Re-cap : RK travel together from Mumbai to Delhi. Robbie joins work. There is no progress in their love story and so Gia uses Nithya's request to get Kasturi and Robbie together via a village trip. JP's fear of being diagnosed with cancer come out negative. Ajay sees Alaana again.
PART - 19 : GAANV MEI BAAT BANI, YAA ??
Punjabi dialogs in the part are courtesy of Sonia_s11. Thanks Sonia!!! 🤗
Ajay comes out of the Doctor's office while his dad goes to get a couple of other tests done. He walks up to Alaana and says...."Hello". Alaana looks up to him and smiles. 😊 Ajay says........"Aapne mujhe pehchaana?" Alaana starts to think and she says...."Aap familiar toh lag rahe hai, lekin yaad nahi aa rahaa hai aapko pehle kahaan dekha..." 😛
Ajay says : Ek baar lift mei takraayi thi aap mujh seh!
The memory of their meeting floods back and Alaana says....."Oh haan! Ab yaad aaya!" 😃
Ajay extends his hand and says......"Mei Ajay Chawla".
Alaana does not extend her hand, instead she folds her hand in a namaste and says....."I am Alaana Sabharwal."
Ajay feels a little awkward and pulls his hand back and says....."Alaana? Lekin yahaan toh Nishi likha hai"
Alaana says : Oh woh...Actually mei Nishi ke liye cover kar rahi hun, do hafton ke liye. Woh leave peh hai. Mei yahaan kaam nahi karti. Dr.Awasthi aur mere pitaaji bahut acche dost hai toh mei bas unko help kar rahi hun temporarily.
JP comes out just then and joins Ajay. They pay for their visit and are ready to leave.
Ajay says : Well, it was nice meeting you Alaana. Phir milte hai.
Alaana also wishes them goodbye and they leave.
The next day Kasturi informs Nithya that she would love to help them out. And she also tells that she, Gia and Anand will perform together. Nithya is super excited and she immediately introduces Kasturi to Saaransh Chaudhary , their music maestro as they have only 4 days to come up with something. Saaransh comes up with a folk, rustic number for which Kasturi choreographs a dance that is simple but lively. It works out very well and the theme of the song and dance is very message oriented. Kasturi, Gia and Anand practice hard as they don't have much time left. The format of the play will be as follows.......The message is to bring awareness among the villagers against domestic violence. Robbie, the protagonist is an alcoholic husband who is violent towards his wife. The role of his wife is played by Nithya. Alaana plays a good samaritan who comes to the village in which Robbie lives, with her dance troupe and teaches him and the rest of the village men, the importance of respecting their life partners. Kasturi's dance features as a dance, in the drama that is played in Robbie's village.
Soon it is the weekend. The dance is a last minute inclusion and so lack of time will not allow Kasturi and team to have but one practice session with the theater group and Robbie and Alaana miss that practice session. And so they do not know about it till early Saturday morning when they all are assembled in the busstop waiting for a Punjab Road Tranportation semi-luxury bus to get them to their first destination......the village Sarhanpur in interior Punjab.
When Robbie hears it, he is shocked!! 😲 He immediately voices his disapproval with a.........."Whose idea was this????" 👎🏼
Nithya says to Robbie : Meraa idea tha. Koi problem hai?
Robbie says : Sorry Nithya, while the idea is great, I do not think it is practically possible for Kasturi....
Nithya cuts him and says : Robbie, tu apni practicality kaa speech phir seh shuru mat kar, please!! 😡
Alaana giggles and says : Give it to him, Nithya di!! 😆
Robbie protests : Hey....mei jo keh rahaa hun, bilkul sahi keh rahaa hun! 😒 Do you know who Kasturi Chawla is? She is one of the richest people in Delhi!! How in the world do you think she will be able to accompany us to the village and live like a nomad???
Nithya says : Lekin, Kasturi neh khudh haan kahaan......toh zaahir hai woh jaanti hai ke hum gaanvon mei jaane waale hai, right?
Robbie is about to reply when one of the Chawla car stops right in front of them. Kasturi and Gia get down from the back seat while Anand and the driver step out the front doors. Robbie stares at Kasturi....he suddenly realizes that it has been a week since he had seen her and he had missed her a lot!!! She was looking fantastic in a strawberry red short skirt and a white top! 😳 Alaana loves the skirt but ruefully reminds herself that she was never going to get to wear such dresses as her parents strongly disapproved of such dressing styles!! Kasturi and Gia walk over to them, Kasturi is staring back at Robbie. She had been wondering throughout if Robbie knew about her coming with them? Nithya comes forward and hugs them both and says......."Good to see you guys! Thanks a lot for coming!" And she says....."Ab tumhi Robbie ko convince karnaa, ke you can do this without any problem!
