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And here is my challenge of a romantic Hinglish OS on AT.
Into a 'free fall'. A realisation hit her. She panicked. She threw her hands randomly in all the directions to get hold of something but nothing came into her grip. Biting fear engulfed her. She opened her mouth to call for help but the defiant air got stuck in her throat. Dejected and scared, she looked around in a quest of a rescue route. Wait! Did she actually? No, she didn't. She couldn't, if to be particular, as her eyes were shut. She tried, and tried to open them, but all in vain. Seeing the endless efforts going nowhere and also exhausted, she decided to put an end to her struggle. And the moment she accepted her to-be-fate, her motion came to an end. She was definitely not the one to plan this sudden halt and how she stopped in her tracks was something she wasn't bothered about at that tensed hour. Slowly, she opened her eyes half and peeped from behind that half curtain to get an idea about her surroundings. This caused her to open her eyes with a jerk. God! She was hanging in an open environment where nothing could be seen or interpreted, no start or end point entered her view and it was all blank, within herself and outside. It didn't take her much time to realise that there was no harness or rope to her support when she sagged her shoulders and let lose all her weight out of despondence only to feel so free and light. Cold went down her spine and she could feel shiver in her dead limbs. When she was about to knock her dumb mind to get something out of it, she felt a black granite floor, coming from nowhere, sliding under her feet and in a jiffy, she found herself entering into it as the dark slab broke apart. She seeped through circular pores, which if taken together formed a cylindrical tunnel. The scorching heat all around was setting her ablaze and she nearly fainted out of heat stroke when a gust of cool breeze went past her. And her eyeballs were popping out in a reflex with new energy radiating inside and hopeful that she was now. Tracing the direction from where that squall came, her eyes stopped right in front, few metres apart, where a windmill could be seen and to her dismay, she was heading towards it only. The sporadic hard blows now became a continuous gale and the loud whirring of the windmill began to deafen her. As she reached this huge fan, instead of colliding into it, she brushed past one of it's blades. As she sighed, she felt herself whirling in the eddies of wind. She went round and round and after about eight seconds which were like epochs for her, she got thrown out of that whirl and landed hard on what seemed like a sponge to her. Collecting her breaths and calming the fast running nerves, she pushed herself into a sit with the force from her hands. Wiping the beads of perspiration off her forehead, she took two big sighs to relax her shivering sinus. She was still bit out of her wits when a door got opened and a silhouette entered. It gently held her hand and pulled her towards the door. She felt dragged as she was so feeble to support her weight at the moment. She was soon out of that dark room but the sterile white light that welcomed her, blinded her and she closed her eyes tight, coating them with her hands.
Someone, softly removed her hands from above her eyes and blindfolded her. A shriek of fear escaped and she said in breaking words, "K...kaun ho tu...m? K...ya ch...chahiye?"
But she got only silence in response. And, the very next moment, a clicking sound hit her ears, following which her blindfold got unfolded. As she was rubbing her eyes, she felt some movement in her body when he turned her around so that she faced him. Her eyes popped out of shock seeing him, at first but then collecting her senses after a while, she hit hard on his arm with,"You??!!!", and continued with the punches.
"Oh! Ah! Oh! Please Tarika ji, lag rahi hai."
"Aur mera kya, aisa koi karta hai kya? Andaaza bhi hai kya tumhein ki kitna dar gayi thi main?", Tarika said with a pronounced scowl on her face.
"Are Tarika ji, itna bhi kya darna? Aur aap toh naraz ho gayin! Main toh bas..."
But he was cut by, "Bas kya, haan?", she said this in utmost anger, stamping her foot.
He came near her and whispered in her ears, "Bas surprise ki starting thi."
"What do you mean by starting? Aur haan, surprise! Koi aisa surprise deta hai kya?", she nearly spluttered as her anger increased.
"Main deta hoon na Tarika ji.", Abhijeet said bringing the most innocent expressions to his face.
