I don't know, it's not like I am loosing track, I was always going to write it this way…but the story is getting increasingly dull and sad…it is one of my most gloomiest of plots…because I am feeling a bit angry and low about something (nothing I can't handle, there are times when one starts questioning things and their veracity)…maybe that's tricking my mind…
I think I have had enough of mush and breezy romance now!! I want to write something highly substantial, intense and passionate (not in terms of physicality but emotionally charging, I have a terrific story in mind but that's not a love story and I can't mould it into a love story either), the story has to be very gripping. I have decided, from now on if I will write anything then it will be good or else I won't touch my keyboard. I think I should push myself harder. Any good ideas, please forward it to me, I am in desperate need of them. I will go mad, I might just quit writing and moreover 2010 would be a very busy year for me. But what surprises me is that the character Jai and Bani and the brilliant actors Ram and Prachi who portrayed them, their magic seems to be enchanting, it has been nearly 3-4 years but still I am hanging on to KS, that itself is a great miracle because I never stick to anything, I keep hopping from one thing to another. KS has a Midas touch to it…
Part-10
"I will just check up on papa and return…" bani said opening the door even before the car halted…
"Wait bani…" jai said pushing the break…to his surprise he spotted the mangalsutra around her neck, jumping out of her kameez…he certainly didn't expect that…
"Bani…" he called out…
"Yes…" she turned closing the door…
"You don't need to wear that…" he said…
"Wear what…clothes??…don't you think that would be too X-rated and highly contentious…" bani said with a straight face… jai gaped at her…
"Shut up and stop being cheap…I was talking about the mangalsutra…" he pointed
"Oh that!!! Sentiment…" she said…
"What sentiment…?" jai looked confused…
"What you don't watch Hindi movies or what…" seeing his muddled face she knew he didn't…
"Of course you don't…well papa will kill me if he sees that I am not wearing my mangalsutra…now off you go…tada…" she waved her hand… he shook his head, starting the engine…
*******
Bani hopped inside the house to find it invariably silent… her father usually watched television … now where is he?? She peeped inside his bedroom to see him sleeping…he never slept so much…he only rested after eating lunch…
"Papa…get up…its lunch time…" bani called going inside…
"Papa…" she neared him shaking him lightly…but he gave no response, her heart beat quickened…
"Papa…" an inaudible whispered escaped her lips…she hastily touched his face, it was cold…checking his breath…bani stood motionless…she picked up the phone…
"Jaiii…can you come now…" bani's voice croaked…
"What happened…??"
"Just come…"
By the time jai came he saw bani sitting on the floor against the wall, her legs pulled up, her face pale and dreadful…
"Bani what happened…???" jai asked
"Papa is gone…" came her flat reply…
*******
The cremation had been over; it was jai who took upon the responsibility of the last rites of nishikant… a shanti pooja was being held…
Jai sat solemnly, rano and pia had cried all day long…but bani she was simply expressionless…going about looking after the arrangements with muted silence…he was worried no scared that she would take all this upon herself…he saw her come and sit near him as the priest chanted the Sanskrit verses…
Jai didn't know what to say or do…he simply raised his hand hugging her shoulder…
"I hope you are fine…" he whispered…bani simply nodded her head…
"Bani please speak something…" he cajoled her…
"Everyone has to go one time or the other…" the abstractness of her speech startled him and he was sure she was slipping away… his worst fear had come true…
*******
Pia was packing her bags…occasionally looking at pushkar who was studying nishikant's will…
"I can't believe bani…we have lost papa…and she is least affected…" pia muttered…pushkar looked at her face then turned to read the will…it was waste making her see the other side of the coin…bani was shattered, he could see it in her eyes…it's just she didn't want to share it…
"I am blabbering and you are sitting as if nothing has happened…" pia said…
"Pia…you have mistaken…you cannot understand her…" came rano's curt reply from behind…
"But di…I was just… "pia trailed off…
