"I really don't know what to tell you. It's nothing. I am just fine."
The boy pleaded to someone on the other end of the phone.
"Ani..." The voice that wafted from the other hand was exasperated. "How long have we known each other by now???"
"Err... two years...!!!" he just hopped she wouldn't start making him count the months, days and even hours of their relationship.
She did nothing of that sort.
Instead, she huffed. "Yup, give and take a couple of months.You conveniently left that. But well, that's a discussion best left for later. In these two years, have you ever been able to lie to me?"
He had no answer for that. Truth was, she was as sharp as a needle. Nothing escaped her attention, not even the slightest waver in his voice.
"No answer?? Come on, say something."
"Well No... but..."
"So what makes you think you will succeed this time? You don't want to tell me something, fine. Just say so and I will accept it Ani. But for God's sake don't start lying. I hate it."
He went quiet after that small speech from her end. He knew she would never pester him if he did not want to share something. He told her everything on his own accord. She was the most undemanding girl he had ever met. SO why had he lied?
"I didn't want to worry you." He conceded softly.
"You want to talk about it?" she asked.
He kept quiet for a few minutes and then started speaking. She listened to him in absolute silence. When we went silent, she still was quiet.
"Kuch bologi?" he asked.
"I cannot imagine the stress you would be under, Ani. But, have you talked to your teachers?"
"I talked to a senior. Or rather, the senior talked to me." ANd he told her all about the incident in the canteen and his conversation with Umang.
"Poor girl. I cannot even imagine what she must be going through."
"She was surprisingly strong, Apu."
"All the same, I am glad you stood up for her."
"Well, I... "
"You don't like her much, do you?" she chuckled.
He was yet again amazed at her words. She was damn perceptive.
"I don't like her at all." he confessed.
"You don't have to like someone to help him or her, Ani. Besides, you like me, that's more than enough. It's good to know that I don't have any competition in liking department." she joked.
"I just don't like you... I love you." he replied.
She laughed, a sweet sound which took away half of his tensions. He knew she would have gone a soft shade of pink. She always did when he said those three words to her.
"You don't have anything to lose by trusting your senior. SO why don't you take a chance?" she queried.
"I thought the same." he agreed.
"See, you have after all developed some brains in my company." she teased him again.
"Oh hello... I was always the brainy lot."
"Really??? That's why you had fallen into that pit full of coloured water on Holi two years back?" she asked innocently.
"Apoorva..."
She started laughing and unknowingly a smile stretched on his face.
Just then, some one called him from behind. "Aniket...!!!"
"Who is it?" she asked.
"Neel... one of my classmates." he replied.
"Well, go ahead. I will catch up with you later."
"Arey that's fine, I can talk to him later."
"Nothing doing, ANiket." her voice was firm. "You are in a new place, in a new environment. Even if you don't want to make friends, you should not antagonize your peers. Now go."
"Ohh okay...fine. M going,... baby..." He added as an afterthought.
"ANiket..." she literally screamed into his years. "I hate that tag."
"Turnabout is a fair play my dear Apoorva. Don't tease me over Holi pits and I won't tag you with such nicknames."
"You just wait till I meet you, you moron."
"Haha...we will see."
"Get lost, bye." she huffed.
"Bye." he chuckled and disconnected the call.
He turned to find Neel standing a few feet apart with a smile on his face.
"Apoorva???" he queried gently.
"Yes." Aniket answered.
"Well, she certainly seems to have put you in a better mood." Neel observed.
ANiket just smiled, knowing pretty well that there was nothing he could say about it.
"She has that talent." He smiled.
"Well, good for her. Come on, now though. I would like to steal you from her for a few hours."
"Where are we going?"
"We cannot let the birthday mop around in college, wasting his time. Can we? So, destination Hotel Presidency. A small treat from my side." Neel smiled.
"But Neel, it should be my treat." ANiket protested.
"Don't be a dunce, ANiket. I am the one who is earning here, so let me pay for it... okay. You can give me a treat after you get a job."
Aniket agreed and they turned towards the lift.
"So, if I might ask, how long do you know Apoorva?"
ANiket laughed out loud at that. "I will tell you if you promise not to tell her." he winked.
Neel was intrigued. "Okay... out with it then."
"2 years... 2 months... 7 days."
Neel started at him in shock, his mouth forming a perfect O. Then amusement took over and he burst out laughing.
*@*@*@*
"How much more time?" Ishaan queried.
"Neel will be here with the birthday boy any minute Ishaan." Umang hurried around the hall, checking the last minute details.
He walked towards the dias where a mike was set. Ayush was sitting there on the dais, with his guitar in his hand. And Dev was talking to him.
"Are you ready, Ayush?"
