"Aap ki Factory mein use horahi purani machines change na karne ki wajehse yeh tragedy hui hai...aaj 5 majdoor bewajah apni jaan se haath dho baithe...aap iss baareimein kya kahenge...SIR???"
Raj stared into her eyes as she spat out the last word with contempt..
The eyes which once held love for him, radiated hatred today...and behind that hatred there was somewhere pain, borne out of the immense and unconditional love which was once meant for him and only him...
" No comments..."
"Aapko iss sawal ka jawab dena hi hoga Mr.Shekhawat."
" It was a mere accident...Court ne bhi apna faisla hamare hi haq mein diya hai."
" Court ne jaroor aapko maaf kiya ho...shayad jin logo ki jaan gayi hai unke gharwalo ka muh bhi aap muafja dekar bandh kardenge...lekin aapka Zameer??Kya woh kabhi aapko maaf kar payega Mr. Shekhawat??"
" Mr. Shekhawat kisi bhi mamuli reporter ko answerable nahi hai Ms.Singh..", Ritu smiled wickedly as she linked her hand with Raj, " Our P.R. will talk to you...Now...if you don't mind...", she said indicating they have to leave.
" Kamal hai Naina!! The great enterpreneur Nishant Gehlot ki 'bigdi'..ahh...sorry ...eklauti beti Ritu Gehlot tumhe personally jaanti hai ! ", Aalekh , who was Naina's cameraman and buddy, exclaimed with wide eyes...
" Tu toh bahot badi star hogayi yaar !! Ek second...phir Ms.Gehlot tumhe mamuli kaise bol rahi hai???...ya toh lack of judgement, ya phir..woh apne aap ko uss level ka nahi maanti..."
" Aalekh..", Naina hid her amused laugh which dared to come out even in tense situation, as Ritu glared at him and stormed away taking Raj in a tow..
A sheen of tears appeared in Naina's eyes betraying her strong self,as she witnessed Raj walk away with Ritu.
" kaiko roti hai?" , Aalekh asked concerned.
" Nahi toh...", and she smiled looking at her bestest buddy..
Aalekh…who had been there with her in all highs and lows...in every pain and joy...
who had seen her blossom like a flower in Raj's love, and had supported her when that love withered away as Raj chose his career over her...
" Chal...", he said simply as he led her to their jeep.
The FM played one of the best Kishore – Lata melodies…
" Tere bina zindagi se koi Shikwa toh nahi..
shikwa nahi..shikwa nahi..shikwa nahi…
Tere bina zindagi bhi lekin, zindagi toh nahi…
zindagi nahi…zindagi nahi…zindagi nahi…"
Memories bounced back as she leaned her head on the seat...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Naina has been knowing this for a long time now that Raj likes her...His eyes spoke volumes and conveyed those unsaid emoitions which he found difficult to utter…
Naina was outspoken, bubbly, lively and daredevil…while Raj was calm, shy, sensitive and focussed…
Naina had saved him from ragging on his first day in the college…
That's how they met and became friends…
Raj till date had to repay Naina's this favour by making notes for her every single time.
Day by day, their friendship grew stronger…
Raj always used to scold Naina that she ought to have some aim in life…
" Ab main koi tumhare jaisi great entrepreneur nahi ban na chahti…I wanna be a journalist."
True…
Raj had one aim in life…to be the Biggest entrepreneur…
He used to follow biographies of great entrepreneurs like JRD Tata, Dhirubhai Ambani, Laxmi Mittal and what not…trying to learn from their experiences and mistakes…
" But Naina, whats the future of a female journalist?? Ya toh koi choti moti news ke peeche bhagna padega, nahi toh News announce karte milogi…oh ya! The best amongst those…shayad page 3 reporter hi banjao !"
" Shut up, okay!! Main khul ke bolna chahti hoon….apni andar ki awaaz ko duniya ko sunana chahti hoon…naaki tumhari tarah apne andar dabake rakhna chahti hoon…."
" MERI TARAH?? Aur aisa kya nahi bol paaya main?"
" Yahi…ki tum mujhse pyaar karte ho…", she said in a flow, but then bit her tongue realizing her mistake..
