A NEW HOPE - Page 18

hmmm... good work dear.. ll be waitin for your updates tomorrow.. 😊

Excelllent update....its nice to seen everyone so excited about the wedding.....and also their concernce that the wedding should be perfect.

Thanks....will wait for the next. 😛

wooooow...simply great dear...thanks for this awesum update 👏 👏 👏

Thanks everyone, the first update is coming up within the next 10 minutes...

Back in Barmer, at Abhimanyu's palace, it was exactly 6:30 p.m on the dot when everyone woke up, completely rested and fresh. They all met downstairs in the main hall where all they did was just sit and relax. Raj and Naina's wedding was going to take place after 10 days and though they had to begin preparations, a day ro two of rest wouldn't do any harm.

12 of them had gotten up and were now waiting for Aalekh, Navin and Abhimanyu. But they didn't have to wait that long for after 5 minutes of waiting Naina saw the three of them come downstairs.

"Sorry guys, lekin jaise ki Naina jaanti hai ki main bahut hi heavy sleeper hoon aur mujhe uthne mein waqt lagta hai…" Navin explained as he sat down on one of the sofas.

"It's fine Navin…" Shalini said.

"Waise apun sab ab kya karne waale hai?" Aalekh asked.

"Kuch khaas nahi, sirf yahan ka ek chota sa tour aur uske baad mahal mein aake baith jaayenge…" Abhimanyu said.

"Well then, shall we go?" Raj asks.

"Haan…"

So, one by one, they all get up and follow Abhimanyu on his tour of the palace, palace grounds and some places that were near the palace. For the next hour or so, all 15 of them were seen exploring part of Barmer, having fun and enjoying themselves. Raj and Naina had purposely decided to stay behind the others so that they could have some time to themselves; they were mostly seen walking around hand in hand talking quietly to each other and smiling a lot.

"Hmm… kya baatein chal rahi hai?" Sherry asked the two of them.

"Kuch nahi, bas aise hi baat kar rahe hai…" Raj replied.

"Accha, toh phir bhabhi itni khush kyun dikh rahi hai, Raj?"

"Kyun? Mujhe khush nahi hona chahiye, Sherry?" Naina asked.

"I didn't mean it like that, bhabhi, main bas itna pooch rahi thi ki aap dono kya baatein kar rahe the?"

"Shaadi ki baatein… bas…" Naina replied.

"Okay…"

15 minutes later, Abhimanyu said that it was time they headed for the palace. It was 8:00 p.m, and dinner was still an hour later. As they headed back towards the palace, Gunny suggested that they all could go and sit at the poolside until it was time for dinner. They all agreed to this idea and headed for the poolside.

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When they reached there, they saw that at night time, there were small white lights that were placed around the sides of the pool which had been lit. The setting was perfect for a night out. Everyone sat on the chairs, laid back and stared up to the starry sky above.

A wedding as grand as Raj and Naina's had never been so relxing, soothing and peaceful. Navin, Naina, Rajveer, Aalekh, Abhimanyu, Roma, Shalini, Sherry, Ali, Pooja, Sameera, Yudi, Huda, Gunny and Neelu were all at ease, enjoying their vacation before it was time to get to work.

A few minutes before dinner time, everyone went back inside the palace and freshened up, then proceeded to the dining room. When they all entered the dining room, all of them saw that it was grandly decorated; there was a big chandelier hanging from the ceiling, there were big windows at the end of the room which had a marvelous view of the pool outside, the table was big enough for all 15 of them, it was laid with a white and gold cloth and there were many dishes placed on top already. Everyone took their seats and enjoyed the wonderful dinner. As they were eating, they began discussing their plans for the following day.

"Humein kal se shopping karni hai, pehla function, roke ke liye kapde abhi kharidne honge…" Shalini said.

"Haan… kal hum sab shopping karne jaayenge…" Naina said.

"Hum sab?" Yudi asked.

"Shopping karne mein mazaa nahi hai yaar, hum ladko ko shopping ke liye mat bolo…" Huda said.

