" Brilliant Aalekh !! The way you covered up was superb !! and thanks!", Raj said.
" Bass kya sir? Aap apun ko thanks bologe kya? Waise maam woh bole toh sorry parr apne aap pe control rakho...bole toh aaj aise phisal gaye the ki Sir aur Naina ki toh Waatt hi lag jaati!"
" Aur nahi toh kya? Shahrukh aur Naina ka toh handset hang hi hogaya tha..."
Shalini smiled apologetically.
And so...saying goodbyes, they left the games room...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Shalini ran behind Raj to catch him...She had to talk to him at any cost !!
She spotted him at the end of the corridor...
" Captain!!! ", she called out.
But Raj was going at his own pace.
" Raj !! " , she called again.
This time Raj stopped and turned to see Shalini hurrying towards him.
" Huff! Captain kabse awaaz laga rahi thi...aur aap ho ke...", Shalu said panting.
" Calm down doc...calm down. Ab boliye. Kyun bula rahi thi aap mujhe?"
" Lagta hai ki The Captain Rajveer Singh Shekhawat ke kaano tak aajkal kisi ek ki hi aawaz pohochti hai..", Shalini commented dancing her eyebrows, " Aur dosto ko aajkal milne ke liye wajah batani padti hai ! "
obviously...she was joking ! and Raj knew that !
" Dr. Shalini...aap kabhi serious bhi hoti hai? ", Raj sighed.
" Isswaqt main bahot serious hoon ! Actually Captain, bahot dinomein aapse khulke baatein nahi ki aur naahi aapne iss naacheez ki infirmary ki ore rukh kiya hai...toh chaliye infirmary mein! Chalkar kuch baatein shaatein karte hai...coffee woffee peetein hai!"
Raj shook his head in amusement.
" After you...", he said and they both headed towards infirmary.
Shalini bolted the door as soon as they entered and asked him to sit.
Few minutes later we see them sipping their coffees silently while Shalini deciding mentally how to breach the topic.
" Toh Shalini ! Coffee woffee toh ho rahi hai...what about baatein shaatein? Aap toh kabse chup chap baithi hai! " , Raj teased her.
She smiled self consciously.
" So captain? How is everything going on?"
" Fine..."
" Nothing's fine ! Kuch bhi theek nahi hai captain."
" What happen Doc? Aap aisa kyun keh rahi hai?"
" Oh come on Raj ! You are asking me this? Why the hell are you behaving with Naina like that?"
" Aisa kuch nahi hai...it's just that...just that she still is my student and..."
" Oh don't give me that crap! Yeh main bhi achchi tarah se jaanti hoon aur aap bhi ke aap aaj Naina ke teacher hai,kal nahi honge...waqt ke saath sab badal jaayega...toh phir kyun?"
He finally decided to confide in her...afterall she was one of the few people who never judged him ! Shalini was a true friend to him, whatever the circumstances might be...
" Doc meri kuch samajh nahi aaraha...what should I do? but i'm not sure...may be she hates me now...Maine uski marzi jaane bina usse shaadi karne keliye haan kehdi...ab woh...", Raj sighed, " Uss waqt Naina mazboor thi ! uske Baba ki health ki wajahse , shayad usne dabav mein yeh shaadi ki ho...par doc...uske bhi toh kuch expectations hongi...uske apne sapne honge...apne life partner keliye...Aap jaanti hai na, uski zindagi ki sabse badi kami ka...Naveen ki maut ka zimmedar bhi main hu doc !! in dino uski udaasi dekhi hai aapne? aapne kabhi notice kiya ki woh mujhse milna bhi avoid karti hai? Kya usne kabhi bhi iss baat ka jikr kiya hai ki woh mujhe pasand karti hai? kabhi yeh jaahir kiya ki woh bhi mujhe chahti hai...?? Shayad uski pasand koi aur..."
" Excuse me? ", shalini asked shocked , " Aap kehna chahte hai ki..."
but she was stopped by a noise made at the door... she asked Raj to halt and herself went towards the door...as she peeped through the door, she saw shoe marks at the door step, which then turned in the direction of the grounds...someone definitely was listening to their convo, who now ran towards the ground...