Raj was looking at her shocked as she smiled at him embarrassingly…
Naina thought its better to run away from there…and as she turned to leave…
" Naina halt !!"
She saw Raj moving towards her, his eyes fixed on her.
He came closer…and smiled, patting her cheek and said,
" LUV U !"
" What????" now it was Naina's turn to be shocked !, " What did u say?"
"I said..I love you…"
She was staring at him open mouthed.
Raj laughed and hugged her tightly.,,and she hugged back…
Those were golden days….
Kaash aisa ho tere qadmo se,
chun ke manzil chale aur kahi door kahi - 2
Tum gar saath ho, manzilo ki kami to nahi
She was jerked back to reality as Aalekh applied sudden brakes…
" Tere bina zindagi se koi shikwa toh nahi..
SHikwa nahi….shikwa nahi…shikwa nahi…"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
" LEKIN AAPKA ZAMEER??? KYA WOH KABHI AAPKO MAAF KAR PAYEGA??? BOLIYE MR. SHEKHAWAT???"
Naina's voice echoed as he sat drinking in the bar in his house…
Today he achieved everything he aimed for…but at the cost of what?? His love? His self respect? His friends? His near and dear ones??
Where were all of them? And why was he alone today?
Why isn't he happy inspite of achieving everything he wanted???
Raj closed his eyes in pain…but that loving face appeared and he had no guts to keep his eyes closed and continue seeing her…Not after what he had done to her…
Not after betraying her trust…her love….
Not after he had left her for his dream….
Not after leaving her hand midway just to make Ritu his ladder to climb peaks of success…
He had thought Naina didn't fit into his new found reputation and society then…while the reality was he was changing and drifting into unknown world….
She tried to hold onto their relationship, but with no efforts from his side, her hopes also died down..
The final straw being announcement of his engagement with his mentor's, business tycoon Nishant Gehlot's daughter, Ritu….
Naina was then lost into darkness of anonymity, until that day, when he found her to be leading the team investigating frauds of his would be father-in-law….
Those beautiful eyes which now held accusation didn't let him rest in peace…
And what about his own CONSCIENCE????
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
" Come on in Son….abhi abhi meri lawyer se baat hui…don't worry, we'll get a clean chit outta this.", Gehlot said.
" But sir, what about our own conscience?"
" What do you mean?"
" Sir, I guess hamein apni mistake maan leni chahiye…yeh toh bahot chotasa hissa hai hamari galatiyon ka…You very well know the wider picture..", Raj gave him a meaningful look.
Gehlot stared outside his plush cabin for a minute and then excused himself saying he has meeting then and he'll think over it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Next day's newspapers were filled with how Raj Shekhawat was involved in this matter and about his other illegal businesses ( Which actually were Gehlot's)…
The papers and newschannels published Gehlot and Ritu's interviews about how they were betrayed by Raj and how he was the real demon wearing a mask of innocence…
Raj was trapped…..!!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Raj was thankful to his friends…Naina and Aalekh…Who helped him get out of the mess.
He got their support when he had lost all his hopes…
When Raj had asked why they were supporting him, Naina had simply said,
" Kyunki hum jaante hai ki tum itna neeche kabhi nahi gir sakte Raj…Aur phir..hum asli culprit ko khule aam nahi chod sakte…"
Aalekh and Naina, with the help of their team, had helped Raj in proving his innocence and unveiling Gehlot's all illegal businesses.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Raj was proven innocent….She was happy….Just that she wanted to be alone for sometime…she wanted to plunge in to the calm and comfort her terrace offered at this hour of night…
But as Naina entered her terrace…
She found whole of the terrace illuminated with scented candles…a path made of Rose petals lead her to where someone was waiting for her with his back turned to her….
Naina knew who he was….He could be none else…except…Raj.
She turned to leave, but couldn't as he hold onto her wrist tightly…
As she looked at him, she found him looking at her with a tearful gaze…
He was repenting, she knew…she had seen the change in last few days….
She found herself melting under those eyes burning with intense love….
