2) This is a very slow paced FF at least for the first few parts. It isn't a Maan meets Geet and falls in love Mahiii story. Not at least for the first few parts that I have planned 😆
For a story that has a backdrop of time to it, requires a certain build up. So it will be a slow and steady process. But I do promise to be regular. Please be patient with me 😳
3) Although there are no definite movie plot which the FF is based upon, chances are I might add some touch here and there from movies if I feel like it 😳
4) All the historical events, clans, places or practices mentioned in this FF are merely elements of fiction for the sake of the story and is not based on any real life incidents. If any such thing is found, then it must be purely coincidental!
Please hit LIKE on the intro(pg1) if you wish to receive PMs for this FF.
Time changes everything except something within us which is always surprised by change.
- Thomas Hardy
Two weeks later The Handa brothers were at the airport fussing over their little angel. She was going all alone to a foreign land and that too for a year.
"Dadho(meaning elder brother in Rajasthani) bhai I will be fine", said Geet for the umpteenth time as Rana pleaded if he could join her.
"And you have so much work here already. I can take care of myself", she assured him.
Rana still wasn't convinced, "yeah but still. You never know which places they might send you. You are going in search of conflict little one"
Geet knew she could never convince her brother for he loved her so much but she had to do this for herself.
"I want this so much dadho.." she pleaded with her puppy dog eyes and who in the world wont melt for that if not for her favorite bhai.
Rana hugged her and said his goodbye.
Arjun was waiting for his turn and Geet moaned thinking about going through all this once again. Arjun smiled seeing her cute facial expressions. He ruffled her curly black hair and told her in the most serious tone, "If anyone troubles you, tell them you are Arjun Handa's sister."
Geet smiled at that, "why? Are you some kind of secret don in NYC?"
"You never know", winked Arjun.
He kissed on her forehead and waved her goodbye. As Geet walked towards departure Arjun looked at his newly wed wife, "There, I didn't lecture her or torture her as you put it. Happy now?"
Anika looked at him affectioantely, "Very happy. You did just fine Mr. Handa"
Arjun smiled and put his arm around his wife and walked away as Rana stayed back and watched till Geet disappeared among the crowd.
"Every minute of his life since then has been marked by her absence, every action has lacked dimension because she is not there to measure against. And when I was young I didn't understand, but now, I know, how absence can be present, like a damaged nerve, like a dark bird.
Somehow Geet found her eyes going over and over that same line for about five minutes. A strange feeling crept through her heart at those words from the book, "The Time Traveler's Wife" by Audrey Niffenegger. She decided her brain was telling her to stop reading and looked around. At the farthest corner of the waiting lounge she saw a man sitting alone in a waiting chair and talking animatedly to someone in his phone. She did not see his face as he was sitting facing away from her. He seemed to be a handsome guy though and she hoped he was sitting next to her in the flight. There is something cool about a handsome guy next to you in a long flight.
Maan was already walking into the airport when he heard a raspy laughter and turned around to find a curly haired girl talking to someone, probably an overprotective brother with her back facing him. Such an over-pampered woman, he sighed to himself and walked ahead. He was in a fiery argument on phone when he saw the curly haired woman looking at his direction and unknown to him, his voice calmed down, "Relax mom, I am not mad at anyone. I am not leaving because of the fight. I have certain things to take care of at NYC. I promise you, I will be back to Delhi once my course is completed, happy now?"
He shook his head as he ended the conversation with his worried mother and hoped that the raspy voice girl wont sit next to him in the flight. He isn't exactly in a mood to be with chatter boxes for now. As the flight took off Geet forgot all about the handsome guy and exchanged pleasantries with an old lady who sat next to her. Much to his relief Maan found a seat where two other quiet men were sitting, busy with their work files.
**************************
Five years later,
This is no time for error Geet. Concentrate and work, she said to herself. It was her first independent surgery as a neurosurgeon and even after being an associate and doing most of the work herself for a number of times Geet was still nervous when she looked into the screen showing the nerves in the arms of a man. It was a simple nerve transfer surgery which may help the injured man to gain some functions of his arm back. Her hands didn't shake. It was precise and clean and easily done in the end. As she came out after cleaning her hands, her senior doctor Mr. Martin was standing by the door examining the reports.
"The vitals look good. It is a clean job. Good work, Geet. Now lets hope for the best"
Geet nodded humbly and left the room. It was indeed a tiring day. As she sank back into her chair, her phone buzzed. A smile crossed her soft lips as the name "Nain Tara" flashed on the screen.
"So you remember me now, mam?"Geet asked in her playful tone.
"Urghh Geet..don't even ask...it's been such a long day. I have had three C-sections by now. Two more lined up.", Nain Tara groaned and complained to her friend.
Geet, "Then why are you on the phone?"
She could feel NT smiling at the other end. "Because I want to meet up with you after work. What do you say?"
"Yes, I think I can manage that. It's been weeks yaar since we had some fun!"
"Exactly", echoed NT.
