The next morning:
Yuvraj,Laxmi,Saraswati,and Durga came down the stairs in their nice
clothes hoping that they could just go out without being questioned. But
where Menka and Gauri are there's always trouble. Menka and Gauri sat in
the living room watching a serial called Maayka. Menka looked up to see
the girls and Yuvraj heading towards the door. She smiled at Gauri.
"Yuvraj?"
Yuvraj sighed,"Haan Mama?"
"Kahan jaara he ho?"
"Mama..Papa ne hum sabko kehdiya hai ke hum jaa sakte hain...Gauri aap
hamare saath jaana chaati ho?"
Gauri shook her head no and turned back to the t.v.
"Mujhe pata hai Beta...par main Maa hoon mujhe toh fikar aati hai
aapki...bataona Beta kahan jaara he ho?"
"Mama woh..actually....um..."
"Choti Maa..ek cultural show pey jaare hain."Saraswati quickly stepped in
to help her brother.
"Haan Mama..cultural show."
"Oh cultural show? Itne sajh dajh ke? Kuch khaas show hoga?"
"Haan...Mama hum chale?"Yuvraj was surprised that his mom had so far
not tried to keep the girls home.
"Ek minute Beta..main abhi aayi." Menka turned around, winking at Gauri
before she went into the study. She came back with a camera.
"Yuvraj ...aapko show ki photos leni chaaye."
"Nahin Mama...main nahin lena chaata...kya hum ab jaa sakte hain?"
Menka looked towards the door. "Beta abhi toh sirf 7:00 hain..show itni
jaldi shuru hoga?"
"Nahin Mama...par agar hum late gaye...toh ache seats nahin
milenge...isleeyay humain nikalna chaaye."
"Yuvraj woh..." Someone rang the bell and Menka smiled." Haaye itni
subah subah kaun ho sakta hai? Gauri jaake darwaza kolo."
Gauri headed to the door and opened it. "Aap ..aap yahan kya kari ho?"
Yuvraj turned around to see who it was but Gauri was blocking his view.
The person at the door looked confused. "Woh Menka Aunty ne mujhe
khud bulaya hai."
Gauri tried to hide the answer. "Chalo chodo baat.Aap andhar aaye."
Menka looked up. "Tina aap yahan?" Menka tried to act surprised.
"Menka Aunty aap ne khud..."
"Wow kya baat hai...ek minute Tina aap busy toh nahin ho aaj?"
"Nahin Auntyjee."
"Yuvraj..Gauri ke jaga aap Tina ko saath kyun nahin leke jaate?"
Yuvraj looked up angrily. It all made sense now...his mom had just been
stalling them until Tina came. "Nahin Maa..mujhe nahin lagta ke Tina ko
maza aayega...you know she's from London toh isleeyay isse culture ka
kya pata hai?"
"Isleeyay toh jaana chaaye...apne sanskar seekne. Tina aap bhi jaogi."
"Auntyjee main cultural show mein aise nahin jaa sakti." Tina looked
down at her jeans and t-shirt.
"Oho is ghar mein ladkiya kam hai kya?..itne saare kapre hain. Laxmi
jaake koi ache se kapre Tina ko doh."
Laxmi nodded."Aao Tina.
Yuvraj was angry he hated set-ups.
Half an hour later Tina came down with Laxmi. She looked very beautiful
in her ghagra choli. She walked up to Saraswati and Durga and smiled.
"Ab toh main bilkul aapki behen jaise lagti hoon. Am i right?"
Saraswati touched Tina's should. "Aap toh hamaari behen hi ho."
They all headed out the door with Gauri and Menka seeing them off.
Saraswati, Durga and TIna were walking slightly ahead of Yuvraj and
Laxmi. Laxmi pulled Yuvraj back. "Yuvraj...Tina bhot achi ladki hai..aapko
usse ek chance dena chaaye."Laxmi ran up ahead to be with the girls
leaving an angry Yuvraj behind. They all got into the car. Yuvraj was
driving with Saraswati beside him. The other three girls sat in the back.
