Chapter 10
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It was middle of the night when Jeeya's kick woke Jai up, she can never lie in one place, always moving from one end of the bed to other end. Bringing her to sleep with him was his idea, everyday he thinks, it is best she sleeps in her room alone but every night she is with him instead, kicking and moving around the bed, god only knows how Bani managed, Jeeya had admitted to him that before coming here she never had slept alone…Jai pulls her, tugs her in properly, Jeeya clutches his hand, Papa she whispers in her sleep…Jai eyes fill with tears as upto now it was only mummy in her sleep…
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o mere maajhi o mere maajhi
mere sajaan hai us paar
mein mann maar hoon is paar
o mere maajhi ab ki baar
le chal paar le chal paar
mere sajaan hai us paar
ho mann ki kitab se tu
mera naam hi mita dena
gun tha koi bhi
avgun mere bhula dena
mujhko teri bida kaa
mujhko ko teri bida kaa
maar ke bhi tha intezaar
mere sajaan..........
Jai & Jeeya reach Shimla the next day evening, the excitement of plane journey, passing throught Delhi and other cities before getting at Shimla had its effects on her. She was dead tired and was throwing tantrums, refusing to rest till she reaches Narkhanda but the driver and the local people have asked them to stop for the night at Shimla, itna baraf toh Shimla me hai Sir, ageh toh aur jaida hoga, subah chale jana, andhere me in pahari raste me kaha jayenge aap….Jeeya was upset, poor girl she could not wait to see her mother, refusing to have dinner, Jai was tired, his patience was running low….
Soup pi lo Jeeya….
Nehi piti mai, aap kiyu rukh gaye….mummy…
Jeeya mummy se hum kal milenge
Aaj kiyu nehi, kiyu kal
Itna snow me jayenge kaise
Humlog toh itna snow mehi rehte the…
Jeeya rehna aur travel karna is not the same…
Jeeya stomped around in the room, kicking the luggage, sulking, demanding to speak to Neel and Ranvir, fought with them over the phone and started calling Jai uncle once again…Jai wanted to spank her but then realized like him, the tension or the excitement of meeting her mother was too much, she just could not wait, so near yet so far…
Finally when Jeeya fell asleep, Jai sat watching the face of his daughter, she had Bani's nose and lips but not so calm and quiet like her, in this regard has gone after him, how will Bani react that he has found out, he is now not willing to give up Jeeya, is she really sick or does she have someone as assumed by his family members….
Jai went upto the mini bar and poured a drink for himself, after all these years his feelings for Bani has stirred his core. The sudden death of his parents had left a vacuum in his life, he had gone numb with double tragedy before he could gather his wits, he faced another blow, the bid to takeover his business by the rival group, he then realized what he was missing, the guidance his father, his presence and to come back to a house which as if had turned into a morgue had become very painful at the end of the day. This made him convince Aditya to come and live with him. He also requested his mother's older sister who was facing problem with her own daughter in law to come and live with them. Before shifting both Aditya and his masi were apprehensive about the same, aaj toh tu akela hai, lekin kaal jab teri shaadi hogi, tabh keya hoga, how will your wife react to our being in your house, tabh ki tabh dekha jayegi, abh toh ek saath reh le was Jai's logic, heart of hearts he knew Bani would not mind having his relatives around their house. He had thought to take care of the burning issues before approaching Bani's family for her hand and when he did it after a month of his return, Bani was not there…she had left(got married as he had assumed then)….Jai could not believe that all these are happening to him, another setback, Bani even could not wait for him, the only consolation was that Bani had called quite frequently to enquire about him till about a month back. Though he had an idea how things were with these middle class girls but he had felt bad, another set back, he could not mourn Bani's departure from his life the way he would have otherwise, his business needed his attention, he soon jumped into bandwagon rebuilding and re-organizing his business to meet the demand of the time, he worked furiously while his sister Jigyasa and Masi took care of his house, his social responsibilities were also taken care by them, in rare case he only made himself available on the scheduled date and time, as per their direction.
