Dear Friends,
Thank you for your fabulous response to my earlier FFs - Mai Apke bina nehi reh sakti hu (https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/kasamh-se/457994/mai-apke-bina-nehi-reh-updt-pg-11-pt-ix)& Finding Bani (https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/kasamh-se/469208/finding-bani-ff-part-viii-page-8)
This is my third FF...while the charectors are the same the story line is different from the serial...I had already posted Part I at the end of 'Finding Bani' ....but now I am posting part I & 2 together. Please let me have your response.
Part I
Business Tycoon Jai Walia marries a Mt Abu Girl
Early morning, Jai & Aditya are driving from Udaipur to Mt Abu…Masi has sent for him urgently…Masi, whom he respects the most in this world, …beta tu aaj a sakta hai…aaj to abhi mai meeting me hu masi aur yeh meeting bahut important hai…lekin kya baath aap ke tabiyat thik hai na…mere tabiyat ko kuch nehi huwa…bas..tu..aaja…
Jai: Kal a sakta hu…lekin sirf ek din ke liye kyo ki me parsu ..bidesh ja raha hu..2 hafta keliye..bahut bara deal fix karna hai mujhe…
Masi: thik hai, ek din hi sahi…lekin jaroor ana...mai intejar karoongi...
So now he was driving towards Mt Abu and will reach there about 0900 hrs…should leave Mt Abu latest by 1800 hrs…
Masi has been like a mother to Jai Walia, she is the person whom he cannot refuse anything….except that he is yet to get married…much to her disappointment…when will you marry…you are 40 years old…mai apna pota ke muh kab dekhongi…his stream of girlfriends, most to them masi disapproved …now her tag line was …itna paisa kiske liye bana rahe ho…kaun khayega…he has failed to make masi understand that he gets a kick out of each successful deal, acquisition and partnership…but then masi does not understand business…he enjoys his position as Head of the Walia Business Empire and the Walia House which he shares with his sister, her children, her ex-husband and his best friend Aditya and his mother…Though Jigasya is elder to him by 5 years but it is understood that he is the head of the family.
Masi has stayed with him after the demise of her husband about 10 years ago and her only daughter is married and stays in USA. From time to time Masi does visit her in-laws in Chandigarh and in Mt Abu ..at present she is visiting her younger brother-in-law & his family here…she is very close with them..and visits them about twice / thrice a year….
They arrive at Om Chacha's house….Om Prakash is about 50 years old, head master of the local government school comes out running to receive them…it is not everyday people like Jai Walia visits his house. His lives with wife, son & daughter who are in school.
Masi: Are tumlog aa gaye….Jai & Aditya's take blessings…
Jai: Kya baath hai Masi, achanak kya kaam par gaya mujhse…
Masi: Aaj tera shaadi hai beta…
Jai (both amused & surprised) : Kisse masi.....dulhan kaha...
Masi: Chal milati hu….
Jai (now serious): Masi, yeh kya koi majak hai..kyoki mujhe bahut kaam hai aur mai aur ajhi mai Mumbai wapis jana chahta hu..
Masi: Ha beta shaadi karke chale jana, kaun rokh raha hai, Bani mere saath baad me a jayegi Mumbai…waise bhi aaj woh bhi nehi ja payegi…
Jai: Yeh Bani kaun hai?
Masi: Tera Dulhan, beta...
Jai: Mai kisi Bani ko nehi janta....
Masi: Mai janti hu na, Om janta hai, Aditya janta hai...
Jai: Aditya kaisa janta hai..
Masi: Woh mila na, pichle bar woh jab biji to lene idhar ayah tha....jab biji bimar ho gayi...aur aditya lene aa gaya...4 mahina pahele... chal tujhe Bani se milati hu...
Jai: Are aditya...tum bhi is me shamil ho..kya..e tu aditya....
Aditya: Jai, Bani bahut acchi ladki hai, aur jab masi ne kaha…tere saath shadi ke baath …to mai raji ho gaya….
