A NEW HOPE - Page 22

Everyone agreed with her, and so they went towards the museum and clicked pictures in both the halls. Once they were done, they then left for the Balsamand Lake which was about 4 miles away from the center of Jodhpur and the only closest place for a perfect picnic. Once they all reached there, they found a nice clearing of lush green grass under the shadow of some trees. The girls unpacked the food that they had brought with them, and soon everyone was sitting and having a nice brunch.

"Yeh jagah toh bahut hi acchi hai… it's a good thing ki humne shaadi ke liye Abhi ke mahal mein sab kuch fix kiya…" Rajveer said.

"Haan… waise kal roka ka function hai… sab kuch tayyar ho gaya hai… sirf choti cheezein baaki hai jo hum sab shaam ko khatam kar lenge…" Shalini said.

"Good. Aur ek baat, roka ke shopping ke saath saath, humein sagai ki thodi si shopping aaj hi kar leni chahiye, kyunki humein mahal ko sagai ke liye sajaana hai aur bahut kaam bhi hai…" Gunny said.

"Raj, Naina… hum sab ne sagai ke liye ek common theme par decide kiya hai; white and silver, tum dono ko kuch kehna hai?" Navin asked.

"Nahi bhaai, in fact mujhe lagta hai ki white and silver accha hoga…" Naina commented.

"Yeh rahi baat phoolan..." Huda said.

"I think white and silver is fine, Navin." Rajveer said agreeing with Naina.

"Good, then kya hum sab sagai ki shopping aaj hi poora kar lenge?" Sameera asked.

"We'll try and see how much we can finish, warna roka ho jaane ke baad humaare paas do-teen din hai sagai se pehle…" Roma said.

"Waise Navin, tune iss Balsamand Lake ke baare mein kuch pata hai?" Abhimanyu asked him. "Humein theek se yaad nahi hai…"

"Well, yeh Balsamand Lake and Garden kaha jaata hai, kyunki humaare piche ek chota sa garden bana hua hai… aur saamne jo lake hai… it's artificial; built in 1159. That's all the information given." Navin told them all.

It was around 11:30 when they were done resting and eating and so they went back to the cars and headed for their next three stops. Their first stop was at the Jaswant Thada, a shrine. The 4 cars reached the shrine a few minutes before noon. They went inside it, as the government had recently made it available for tourists. As in the other sites, they all took many pictures before turning to their guide for information about this place.

"This is the Jaswant Thada shrine. It was built by Sardar Singh in 1899 in memory of Maharaja Jaswant Singh II. This shrine is built out of carved marble sheets as you can see. Inside this cenotaph there are two tombs which are inaccessible at the moment." Navin said.

The group lingered at the shrine for a few more minutes, taking their time to look around and examine the monument. Rajveer and Naina were roaming around the shrine walking hand in hand together. They landed up in a quiet secluded area of the shrine.

"Nia…"

"Haan Raj?"

"Zara yahan khadi ho jao…"

"Kyun?"

"Arre, mujhe tumhaari photo leni hai… yeh jagah perfect hai…"

"Theek hai…"

He smiled as she came closer to where he was standing and waited for him to click her picture, which he did. After her picture was taken, he moved closer to her before she could walk away.

"Pata hai Naina; agar hum dono iss Raja ke samay mein rehte tab bhi hum ek saath hote…"

"Accha, tumhe yeh baat kaise pata hai?" Naina asked.

"Arre, of course hum saath mein rehte… humaara pyaar janam-janam ka hai, hum hamesha saath rahenge…"

"Okay… aur agar main keh doon ki uss waqt agar main Huda ke saath hoti… toh?"

"Toh main usse Raja ke sheron ko khila deta…"

"Raj!"

"Accha baba sorry… magar main tumhe kabhi bhi kisi aur ke saath dekh nahi sakta…"

"Jaanti hoon… isliye toh hum saath rehne ki kasam khaane waale hai; humaari shaadi mein ab kuch hi din baaki hai…"

"Haan, phir tum dekho…"

"Kya?"

"Main kya-kya karta hoon…" he said to her while grinning.

"Raj… ab chalo, sab log jaane waale hai…"

"Pehle ek kiss."

"Pagal ho gaye kya? Yeh ek public tourist jagah hai…"

"Theek hai… chalo." Rajveer said with a sad sigh.

Naina sighed and gave Rajveer a small quick kiss on his cheek which made him smile a lot. Shaking her head, she and Rajveer went back and joined the group. Soon, they were on their way to their second last stop on their sightseeing trip; the Mahamandir Temple. It was a little past 12:30 when they all arrived at the temple. Everyone was amazed at how quickly they had arrived at the temple for it was about 5-6 kms from the shrine which made it 9 kilometeres exactly away from the center of Jodhpur.

Navin led them inside the temple, where everyone prayed to the idols there, clicked photos and then asked Navin about the temple.