"Accha, toh tum sabke roka aur baaki functions ke kapde kaun laayenge?" Pooja asked.

"Arre, humaare kapde ki shopping hum baad mein kar lenge, punjaban. Par tum ladkiyon ki shopping ghanto tak chalegi…" Huda said.

"Okay… suno…" Navin started to say, "Saari ladkiyan ko kal shopping karna hai right?"

"Haan…" Roma said.

"Toh unke saath Raj, Ali, Aalekh aur main chale jaayenge…" Navin said.

"Aur baaki sab kya karenge, Navin?" Gunny asked.

"Kuch bhi kar sakenge…mahal bahut bada hai…"

"Theek hai…" Ali said.

It was decided that Naina, Shalini, Pooja, Sherry, Neelu, Roma and Sameera would go shopping the next day and accompanying them would be Rajveer, Navin and Ali. Abhimanyu, Yudi, Huda and Gunny would be staying in the palace itself till everyone came back after which they all would go for some sightseeing. Once dinner was over, they all went to the main hall and sat there talking until it was time they slept.

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On the other hand, Major General R.S Gaur had landed at the airport and was on his way to the Barmer Army headquarters.

It was around 11:30 p.m when he reached there. After meeting with his superior officers, M.G. Gaur had his luggage taken to one of the small villas near the headquarters. He was to report back to the main base at 5:00 am sharp, so he decided to sleep until it was time.
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Back at the palace; it was only 11:30 when everyone had retired to their rooms for the night to sleep. But, Naina wasn't the least bit tired. She knew that there was a long day of shopping the next morning, but she couldn't get any sleep at all. Getting up from her bed, Naina slipped on an ivory robe which matched her night gown. She thought to herself what she could do at this late hour.

"Hmm… Raj shayad is waqt so raha hoga… bahut thak gaya tha…warna usse milne jaati… nahi… kuch aur karna padega. Think Naina…"

She thought back to the conversation she had been having with Abhimanyu after dinner in the main hall. He was telling her about the different rooms in the palace. There was a kitchen located towards the back of the palace, on the ground floor; the first two floors had bedrooms, the third floor was rarely used, but it also had…

"The library… haan, main kuch der ke liye library mein jaake ek acchi si kitaab padhti hoon."

She had been surprised when Abhimanyu had mentioned a library, and since there was no better place to go, Naina decided that the library was a good place. She took a lantern that hung beside her bed and lit it. Though the idea of a lantern was a bit ancient, it was better than a flashlight.

Quietly as possible, Naina stepped out of her room and tiptoed across the landing towards the staircase where she climbed up two floors and was soon standing on the third floor's landing.

Walking towards where Abhimanyu had said the library was Naina noticed that the whole palace was dark and silent. Everyone had fallen asleep. Naina stopped outside a door which was supposedly the library and opened it.

The room was pitch black; holding up her lantern, Naina found the light switch and flipped it on.

"Wow… isse kehte hai The Royal Library. Maine socha nahi tha ki itna bada hoga…" Naina said to herself.
The library was indeed big. There was a red carpet placed on top of the marble floor, the room was mostly surrounded by bookshelves on each side. At the far end of the room, there were a few comfy, chairs and a table. Instead of a huge chandelier hanging from above, Naina noticed that there were small fluorescent yellow-golden bulbs shining. She walked over to the table and set the lantern on top of it.

As she did so, she caught sight of something outside the window. Looking out, Naina saw that the poolside was dark now; the lights had been shut off. The garden was slightly visible from up there, but what Naina saw towards the right of the garden was almost enough to take her breath away; far out, away from the palace was a small, but beautiful lake. It was glimmering under the moonlight and was calm. The glow of the moon made the lake look heavenly. Naina drew herself away from the window and went about the library looking for something to read for a half hour at least.

For about five minutes, she searched one area of the bookshelves trying to find a suitable book to read. At last, wedged between two thick royal Rajasthani books Naina found a good book to read, 'Pride and Prejudice' by Jane Austen. She then seated herself on one of the chairs and began to read. She was deeply immersed in her reading, that she didn't notice when the doors to the library slipped open, and someone stepped inside.

