Guys here's the new one.The chapter was too big so I am posting it in 2 parts.This is the first part.will post the next part tomorrow.please do not hesitate to point out my mistakes.love all your precious likes and comments😊
Chapter 22-A
"Kesar aa gaya", Gulaal's heartbeat quickened. She had not seen him or talked to him since that night on phone. Yesterday had been very hectic with relatives coming over. Some of them who had come from their ancestral village in Gujarat were staying in their house. She had been very busy looking after them from morning till night. She did not get even a moment's rest. She could not even talk to Kesar who had called up quite a few times. It had been only one day but it felt like a lifetime since she saw him last.
"Roopa,main abhi aati hoon.Sudha bhabhi,Rewa aur Talli ko milkar, unhe yahin le aati hoon.woh tumse mil bhi lenge",Gulaal doesn't wait for her sister's answer and runs off. She rushes through the guests and finally reaches the staircase. She looks down and searches frantically through the sea of a mixture of both familiar and unfamiliar faces to find that one face which had become so dear to her. And then Gulaal's gaze falls upon him and a wide, heartfelt smile spreads across her face. Kesar was looking very handsome today in traditional attire. He was wearing a maroon coloured kurta and a cream pajama with a cream colured stole around his neck. He was talking to her father but at the same time she could see his eyes wander around searching for something, someone, her. Then as if sensing that she was watching him, Kesar looked up and he saw her.
Kesar had been feeling very irritated since the day before. He had not been able to meet Gulaal yesterday.The whole day he had been busy in the office and could not even talk to her over the phone. Later in the evening after he came back from the office tired and exhausted, with a splitting head-ache he tried calling her up. He needed to talk to her because he was sure that hearing her voice would make everything all right and lighten up his mood. But she doesn't pick up the phone and he gets frustrated. His mood had worsened by dinner time and even Rewa had to bear the brunt of his bad temper when she had come to his room to call him for dinner. Rewa's face had crumpled up and this melted Kesar who realized his mistake.
Kesar:"Rewa,sorry main bewajah tum par chillaya.mujhe maaf karde please"
Rewa smiles instantly and says "agar itna hi miss kar rahe ho tho phone kyun nahi kar lethe?"
Kesar unwittingly replies "maine kitni baar koshish ki lekin phone hi nahi utha rahi", suddenly he realized his slip of the tongue and immediately goes into a defense mode, "Rewa,tum kya keh rahi ho aur kiske baare mein baat kar rahi ho?main kisiko miss nahi kar raha".
Rewa in a teasing tone: "main usi ki baat kar rahi hoon jisne tera call nahi liya aur jiski wajah se tera chehra uthra hua hai.ab chal, neeche aa sab tera wait kar rahe hain aur waise kal tho mil hi lega na bas kuch hi ghanton ki baat hai.sabr kar le.", Rewa laughs and exits the room leaving an embarrassed Kesar behind with a sheepish smile on his face. He woke up early the next morning and had been the first to finish getting ready for the function.
Then started his long wait for the ladies to finish their make up and and get ready. He started getting impatient and shouted "aap log itni der lagaayenge tho hum bahut late ho jaayenge.jab tak wahaan pahunchenge tab tak tho sagaai khatham ho chuki hogi" and started pacing up and down the living room. Panba smiles at his impatience and says "beta,ithna uthaavla kyun ho raha hai?abhi sagaai mein bahut samay hai.tum log usse pehle zaroor pahunch jaaoge"
Rewa comes out and says "arre baa Kesar ko wahaan jaldi pahunchne ki jaldi isliye hai kyunki use wahan kisise milna hai".
Panba: "milna hai?lekin kis se?"
Kesar glares at Rewa. She had a wide smile on her face and replies "baa,aaj wahaan pe bahut saari sundar ladkiyaan hongi,tho Kesar unse milna zaroor chaahega na.kyun Kesar sahi keh rahi hoon na main".
Kesar replies angrily: " teri bak-bak khatam ho gayi ho tho chalein".
Sudha noticed the entire exchange and she is not at all amused. She looked at Talli who seemed to be lost in some other world entirely.
By the time they rached Gulaal's place guests had already started coming. Sudha,Rewa and Talli had gone on ahead and Kesar came up behind them after parking the car. As soon as he entered he looked for Gulaal but then realized that she might be with Roopa in her room. He wanted to call her up and let her know that he had arrived but as he is about to call her, Revji comes over to greet him
Revji: "Kesar beta,acha hua tum log jaldi pahunch gaye".