It was the make or break situation..she had to decide... If she let Captain Rajveer know about it, he'll stop the convo and immediately go searching for the person...and never ever she'll get such an opportunity to confront him again...She decided otherwise...whatever the problem arised, they'd face it later...
This time bolting the door, she turned towards Raj, " Captain, aapne bhi koi aawaz suni kya? maine suni...par yaha par toh sab theek tha...anyways...kya kehrahe the aap? That You are not sure whether she loves you or not? You know what captain jab aap yaha nahi the, tab maine Naina ko dekha hai. Aapke dreadful accident ke baad uss bachchi ki haalat maine dekhi hai,aapne nahi! 48hrs...!! 2 din tak woh bina palak jhapkaye baithi thi...na hasti thi, na roti thi aur na kuch bolti thi...bass ek tak aasmaan ki ore dekha karti thi...!! And uske suicide attempts? bhool gaye??? Jaante hai captain, us raat main thi infirmary mein uske saath...Neend mein hi woh aapko promise kar rahi thi ki woh aapse kiya har waada nibhayengi aur phir kabhi aisi harkat nahi karegi...Uska dard,uski tadap maine dekhi hai Captain. "
Raj was in tears.
" Agar aisa sab hai toh woh kuch kehti kyun nahi? I really Love her Shalini !! I love her dammit !! Aur ab darta hoon...usse khone se."
" Kya aapne usse yeh kaha Raj, ki aap usse pyaar karte hai?"
He shook his head.
" Toh aap uss se kuch kehte kyun nahi? "
" Darta hoon...agar woh naraaz ho gayi toh..."
" Captain...captain !! " , she said frustratedly , " Aap...aap samajh nahi rahe...aapki yehi khamoshi usse chot pohocha rahi hai.Aapka pyaar ab sirf aapka hai. Usse thaamiye! Go for it Captain! "
" Parr agar woh phir gussa hogayi toh?"
" Offo ! Captain ! Aapka kuch nahi ho sakta!! Arey gussa hogayi toh hojane deejiye! Gussa hokar jayegi kaha? Ab woh aapki 'Wife' hai...You both are married,for god's sake! Woh itni aasaani se aapse door nahi jaa sakti ab!"
Raj grinned.
" You are right! Main hi stupid ki tarah...khair...", he looked at her, " Agar tum nahi hoti toh pata nahi main kab tak yahi bewakoofi karte rehta...But ab nahi. Ab main aur apni feelings nahi chupahoonga."
" That's the spirit Captain!" , she clapped his back.
" You know something Shalini? you are a sweetheart ! "
and he hugged her tight, while she laughed hugging him back.
" I know that !! "
When he turned to leave, she called him,
" Captain! Aaj aapke room mein party hain! Don't forget !"
He grinned and left humming a tune...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
But...the fates !!!
Cadets had to cancel their party, as Brigadier called up all the faculty for an urgent meeting...
Brigadier formed a committee of selected officials from KMA which were supposed to visit another reputed military academy, NDA for observing their functioning...
The committe was headed by Brigadier himself and comprised of Maj. Nair, Captn. Abhimanyu Rai chauhan, Captain Rajveer Singh Shekhawat and Captn. Nandini.
They were supposed to leave for NDA two days later for a period of four days...
In their absence, Captain Gunraj Randhawa was to look after functioning of academy,along with Dr. Shalini and Subhedar Suri.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Next day...
Naina entered mess, avoiding Aalekh who was continuously pestering her and pooja who was continuously giggling looking at them both.
And both of them eventually followed her to the mess.
Three of them were the only cadets present...and since three of them were so occupied with each other, they failed to notice Abhimanyu and Raj who were discussing the administration of academy in their absence with shalini, over a coffee, sitting on a distant corner table.
Naina sat down on of the chairs, fed up of constant pestering by Aalekh and shouted," NO !!!"
Raj was surprised at the sudden scream and looking at source of it was curious to know what it was that caused her to scream.
