Re-cap : Robbie gets the Chawla.E job as Kartik has declined at the last moment. Kasturi tells Robbie she loves him, unexpectedly in the hockey match. Robbie does not reciprocate.
PART - 17 : LET THE GAME BEGIN......
"Are you sure, Gia?"..........Kasturi had asked Gia for the 8th time. They were seated in her car which was idling in front of Gia's house. Gia says patiently......"I am absolutely sure! He IS lying!!" Gia waits quietly for Kasturi to open up on her own...she does not want to push Kasturi. Kasturi is scratching the steering wheel and is lost in thoughts. "Not just dance........I could give up anything for him" says Kasturi quietly and Gia looks at her very surprised and thinks....."How did this happen 😳 ....when did this happen?"
Kasturi can feel her questions and replies......"Ek baar Robbie neh mujhe ek budhe beggar ko paise dene ke liye force kiyaa. Uss din jab mei raat ko ghar gayi toh mujhe aisa lagaa ke meine kuch kiyaa hai....kuch accha kiyaa hai! Woh feeling mei explain nahi kar sakti!! Mann mei ek ajeeb anand tha, jaisa meine pehle kabhi feel nahi kiyaa! Aur uss feeling ke saath, ek aur feeling bhi tha....ke pehli baar kisi neh mujhe kuch aisa karne peh majboor kiyaa jo sahi hai! And I started thinking about him more and more. He was different, unlike any other guy I had met.....I would be mad at him but I also wanted to talk to him! His lofty ideals irritated the hell out of me....actually, they still do....but they made a lot of sense!! And then....that hockey match!" Kasturi looks at Gia and says........."I know this feels so cheesy when I say it, 😕 but I was really attracted to him that day! And since then I have not been able to take my mind off him, even for a day!"
Her face has so much anguish on it that Gia's heart goes out to her!! She reaches across and holds Kasturi's hand and squeezes it! She turns in her seat towards Kasturi and says...."I cannot tell you how surprised I am, Kas! 😳 Lekin...I can see you really are in love with him! You were unconcsious about it but you were really changing......I have noticed a change in you for the past month and a half but I could never guess that it was love! I am very happy for you! 🤗 Aur tu fikr mat kar, things will fall into place, just give them time! Mujhe yeh yakeen hai ke ek din aisa bhi aayega, when he will tell you the truth!" Kasturi does not share the same enthusiasm as Gia, and says........"I don't think so Gia! I think I have scared him away!"........and her eyes get teary again. 😭
"Oye"....commands Gia...."Rona band kar.....teraa rona pure aurat jaat ki beizzati hai!! We are women, my dear 😃....Have you never heard the saying....One is not born a woman, one becomes one?? If he does not open up, you will make him!! 👍🏼 Baalike.....yeh gyanopadesh (enlightenment) sun.. ..there are 4 kinds of men in this world........The first kind are the clingy type, agar tu Sunday ko Sunday nahi Monday kahegi, toh bhi they will agree with you! You don't want them.....because they have no backbone! 🤢 The second type are the Casanova type! Fun to be with but useless when long-term commitment is the question....you want to stay away from them!! 👎🏼 The third type is the arrogant type, the one who thinks he knows everything and thinks a woman is inferior to him......the only thing you want to do with him is, kick his back side!!! 😡 And the final type is the high-maintenance type, the one who is tough on the outside but soft on the inside....usually women avoid this type because its HARD WORK 😳....this type takes a lot of effort, he is a 'time-taker'......but is totally worth the effort! Whatever I have seen of him.........your Mr.Sabharwal belongs to this last category! And.......different techniques are needed to handle each type!"
Kasturi smiles and says : Gia, you are too much! So what technique is needed for type 4? 😊
Gia starts clapping her hands and singing the following sher like a qawaali while Kasturi shakes her head at Gia.....
Baat ho lab na hile, aur zubaan bhi na hile,
Haan, isshare ho, magar haan bhi nahi, naa bhi nahi
Aag lag jaaye magar saamne dhuan bhi nahi
Itnaa mushkil bhi nahi aur yeh aasaan bhi nahi........