They even started looking for girls for him, he was not interested, he did not have the time was his excuse or was he mourning Bani, as Aditya had said the other day, was Bani the reason for his single status…..Jai got up from the chair to stand in front of the window to see fresh snow falling, like cotton wool they were falling silently, one tragedy after another had made him numb, uptil now he had borne all his losses silently but today like Jeeya he wanted to shout and scream, he too was feeling cheated. Why, Why Why he wanted to ask the almighty, if Bani is sick and is about the die, it is his loss, if she has someone with her whom she wants to settle down, it won't make him a gainer….He wished like Jeeya he could bang his foot into the furniture, stomp around in the room to vent his frustrations. He has come running from Mumbai, what awaits him tomorrow, he wondered….will Bani be glad to see them, is she there at all, did she mean to return to get her daughter after 3 months, does she have a new beau….Jai paced in the room, he remembered Bani's shy smile, her smell, her tentative advances, after all these years he seemed to get drowned in them once again….
mat khel jal jayegi
kehti hai aag mere mann ki
mat khel mat khel
mat khel jal jayegi
kehti hai agg mere mann ki
mein bandini piya ki
mein sangini hoon sajaan ki
mera khinchati hai aanchal
mann meet teri har pukaar
mere sajaan hai us paar
o re maajhi o re maajhi
mere maajhi
(Film Bandini, Composer S D Burman)
His business turmoil had taught Jai a hard lesson, whatever his inner feelings were, it seldom reflected on his outer self. Next morning around 11 0'clock looking fresh and calm, Jai descended at the reception of the hotel holding the hand of his daughter, waiting for his bill to be drawn up, the sleepless night was hurting his eyes at the same time he was getting impatient to get on with the journey, the restless feeling was being difficult to control specially with Jeeya now awake, getting impatient to meet her mother every passing minute.
As he signed at the necessary documents, Jeeya said, jaldi karo Papa, aur kitna der,
Bus ho gaya beta….
Thank you Sir, have a nice & safe journey, enjoy yourselves, the cashier smiled brightly at them…
Jeeya skipped her way towards the doors, Jai followed her,
Daffodils, shrieked Jeeya
Jai stopped, The Oberoi Wildflower Hall was getting ready for the day, the housekeeping was changing the flowers of the Reception, fresh flower arrangements were replacing the old ones…
Daffodils indeed, Jai thought and in this winter….
Mummy's favourite…Jeeya exclaimed lekin abhi kaha se, woh toh spring me hota hai, spring toh abhi huwa hi nehi…
Jai smiled, is this a sign of good omen he thought….beta idhar winter hai, lekin kahi na kahi toh spring hai, somewhere they are blooming, yeh duniya jo itni bari hai….
Ma ke liye le lu…
Fortunately the hotel staff were aware of his status, as they packed few sticks of the same, Jeeya recited to Jai few lines of the poem, saying it was her mother's favourite, Jai remembered reading the poem during his school days, the lines and of course understood why it was Bani's favourite....
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When Jai and Jeeya got down in front of Bani's quarter in Narkhanda, the sky was clear, sun was bright and shining…Jeeya hoped towards the backyard, calling out mummy, masi, mummy….Jai followed her….
The back door was closed not locked though, Jeeya opened it….they went inside it was the kitchen….it was warm, showed signs of life though they saw no one…. Jai heart froze when he noticed Jeeya opening the connecting door, the curtains were drawn and in the dimly lit room Jai saw a form lying leaning against the wall covered with quilt, they entered, as Jai opened the curtains to let the afternoon sun in, Jeeya threw herself onto the figure....Mummy....
Bani sat up, Jeeya, she exclaimed involuntarily removing the earphones from her ears at the same time kissing Jeeya all over, suddenly she realised there was someone else in the room, she looked up to see Jai, she looked frail and weak
Jeeya aapko bahut tang kar rahi hai keya, she asked guiltily...
Nehi mummy mai papa ko nehi taang karti, infact it was his idea ki humlog idhar aye aapko dhundne...
Tears filled Bani's eyes, Jai came forward taking his hand out from behind, holding out the bouquet of Daffodils to Bani,
Bani, Daffodils, our hope...he whispered...
++++++++the end+++++++++++++++++
Dear Friends,
When I started writing this FF, I was in a pensive mood, nothing was going right, in the serial of course and personally I was also facing some problems. To vent my frustration I started writing this ff with an ending which many of you did not want. I was in a dilemma as when I start writing I usually know how I am going to end it, with that goal in mind, I write to achieve the thought about ending…I seldom change my ending…but in this case I was torn between the two to keep Bani alive or not to keep Bani alive so I left it to you and your imagination!! Do let me know your views…love Tin
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