ARAKSHI FF - Chalte Chalte T2 - IMP NOTE on Page 49

Chapter 15 - The Festival of Lights

"I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where. I love you simply, without problems or pride: I love you in this way because I do not know any other way of loving but this, in which there is no I or you, so intimate that your hand upon my chest is my hand, so intimate that when I fall asleep your eyes close."
Pablo Neruda, 100 Love Sonnets

Diwali, the festival of lights. He smiled as he scanned through the few Indian attires he had in his wardrobe. It had been years since he had celebrated Diwali. After all, there had been only darkness in his life. But now, the dark corners had started lighting up. And this time, he wanted to celebrate it with the girl he loved. He scratched his head as he tried to decide whether to wear the maroon one or the green one. He could hear the sound of firecrackers and the shouts of excited children outside. Curiousity dragged him to his window and he saw a group of children - all about 6-8 year olds, lighting firecrackers. A little girl stood at a dark corner, clutching her teddy bear and biting her nails. Her friend or brother, he didn't know which, was obviously busy with his other friends. But he kept shouting at her now and then to come and join them. She kept shaking her head, too scared to go near him. His mind wandered over to a long-lost memory.

Mumbai 1997

"Meethi, tu abhi bhi ghar mein baithi hai! Chal! Mujhe tere saath patakhe jalane hai."

She was dressed in a pretty pink lehenga choli, her hair tied up in a ponytail and her eyes glowing from the candle she held in her hand. She glanced towards him, a terrified look in her eyes and said, "Nahi...tum jaao. Main... mujhe diye jalane hai."

"Darpok!"

"M-m-main kyun darne lagi? Mujhe sach mein diye jalane hai!" She said adamantly, pointing out her glowing candle.

"Aisi baat hai toh pehle hum diye jalate hai. Phir tujhe chalna padega!"

She sighed and said in a meek voice, "Okay..."

Very soon they had lit up her entire balcony and placed diyas near the front door as well. Her father was out - she didn't know where. Not that she cared much. She had her best friend with her. As they walked out towards his house, she stared all around her; the whole street was lit up with fairy lights, diyas and candles. Fireworks lit up the sky. She felt happy as she stared at him beside her, his hand holding hers and admired all the light around them. Yes, she was a little scared of firecrackers but she wasn't going to admit it to him. He probably knew anyway. She failed to hide anything from him. He could read every expression of hers, no matter how hard she tried to hide it.

***

"Le. Kuch nahi hoga." He stretched out his hand, holding a phooljhadi out to her.

She was standing at a corner of the street in front of their house. She had let him light the few rockets he had had, and had gazed up in wonder as they burst in the sky, lighting up the sky in different colours - yellow, red, blue, green. They had jumped around charkhis, laughing and running away as the sparks came closer to their feet.

And now he wanted her to hold a phooljhadi. As she hesitated, he came closer and said, "Acha mera haath pakad. Kuch nahi hoga."

She reached out, nervously, to hold his hand. When she had gripped his hand firmly, he swung the phooljhadi around slowly, forming little circles. As he looked at her, smiling, her face lit up too. Her mouth curved into a smile as she gasped in wonder at the little fiery stick they were holding together. They were holding light, she thought, and laughed, they were holding light together. And it wasn't scary at all. The sparks didn't hurt her hands at all, since he had stretched out his palm on top of hers, protecting it from the few sparks that flew out.

When they looked at each other, their eyes were sparkling with the purest of happiness ever possible.

Mumbai 2013

She smiled as she was reminded of the day they had celebrated their first Diwali together. She had been afraid of holding phooljhadis until that day. It hadn't seemed so scary when she was actually holding it with him, his palm carefully shielding hers from the sparks.

Her phone vibrated, and she jumped back into reality. Her heart skipped a beat as she read it.

It read:

Cannot wait to see you. It almost feels like my first Diwali. :)

Did he actually send that? She opened the text four times and read the sender's name just to be sure. Yes, it was from him. She hugged her phone to herself as she debated on what to wear. She had to look perfect. She typed up a quick reply:

Me too. :)See you at 8.

P.S - Please don't wear one of your boring shirts.