Of course that someone was Rajveer, who unlike Naina had stumbled upon the library by chance. He had been exploring the upper floors of the palace, when he saw a light coming from a room on the third floor, and being curious to see who was awake after midnight, opened the door to the library and saw Naina sitting there reading a book.

"Hmm… so Lt. Naina 'ah' Singh yahan hai… library mein baithkar kitaab padh rahi hai…" he whispered to himself.

He was delighted to know that Naina had still not caught sight of him. Thinking of a nice plan, Rajveer went and hid behind a bookshelf which was opposite to the one where Naina had found her book. 5-7 minutes later, Naina stopped reading and saw the time; 12:35 a.m.

"Uh-oh… mujhe abhi niche jaana chahiye, bahut late ho gaya hai… main kal aake isse continue karti hoon" she said.

Getting up from her chair, Naina picked her book up, marked the page she was on and walked towards the bookshelf to keep the book back. Rajveer decided to make his move; while Naina was placing the book, he crept across the carpet and stopped five inches behind Naina and placed his hands around her waist.

"Aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh…….." She began screaming when she felt someone slip hands around her waist until a hand covered her mouth to stop her screaming. It was when she heard the person speak did she stop screaming.

"Uff… Nia, tum itna chila kyun ahi ho?"

Naina turned around and saw Rajveer standing there, one hand on her mouth and the other was still on her waist. He removed his hand from her mouth to let her speak.

"Raj… tum? Yahan… yahan kya kar rahe ho?? Tumne mujhe itna dara diya tha… mere piche aakaar mujhe daraane ki koshish kyun kiya?"

But all Raj could do was laugh. For about a minute or two, he stood there, laughing while Naina stared at him. When he stopped, he spoke.

"Nia… tum, tumne apni shakal dekhi hai? Aisa lagta hai ki tumne bhoot dekha hai…"

"Ha-ha, not funny Raj… tum yahan library mein itni der raat kya kar rahe ho?"

"Yeh toh main bhi pooch sakta hoon ki meri hone waali biwi raat ke paune ek baje, library mein kya kar rahi ho?"

"Main toh bas kitaab padh rahi thi, mujhe neend nahi aa rahi thi, Abhimanyu ne kaha tha ki yahan par library hai, isliye main yahan chali aayi…. Ab tum batao, Raj…"

"Ok… batata hoon. Mujhe bhi neend nahi aa rahi thi, isliye socha ki kyun na mahal ke baaki manzilon ko dekh loon, aur jab main yahan aaya toh dekha ki light chaalu thi… maine andar dekha ki tum shaanti se baithi ho aur kitaab padh rahi ho..."

"Isliye socha ki mujhe dara do…?"

"Nahi, main tumhe darana nahi chahta tha Nia… main toh…"

"Tum toh, kya? Rehne do… main niche jaa rahi hoon. It's late, tum bhi niche chalo aur jaake so jao…"

"Naina… naraaz ho?"

"Nahi…"

"Tum naraaz ho…"

"Nahi, Raj…"

"Haan Nia…"

"Nahi…"

During the 'haan-nahi' conversation, Rajveer came closer to Naina, closing the distance between them. When the two of them were barely centimeters apart, Rajveer bent forward and brushed his lips against Naina's, and said, "tum naraaz ho…"

Slightly blushing, Naina stepped back, moved away from Raj's grip and said "main naraaz thi, ab nahi hoon" She kissed him on the cheek and ran out of the library. Rajveer grinned as he saw Naina leave and took her lantern from the table, shut the lights in the library and went downstairs to his room. He left Naina's lantern on the hook outside her door, which was shut, and went to his room to sleep.

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A few hours later, at 5:00 am, Major General Gaur had reported back to Barmer's headquarters and after a small debriefing on the current terrorist issue, he went to his temporary office and called Brigadier Chandok so that he could start his work.

"Hello, Brigadier, ji haan main theek se pahunch gaya hoon… yes."

"Hmm… yes, main abhi office mein hoon, saari equipments ke saath. Okay, yes… haan, ho jaayega."

