Okay guys! Updating now!
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Part OneIt was yet another typical evening in the sleepy yet bubbly town of Morena, MP. Cycle-rickshaws; chaat and samosa stalls; roadside shops selling bangles, jewellery, anklets;. and Rajkumar ki Dress Material Dukaan - everything was normal in Morena. But little did the town know, that the most respected woman in town - Ratna Bhushan - was not feeling normal. She was jumping up and down, going almost crazy.
"Arrey kahan mar gayin saari ladkiyan? Chinky, Jia, Rani! Arrey jaldi aao yahan pe!" Ratna Bhushan called out excitedly, the phone still in her hand.
"Ji, Bui!" Three girls clad in conservative ethnic wear - the younger ones aged 15 and 17 wearing salwar suits and the elder, aged 21 wearing a sari - came running quickly, wondering why their Bui had called them.
"Thank God tum ladkiyan aa gaayi.. Pata hai abhi kiska phone aaya tha? Apna family friend, Rajubhai Patel. Unhone kahan ki unka jo padosi hai, unka beta - jise maine pasand kiya hai - woh bas kuchh hi der mein apne ghar aa raha hai."
"Bui," Rani, the eldest, asked curiously, "Aapne kisi ko pasand kiya hai.... Nupur ke liye?"
Bui nodded excitedly, "Bade ghar ka ladka hai. Rajubhai ne -- woh kya kehte hain - email se photo bheji thi aur bachchon ne mujhe dikhai. Dikhne mein toh heera hai, heera! Arrey bhai Mumbai ka ladka jo hai!"
"Wow! Mumbai ka! Nupur di ke liye!" Jia gushed, while the youngest, and the daughter of Bui, Chinky, giggled and said, "Lekin Nupur didi ko heera nahi, cinema ka hero chahiye, HERO!"
Rani and Jia laughed but Bui exclaimed angrily, "Ab suno. Nupur ke college se ghar aatey hi usey tayar kar dena. Apni Rani ki tarah woh bhi jitni jaldi ghar basa le, utna hi achcha hai. Maine uske liye salwar kameez bhi khareed li hai, uske bed par hai. Ab bas yahi umeed hai ki ye shaadi ho jaaye aur apni Nupur sudhar jaaye!"
The girls giggled at this. Nupur would never change, they knew that.
"Ab hasna band karo aur jao, Mumbai wale ke liye mithaiya tayar karo! Jao!" Bui said strictly and the girls, giggling, ran off to the kitchen.
*
"Arrey ruko! Bus, ruko ab!"
She ran after the bus as fast as she could, shouting, "Arrey ruko bhi! Mujhe ghar pahuchna hai!"
"Ye kaun peeche se chilla raha hai, bhai?" The driver exclaimed angrily, "Mujhe pareshaani ho rahi hai!"
"Ji, hum dekhte hain," the conductor replied and peeped out of the bus to see a pretty girl in a blue salwar kameez, her hair in a plait and dupatta flying around in the air, shouting, "RUKO!!!"
"Arrey baap re!" The conductor cried, putting his hand to his heart. Then he turned to the driver and cried, "Bus rokiye! Nupurji hain!"
The bus screeched to a halt. "Nupurji!" the driver gasped, "Achcha kiya humein bata diya.."
All the men in the bus immediately moved towards the door of the bus, hoping to steal a glance at Nupur. All, except one fellow, who could be easily distinguished from the rest. Wearing a collared shirt with the 'Armani' logo and jeans, he was obviously not a native of Morena. All he did was look up from his book for a second to see what the commotion was all about, then he smirked and returned to his book.
"Arrey achcha kiya aapne bus rok di, driver saab!" the girl's chirpy voice came into the bus as she climbed up, "Warna ghar par mera band baj jata! Ab agar Mayapari ki nayi magazine nikli ho, toh khareedni toh padegi na!" She laughed and then looked towards the bus. She didn't see any empty seat... except for that seat next to the city-type looking man who was engrossed in his book. She hadn't ever seen him in Morena before... maybe he was some newcomer from the city!
The empty seat had his bag on it, though.
