PART-13
Jai shook his head as bani fussed over his father…it had been a week since he came back but still bani insisted to mother him with every possible thing… well, it didn't take much for him to blackmail Krishna into telling him the truth about his father's dramatics…he just couldn't help but laugh…thinking what would happen if ever bani comes to know about it...but he would be indebted to his father for making bani stay…and during the past one week they had grown to become more comfortable around each other's presence, no more awkward stances or embarrassed half-smiles…bani was more open to him now…talking normally like she did with others but he still had a feel that she was distant form him…the relationship she shared with his mother and father, the relationship which she shared with rano…and now even ranveer…there was so much warmth in it…a peculiar closeness of a daughter, a sister, a friend…but it was only with him she still remained formal and restrained…What was she guarding…Was it her dislike towards him??? Or was it something else she didn't want to express…???? He firmly believed in the later…his mobile beeped…he checked to find a message form Rano…
"Its bani's birthday day after tomorrow"
He excused himself from the gathering…
"Rano…its bani's birthday day after tomorrow…and you are telling me now…" jai said exasperated…
"Okay…sorry…" said sounding sleepy…
"Shall I surprise her with a party…" he said after some thought…
"She doesn't like to celebrate her birthday jai…she goes to an old age home…she makes lunch herself and serves in the old age home…" rano said…
"What should I do???" jai said highly confused…
"Do what your heart says…"
"Now goodnight…" rano disconnected the phone…thinking of what to do he turned around to find bani standing smiling at him, he looked apprehensive thinking if she heard his conversation…
"Kheer…" bani handed him a bowl of delicious kheer…
"Thanks…" bani turned around to leave when she stopped hearing jai call her…
"Bani…"
"Jee…"
"Umm…kuch nahin…" jai scratched his head…
Bani looked at his confused, cute face…smiling she left…
******
The Next Day…
The shrill sound of something woke up bani…with a lot of difficulty she opened her eyes trying to locate the source of the sound… the sound continued to echo in her silent room…searching for her glasses, she put them on, looking everywhere…then finding her cell phone glow in the darkness she picked it up…it was exactly twelve in the night…there were two messages…
"Happy Birthday Bani"
Jai…
The first message read…a slow smile spread across her face wondering how he knew her birthday…
"You have a gift…check your drawer…"
Jai…
Her smile widened…all the sleep for her eyes vanished as she descended the bed switching on the lights…she quickly rummaged her drawer to find a brightly wrapped parcel…holding it carefully she went and sat on the middle of the bed, cross-legged… every year it was baba who wished her first with his blessings and a gift…but no one had ever wished her like this… somewhere she felt special… being wished like this…she felt as if it was her first birthday… …
She neatly removed the tape; opening the wrapper to find a card and a rectangular blue velvet box…deciding between the two she decided to read the pretty card first…
"Bani…
Wish you a very happy birthday…
Well, I thought of gifting you the most precious thing on earth…after thinking a lot I realized that God hadn't made anything which is more precious than you…
May you keep smiling always the way you are doing now…hopefully…
Jai…
P.S.: I hope you like the small gift…
Bani re-read the entire lines again and again…her smile remained intact but her eyes moistened for reasons unknown…she felt over-whelmed and deeply touched by his sweetest gesture… … with ginger anticipation she opened the velvet box to find a pair of beautiful gold anklets resting inside… she gasped in amazement as she ran her fingers over them…they had small little bells dangling she picked them in her hand, shaking them to hear a dulcet tinkle…she couldn't sleep anymore… his thoughts predominated her mind and heart… … and for the first time she listened to her heart beat… it never beat so fast… …