Kasturi looks at Robbie with a questioning look while Gia demands to know : What do you mean Mr.Shabahrwal? Tumko hampeh shaq hai? 😡
Robbie raises his hands in peace and says : Ladies.....mujhe tumhaari kaabiliyat par koi shaq nahi hai! All I am saying is that this might be an experience that might not go down well with you!
He looks at Kasturi, eventhough he is addressing everybody and says...."Mujhe nahi lagtaa aap adjust kar paayengi!" 😳
Kasturi sees a slight edge of challenge in his voice and eyes. She purses her lips not saying anything but Gia has something to say and so she says......"Oh come on Robbie, don't underestimate us! Waise bhi it can't be that bad!!
Robbie says : Pataa nahi tum kya samajh ke chal rahi ho, lekin tumhe bahut mushkil hogi! For starters, tumhaara luggage uthakar chalne waala koi nahi hogaa!
And he eyes the driver who is carrying the luggage of all the three and from the car and placing them next to the group.
Anand says : Koi baat nahi, inkaa luggage mei utha loonga!
Robbie continues : Next, yeh jo bus ab ham lene waale hai, woh air-conditioned nahi hai! Aur itne hot summer mei, the temperature can reach as high as 45 degrees!
Kasturi swallows hard but still does not chicken out and says : Tum log bhi toh usi heat mei rahoge! If you can do it then we will also be able to do it!
Robbie continues : Aur khaana, woh neeche baithkar khaana hoga, sona bhi neeche zameen par apne sleeping bags daalke sona padhega! And water.....there will be no filtered water, bas kuaan (water well) yaa talaab seh nikaala hua paani peena padhega.....Have you ever done this?
Kasturi replies : For everything there is a first time, Robbie! (Stole this from my husband, his fav dialog 😆)
Robbie smiles and says : Well, how about sharing a bathroom with 15 people?? That will surely be a first time for you!!!
Kasturi and Gia are horrified. 😲 😒 Share a bathroom and that too with so many people!! 😔 They stare at him and do not reply back.
Nithya yells at Robbie : Shut up Robbie!! Tu sabko daraa mat! 😡
Robbie grins 😆 while Nithya tells them : Don't worry guys.....Jitnaa ho sakegaa utnaa hum tumhe comfort seh rakhenge. It is not as bad as he is portraying it to be, trust me!
Just then the bus arrives. Everyone is ready to get in. The driver is about to pick up Kasturi's bag when she stops him and picks it up herself. It was a little heavy but still she decides to carry it herself. The driver is surprised and offers to help again but Kasturi asks him not to worry and tells him he can go back. The driver leaves and Kasturi turns around and finds herself staring into Robbie's eyes who was staring at her and observing the small exchange that just happened between her and the driver!! She gives him a look kind of indicating that I accept the challenge! And a slight smile creeps onto Robbie's lips! 😊 He walks away from there and goes to buy some snacks for everybody.
All their bags are hoisted up the bus and the rest of them climb in. Most of the bus is occupied and everybody settles in. Some sit besides some existing passengers.....men with men and women with women. Kasturi and Gia sit together. After a few minutes Gia gets up and occupies a different seat! She was trying to hold off a seat in such a way that when Robbie comes, he will have no choice but to sit besides Kasturi! Kasturi looks at her disapprovingly 😒 and Gia simply winks at her! 😉 😃
But unfortunately her plan bombs because as soon as she goes and sits in a different seat, a heavy-built man climbs into the bus, and as soon as he sees the empty seat and with Kasturi in it, he plops down besides Kasturi!!! Kasturi shrinks as far away from him as possible! 😲 His clothes were reeking with the smell of dead fish!! 😒 Kasturi is horrified and feels completely blocked by him! To top it he leers at Kasturi looking at her knees that were exposed as her skirt did not completely cover her knees! Kasturi stares at him angrily 😡 😡 and tries to pull her skirt down as if it will grow in length all of a sudden!! ( 🤣 )She is gathering courage to get up and move past him away from the seat when she suddenly sees Robbie next to the seat and he is asking her
Robbie : Main tainu keya si na ki mere liye seat rakhi? (I asked you to save me a seat, right?)