Yeh Ishq Ishq hai, Ishq Ishq, Yeh Ishq Ishq hai, Ishq Ishq
(Guys.....this sher was written by Gulzar ji. This is part of a song from the movie Khoobsurat, the new one. I love this song primarily for the excellent music given to it by Jatin-Lalit and the awesome rendering of this song by Abhijeet! This part comes towards the middle of the song. Here is the link to the song, if you care to hear Aazma Le)
Gia winks at her and says : Let me think about this and I will come up with a tailor-made plan for you to implement 😉 ......but I am not sure if you will be able to afford my fees 😆 ...........let me see how I can make it reasonable for you!!" 😆 😆
Kasturi laughs 😆 and Gia is very happy to see her a little relaxed! 😃 Gia becomes serious and says to Kasturi....."Mei tere saath hun, iss safar mei.....except I can't believe such a hot guy is off-limits for me!!! Dammit!!!!!" 😡 ........Gia makes a angry face that brings a smile out of Kasturi. 😊 She leans towards Kasturi and they hug affectionately. 🤗 Then Gia asks.........."Tu theek-thaak ghar pahunch jaayegi na?" "Haan..." replies Kasturi. Gia gets out of the car, closes the door and leaning on the window tells Kasturi....."Ghar jaate hi mujhe phone karna. OK?" Kasturi nods her head in the affirmative. Then they both wave to each other and Kasturi drives away. Gia says to herself........"You will have to change yourself completely, Kas.....its gonna be painful! I just hope Mr.Sabharwal is worth this!!!"
"MAA screams Robbie and jerks out of his nightmare shaking!!!! 🤢 He instantly sits up on his bed. He is sweating profusely and the sultry summer night is not helping either!!! Its pitch dark around. He quickly reaches for the glass of water that he knew his aunt always placed next to his bed and taking the cover off the glass quickly gulps the water down. But he was still very thirsty and his mouth still felt very dry. So Robbie gets off the bed and walks out of the familiar room towards the kitchen, quite easily in the dark. He reaches the fridge and taking a bottle of cold water, gulps it down non-stop. When done, he leans against the open refrigerator for a few seconds, letting the cold get to his body........."Do saal ke baad, phir seh aaj woh sapnaa ayaa mujhe"....he ponders. Then he closes the door of the refrigerator and walks out of the kitchen. He does not feel like going back to bed and so opens the balcony door and steps out into the balcony. He settles into a chair and his mind starts its job..........to think!
These nightmares had stopped about 2 years ago when he had finally started to genuinely bond with his new family! Before that, almost every other night he had the same reoccuring nightmare of the car crash in which his parents had died ........the same incident again and again and that last second when he had tried to reach for his mom, crying her name out!!! 😔
The first 4 years of his stay with Puru and Devika was really bad! He had become one of them....during the day. At night, he was always alone....just him and his nightmare!!! 😒 Those years, Devika used to make a couple of trips every night to check up on him and ensure that he was alright during the night! That's how she had started to place a glass of water next to his bed, every night! Her concern for him was something Robbie appreciated from the bottom of his heart! Slowly his fears were allayed and he had started to relax! He had started to bond and had started to have a feeling of belonging to a family again and the nightmares had become less and less frequent, till they had stopped...........until today!! 😲 Kasturi's revelation had pushed him into a corner and he had felt a compelling need to revisit his insecurities! He was too scared to think about love and sooooo not ready for any commitment of any kind!!! This would have to wait.....Kasturi would have to wait till he was sure of himself. If it was meant to, then she would wait....else......????
Robbie stops his mind from thinking any further and closes his eyes, letting the cool gentle breeze hit his body and relieve him of the heat.
"He must have fallen asleep on the chair"......thinks Devika, staring at him! She was getting her morning tea ready and had just stepped into the balcony to water the potted plants, while the tea was boiling. She slowly walks up to a sleeping Robbie and runs her hand on his forehead and hair and prays to God to give her child, strength to fight the battles that were always raging in his heart....always!
One month passes. Everyone's finals are over and Robbie has graduated out. He stood third in the whole University!!! 👏 👏 He was joining Chawla.E in 2 weeks. This one month, he had avoided going to the theater group........but that's all he was able to do, everything else had been in Kasturi's hand......every moment Kasturi had been with him!! 😳 He had tried hard to not think of her but she had this mysterious way of always ending up in his thoughts, any time, day or night, alone or in a group, busy or not!! Finally, Robbie had given up resisting and let her have free entry into his thoughts!!! He wondered how she was, what she was doing, was he going to meet her again when he joined Chawla.E?? He never got a chance to tell her that he was going to start working for her brother. And then that was another thing that was bothering him........was his working at Chawla.E going to create some complications because of what happened between him and Kasturi?