******
Bani entered the house , holding the puja thali firmly…she had been to the temple as every year, praying for everyone's happiness… it never occurred to ask God anything for herself since she got more than what she deserved but today she felt like being selfish…she asked to give her strength to forget the past…to overcome her pain… maybe it was enough now, fighting against something which involved no one's fault…
"Bani…Happy Birthday beta…" uday came, placing his hand on her head…
"Thank you baba…" she bent down to take his blessings… Krishna came from behind and wished her warmly, gifting her something…
"So, like every day I was the first one to wish you right…" uday said…bani blushed…as she nodded her head in denial…
"Krishna tumne bani ko wish kiya mujhse pehle…how dare you…???" uday said…
"Nahin uday maine nahin kiya…" Krishna argued…
"Toh kuan ho sakta hain…" uday thought…
"Main sabko Prasad dekar aati hoon…" bani said with a bent head, going away…distributing the sweet…
"Jaii…" Krishna whispered after some thought…
"Finally usse akal agayi…" uday sighed imaging both his children happy together…he so wanted to live to see that day…
Bani hesitantly opened the door of his room…walking inside with fearful steps…the anklets jingled making sweet sounds… she looked around not to find him…the sound of the gushing water came from the bathroom…she waited patiently, looking around… this was the first time she had entered his room…she suddenly felt nervous at the prospect of meeting jai..she was about to go away when something caught her attention…one of the drawers of the wooden chest was open, not fully closed… she opened it fully to gasp in amazement… there were her pictures…the pictures of her dance performance… keeping the thali aside she examined them…dumfounded to see herself… she never looked so beautiful ever…taken from different angles and directions, she couldn't recognize herself…hearing the click of the door, she quickly closed the drawer, picking up the thali turning around to see him come out of the shower, thankfully dressed, his hair still wet and littered with water droplets, falling over his forehead…
"Bani…Happy Birthday…" he wished her coming near her…
"Thanks…thanks for the surprise jai…last night…Thank you…" she said… as she handed him the Prasad…
"I hope you liked it…" bani nodded her head walking away…he heard the soft music produced by the anklets, his eyes travelled down to find those anklets gifted by him adorning her slender feet…he smiled to himself as she left… …
******
"Bani…pleaseeeee…." Ranveer sang…
"Ranveer…I don't like attending parties…" bani said, as ranveer tried to coax her to come to their office party on cracking their first huge deal in India…
"Bani…please…come…everyone is coming…" jai said looking at her hopefully…she couldn't; bring herself to refuse his invitation…
"Okay…" she replied…
"Arre wah!!! Jai ne kahaa toh haan bol diya…main poocha toh naa…kya nainsaafi hain…" ranveer teased her…bani walked away ignoring him… …
Bani smiled as she saw ranveer and rano dancing… they made such a beautiful couple… and she could clearly see that they were in love…it was such a beautiful feeling, to love and to be loved… finding everyone busy she moved away…standing under the dim moonlight…in the garden… thinking… …
Jai's eyes searched for bani, not concentrating on what his associate was saying…he excused himself, going to look for bani…when he finally found her outside the hall… gazing at the stars… all alone… …
"What are you doing here???" she heard jai's deep voice…
"Nothing…" she replied, dabbing her eyes with a kerchief, shielding herself away from him…
"You are crying…" jai looked surprised, she was perfectly fine inside, in fact enjoying herself…
"No…it's just…I am over-whelmed…" she said turning to face him, smiling, a little bit of her kajal smeared…
"Kya hua bani…" he urged…
"No…its stupid…I am very happy for Rano…" bani said with a spontaneous giggle…a smile spread on jai's face…
"She means a lot to you isn't it…" he asked…
"She has been a great support…I just pray she gets all the happiness she deserves…"
"I am sure ranveer will keep her happy…" jai said noticing the smudged line of kajal near her eye…
"Your eyes…"
"Kya hua…" jai took the kerchief from her hand, cleaning the overflowed kajal…
