~*~*~* The Elevator *~*~*~
Arjun Punj hurried to the lift, he couldn't believe of all days today he is late. He is supposed to meet the prospective bride today and he was late for that. The meeting had taken forever to finish and now he was whole of ten minutes late. Finally the lift decided to grace him with it's presence and Arjun quickly got in and pressed the button for the rooftop restaurant. The lift was about to close when it again opens, Arjun looks up in irritation when she entered. Arohi Sharma. The prospective bride. Arjun starts grinning, even she is late. Arjun was about to say hello to her when he noticed that she was talking on the phone, and looks like she didn't really notice him if he was to go by the lack of reaction from her side. "Purvi, I'm so tensed. I just don't know what I'm going to do...... yeah yeah I remember everything. *taking deep breaths and confidently says* I'll handle this Punji.... hey let's go through it one more time... movie won't start for another five minutes Purvi.... wait... one last time... Purvi? Hello? " Arjun who was listening to her conversation starts frowning handle Punji? PUNJI? How did she find that out?
"Hello." he hears Arohi saying, he turns his attention back to her. Is she blind? I'm standing next to her and she is looking at the door? "Hi" she says again. "Erm.. hi... I'm here." Arjun replies really wondering whether she had some problem with her eyes. Arohi suddenly turns to look at him frowning "I'm not talking to you." she informs him. Confused Arjun starts looking around for the third person in the elevator. "I'm practicing." Arohi says irritated seeing him looking around. "Oh." Arjun says thoughtfully. Is she crazy? She is practicing in front of me what she is going to talk to me? And why is she not recognizing me? "I'm Arohi Sharma, I finished my post graduation..."Is she here to see me or for an interview? Suddenly everything goes dark and the lift comes to a halt. "What happened?" both of them asks out loudly shocked and tensed. The emergency light starts blinking and then it turns on. "What is it? Did the electricity go? Power cut?" Arohi asks. "I don't know." Arjun replies and he picks phone to talk to operators.
"What did they say?" Arohi asks him seeing him hang up. "They said that there is a major power failure and we will have to stay here for a while, maybe up to an hour." "WHAT? One hour? I am supposed to meet Punji. He is waiting for me." I am Punji! No I'm Arjun Punj! Get that right woman! Arjun was about to tell her that he is THE Punji, when Arohi starts talking on the phone. "Hello Baba... no I didn't meet him... I'm in the lift and there is some power failure here and I'm stuck in here for sometime... they said that it could take time... okay baba... bye." Arohi hangs up the phone seeing the stranger frowning at her she gives him a hesitant smile and Arjun smiles back at her. Why is she lying? I'm standing right in front of her. Hasn't she seen my photo? "Hello." Arjun greets her in order to start a conversation and find out why she is not recognizing him. "Hello." Arohi replies back. "Are you here to meet someone?" Arjun asks suddenly confused whether he got the right person. "Yeah." Arohi smiles as she turns to look at him. "There is this proposal for marriage, so I came to meet the guy." "I assume that guy is this er.. *shuddering* Punji you mentioned." Arjun asks her. "Yes." Arohi confirms. Okay so it IS her! Then why is she not recognizing me? "So practice was for that?" Arjun asks her again. Suddenly frowning she asks him "Why are you so interested in all this?" "We are going to be stuck here for a while, so I thought we could just talk." Arjun replies with a shrug. Arohi keeps staring at him for a while then replies "Yeah." After that they were silent for a while each lost in thoughts. Arjun's cell starts ringing bringing them out of their thoughts. Arjun picks up the phone it was his father calling to inform him that Arohi was stuck in the lift, without telling his father that he was also stuck in the lift along with Arohi, Arjun hangs up.
