mjht revisited 2 - Page 5

It was late in the evening , almost night , when the gang decided to get back to their own homes and sleep. They had finished discussing what gunjans doctor had said about her- gunjan herself spoke about it though she avoided talking directly to samrat and tears came into her eyes quite often. Samrat after the initial inertia, had sat near gunjan trying to catch her attention which she had successfully avoided. They had told gunjan how the police were not writing down their complaint and told gunjan that now that she was out of the hospital, she could give the complaint herself which they could not refuse.

" abhi sone chalogi gunjan. Tumhe apne medicines bhi lene hein." Bauji came to remind her.

Nupur and dia, coming out of the room in the ground floor, "haan gunjan. Tu kuch din ke liye yahaan shift hojaa. Hum dono ne sab tayaar kya hai. chalo."

Gunjan told everyone goodnight and went inside with nupur. Samrat after trying to accompany her decided to let her be with nupur.

"di," gunjans soft voice inside the room.

"haan gunjan. Tujhe kuch chahiye?"

"di, tum aaj mere saath hi rahsakthi ho?" her voice almost pleading.

Nupur went near the bed where she was sitting and said," haan. Main yehi rehnewaali hoon. Main tumhe chodke kahaan jaanewaali hoon?"

Gunjans face broke into a smile and she hugged nupurs waist. Holding her sister tight, nupur asked her," tu darr mat gunjan. Jab tak main hoon..." and stopped how could she say nothing will happen to her sister when gunjan was already affected?

"main jaanthi hoon di. Isiliye pooch rahi thi." and letting go of her," di tumhaare kuch kapde hamare kamre main hai."

"waise bhi is ghar mein aake mujhe kaafi time hogaya hain tho yehi ek bahana hoga mujhe yahaan rehne ka. Bauji kuch kahenge nahin."nupurs voice was alittle wistful. She had missed this house. Shaking herself, she added," tho main abhi aayi. Tu aaram kar." And went out after stroking gunjans cheeks.

In the living room, she found uday getting ready to watch something on Tv and asked him," uday bhaiyya sab chale gaye kya?"

"haan abhi abhi."

"Mayank bhi?"

"haan. Kyun?"

"kuch nahin." And walked out of the house hurriedly wondering how he could go off without telling her.

Just as she went out, mayank banged into her. Both smiled. And almost together walked to the porch.

"mayank..." she began questioningly

"Haan nupur." Mayank agreed .

"kya haan?"

"tum kuch poochne waali thi na. Maine pehle hi agree kiya."

"achha. Tumhe kaise pata ki main kuch poochnewaali thi?"

"arre , mujhe nahin pata hoga tho kisse pata hoga.?"

"waise main kuch Poochnewaali nahin thi. Main kuch batanewaali thi."

"yehi ki tum yehi gunjan ke saath rehnewaali ho. "

Nupur stared at him and nodded unable to speak. He longed to hold her in his arms but held himself back as he didn't want bauji to spot them and get irritated again.

"haan. Tum bhi yehi raho. Uday bhaiyya ke room mein. Tum bhi rahoge tho ..."

"Nahin nupur. " he said a little sharply.

Nupur catching the tone , asked immediately," kya hua?"

" kuch nahin. Samrat ke saath jaaoonga. Woh abhi bhi upset hain."

She looked out where the car was parked.

"aur hum phir se kal subah aajaayenge na. Waise bhi uday ke saath rehne ke torture kisko chahiye?"

he joked.She punched him on the arm.

"gunjan so gayi?"

"haan. Woh kuch darr gayi hain shayad."

They stood quietly for a few seconds and finally, mayank said," tho main chaltha hoon. Tum apna khayal rakhna. " his right hand on nupurs shoulder, continud," do you want something from home?"

She looked at him," haan."

"Kya?"

" Tum" she said, her voice suddenly naughty. And before , he could reply, put her arms around his neck, hugging him. Mayanks arms went around her waist . Both of them deriving comfort from each others presence. All the recent circumstances seemed to suddenly disappear for those few mements that they held eachother. Like no one in the world existed apart from the two of them.