Kasturi sighs in relief and latches on to the idea and says to Robbie......"Main teh rakhi si par ae janab mere kuch bolun toh pehla hi aake beh gaye!" 😡 (I was going to, but this man came and sat here before I can stop him!)
Robbie says to the Sardar : Bhaisahab je twanu aitraaz na hoye teh tussi kitthe hor beh sakde ho?? Athe main ben wala si.. ae meri seat haigi hai. (Sir, if you don't mind can you please go and sit somewhere else?? This is my seat. I was going to sit here.)
The conversation between them is like a husband talking to a wife though Robbie does not mention anything explicitly!!! The man gives them both a look. 😡 He sees the determination in Robbie's eyes and gets up grunting in a dissatisfied manner and walks to the back of the bus looking for another seat. Robbie immediately sits in his place.
Kasturi turns to him and says feelingly : Thank you so much Robbie!!! !
Robbie looks back at her and says : It's alright.
They stare at each other for a moment and then Robbie turns away and asks her irritatedly......."Iss seh chote kapde nahi hai tumhaare paas? Maybe, you should have worn a shorter skirt, this seems to be too long for where we are going!" 😡 😡
Kasturi understands the sarcasm and sulks at him. 😕 Robbie turns back to her and seeing her upset face, feels a little bad and says......"Gaanv mei aise kapde nahi chalenge. Tumne koi salwar-kameez bhi laayi hai ya nahi?
Kasturi shakes her head in the negative and Robbie says : Toh phir tumhe Alaana, Nithya yaa Soni ke saath cooridnate karna padhega. Maybe they can share some with you!
Kasturi agrees and Robbie is about to get up when Kasturi asks him concerned : Kahaan jaa rahe ho?
Robbie says : I was planning to sit with Saaransh. So, I am gonna ask Gia to come and sit besides you.
Kasturi looks at him disappointed 😔 but Robbie does not let it affect him and walks towards Gia and talks to her and asks her to sit besides Kasturi while he himself goes and sits next to Saaransh! Gia goes to Kasturi and asks her surprised......."Kya hua? Yeh uthke kyun chala gayaa?"....."Pataa nahi" says a disappointed Kasturi. 😒 But if she had known why he had walked away then she would have been very happy!!! Kasturi's long slender legs and her exposed knees were driving Robbie crazy!!! 😳 He was finding it hard not to stare at them and at the owner of those legs and so had decided to sit away from her to calm himself down!!!! 😳 😉
After 6 hours of journey, they reach Sarhanpur. The village Sarpanch's (headman) house is a about a kilometer away from the bus stand. The whole group troops down to his house. Kasturi finds it difficult to carry her heavy bag. She keeps shifting it from one hand to the other. Anand offers to carry her's several times, but she refuses to seek his help. Robbie keeps watching all this but does not make any move to offer his help! 😈 Soon they reach the Sarpanch's house. He welcomes them heartily and looks askance at Kasturi in that short skirt! 😲 For the first time in her life Kasturi feels very out of place!! At the first opportunity she gets, she quickly borrows a dress of Nithya's!
All the arrangements have already been made for their stay and the play was going to be shown in the evening in front of the whole village. This was also going to be attended by several villagers from nearby villages. Then they were going to provide several kinds of information to the villagers and after staying overnight in Sarhanpur, they were going to go to another village - Sonpur about 30 kms away and again present their show there. After lunch at Sonpur, they all were going to come back to Delhi by late Sunday night.
All of them settle down and rehearse their play once. Robbie sees Kasturi's dance item and is not too sure if he likes it!!! 😕 Kasturi is disappointed to see his expression. Soon its evening and they present their play infront of the huge crowd. When its time for the dance, Kasturi, Gia and Anand come on stage and Robbie stares at Kasturi dumbfounded! 😲 😲 😲 She was wearing a green and red colored suit with both ends of the dupatta tied together towards her right side. Her wrists were filled with red and green glass bangles. Her long hair is plaited and she is wearing a red paraanda! 😳 And she is wearing big jhumkas in her ears and has a large red bindi on her forehead. She looks absolutely gorgeous and a complete punjaaban 😳 .....there was no trace of the ultra modern Kasturi Chawla!!! Robbie cannot take his eyes off her!!!! Kasturi knows she is having a very positive affect on him and that gives her a lot of confidence, making her look even more beautiful!