Naina :- " Nahi Aalekh...yeh nahi...maine tujhse pehle bhi kaha tha..", while pooja giggled.
A :- " Eh Naina, apun ne tere liye itna kuch kiya aur tu hai ke.."
N :- " Achcha? toh tu mujhe uska badla maang raha hai?"
A :- " Nahi yaar...arey sun na ...bole toh request kar raha hai naa apun?"
N :- " Dekh aalekh, maine tujhe dialogues likhke diye naa? tujhse sabkuch recite bhi karvaya..."
Aalekh nodded...
" Parr Yudi ke ghar main nahi aa sakti...peechli baar aayi thi toh pareshaan hogayi thi...usske mom and Dad ! No !" , she said shooking her head vigorously.
The three at the other end were amused.
Pooja laughed and teased her.
A :- " Tu chup kar punjaban..."
N :- " Aur tu Yudi ke saath jaa naa...meri kya jaroorat hai?"
A :- " Arey maine kuch gadbad kardi toh? Aur uske maa baap ko main akela nahi jhel sakta...Saala kuch galat nikal gaya apun ke muh se toh?"
N(pleading) :- " Aalekh, please mujhpe taras khaa...tu kisi aur ko leja..."
A :- " Kisko le jayega apun? Apun ke rishte ki baat karni hai wahapar... Ab Yudi toh Neelu ki side se rahega naa?"
P :- " Oye qaidi ! Tu na...mujhe aur mere ranjhe ko leja ! Uski tehzeeb se na uss missed call yudi ke parents jaroor impress hojayenge ! and then Tu aur Neelu, Handset aur sim card ki tarah ek dusre se lifetime keliye connect hojaoge ! "
N : " What an idea sirjee !! "
And the faculty wondered, where exactly they get to see so much of television to know all the on-going advertisements !
A :- " Arey idea gayi bhaad mein ! Iss mobile ki dukaan ki baatein unke bheje mein ghusna mangta na?aur agar neelu ka baap apun ko reject karne lage, toh toh apne usool bhaai kahenge aap jo bhi thik samjhe kariye,aap bade hai...matlab apunki paar lagi naiyya doob jayegi. "
and while Naina was about to suggest somebody else...Aalekh cut in...
"Aur Hudde ka toh naam bhi mat lena...!! ", he warned," woh agar baat karega toh saala uska baap shaadi se pehle hi talaq karwa dega! "
Naina and pooja laughed heartily at this...
while Raj, Abhi and shalu stiffled their giggles as they didn't want to make them aware of their presence and enjoy the proceedings.
N (showing fake anger):- " Achcha ? toh elimination se mujhe select kiya hai tune haan? Koi aur nahi hai toh Naina ki yaad aayi?"
A :- " Arey tereko kya problem hai? Apun sidha tere paas aaya hai yeh tu bhi jaanti hai..."
N :- " Aalekh samajh na yaar..."
A ( Threatening):- " Dekh agar tu nahi maani...toh apun tere secret ke baare mein sabko bata dega..."
The three at the other end stared, with their eyebrows raised!
N(frowned a little and said) :- " Theek hai...jaa bata de...main bhi dekhti hoon kaise batata hai..", while getting up to leave.
Aalekh pulled her hand and made her sit down.
A :- " Tu achchi tarah se jaanti hain naa apun aisa kuch nahi karega?"
Naina grinned.
A :- " Kyun bhaav khaa rahi hai?"
N :- " Aalekh aisa nahi hai...Dekh main peechle baar aayi thi naa? tu toh baith gaya neelu ke ke saath, aur mujh bechari ko chod diya uss museebat ke saath...Tu jhel naa unhe...main kyu jhelu tere saans-sasur ko?"
A :- " Arey woh tere bhi toh samdhi huye naa? Aur pata hai, jab tere yaha lautne ke baad maine aunty ko nainitaal call kiya na, tab unhone khud tujhe yeh order diya hai ki, tu unke kabil bete ke saath...yaniki mere saath, meri fanti ke maa- baap ke paas meri setting karane jayegi ! samjhi??"