"I'll let you know if anything comes up Brigadier. Okay… bye."

After the conversation was over, Major General Gaur called an orderly to his office and asked for the black briefcase that was for him. 5 minutes later, the briefcase was brought into M.G Gaur's office and the equipment had been set up to the computer.

M.G Gaur now had connection to the device located inside the chalet in Ambala where Rajveer, Navin and the others were staying before and he had indirect access to the terrorist's base where he could hear their talks and see if anything was being planned.

For the next 2 hours, Major General Gaur was seated at his desk, with headphones on listening to a conversation of the terrorists, trying to make out if any of it was suspicious. He had had no luck so far, but was not giving up hope yet.

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At Abhimanyu's palace; everyone woke up at exactly 8:00 a.m and met downstairs in the dining hall for breakfast. The atmosphere and the surrounding's of the palace were something different during the morning time, the sun was bright and shining, there were koel's singing and the palace was full of servants doing their chores and serving everyone with their breakfast.

"So Abhi… shopping ke liye hum log ek-dedh ghante mein nikal rahe hai… we should be back by 3." Navin said.

"Theek hai… waise aap sabke liye humne teen gaadi ka intezaam kiya hai…"

"Okay… par Abhi… shopping karne jaaye kahan?" Raj asked.

"Uff ho, Raj… mujhe pata hai kli shaadi ke liye kapde au rbaaki sab cheezon ke liye kahan jaana hai, main yahan Abhi ke saath pehle bhi aaya hoon… don't worry… main sab sambhal loonga…" Navin said.
"Theek hai, bhaai… ab chale? Hum sabko taiyaar hona hai…"

"Haan… let's go."

Half an hour later, at around 9:00 a.m, all the girls along with Ali, Navin, Aalekh and Rajveer gathered around outside the palace and waited for the cars to arrive. Within a few minutes, three big white cars rolled up outside the driveway and just like the previous day at the airport, three chauffeurs opened the cars.

"Ok… hum log gyarah hai, so we can split up in 4, 3, and 4" Shalini said.

"Raj sir aur Naina toh ek saath hi jaayenge…" Pooja said.

"Main is baar bhaai ke saath jaoongi" Sherry said.

"Okay, aur Aalekh bhi Raj aur Naina ke saath ja sakta hai, right Aalekh?" Sameera said

"Err… woh apun… soch rahela tha ki…" Aalekh began to say.

"It's alright Aalekh, main Sherry, Raj aur Naina ke saath jaata hoon." Navin said.

"Then, dusri car mein Ali, Pooja, Aalekh aur Neelu, aur main, Roma aur Sameera last gaadi mein aa jaayenge." Shalini said.

It was 9:15 by the time the three cars left the palace gates and headed towards the market area where there was plenty of shops, department stores and even some malls for them to shop. Within 15 minutes, the three cars stopped outside a mall, Navin led them to a shop inside the mall where exquisite Indian wedding outfits of the best quality were sold.

"Alright, pehle Raj aur Naina ki kapde select karte hai, tab tak tum sab yahan dekh sakte ho, ya phir dusre shops bhi hai…" Navin told them.

They divided themselves into two groups. Rajveer, Naina, Sherry, Neelu, Sameera and Pooja stayed in the current store while Navin, Roma, Ali, Aalekh and Shalini went to look for their clothes in a store near by. In the store was the wedding couple and group was, the shopkeeper personally came to help them.

"Welcome… kahiye, hum aapki madad kaise kar sakte hai?" The shopkeeper said.

"Uhh… humein shaadi ke kapde dekhne hai…" Neelu said.

"Ji haan… aaiye, aap honge dulha?" The shopkeeper said indicating to Rajveer.

"Haan… aur yeh dulhann hai…" Rajveer said, pointing to Naina.

"Badiya… shaadi mubarak ho… chaliye, hum aapko humaari nayi collection dikhaate hai… aaiye…" the shopkeeper said.

He took them towards the back of the store, where not many customers were there; it was kind of secluded. There were beautiful clothes displayed on mannequins and on the shelves as well.