"Abhijeet!!! (controlling) You are too much.", speaking this, she turned her back towards him.
'Hey Bhagwan! Yeh sab kaise chhoot gaya mujhse?', her mind spoke slapping her in the head. Completely mesmerised by the beautiful surroundings, she dreamily uttered, somewhat lost, "Wow! Yeh sab (turning towards Abhijeet as tears welled up in her eyes) tumne kiya Abhijeet?"
" (smiling) Jee bilkul."
"Mere liye?"
"Na! Apne liye."
"Hmmm???"
"Aur kya aapko khush dekh kar mujhe kitni khushi milti hai. Woh kya hai na, main bahut selfish hoon, sab apne liye hi karta hoon."
"Thank you!"
"Lo, pher diya na meri mehnat par paani."
"Oops! Sorry!"
"Ab yeh bhi.", he said patting his head.
"Abhijeet??", a drop of tear escaped her eye.
He came forwards and wiping that precious drop off her right cheek, said, "Yeh aansun mujhe bilkul bhi pasand nahin hain. (naughtily, replacing the soggy environment) Aur waise, aapne toh itni jaldi gussa chhod diya. Kya baat hai, bahut meherbaan hain aaj toh, mujhe zyaada mehnat bhi nahin karni padi."
"Theek hai, agar tumhein main naraz hi achchi lagti hoon toh phir wahi sahi, (chewing) Mr. Abhijeet"
"Are, are Tarika ji, main toh mazaak kar raha tha."
"Hmm, pata hai. Ab aage ka plan batao."
"Ab woh toh aap saath aayengi tab hi pata chalega.", saying this, he moved forward and removing a whit cloth from over an erect cuboid, pulled her gingerly from her hand so that she accommodates inside his left arm perfectly with his forearm coiled obliquely from back to front around her waist.
Confused, she looked at him with, "Yeh kya hai? (pointing at that rectangle kinda thing) "
"Anyway door."
"Kya?"
"Doraemon nahin dekhtin?"
"Lekin woh toh..."
"Oh ho! Aap aam khayiye na, guthliyan kyon gin rahi hain?"
"Par phir bhi.."
"Doraemon se kehkar mangwaya hai, apke din ko special banane ke liye", he paused for a while as she was looking towards him without even blinking but then, breaking her trance, said, "Acha batayiye, kahan jana hai."
"Kahan kya? Yahin rehna hai. Tumne yeh sab itni mehnat se kiya hai. Sab meri hi pasand ka hai, toh yahin enjoy karenge."
"Are Tarika ji, yahan toh dinner karne aayenge na shaam mein, abhi toh thoda ghumenge-phirenge, shopping karenge, maze karenge. Batayiye na kahan chalna hai?"
"Ummm...OK, phir chocolate land chalein?", she said after thinking for a while.
"Bilkul! Waise mujhe pata tha aap wahin jaayengi, toh maine already booking kar li hai."
"Sach?"
"Beshak, so let's move."
"Yeah, sure. You know what, I'm super excited", she exclaimed happily.
He smiled warmly seeing her so happy and then holding each other's hands, they stepped inside the door and the very next moment found themselves on a grassy patch, in the North of which was a stony way dotted with pines on the either side and passing through woods after few metres of walk. He turned and pressed a small key on the handle of the door causing it to minimise into the size of a mobile and inserted it into his pocket while turning to Tarika. He was to say something when saw Tarika lost in the beauty of nature and then himself got lost into hers. Everything became still and time stopped for few moments for them as they were captivated by their respective enchanters.
"Yeh sab kitna sunder hai na, Abhijeet.", she said loud enough to cause Abhijeet to snap out of his thoughts which were reigned by her only.
"H...haan Tarika ji", he answered awkwardly.
Seeing him stammering all of a sudden, she asked about his health in concern, "Kya hua?"
"Aapse... ('Abhijeet behave', he thought and then loudly), kuch nahin. (trying to sound normal) Chalein?"
