "U there??Shayad gaye aap...mujhe bhi class jaana h..par one last question for now. Ye me speech me include nahi karungi, par khud ki curiosity se puch rahi hun... If you don't mind telling me, bata dijiye warna no problem. Personally I think unki life me ek aisi aurat ki kami hai jo unka sath de aur khayal rakhe - Is there any such woman in Ram Kapoor's life that he can count on?"
The reply from the other side came within the next 10seconds..and Priya was shocked to read it.
<To be continued>
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