All 3 of them look very colorful and beautiful and as soon as the crowd sees them, it goes bonkers. The audience whistle and clap happily. 👏 👏 They start the dance and Robbie is absolutely stunned!! 😲 😲 Was it the same dance that he saw this afternoon? 😲 How did he miss to observe what a fantastic dancer Kasturi was?? 😲 How did he not notice that she was amazingly graceful and very athletic???? 😳 How did he not realize, how hot she looked dancing away to the music??? 😳 And he also thinks...........How did he miss to see the chemistry between her and Anand?? The last thought makes him very unhappy, so much so that he almost forgets the dialog he needs to say after the dance! 😒
Soon the dance is over and so is the play. It is a huge hit and the villagers are very excited and happy at having watched a very entertaining program. They throng the group, specially women and thank them for extending their support to them and for sharing their pain! 😭 Soon everyone disperses and it is time for dinner.
The group sits down cross legged for their dinner in the house while garam garam Parathas are served right off the hearth! Robbie sits as far away from Kasturi as possible!! The women of the house serve the food. Kasturi eats one paratha and she is done!!! Those parathas were huge, she cannot eat more than one!! The elderly mother of the Sarpanch who is sitting along with them and watching them looks at Kasturi surprised and says 😲
Elder woman : Bas... aina hi? Tu hor kuch nahin khaana? (That's it??? Is that all you are going to eat?)
Kasturi with a smile : Haanji Bas... mera pet par gaya... main hor kuch nahin kha sakdi 😊 (Yes. I am full.)
Elder woman : Aida kida ik hi parathe na pet par gaya? 😲 Je tu aina hi khanvengi teh bachche janan nu takat milegi?? waise tera vya ho gaya hai? (How can you be full with one paratha?? If you eat like this, how in the world will you have the strength to give birth to kids? Are you married?)
Kasturi looks at her shocked 😲 😲 and embarassed 😳 😳 and blushes ☺️☺️☺️ at such a publicly made statement and she says : Nahi ji (No)
Sarpanch's young daughter stops her grandmother and says : Beeji...bas hun, aida nahi puchida honda!! 😳 (Grandma, please stop...You cannot ask such questions!)
Elder woman : Kyon nahin? Arre main jad aedi umar di si na tad tak mere do bachche vi ho gaye si... aur aei kudi jida ka choga-choga kha rai hai na aedi vich ek bachcha janan di vi takat vi nai honi!! (Why not? When I was her age, I had already given birth to 2 kids! The rate at which she is eating, she will not have the stamina to give birth to even one!)
Everyone laugh. 😆 😆 😆 Kasturi is very flustered and embarassed! 😳 She looks at Robbie who had stopped eating and was staring at her in a weird way! She quickly looks away ☺️ ☺️ and tries to stuff herself with another Paratha which was already served in her plate, so that it will stop the elderly lady from passing any more such comments!! Gia who is a Gujrati does not understand much Punjabi but gets a general idea of what was said and she does not miss the look Robbie was giving Kasturi either!! 😳
When they are done eating, they all go to wash their hands outside. Kasturi does not realize it is wet outside and her heels slip and she is about to crash down when Anand holds her just in time!! Kasturi is very relieved and she thanks Anand profusely! She turns around and sees Robbie staring at them!! Suddenly he walks away from there and Kasturi is left staring after him!
All the women sleep inside and all the men sleep outside. Only Kasturi and Robbie cannot sleep. Both of them are extremely restless!! They turn and toss till dawn. Kasturi was trying to make something out of Robbie's behavior. One second he seemed like he was jealous and the next second he acted like he did not care! When she had danced the first time, he seemed umimpressed, but when she was dancing on the stage, he had been staring at her nonstop and had not even blinked his eyelids! And why was he staring at her like that when the elder woman was making those comments about her?? She could still feel the heat of that look and Kasturi blushes involuntarily at the memory of his intense gaze! ☺️ ☺️ ☺️
Outside, Robbie was mad at himself........why was he so helpless when she was around? 😡 Why could he not keep his emotions under control?? He was loosing this battle....he really was! He was simply crashing more and more into love and anything he was doing to try to stop it was working against him!!
Early next morning they travel to the other village, give their program which is again a huge success! Its almost 5 PM in the evening before they finally catch their return bus back to Delhi. The bus is filled! Some of them stand, some get to sit. Kasturi gets a seat next to another woman and Gia sits next to a guy a row behind. Alaana and Robbie stand right next to them. In the next stop, the man besides Gia gets off and she immediately signals to Alaana to join her. After a couple of hours, the bus stops for dinner and then starts back again. The lady next to Kasturi gets off after a couple of stops and immediately Kasturi slides over into the window seat and looks expectantly at Robbie, who is still standing, to sit next to her. Robbie looks at her for a moment and then sits down besides her and Kasturi is very happy. 😃 He turns to Kasturi and smiles at her. 😊 That was the first time he had smiled at her in the whole trip! He had behaved very aloof the whole weekend! He asks her..........."Toh, kaisa lagaa yeh experience?"