"Haan, par tum theek ho na?", worriedly she questioned.
"Are haan baba! Ab koi test karna hai kya doctor sahiba ko?", he playfully answered in a refreshing tone.
"Nahin, nahin, chalo.", half laughingly she said.
And they started on that stony path. Soon they were walking through the forest, hand in hand with Tarika resting her head on his shoulder. Silence prevailed as they were busy in admiring beautiful landscapes that were coming in their way and reclusive nature's heaven, contradicting the noisy and polluted roads of Mumbai. Automatically, their dull senses were getting rejuvenated by the very touch of the fresh air and as the soothing chirps of the birds were landing on their ears. They didn't knew how and when a new spark generated within them.
"Yeh shaanti, yeh vatavaran, sab kitna sukoon de raha hai na."
"Haan Tarika ji, kitne dino baad aaj hum khoon aur khooniyon se bilkul pare hain. Yeh chehekte ped, yeh khushnuma hawayein, beshak, itni khubsurat maaloom ho rahi hain."
"Hmmm, humari dhool bhari duniyaa se sab kitna alag hai na yahaan. Ekdum jannat sa mehsoos ho raha hai."
"Inn pattiyon ki aawaz bhi kitni surili lag rahi hai na. Kitni shanti mil rahi hai kaano ko jo goliyon ki tez awaaz ke adi ban chuke hain."
"Aur chidiyon ka chehchahana, mano ras ghol diya ho kaano mein. You have made my special day all the more special, Abhijeet."
"Abhi kahan special bana hai. Saamne dekhiye, abhi toh humne adha mazaa bhi nahin kiya."
"Wow Abhijeet! Hum pahunch gaye chocolate land. Yippee!!", she said while raising her head from his shoulder.
"Chalo na, ruk kyon gaye? Chalo jaldi.", and she pulled him with her while he was busy in enjoying her happiness.
She jumped and screamed, danced and sang and opened the big chocolate brick door in full zeal. She looked around and said excitedly, "Woh dekho udhar, woh choco swings, aur wahan, Milky racing track. Aur zara udhar toh dekho, crunchy splash, and look there, Dark haunted chocolate. It's gonna be fun. Hum har jagah jaayenge, haina?"
"Haan, haan Tarika. Maze karne hi toh aaye hain. Har cheez ka lutf uthaayenge lekin pehle tum saans toh lelo, yaar."
She looked down, embarrassed and smiled sheepishly. His lips too curved into a smile seeing her acting like an enthusiastic child.
"Come Tarika ji, let's enjoy!", he said while forwarding his hand which she held tightly and both moved forward to have a blast. They went on the swings first, followed by the haunted house. After that, they explored their racing skills and a delicious dip in the chocolate sauce with splash followed.
"Uff, main toh thak gayi", she said resting on the coconut chocolate bunny bags.
"Bas, itni jaldi, abhi toh lucky draw mein se apna prize bhi nikalna hai."
"Tum nikal lo, mujh mein toh bilkul bhi himmat nahin bachi hai ab."
"Oh, C'mon Tarika ji. Uthiye na. Saath hi nikalenge. Pata hai bumper prize kya hai?", she raised her eyebrow and he continued, "Candy Play!"
"Sachii!! Chalo phir, kiska intezaar kar rahe ho? Let's go.", she said standing and going towards the chocolicious well.
"Ab kya karna hai?", she asked him after reaching near it.
"You have to dip this jelly filled fish hook into this milky water and fish out one of these chocolate coated packets."
"Tum karoge?"
"Nahin, it's your day. Aap nikalo."
"Fine then. Par pehle main pray kar loon. Mujhe uss theatre play ki tickets hi chahiye.", childishly, she spoke.
She prayed and then after getting a nod from Abhijeet, pulled out a packet from inside the well after inserting the hook into it. Sighing and chanting, she opened the packet and what came out changed her anxious expressions into a big grin. Handing it over to Abhijeet, she said, "Mujhe yakeen nahin ho raha ki hum theatre tickets jeet gaye. Humne bumper jeeta, whoaa!!!" And she hugged him hard. He was shocked at first but then responded back.
