Posted:
my prem-crazy-pal is ill. wouldja keep your fingers crossed that she gets well?
an update on 10 jan 2010.
after making what he thought was a violently confrontational statement, prem was taken aback to find no response from preet.
he wondered if the opposition was so unexpected that it had rendered preet speechless. but then again, this was preet. nothing rendered preet speechless. his brows furrowed deeply over his eyes, prem turned to look at preet.
only to find that there was an expression of such abject astonishment on his face, that preet's mouth hung open. prem's frown became even more fierce. surely the idea that he was in love with heer was not that impossible?? after all, prem could recollect quite a few times when preet and uncle john and the rest of the brownstone gang had teased him about finding heer kissing him. then what was preet looking so astonished about?
from the doorway, harman spoke, making prem whip around.
''you do know that there are only a few countries left in the world where putting a garland around a girl's neck indicates an intent to marry, and thence, might be construed as an indication of the violent feeling of love? i don't think we live in one of those countries,pb." harman said kindly.
''in fact.. '' he stopped as if giving it serious thought, ''i think there are no such practices in any societies left today. unless you are thinking of certain places in the depth of the amazon basin or something.''
he walked into the silent room, carrying two cups of steaming liquid, which he placed on the table. ''john uncle said you had asked for coffee, preet? he figured that we had hadenough excitement for the day and has delivered hot chocolate instead. along with instructions that we are to drink it up and go to sleep immediately, else he will be forced to come and tuck us into bed forcibly.''
harman turned to look at prem. ''you're lucky that i offered to bring up the tray for him, bhaiyya. otherwise you would have never lived down the indignity of the stories that john uncle would have made of your being such a duffer.''
it seemed to be a night of monosyllabic pronouncements of surprise. prem could only say, ''huh?''
preet seemed to have returned to his senses. ''so that was what that whole fate and luck and love and what-turns-a-girl-on-and-what-not spiel at the party was all about??'' he murmured, while shaking his head. ''of course! now it all makes perfect sense. pb..'' he said gently, walking up to prem, reaching out a hand...
to do something that preet had never before even imagined doing. ''thwack!'' his hand slapped prem on the upside of his head. ''pb, how could you??'' preet yelled into prem's face.
harman said, startled, ''oye, preet, wha...''
but preet was on a roll by then. ''you actually thought... you thought... oh!'' and hit prem again, this time thumping him on the shoulder. ''how could you??''
''where? where do you get such ideas from? she had been tripping all over you, kissing you all over, seeing nothing but you from the first moment that she set foot in this place. and you could think... you actually could think... pb, how could you??''
''thwack!'' his hand flew and hit prem on the upside of his head again.
from the other side, harman's handflew up in a mirror attack on the other side of his poor besieged brother's head. ''yeah, how could you, bhaiyya?''
''stop it.'' the pitch of prem's voice was unnatural and loud.
harman grinned at him. ''well, did you think that i was going to let preet have all the fun?''
preet rounded on harman, punching him in the shoulder. ''this is not funny! do you think this is funny?? pb actually thought that i was in love in heer and was telling the world that i wanted to marry her? in front of that painting? where the whole world, eyes wide open or blind, can see heer's passion for him?? -- but prem bhaiyya could not?? instead, he thought i.. i was in love with heer??'' preet's voice became raised a notch higher, making harman wince.
''it was not an unnatural assumption,'' prem struggled for control.
''not unnnatural???'' preet was furious. ''not unnatural?? i get to see you in all your glory, painted with blind love that shouted from every single brushstroke, and you could think i could fall in love with her?''
''yes you can!'' prem shouted back at him, and it was all preet could do to keep the angry look on his own face intact. prem bhaiyya never shouted, not ever at him. but he needed to make him do this.
''she is perfect. she is gentle, she is funny, she is kind, she is smart, she is beautiful. why would you not fall in love with her?'' prem could not comprehend how anyone could not fall in love with heer if they had a chance. besides, ''you have a great foundation to build love on -- meher's love. and i could see it happening...''
preet bristled at that, ''what? how could you even think th...?''
''she showed you her painting first, didn't she??!''
the silence in the room was loud.
prem sighed and continued more quietly. ''she used to show her paintings first only to meher. she didn't show them to me -- she showed them to you. that at was unnatural in thinking she could transfer her love for meher into a love for you?''
''unnatural because you knew she loved you, you duffer!'' preet's displeasure at prem's behaviour at the dinner strengthened the tide of anger that washed over his brother's head.
''and don't you dare say you didn't know that, pb, because the entire world knew that, and you are smarter than the entire world in everything! and you. you sulked and crushed her spirit at dinner just because you thought that when i gave her ...'' preet paused for breath.
