Chapter-8
Jodhpur-taani's room
She lay on her bed , she didn't cry but her mind was fully disturbed " why didn't he come ??? is it that less important….. no taani why are you thinking like this , he may be busy and off course for todays function , his presence was not that necessary …is that the reason??? Can there be some others??? What if he is not willing for this marriage …. No … why are you thinking like this taani… if that's the case he would have told you… hmm… you could have come ansh….. didn't you want to meet me….. how much I longed to see you, but you didn't come….. you haven't changed ansh …. You were always like this…. You never cared for my feelings ….
"ball mujhe dijiye na ansh …." A cute little taani pouted … innocence brimming on her cute red cheeks
"nahi dunga … tume khelna nahi aata , to phir zid kyu kar rahi hai???" an angry ansh shouted onto her face… she pouted , stamping her feet
" nahi mein janti hu….aise karte hai na" she tried to show how to spin the ball and all the boys started laughing, ansh was not different he joined the clan mocking her , laughing at her , she was in the verge of bursting into tears , she looked at the girls standing near by , they were also chuckling….
"ansh , tum backi sari ladkiyon ko ball deta hai, to mujhe kyu nahi???"
" kyunki backi ladkyan tumhari tarah nahi hai, un logon ko khelna aata hai ,tume to sirf rona aata hai" and he started grinning along with the other boys … enough was enough … he was insulting her …. With in the next fraction of a second she grabbed the ball from his hand and started running… he ran behind her " re rukh … tannu .. meine kaha na .. rukh ja … aur ball mujhe do" he shouted as he chased her … she continued running , but soon he caught hold of her duppatta and dragged her .. " ouchhh… ansh chodo mujhe …." He twisted her wrist and she cried " aahhh.. ansh mujhe dard ho raha hai… chodo…." He took the ball from her hand and pushed her hard …. She couldn't get her balance and fell down…. Her elbow hit a hard stone and started bleeding … she started crying….
She kept looking at his photo …. you made me feel alone amidst others …. Made me feel low … hurt me …. And then …..
"ahhh" she started crying in pain ….
He stopped running and turned behind to find taani crying in pain … her elbow was badly bruised… she rubbed it with her other hand and blood formed patterns on her palm and now her cheeks too as she wiped her tears with the same hand….
" tannu…" he dropped the ball and ran towards her … he tried to take her hand in his when she pushed him away… " taani dekhne do mujhe .."
" nahi , koi zaroorat nahi hai… mujhe tumhara madad nahi chahye " she yelled in between her sobs… he ran from there and in a few minutes came back with a mug of water … he grabbed her hand
" meine kaha na … hato meri raste se.. aur chodo mujhe " she tried to jerk off from his grip , but he tightened his grip and started cleaning her wound with water " ahhh" she cried in pain …he blew air onto her wounds to sooth her … her pain started decreasing and so did the volume of her cry… he continued blowing puffs of air onto them until he was sure that she felt better ……
A soft smile formed on her lips while her eyes were closed and sleep had already dominated her…..
Morning
Today she have a day off…. "Somehow I have get out of the house … whatever happens , I need to practice today… days are running fast and till now we haven't even started the practice… pata nahi shadi k baad kya hoga … " she rubbed her palms together as she walked to and fro in her room .. she was calculating days left for the event… her marriage in between… she started getting tensed … she gave a call to gaurav and asked him to come for practice …. 'Tomorrow it's the engagement , and today no one is going to allow me to go out … but I have to … I have to , for my dreams'… she got dressed and somehow managed to sneak out without anyones notice…
Rehersal hall
"gaurav , cant you do it properly, it's the 5th time we are doing the same step… " taani was in fully angry mood now ..
They were practicing since morning and till then they couldn't even complete the 1st 25%... taani was already tensed because of the marriage ceremonies and she aimed to finish their rehersals before the marriage because she knew afterwards it wont be possible… she wanted to give her best for the performance and worked with full dedication but gaurav was making so many mistakes since morning , he made mistakes with the simplest steps and she couldnot understand what was going on…. Today he behaved different , talked little , maintained distance,Only thing she could decipher was that gaurav wasn't in his daily playful mood
"gaurav , mein tumse kuch pooch raha hoon"… taani raised her voice as she moved forward and stared directly to his face ..
