Bittersweet Melody
I wanted you to know I love the way you laugh
I wanna hold you high and steal your pain away
I keep your photograph and I know it serves me well
I wanna hold you high and steal your pain away
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She walks into the room. Quietly waking with bare feet against the cold floor. The only noise emanating from the room were the quiet but steady beeps of the heart monitor, the slight jhankar made by her jhumkas, and occasional loud breathing of Maan. Quickly placing the bag which she was carrying near the small side table near his bed, she quietly places the chair near his bed and sits down. Reclining into the back of the chair, she settles in for her nightly vigil. This was the routine which she has followed for the past 5 nights. At first, she had began her nightly visits in apprehension of waking him, of disturbing him, of having to face him and the past but now, the caution only comes with the desire of not wanting to disturb his peace. The grimaces of pain which had been frequent the first couple of days were now very rare on his face. She was yet to face him, but she had know when she began this routine that she most likely would not get to talk to him. In fear of movement, and in need of rest for his body, the doctors were giving him a combination of pain medication and sleeping medication in the night. One of the reason she had chosen to come at night was because she knew that he would be sleeping and because she knew that Daadimaa and Naintara would not allow her to see him during the morning.
Now she just wished that she could see his eyes once, to let him know she was here, had been here for days, that she was keeping her promise. Each night ends with him and each morning begins with him. Taking a hold of his hand, she feels the steady beat of his pulse under her fingers. Caressing the spot slight, she twines their fingers together. Laying their joined hands on the bed, she lays her head down next to them, and once again gazes at his face. She knew that shortly the night nurse would come to check in on Maan, check his temperature, heart beat, etc, make sure he was not displaying any signs of pain.. She did not know how Meera had arranged this but she had been allowed to stay with Maan and take care of him at nights. Her presence was no longer questioned by the night nurses and occasional doctor who came in to check on Maan. She was glad for this, she did not know how she would have been able to convince the hospital staff to let her stay. Now, she just wishes that she could take his pain, the way he had taken hers so many time. She wishes also that they could both be back to their engagement day, they had been so happy but she knows and chooses to believe in fates designs, after all it had brought them together, it will not let them separate. So lost is she in her Maan, that she does not notice the two people lingering outside the door, looking at her looking at Maan.
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'Cause I'm broken when I'm lonesome
And I don't feel right when you're gone away
You've gone away, you don't feel me, here anymore
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Outside Maan's room, stand Meera and Daadimaa, looking at the couple holding hands in the silence of the room. They had been coming for the past 3 days to this spot, standing and lingering here, watching Geet take care of Maan. Savitridevi remembers 3 days ago, how Meera had come to her, asking her for a favor and a promise. The promise had been that of her silence and the favor to go with her to see something. She had never expected to see this, nor had she expected to hear the facts which were relayed to her by Dev and Meera. She could never have expected any of this. When she had spoken those harsh words to Geet on the day of the engagement and asked her to get out of the house, she had not known that so soon she would fill with regret and shame at her harshness. How had this girl, this 18 year old girl, not have held her accountable for what Dev and Naintara did. She had chosen Geet for Maan for so many reasons, one being that she was so traditional and mostly because you could see her good heart in her eyes. She remembers her words on that day now and she feels remorse, but she is also glad, if this girl did not use the truth to blame her, she knew she had been right, this was the perfect soul mate for her Maan.
In her vanity she had considered herself a force to be reckoned with, but this girl, to have the strength and courage to go through so much, at a such tender age, she was proud to say, she had not met anyone like her in her entire life. She was glad now that she had allowed Meera to show her this and that she had not barged in at that moment, and spoiled the tender atmosphere inside that room. She had taken to coming here everyday for the past few nights, just to observe this interaction between Maan and Geet, her shattered heart was being held together only by the threads which were tied around the couple. She still remembers very vividly that night when she was shown and told the truth, she cant tell yet whether she will ever forget but she knows she is not meant to. So many things she had learned that day, yes the worst things had been there, about the betrayal of Dev and Naintara, all that Geet had to go through, how even still Naintara was up to no good, the reason why Geet had initially run from the engagement, but in all the bad, there had come so much good, she had come to know of how Geet was taking care of Maan, how all the food brought for him was prepared and sent by her, how she was keeping the Navratri fast even in this condition for him, how she loved him. Seeing her, seeing them, made her believe in the saying how sometimes the most beautiful flower can sprout from the worst origins, like the lotus from the mud. She quietly moves away from the doors, indicating Meera to follow her, to leave them together alone. Now all that is left for her is prayer, and all she does, is pray, that with all the broken remains which surround this family will in time heal again, that maybe this lotus would herald good tidings for her family.
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The worst is over now and we can breathe again
I wanna hold you high, you steal my pain away
There's so much left to learn, and no one left to fight
I wanna hold you high and steal your pain
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Today marked the 9th day of Navratri and 11 days since Geet has started coming to the hospital at night to look after night. The staff is so used to seeing her understated entrance and silent vigils, that they are taken in by surprise at her appearance today. Usually always punctual, coming in at 10:30pm every night and leaving every morning at 5am, they are surprised to find her come in at 11:00pm, especially dressed the way she was. It was usual to see her come in wearing a suit, so they were surprised to see her dressed in a red and white saree, dressed to the nines, and instead of carrying her usual bag, all she carried was a covered plate. Usually she would stand to greet the nurses, ask after them, and ask about how He was doing, but today she just walks past them, all the while the hall echoed with the noise of the payal which she was wearing. With a steady pace she makes her way towards his room. Again walking barefoot against the cold surface, she carefully places the thali on top of the table but today she does not pull the chair, nor does she take a seat next to him. Today she just stands there gazing at him.
