"Tumhi Se Pyaar Kiya Hain"
He closed his eyes and let the words come to him.
"Jab choti choti baton main,
hum haste the, rote the..."
She sat on the steps, with that cute red nose and sparkly eyes that got a hold of her face when she cried.
He walked over. "Ab kya hua?"
She looked away.
Toh baat serious hai.
Sitting down next to her, he pulled out a chocolate bar from his backpack and began eating it. "Mmm..." He purposely moaned.
"Tumhe sharam nahi ati? Tumhari best friend yahan bet ke ro rahi hai, aur tum chocolate ka maza luta rahe ho."
"I asked what happened but someone seemed to be on a maun vrat."
Even for a 9 year old, she was piece of work.
"Kya hua?" He asked with the most serious yet gentle voice a kid could pull of.
"I got a C in science. Mamma is going to to be so mad and I'm going to get in trouble and..."
He stuffed the rest of the chocolate bar in her mouth. "Chup. Bilkul Chup."
She started chewing and wiped her tears.
"Everyone gets bad grades once in a while idiot! That doesn't mean we start crying. And I know Garima Aunty is going to understand ok."
"Promise?" she sniffeled.
"Promise!"
"Pinky Promise?"
"Pinky Promise!" he assured her and then broke into grin. The satisfaction the chocolate gave her was worth giving it up.
"By the way, I think you need a haircut." he said tugging her ponytail and making a run for it before she started chasing him.
"Ouch! You think it's funny huh? Abhi tujhe dikhati hoon!" she spoke mouth still full of chocolate.
He sweet giggles still echoed all through his mind.
"Tab se tum se pyaar kiya hai..."
He penned down in memory of that day. Since then he carried a bunch of Hershey Chocolate bars instead of pacifiers when she decided to go all Nirupa Roy (tragedy queen) on him.
This was easier than he thought. He closed his eyes once more, keeping her sweet giggles in mind.
"Jab bin mausam barsaaton main,
hum jhoom jhoom ke gaate the..."
"You're such a bore Arnav! Who doesn't like to dance in the rain?" she started spinning around letting her skirt bloom into a beautiful flower around her.
"I'm not impossible, you're a bore!" She threw the umbrella out of his hands.
"Ok!" She said as if it were nothing and took his hands into hers.
"Now what exactly are idiots who are standing in the middle of the road when it's raining cats and dogs supposed to do?" He asked following where she was taking his hands.
"They're supposed to dance." she smiled placing his hands on her petite waist.
His hands hesitantly grip her waist. This was the first time in his 15 years of existence had he danced with a girl. "Without music?"
"Music shall be provided by Mr. Arnav Singh Raizada and Ms. Khushi Kumari Gupta!" She announced.
"What do you mean?" He asked as she started swaying.
"I'm telling you to sing Arnav!"
"What? No! It's ridiculous enough I agreed to stand in the rain with you."
"Not stand... DANCE!" She said as she jumped out if his arms and started, "Oh Haseena Zulfon Wali Jane Jahan! Dhunti Hai Khafir Ankhen Kiska Nishaan!"
Arnav's face broke into a mile long smile and joined the craziness. "Mehfil Mehfil Ae Shama, Phirti Ho Kahan?"
And the two started dancing and singing as loud as they could not giving a shit about if they were in tune or not.
That was until the other neighbors came out and they were drove back in.
"Tab se tum se pyaar kiya hai..."
He still remembers how deeply in trouble she got them into. He was grounded for two full weeks. But he didn't regret any of it.
Ever since the the sound of the rain hitting upon his rooftop served as music and made him want to dance like a goofball all over again.
Aah.. yes. The rooftop. Held so many memories.
He closed his eyes once more.
"Jab chup chup ke, aadhi raton main,
chat pe taare ginte the..."
"Arnav we're getting together tonight to watch a movie. Wanna come?" Michael asked over the phone.
"I can't today. Gotta date."
"With who?"
"My roof." He chuckled putting the phone down.
He rushed up the stairs with a bag of jumbo sized marshmallows to see that she had already managed to sneak in and was laying on the coffee colored blanket, her hair fanned out around her.
"I'm not late am I?" He laid down next to her.
"5 Minutes Late." She answered with a pout snatching the bag of marshmallows out of his hands.
"It's been 18 years. I thought you knew by now to expect a 5 minute delay." He reached over for a marshmallow only for her to pull the bag away.
"I'm always on time aren't I? And this isn't even my rooftop." she sulked further.
"Alright baba! Next time I'm late you can..." He looked around for any ideas, "Push me down the roof."