''anyone else i could have excused. but you! you knew that was my meher's gift! damnit it all to heck, prem bhaiyya! do you think that i am so shallow that i could have forgotten my love and leapt to have her sister instead??! how could you think that of me?'' he screamed into prem's face.
prem stood as still as a stone. in his mind, he relived the last three months from the moment that she had run into him, blind and panicked, and he had wrapped his arms around her and wondered why it felt like the most natural and right thing in the world, till the moment that he had walked away from the table tonight, feeling her eyes watching him as he walked away. of course, he knew that she loved him. he had never doubted that. it was just that he was not sure that it had only been his right to reach out and claim her.
right now, all that he had understood from preet's rantings was that it seemed like he never had needed to. prem could not speak because he was paralysed with mind-numbing relief.
preet continued, unaware of the clear logical leaps that were rapidly returning to his brother's confused mind. ''you are a strange animal, pb, truly you are. you lead a girl on, take her out for walks in the park, dinner at the club, allow her to paint you in the nude, share dreams of having found a soulmate to spend the rest of life with. but all the while, set her up in your mind as the perfect companion for your brother?? what kind of a twisted mind are you???''
harman saw the stillness in prem and decided that it was time to stop teasing his brother. he touched prem on the shoulder, and saw that the eyes that turned to him were still blind. ''prem bhaiyya, surely you could not have thought that preet and heer could even have the remotest chance of being in love with each other? everyone in the brownstone has known about you two from the moment that heer did that kiss-and-smash attack on you on the day of the board meeting.'' there was still no response in those dark eyes.
harman realised that prem had really convinced himself about preet's feelings, and knew his brother enough to understand how hard it must have been for prem to tell them what he felt about heer. his poor lost big brother.
he tried again to make prem smile. ''i mean, even soni could see immediately how much you two were attracted to each other, and he is the world's greatest duffer on such matters, you know. they've been running a pool on when you two would get engaged for three weeks now.''
harman laughed. ''did you know how many people have a grudge against you for having taken off for two-weeks?? all those lost opportunities to bet on who would end up kissing whom the next time you met! if they had a chance to get back at you for all their lost merriment, boy, you would have ...''
harman stopped when he saw the tortured look in prem's eyes at the memory of those two weeks. prem had not put himself through such punishment for those two weeks just so that the firm could get more business. he probably had been torturing himself over preet and heer, while being deeply in love with her. harman turned to look at preet, beseeching him to go easy on their big brother.
but there was no answering look of pity in preet's eyes as he leaned in closer to prem's face. ''you were my hero, pb. but not now. not anymore. how could you?''
an update on 10 jan 2010.
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ch 57: ''confrontation''
after making what he thought was a violently confrontational statement, prem was taken aback to find no response from preet.
he wondered if the opposition was so unexpected that it had rendered preet speechless. but then again, this was preet. nothing rendered preet speechless. his brows furrowed deeply over his eyes, prem turned to look at preet.
only to find that there was an expression of such abject astonishment on his face, that preet's mouth hung open. prem's frown became even more fierce. surely the idea that he was in love with heer was not that impossible?? after all, prem could recollect quite a few times when preet and uncle john and the rest of the brownstone gang had teased him about finding heer kissing him. then what was preet looking so astonished about?
from the doorway, harman spoke, making prem whip around.
''you do know that there are only a few countries left in the world where putting a garland around a girl's neck indicates an intent to marry, and thence, might be construed as an indication of the violent feeling of love? i don't think we live in one of those countries,pb." harman said kindly.
''in fact.. '' he stopped as if giving it serious thought, ''i think there are no such practices in any societies left today. unless you are thinking of certain places in the depth of the amazon basin or something.''
he walked into the silent room, carrying two cups of steaming liquid, which he placed on the table. ''john uncle said you had asked for coffee, preet? he figured that we had hadenough excitement for the day and has delivered hot chocolate instead. along with instructions that we are to drink it up and go to sleep immediately, else he will be forced to come and tuck us into bed forcibly.''
harman turned to look at prem. ''you're lucky that i offered to bring up the tray for him, bhaiyya. otherwise you would have never lived down the indignity of the stories that john uncle would have made of your being such a duffer.''
it seemed to be a night of monosyllabic pronouncements of surprise. prem could only say, ''huh?''
preet seemed to have returned to his senses. ''so that was what that whole fate and luck and love and what-turns-a-girl-on-and-what-not spiel at the party was all about??'' he murmured, while shaking his head. ''of course! now it all makes perfect sense. pb..'' he said gently, walking up to prem, reaching out a hand...
to do something that preet had never before even imagined doing. ''thwack!'' his hand slapped prem on the upside of his head. ''pb, how could you??'' preet yelled into prem's face.
harman said, startled, ''oye, preet, wha...''
but preet was on a roll by then. ''you actually thought... you thought... oh!'' and hit prem again, this time thumping him on the shoulder. ''how could you??''
