Invitation to a different writing challenge (Part 22/page 82) - Page 16

Originally posted by: SAKIV-RAM

i told don't stop.

I am busy now.

😭.😭.😭.😭.😭.😭.😭..

downloading and updating episode to yhm domain.

Originally posted by: sakshi.ekansh

Keep up the good work... 👍🏼 But still I am telling you tears would be an obstruction in your work...

Wow Sakshi that was Awsome. I loved it, especially Ishra's meeting I was hoping for something like that it was a wish come true. Thank you

Lovely . . I njoyd it.. w8ng fr da nxt

Faboulous update Sakshi. The way you write down can feel emotional and the insecurity Ishu went through if she has to lost Ruhi. Love the cute fight between Ishra I like it this way the story head to.it is not going to be easy for Raman to get Ruhi back yet. Waiting more part of Ishra unexpected meeting again before the reveal of whereabouts of Ruhi. 😊

Hi everyone. First post on the forum.
Till date very good story, very coherent. But can you please translate dialogues in English like in the first part ? I don't speak or read Hindi, even if I watch Bollywood moviesand hindi serials since years.
(sorry for mistakes, English is not my maternal language)

*English translations in blue.*

Part 6: Thandi Baarish, Teekhi Takraar

"Lagta hai aaj ka din hi kharab hai." ["It looks like today is just a bad day."]

Raman carefully steered the car on to the side of the road just as it sputtering to a halting stop, small tufts of smoke emerging from the engine. Kicking the tire of the dead car out of frustration, he pulled his phone out of his pocket.

"Pehle voh arrogant paagal se takraaya aur ab yeh gaadi kharaab ho gayi," he muttered as he dialed the number for a mechanic. ["First I ran into the arrogant woman and now this car is broken."]

As Raman was waiting for the mechanic to arrive, Mr. Iyer drove past Raman and his stranded car. He stopped a few meters ahead and got out of his car to help the young man.

"Beta, kya hua? Gaadi kharaab ho gayi? Do you need any help?" ["What happened? Did your car break down? Do you need help?"]

Raman looked up from his phone screen.

"Uh haan uncle, voh meri gaadi bandh pad gayi. I have a mechanic on the way though, so I should be fine. Thanks for the offer though." ["Yeah uncle, my car broke down. I have a mechanic on the way though, so I should be fine. Thanks for the offer though."]

"Arre beta, dekho mausam kharaab hota ja raha hai. Lagta hai baarish aayegi. Let the mechanic tow your car to the garage, in the mean time I can drop you home." ["It looks like the weather is getting pretty bad. It seems like it's about to rain. Let the mechanic tow your car to the garage, in the mean time I can drop you home."]

Mr. Iyer himself didn't know why he was insisting to help this stranger so much, but something had just called out from within him when he saw the young man stranded on the side of the road. Raman was taken aback by the persistence of the old man in front of him, but one quick look at the dark, rumbling sky indeed confirmed that it was about to pour any moment. Raman nodded and the two men made their way to Mr. Iyer's car.

"Where do you have to go beta?"

"Akash Ganga Complex, Mayur Vihar uncle."

"Really? I also live there! What a coincidence? Your name?"

"Raman. Raman Bhalla."

"Raman Bhalla? Omprakash Bhalla's son?"

Raman looked at the helpful stranger with surprise. "Yes, do you know him?"

Mr. Iyer laughed heartily at the coincidence. "Do I know him? Of course I do. We've been friends for over 40 years! You remember me Raman? Viswanathan Iyer? Viswa uncle?"

Raman tried to recall, but his memory failed him and he shook his head. "No, I'm afraid I don't."

Mr. Iyer shrugged in a friendly manner. "It's understandable. You must have been just 3 or 4 when your family moved away. Your mother and my wife never got along too well, but your father and I have known each other since our college days. Anyways, my family and I just moved to Delhi quite recently. You can imagine the surprise when I found my old college friend living next door to me after so many years."

The rest of the journey home was spent with Mr. Iyer reminiscing his old college times with Mr. Bhalla, while Raman half-heartedly listened, staring out the window deep in thought about Ruhi.

"Okay Raman, here we are. You head on home beta, I've got some work to do at a nearby bank so I'll just go finish that up. You tell your dad that we all need to meet up for dinner sometime soon. Chalo, I'll see you later. Bye Raman."

Raman waved as Mr. Iyer drove off. He began to make his way towards the entrance of the building when he felt rain drops beginning to fall. In a matter of moments, the drizzle became a downpour, drenching Raman completely. He stood rooted in his spot, as he remembered the last few moments that he had spent with Ruhi before she had gone missing.