Puru's sister, Sadhana lived in Mumbai with her husband and 2 children. Almost every summer vacation, she made a trip to Delhi to visit her brother's family. But this year she had invited them to come to Mumbai for their summer vacation. Devika does not want to leave Puru for a whole month and so she does not plan to go. But the girls are rearing to go. They are bored sitting home for their summer vacation! As soon as Robbie starts his vacation, Puru and Devika advise him to go to Mumbai for a break and then come back and start his job, refreshed. And so all 4 of them make a trip to Mumbai. All the cousins have a blast together and soon the Sunday arrives when Robbie was supposed to start back.
"Welcome Sir".....says the airhostess. And she checks his boarding pass, his seat # was 11A. As soon as she sees that number she immediately tells Robbie...."Oh I am sorry sir, there has been a problem with your seat!" Robbie is puzzled and asks..."What problem?" She looks embarassed 😳 and says...."Actually there has been an accident, Sir. Aapke bagal waale seat mei jo lady travel kar rahi hai, unki beti bimaar thi. And unfortunately she ended up throwing up on your seat. It is being cleared now but we have gotten another seat available for you! We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience!!"
Robbie says : No problem! What is my new seat #? 😊
Airhostess : 3B. If you will follow me, I can direct you to your seat, Sir. 😃
Robbie follows her and she is taking him to his seat. Enroute, another passenger needs her assistance and so Robbie continues while she stops to help that passenger. Approaching his seat, he sees a lady trying to get her heavy bag out of the overhead bin. Robbie quickly steps over and helps her out by pulling it out and bringing it down to her. He hears her thanking him and a chill runs down his back!!!!! Kasturi turns around to look at who has helped her and they both stare at each other surprised and shocked!!!!! 😲 😲 😲 Robbie's heart does a somersault while Kasturi goes weak in her knees!!! 😲
"I see you have found it, Sir" says the airhostess and Robbie tears his eyes away from Kasturi and looking at the airhostess mumbles..."Yes, Thank you!" He quickly turns back to look at Kasturi who is still staring at him and clearing his throat says..."Hi Kasturi!". Kasturi also quickly recovers and says..."Hi!"
Robbie inquires : Are you in 3A?
Kasturi nods her head. She is finding it hard to look at him and so she quickly turns to place her bag in her seat. 😳 She says nervously....."Woh galti seh meine apnaa IPod, issmei pack kar diyaa tha....wahi nikaal rahi hun". She is so flustered, her hands are shaking. She is praying that he not observe her shaking hands!! She quickly grabs her ipod and zips the bag up. She is about to lift it, when Robbie reaches for the bag. Their hands touch and Kasturi quickly withdraws her hands! Robbie sees that sudden movement and looks at her. Her eyes are downcast and her face was looking a little flushed. 😳 He lifts the bag up and places it on the overhead bin. Kasturi thanks him again and sits down in her seat. Robbie places his bag up too and sits in his seat with a book in his hand. Both of them put on their seat belts and finally get that much needed minute to analyze the situation! Robbie looks around and that's when he realizes that his replacement seat was in the business class. He steals a quick glance at her. She was looking very pretty except she seemed a bit leaner, apparently she had lost some weight. She was fiddling with the microphone wire. There was an unseen electric tension between them!!
Robbie asks : Kaisi ho tum?
Kasturi looks up to him, straight into his eyes but quickly looks down and says : I am good....aur tum?
Robbie says with a smile : Accha hun....What a coincidence to meet you here! 😊
Kasturi agrees and asks : Tum Mumbai mei kya kar rahe ho?
Robbie : Meri buaji yahaan rehti hai. Unseh milne aaya tha. Aaj lautne waala tha lekin yeh toofan ki wajah seh, Gujarat mei train tracks water logged ho gaye hai aur meri train cancel ho gayi, issliye flight lena padha.
Kasturi had never travelled by train.........she always flew....if not by commercial airlines then by her family jet. So all this is new to her. She hears Robbie ask....."Aur tum kya kar rahi ho yahaan?"