"nupur, koi dekhlega." He whispered after a while, still holding her,looking around to see if someone was outside the house. there was no one.

"tho kya hua? " she moved closer," tum bhool jaate ho, mayank ki hamaari shaadi hochuki hain."

" bauji, aap?" he said suddenly at which she left him and turned in a hurry. There was no one. Catching Mayank with a smile,she again punched him on the arm and smiled back.

"hamaari tho shaadi hogayi hain." He imitated her.

HOOORRRNNN . the car horn blared.

Both of them jumped nearer and mayank shook his head," benji hoga. Main chaltha hoon. See you kal subah. " and went towards the car. Nupur after waving him bye, returned with a smile on her face inside the house.

---------------------------------------------------------------

Part 8

Bauji s room

The curtains in one of the rooms in the first floor closed, bauji had been watching the whole scene from his room and though he couldn't hear what they were talking, he got angry. Aise kisiki ke ghar ke baahar gale lagaana...sab us ladke ki wajah se hain. Bauji sat on his bed , still thinking about what he had seen. Pata nahin kis pal main maine in ladkiyon ko Mumbai bhejne ka faisla kiya. Sab kuch badal gaya hain. Shukar hain ki nupur aur gunjan di ki jaise kapde nahin pehanthe bas. And stopped. Par dia bhi badal gayi hain. Pehle jab main yahaan aata tha tab uday aur dia dodo mujhe se baat tak nahin karthe the. Ab nahin. He smiled. Uday aaj kitna pareshaan tha gunjan ko dekh kar. Waise sab bachhe pareshaan hogaye the.woh samrat kuch zyaada hi pareshaan tha. He was thoughtful. Achha ladka hain. Badon se kaise pesh aate hain sab use pata hain. Gunjan ke liye hospital mein bhi kitna ro raha tha. gunjan hain hi itni pyaari si. Pata nahin usko kya nazar laggayi..Zyaada uski maa par gayi hain. Nupur ki tarah nahin. Hamesha se hi badmaashi. Par kabhi bhi mere khilaaf nahin bolthi thi. Bas gunjan ka khayaal rakhna aur uski bui ki daanton se bachna, yehi karthi aayi hain. Lekin jab se woh ladka mila hain, tab se...

He got up and paced in the room.

Shayad mujhe unki shaadi karwaani nahin thi. Ab tho sab yahin kahenge ki maine shaadi karwaayi thi aur ab main hi us ladke ke saath ache se nahin rehtha. Waise adhiraaj mein kharaabi kya thi? Agar shaadi ke din uski parivaarwaale aise nahin karthe tho shayad aaj nupur adhiraj ke saath hi hoti. Shayad nahin bhi. Adhiraaj ne tho kahaa ki us se nupur ke bare mein pata chalgaya tha. aura b dekho, woh bhi usika dost hain. Main hi bura bangaya hoon.

He smiled grimly.

Jo mujhe sahi lagraha hain, main wahi karraha hoon. Jo ladka kisi aur ki naam lesaktha hain, kisi aur ki shaadi ka joda pehnke shaadi ke mantap tak aasaktha hain, jo seedion se mere beti ko bhagaane ki baat karsaktha hain, uspe yakeen kaise aayega? mujhe ab bhi us ladke par yakeen nahin aata. Pechle saare baatein bhoolne ki koshish karne ke baad bhi, mujhe us ladke par yakeen nahin aata. Nupur ko uski saath rehna hain tho rehsakthi hain par mera aur uska koi rishtha nahin.

He had sat on the bed again.

There was a knock on the door and it opened slowly , nupur peeped in . seeing him awake, she smiled and walked in, in her night suit. Her smile brought a smile on his face too.

"aap abhi tak soye nahin?"

"nahin. Thoda sar mein dard tha. "

"main dabaadoon bauji. " she said and without waiting for any reply, picked out the balm and started applying it on his head and massaging constantly talking," gunjan shayad bohot thak gayi thi bauji. jaldi sogayi. Main sonewaali thi, phir socha ki aapko ek baar dekhloon. Aap kyun nahin soye ho abhi tak? Kal phir se kaam ke liye jaaoge na? " and stopped.

