Varun and Roshini drag Damini to her old room, which they were using now as their play room, as fast as they can. They both push her in lightly, and lock the door. Damini turns around to see what they're doing and smiles. She turns back and looks around at her now old room. While Varun and Roshini argue about who gets to be with their new aunt first, Damini thinks about how strange life is.
It's so strange. One moment can change everything. Just yesterday, this was mine. Now, I have no right over it. Yesterday, I had no feelings, nothing to look forward to. Now, I have all these emotions running through me which change my thinking of how my tomorrow will look like in a second.
She sits down on the edge of her bed.
Yesterday, I would never have thought that he would come back. Months before, when I was screaming at the top of lungs that he's not dead... he's alive... no one believed me. And yesterday, when Soni briefly informed me that he's alive.... I wasn't ready to believe her.
Her thoughts are interrupted by a knock at the door. Varun puts his hand on the door knob and lays his left ear against the door to hear better.
"Kaun hai."
"Mein hoon... Soni."
"Soni..." he asks Roshini confused.
Roshini shrugs.
"Soni kaun?" he asks her.
Outside the door, Soni is shocked.
"Soni kaun? Ek naya toy kya aa gaya, tum mujhe bhul gaye." she slaps the door a couple of times. She then tries the door knob.
Roshini pushes Varun aside.
"Voh, toy nahi hai, meri new aunty hai, okay."
"Eh..." Varun taps Roshini on the shoulder.
"Voh sirf tumari ni, meri bhi hai."
"So what. Voh hamesha meri hi side le gi."
"Kyun?"
"Because girls stick with girls." she says with a big smile.
"Hello, voh zamana ab gaya. Now girls stick with boys okay."
"Kyun. Tum chipkana bohot pasand hai kya?" she brushes his shoulder with her shoulder and says it mischievously.
"Eeww... Never!!!" he moves away from her.
"Door kholo!!!" Soni slaps the door again.
"Ek minute, wait ni kar sakti kya!" says Varun. "Mujhe Chipkali #1 ko sambalne do, phir tumhe sambal tha hoon."
Soni makes a face and stomps her foot. She goes away talking to herself to the kitchen when she bumps into Prithvi who was heading towards the bathroom.
"Soni. Tum kisse baate kari ho?" he asks.
Meanwhile in the room, Damini now gets up to open the door and see what Soni wanted to say.
"Tum dono bhi na. Kabhi ni sudhro ge." She lightly hits them both on the head.
She opens the door and heads towards Soni to talk to her. She stops in the corridor, when she sees Soni talking with Prithvi.
"Kudh se. Prithvi, tumhe pata hai... tumare yeh baache na, mujhe pagal kar kar rahe ge."
"Mere baache..." he asks confused while Damini gets shocked. "Mere koi baache nahi hai." he says now scared that someone will listen.
"Ufho, tum jaante ho na, ke mein kya kehna chati hoon."
He smiles at her.
"Acha, tum yeh batao, suhaag raat kaisi thi. Huh.. huh" she asks teasingly.
Prithvi blushes a little at first but then stops remembering every moment of what happened last night. The night that was to be a very beautiful memory to him and Damini. He takes a big sigh and puts his hands into his pockets.
"Damini ne... mujhe sab kuch bata diya." he informs her.
Soni nods in agreement.
"Good. Agar na bata thi, toh bohot problem ho jaati."
"Soni... I'm really worried about her. Aaj subha... woh kudh se baate kari thi. Aur jab mein andar aiya... woh chup hogi. Woh mujhse nazar bhi ni mila sakti. She's split apart in her feelings and her duty, Woh andar hi andar toote jari hai. And I don't want that. Mein chata hoon ki, jis din usse kudh apna faasla lena hoye, woh bina jichake kare. I don't want her to have any second thoughts or regret it later."
"I understand. Mein usse baat kar loongi. Don't worry."
"Alright.. well, I better be going. Dher hori hai."
"Hmm..."
"Bye."
"Bye."
"Don't let them get to you."
"I won't."
They both smile and wave each other good-bye.
Damini goes back to her room and locks the door. Varun is on the floor setting up a game that they all three can play together while Roshini is sitting infront of the mirror, fixing herself up. Varun looks up and smiles at her, then goes back to setting up. Damini slowly walks over to her bed, replaying Soni and Prithvi's conversation in her head, trying to understand them.
Soni ne Prithvi se pehle hi baat kar li thi... Matlab ki... Prithvi ko pehle se hi paata tha...
She lays down on her bed, crosses her hands and stares at the ceiling trying to think.
Agar mein Prithvi ko na bata thi, toh kya usse lagta ki mein ek bewafaa hoon? Ya phir mein apne ateet ko bhulana chati hoon. Aur Soni... usne Prithvi ko yeh sab kab bataya. Aur Arjun... woh abhi tak kyun ni aiya? Kya woh mujhe bhool gaya? Kya usse meri shaadi ke baare mein pata hai bhi. Kya woh abhi bhi mujhe swikare ga? Agar na swikare, toh kya mein bafaas Prithvi ke paas chale jaongi? Kya Prithvi mujhe tab swikare ga? Khilona.... She smiles to herself. Teek hi kaha ta Soni ne. Mein ab sirf ek khilona ban kar rahe gayi hoon. Jab ji chaha, zindagi ne mera istamal kar ke mujhe kush kar diya... aur jab tak gaya, pehenk kar rula diya.
Damini comes out of her thoughts and looks at Varun and Roshini who are looking a bit scared. She gets up instantly, worried.
"Varun... Roshini... kya hua? Tum dono itne dhaare hue kyun ho?" she asks scared.
"Aunty... aap... ro kyun rayi hai." Varun asks timidly.
"Ro... Mein kaha ro rahi hoon."
Roshini touches one tear on Damini's cheek and shows the water droplet to her on her small, tender index finger. Damini moves her own hand over her cheeks and feels some dry and some wet moisture there. She didn't even realize that her tears started pouring out of her when she was thinking about her messed up life.
"Aunty, kya aap iss shaadi se kush nahi hai?" Varun asks her.
"Aunty, Prithvi uncle aap se bohot pyaar karte hai. Jab se unno ne aap ki photo dekhi woh aap hi ke baare mein soch the rehte hai. Woh aap ek photo ko dekh kar hi kush ho jaate the. Aur shaadi ke din, woh super happy the." Roshini states. "Aap please unne chod kar mat jaye. He loves you alot." She says these last through words with tears in between.
"Please Aunty..." Varun pleads cryingly as well.
They both put their heads on her hands while crying. Damini just stares at them, touched as to what they just said and realizing how much Prithvi loved her even before he met her. She stops her tears, determined.
"I promise. Mein kahin ni jaongi."
Varun and Roshini look up.
"Jitna aap dono ke Prithvi uncle pyaar karte hai, mein bhi unne uthna hi pyaar karti hoon. Mein unne chod kar kahin ni jaongi."
They all hug each other happily.
Advocate Anjali Awasthi
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