Chapter Four
Sanskaar swore under his breath as the sitar hit his knee harshly. He had let go just for a second when the handle thumped on him. Now, he had to sit it up properly and then remember which strings to place his fingers. Something that Ragini had shown him. Only 5 minutes ago.
He looked around the hall they were in. Unfortunately, it only seemed to be him that was still finding it difficult after 4 weeks of practice. Well...practice as in being present for 2 hours every week. Other than that, he didn't even look at the damn thing. There were 8 others including himself. All playing the assigned melody for 10 to 15 seconds max. But playing it, nonetheless. He hadn't felt so on the spot useless since...well, ever.
Jerking his head down towards the instrument and hitting each string as if though in deep thought, Sanskaar avoided looking up from where he was sat on the the floor as Ragini walked towards him. He heard the sigh and had he been looking up, he would have also seen the eye roll. And sure enough, he felt her move around and kneel over behind him, push his knee a bit higher and then position the handle in his hand. She guided his fingers over each string and then let go. While Ragini took all her sweet time, Sanskaar couldn't help but feel somewhat nervous and alert at her touch.
"Mr Maheshwari, sorry to be rude, but I can't let you leave today until you play at least the first 7 notes flawlessly."I'm in no rush to leave myself, he smiled inwardly. To Ragini, he merely nodded with his head bowed down a bit. And so, 15 minutes later, she kept an eye on him as the others left, making sure that he didn't join them.
"Ragini!" Her head turned towards the door from where she had been called. Shikhar made his way into the classroom, ignoring the others as they left.
"You're going Kolkata!?" She looked embarrassed at the spectator in front of them, whom Shikhar had completely refused to acknowledge. Little did she know, that even the spectator now took a keen interest in the conversation that was about to ensue. He was now fiddling with the strings as if though in deep concentration.
"Shikhar, what's wrong?"
"Are you going Kolkata?"
"Yes. How do you know?" Sanskaar couldn't help but smile. He had just mentioned the idea once and she had already acted on it. That's once step in the right direction.
"Never mind how do I know? When were you planning on telling me? Nice to finally know what sort of a friend I actually am to you."
"Shikhar, why in the world are you so fired up about it?" By the looks of it, even Ragini was finding it hard to not get irritated.
"Ragini, I just don't see the point of you moving to Kolkata when you have everything here."
"Move? Who said anything about moving?" She looked at him with her eyebrows narrowed in confusion.
"My friend Sid, he was in Malhotra ma'am's office and he heard her talking about your flight itinerary. Just a one way ticket."
"Well, if your friend Sid had hung around a few more minutes then he would have also heard that I'm only going for a month."Not if I can help it, Sanskaar thought.
"I wanted to go to the other academy there and ma'am gave me permission. So now, I'll be going and it depends on my experience there on how long I will stay. Therefore, she didn't make the return ticket, yet."
"Ohh." The heat of his embarrassment was something even Sanskaar could feel.
"Oh, okay. Well, I'll...I'll...see...see you later." Shikhar gave a nod towards Sanskaar and turned to leave.
"And Shikhar."
"Yeah?"
"You mean a lot to me. There's no two ways about it." With the width of the smile that broke out on Shikhar's face, Sanskaar was surprised that it was still in the same room as him. While it did bother him that Ragini was such affected by his outburst, he had to be optimistic about what he had just heard. The other news. Not Shikhar.
Once Shikhar left the room, Ragini turned back to Sanskaar.
"Sorry about that. He's kind of sensitive."
"Don't be...so you're going Kolkata?"
"Yeah. I completely forgot to tell you. I spoke to her the same night. After you left, she came to thank me and I asked."
"She agreed? Just like that?" That was surprising. He hadn't even spoken to the principal about it. Not even yet.
"Yeah, I told her how you were telling me about the sister academy, you thought that I should go and she finally said yes."That explains it. His name would have definitely helped in making her agree.
"That's good to hear."
"You know what will be even better to hear?"
"What?"
"Your sitar, Mr Maheshwari. I want to hear you play now."
Sanskaar nodded. And call it the ease of a burden and happiness combined within, he actually knew how to play the instrument well for...a good two and a half minutes.
.
.
.
"RAGINI!"
Putting on her bedside light, Ragini sat up in her bed. She wiped away beads of sweat and helped herself to water before leaning back against the headboard.
This was becoming unbearable now. At least once every fortnight, the roar of her name would pull her out of deep sleep. What irked her further was that she could not remember or vision anything before or after the ear paining shriek.
Her mental sanity demanded freedom. Either from the scream or her questions about her identity. But neither were options for her. All she was waiting for now, was the answer to almost her only prayer. The prayer of some one in search of her. She had thought it had been answered the day Sanskaar Maheshwari had shouted out her name. Once again, however false alarm. He unknowingly refused to even acknowledge that they may have even crossed paths before.
Ragini, still though, had a gut feeling. An instinct that this person was not the only Sanskaar Maheshwari. After all, there is always another side to the coin.
Kabhi Neem Neem Kabhi Shahad Shahad
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Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