Kesar smiled and took his blessings: "ji,agar koi kaam hai tho bol dijiye main kar doonga".
Revji: "haan beta,kuch hoga tho main bol doonga.shaayad ladkewaalon ke aane ke baad thoda sa kaam ho".
Kesar: "zaroor.aap bilkul chintha mat kijiye".
Though Kesar was talking, his eyes kept searching for Gulaal. Then suddenly he felt someone's gaze on him. He looked up and there she was, standing at the top of the staircase. She was smiling. That dazzling smile that always managed to take his breath away, that special smile which was only reserved for him. It overwhelmed him. It was just a simple smile but that was all he needed. He forgot his restlessness and a strange, wonderful sensation of happiness gripped him. He wanted to run across and just take her in his arms. The moment was interrupted when Revji touched his shoulder and called out his name, "Kesar beta,kya hua?kahan kho gaye?"
Kesar blinks for a few seconds as he slowly comes out of the trance even though his ears are still buzzing and heart is racing and he says, "nahi uncle,mujhe laga ki maine apne kisi friend ko dekha lekin woh shaayad koi aur hai"
Revji: "acha beta tum andar chalo.main baaki mehmaanon ko mil letha hoon".
As Revji walked off, kesar breathed a sigh of relief "Thank God maine situation sambhaal li,agar unhe patha chaltha ki main unki beti ko ghoor raha tha tho meri band baj jaathi". He smiled at the thought and once again looks toward the top of the staircase but now Gulaal was not standing there.
Kesar: "kahaan gaayab ho gayi?". He cranes his neck from side to side and searches for her. Finally he spots her coming towards him. She had almost reached him when suddenly an elder lady stops her and starts talking to her. Kesar is annoyed, "inko bhi abhi aana tha beech mein". Gulaal has a very similar expression on her face but she still tries to smile and talk politely though her eyes keep coming back to him. Kesar smiled at her impatience "chalo isse yeh baat tho saaf ho gayi ki sirf main hi nahi who bhi mujhse milne ke liye uthni hi bekaraar hai".
Gulaal is finally successful in breaking away from the sweet old lady and comes to a stop in front of Kesar. They both look at each other with wide smiles. They notice a slight sheen of tears in each other's eyes and are unable to speak out for some moments. Just as Kesar is about speak ,a voice interrupts him.It is Sudha.
Sudha in a sharp tone: "arre Gulaal,hum tumhe wahan doondh rahe the aur tum yahaan Kesar ke saath khadi ho.kyun bhool gayi kya ki hum bhi aaye hain?"
Gulaal is slightly flustered: "nahi bhabhi main tho aap sab ko hi doondh rahi thi taaki aap ko Roopa se milwaane le jaa sakoon,tabhi Kesar ko dekh liya isliye……"
Sudha laughs and says "Gulaal,main tho mazaak kar rahi thi.tum ithna darr kyun gayi jaise tumhari koi chori pakdi gayi ho".
Gulaal is not able to understand Sudha's behaviour and is slightly confused but before she could give her an answer Rewa comes over and gives her a tight hug "Gulaal…….". She moves back and looks at her "aaj tum kitni achi lag rahi ho." Then she turns to Kesar and asks him "aaj Gulaal bahut sundar lag rahi hai.haina Kesar" and winks at him.
Kesar with a dreamy smile: "haan,bahut achi lag rahi hai".
Gulaal blushes : "Rewa,tum bhi bahut achi lag rahi ho.yeh colour tumpe bahut sundar lag raha hai". she notices Talli's serious expression. She is unusually quiet.
Gulaal: "Talli,kya hua tum itni chup chup kyun ho?"
Rewa: "patha nahi Gulaal.pichle do dinon se iska yahi haal hai.maine kitni baar poocha isse ki kya baat hai?lekin yeh kuch bathaathi nahi hai.ab tum hi poocho,shaayad tumhe kuch bathade".
Talli forces a smile on her face: "nahi,aisi koi baat nahi.main bas maa,baba ko miss kar rahi thi".
Sudha looks at her sharply and then at Kesar who was still smiling dreamily at Gulaal. She thinks to herself "mujhe aaj hi kuch na kuch karna padega.Kesar-Gulaal ke kisse ko yahin khatam karna hoga".