"Now its okay…" he gave it back to her…he felt as if she was trying to say something to him, struggling within herself…
"Jaii…"
"Hmm…" bani folded and refolded the kerchief out of nervousness…
"Did you…I mean have you…" jai leaned closer, lifting her bent chin, he gazed at her…
"I haven't submitted the papers…" bani kept looking back at him with happy-sad eyes…before she could react she found herself being kissed sweetly by the man who won her heart…the man to whom she had given her heart to… now it seemed too obvious to fall in love with him…it was always obvious…but she just couldn't understand it… …
"Let's go from here…kahin door…bohot door…" she whispered to him as he left her…
Bani laughed heartily as jai twirled her around…they were dancing on the deserted beach under the moonlight, with the waves crashing at their feet…they never seemed so happy as they were now…it was not until an hour that they reached home…hand in hand…content and very much in love, not caring about the world that surrounded them…forgetting about its existence… …
Bani took a step going back…suddenly all the openness amongst them vanquished, the considerable space between them seemed too tight and suffocating…the look of desire in his eyes awakened her senses making her more and more aware of herself…aware of herself as a woman…all alone, in his room…she felt butterflies in her stomach… she hadn't been so skittish even when she had to give her first performance on stage…she took a step behind as he took a step forward…not once shifting his eyes from her radiant face…within no time he was near her, his broad frame eclipsing her diminutive figure…
"Jai…I…have never…" she flustered, feeling very shy and self-critical knowing that she was completely clueless about what was going to happen…she has never loved anyone before like that…jai smiled at her, lifting her hand he placed it on his cheek, as soon as she touched him, she intuitively knew she wanted this…she wanted him…her shapely fingers dubiously traced his sharp features…he cupped her face…bani trembled lightly standing so close to him…they kept looking at each other as if they hadn't seen each other in ages…even the incessant ringing of their mobile phones didn't manage to reach their ears… …
Hoth tere mai ke pyaale
kajrare naina tere
maathe par sinduri subaha
julfho main raina base
saansein yeh teri hain
dhadkan bhi teri hain
jeevan yeh tera hua
tere hi choone se
tan man saja mera
hui main parineeta
jiya dole haule haule
kyon yeh dole janu na
jiya dole
kyon yeh
janu na
{Movie: Parineeta}
A sudden chill crept over him. His heart hammered. He bent over her…reaching her face, it was staring back at him, with wide imagination, her hand still resting on his cheek...Bani for a second forgot everything except him, he pulled her head, she waited patiently, until he kissed her mouth...a cloudy kiss, a kiss that demanded a kiss back. They kissed each other back...First cautiously. Then urgently. Slowly his arms came up behind her back. He stroked her back, very gently, causing her skin to come alive. Bani crouched nearer, her mouth still on his, kissing as their mouths expanded, lips got busy, tongues mated. The kiss was sucking in their souls, like an infinite black hole; consuming everything... ...he had wanted to do this for so long… …
They lay on the bed…like two creepers entwined to each other, their clothes scattered around them…he lifted his hand and gently kneaded and stroked the side of her neck whispering how beautiful she was...her glistening alabaster skin turned taut, her ripe lips parted unceremoniously… his hand scrolled down, along the hollow of her restless throat, down to her heaving chest, as if a painter was smearing bright colors all over the bare canvas...she let out a gust of heavy air, opening her darkened eyes daring to look at him…her fingers familiarizing with his smooth ebony chest...she felt his belly tighten under her feather like touch...bani closed her eyes as he ran his fingers across her face, fondling her skin calling out her name with a wild need… …