While breaking through the hug, he said, "You know what, mujhe theatre humesha se hi bahut pasand hai, aur phir yeh toh apne aap mein hi unique hai. Bahut maza aayega."
"I know. Mazaa toh bahut aane wala hai, no doubt."
Keeping their crunchy tickets back into the envelope, they ventured for the live 'candilicious' play. In order to get the door opened to get inside, they had to eat their crunchy chocolates(tickets) standing below a yellow light. So much excited were they that without much ado, they did the required and went through the slit that came into existence as they finished their chocolates. It was a floating theater, floating over a rainbow ice and with stiff, hardened chocolate bars sliding past each other over the molten chocolate lava river. They took their seat beside each other and got hooked to the play where diversified candies, dressed as different cartoon characters enacted beautifully, as the two love birds were enjoying each other's company to the fullest. It was a half an hour show and they came out of it soon after.
"Shayad, zindagi ka sabse achcha experience tha yeh mere liye and the credit goes entirely to you. You are amazing, Abhijeet.", she said.
"Thank you mam.", he said bowing down, dramatically, and smiling shyly.
"Ab yahan toh sab ghoom liya humne. Ab kya karna hai?"
"Thodi shopping aur phir wapas wahin jahan se start kiya tha."
"Shopping!!! Great! I'm lovin' it, Abhijeet. I've never enjoyed so much in a day."
He simply smiled in return and then with the help of 'anyway door', that he magnified after pulling it out from his pocket, they landed in Central London and shopped for about two hours, shopping freak as the two are.
There only, inside a hotel room that they booked just to change their clothes, they dressed up into party wear and both were looking really regal. Abhijeet at his sensuous best, chivalrous and majestic and Tarika, utterly pretty with curly flicks left open at the back.
Then, they went back to from where they started, the dining hall. It was all decorated with reddish pink rose petals and on one of the walls, Tarika's life journey was depicted. Her clicks right from when she was a new born to present hung on the wall with the respective year to which the capture belongs to on the top of each one and highlighted with LEDs. And "A very Happy 28th Birthday, my Love" banner was popping from in between all these. In the middle of the room was a small pond with a boat in the shape of a teddy bear. The boat had table and two chairs. The table was holding two floating candles inside two silver plated bowls with few rose petals also floating beside the candles and beneath the glass slab of the table was a beautifully carved pot with floating rangoli inside.
Though it was her second time, but with warm lights all over, everything was looking so very appealing that she was in loss of words to praise and express her actual feelings. She was just looking around again and again in a stance. She was deep somewhere in the heavenly dreamy world when a stage came up with violinists who started playing soft violin. Soft breeze also began to blow and Abhijeet, holding her hand proposed her to dance with him saying, "Kya aap mere saath dance karengi, Tarika ji?"
She nodded in affirmation and getting the permission, he kept Tarika's one hand on his shoulder and his on her waist and held her other hand in his free hand with the fingers entangling, after what, they began to dance mildly looking into each other's eyes. One's eyes was the mirror of another's as both had same feelings of pure love in their eyes. While dancing, a strand of hair came on Tarika's face and this was acting as a obstruction to Abhijeet, so, he gently brushed it aside with his right thumb and tugged it behind her ears saying, "Aap bahut khubsurat lag rahi hain, aaj."
"Kyon, roz nahin lagti?", she breathed.
"Lagti hain na, lekin aaj toh bilkul hi alag tarah ki baat hai aap mein. Behad sunder lag rahi hain aaj aap."
"Matlab roz bhi lagti hoon?"
"Haan"
"Phir kehte kyon nahin?"
"Main toh keh doon lekin aapke woh Salunkhe sir kehne dein tab na", he pouted.
"Ab yeh Salunkhe sir kahan se beech mein aa gaye?", she said, somewhat frustrated and moving aside.