"Yes Dev, don't worry. I won't mess up."
She smiled at him.
Just then her phone rang. It was a missed call from Neel.
"Okay guys... Neel just gave a missed call. Which means, they are in the parking lot. You all know what to do?"
A chorus of yes greeted her.
"All right then, absolute silence. And switch off the lights please."
Umang flicked the switch off plunging the hall into darkness. Everyone waited with bated breath.
~ ~ ~ ~
Hand in hand, Neel and Aniket entered the hotel where Neel cleverly manoeuvred their way towards the meeting hall.
"Why towards the meeting hall?" ANiket queried.
"The restaurant is that way." Neel smiled.
"But, I have come here quite a few times, Neel. If I remember right, the restaurant is towards the left. But we are marching on straight."
"Uff ho ANiket... what did I say? This is my treat... so why don't you just wait for a few more seconds patiently?" Neel queried.
A mischievous smirk played on his face as Aniket retorted, "Oh really??? By your treat did you plan on a candle light dinner for the two of us? Coz I assure you I am straight."
Neel rolled his eyes in exasperation causing ANiket to burst out laughing.
"As if I had any doubts about your orientation."
Laughing, Aniket pushed open the door as Neel stopped to pull out a flower from one of the nearby vases.
"And what exactly do you plan to do with that rose?" Aniket asked as he stepped into the doorway of the hall.
And before Neel could reply, something landed on his head with a soft bump. The next instant a loud bang was heard and a flash of lights greeted him. ANiket staggered back a few steps and shielded his eyes with the back of his palm as the sharp glow of spot light fell on him. Someone took him by his arm and led him inside the room.
It took him a few seconds to adjust to the contrasting illuminations. The spot light had been switched off, and now the hall was bathed in soft tones of blue and white. He could see people on either sides of the room. He stood there stunned, looking around him in wonder as he tried to processes what just had happened.
"What is..."
Neel had never left his side. He smiled as he met Aniket's questioning gaze.
"There is more..." Neel mouthed.
Aniket followed Neel's gaze and now realized that the dais was still shrouded in darkness. As if waiting for his attention, the spot light came to life illuminating a figure sitting on the dais with bowed head, a guitar next to him.
As Aniket watched, the boy lifted his head and the spot light illuminated his features. ANiket recognized him as Ayush, a student from a different section, someone whom he just knew by face.
Ayush smiled at him and picked up his guitar. Within seconds, the hall was flooded with its melodious sound as all around him, his friends started singing the birthday song perfectly in sync with the music.
When the performance stopped after about a minute, Aniket found his throat clogged. He had no idea how to reciprocate. He was surrounded by his batchmates and seniors who were wishing him a very happy birthday. In the midst of it all, a silent but stoic Neel stood by side, smiling all the time.
Seized by an unnamed emotion, Aniket turned towards his newly found friend.
"Bhai... what is all this???"
"A very Happy Birthday to you Aniket." Neel smiled at him.
In a flash, Aniket had hugged the taller boy. "Thank you yaar... Thank you so very much."
"You are mad... "But Neel hugged him back equally strongly and Aniket knew he would never be able to hold any hatred for this guy in his heart.
"Ahem ahem..." someone cleared his throat.
A sweet voice rang out. "Vicks tablets, Ishaan?"
A burst of laughter followed that and soon Aniket was being introduced to his seniors.
He had met Umang and Neeshi in the morning, and now was introduced to Ishaan, Arjun, Kanika and Varun. Among his batchmates he only knew Devyanshi, Neel and Aayush. Now he knew others - Mridula, Shipra, Rohit, Peter and Sheena.
"Now that the introductions are done, lets allow Aayush to say something... ooopsss... sing something. I will leave the saying bit for later." Devyanshi smirked.
As if on cue, the beautiful strains of guitar filled the room.
SONG:
Ishq Mera Hai Bas
Itna Ishaara De
Zinda Rehne Ke Liye
Tu Sahaara De (x2)
Aise tujh se judaa ho ke
Sanso Ki Kashtiyo Ko
Tu Kinara De
Zindagi Tujse Hai
Tujse Hai..!
Zindagi Har khushi
Tujse Hai.. Tujse Hai..
Zindagi Tujse Hai
Tujse Hai..
Shayad tujhe naa ho pata
Bin tere jeena mera bewajah
Chahun tujhe ye haq de
Mil jaaye jeene ki mujhe wajah..!
Dekhun tujhe toh barasti duayein
Tere liye hi tarse nigahein
Jee na paayenge
Aise tujh se judda ho ke
Sansho ki kashtiyon ko
Tu kinara de...!
Zindagi Tujse hai
Tujse hai..!