Kasturi replies : It was great.........
She quickly covers her mouth while yawning and says : But I am super exhausted! Aur bahut neend bhi aa rahi hai......🥱
She yawns again. 🥱
Kasturi : Jab woh auraten hame thanks karne aa rahi thi, toh aisa lag rahaa tha ke meine kuch achieve kiyaa hai, something very important!! 😃 And you know what the best part was??? The pure, pollution-free and refreshing environment of the villages and........
Robbie cannot look away from her excited eyes and happy face!! 😳 A strong breeze blows through the open window, blowing Kasturi's open hair onto her face, covering her face up partially. Unconsciously Robbie reaches for her face with his left hand and with his fingers pushes her hair off her face and places it behind her ears!!! Kasturi stops in mid sentence and stares at him suprised at his action. 😲 They stare at each other, their hearbeats suddenly increasing!! Kasturi is searching his eyes, desperate to see a sign 😳 and Robbie........he was really on the verge of breaking his stronghold on his emotions!!!! Kasturi reaches for his hand that is on her face and has just touched it when Alaana leans over and calls out to Robbie asking him something.
Robbie quickly takes his hand off her face and Kasturi turns away towards the window!!! They were so close only to be interrupted!!!! She is tired and frustrated 😕....leaning against her seat, she closes her eyes. Robbie answers Alaana's queries and when he turns around he sees Kasturi leaning against the window and asleep! The cool breeze was like a lullaby and had rocked her to sleep. After a short while Robbie looks at his watch.....its almost 9.00 PM. In another hour they will reach Delhi. The bus is completely dark. Everyone in the bus was asleep, except Robbie. He just leans against his seat with his face turned towards Kasturi and stares at her. He had been behaving like a jerk with her the whole weekend! But she was amazing.....she had adjusted so well with all of them, not complaining and not expecting any out of the way comforts for herself! She ate what was provided, drank what was available and had done all her work by herself!! She was so different from the arrogant Kasturi Chawla he had seen in the bus stop several months ago!!!
Suddenly the bus drives over a pothole and Kasturi's head is jerked to the side. Robbie quickly places his right palm between the window and her head, so she does not hurt her head!! 😳 But the motion has caused Kasturi to move away from the window and she turns towards his side and leaning on his extended right hand, places her head on his right shoulder. She clutches his T-shirt with her right hand and promptly goes back to sleep again!!
Robbie is a little shocked 😲 and is not sure how to react! 😳 Slowly he brings his right arm around her shoulders and holds her from slipping down! She was taking his breath away, being so close to him and was also peeling away at his defence mechanism, even in her sleep!!! 😳 How could he stay away from her when he was so much in love with her?? Why did he have to torture himself and torture her too?? Maybe this was meant to be? Maybe this was not going to end in heartbreak!! The way she made him feel was reason enough to start trusting again!! He slowly reaches for her hand and turns it around to see her palm. It was red from all the luggage carrying she did! He slowly brings her palm to his mouth and kisses it!! 😳 Then he turns to stare at her....she was so endearing,so enticing......he wanted to kiss her, he wanted to feel the love wash over him, he wanted to feel alive again!!! He slowly leans towards Kasturi to kiss her lips! Its like some power was pushing him to do it!! Robbie becomes completely unaware of his surroundings. He whispers to her...."I love you Kasturi, Mei bhi tum seh bahut pyaar karta hun!"......and is about to kiss her when the person sitting in front of his seat coughs loudly in his sleep, shocking Robbie!!
Robbie quickly comes back to his senses! He was carried away in the heat of the moment!! 😲 What was he doing??? How could be take advantage of her like that?? 😡 He chides himself at his own behavior! 😡 He quickly calls out to Alaana sitting behind him and wakes her up. He asks her to come and sit in his place. Alaana walks over groggily in her sleep and Robbie makes her sit in his seat and slowly makes Kasturi lean against Alaana. He goes and occupies Alaana's seat and closes his eyes.........exhausted both physically and mentally!!
Edited by pragalbha - 17 years ago
Debate Mansion
Parineeti
Chakravarti Samrat Prithviraj Chauhan