"Is par bhi kaafi jaankari nahi hai; it was built in 1812. As you can see, it is huge and if you'll follow me, you can see that these pillars have been intricately carved. There are 84 such pillars all around the temple." Navin said.

Everyone walked about the temple, noting the lovely cutwork and architecture of the Mahamandir Temple. It was a beautiful place. Soon they had to leave and set off for their last stop; Girdikot and Sardar market.

It wasn't a historical place but seemed to be the best location to shop for exquisite handicrafts, souvenirs, etc, in order for them to get to the market; they all had to return to the main area of the city from where they had started.

Done... part 2 coming up at night....

It was 1:30 when they reached there and everyone spent their time roaming around looking at the small stalls buying a few things to take back home to Ambala. They didn't have much time to explore the market, as they had to reach the palace by 3:30. After buying some small souvenirs and handicraft items, everyone set off for the palace, delighted with the wonderful sightseeing trip they had. Back at the palace, they had ample time to freshen up before leaving to finish shopping. The cars were a little delayed, so everyone sat around in the main hall talking about the tour.

"Mera toh inbox full ho gaya hai; bahut mazaa aaya…" Pooja said.

"Haan, Jodhpur bahut hi sundar jagah hai…" Ali commented.

"It sure is, and we took so many pictures, I can't wait to upload them on the laptop. Maybe we could use a picture from the trip for something." Yudi said excitedly.

"Abbey Yudiye, tujhe apne laptop ke siway kuch soojhta bhi hai ya nahi?" Huda said.

"Shaane…" Aalekh began but Neelu stopped him.

"Aalekh, relax. Bro, tum Huda ki baaton par dhyaan mat do… Sherry bata rahi thi ki kaise Huda baar baar tour pe ussi ke saath chipak ke chal raha tha…"

"Bechaari Sherry, woh toh Huda ke Hudagiri se pareshaan ho gayi hogi… hum dono ko itni acchi tarah se jaante bhi nahi hai… aur abhi se itna…." Sameera said.

"Yeh socho ki humaara haal kya hota hoga Sameera" Naina said, coming over from her conversation with her brother and sitting with her friends. "Huda toh kitne saalon se humein tang kar raha hai… par shayad is baar woh Sherry ke baare mein thoda zyada serious hai…"

"Haan Naina, sahi keh rahi hai…" Neelu said. "Sherry itni bhi pareshaan nahi hui hai; I think ki usse Huda mein interest hai…"

"Kisko Huda mein interest hai?" Rajveer said joining in.

"Uhh… koi nahi Raj… dekho gaadiyan aa gayi hai… chale?" Naina said quickly.

"Haan chalo."

The topic about Huda and Sherry was left hanging for the moment as everyone got up and left for shopping. Unlike last time, the group went to another mall to check out the different varieties of clothes and accessories. All the boys who had missed the shopping trip had to get their clothes; the girls had to buy some jewelry before going to find clothes for the engagement.

Once they all reached the mall, the girls dragged the boys to a shop and began fussing about as to who should buy what. Rajveer, Ali, Aalekh and Navin were lucky since they had finished their set of shopping beforehand with the girls, the others were not so lucky.

"I think that this will look good." Sherry said handing a sherwani for Abhimanyu to try on.

"Huda, tu yeh try kar…" Pooja said.

"Yeh acchi hai, Yudi, why don't you try it on?' Shalini said.

"Gunny, try this one… no wait, yeh zyada accha hai…" Roma said.

And so for about 20-30 minutes, Abhimanyu, Huda, Yudi and Gunny were stuck in the store trying on different types of sherwani's, kurta pyjamas, formal shirts; poor boys. The shop they were in also had ladies outfits. Sherry and Sameera needed to find something plain and simple to wear; they had bought their clothes already, but needed some for daily wear. They were really exhausted from the tour, so they decided to ask Huda and Yudi to help them.

One by one, the two girls looked about the shop, picking out various dresses and placing them on the boys who were posed as mannequins and were trying to get their clothes done. The girls were so busy fussing around trying to find a nice outfit for the boys and themselves that no one paid attention to the four who were standing a corner, laughing as they saw the state of their friends.

"Veer… mujhe ek idea hai…" Navin said suddenly.

"Kya?" Rajveer asked his friend.

"Tumhaare paas apna camera hai?" Navin asked.

"No, maine mahal mein chod diya… shopping spree par camera ka kya fayda?" Rajveer asked, confused.

"Sir, apun ke paas Neelu ka camera hai…" Aalekh said.

"Good." Navin said, a funny smirk forming on his lips.

"Par camera ke saath aap karenge kya sir?' Ali asked.

"Tum sab bas dekhte jao…" Navin said, taking the camera from Aalekh.

Navin picked the camera up and began clicking photos of all the boys who were haphazardly dressed, especially Huda and Yudi who were wearing sherwani's with girl's dupatta's hanging from their necks not saying a word as Sherry and Sameera placed a kurta on one shoulder and another dupatta on the other; it was hilarious.