"Shut up Arnav!" She threw a handful of Marshmallows at his face.
"I know." She chirped as she went back to counting the stars.
"I still don't get why you do that? It's impossible Khushi!"
"...28, 29, Shut up Arnav! Now I forgot my place! Thanks a lot!"
"29."
"Huh?"
"You were at 29." He took her hand and pointed to the star she left off on.
"Khushi..."
"Shh!" she quieted him.
He crossed his arms with a smirk, waiting for her to give up. He observed the expression on her face go from excitement to frustration to defeat.
"I give up!" She threw a marshmallow up in the air in frustration.
"You're such a kid!" He chuckled.
"Gotta problem with that?" she turned towards him.
"No mam!" He put his hands up as if under arrest.
"Better not." She nudged. "And anyways, your turn."
"You're not making me do this are you?"
She remained mum and just looked at him with those big brown eyes. Taking a deep breathe he knew he'd lost the war.
"One, Two, Three..." He started pointing to random sparkles in the sky.
"Wait you forgot that one!" She pointed.
"Shh! You're messing me up!" He exclaimed.
"I thought you didn't want to do this." Arnav turned his head over to see her victorious smirk. "It's fun isn't it?" She asked knowing the answer.
"I was right! I was right! Go Khushi! Go Khushi! Go Khushi! Go Khushi!" She chanted her silly victory chant.
"FOURTEEN! FIFTEEN! SIXTEEN..." He counted louder trying to dominate her teasing chant but yet smiled inwardly adoring her goofball innocence.
"Tab se tum se pyaar kiya hai..."
They still had those rooftop meetings. And she still chanted her annoying chant, every time she had the chance.
His Khushi was still a kid from the heart. But he wouldn't change her for the world.
He's loved her forever. Infact,
"Ab toh khud bhi bhool chuka hoon,
ki kab se tumse pyaar kiya,"
Her beautiful face, her childish laugh, her mischievous eyes,
they all ran through his mind.
"Bas itna keh sakta hoon, ki sirf tumse,
tumhi se pyaar kiya hai."
He was folding the letter in fours when he heard a knock on the door.
"Bhoot hoon main!"
Nautanki, He smiled. "Come in."
"I just came over to remind you of your date with your rooftop supervised by me." She giggled.
"I know."
"And bring popcorn this time too kay?"
"Anything else mam?" he asked sarcastically.
"No that'll be all." She laughed observing his face.
"Pehle kabhi meri shakal nahi dekhi?"
"No, I was just wondering... Did you check your email?" She bit her lip.
"Naw, didn't get around to it yet. Why?"
"Why?!? Preeti sent pictures of her newborn!" she exclaimed.
"Oh, I'll check em later. But speaking of mail, I have a letter for you." He swiped the letter off his desk and handed it to her, keeping his cool as best he could. "But you can only open it when you get home."
"Why? That's stupid!" She said as she started to open the letter.
"Nope! Now bye!" He pushed her out of the room.
He sighed against the door. Now the rest was up to god.
Trying his best to calm down, he sat back down in his desk. Preeti's newborn. Everyone they knew was married and now we're having kids, but a future without Khushi just didn't seem possible.
He opened his gmail to see one new message in his inbox by... Khushi?
He clicked on it to read,
"Jab mujhe khush karne ke liye, apni chocolate gawa dete the,
Tab se tum se pyaar kiya hai...
Jab meri zid ke liye, tum padosiyon ki daant kha lete the,
Tab se tum se pyaar kiya hai...
Jab mujhe chidhane, mere baal keench te the,
Tab se tumse pyaar kiya hai...
Lekin mujhe pata hai,
Ki kabse tumse pyaar kiya hai...
Jab tumne dosti ke haath badaya,
Tab se tumse,
Sirf tumhi se pyaar kiya hai."
It took him a moment to comprehend what had just happened. She loved him.
He rushed to open the door to see her with the same pink nose and eyes glistening in tears, looking just as cute as she did when she was 9.
"Preeti's only 2 months pregnant you duffer." she cried before she gave him a tight hug.
"I should have known. Khushi Kumari Gupta doesn't write letters, she emails." He smiled against her hair.
"All these years we've wasted..." She cried into his chest.
His reply was cut off by the thunder.
"We'll make up for it." He said picking her up. "OH HASEENA ZULFON WALI JANE JAHAN!" he started as he led them outside.
***
Mohabbatein has a lot of cute dialogues and I absolutely love that movie.
***
Hope you liked it.
-Shweta 😃

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