Abhijeet raised his hand to ask the violinists to stop to which they abide and then said, "Aur nahin toh kya, har samay aapke aas paas hi hote hain, kaise kahoon?"
"Toh unse darte ho?", she smirked.
"Main kyon daroon unse? Darein mere dushman.", he continued, "Achcha kya bekar ki baton mein lag gaye hum bhi. Dinner kar kein? (whispering in her ears) Romantic sa?"
She blushed. He, first entered into the boat and then gave his hand to her, holding which she stepped inside. Sliding the chair, he first gestured her to get seated and after sliding it back to it's place as she seated, he himself got settled on another chair, placed on the opposite side of the table to hers. Both were looking towards each other, expecting the other one to lift the lid of the containers and start but were hesitating to say. The glance and hesitation came to an end when Abhijeet said, "Lijiye na Tarika ji. Sab aap hi ki pasand ka hai, aap shuruaat karein."
"Tum bhi lo na."
"Aap toh lijiye pehle, afterall, it's your b'day."
She smiled and was about to lift the lid of one of the containers when she vanished into thin air leaving him astounded. Shocked, he couldn't understand anything but after coming in terms to what just happened, he stood up saying, "Yeh kahan chali gayin achanaq aise. Abhi toh aankh ke samne hi thi."
He rubbed his eyes and then opened them again in a hope to find her in front of him but with no trace of her at all, he called her name loud, "Tarika ji? Tarika ji, kahan ho yaar? Tarika ji? Tarika ji?"..."Tarika? Tarika?"...
"Dr. Tarika? Wake up Dr. Tarika, wake up!!!", she felt a light pat on her cheeks and could feel drops of water getting sprinkled over her face. Slowly, she opened her eyes and the scenario scared her as Abhijeet was bending over her face, patting her cheeks. In a jiffy, she sat with a scream, "What is this?"
Abhijeet who was confused, said, "Dr. Tarika, it's me, Sr. Ins. Abhijeet."
"Main yahaan, kahan hoon?", she was still not completely in the present.
"Aap yahan mere sath iss haveli mein kis cheez ke through Ramesh ki body mein zehar gaya, yeh test karne aayin thi.", he said while helping her on the sofa.
"Oh haan! Par mujhe achanaq kya ho gaya?", she said pressing her forehead.
"Apne yeh drugs smell kar li thi. Jab main neighbours se pooch taach kar aya toh dekha aap yahan neeche behosh giri hui hain."
"Oh!"
"Waise, zyada chinta ki baat nahin hai, first time inhe smell kiya that isliye consequences aise hue."
She nodded and then said, "Sorry 'sir', apka bhi kaafi time waist ho gaya meri wajah se."
"It's OK. Feeling better now?"
"Yeah!"
"Waise kuch mila?"
"Nahin, kuch khas nahin, Living room is still to be checked."
"Theek hai, phir kal kar lete hain. I think we should leave now."
"Nahin, main theek hoon. Abhi kar leti hoon."
"Jaisi apki marzi. Phir sab collect kar kar bahar aa jana. Main ek baar lawn check kar leta hoon. Aur agar kuch smell karna ho toh soch samajhkar thoda, please"
Embarassed, she nodded and he left.
'Oh Fish! It was merely a dream. Mera deemag bhi kis kis track par ghumta hai?? Control Tarika, he strictly believes in bachelorhood.', she thought. 💔
"Himani ne uss din theek hi kaha tha, 'Don't wait for someone for whom you are sure that he can never be yours. Just move on and forget him.' ", she whispered. 😉😆
"And you should always remember", she murmured to herself, "Dreams are weird, absurd and unrealistic, and so is the dreamy romance." She sighed and got back to her work. 🥺
[Phew! I completed with this OS. I am extremely happy that I'm done with my challenge.I have gone OTT here, at many instances as dreams are OTT most of the times. It was tough but I enjoyed, not the romance but the dream :p]
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