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"Papa! Papa!"

A little Ruhi jumped and danced, as she enjoyed the coolness of the monsoon's first rain. She called out to her favorite person in the world, using her limited vocabulary.

"Papa! Rish! Rish! Papa! Rish!"

Raman smiled widely as he stepped outside onto the street and swung his daughter up into his arms.

"Yes Ruhi, baarish! Tumhe pasand hai na baarish mein gila hona?" ["Yes Ruhi, rain. You like to play in the rain, right?"]

The little girl shrieked with laughter as she was thrown up into the air and caught safely by her father. Snuggled safely into her father's arms, Ruhi placed a wet kiss onto her father's cheek, as he hugged her tightly against his body. He proceeded to throw her into the air again, causing her to scream with laughter and giggle with happiness.

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The picture of a laughing Ruhi was etched into Raman's brain permanently, but what he wouldn't give to see that laughter on Ruhi's face in reality; he would give up anything and everything he had just to get his daughter back. He felt the warm tears trickle down his cheeks, camouflaged by the raindrops that were also racing down his face. He shivered as the unseasonal Delhi rain chilled his bones. He ran towards the building to seek shelter from the rain, when a child's shrill laughter stopped him in his tracks. Turning around to face the source of the sound, Raman became confused as he saw a group of children gathered in a circle in front of the building, enjoying the rain. The collective laughter of the children rang out and Raman shook his head dejectedly, as he turned back towards the building and walked in.

"I could have sworn that I heard Ruhi's laugh. But all those kids are way too big to be playing with Ruhi. I guess I'm just hearing things now."

The circle of children parted and Ruhi ran out of the center of the circle to look up and wave to her Ishima, who waved back to the little girl as she sipped her coffee and watched the children from the balcony. Ishita smiled brightly at seeing Ruhi playing so happily downstairs, but her smile faded when she remembered how Ruhi had uttered papa' the night before. Even though Ruhi had promised to never leave her, the fear of Ruhi's biological parents returning and taking her away plagued Ishita's mind.

A soft touch on her shoulder brought Ishita out of her thoughts.

"Amma? What happened? I was just..."

Ishita looked away from her mother to quickly wipe her tears and plastered a fake smile onto her face.

"Ishu? You're still thinking about what Ruhi said yesterday right? Tum chinta mat karo Ishu, Ruhi ne promise kiya na tumse ki voh tumhe chod kar nahin jayegi. Chalo, ab iss baare mein sochna bandh karo aur jaake Ruhi ko lekar aao. She will get sick if she stays out in the rain too long." ["Ishu? You're still thinking about what Ruhi said yesterday right? Stop worrying about it Ishu, Ruhi promised you that she would never leave you. Come on now, stop thinking about all this and go pick Ruhi up. She will get sick if she stays out in the rain too long."]

Ishu nodded softly, as she exited the balcony and walked out of the house. She shut the door behind her and pressed the button for the elevator. She walked into the elevator as soon as the doors opened, not realizing that Raman was walking out at the same time.

Ishita lost her balance when they bumped into each other and grabbed onto Raman's shoulder for support. Her hair covered her face, preventing Raman from seeing who she was.

"I'm so sorry. I should have looked where I was going," Raman began apologizing.

Ishita stood up and pushed the hair back from her face. She immediately became outraged when she saw who she had bumped into.

"Tum! Tum mera peecha kar rahe ho! How dare you?" ["You! You're following me! How dare you?"]

"Oh hello! Main tumhara peecha kyun karne laga? Mujhe kisi paagal kutte ne kata hai jo main aisi bewakoofi karoonga? Aur haan, voh jo sorry maine abhi kaha tha na, voh main vaapis leta hoon. Galti tumhari thi toh main sorry kyun boloon? Tum sorry bolo." ["Oh hello! Why would I follow you? Did a mad dog bite me that I would do such a dumb thing? And yeah, that sorry that I just said, I take it back. It was your fault so why should I say sorry? You apologize."]

Ishita's eyes opened wide with anger. "Main? Aur voh bhi tumse sorry boloon? No ways! Now get out of my way, I have to go pick up my daughter." ["Me? I apologize to you? No ways! Now get out of my way, I have to go pick up my daughter."]

"Tum jaisi paagal se toh sorry vaise bhi expect nahin kar raha tha main. Bechari bachi, kaisi paagal maa mili hai usse?" ["I wasn't expecting a sorry from you anyways. Poor child, what kind of a mental woman has she gotten as her mother?"]