"Toh cultural show kahan par hai?" Tina looked out the window excitedly.
Laxmi laughed." Oho Tina hum cultural show pe nahin jaare..humne toh
cultural show ka bahana kiya hai..taake hm Eid pe jaa sakein."
Yuvraj looked into the rearview mirror."Haan Tina or agar aap ghar jaana
chaati hain..toh i understand."
"Nahin Yuvraj..EId manane main bhi aaongi."
They reached Shazeb's house soon enough and rang the bell. Maryam
threw open the door and smiled."Yuvraj Bhai! Itni dher lagaay
tumne..hum sab aapka intezaar kare the.Aaye aaye." Yuvraj entered the
house with the girls following.He introduced Maryam, Shazeb and their
parents to his sisters and Tina.
"Sach mein beta humein bhot acha laga key aap hamaare saath Eid
manane aaye hain." Shazeb's mom smiled.
Everyone was talking and laughing but Yuvraj could not focus, his eyes
searched for Fatima. Finally she came out from the corner room. Yuvraj
felt surprisingly like a groom feasting his eyes for the first time on his
bride. Fatima looked like a delicate angel in her pink lengha. Yuvraj
started to daydream.
]song
Yuvraj snapped out of it and stood up. "Um yeh Fatima hai....Shazeb ki
behen..or Fatima...yeh meri behene hai, Saraswati, Laxmi or Durga. Or
yeh Tina hai...umm...inki saheli."
"Toh chale?" Shazeb gestured towards the door.
Later on that day:
Yuvraj walked towards Fatima at the meena bazaar where she was trying
on churiyan."Fatima...aap bhot achi lagri hain."
"Thanks Yuvraj." She turned the other way shyly. Yuvraj smiled and
walked off. Tina had been watching from the other stall and walked over
to Fatima. "Yuvraj kitne ache hai na?"
Fatima nodded.
"Main toh bhot khush hoon ke meri shaadi unke saath hone waali hai."
Fatima looked up surprised." Oh mujhe nahin pata tha...Yuvraj ne kabhi
zikar hi nahin kiya."
"Haan aapko toh pata hai ke ladke kaise hote hai. Oh shawls! Main abhi
aaye." Tina turned and walked away.
Fatima stood their in thought."Jo bhi sapne the ...saare toot gaye...main
bhi kitni stupid thi...Yuvraj itna high class ka ladka hai..or main
toh...shayad sey hua hai...Allah nahin chaata tha ke main ek Hindu se
shaadi karoon...chalo jo bhi hai."
Shazeb stood watching Laxmi and Durga at the jewelry stall. Laxmi was
busy trying on earrings with Durga watching quietly. Occasionally Durga
would nod her head no or yes. "Pata nahin kyun yeh itni chup rehti hai?"
Saraswati who had walked up behind Shazeb had heard his question.
"Hamari Durga shock main hai."
Shazeb turned around embarassed. "Saraswati woh main yuheen dekh ra
tha...key yeh aap dono se kaafi alag hai..kya main jaan sakta hoo..ke kis
hadsaa ne isse aisa kardiya hai?"
"Rape...kisi ne Durga ko rape kiya tha jab yeh 13 saalon ki thi. Shazeb
main aapko bataari hoon..isleeyay mujhe pata hai ke aap imandaar
hai...or kabhi bewafaai nahin karsakte...kaash Durga ki duniya mein koi
farishta aaye khushiyan leke...you know she's a sweet girl...and a
beautiful dancer...par hadse ke baad sab kuch chor diya ..muskuraana
bhi."
"Saraswati aake mujhe please help karo. I don't understand anything."
Tina grabbed Saraswati's hand and dragged her away. Saraswati turned
back and smiled at Shazeb.
"Aap fikar na karo Saraswati woh farishta aa gaya hai...or main hi Durga ki
zindagi mein phir se roshni laonga."
Here's the next part i hope u like it cuz i really do!!! anyways plz leave
comments 😊