They reached home and Manyata took care of other things required for the celebration. They had taken care of even the smallest detail and the dining room was decorated in festoons and fresh flowers from the garden replete with a birthday Hat for the birthday girl. It was a small celebration with just the three of them. Manyata was wearing the dress given by Daima. Uday brought Daima blindfolded into the room and made her stand before the chocolate cake. When she opened her eyes, her throat got all thick seeing what the twosome had done. "Bachchon yeh sab karne ki kya zaroorat thi, main koi choti bachchi thodi na hoon" Daima told them. When she got to know Manyata had made the cake, she was even more happier. She made a mental note to preserve a piece of Cake for Giri. It was time to cut the cake and they sung 'Happy Birthday' song for Daima and she fed them the cake in turns.
Then Manyata spoke: "Daima aapko kya tohfa chahiye batayiye na, cake banane ke chakkar me gift laana bhool gayi.."
Uday: Haan Daima kya chahiye aapko, aap humare liye kitna kuch karte ho, its time ki hum aap ke liye kuch kare"
Daima: achcha theek hai, jo maangungi de paaoge mujhe?
ManVeer(together): Haan zaroor denge..
Daima: toh phir tum dono...
Manyata: hum dono?
Daima: main chahti hoon ki tum dono saare ladai jhagde bhool kar dost ban jaao..de sakte ho mujhe yeh tohfa..bolo
ManVeer: theek hai Daima hum koshish karenge..
Daima: sirf koshish nahi chalegi..chalo haath milao dono..(She made them shake hands)
All together they had a lot of fun. Pictures were clicked and balloons were busted. Manyata had a feeling that if she blinked her eyes too much, all this would disappear in a cloud of smoke and she would wake up. If this was a dream she would never want to wake up. But no it wasn't and she really was here, with her beloved Daima who doted on her and her new friend.
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In Mumbai Mona was getting restless. Manyata hadn't called her once after going to Garhwal. When Mona tried calling her either Manyata's phone was busy or there was no network. "ratti bhar ki bhi akal nahi hai is ladki me, lagta hai kuch zyada hi aazadi dedi maine isko, isiliye aasman me udne lagi, ab iske par kaat ne padenge, main aarahi hoon Manyata" thought Mona.
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The next day after lunch Manyata was getting bored and she had nothing better to do. So she went to explore the house. There was a library in the house which was stacked with old and thick books. Manyata went to pick a thick book located on the top shelf. It was too high and she climbed on a stool to retrieve it. There was a thick coat of dust on all the books and it looked like no one had touched these books since years. She dislodged the book from its place and 3 more books tumbled along with it. All the 3 books were old and Manyata picked them up with great care. Then her eyes fell on the last book she was about to keep back. It wasn't a book, it was a diary. There was something written in italics script on the front page 'This diary belongs to Komal'
Her mother's diary! Wow! Look what a treasure she found. She decided this wasn't a place where one could read such things and went to her room.
The date written on first page of the diary was 14th January 1990...Presicely 23 years ago. Her mother had written in a neat handwriting:
"Dear Diary,
Today is the happiest day of my life. The man I had a secret crush on, finally proposed to me in front of so many people. And I accepted. He was so happy that he picked me up and whirled me around like a doll, I felt so embarrassed"
She was about to turn the page to see if Komal had written the man's name anywhere, just then there was a knock on the door. She hid the diary under her pillow and opened the door. Uday stood there with a lopsided grin on his face. Don't know why but she felt like blushing when she saw him. "tum yahaan kya kar rahe ho? Phir se kuch kaam tha?" Manyata asked.
Uday: "Nahi maine socha ki ab hum dost hai toh kyon na kuch doston wale kaam kiye jaaye, kya bolti ho?"
Manyata: "Uday yeh paheliyan(riddles) bujhana band karo aur kaam ki baat karo"
Uday: "actually us din maine tumhare saath bohot bura kiya, isliye maine socha humare friendship ko celebrate karne ke liye aur us din ki galti ke liye bhi.."
Manyata: kya?
Uday: yahi ki kyon na phir se hum ghudsawari (Horse riding) par chale?
Manyata: tum mujhe ullu samajhte ho? Pagal lagti hoon main tumhe?
Uday: no this time I really mean it. Have some trust on me please…
Manyata(with a smile): ok then lets go..
Together they went out, all set to go horse riding. Uday selected a different horse this time, A Pony. He led the horse out and made her sit astride on the Pony. He sat behind her holding the reins. They were sitting so close that their bodies touched each other. Uday was having a hard time with Manyata's flowing hair touching his face every time the wind blew. He concentrated very hard to not let his mind wander into forbidden territories. But her mere touch was bringing odd tingling sensations into his body. Somehow he managed to contain himself and made four rounds circling the field. Now that Manyata had got the hang of it he got down and walked beside the Pony.
"Uday, mujhe dar lag raha hai, main gir gayi toh?" Manyata said.
"nahi girogi, main hoon na tumhare saath" he said handing over the reins to her. She took it with a worried glance at the pony. She managed to take two full circles all alone with Uday watching over her. He clapped for her success when she neared him. She was so exhilarated that she felt like dancing. She had ridden a horse all alone and that was a big deal!