After many minutes, she bends downs and kisses his forehead. Lingering there for a moment, she straightens again. Finally breaking her silence, she whispers his name, "Maan". At this we see a flickering behind his closed eyes but he does not open his eyes. Bending again, this time near his ears, she whispers, "I know you are awake, aankhe kholiye". Again straightening, she waits for his eyes to open, so that she finally look into them, into his soul. Still he does not open his eyes, the only indication of a change, comes from the flickering beat of the heart monitor and the slight twitch of his lips. Finally, she moves to the plate which she had set on the table and takes a red thread which was lying on the plate. Kneeling down near where his hand lay, she quietly picks up his hand and wraps the thread around his wrist, securing it with 3 knotts. Placing a kiss quietly in his palm, she places his hand back on the bed. Slowly standing, she turns around and goes to move away from the bed. No sooner than she has taken a few steps she feels the tug on her saree, looking back quickly, it is only to stop short at the sight of his beautiful and tired, but shining eyes. He again gives a tug at her saree, indicating for her to come closure.
In a daze, gazing only at his eyes, she goes closure and again at his indication bends down. "Tumhe kya laga tha, main Tumhe itna jaldi jaane doonga. One time I leave you alone before the wedding and you disappear." Sitting up from his laying down position, and bringing them even closer to each other, he grabs her hands, "Aab toh shaadi karne ke baad hi Tumhe aapni nazroon se bahar jaane doonga". Tugging at her hands, he pulls her down onto the bed, so that she is half sitting on the bed and half lying on him. "Geet, kuch bolo". Unable to form a words, she continue gazing at him, finally awake and back to himself, finally feeling the familiar burning in her eyes, she flings her arms around him and stars sobbing into his embrace. Curling his arms protectively around her, he holds her until the sobs have stopped, and only them pulling away to rub and kiss the tears away from her face. As he is about to kiss her lips after raining kisses around her face, she abruptly pulls away from the embrace, "Maan aap nahi jaante......." quickly placing his fingers on her lips before she explains any further, he tilts her face up, "Mujhe pata hai, mujhe sab kuch pata hai, kuch din pehle mujhe sab kuch pata chal gaya adi aur pinky se". Again Geet tries to speak, "yaani aapko pata hai ki....." Again placing his finger on her lips, "geet Tumhe kabhi kisine kaha ke tum bohot bolti ho". Quickly before she can reply again, he hastily pulls his fingers away from her lips and replaces them with his lips, for a sweet chaste kiss. Pulling back for a moment, he is placed to see that the worry in her eyes was replaced by a look of dazed pleasure. Before she snaps out of it though, he again places his lips on hers and this time with her active participation, they spend the next few moments expression the relief, their love, all their feelings, through the movements of their lips. Finally he just holds her in his embrace and whispers sweet nothings into her ears along with assurances that the worst was over now, that they would make it through, in fact of how they would come through stronger.
Finally finding the strength, and convincing him to let her stand, she stands and brings over the plate to the bed. Sitting down with the plate in the middle of them, she begins feeding him the sweets first. "this is the prasad from the maha pooja today". At finishing the first bite, he stops her from feeding him the next. "Meera na mujhe tumhare vrat ke baare mein bataye tha, tumne prasad kha ke fast break kiya" Shaking her head to indicate a no, she mumbles, "aapne toh mere charon baju aapne jassos bitha rakhe hain". "Jassos nahi dost. Geet tum is halat mein yeh sab kya karti ho, Tum aaj se sirf humare baby ka khayal rakhna hai, samjhi". Feeling shy, she looks down and nods her consent. Quickly he picks up the prasad from the plate and offers it to her, indicating her to take a bite. As she takes a bite from the sweet, he takes the rest and eats it himself. At hearing her gasp, he simple says, "jhoota khane se pyar bahta hai". After this they continue feeding each other until all the food is gone. Washing up, they sit on the bed again and with hands held, continue to gaze at each other. They knew that there were many things to still talk about, sort out, many questions that they had to answer but tomorrow, for Today they would just enjoy each other. Just being here together, like this, the most important questions had been answered, the rest could wait.
As she goes to bring the chair close to the bed so that she may sit on it, so that he could rest, he stops her short and pulls her back towards him. Still holding onto her, he lays down onto the bed, once he is fully reclined, he pulls her onto him, making her lie completely prone on top on him. "Maan yeh aap kya.........Maan aapko abhi choote lagi hain.....Maan koi dekh lega....Maan" As she continues her protest, he only tightens his arms around her. Finally giving up, knowing that she could not win this battle, she relaxes her body. Feeling every bit of each other, sharing each others heat, secure in each others embrace they drift off to sleep. Morning will find them still in the same positions, still locked onto each other, uncaring of who comes in and what anyone will say, together for now and for always. These two bruised souls were healed in each other and in each other found their harbor and haven. They were finally whole, together, one soul joined, with nothing to stand between them anymore.
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'Cause I'm broken when I'm open
And I don't feel like I am strong enough
'Cause I'm broken when I'm lonesome
And I don't feel right when you're gone away
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Fin.
Bade Achche Lagte Hain Naya Season
Cricket