"Gaurav… Why are you playing so stiff … we are to depict the love and passion of radha n Krishna …your face should express love and movements should be soft, and you….[she turned around irritated], where is your concentration gaurav … [he was looking somewhere else ] Gaurav!!!!!" she called again and he was brought out of his trance
" ha .. ha taani .. tum kuch keh rahi thi??" gaurav asked all of a sudden
" what the hell gaurav!!!![she shouted onto his face] I was trying to correct you and you weren't listening … I am already tensed to the maximum , and you are hell bent on giving me more tension…. Cant you do it properly??? I know it isn't a big task for a trained dancer like you"….
"taani my mood isn't good yaar, .. m not able to do … " he said softly
" there isn't enough time gaurav , why don't you understand???? Next 2 weeks I will be busy with marriage functions and then I will have to leave for Mumbai… then how are we gonna do it…"
" then we will not do that's it!!!!!!" he said burning in anger … she stood speechless .….
He turned to her and held her by her shoulders and pinned her to the wall " why don't you understand taani… I don't have a mood …ooo I forgot that You don't have a habbit of caring about others…. you only care about your dreams , your marriage , your life and your love …. You never bother to think how others feel .. what others are going through…." He pushed her back and left the rehersal hall….
She couldn't register what was going on .. gaurav …. Why did he behave like that… he never shouted on my face like this … ya we used to fight but….today…" she sat on the floor of the rehersal hall as a lone tear dropped from her eyes … ' why did he tell like that … that I care about only myself… ya he was right .. I should have understood his condition…. He had already told me that he wasn't ready today , but … but I forced him… I thought only about myself ….. how could I do that …..".. after spending sometime alone , she left for her home
------------------------------
Same time Mumbai
Rey was in his phone call
" yes sweet heart , I have to leave today ..
mmm gonna miss u too ….
But remember kria , I said ok for this marriage only because of you…..
Ya I know baby….
Bye miss u …."
He took his bag and left for the flight…..
He said ok to his dad but his mind was still full of questions, " isn't this cheating??? But kria said …. Ya taani will be shattered if I step back from this marriage… but then still…. In a way it seems cheating, I wont be able to love her at all…. And I will never be able to do justice to our relation …. She will remain my wife just for name sake ...???" he kept asking questions to himself…
He was really tired on reaching jodhpur…he directly went to his room , got freshened up and laid down on his bed … "its cheating… how can I cheat her … I need to tell taani.. I am sure she will understand…I know her…. She will understand and then dad will also have tounderstand and then I will marry kria .. yes .. that's it no more confusions …. Tomorrow I will tell her …."he kept saying to himself till he slept…
Morning
Everyone in the haveli was in a hurry arranging things and making arrangements for accomodationa of guests.. he walked in through the open gates…. His eyes were seeing the current view of the old building but his mind was filled with lots of evergreen memories he had regarding the place… his childhood , the most happy days of his life , days which were filled with only love and care, all were associated with this place he walked in to the aangan , all were busy servants , family members …. He was not supposed to be there at this time …. He just came because he had a different purpose , he wanted to meet taani… without anyones notice he managed to climb upstairs . he knew every nook and corner of this building so it wasn't a difficult task.
Inside taani's room
Taani went to the cupboard and took out the lehenga which she was to wear today….Her face glowed with that beautiful smile of hers .. today finally she is going to meet him… what will be his reaction??? Will he recognize her??? Is he still the same, stubborn and naughty ???... a beautiful smile crept her lips as she thought about him… she went to the washroom to get changed.
She put the blouse and the lehenga and got out of the washroom … her eyes caught sight of the clock kept near the bed side "ohh God … taani its already time… fast…. " she moved in haste towards the dressing table….she took a bindi and put it between her brows …. Her fingers searched for the earings on the table and then she took out two small red jingling earings put them….. She arranged the lehanga and cheked it a thousand times arranging its flows correctly … she leaned to the bed to take the duppatta….
"TAANIII" his voice , loud and strong echoed within the 4 walls of the room, as he barged in and locked the door….. she dropped the dupatta in haste hearing his scream….