"Jaaiii..." she couldn't help but purr...tortured by this aching pleasure at the same time not wanting this gratifying excruciation to come to an end... he gazed at her face...the sluggish tremor of her parted lips seduced him, the tiny drops of satiated tears scurrying down her cheeks vellicated him...running his callused thumb over those trembling rose petal like lips...he bent down kissing her again and again...she clutched the sides of the pillow with all her might listening to his raffish murmurs…she gladly accepted him as he moved inside her…transforming her into a woman…making promises to love her forever…just like this always and she wordlessly retuned those promises with promises she would keep till eternity… …
She felt a tug…his arm rested around her waist, holding her tightly…bani scuttled in her position, suddenly feeling shy all over…she grew further sentient realizing her state of complete undress…she blushed as she noted that there was nothing he hadn't seen…
"Marry me banii…" she felt goosebumps all over her body as she heard his hoarse tonsil voice echo…she tilted her face aside, her long hair falling over…gauging him through the corner of her eyes…
"Shaadi sirf ek baar hoti hain jai…aur…humari shaadi ho chuki hain…" she whispered slowly… her tinseled eyes shone as she gazed back at him…
"I love you…" he admitted finally playing with her slender fingers…
"I love you too…" she said…her arms welcomed him as he made love to her again…
It was in the wee hours of the new dawn, that she tiptoed out of his room…entangling herself from his hold with great difficulty… …
Bani stood under the cold shower, her heart still pounding against her chest…her skin still held the imprints of his unlimited kisses and caresses…her eyes were still dreamy intact with all the dreams of their future floating in them…her mind still numb by the innumerous feelings he had invoked inside her with a mere brush of his hand…she had never felt so loved, not even in her entire lifetime…never felt so beautiful…never felt the need to feel like a woman uptill he embraced her…she shut her eyes abashed…
Jai tossed in his bed…his hand stretched out searching for the warmth of his wife…
"Bani…" he murmured lazily…after a failed struggle to find her, he opened his eyes to see the room empty, devoid of her or any of her belongings which he had removed in haste… he fell back, thinking of the night…a great poet would have to discover new words to describe what he felt or was still feeling…for the first time he felt as if he belonged to someone and someone belonged to him wholeheartedly…he chuckled feeling giddy like a teenager who just stole a kiss from his first girlfriend…he got up…
******
Coming from behind… jai tickled her bare tempting waist…pecking her cheek…bani almost jumped about to drop the knife in her hand…
"Aa…aap…" bani fumbled seeing him stand in front of her with a smug expression…
"Koi aur laga kya…" he teased her…
"Dhat…" she muttered…cutting the vegetables, preparing for the breakfast…thank god Tony was outside not to witness her husband's shameless ways to irk her…jai neared her, cornering her, he lifted her hands, pitting them against the wall…
"Hold the knife tightly…" he whispered over her face…bending his head…
"Jaii…chodiye…koi aajayega…" bani said, looking everywhere to see if anyone was coming…
"I love you…" he rumbled... nibbling her ear…
"Mmm…you smell divine…" he said pushing her wet hair aside, dropping kisses along the arch of her neck…
"Jaii…please…"
"BANI…" they both jumped apart at once hearing Krishna's voice, jai scuttled towards the refrigerator, taking out a bottle of water… bani caught her breath, holding the edge of the kitchen slab, hiding her blush…
Krishna walked inside the kitchen coolly…amazed to find bani cutting vegetables and at a distance jai gulping down water…something seemed amiss to her aged eyes…
"Good morning maa…" jai greeted her…
"Good morning…" Krishna said getting in…
"Tum…tum dono kal raat ko kahaan chale gaye the…we searched for you both in the party…ranveer ne toh kitni baar call bhi kiya par kissine uthaya hi nahin…" Krishna asked…making both of them nervous…
"Woh maa…woh maa…" bani fumbled….
"Woh…bas bani ki tabiyat theek nahin thi…toh main usse ghar le aaya…" jai lied through his teeth…
"Bani…kya hua…" Krishna fussed over her…
"Nahin maa…bas…sar…sar dard tha…main theek hoon…" bani said...
