"Sumo wait up girl!! Why are you walking so fast? Her best friend Avni shouted at her trying to catch up to her and failing miserably at it. Avni finally managed to reach her and made her forcibly stop.
"Baat kya hai Sumo?" Avni managed to speak while she panted for breath.
"Did you see that Avni? They want Shravan to decide the theme for the Christmas party!!..I mean, I am the one who runs around every year to arrange for the Christmas party for our colony kids , you know right? You have seen me slogging away like a pig to make it a success. ..now this giraffe walks in from London and takes away everything from me..my friends, my leadership, my popularity...arrgh, I hate him Avni. If only he were not Pushkar's cousin, I mean Pushkie pie is so cute. But this guy. .why did God even create him?" Sumo cried in exasperation. She had never felt this defeated before. Avni could do nothing more but to hug her best friend to calm her down.
Sumo decided to skip that Christmas party. She would just go off to her Mamaji's house even if it's a little far away from hers and spend her Christmas eve there and forget about this pest called Shravan Malhotra. If only life could be that easy though. Shravan's mom Nirmala Aunty turned out to be her mom Priya Tiwari's childhood bestie that only meant close association between the two families. Just when she thought that things could not go any worse for her, she got the ultimate shock of her life, the Malhotras were invited for dinner that very night! ! Sumo fervently wished that she could just disappear from the face of the earth.
The Malhotras entered and were welcomed with all the warmth by Tiwaris. Sumo peeked out of her room and smiled when she saw Pushkar standing there with his parents and Uncle. Nirmala aunty had already left for the kitchen with her mom. Wait a minute, Shravan was not to be spotted anywhere. .maybe. .just maybe she had suddenly got lucky and he had decided not to come after all. Time for her to put her good manners into use then, and so she went towards the guests to greet them. She had just exchanged pleasantries with everyone and survived a bear hug from Kamini aunty when she decided that she badly needed some fresh air. Something felt terribly out of sync. Thank Heavens that Mr. Annoying decided to go all missing today. There's only so much that a little girl could take.
"Don't be so sure about that Princess." She heard his deep voice behind her.
"Sure of what?" she snapped as she took a sharp turn to meet her worst nightmare, Shravan Malhotra.
There he stood. .in all his glory. Dressed immaculately, he gave her a smile which made her forget her hatred for him for just about a second. He chuckled and walked towards her.
"Don't be so sure about my absence." Shravan smirked. Suman decided to ignore him as she walked past him towards the house.
"Heard you won't be in charge of the Christmas party this year? Ouch..that must have hurt. Want to share your grief with me princess?" His tone was laced with mockery while his eyes brimmed with mischief .
"Stop calling me Princess..you Oaf. I'm so not sad about the Christmas party. I have so many better things to do than kill myself over a silly annual party." Suman scoffed as she ran towards the house lest her tears betrayed her to convey her actual emotions.
The rest of the evening dragged on painfully slow for Suman, with Shravan snatching away the limelight yet again from her almost making her feel totally unwanted. He beat Nanu at Chess twice, he discussed cars with Mamaji ..heck. he even helped the ladies set up the table earning Sumo a disappointed "Kuch seekho tum Shravan se, kitna layak bacha hai" from her mother. Her usual knight in shining armour Pushkar was busy working his charms on her cousin Preeti. .idiot. and worse they both were totally into Shravan and keen on following him everywhere. Why God why? Why did you have to create Shravan Malhotra? She could see Shravan Malhotra flashing her his trademark grin across the room forcing her to rush and take refuge in her room.
The Christmas party was a huge success and that further cemented Suman's resentment against Shravan. When he joined her school as her senior, she knew life would never be the same again. Though he was 2 years her senior and hence thankfully not in her class, his presence was everywhere . He was the soccer captain, arts club secretary and even excelled in debates. Her friends had a huge crush on him and they were even jealous of her for she stayed in the same colony as he did..like seriously, was it her or had the earth started revolving around Shravan instead of the sun?
...
Shravan Malhotra was fighting his own battles as well. He still remembered the day he had stepped into Royal Enclave, partly upset for having had to leave his friends in London and partly excited at the prospect of living with his favourite cousin Pushkar and his uncle's family. His parents Nirmala and Ramnath Malhotra had decided to wind up their business in UK and move to India for they felt that Shravan needed to live for a bit in India before he would venture out to fulfil his own dreams once he grew up.