In the next fraction of a second their eyes met each other …she couldn't see anything else except those chocolate brown eyeballs of his….. it seemed she was pulled into an embrace ….some sort of a magnetism…she felt frozen… it seemed all her body parts have stopped working….
He stood still for a second on seeing her … who… who is she…. Taani???…. The same taani???….unknowingly his eyelids closed as if it didn't want to let go the picture it saw now….to keep it safe ….. again they opened ….he kept looking at her … he remembered the chirpy , bubbly 12yr old taani who used to cling to him always,he rembered her face , her untidy her ,her careless dressing style , her bak bak's … but the one who stood in front of him now….his eyes searched for atlest one similarity , his eyes roamed all over her face , her hair , her body… he couldn't take his eyes off her …. his intense gaze was freezing her more and more …slowly she took her palm and placed it on her chest to feel her heartbeat***dhak dhak***** dhak dhak***** she could hear her beats now… he couldn't take his eyes off her but now she was feeling conscious …..his gaze is irresistible ….she bit her lips… ****dhak dhak*** dhak dhak***** a ray of crimson slowly started penetrating her wheatish cheeks….she started looking on either sides rubbing her fingers on her palm…while slowly looking at him through the corner of her eyes …. He was still looking at her …she she pressed the knuckles of her right palm with her left, looking on either sides, she searched for the duppatta and turned around…..her hair was bound in a clip…. her bare back….. the dori was half untied …..she could feel his gaze … she touched her back to feel for the dori… but she couldn't get its ends …... She opened her hair to cover her back….she grabbed the duppatta from the bed and arranged it in haste ….
"R…[She closed her eyes … its for the 1st time she is gonna call him rey...she had decided last night , she will call him rey and not ansh, he never liked her calling him so and now she wont irritate him , so she had finalized it, she will call him only rey]R..ey… tu..m yahan…"she was stammering
"huhhh…" he replied all of a sudden .. he didn't hear what she said
"tum achanak aise …." She asked clutching her lehenga
" ha[ he brushed his hair remembering what happened with him a few moments back.. he clutched his mushy strands and continued ] ha vo… taani…" she turned back to face him…but somehow she couldn't keep looking at him for more than a minute
"actually .. I am sorry for coming like that… see …"he managed to say… she looked directly to his face
"i will come later , sorry for barging in like that " he said as he moved towards the door…she kept looking at him.. when he turned .. "vo tumhare earings…" he said pointing to those jingling pieces on her ear.. nervously she touched them and realized they were to drop down, she arranged it and loked towards the door , but he was not there ….. she looked more pretty with that cute red blush that adorned her cheeks now…
Rey stepped outside the room and closed the door behind him … he made his first step looking down, when he bumped onto a hard body " ohhh sorry" both said in unison…rey lifted his head to see the person who stood before him…he couldn't recognize the person … 'one of almost similar age ??? here??? But who is he …. As per his knowledge there cant be any boys of his same age in their family'..
" I am sorry, actually I was careless , " the other replied ..
" sorry I didnt get who you are …" rey replied …
" oh I am sorry , I am taani's friend … mmm… best friend…, Gaurav[ he smiled ]... we had a fight, just came to see whether she is okay, [he smiled again, he was also confused, he hadn't seen this man before in taani's house … who is he???].. mm sorry , I also didn't get who u are " he looked at rey
"ohh.. nice to meet you gaurav… and by the way , I am her fianc … Reyaansh Singhania" he extended his hand for a handshake… gaurav felt the ground under his feet shaken, so its him …he looked at reys hand ,looking directly into his eyes , locked his palm in a handshake….
He took his hand and made his step to taani's room when he felt a strong hold on his upper arm from the back … he turned back , it was rey... " sorry gaurav , but you cant meet her now , umm…., she is getting dressed …"
Gaurav stood still for a second and then said " ohh.. I am sorry , I will wait" he said and moved towards the wall.. rey smiled and walked past….
Precap:
She looked like an angel in the green and red lehanga …
Slowly she put the ring on his finger , her eyes twinkling, her cheeks red,her lips formed the most beautiful and innocent smile… she looked into his eyes , her hazel eye balls reflected immense love and affection and they were searching for the same from his deep brown balls
142