"Acha kiya jo tu le aaya…"
"Acha main banati hoon…tu jaa…"
"Nahin maa…main banaloongi aap baithiye…"
"Theek hain…" Krishna left…bani glared at him…who grinned in response…he sprinted towards her…
"I guess maa ko batana padega ki…" bani blushed hard as he spoke…he pressed his lips on hers…bani pushed him away…
"Gooo…" she pushed him out…
Krishna looked aghast looking at her son's bedroom which in a complete mess…she went about cleaning everything…when she found bani's earring fallen near the bed… looking at the state of the unkempt bed, jai and bani's strange behavior, it didn't take her much time to predict what must have happened…she was elated with joy…at last her wish got fulfilled, maybe sooner she will have a grandchild to play with… she hurried down…to share this with uday…but she had to do something… …
******
"Maa…kya hain…you know I don't wear all this…" jai made a face looking at the silk, off-white kurta pajama…he never wore Indian clothes…
"Jai…mandir jaana hain…bas pehaan tu…jaldi kar…" Krishna told him…looking for bani…who came out of her room…wearing the red sari…the same sari she wore at her wedding…Krishna kept looking at her, she looked so radiant and gorgeous, the perfect bride…
"Lagta hain…tujhe meri hi nazar lag jaayegi…" Krishna said putting a bit of kajal behind her ear to protect her form the evil eye… …
"Maa…par yeh sab…" bani said still not understanding anything… …
"Main tujhe aur jai ko hamesha saath dekhna chahti hoon…kush…" Krishna said emotionally…bani looked stunned then hugging her…
"Maa…I feel stupid…" jai's fussy voice broke their hug as both the woman turned to look at jai who walked towards them gawkily, looking uncomfortable in the dress…
"Can I wear something else…" he said looking up to stand still, ogling at bani, wide-eyed, God she never looked so pretty…clad in a red silk sari, with a heavy intricate gold set… she glowed with a bright light of her own… …
"Ab bas kar…chal jaldi…der ho rahin hain…" Krishna said leaving…
"You…you look…stunning…" he said making her blush profusely…
"You look good…and stop cribbing…" she said…as jai neared her…
"Can we go somewhere else…?? I just want to keep looking at you…baniii…" he said huskily…
"Nahin…chaliye…" bani said stepping down the stairs…giggling as he ran his fingers over her bare back…
"Baannniiii…" he whispered…
"Behave jaiii…" Bani slapped his hand…
******
"Jai…le…bahu ko pehnaa de…" Krishna handed him bani's mangalsutra…
"Maa…" bani said surprised …
"Jai…sache dil se…bani ko yeh pehnaa…" Krishna said…jai smiled…
Standing before the idols of Radha-Krihsna…jai looked at her…he clasped the black-beads around her neck, taking her to be his wife whole-heartedly… tears brimmed in her eyes as jai proceeded to fill her parting with the auspicious red vermillion…marking her as his wife for seven births…
"Don't they look wonderful…" rano said, sniffing…ranveer placed his hand over her shoulder…
"I would love to do this one day…" ranveer said dreamily…rano looked at him, turning sideways…
"Are you proposing Mr. Ranveer…???" rano asked arching her brow…
"Well…I don't mind…" ranveer said…
"You don't mind…" rano punched him…
"I want it to be done properly or else be prepared to live a bachelor's life…"
"Okay okay…anything for you madam…"
Krishna and uday wiped their tears as both their beloved children took their blessings…
"Ab khade khade dekh kya rahaa hain…jaa na…take your bride…yeh le…my gift…" uday handed him two tickets for honeymoon…
"Thanks dad…" jai hugged him…
******
Bani gazed at him as he held her palms in his…
"I know I never made those promises to you…but today I want to promise you every happiness…" he kissed her clasped hand…
"Togetherness…"
"Love…"
"Understanding…"
"Till I die…bani…" bani kept her palm over his mouth as he uttered the last words…
"Nahin jai…we will always be together…always…even death can't separate us…" she hugged him tightly… completing their empty vows which were now filled with eternal love and happiness… …
******
The End… …
God bless
dhani
Hindi TV Shows