Noticing that Arohi was sitting down on the ground Arjun also sits down. Arohi again dials a number, and starts talking on the phone, "Hey Purvi... I'm stuck in the lift there is a power failure" then she looks at Arjun and then whispers "No I'm not alone... who is with me? I don't know. Some guy." Looks like Purvi was a loud person, because Arjun heard her asking Arohi whether he was good looking. Girls. "Yeah, you could say that." Arohi replies not realizing that Arjun heard Purvi's question. Arjun smiles hearing that making Arohi cautious. "Purvi, can we get back to the matter in hand?" Arohi asks getting all serious. "Once more can we go through this?.... Come on... the movie hasn't started... because I can hear the advertisements over the phone... please Purvi don't do this... I'm so nervous... don't... hello? Hello?" Arohi looks at her phone in shock and mutters "she hung up on me! AGAIN!" she sees Arjun watching her and mutters "so easy for her, married and pregnant." Arjun chuckles. "What are you laughing at?" Arohi asks pissed. "Nothing." Arjun replies while she glares at him, then an idea occurs to him. "If you want, I can help you." Arjun offers, this way I can know her better and also know more about her. God knows what this Purvi has coached her. "Help me?" Arohi asks confused. "Yeah... you wanted to like practice what you were going to say to this *shudders * Punji with this friend right? Since we are going to be stuck here for a while, and nothing to do I can help you. And always better to practice with a guy than a girl in matters regarding men." Arjun explains. Arohi gives him a suspicious look for a while then with a shrug starts "I'm Arohi Sharma. I finished my Post Graduation last year. I got fifth rank in my university..." "Wait" Arjun says making Arohi stop. "Yeah?" "Let me get one thing straight. Are you here to see this guy so you can decide whether you want to marry him or are you here to apply for the post of his wife?" "WHAT?" Arohi asks giving him weird looks. "You sound like you are at an interview." Arjun explains. When Arohi looks confused, Arjun says "Okay, let's start at the beginning. A simple Hello would do. A smile goes a long way." Arohi smiles and says "Hello." "Perfect. And you have a beautiful smile." "Thank you."Arohi smiles. "So, Arohi tell me something about you." Arjun says "acting" like the prospective groom. Arohi looks lost for a moment and then starts "okay... let's see... ermmm... ermmm..." Arohi looks panicked as she brainstormed something to say, though there were lots to say, everything was going to come out like she is at an interview. Arjun smiles, "First time?" "Yeah." "It happens... okay, then I'll say something about myself." Then Arjun starts thinking for a while then chuckles "Even I'm at a loss." Arohi laughs hearing that and then says "it's okay, leave it. I know this won't work out. I just came for my baba and the experience. But thanx for trying to help me." Arohi says with a shrug. "Experience?" Arjun asks frowning. "Yeah, so next time when I'm meeting some other guy I won't be nervous."Arohi explains. "Why do you feel this won't work out?" Arjun asks confused. "Because I know, he and I won't work out." Arohi explains. "Why do you feel like that?" "Lots of reasons." Arohi replies. "Tell me some." Arjun persists. "Why are you getting so worked up about it?" Arohi asks frowning. Arjun tries to act casual, "Just curious. And we don't have anything else to do." If she was going to reject him, then he will damn well know the reasons.