With a smirk Raman walked away, leaving a fuming Ishita, who angrily stepped into the elevator and pressed the button for the ground floor.

"Samajhta kya hai apne aapko? Sorry kehkar bhi koi vaapis leta hai kya? Stupid! Idiot! Aur mujhe paagal kehta hai! I knew I should have taken the stairs. At least I wouldn't have had to see his face. Par vaise, voh yahaan kya kar raha tha? Kahin voh isi building mein toh nahi rehta hai? Voh bhi humare floor pe? Ayyo murugan, I hope he's not moving into one of those two flats that have just recently come up for sale. Having him as a neighbor would just be the worst news of the century!" ["What does he think of himself? Who says sorry and then takes it back? Stupid! Idiot! And he calls me mental! I knew I should have taken the stairs! At least I wouldn't have had to see his face. But what was he doing here? Does he live in this building? That too on the same floor as me? Oh God, I hope he's not moving into one of those two flats that have just recently come up for sale. Having him as a neighbor would just be the worst news of the century!"]

Meanwhile, Raman walked away from Ishita and rang the doorbell of his house.

"Aaj ka din toh kharaab se aur kharaab hota ja raha hai. Lagta hai yeh paagal aurat padosan hai humari. Papa ko bhi yahi ghar mila tha kharidne ke liye?" ["Today's day is just going from bad to worst. Looks like that mental woman is our neighbor. Did papa only find this house to buy?"]

The door was opened by his mother, who welcomed her son with open arms and a big smile.

"Aaja puttar. Tu jaakar fresh hoja aur kapde badal le, main tere liye chai aur pakore bana rahi hoon." ["Come in son. Go freshen up and change your clothes, I'm making tea and fritters for you."]

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Ishita quickly picked up Ruhi and came back upstairs. Just as she unlocked and opened the door to her house, the Bhalla's door opened and Toshi ji walked out. Ishita turned around, leaving Ruhi hidden behind her.

"Arre tu Ishita hai na?" [You're Ishita right?"]

"Ji aunty. Aapko kuch chahiye?" ["Yes aunty. Did you need anything?"]

"Haan puttar, voh ghar mein cheeni khatam hogayi hai. Can you please give me some? Mere bete ko chai aur pakore khaana pasand hai baarish mein, toh mujhe chai ke liye thodi cheeni chahiye." ["Yeah, I've run out of sugar at my house. Can you please give me some? My son likes to eat tea and fritters when it rains, so I need some sugar for the tea."]

Ishita smiled understandingly and nodded. "Ji aunty, main abhi laati hoon." ["Sure aunty, I'll just get it for you."]

She turned back towards her own house to find that Ruhi had already run inside and was playing with Muthu behind the sofa, leaving her hidden from Toshi's eyes. Ishita quickly collected some sugar into a bowl and handed it off to Toshi.

"Thank you beta. Acha tu vi aaja humare ghar chai pakore khane. Teri ma ko vi bulaale. Aakhir madrasan toh ab tak bhul hi gayi hogi mere haath ka swad." ["Thank you. You should also come over to eat some tea and fritters. Call your mother too. After all, she must have forgotten the delicious taste of my food after so many years."]

"Aaj nahi aunty, phir kabhi. Voh actually my daughter was just playing in the rain downstairs so I need to give her a warm bath so she doesn't get sick." ["Not today aunty, maybe some other time. Actually my daughter was just playing in the rain downstairs so I need to give her a warm bath so she doesn't get sick."]

"Hmmm, thik hai. Jaa tu apni beti nu sambhal." ["Hmmm, okay. Go and take care of your daughter."]

Toshi ji nodded slightly, the smile disappearing from her face, as she remembered that her granddaughter Ruhi too had liked to play in the rain.

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Hope you liked it. I tried my best to make it interesting so I thought it would be nice to prolong the meeting of Raman and Ruhi a little bit more. As of now, Raman knows that Ishita is his neighbor but he doesn't know that she is Mr. Iyer's daughter. Meanwhile, Ishita too has doubts that Raman is unfortunately her new neighbor, but she doesn't know that he is Mr. Bhalla's son. Next person can decide to continue with these hit-and-miss meetings of Ruhi and Raman or decide to finally unite the father and daughter.

😊 Nivi

Mine mine mine. Wonderful update nivi. Loved the bond and the urge Mr Iyer had towards Raman.

Ruhi saying Rish Rish was utterly cute.

Ishra met again. And the nok jhok part was superb. Ishita is still insecure. .

Bhalla family is unaware of the fact that there happiness is waiting next door for them...

superb update. Waiting eagerly for next part.

Splendid job...