In her excitement she let go the reins and the horse decided it was time to take charge and began to run. It was a small pony but Manyata's strength was no match to it and she fell on the ground twisting her ankle. All this happened so quickly that Uday couldn't process what's happening. Manyata's ankle was hurt badly and she let out a cry of pain. How would she go home now?
15 minutes later she was in Uday's arms, he was carrying her home. She was not able to move an inch and there was no way he would leave her alone in forest till anybody arrived for help. Previous day after the birthday celebrations while everybody went to rest, he had gone back to the cottage to see if he could find any clues. He could find nothing except some ash of a cigar near the kitchen window. So this is where the crook was watching them from. He felt creepy thinking if someone could be following them now. He was unarmed and couldn't fight back if anyone attacked them. Thinking thus he reached home, got inside and carried Manyata to her room. He placed her gently on her bed. Daima was so worried about Manyata, she wouldn't leave her side. " main theek hoon, par bohoth thak gayi hoon, please mujhe kuch der ke liye akela chod doh," she told them both. They left her alone so she could have the much deserved rest. Uday was feeling guilty that their second outing also had to end this way. But he had a plan in mind which could make her happy. He would carry it out once Manyata got better.
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Try as much Manyata couldn't stop her curiosity and took out her mother's diary. She began to read the second page:
20th January 1990
"Dear Diary,
Aaj mujhe yakeen ho gaya ki maine Giriraj ko shaadi ke liye haan bolkar koi galati nahi ki. woh bohot achcha aadmi hai aur har choti si baat ka khayal rakhta hai…im totally in love with him"
3rd page
"25th January 1990
Dear diary,
Aaj mujhe Mona par bohoth gussa aaya…usne sabke saamne Giriraj ki insult ki…so i slapped her infront of everyone"
In the next few pages her mother had written about beautiful life could be when you were in love. She could see from the writing that her mother was a very cheerful person and very few things could disturb her chirpy nature. One of those reasons being Mona. Manyata felt like crying her heart out when she finally closed the diary. Would she ever be able to find the kind of love described in those tattered pages…apparently not, if Mona maasi had her way. Manyata kept the diary back in its hiding place and tried to sleep wiping her tears. But sleep just wouldn't come and her thoughts went back to the time when she was nestled in Uday's arms. It had felt so good! So much that she felt like sulking when he let her go…Again and again her thoughts kept getting back to the time she spent with Uday and she had to constantly remind herself he was just a friend.
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Uday was talking to Giriraj who was concerned after hearing that his daughter was hurt. "Baba aap uss ladki ki itni fikar kyon karte ho? Us ko aap ki zara si bhi parwah nahi hai, aap bhi uski chinta karna chodo," Uday said.
"woh chahe kaisi bhi ho, aakhir hai toh woh meri beti na..mera apna khoon" Giriraj said.
Uday: "aap ki beti hai woh par uski soch(thinking) aap se nahi milti baba..ho na ho woh yahaan aap ki jaydaad(Property) ke liye aayi hai..aur bohot jald woh apne paintre (tricks) aazmayegi dekh lena…"
Somehow Uday didn't believe his own words. His mind refused to believe the 'gold digger' theory about Manyata, sure he had seen hunger in her eyes, but it was for something else.
Giriraj: main nahi manta meri beti aisi hogi, agar aisi hui bhi toh usme uski kya galati? uski parwarish (Upbringing) aisi hui hai..
Uday: baba aap ka dil bohot bada hai..kaash woh aap ke feelings samajh paati…
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3 more days passed and the attacker didn't get one more chance to hit on Uday. And Uday didn't get any more clues on him. Manyata had finished reading almost half the diary. It was clear from the diary that her parents had a very beautiful love story and a successful marriage too, in the beginning at least. But then what could have gone wrong? How could they separate like that? Did all the love stories end this way? She would have to read the entire diary for that and she couldn't wait. Her ankle was better and she could walk now. She was so bored of resting and decided to venture out for some fresh air.
Uday saw her coming down and suddenly the conversation he had with Giriraj came to his mind. He wanted answers now and he would get it out of her even if it hurt her. Hurt her..no he wouldn't..but he may have to..
"Manyata, lagta hai ab tum better feel kar rahi ho, kahin bahar chalen?" he asked her.
"Yeah sure Uday, main abhi tayyar hokar aati hoon" Manyata said.
She didn't ask him where they were going. 'so the girl trusts me…' he thought. She came down in 10 minutes and Uday took out his car. "hum kahin dur jaa rahe hai Uday?" Manyata asked.
"haan aisa hi sochlo" uday said.
Within few minutes Uday drove out of Nanhi pari ranch and looked like they were headed towards town. After 2 minutes Manyata again asked him where they were going and didn't get a reply. 'He looks worried, what could it be' thought she.
Then he suddenly applied brakes. They were in a deserted section of the road. Time for some truths and confessions if that's what it is called. He got down from the car and so did Manyata.
"Tum mujhe apna dost maanti ho na Manyata?" Uday asked her.
"tum yeh poochne ke liye yahaan le aaye mujhe? Yes of course, no doubt.." Manyata said.
"toh batao tum yahaan kyon aayi?" Uday said with a business like face devoid of any emotion.
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Here's the 5th Part guys 😃 now 'like' and 'comment' before you go..Thank you🤗
CID