"Toh bataaiye, aapko kaunse kapde dekhne hai?" the shopkeeper asked.

"Kuch bhi, lekin bahut heavy kapde nahi chahiye… thoda simple par elegant hona chahiye…" Sherry said.

"Oh… main abhi kuch sundar si salwer kurta's lekar aata hoon"

After rejecting all the salwer's, Rajveer and Naina decided that it would be better if for the roka, Naina wore a sari.

"Kya aap humein kuch acchi saariyan dikha sakte hai…?" Rajveer said to the shopkeeper.

"Ji haan, kal shaam ko hi humein nayi sari ki shipment aayi hai… aapko unhi sari dikhata hoon…"

The shopkeeper went out to the front and came back with a cardboard box full of saris. He began removing them one by one, showing them to Naina and Rajveer.

"Naina, yeh sari bahut sundar hai, isse dekho…" Pooja said.

She held up a lovely purple sari which had gold zardari work on it. The sari was beautiful, but too much for the roka.

"Acchi sari hai, Pooji par mujhe kuch alag chahiye…" Naina said.

"Jaise ki yeh sari?" Sameera asked; she had a bluish-green sari in her hand which had silver work on it.

"Haan… aise tarah, par yeh thodi si simple hai…aur mujhe ek hi colour sari chahiye…"

While they were looking for Naina's sari, Sherry had wandered off a bit and came back with a small bunch of sherwani's in her hands.

"Sherry… yeh sab kya hai?" Raj asked his sister.

"Bhaai, aapko roka par sherwani pehni chahiye… main kuch aache se sherwani lekar aayi hoon. Bhabhi ki sari aur aapka sherwani ek saath hi fix kar do."

"Theek hai, Nia… tum zara Sherry ki madad karo… main tumhaare liye sari dhoondta hoon."

"Okay…"

Rajveer continued searching for a sari that would be the best one for Naina to wear for the roka. After looking through about 11-12 sari's, he came across one of them which was wrapped up in tissue paper and was hidden under an ivory sari. He picked it up, and after examining it decided that this was the perfect sari for Naina.

Around the same time, Sherry and Naina had finalized two sherwani's for Rajveer to wear. All that was left was for him to decide if Naina's choice was better or Sherry's.

"Raj… humne do sherwani choose ki hai…tum hi in dono mein se decide kar lo." Naina said.

"Okay… maine tumhaari sari select ki hai…"

Rajveer came over to the table where Naina and Sherry were with the sari in hand. Neelu, Sameera and Pooja were checking out some lehenga's and salwar's at another table. He looked at both the sherwani's; which were very nice.

"Well… bhaiyya, jaldi choose kar lo; humein abhi jewelry bhi dekhna hai…" Sherry said.

"Pata hai Sherry, par dono hi acche hai… decide kaise karoon?" Raj said looking confused.

"Raj… tum dono sherwani le sakte ho; ek roka ke liye aur dusra sangeet ya mehndi ke liye use kar sakte ho…" Naina suggested.

Both brother and sister turned to Naina when they heard her suggestion.

"What?" Naina asked both of them.

"Bhabhi… great idea." Sherry said.

"Haan Naina… main toh bhool gaya tha ki mujhe ek aur sherwani ki zaroorat padegi… ek kaam karte hai; tumhaari choice ki sherwani main roka ke liye pehn loonga aur dusri sherwani kisi aur function par…" Rajveer said.

"Good… ab dikhao, tumne kaunsi sari select kiya?" Naina said.

Rajveer unwrapped the tissue paper and showed his sister and Naina the sari he had chosen. Both the girls were amazed that Rajveer's choice was really nice. In the end, they both got their clothes done and decided to help Sherry and the others choose their outfits for the roka.

Once they all were done, they met up with Navin and the rest at the jewelry store. Everyone but Navin, Ali and Aalekh had finished with the roka outfit shopping so once some jewelry was bought they all went hunting for the boy's clothes. It took them all a while. By 12:30, all the shopping was over and only some small accessories and shoes were left. The 11 of them had lunch in a small restaurant before they resumed shopping.

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