Zindagi har khushi
Tujse hai Tujse hai
Har khushi..!
Socha nahi chaha nahi
Tere siva na kuch bhi jahan
Ruh meri tujh mein basi
Bass tu hi tu hai mera jahan
Kuch bhi nahi main bin tere
Aadhi adhoori saari lakeerien...!
Jee na paayege
Aise tujh se judda ho ke
Sansho ki kashtiyon ko
Tu kinara de..!
Zindagi Tujse hai
Tujse hai..!
Zindagi har khushi
Tujse hai Tujse hai
Har khushi..!
Zindagi.. (x2)
There was a moment of silence as Ayush laid down his guitar next to him. Then Devyanshi began to clap, followed by Aniket and soon everyone had joined the applause.
Soon, the party was in full swing and Aniket, forgetting his miseries of the day was enjoying himself to the core.
In a corner of the room, Neeshi sat nursing a glass of chilled mocktail as she watched the proceedings of the room with a smile on her lips. Her eyes were fixed on Devyanshi who was busy talking and laughing with Peter Sheen.
Peter with his tall and lean physique looked like a model on the ramp. The way he walked, the way he talked, smiled, and held himself always showed his supreme self-confidence. Neeshi and Umang had been watching this particular group of juniors from day one. Though they were not much of friends, but somehow or the other they always ended up together.
Then there was Devyanshi, the girl who had risen to fame thanks to their equally famous Finance Professor. The man was hard to impress, and always a perfect judge of people. At 56 years of age, she supposed it came naturally. That the teacher had been extremely impressed with her would have been an understatement.
She knew Professor Bhatt also liked her progress in finance. But he had the feeling that she herself probably was not. Neeshi hadn't meant to overhear this conversation between two faculties but then she had gone to the senior faculty lounge to submit her assignment and had heard Professor Bhatt and Professor Deshmukh talking. He felt she was short on confidence, and Professor Deshmukh resolved to interact with Devyanshi. But Neeshi was confused. Looking at Devyanshi now and even in college, she was anything but "NOT CONFIDENT". So why had Professor Bhatt felt that way? To that she had no answer.
She was so lost in her thoughts that she did not notice Arjun approaching. Neither did she pay heed to the scrapping of chair as he sat down next to her. It was only when he literally screamed in her ears that Neeshi realized that he was sitting next to her.
"Aaarghhh... Arjun... Why the hell did you have to scream?" she massaged her left ear as she shot a scathing look in his direction.
"If you would have heard me the first time, I would not have shouted." He came back reasonably.
She shook her head. "You know... you are quite impossible."
"Thanks for the compliment."
"That was a comment." She came back sourly.
"Coming from you, it's one and the same." He grinned cheekily.
"And what exactly do you mean?" she cocked her eyebrows at him.
"That when it comes to me, you never pay a single compliment. Poor me...!" He made a sad, puppy dog face. "So, I have started treating your comments as words of praise."
She looked at him in amazement. He was still making the funniest of faces, the expressions ranging between mock hurt and betrayal to fake tears.
"Ahh... poor me..!! My broken heart." He placed a palm on his heart and hung his head.
Neeshi watched his dramatic skills with an open mouth till his actions became too much for her to handle and she burst out laughing.
Arjun watched with half a smile on his face as Neeshi laughed. It wasn't one of her smirks, or a pinched smile. Or a fake laugh. It was a sound of pure, unadulterated joy. The sound came from the pit of her stomach and bubbled out of her. He watched as tears started streaming down her face. She had never laughed like this in her presence. Till date, the only person who could make her laugh was Umang. And talking about the person, he noticed him standing on the opposite corner of the room, watching them with sharp eyes.
Bloody menace. Why couldn't Umang leave him alone with Neeshi. It wasn't as if he would eat her up. But no... Mr. High and Mighty had to keep a close watch on his so called best friend, keeping track of her activities, her friends list - everything. And Neeshi, who hardly tolerated any signs of nosiness, took his interference with a smile on her face. What the hell was wrong with her?
It brought his attention back to her. His mood was completely spoiled. But she was still smiling as she wiped the tears tracks from her cheek.
"Ohh Arjun... why are you wasting your talent here? You should have been in a drama school." She remarked.
Something churned inside him and though he tried to tamp down the feelings from showing up on his face, some of the bitterness probably leaked out for Neeshi noticed it, and became serious.
"What happened?"
"Were you joking or serious?" he made an attempt to smile, but it came out more as a grimace.
"Don't do that." She made a face.
"Do what?" he looked at her in confusion.
"Try to smile when you actually don't feel like it." She said. "You look constipated."
He stared at her incredulously and she again burst out laughing, but sobered up quickly enough at the look on his face.