''where? where do you get such ideas from? she had been tripping all over you, kissing you all over, seeing nothing but you from the first moment that she set foot in this place. and you could think... you actually could think... pb, how could you??''
''thwack!'' his hand flew and hit prem on the upside of his head again.
from the other side, harman's handflew up in a mirror attack on the other side of his poor besieged brother's head. ''yeah, how could you, bhaiyya?''
''stop it.'' the pitch of prem's voice was unnatural and loud.
harman grinned at him. ''well, did you think that i was going to let preet have all the fun?''
preet rounded on harman, punching him in the shoulder. ''this is not funny! do you think this is funny?? pb actually thought that i was in love in heer and was telling the world that i wanted to marry her? in front of that painting? where the whole world, eyes wide open or blind, can see heer's passion for him?? -- but prem bhaiyya could not?? instead, he thought i.. i was in love with heer??'' preet's voice became raised a notch higher, making harman wince.
''it was not an unnatural assumption,'' prem struggled for control.
''not unnnatural???'' preet was furious. ''not unnatural?? i get to see you in all your glory, painted with blind love that shouted from every single brushstroke, and you could think i could fall in love with her?''
''yes you can!'' prem shouted back at him, and it was all preet could do to keep the angry look on his own face intact. prem bhaiyya never shouted, not ever at him. but he needed to make him do this.
''she is perfect. she is gentle, she is funny, she is kind, she is smart, she is beautiful. why would you not fall in love with her?'' prem could not comprehend how anyone could not fall in love with heer if they had a chance. besides, ''you have a great foundation to build love on -- meher's love. and i could see it happening...''
preet bristled at that, ''what? how could you even think th...?''
''she showed you her painting first, didn't she??!''
the silence in the room was loud.
prem sighed and continued more quietly. ''she used to show her paintings first only to meher. she didn't show them to me -- she showed them to you. that at was unnatural in thinking she could transfer her love for meher into a love for you?''
''unnatural because you knew she loved you, you duffer!'' preet's displeasure at prem's behaviour at the dinner strengthened the tide of anger that washed over his brother's head.
''and don't you dare say you didn't know that, pb, because the entire world knew that, and you are smarter than the entire world in everything! and you. you sulked and crushed her spirit at dinner just because you thought that when i gave her ...'' preet paused for breath.
''anyone else i could have excused. but you! you knew that was my meher's gift! damnit it all to heck, prem bhaiyya! do you think that i am so shallow that i could have forgotten my love and leapt to have her sister instead??! how could you think that of me?'' he screamed into prem's face.
prem stood as still as a stone. in his mind, he relived the last three months from the moment that she had run into him, blind and panicked, and he had wrapped his arms around her and wondered why it felt like the most natural and right thing in the world, till the moment that he had walked away from the table tonight, feeling her eyes watching him as he walked away. of course, he knew that she loved him. he had never doubted that. it was just that he was not sure that it had only been his right to reach out and claim her.
right now, all that he had understood from preet's rantings was that it seemed like he never had needed to. prem could not speak because he was paralysed with mind-numbing relief.
preet continued, unaware of the clear logical leaps that were rapidly returning to his brother's confused mind. ''you are a strange animal, pb, truly you are. you lead a girl on, take her out for walks in the park, dinner at the club, allow her to paint you in the nude, share dreams of having found a soulmate to spend the rest of life with. but all the while, set her up in your mind as the perfect companion for your brother?? what kind of a twisted mind are you???''
harman saw the stillness in prem and decided that it was time to stop teasing his brother. he touched prem on the shoulder, and saw that the eyes that turned to him were still blind. ''prem bhaiyya, surely you could not have thought that preet and heer could even have the remotest chance of being in love with each other? everyone in the brownstone has known about you two from the moment that heer did that kiss-and-smash attack on you on the day of the board meeting.'' there was still no response in those dark eyes.
harman realised that prem had really convinced himself about preet's feelings, and knew his brother enough to understand how hard it must have been for prem to tell them what he felt about heer. his poor lost big brother.
he tried again to make prem smile. ''i mean, even soni could see immediately how much you two were attracted to each other, and he is the world's greatest duffer on such matters, you know. they've been running a pool on when you two would get engaged for three weeks now.''
harman laughed. ''did you know how many people have a grudge against you for having taken off for two-weeks?? all those lost opportunities to bet on who would end up kissing whom the next time you met! if they had a chance to get back at you for all their lost merriment, boy, you would have ...''
harman stopped when he saw the tortured look in prem's eyes at the memory of those two weeks. prem had not put himself through such punishment for those two weeks just so that the firm could get more business. he probably had been torturing himself over preet and heer, while being deeply in love with her. harman turned to look at preet, beseeching him to go easy on their big brother.
but there was no answering look of pity in preet's eyes as he leaned in closer to prem's face. ''you were my hero, pb. but not now. not anymore. how could you?''
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Udne Ki Aasha
Kumkum Bhagya