***

He laughed when he read her reply. It was time now, he knew. He had to tell her today. He nervously looked at his reflection in the mirror - a stranger clad in a maroon kurta and black jeans stared back at him. He fidgeted with his hair in front of the mirror. Did it look ok? God, why did he feel so nervous? He obviously knew what she felt for him. Or did he?

He hoped and prayed that he wouldn't stammer when he blurted it all out to her. He was about to tell his best friend he loved her. He sighed as he exited his house. Here we go Arjun, he said to himself, this might seem harder than chasing down a criminal or cracking an impossible case, but hey, you know her since you were children. It should be fine, right?

God, why did he feel like a teenager?

***

He was early. That too, an hour early. The entire team had planned to gather at 8.00 pm at Rathod's house to celebrate Diwali together.

He decided to wait out the hour before entering Rathod's house when the door opened and Rathod walked out, dressed in a pale yellow kurta and jeans.

"Oye, tu itni jaldi aa gaya? Abhi toh sirf," he took a quick glance at his wrist watch and continued, "7 baje hai."

He tried to look around, as if to admire his well-lit house and said, "Dost ke ghar jaldi nahi aa sakta kya?"

Sameer came closer to him, nudged him and said, "Dost ke ghar? Acha? Ya dost ke ghar jo aane wali hai uske liye?"

At this, he couldn't help but laugh and said, "Happy Diwali, Sam."

Sameer smiled, hugged him and replied, "Happy Diwali, Arjun. Chal, andar aa. Aur tu itna nervous kyun hai?"

"Woh... kuch nahi."

"Samajh gaya. Best of luck," he winked at him and beckoned him to come inside.

***

He had drank about 12 glasses of water, and was glancing out Sameer's front window every five minutes. She still wasn't here. It was 8.30 now. She was half an hour late! So typical. He grabbed another glass of water to try and calm himself. Shree, Chotu and Lisa were throwing him curious glances every time he went to get a glass of water. He couldn't care less. He spotted Rathod and Aisha standing at a corner, looking at him from the corner of their eyes and laughing now and then. Great. Everyone seemed to be either looking at him or talking about him. Each passing minute was making him more and more nervous. What if she rejected him? What if it got more awkward between them?

An auto pulled up at the front gate. Impatience made him walk out the door before she had even exited out of the auto. And then he paused, his eyes stopping on her.

She looked breathtakingly beautiful dressed in a pale blue lehenga-choli, her long dark hair left loose around her shoulders, blue earrings dangling down her ears. She looked as if she had wrapped the sky around herself - the summer sky that he loved so much. And then she smiled at him, lighting up her entire face.

He couldn't move, nor take his eyes off her as she approached. The spell was broken as a voice behind him shouted, "Finally! Kitni der laga di madam. Hum sab tera intezaar kar rahe the!" Aisha came out, hugging her and said, "Happy Diwali. You are looking so pretty! I love your dress yaar."

She smiled back and said, "Happy Diwali Aisha. Thank you! And sorry yaar, thodi late ho gayi...tum toh jaanti ho."

He seemed to be rooted to the spot when she walked past him, throwing him a mischievous glance. In the background he could hear the team wishing her happy Diwali and he shut his eyes in exasperation. She had gone right past him and he had been standing there like a dummy. Tera kuch nahi ho sakta Arjun, he thought to himself, tujhse kuch nahi hoga.

***

"Tune dekha?"

"Haan yaar. Arjun sir ek ladki ke peeche. Deva, yeh kya ho gaya." Chotu replied, his mouth wide open in surprise.

Shree sniggered as they both eyed Arjun, whose gaze had been fixed on Sakshi since the moment she had entered. They had also seen him trying to talk to her numerous times, but she had been busy chatting to Aisha or Lisa the entire time and hadn't paid much attention to him.

"Isko bhi dekho. ACP kya peeche pade hai, iske toh bhao hi badh gaye."

Chotu cracked up at this and said, "Acha hai, acha hai. Humare liye maze hai - Arjun sir ko pehli baar aise dekha hai."

Shree cracked up at this - a bit too loud - attracting a glare from Arjun.