As he was unloading his luggage from his car, his eyes fell on a girl on the other side of the road dictating something to a bunch of other kids who were listening to her in rapt attention. The girl was had an aura of authority around her as she spoke. She looked so pretty in that pink dress of hers that he immediately named her 'Princess' with a smile.
He had never intended to be her nemesis, he had never wished to snatch anything from her, least of all her standing in the colony, he had just ventured out with Pushkar and was immediately chosen as the leader by the kids. He wanted her around initially, but her unreasonable hatred towards him made him reciprocate similarly. Now he simply wanted her to lose if she dared to compete against him or better still just stay away from him.
Why was it then that even a mention of her name gave him immense reprieve? Suman Tiwari was a chaos to his thoughts and he knew that he needed to be as far from her as Space was from the earth if he actually wanted those good grades.
...
4 years passed by with both of them still being at loggerheads, though now hatred had taken a back seat, now they would just ignore each other, see through each other's presence and pretend that the other didn't exist whenever they met at any outing or dinners at home. Ignoring was far more easier than taxing your brain to come up with an idea to prank each other. The other reason was that they were both appearing for their boards this year with Shravan being in 12th and Suman being in the 10th grade and their priorities had changed. Shravan had topped the school in 10th and Sumo had only one thing in her mind. .to score more than what he had scored. Nothing could deter her from that aim of hers .not even Shravan Malhotra himself who was fast growing up into the most handsome guy that she had ever laid her eyes on, a fact tht she had only admitted to herself till date.
Avni, her best friend and Preeti her cousin were no longer interested in her rants about Shravan, both of them had long established that Suman was obsessed with Shravan given her incessant discussion about the guy.
"Sure Priya not an issue, Shravan le aayega usse. .you don't worry. You carry on. Bye." Nirmala looked harried as she entered Shravan's room and as soon as her eyes met his, she flashed her best smile at her son. Shravan rolled his eyes and groaned "What's it this time Ma? I so know that smile of yours." Nirmala just shook her head sideways and walked over to the chair where her son was sitting. She hugged him from behind and kissed him on his cheeks. "Okaaay Ma. .ab bol bhi do. .karna kya hai?" Shravan chuckled while he went back to sipping his tea.
"Umm Shravan. .beta woh Prakash bhaisaab ko achanak Bangalore jaana pad gaya office ke kaam se do hafton ke liye aur woh..Priya pareshaan thi ki Suman ko tuition centre se kaun le aayega toh main ne kaha.." Nirmala didn't bother to complete for she was already dreading the outcome which actually came in nanoseconds. Shravan choked on the tea he was having hearing that and spoke out loud "Mom..you didn't ..did you just? Oh crap. .Mom...nooo. .I can't stand that girl and she hates me more. .aap jaanti hai. Please mom, I can't . I won't . Can you please send Pushkar or better still why can't she just hire a cab?" Shravan started pacing around the room looking absolutely perturbed. What was his mom thinking really?
Nirmala gave a huge sigh and went over to Shravan . She held him by his arms and made him.sit on his chair while she herself kneeled down in front of him. She smiled at him while taking his hands in hers "I know beta. .see Prakash Bhaisaab has been really tensed these days owing to some issues in his business and he had to leave urgently. Priya aunty is already tensed, Pushkar goes for his soccer practice around this time and that leaves only you to help her out. Plus Delhi these days is not exactly safe for a teenaged girl travelling alone in a cab. You are not doing this for Suman, can I expect my son to help his mother's best friend for his mother's sake? Please baby?"
Shravan smiled at her and finally relented. He took his bike keys and started moving towards the door and he was just about to leave when turned and said "Only for you mom and that's the last time you are calling me baby."
Nirmala laughed out at that and said "Of course not my baby, you will always my little baby. Meri jaan, mere budhape ke sahare" She shouted. "Avoid Ma" Shravan was laughing when he shouted back. His mom sure was a drama queen but there's no other way that he would have her in his life.
"Suman Tiwari. .so you are going to be the first girl to sit behind me on my new bike. Who would have thought?" He muttered to himself as he kicked his bike to life and roared ahead.