Soon, the clothes were done. Sherry and Sameera had decided that they didn't want to waste money on clothes which were not that important, which angered Huda and Yudi a little bit for they had stood quietly for 15 minutes as mannequins for the girls who didn't but a thing.

The group then moved on to a jewelry shop where the exhausted boys fell on chairs and dozed for a bit. The girls and the energetic boys looked at various necklaces, earrings, bangles, bracelet's and rings. First they looked at gold items which would suffice for the roka; the diamond jewelry was to be bought for the bigger functions.

"Nia, tum isse pehnkar dekh lo… shayad yeh tumhaari sari ko match kare?" Rajveer said handing Naina a beautiful set.

"Hmm… acchi hai, main isse kharid loongi, kya iske matching choodiyan hai?" Naina asked.

"Umm, Roma… aap isse dekhiye, shayad yeh aapko pasand aaye…" Abhimanyu said.

"Dikhao…hmm… bahut sundar hai aur meri kapdon se match bhi karta hai; thanks." Roma said.

"Sherry, zara woh set dikhao… haan, woh green waali." Neelu said. "Aalekh, kya tum isse nikal sakte ho, shayad atak gaya hai."

Aalekh came over from where he was helping Sameera and Shalini and removed the necklace from Neelu's neck where it had gotten stuck in her hair; he then helped her to wear another set and then went to help Pooja, or rather Ali who was trying to find something for Pooja to wear.

"Usool, tu Punjaban ko yeh de…" Aalekh said to Ali handing him a gold set, without any colored stones.

"Shukriya Aalekhbhai… Pooja, aap isse dekhiye…"

"Arre wah Ali, yeh toh mere handset ke liye perfect hai… cover bhi match karta hai…"

On the other side, Yudi, Huda and Gunny were still sitting far from the hustle; that is until Yudi noticed that Shalini was alone in a corner of the shop still looking for some jewelry. He got up from his seat, and after looking for something, he found a pair of earrings which seemed to be what Shalini was looking for, he walked over and heard her asking a helper for some red earrings.

"Shalini…" he called out.

"Oh, Yudi… is everything alright?" Shalini asked.

"I'm fine, but I think you need some help."

"Yes, I am trying to find a nice pair of red earrings to match this set, but I can't find any nice ones."

"Here, try this pair."

He handed over the earrings to Shalini who took them, and wore them on her ears. Once she looked at herself in the mirror, she saw that the earrings and the necklace matched perfectly.

"They're perfect, thanks Yudi."

"No problem. They look good on you."

"I'll pack these please," Shalini said to a helper and then turned to Yudi, "Mujhe lagta hai ki tumhaari behen ko kuch help chahiye. I'm done here."

"Okay."

It was almost 5 when they were done with the jewelry shopping. Since there was nothing much for them to do at the palace, everyone decided that another hour or so at the other mall would be fine. Carrying their shopping, the group left one mall got into their cars and headed for another one where they would buy some of the engagement stuff.

At the new mall, everyone went to the bridal store where after much talking, scuffling and moaning (from most of the boys) it was decided that at least 5 people would finish getting their outfits for the engagement. They all went inside the shop and began looking for clothes that would match the theme.

"Wow… yahan bahut sundar kapde hai… main toh pagal ho jaoongi…" Sameera said.

"Haan Sam, this place has wonderful clothes." Sherry said, fingering a beautiful dress that was white but too simple for an engagement.

"Kya yaar, humein bahut time hai shopping ke liye, kal challenge… abhi mahal mein chalo…" Huda whined.

"Huda bhai, humein zyada waqt nahi lagega…" Ali explained calmly.

"Haan Huda, jaise hi humaari shopping khatam ho jaayegi, we'll head back to the palace." Roma said.

"Mujhe mil gaya." said the excited voice of Shalini.

Shalini came out from the changing room wearing a very beautiful white sari that had a thin silver border all over it. There was some silver work done on the pallu as well, not too heavy and not too simple; it looked amazing; she was lucky that the store had a ready made blouse and petticoat which was the right size. The blouse was plain white, corset style, sleeveless and backless blouse with only strings at the back. The first customer was satisfied, now there were only 4 more outfits to be finalized.

"Bhaai, isse dekho, tum par bahut accha dikhega…" Naina said.

"Okay, main abhi try karke aata hoon." Navin said.

Within the hour, Shalini, Navin, Pooja, Sameera and Ali had finished getting their outfits for the engagement and finally listening to Huda's pleas, they all left the mall and headed back to the palace where they lay in the dance hall until it was dinner time and shortly after that everyone retired to their rooms early and plonked off to sleep. Even Rajveer, who was always in the mood for some mischief and romance decided that one night without sneaking to meet Naina was fine, and so he too went off to sleep.

DONE!!!!!!!!

Please R&R....

Next update mostly on Monday....

wow dear...u have done lots of research...great job and a oooouuuuuuutstanding update...thanku soo much for this awesum part