***

They were outside in Sameer's courtyard at the back. Shree and Chotu were busy opening up packets of firecrackers and bursting one after the other. Lisa kept snatching away Shree's share of crackers whenever he was on the verge of lighting one, starting a good many fights between them. Aisha and Sameer were also chatting away at one corner, joy reflected on both their faces. She smiled at everyone around her - seeing everyone happy made her happy too. She looked around for Arjun but couldn't find him anymore. Where did he disappear to? She had seen him gaze at her mesmerised throughout the party, ever since she had made her entry. It had been a good decision to wear his favourite colour, although she knew he would have admired her no matter what colour she wore. Her breath had been taken away when her eyes had first landed on him too. Seeing him in Indian attire for the first time had left her weak in the knees - he looked too handsome. His hair was a bit ruffled - no doubt he had been running his fingers through them the time he had spent waiting for her. She had badly wanted to talk to him then and there, but then it would have spoiled all the fun. She chuckled to herself as she was reminded of his frustrated expression trying to talk to her throughout the party.

And then suddenly she could feel his gaze upon her, making her blush. She looked around and met his eyes in the distance, standing behind Sameer and Aisha. She knew her eyes gave her away this time as she gazed transfixedly at him. He didn't break eye contact as he made his way through the lit up crackers. The light from the anaar lit up his face, unveiling the slight curve of his mouth. He stopped to pick up a phooljhadi, lit it and continued to make his way towards her. She smiled as she guessed what he was about to do next.

She kept looking into his eyes as he put his hand out, his other arm going around her waist, touching her bare skin and sending up a shiver through her body. And then slowly, she put her hand over his, gripping the stick through his fingers, this time, protecting his fingers from the sparks.

She couldn't stop smiling when she realised what this meant. His eyes said it all as she drowned herself in them, their hands swinging around the phooljhadi, together, smiles lighting up both their faces. He was in love with her too.

***

He was standing with his back to her at the edge of the terrace. Despite of all the candles around her, his face was left in the dark. It was hard to read his expression as he turned around to face her, the sound of her bangles alerting him of her presence.

"Mujhe yahan kyun bulaya Arjun? Pata hai, sab log kaise ghoor rahe the mujhe neeche."

"Toh ghoorne de. Main Sam ko poochke hi yaha aaya hoon."

A few minutes ago Sameer had requested her to go up to his terrace. When she had thrown him a questioning look he had replied with, "Mujhe nahi pata. Arjun ne mujhse kaha tujhe upar bhejne ke liye." She had seen the glint of mischief in his eyes as he had said that. And so, now here she was on Sameer's terrace, lit up by candles all around her. The entire team waiting downstairs, whilst they were alone on the terrace made her a tad bit nervous.

He had come perturbingly close to her and she felt herself becoming numb again. As she opened her mouth to speak again, he reached out, putting his finger on her lips, and said, "Sssh. Abhi kuch nahi bolegi tu. Sirf main bolunga aur tu sunegi." His voice was deep and solemn, with a ring of huskiness in it. She could feel her lips trembling against his touch and prayed that he wouldn't notice. He paused, clearing his throat and continued, "Mujhe kuch kehna hai tujhse."

Her heart skipped a beat as she guessed what he was about to say. Feeling mischievous right then, she replied, "Ab upar bulaya hai toh kuch kehna hi hoga na, duffer."

He laughed and continued, "Main..."

"Arjun..." A voice behind them bought him to a standstill.

Sameer was standing behind them at the terrace door, trying his best to hold back a laugh.

She laughed as she looked at Arjun's frustrated expression. He replied, "Yaar...tujhe abhi aana tha? Maine kaha na mujhe kuch kaam hai!"

"Uh...woh toh kaha tha lekin... neeche D.I.G sir aaye hue hai. Aur woh abhi Sakshi se baat karna chahte hai. Kaha ki urgent hai... Isliye..."

She put on a straight face as she said, "Arjun, D.I.G sir aaye hai toh koi important kaam hi hoga na? Ab tum toh apni baat bolne se rahi...itne time mein toh ek baby bhi bolna seekh leta hai. Main aati hoon, haan?" She grinned and ran away before he could say anything.