Suman was waiting outside the tuition centre for around 20 minutes now. Her classmate Rohit Khurana was chatting with her about the latest class but Suman's mind was busy thinking something way different.Her mom had informed her that her dad had to go out of town urgently and that she would send someone to pick her up instead but didn't specify whom. Sumo had a bad feeling about this. She hoped it was her Mamaji or Pushkar. Whoever it is..please don't let it be him God..please..anybody but him..she literally looked up as she sent a silent prayer.
And as usual, God chose to toss her prayers down the dustbin as she saw his bike come towards her in all its glory. As he stooped near her, he removed his helmet and raked his fingers through his hair while shooting his most piercing glare towards her and Rohit. Suman felt her eyes glued on him. Was she going to commute with him for the next two weeks? This absolutely unbearable beast? If only he weren't this heartbreakingly handsome though. .hating him would have been so much easier.
To say that Shravan was surprised at seeing Suman was an understatement. Gone were the two tight plaits that she tied her hair into at the school, today she had left her hair open and was looking gorgeous. She wore a blue long skirt and white floral top that made her look completely different from the Suman he knew. Did she secretly grow beautiful when he was not noticing? And what was that idiot Rohit Khurana doing next to her? And why the hell was Sumo looking so lost while staring at him?
Shravan cleared his throat to get her attention and snapped "Ghoor kya rahi ho? Baitho."
Suman turned to give her most sweet smile to Rohit while bidding him goodbye. Rohit who was only used to complete neglect from Sumo suddenly felt alive after that bright smile of hers. He waved his hands with an absolutely dazed look on his face "Bye Suman, see you tomorrow. I will miss you." Suman rolled her eyes at that as she proceeded to sit behind Shravan. She had no idea what prompted her to be this sweet to Rohit in front of Shravan, but she had this immediate urge to do that the moment she found Shravan in front of her looking like a million bucks.
She was wearing a skirt and hence she chose to sit sideways behind him. This was all so awkward for her. She was sitting on a bike she loved with a guy she hated and that brought her to her favourite question ..Why did God even create Shravan Malhotra?
"Woh Rohit tummhare class mein hain?" he asked breaking her reverie.
"Hmm. .bahut close friend hai mera." Suman bit her tounge when she said that. That could not be further than the truth. She avoided Rohit like plague, but why should Shravan know that?
"Itna close friend hai toh ussi se kaho na ki tumhe drop kare ghar roz. Tumhara ghar toh uske ghar ke raaste mein aata hai. Why should I sacrifice my studies?" He smirked.
"If it's that big a trouble to you then I will definitely ask him to pick and drop me from tomorrow. Dad had to leave urgently, or I would not have had to depend on you." Suman's voice broke a bit and that stirred something unknown in Shravan's heart.
"No..it's no big deal. It's my break time anyway and Priya aunty ke liye it's the least I could do." Shravan shrugged as he looked ahead at the road while driving.
Suman could not helpb but smile at that. Shravan had always been utterly respectful towards her parents irrespective of their personal equation and she always liked that trait of his.
"Suman?"
"Hmm?"
"Listen. .this arrangement is for two weeks. As much as we both hate it, we don't have a choice. So can we just try and be civil with each other for these fifteen days please?" Shravan asked sounding hopeful. This year was very crucial for both of them academically and he didn't want them to indulge in meaningless fights.
"Sure, I promise." she agreed immediately and he sighed in relief. What he didn't know was that Suman these days was extremely worried for her father who looked tensed and upset always and didn't want more worries for herself.
The rest of the journey went by smoothly and Suman realised that she had actually loved the long ride on the bike as he stopped near her house.
"Thanks Shravan." She said and giggled as she saw him double take in surprise at her thanking him though he acknowledged with a quick nod while he reversed his bike.
As she turned to proceed towards his house she heard him call her out.
"Sumo. .."
"Haan?"
"Woh...blue suits you." He spoke in a breath and roared away.
And for the first time in the four years that she had known Shravan, Suman Tiwari stood rooted at the gate of her house...blushing. Her story with Shravan had just begun, and she somehow knew it.
Note: I have no idea what has been typed above. I was facing a major writers block. Lots of affection and much more food does that to you , if you discount my mother's nagging that is..but like Shravan. .there's no other way that I would have my personal drama queen.
Mannat Har Khushi Paane Ki
Cricket