Abhi, Raj ,and Shalu shook their heads in amusement.
P :- " Oye Naina...jaa naa."
A(emotionally) :- " Dekh tu apun ki behen hai naa?"
N(sweetly):- " Bhaiya...Bhaai behen ka rishta leke jaata hai..",and then sternly,"..behen bhaai ka nahi.."
A :- Arre toh apun jaroor lekar jaata tera rishta, parr tune mauka kaha diya? khud hi apna setting kar liya !
N( blushing harder):- "AALEKH !"
While Raj too blushed at that...
A :- " Ab usmein sharmaane ki kya baat hai? Achcha hai na...apun ka ek kaam kam kiya tune...Aur kya farak padta hai...iss baar ulta karte hai...tu apun ka rishta leke chal...nahi toh bhi apun ki duniya hi Ulti hai...",and then in undertone,"Aur tujhe kya pata?tera setting karwaane ke liye apun ne kya kya kiya hai !"
Raj understood what Aalekh said in the end...
N :- " Kya? kya kaha?"
A :- " Kuch nahi meri maa ! Tu kaam ki baat karna?"
N :- " Kaam ki baat? oho! achcha...huh!...maine koi marraige bureau nahi kholi..."
A :- " Eh Naina, Usool aur Punjaban ka poora setting karaya tune...saala roke tak...Aur apun ka nahi kar rahi hai...saala aisa bhed bhaav kyu?"
Raj, Shalu and Abhi were enjoying the convo and the latter two Raj's reactions also!
P :- " Oye qaidi...main Naina ko manane ke liye uske inbox mein request ke sms bhej rahi hoon aur tu hai ke uske sim se mera hi number kaatne pe tula hai...Mera aur Naina ka double connection hai samjha...Dost ka aur...", and she blushed.
N (teasing pooja):- " Bhabhijaan...aap chup rahengi?"
A(threatening) :- " Aur waise bhi punjaban abhi nikaah nahi padwaaya hai...toh tu chup hi reh samjhi..?"
N (strictly):- " Tu yeh 'saala' bolna kam se kam 2-3 din bandh kar samjha? Neelu ke papa ko bhi saala boldega..."
A :- " Arre, tu saath aayegi naa toh kuch galat nahi bolega apun."
N :- " Pooja ko bhi saath le chalte hai."
A :- " Tu usko chod...tu bata.."
Naina faking as lost in thoughts...She was enjoying Aalekh's situation.
Suddenly Aalekh kneeled down in front of her...
Naina was taken aback at this...
He gently held her hand and said,
" Naina, tu apunki sab se achchi dost hai...Apunki behen hai...Agar apunki koi family hai toh woh tu hai... Apun ki zindagi mein koi sabse zyaada mayine rakhta hai, toh woh tu hai...Kya tu nahi chahegi ke tere bhaai ka ghar base?"
Naina stared at him for a moment...There was pin drop silence...
Pooja,Abhi ,Shalu and Raj were staring at Naina to listen to her reply...
Naina was teary eyed...
She looked straight into Aalekh's eyes and said...
" NAUTANKI SAALA !!"...in Aalekh style!
and both of them burst out laughing !
" Ab lag rahi hai naa apun ki behen !"
" Chal uthh...parr meri shart hai.."
" Arre bol naa...tu jo bolegi woh karega apun...achcha !! samajh gaya...Arre tu yudi ke maa baap ki chinta mat kar...khalifili jyaadaich dimaag ka dahi kiya na, toh apun ussko do ghoot peela dega...Woh jabtak woh pure hosh mein aaye apna kaam khatam..."
Naina gave him a light slap on his shoulder and said...
" Hmmm...Do ghoot? Ahmmm...aur Aalekh, tu ek hafta sharab nahi peeyega...dekhega bhi nahi uski taraf."
" Ek hafta? yedi hogayi hai kya?"
" uummm? kyun jyada hojayega?", she asked concerned...as she knew, he is trying very hard to get rid of the habbit...but still...its difficult for him to stop drinking completely all of a sudden.