Kasturi replies : Meri ek saheli ki shaadi mei aayi thi.
Robbie nods his head and asks again : Tumhaare finals kaise gaye?
Kasturi : Acche gaye......Congratulations! I heard you stood third in DU.
Robbie looks at her surprised thinking how did she know? Their eyes meet and Kasturi quickly looks away while Robbie says........Thanks!
The flight takes off and they are airborne. They talk general stuff and finally Robbie looks at Kasturi and tells her hesitantly........."Kasturi.....mei........I am starting work in Chawla.E from tomorrow."
Kasturi replies...her head still bent : Jaanti hun......Bhaiyya neh mujhe bataaya. Congratulations again!
Robbie is again surprised that she already knew this and continues to look at her, he is feeling very uncomfortable broaching that subject again but feels that they need to talk about it or else the tension between them will not reduce and he says....."Kasturi, uss din....."
Kasturi interrupts him saying : That's alright Robbie. Lets not talk about the past! Besides.......galti meri hi thi.....meine tumhe bahut embarass kiyaa!!
Suddenly the aircraft shakes sharply and Kasturi's Ipod slips and starts to fall down. Both of them reach for it at the same time and catch it at the same time!! They hold hands a little longer than necessary and then they withdraw their hands and Robbie turns away....he is upset! 😕 He was both happy and sad at what Kasturi had just said!! He is glad that Kasturi seems to have moved on but at the same time he is very sad that Kasturi had moved on!!!
Kasturi, who is staring out of the window is desperately wishing and praying that Gia's advice would work!!! Gia had stopped her from seeing or meeting Robbie for the past one month!! She had told her that the only way to get him was to free him!!! It was heart-wrenching but she was following the advice!!! She has been just barely hanging by a thread for the past one month!!! She had missed him like crazy and now when he was right next to her, she had to lie!!! 😔 He was tearing her resolve to pieces!! Her fists are tightly closed and she is trying hard to control herself from getting emotional!!! She could not let on to him what was going on inside her!!
"What can I get you to drink, maam?" asks the airhostess. Both of them are very relieved that their thoughts are interrupted !!
Kasturi looks up to her and says : Can I get some tomato juice with no ice, please?
Airhostess : Sure.....And what about you Sir?
Robbie asks for a bottle of water and an orange juice. They get their drinks and start sipping them and try to recover from the intense moment they just went through.....when the aircraft dips sharply and starts to shake again! Kasturi winces, she hated it when this happened!!! Her stomach was already very sensitive and the disturbance in the aircraft was making it more raw! He understands her discomfort and cannot see her suffer like that! And so, inorder to get her mind engaged he asks Kasturi........"Waise Kasturi, how is work at Chawla.E?? Is there a lot of performance pressure or is it a relaxed work environment?"
Kasturi says : Its quite relaxed, as long as you perform!
Robbie laughs 😆 😆 and he says : Isi performance pressure waali baat peh mujhe ek joke yaad aa gayaa.........Ek Poultry farm ke maalik ne tamaam murgiyon ko order diyaa...."Agar tum logon ne kal se Do - Do ande nahi diye toh tumhara daana-paani band!!!" 😡 😡 Murgiyaan darr gayi 😕....agle din, sab ne do do ande diye magar ek murgi ne sirf ek anda diya! Maalik ghusse seh poochta hai...."Tum ne ek andaa hi kyon diya??" 😡
Jawab mila..........."Sir, yeh aapke darr ki wajah se diya hai, waise mei toh Murga hoon!!!"
Kasturi bursts out laughing 🤣 and can't stop for a couple of minutes!! Robbie is glad that she has managed to forget how sick she was feeling! 😃 He finishes his drink and excuses himself to use the restroom. Kasturi sees him go and looks at him lovingly!! 😳 She says to herself smiling....."Gia was right about you Mr.Sabahrwal!! You are a Category 4! 😊 Upar seh yeh dikhaava aur andar seh pyaar?? You think I did not realize that you were trying to engage me so I feel better?? Well, you have underestimated me! Meraa bhi naam Kasturi Chawla nahi, agar mei Kasturi Sabaharwal nahi bani toh!!! 😉
Edited by pragalbha - 17 years ago