"All right... So to answer your question, I was serious. You should have been a student of National School of Drama."
"My heart used to lie there." He agreed, a bit too serious for her liking.
"Err... Arjun???"
He was lost in his own world. "For quite a long time, I had harboured a dream of being a famed theatre artist."
"Theatre artist...?"
"Yes, theatre artist. Don't you know there is so much more scope in theatre if you are good. You get to emote, you get to act, you can let go of your inhibitions and soar in the sky... oh Neeshi... it is so wonderful."
She looked at his visage, the unbridled joy on his face as he spoke about acting. His heart lay there, she could feel it. He was so passionate about it. He was telling her something about Rangashankara, the most famous theatre in Bangalore. And she paid only half an ear to it, the rest of her attention focussed on his changing expressions... from amusement to wonder, to happiness to excitement, until finally gloom settled on his appearance.
"Why are you here, Arjun? What exactly are you doing here?" she heard herself ask.
"My dad." He replied despondently. "I am his only son. He wants me to join his family business."
"But this is not your calling. You are wasting your talent here."
"You know, Neeshi... My di Antara, she is brilliant in business. She has such a perfect grasp of the market, knows every damn trick of the trade, is just superb with numbers... she can probably catch every single mistake in a financial report. She has been helping dad in his business since her graduation days and it has been about 8 years now. Dad owes half of his success to her. I fear I can never get the hang of it. I will end up making losses. Yet, time and again he comes back to me to join the business. I just don't like it... but I cannot go against him."
"Forgive me, but is he a tyrant?"
"No, in fact he is very loving."
"So why can't you talk to him and explain that your heart lies elsewhere?"
"Because, this is the only thing that he has ever asked of me... to join his business. And I cannot disappoint him, Neeshi. So... here I am."
He smiled and she could see the pain behind it. She had heard that the parents expectations sometimes harmed the kids, but this was the first time she had seen it. Coming from a family where even the children's opinion was not only heard but accepted, she had always dismissed such sayings with a careless wave of her hands. But today, she could see the truth in them. But her heart refused to believe the utter defeated sigh in his voice. Was there something more in this?
He turned the conversation back to the party and she let him forcing her mind to just forget the topic.
Meanwhile Neel and Devyanshi were busy in their own conversation; fighting, laughing, joking and at the same time playing the perfect host of the party. In the midst of it Aniket got a call from the police station just as he was about to cut the cake and they informed him that the case against him had been dropped. That was the proverbial cherry on the cake. The party had then turned out to be extremely raucous and enjoyable.
After the cake had been cut and the music put on, Devyanshi picked up a big glass of soft drink and moved to a shadowy corner of the room, looking and enjoying the unfolding view from her place.
Neel had been there with her some time ago, but he had received a call and gone out. As Devyanshi sat sipping the drink, she noticed Ayush slipping out of the party. It was perfectly normal, as the noise was too loud and those inside had to go out of the room to receive their phone calls. Or maybe, he was going to the washroom.
Some unnamed feling however, propelled her to her feet and leaving her corner, she walked to the front and across the room towards the door, in the direction that Ayush had taken. By the time she had made it out of the room, Ayush had disappeared from her view and she did not know where to look for him. She wandered in the lobby aimlessly looking at the pictures fixed on the wall. But there was n sign of the boy. Finally frustrated, she decided to go back inside the hall.
Just as she cast a last look around her and turned to leave, she saw Ayush walk through the front entrance in to the lobby. Her eyes narrowed, her brows furrowed, she crossed her hands across her chest and stood her ground.
Ayush had seen her and had noticed even the change in her expressions. He walked straight up to her and halted just a few feet away from her.
"Devyanshi... any problem?"
He appeared genuinely concerned and Devyanshi chose to give him the benefit of doubt.
"As of now, no. But soon, it may be."
"I don't get you? What's wrong?" he repeated his question.
She answered his question with one of her own. "What's cooking between you and Sheena?"
A look of comprehension dawned on his face and Devyanshi braced herself, but for what she herself had no idea.
"Absolutely nothing, Dev."
Devyanshi opened her mouth to deliver a scathing retort, but just then Neeshi shouted for her. "Dev, Ayush... dinner is ready. Come along."
She threw an answer behind her shoulder and turned towards Ayush who had been standing patiently till then.
"We will talk about this later if the need arises Ayush, but be warned that if you deceive or betray Sheena, I will make you pay for it."
"And if Sheena makes some mistake...?" he asked.
"Then the heartache and burden is for her to bear. I won't blame you for it. I promise you that."
He nodded and said, "Then we should have this conversation at the earliest. Tomorrow in the canteen?"
"Done." And together they walked back to the party venue.
*@*@*@*@*
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