With that they hung up. Geet couldn't help but wonder over the changes that had become them over the past five years. The comical seminar still felt like yesterday. No one in this world would have guessed their paths of life at that time. Nain Tara was the enthusiast. She had wonder in her big dark eyes. Geet still believed that NT's passion was psychology, the working of a human mind, and she took a course in medicine only so that she could be with Geet all the time. They had been inseparable all their life. Geet was the more practical one. The one who just thought about life at the present moment in all its truth. But her year at the UNICEF broadened her outlook about life as a whole. It forced her to think from a different perspective and sometimes some of those experiences even haunted her. She had changed within over the times!
Her curly hair was now straightened and shone smoothly up to her waist, her denims were replaced by elegant dresses, kurtis and saris and it was not just that that had changed. She soon began to think of herself as a tiny spot not even visible in the grand picture of the Universe. It was that thought which inspired her to study about the working of the human brain system, who seem to have achieved more than what they are capable of, according to her. NT on the other hand decided to go for Obstetrics as she was being practical as a doctor who could actually bring life.
How times change!!
********************
Khurana Mansion, Delhi
"Oh for God's sake mom, don't start all that again.", shouted Maan as he saw no other way to end the matter at hand. He saw his mother's fallen face and immediately his tone softened, "We have been through it before, haven't we? As of now, marriage is out of cards for me!"
Anuradha shook her head. She knew her son had made up his mind and there is nothing that she could do to change his mind. But a mother had to try and she would do that all her life. Somewhere she felt responsible, about what happened to him, his love. As if reading her mind he continued. "I don't blame anyone for what happened. I know that now but the past has made me the person that I am today. I know I have never been an ideal son and I am disappointing you and.., he paused for a moment and whispered, "and him perhaps."
Anu touched his stubbled cheek lovingly, "You know we don't think like that, he na beta?"
Maan ignored her and took the hand on his cheek into his palms kissing it, "Which is why you have Dev. My sweet little brother is the ideal son that I can never be. He will fulfill all your dreams. He will bring home your very own "bahu"."
Anu knew well not to press the topic anymore and she continued his playful charade, "And what about my Maan?"
Maan let out his breath, "Your Maan is way too busy with his third restaurant. I am too busy finding the right balance of my gourmet menu. I think it is getting bigger by now."
Anu smiled seeing the way his eyes lit up at the mention of his restaurant "MK's Aeon". It was his third venture. Her little boy had been working hard and now he is all grown up building his own empire. In five years he had risen up from a sous chef to a proud owner of two gourmet restaurants in Delhi and soon a third one is going to be opened in a month or so at Hauz Khas. She had visited the first two with Dev. The first one was not much to her taste but it clicked among the public in Karol Bagh with a staunch helicopter theme for a restaurant. "MK's Chopper", he named it and turned out to be a grand success with the food that was unique and had a different punch altogether. It was soon followed by "MK's Convoy",a rail-themed restaurant near Preet Vihar, which offered dishes of various states and was a decent success. From where Maan stood, it was important for the third restaurant to click well or else people might actually write him off as beginner's luck. Anu looked at her son who was now a totally different man than what she had known him five years ago. His dark eyes were intense and deep and somewhere lost their playful glint of the youth. None the less his features grew sharper making her realise how grown up a man he was. His long hair was now neatly trimmed and meticulously gelled up and a stubble made his pointed jaw more handsome. No longer her sweet boy, he was a man who had his pride, ego, stubbornness and yet a lovable heart.
"So, are you staying for dinner?", she heard herself ask knowing fully well what his answer might be. If she did not immerse her eyes entirely on him, she would have missed the moment where he stiffened at the mention of the idea. But he was never the one to show it, not even to her. His scars were his own.
"Mom, you know na. I have been busy tasting food all day! I don't have an appetite now"
"So what? After working hard all day and night, now you are going to starve?"
"Of course not mom, I will have something later, when I reach home and get some rest."
"This is your home too.", Anu couldn't help the edge to her voice and she regretted it immediately.
"I should go to MY home mom. That is the better way", with that he left.
Anu stood there silently watching her son walk away when she felt a warm hand on her shoulder, "Give him some time, beta", she heard her mother-in-law say.
Savitri Devi who was in her seventies had a silver lining of hair on either side of her neat bun. Her off white saree with the light gold border, was complementing her natural grace and poise.
"Isn't five years enough?"Anu asked her voice full of longing for her son.
Dadi sighed, "be patient with him Anu. He knows what he is doing. I am sure there will be someone in his life who will take away all his pain and give us our sweet boy back."
"I hope you are right maa ji".
******************************
Phewww...so that's the second part. I know you guys are looking forward to Maaneet (more of it than this obviously 🤔) and of course the time travel. But as I said it will take some time to create that build up. So please be patient, and do let me know how you feel about this so far. 😳
This part was meant to show how every individual actually travel in their own timeline and become a different person. Parts of that would definitely come in to play if any one of us were able to travel in time which is how we cope with change and how much of it can we actually take!
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