"Okay. First of all, his name is Punji." Arohi says shuddering. "That is not his name." Arjun bursts out without thinking. "How do you know that?" Arohi asks, "and why are you getting so hyper?" "Ermm... it's because Punji sounds more like a nickname than a real name. Deciding someone won't suit you because of their name is plain stupid. Just stop calling him with that disgusting name." Arjun tells her. "Yeah... Punji is not his real name. But who allows themselves to be called Punji?" Arohi asks. "Maybe he doesn't like being called Punji. Maybe some friend for example a college friend who was drunk called him Punji in a drunken state and his less drunk friends around might have picked up the name from there and refuse to stop using that from then on, and he hates that name but can't seems to make people stop calling him that." Arjun explains. "Oh!" Arohi says "didn't think so... I always thought that he liked it." "No he doesn't." Arjun replies strongly then when he noticed her frowning at him he amends "if I'm him, I would definitely won't like it." Arohi nods being convinced. "What is your next reason?" "He is dumb." Arohi says. "WHAT?" Arjun asks highly offended. "Yeah. My friend told me, he used to fail." Arohi explains. "First of all, a person who fails doesn't mean that he is dumb or stupid, it might be just that he doesn't like the subject or he is plain lazy. Don't judge a person's intelligence by his exam results. For all you know, he might be good in maths." Arjun replies pissed. "Yeah you are right. Matter of fact, he used to top in maths." Arohi says amazed. "There. A person who is good in maths is never dumb." Arjun says till pissed. "Yeah you are right." Arohi replies after realizing what she had been thinking and blushing slightly for her small thinking. "And secondly, you don't seem to be impressing Punji all that much." Arjun says. Arohi looks at him offended. "You are too judgmental for Punji's liking." Arjun tells her. How he hated people calling him Punji and now he himself doing that, and to top it all of, her these thoughts. "How do you know what Punji likes and dislikes?" Arohi asks. "Normally, people hate others being judgmental." Arjun explains. "I'm not judgmental." Arohi says and then starts wondering why he said that and then slowly realizes that he was right. "Oh God, I feel so terrible. I hate people when they judge me without knowing and I did that to Punji. That was so terrible of me. When I meet him I'm going to apologize to him. He doesn't know about it, but he deserves it." Arohi says. Arjun starts smiling appreciating her character. "Arohi, just be your true self and you are going to impress the hell out of Punji." Arohi smiles "It would all depend on how he reacts when I tell him what I did." "You don't have to tell him, you know." Arjun tells her. "That would be wrong, right? And I would feel too guilty about it whenever I look at his face." I'm sure Punji will like you for your honesty." Arjun reassures her.
"Purvi told me all this and I just let it go to my brain without thinking. This Purvi na.." Arohi says shaking her head. "Who is this Purvi? And how does she know all this?" Arjun asks confused. "She is my friend. Her husband Salil was Punji's classmate. He told her all this. And she told me." Arohi explains. "SALIL!!!" Arjun exclaims. It was that fool. Wait till I get my hands on him. First he gave me the stupid name Punji and now this? "You know him?" Arohi asks shocked. Arjun realizing his folly quickly smiles, "I'm supposed to be Punji, so I assumed this is how Punji would react." "Oh... I wish he is this easy to talk to." Arohi says hopefully. Arjun starts smiling and then asks, "If you were so sure that this won't work out why were you so nervous?" "I've been asking myself that." Arohi says rolling her eyes. Arjun chuckles, then asks "Okie, tell me your other problems with Punji." "No.. it could be all Purvi talking." Arohi says. "Still, let's see."Arjun urges. "Okay. hmmm yeah this one, I don't think I'm being judgmental about this." "What is it?" Arjun asks. "He doesn't watch movies and I'm a total movie buff." Arohi explains. "WHAT? Salil said that?" Arjun asks shocked. Arohi looks at him appreciating "You are a great actor. I keep forgetting that you are not Punji." Arjun fakes a chuckle. "Punji doesn't like movies... huh? I wonder why?" Arjun asks trying to find out the reason. "I know movies do not play much of a role in a married life, but then, for me every week I at least have to watch one movie. So if I'm marrying someone who hates movies then it'll create problems. You know, I once watched a Telugu movie when I didn't get ticket for any other and I don't even understand Telugu. Didn't understand a single word but the graphics were just awesome." "Really? Which movies?" Arjun asks getting distracted. "Can't remember the name. It's about rebirth. Chiranjeevi's son is the hero." "Magadheera! Hero's name is Ram Charan Teja." Arjun says excitedly. "You know that movie. Are you Telugu?" Arohi asks excited. "No, I heard that they were making it in hindi with Aamir Khan and Hrithik Roshan, so I got the DVD and watched. Luckily for me, it had subtitles." "See... I should marry someone like you. I doubt Punji even knows who Jack Sparrow is." that was a slap on his face! When Pirates of the Caribbean - The Curse of Black Pearl released he had his hair and beard grown like Jack Sparrow. "Why do you think so? Or rather Purvi and Salil." Arjun asks. "In college, whenever they call Punji to go for a movie he rarely goes. 3yrs and Punji has gone for a movie with them only twice." Arohi explains. "How do you explain that?" Arohi asks him. "Okay, if I was Punji then maybe, me being a movie buff might have already watched those movies on the first day of release. He might have not gone for the movie with them because he has watched it. And since he had to pay for the movies with his pocket money as his father didn't like him living in a theatre as his father would put it, he couldn't afford to pay to watch a movie twice even if he loved it. And the main reason could be that his friends talked non-stop while watching a movie irritating him and he prefers watching movies alone." Arjun explains. "Then we would have to go separately for movies. I like it if my husband comes with me." Arohi says disappointed. "Marriage is all about compromises, Arohi." Arjun tells her.