" Theek hai...Manzoor..", Aalekh said gloomily surrendering to Naina, " Apun try karega."
" Haan aur..."
" Ab kya?"
" Aalekh?"
" Maaf kar meri maa? Ab bol...khali fokat time pass mat kar."
" Jo main bolu...woh kapde pehen ne honge..."
" BILKUL NAHI.." , Aalekh said, " please re Naina...woh suit mein apun ko ghutan hoti hai..."
" No way...meri izzat ka sawaal hai... mera Aalekh cool lagna chahiye naa?"
Aalekh smiled at this," mera Aalekh "...
He felt belonged...
He patted her head affectionately and said," Aur kuch?"
" Aur haann...baal ko tu achchese gel karega aur joote...", and thus began her unending list of conditions.
She was speaking non-stop ,leaving Aalekh holding his head in his hands and everyone else amused...
" BASSS!!!" , Aalekh yelled , " Naina...taras aata hai apun ko tere bechaare pati pe..."
" AALEKH!!!!" , Naina cut him in between, Both Raj and Naina red in embarassment.
" Arrey yaar...ab toh apun yeh dialogue bhi nahi bol sakta..."
Naina hit him on his shoulder.
" Ab chal...", Naina said ," Tera huliya bhi toh badalna hai..."
"Jaana kitne baje hai?", Aalekh asked.
" Hey bhagwaan, kal lunch par aalekh...tu itna bhi yaad nahi rakh sakta?", Naina said frustrated.
" Tum ho naa behena.."
" Chal oye...Behena ke bhaiya...Qaidi ko gentleman banana hai...", pooja said.
" Teri toh..", Aalekh rushed forward to hit pooja and as she ran to save herself, these three faced Shalu, Raj and Abhi, and stopped dead in their tracks...shocked !! knowing very well that they might have heard all of their discussion.
" Waise Aalekh...", Abhimanyu smirked, " Are you sure behen se kaam chal jayega...jeeje ki zaroorat nahi hai?"
Naina turned redder...her cheeks burning...Though she chose not to look at Raj...
Raj felt heat rising up his collar...
Aalekh understanding Naina's awkwardness, " Waise Abhimanyu sir, aap bhi chal sakte hai...!"
" Kya kehete ho Raj?", Abhi asked.
" See you at the gate ...tomorrow at 1200 hrs." , Raj said gazing Naina and left.
Aalekh's lips curved into smile...
But what everybody failed to see was anger in Naina's eyes... the way she threw daggers at Raj's retreating form...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As Raj drove to Mr. Sahni's place, with Abhimanyu sitting on the passenger seat while Dr.Shalini sat behind, cramped with all the six cadets, he couldnt help viewing in the rear-view mirror... Naina was looking beautiful in the outfit...
So much so that, he couldnt take his eyes off from her...
But...she wasnt paying him even a glance...
and when she did...god !! What was that he saw in her eyes???
Anger !!!????
It was not hatred...definitely not !!
It was that anger...whenever he did something she didnt like...
The anger...which she used to righfully show on him...as if being angry with him was always her right...!
Umm…if he had to describe that anger in word…it was very….umm..'wife'ish !!
But...hold on !! What did he do now??
Throughout the day at sahni's place Naina paid no any attention to Rajveer or his attempts to talk to her...
They returned from Sahni's place...Successful ofcourse !!
Mr. Sahni didnt hold any grudges against Aalekh...and he happily agreed to this proposal...as by then..he had understood true worth of Aalekh...has learnt to see beyond being his orphan...
All of them were so happy...especially Naina !! She was on top of the world !!
Raj wanted to celebrate her happiness...
" Cadets...kal hum BC ki wajehse party nahi karpaye...par aaj toh khushiya bhi double hogayi hai...aaj unhe celebrate karne se humein koun rok sakta hai...?", he asked them and then laughing at their confusion, " Cadets...aaj raat mere room mein party ke baaremein kya khayal hai?"
And everyone let out a whooot of joy !!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
PRECAP : TA-DAAA !!!! 😃😉😃
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