"Please pia spare me…at least not when papa has gone…I don't want you to speak nonsense…it was bani who had taken care of him when we were gone…and I know it is difficult for her, I am glad jai bhaiyya is by her side…" rano's no-nonsense warning made her shut up…
*******
"Bani please…" jai pacified her the hundredth time
"You have not eaten anything damnit…" jai said dropping the spoon on the plate…
"I don't want to eat…" bani said stubbornly…
"Bani…I know how it is to lose your father, I have lost one to… but life doesn't stop there and…"
"I should have taken better care of him… "bani mewled… jai closed his eyes in frustration, why was she blaming herself…
"Bani, why are you blaming yourself… you have nothing to do with it…maybe he hadn't had the will to live …"
"I…" bani sighed…
"Bani…we can't challenge God' will…"
"But I can't believe di and pia are going back…they have become so normal as if nothing had happened…is it just this jai, is it over, I had yearned for my father all my life and now when he is gone I am back to being that eight year old who waved her father good-bye…"
"Everyone has a life bani…and need to get back...time waits for none…"
"We are right jai…we are damn right about relationships, they are not worth it… I was always right…" bani said picking up the spoon but she couldn't eat…
"Can you excuse me…" he saw her run up the stairs…hearing her sob…he wanted to go behind her, but then thought against it…she has to deal with it alone…
*******
Bani sat sardonically and utterly uninterested…as pushkar gathered the family members to read out the will…
"Can't I go pushkar…" bani said gravely…
"But bani I can't read the will…all three of you must be present…" pushkar said…bani sat playing with the cushion…
According to the will all his savings were equally divided between rano and pia…and the house was given to bani…he didn't have any other properties so it wasn't of a dispute…neither of the sisters said anything…and everyone quietly returned to their rooms… bani sat for sometime…her father had left her a memory… she looked around the house…
"Can we go jai…?" bani said…
"I thought you would like to stay…"
"No…" came her curt reply… they walked back to the walia cottage…
*******
Jai's sleep got disturbed as he heard creaking sounds…he got up…switching on the bed lamp…he saw bani entering his room and quietly slipping under the covers of his bed…
"Can I sleep here…I was having terrible dreams…" bani said peeping out, she looked lost…jai simply nodded his head…switching off the lamp…
Later he felt her hand grip his arm tightly…he gently stroked her head…
*******
Jai buttoned his shirt…glancing at bani's reflection in the mirror, she was still sleeping, he picked up his coat to see her stir, and get up, sitting on the bed rubbing her eyes…
"Good morning…" jai said cheerfully…
"Hmm…" bani said opening her eyes looking at jai who was all ready…
"I hope you are fine…"
"Ya…I am sorry for disturbing you last night…"
"It's okay, I think we are friends then what is this sorry for…it's okay…" bani gave him a ginger smile…
"Now get ready soon…we have to go to the airport to drop rano and pia…"
"No...I am not coming…" bani shook her head vigorously getting out of the bed…
"Bani…you are being silly now…"
"I don't feel like coming…" she made a face…
"They will feel bad…now come on…get ready soon…I am downstairs…" jai pushed her towards her room, almost into the bathroom…half an hour later she with drinking a glass of juice with much dismay…
*******
All the while they were at the airport bani hovered behind jai, looking elsewhere… she was yet to come to terms with the fact that someone's death had so much little significance…
Rano kissed her forehead lovingly before she left, her eyes brimming with tears, bani felt mourn-stricken …
"Chalen…" jai's voice brought her back to reality… the whole drive jai made efforts to make bani speak but she was in her own little world cocooned…even when vasu masi called sometime ago she was speaking in monosyllables… soon they reached walia cottage…
"Jai…" bani called out to him…
"Yes…" jai stood before her…
"You are a wonderful man jai…and a more wonderful friend…thanks for everything…" she leaned forward and pecked his cheek… walking towards the house leaving jai with a bitter-sweet feeling…
*******
God bless
Dhani
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Geet - Hui Sabse Parayee
Advocate Anjali Awasthi