"What other reason?" Arjun asks. Arohi remains silent for a while then says "This is a pretty big one. Actually the main reason." "What is it?" Arjun asks getting a little tensed and very curious "His family is very conservative." Arohi starts while Arjun starts frowning. "So?" "I love movies. I live movies." "I know that." "I want to be a director but I doubt his family would allow that. You see, I'll have to travel a lot and stay away from home for long time due to shootings if I become a director and I doubt his family would agree." Arohi explains worriedly, "Even if all the other things work out between us, and this doesn't I don't think I would marry him, because I won't be happy." Arjun was silent for a while as he thought about what he was going to tell Arohi and then says "Have you ever thought that maybe Punji might have wanted to take a profession related to films, like be cinematographer for instance but then since he was color blind he couldn't be one. So he might never come in the way of your dreams. If he is supporting you, I doubt his family will have that much of an issue." "Color blind person can't be a cinematographer?" Arohi asks confused. "How are you going to shoot breath taking sceneries if you can't differentiate a few colors?" Arjun replies with a shrug. "You are color blind." Arohi states softly. "Yeah. Red-green colorblindness." Arjun tells her not much hurt about his loss as he had come to terms with it ages ago. "I'm sorry." Arohi says sadly. "Don't be. I'm happy now. I enjoy my business, I love it and strange thing is I never thought I would. But it is like a part of me now." Arjun tells her all happy.
"Now, what are your other issues?" Arjun asks smiling. "Nothing else. If Punji is half as good as you portray him then I think I'll like him. But then I don't know what type of a girl he wants" Arohi says smiling. "Let's see, if I was Punji I would say that I never thought what type of a girl I wanted but now I know, I don't want any other type." Arjun says grinning at her. "You are such a flirt." Arohi says laughing. "Harmless." Arjun replies and they laugh.
"Punji will like you, Arohi. And liking someone and seeing your future with that someone is the first step to an arranged marriage, and love slowly happens." Arjun tells her. After thinking about it for a bit Arohi nods agreeing with him. Suddenly, the emergency light goes off and main light comes on and with a jerk the elevator starts. Arohi and Arjun get up and start brushing off the dust. "How does Punji look?" Arjun asks. "No idea. Baba gave me his photo to see, but I was on my way out and in a hurry, so took it with me to see. I left it in the rickshaw I was in and I never saw the photo." Arohi tells him. Aahh! "So are you worried about how he is going to look?" Arjun asks as he couldn't help himself. "Everybody has their own beauty, a quality to them er..." Arohi stops and then softly laughs. "I've been talking to you for so long and I don't even know your name." Finally! Arjun starts smiling. He looks up and realizes just one more floor and decided to make it truly filmy. "What's your name?" Arohi asks. Elevator door opens and Arjun turns to her and says "Arjun Punj."
Arjun gets outside and turns back to see Arohi gaping at him with her mouth wide open. Realizing the door is going to close, decided to make it more filmy and says "Since marriage is about compromises I'll go with you for every movie as long as you don't call me Punji." Seconds before the elevator door closed he added in true Jack Sparrow style "Savvy?"
Note:
I have no idea whether there is any problem with a colorblind person becoming a Cinematographer, it was purely my imagination. If it is a blunder pls forgive me.
Arjun and Arohi did talk after getting out of the elevator (and Arohi out of her shock) before they formally agreed to get married to each other.
I know this ff was not tht great, as i had written the first few paras months ago, and just stumbled upon it today and decided to finish it, I forgot half of the things I had planned for this.
Pls do comment and if you like it, pls press the like button.
Kuku😃
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