Jai: Accha masi, aaj bani se mil lete, baad me sochenge…
Masi: Dekh munna sab kaam tu apni marji se karta hai...lekin yeh kaam mere marji se hoga....maine jaban diya hai Nishikant ji ko....abhi chal...woh bahut bimar hai...
Jai accompanies Masi and Aditya to Nishikant's house...he still cannot believe that he is going to see a girl…he has never done that in his life…nor with his friends…he never believed in arranged marriages and specially when it involved 'seeing a girl'. Jigaysa got married to Aditya before he was even an adult….so he was spared of that torture….
Nishikant's house was just next door…they walk down in silence….they enter …the house was not very big but the garden was large and it was showing signs of neglect….Masi rings the bell…after waiting for eternity it seemed ….the door opens…a girl stood there ….with long black straight hair, doe eyes and a very innocent face, wearing a simple salwar kameez….she was not beautiful in the classic sense but was pretty but what made Jai give a second glance at her, was the calmness she emitted…on seeing masi, her eyes sparkled…are masi…Aditya Uncle..aap kab aye…she bends down to take aditya's blessings…
Aditya: Bani, kaise ho tum, aur yeh Jai hai…aditya introduces…
As soon as she hears his name…her eyes look down and a blush spreads across her face…
So this is Bani, Jai thinks, my God, she looks like a girl...maybe about Ranveer's age or even younger…has masi gone out of her head …turning him into a cradle snatcher…
Bani steps aside…allows them to enter…the room though shabby but is neat & clean, simply decorated. She asks them to wait…and goes inside….
Jai punches aditya…are you gone off your head adi, she is a girl….
Aditya: She is 23 years old Jai, 6 months younger than Ranveer and the sole bread earner of this family….
The information does not make Jai feel any better…..he wonders if she knows about him then how come she has accepted this marriage…he is old enough to be her uncle …itna bhi kaya majboori hai…
Jai goes and stands near the collage of Photographs adorning the wall….Bani with her family…masi comes and stands besides him…she is Kiran Singhania's daughter, munna…Jai frowns …kiran …oh Jigasya's friend, the only daughter of Singhania family who ran away with her father's Estate Manager, Jai looks at Aditya, who nods and confirms..he again looks at the photographs…there she is…elegant and beautiful….just then Bani wheels in her father…who looks to be very sick…his eyes barely open…cirosis of liver…masi whispered…
Bani puts her father's wheel chair next to the sofa, takes out an envelope from his pockets and hands it over to him, goes inside.
Masi comes forward and holds his hand…kaisi hai aap aaj nishikant ji….
Nishikant gives and faint smile and nods as if to say better…then his eyes goes from Masi to aditya to Jai, who was standing in the corner and trying to evaluate the situation…and as soon as he spots him…his breath grows quick and his eyes plead…Jai comes forward…Nishikant's lips quiver…he tries to say something…but simply no word comes out…then with a shaking hand he hands over the envelope to him..Jai takes it, goes and stands near the window and starts reading it…
It letter gives an brief account as to how his wife died suddenly about 7 years back in a bus accident while returning from Jaipur. Nishikant was left with 3 daughters to bring up, drowned his miseries in the bottle, gradually he lost his job, his house is mortage and now solely depended on Bani, who is trying to make ends meet, working as a Banquet Manager in a local hotel called 'Hotel Abu'. When Billo Didi came up with this proposal, he had no other option but to agree and moreover Kiran knew them and used to talk a lot about them, specially when Jai's success stories came out in news papers….He wants a good guardian for his daughters, as he knows that once he passes away, the men from whom he has borrowed will tear them apart…very soon they will be homeless too as they are now in this home due to sympathetic reasons, seeing his conditions……..
Bani comes in with Tea & snacks…serves them and informs Masi that since she is here can she wait till Om's wife comes over to look after her dad as she has to go to the hotel and there is a marriage ceremony in the Banquets today and she has to see if everything is o.k. or not..
Masi…lekin beta…Munna ko aaj hi wapis jana hai…tujhe yaad hai na…
Bani nods…Panditji ne kaha shaam ko 6 baje mandir me jane ke liye…she answers in a soft voice…her sisters will also be back from college by then….