"abhi teek hain beta. Chodo. Tum bhi jaake sojao."

"ji. Waise bauji parsou hospital jaana hain. Sab kehrahe the ki kal gunjan ko complaint likhwaane keliye police station jaana hain. Pata nahin woh jaapaayegi ya nahin kal. Par benji aur adhiraj itne baar bolke gaye hain... unko darr hain ki complaint hi nahin hoga."

Bauji noticed her taking adhiraajs name without any hesitation or even rememberance of his so called rishtha with her. She stopped talking and not able to understand his expressions, asked him kya hua bauji?

" tumhe matlab tum dono ko yahaan bohot saare dost milgaye hain haina?"

He face broke into a huge smile.

"haan bauji. agar yeh sab nahin hote tho...pata hain jab hum pehli baar yahaan aaye the tab inlogon ne hi- dia, uday,benji, samrat sab humko kitna pareshaan kiye the. Aur jab babloo matlab adhiraaj aanewaala tha tab hum sab ne usko pareshaan kiya. Pata hain bauji, dia aur main kitne ...matlab woh humlogon ko...par uday bhaiyya kitne pyaare the. The kya ? ab bhi hain. Waise ab dia bhi bohot badal gayi hain..." she stopped remembering how much dia had stood by her recently, " aur tho aur,samrat aur adhiraaj ki kitni laddayi hui basketbaal ko lekar..suhaani ko lekar. Dono bhai behen dil ke bohot ache hain.aapko yakeen nahin aayega, samrat aur mayank ki banthi hi nahin thi. Ab tho bohot bhai bhai banke ghoomthe hain, jai aur veeru ki tarah ..." and smiled again, " waise pehle tho mayank kisiki..."

"nupur sone ka time hogaya hain beta." Bauji interrupted her. She got up from the bed where she had settled down crosslegged and said guiltily," sorry bauji..aap so jaa.."

"nupur main tumse kuch baat poochoon."

"haan." Surprised at the seriousness in his voice.

"yeh samrat...matlab samrat aur gunjan ke bare mein." Nupur s face changed. Her fears since the time of her marriage were now before her.

"ji."

"woh dono bas dost hain ya ..."

"nahin bauji aisi koi baat nahin hain. Woh bas samrat sabka aisi hi khayal rakhtha hain. Bohot achha hain. Aur kuch nahin." She said too fast wringing her hands.

"umm..."

"aap kyun pooch rahe tha?" she asked him scared

Bauji looked at her, and she didn't meet his eye. She pretended she was leaving the room and bauji understood that his suspicions were right.

"main andha nahin hoon nupur. Maine bhi duniya dekhi hain. Jhoot mat bolo mujhse. Ab so jao."

Nupur knew she couldn't talk to him then and saying goodnight walked back to gunjans room , muttering to herself . pata nahin ab kya ramayan ya mahabharat hoga. Yeh samrat ko kya zaroorat thi sab ki saamne gunjan ke taraf pyaar jathaane ka. Samajtha hi nahin. Agar main unki proposal ki bare mein bol dethi tho pata nahin bauji aur kitna gussa hote.

On the way to the room, she caught uday dozing in front of tv. She stopped and shaking him roughly woke him up and told him in a loud voice," Uday bhaiyya, yeh aaap yahaan kyun so rahe ho? Aapke kamre mein kya bhoot hain. Jaayiye. Wahaan jaake sojaayiye." And walked to gunjans room.

Uday stared at her groggily , wondering," yeh yehi hain? Mujhpe chillane shayad aagayi waapas." And slept on the sofa.

And she saw gunjan sleeping peacefully. Smiling tenderly at her, she stroked her hair and thought, yeh main kya soch rahi hoon. Abhi tho iski health teek hojaaye bas wahi kaafi hain. Baaki sab break ke baad. And slept in the next bed.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

hi, im so confused. i just cant seem to write only MN-Bauji stuff bcoz it all seems so interlinked. so sorry if the whole thing doesnt make sense...