Poonam ba calls out to Gulaal "beta,ladke waale aa gaye.chal aa zara mere saath. unka swaagath karna hai na". Gulaal reluctantly leaves Kesar and feels very sad that she could not speak to him at all. Soon the ceremony starts with the ring exchange taking place. Kesar keeps stealing glances at Gulaal who is standing beside her sister clapping and smiling away to glory and the genuine happiness on her face just makes it impossible for him to tear his eyes away from her "kaash yeh khushi hamesha uske chehre par bani rahe.koi bhi dukh ya pareshani use kabhi na choo sake". Suddenly he feels a nudge in his arm. It is Rewa who whispers harshly to him "ithna ghooroge tho sabko patha chal jaayega.apne aap ko sambhaal". Kesar is unable to say anything and a slight blush colours his cheeks. He decides to concentrate on the ceremony before anyone else noticed his distraction but right then Gulaal looks at him and smiles and he cannot help but gaze at her with a dreamy smile.
After the ceremony some kids were performing to some of the latest Bollywood hits entertaining all the guests. Kesar was desperately looking for a chance to meet Gulaal in private but he felt it impossible because everytime he tried to go near her, someone would come and start talking to her. He had no idea what to do,soon after lunch it would be time for them to leave and he really did not want to leave without meeting her. He had been successful in getting near her one time and he had quickly whispered to her "mujhe tumse baat karni hai.akele mein.bahut zaroori hai". Gulaal looked at him helplessly as she replied in a low tone "mujhe nahi lagta yeh ho paayega.itni bheed mein kaise milungi tumse". And immediately she had to rush off to help Poonam ba. Kesar looks at her go with sadness.
"Kesar, tu ithna gumsum kyun khada hai?tu bachon ki dance enjoy nahi kar raha hai kya?", Rewa had come near him noticing his disinterest.
Kesar looked at the kids and replied "nahi,bahut acha dance hai".
Rewa: "tum usse akele mein milna chahthe ho na?" Kesar looks at his younger sister who for the first time was not teasing him.Instead she was being absolutely serious and her somber expression made it impossible for him to deny anymore. so he silently nods his head in affirmation.
Rewa gives him a small smile: "chal is baar main teri madadh kar deti hoon.kyunki mujhe yeh rotlu bilkul acha nahi lag raha.mujhe apna hansta khelta bhai waapis chahiye. Ab sun tu upar jaa aur Gulaal ke room mein wait kar.main koi bahaana karke use wahan le aaungi.theek hai".
Kesar looks at Rewa with surprise. Rewa laughs and says "kyun mere ideas sunke darr lag raha hai ki terii choti behen kahin kisike saath bhaag jaayegi". Kesar affectionately says "nahi aisa darr bilkul nahi hai.aur agar aisi kuch baat hogi tho mujhe poora yakeen hai ki tu mujhe sab se pehle bathaayegi kyunki main tere bhai se zyaada tera dost hoon. Hoon na". Rewa feels emotional and quickly pushes him off "haan haan ab bahut hua tera emotional athyaachaar.tu jaa, main use le aati hoon".
Kesar made his way upstairs without any difficulty as everyone was enjoying the entertainment below. He entered a room which he knew to be Gulaal's. He looked around her room and it reflected her personality-simple yet very elegant and charming. He looked at the different photographs on the wall starting from her childhood days in which she looked cute with pigtails. Many were with her family, some with her brother and sister and some with her friends. This Gulaal looked like a totally different girl with different facial expressions in each photograph. With her sister she looked the typical elder sister, sometimes protective and loving and sometimes teasing. With her brother she looked like a pampered little sister, with her parents the loving ,caring daughter and with her friends she looked like a fun loving adventurous,spirited young girl.Kesar felt as if he was getting to see a different side to her. But he knew that though she had been quiet and silent when he had first met her and how could she be not considering the circumstances, he was slowly getting to see the real Gulaal and this thought gave him immense happiness. Just then the door opened and Gulaal is pushed inside by Rewa and before closing the door says "Kesar ab jo bhi baat karni hai jaldi se kar le nahi tho kisiko shak ho jaayega.main baahar rehti hoon aur agar koi aaya tho main bathaa doongi.theek hai", she winks at Kesar and closes the door.
will post the remaining part tomorrow😊
Veer Hanuman
Anupamaa