"Ji, suniye," Nupur cautiously approached him, "Apna bag hatayenge? Mujhe baithna hai."
"Sorry," he replied, "lekin main nahi hatane wala. Apne fan club se koi seat maanglijiye, na! God, some people..."
"Oh, English!" Nupur said, listening to the last three words he said, "I know English very well, young man. And if you do not move your bag THIS instant, then -"
"Arrey Nupurji," came Nupur's neighbour Chiraunji a.k.a Chiruji's voice from the backseat, "Aap itni pareshani kyon utha rahi hain... aayiye, main khada ho jaata hoon. Aap yahan baithiye, please!"
"Dekha," the man laughed, "Your fan club awaits you."
"Hmph," Nupur replied angrily, "Sadu kaheenka!" Then she went and sat down in Chiruji's place.
*
"Kahan thi tum?" Rani exclaimed angrily as Nupur came into the house, "Ab chalo. Koi deri nahi. Ye salwar kameez lo, aur jaakar pehenlo. Abhi! Jao!" She handed Nupur a white salwar suit.
"Par di! Haath muh toh dho loon..." Nupur said, but Rani rolled her eyes, "Baad mein, Nupur kumari, abhi jao aur jaldi tayyar ho jao!"
Confused, Nupur went into her room and changed. What was all this about? Maybe there was a puja in the house...
She came out and saw that her best friend Gunjan was standing in the side hall, waiting for her. "Nupur!" She said, and gave her a hug, "Kahan thi tum? College se hum ek saath nikle the, na! Tum itni late kyon aa gayi?"
"Arrey pagli," Nupur said, giggling, "Aaj ek taareekh hai! Mayapari ki nayi edition aayi thi! Anyway, ye sab kya ho raha hai?"
"Wait," Gunjan said and grabbed Nupur's dupatta, "Pehle isey apne sar par odh lo." She made Nupur wear her dupatta over her head like some veil. "Gunjan, ye kya hai?"
"Nups," Gunjan replied, "Tumhe dekhne ek LADKA aaya hai!"
"KYA?" Nupur exclaimed, shocked, "Nahi!"
"Haan!" Gunjan said excitedly, "Woh bhi Mumbai ka hai. Maine usey main hall mein abhi-abhi dekha. Dikhne mein SRK se kuchh kam nahi hai woh! Ab ye pakdo -" She handed Nupur a tray with a glass of water and some sweets, "- aur chalo. And yaad rahe, neeche dekhna. Aur zaroorat se zyaada baat mat karna."
"Gunjan," Nupur started but her best friend interrupted her, "Nahi. Socho, agar baat ban gayi toh tum.. Mumbai mein! Tumhara Bollywood jaane ka sapna poora ho sakta hai!"
A smile came on Nupur's face.
"Ab chalo," Gunjan said, and she dragged Nupur to the main hall where the Mumbaian boy was talking with Bui and Nupur's Bauji.
"Arrey ye aa gayi humaari bitiya!" Bauji said proudly, gesturing towards Nupur.
"Lekin," the boy said, "Uska chehra... ye veil kyon hai?"
"Whale?" Bui frowned, "Arrey humari beti itni bhi moti nahi hai, kisi whale ki tarah! Beta, Mayankji ko paani aur mithaiyan de do..."
Nupur nodded and still looking down, she kept the tray on the table. While doing this, she snagged her sandal on the edge of the table and tried to tug it off. But all that happened was that she lost her footwork and exclaimed, "Eeee!" and slipped.
"Careful!" came the boy Mayank's voice and he stood up to grab her.
Nupur's dupatta fell off from her head and their eyes met. Both Mayank and Nupur's eyes widened.
"Oh shucks," Nupur thought, wanting to kick herself, "Ye toh wohi bus wala sadu hai... ab kya hoga?"
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There! That's part one! Do post ur comments!
Precap : Bauji decides that he will let Mayank and Nupur know each other for awhile before they take any decision. Bui thinks of this as highly unorthodox and is upset. Chinky and Jia can't believe that 'Nupur di will go on DATES with this hunk of a man'! đ
Swati
Edited by Swati_Hegde - 14 years ago
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