Masi: Thik hai beta waqt pe a jana…
Bani goes out in a hurry and Jai follows her….ek minute he calls out to her as they reach outside…
Jai ( he hesitates a bit) : Tum is shaadi se khush ho...mera matlab ..tumhare marji se ho rahe hai na yeh shaadi..
Bani listens to him with her head bowed ..then looks up to him directly into his eyes…very softly yet firmly replies…Mr Walia, yeh mere papa ki akhri ichha hai…aur is halat mai unke marji mere marji …aur khushi ki baat to abhi tak maine socha hi nehi..kyoki khushi ka mauka mere zindagi me bahut kam ayi hai….lekin aap agar chahe to is shaadi se aap mana kar sakte hai…I will understand and will not feel bad she concludes before taking a rikshaw for her hotel…
Part II
Girls always threw themselves on Jai Walia, they waited on him, spoilt him with their attention and went over the hill to attract him to them. But today, after his short talk to Bani, something shook him inside…she like him has put her family before her happiness…he remembers the time when his father left them, he had grown overnight at the age of 18 trying be the man of the house, caring for his mother who was heart-broken and taking care of his sister who had given birth to her 1st child, expecting her 2nd while Aditya lost his job as the company he worked for closed down.
Around 6 in the evening Jai alongwith his masi, aditya, om chacha, his wife and nishikant reach the shiv mandir atop a hillock..Nishikant is already looking more sick, the doctor has given him an injection so that he feels less pain is able to sit through the ceremony…Bani's sisters are getting her ready at the hotel itself as she could not come home to get ready and will bring her from there…Jai, wearing a white kurta pajama set, provided by masi, was looking at the view of the city from the top when he notices Bani climbing up the stairs of the mandir with her two sisters…wearing a very pale yellow khadi sari with maroon boader (her mother's), her head partly covered by the pallu, she has no ornaments on her except for the matching glass bangles and the small gold studs in her ears which she was wearing since morning & a maroon bindi…yet she looks so beautiful…light of the setting sun falling on her face giving her a heavenly glow….they exchange garlands and the marriage ceremony starts, inspite of his best efforts Nishikant cannot perform the giving away ceremony, causing much pain to Bani who looks at her father with tear filled eyes. Aditya comes forward and takes over, he performs the duty of her father….Jai as he puts sindoor on Bani's maang notices the fluttering eyes and quivering of her lips, trying to control her tears, be brave in front of her father but failing to do so….he puts the mangalsutra around her neck….after the ceremony is over…they walk down to the compound of the mandir where the marriage registrar, a friend of nishikant, was waiting for them, they sign the documents quickly…take few photograps and leave for Om's house…
As Jai & Aditya prepare for their journey for Udaipur, they have to spend the night at Udaipur as next day early morning they have a return flight to catch, Jai will be leaving for middle east as soon as they reach Mumbai…to finalise a deal…the deal he trying to get fixed over last 2 years….
They are served by light food by chachi…while Jai hurries through his food, he notices Bani sitting next to her father trying to feed him a little while other two sisters are talking to Aditya…Masi comes and pulls his mobile from his pocket…and gives it to Pia, Bani's next sister and asks her to store their house phone no, Bani's work no and Om's phone no…in the mobile…no Bani does not carry a mobile he noticed…
They have decided that Jai will go today and Masi will take Bani & her two sisters alongwith Nishikant, as soon as the doctor permits him to travel…once they reach Mumbai …they will then organize a reception on Jai return and announce their wedding…..until then everything will be quiet as he does not want any media interference .Jai gives one last look at Bani as he is about to leave…she is now standing behind her sisters at the door, he goes towards Nishikant to take his leave but finds him dozing off, Pia teases him a little and says that her di will expect his call…Masi gives him an envelope as he gets into the car…he looks into the envelope once the car hit the national highway…Bani's photo… …he takes out his office bag from behind, opens and takes out a leather case, opens..it is a photoframe, looks like a leather diary, when closed, his mother's photos, one a profile and another with him & his sister when they were children, , puts Bani's photo over it and puts it back in the bag.