Jee mein aata hai, tere daaman mein, sar chupa ke ham rote rahe, rote rahe - 2
Teri bhi aankho mein, aansuo ki nami to nahi
Tere bina zindagi se koyi, shikwa, to nahi,
shikwa nahi, shikwa nahi, shikwa nahi
Tere bina zindagi bhi lekin, zindagi, to nahi,
zindagi nahi, zindagi nahi, zindagi nahi
Raj cupped her face and placed a kiss on her forehead…tears rolled out of her eyes…
But…soon Naina got a grip over herself…
She gently freed her face out of his hands and looked at him….
The look in her eyes shook him….he knew what was coming….
" Raj…yeh sab…koi matlab nahi banta ab in sab ka…main woh sab kuch bahot peeche chod aayi hoon….bahot mushkil se sambhala hai khudko…ab phirse main ismein nahi padna chahti…I…I'm…"
He put his hand over her lips…
" I'm Sorry Naina…har uss dard..uss taklif ke liye jo maine tumhe di hai…Tumhare har aansu keliye main koi bhi saza bhugatne keliye taiyyar hoon…but don't be so harsh Naina…Mujhe itni badi punishment mat do…I love you…I really do…aur maine hamesha se tumhi se pyaar kiya hai…."
" Raj but…."
" AND I know that YOU TOO LOVE ME…", he said challenging her.
Naina sighed.
" Yes…yes I do….and I'm not ashamed of it…parr.. Jo kuch tumne mere saath kiya hai, main woh bhool nahi paayi hoon. I've forgiven you,may be…But I couldn't forget how for your selfish motives you ruthlessly crushed my love and walked away with Ritu. Main koi khilona nahi Raj, jab chaha khel liya,jab chaha phenk diya."
" Par Raj badal gaya hai Naina, aur yeh tu bhi jaanti hai…", Aalekh, who was stationed behind the pillar by Raj to shower petals on them after she said yes, came out finally.
" Shayad… Aisa nahi ki main yeh notice nahi karti…but main ab tum par trust nahi karti Raj. Aur jiss relation mein trust naa ho, uske koi mayine nahi hote…"
Raj was choked with emotions…
" I…I understand…", he said with difficulty, trying not to cry, " But..I'll wait…I'll wait Naina. I'll regain your trust Naina…and I know or rather I'm confident ki woh din zaroor aayega…Kya tum mujhe tumhara pyaar phirse paaneka ek mauka dogi Naina? Ek mauka???", he said taking her hands, " and till then can we be friends? Please??"
She nodded, tears rolling out of her eyes… " But..Strictly friends, okay???" , she warned.
" Ya…sure…", Raj smiled cheekily now and spoke in a low tone, " Till the day I make you fall hopelessly in love with me."
" Kya?? Kuch kaha tumne?"
" Nahi toh…"
" Tumne zaroor kuch kaha hai…seedhe seedhe batado warna…"
" Arey phoolan devi, Raj keh raha tha ki tum atleast uske saath dinner toh kar hi sakti ho na…ab friends ki tarah hi sahi…bechare ne itni mehnat se sab arrange kiya hai…"
" Umm…theek hai…"
Aalekh patted his back and assured him and Raj smiled back….
On the dinner table, Naina was chatting nonstop, while Raj was drinking in the site of her….
Tum jo keh do to aaj ki raat,
chaand doobega nahi, raat ko rok lo -2
Raat ki baat hai, aur zindagi baaki to nahi
Tere bina zindagi se koyi, shikwa, to nahi,
shikwa nahi, shikwa nahi, shikwa nahi
Tere bina zindagi bhi lekin, zindagi, to nahi,
zindagi nahi, zindagi nahi, zindagi nahi
(Film: Aandhi)
…..For now he is satisfied that atleast they are friends….The rest, he will make happen….
He is confident….
Raj Shekhawat kabhi koi baazi nahi haara…
Aur phir yeh toh Zindagi ki sabse badi baazi hai….
Usse yeh har haal mein jeetna hoga… aur woh jeetega…
He smiled at her suddenly…and Naina rolled her eyes knowing exactly what all he was thinking…
Then she too smiled, knowing very well that the day isn't far, when Raj will win her trust again……
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