"Swati! Sun na .Kya hua? Tu mujhse naraz kyun hai batana.'' Naina asked for the nth time since they have boarded the bus to Mt.Abu.
"Naina! Tu mujhse baat hi mat kar''.Swati replied with annoyance.She still could n't forget Sameer's words to Kamya and the phone conversation of Naina.
"Par eisa kya maine kar diya? ''Naina tried to coax her.
"Kya kiya?Tune jo kiya koi dushman bhi aise harkat nahin karta.'' She said while tears burst open her eyes.
"Pandit! Tu ro kyun raha hai? Mujhe acha nahin lag raha'' Munna voiced as he saw a crying Swati sitting next to Hema.
"Munna! Tum bade cute lag rahe ho.Kounsa soap use kiya hai?'' Hema flirted with Munna while his whole attention was towards Swati.
"Main cute nahin hoon.Agar line marni hai to wo Sameer aage baitha hai use maro.Mujhe akela chod do''.He cleared the point.Though Swati never cared for him,still he never wanted to give Swati's place to anyone else.
"Pandit! Tu ro mat.Madhuri Dixit kam aur Aruna Irani jyada dikh rahi hai.'' He teased hoping that she would stop crying and scold him for being stupid,illiterate and what not.
He could see an angry,irritated Swati but never a crying Swati.
Whoever in love can see the tears in the beloved eyes?
"Munna! Tu thodi der chup baithega?'' Swati rebuked him while fresh batch of tears rolled down her cheeks.
"Main chup kya mounvrat dharan karlunga par tu aise ro mat. Bada dard ho raha hai.'' He was quite vocal about his feelings for her.
"Acha.Mounvrat dharan karoge mere liye? Thik hai.Pure trip mein mounvrat' dharan karke dikhao.Tab mujhe yakeen hoga ki tum mujhse pyar karte ho. ''Swati challenged him beaming with confidence that 'he can't do it.'
"Theek hai.Ab se mera mounvrat suru''.Munna accepted the challenge and put his index finger on lips.
They descended down at a Palanpur,on way to Mt.Abu to take their breakfast.Munna was still with his finger on lips.
"E Munna! Kitne parathe khane hai tujhko?'' Sameer asked while counting the Rupees.
"Kitna? Jaldi bol.'' He could n't see Munna's gestures since there was a lot of crowd between them.
"Uska Mounvrat' hai.Teen khayega wo Bhai.'' Pandit shouted at a pitch higher.
"Munna aur uske nautanki!'' Sameer smirked and paid for the parathas.
"Naina! Tum nahin khaogi kuch?'' He asked as he saw her sad and sitting alone.
'Nahin Sameer! Bhook nahin hai.''Naina replied.
"Par yahan nahin khaogi to Mt.Abu pahunchte der ho jayegi.Kuch kharid kar laa dun tumhare liye?'' Sameer asked genuinely.
"Nahin.Nahin.Chachiji ne roti aur sabji tiffin mein bharke diya hai.Main baad mein khalungi. ''She said and showed him her steel tiffin box.
"Okay'' Sameer signalled a thumbs up and left.
"Swati! Dekh na! Ab bhi Munna chup hai''.Kamya commented seeing Munna sitting away from Pandit and Sameer.
"Sab drama haiKoi mujhse pyar nahin karta.'' Swati shrugged and left the group.
After 2 hours, they reached Mt.Abu. Shanti Ma'am was calling the names for attendance. As she called Manoj'
Munna raised his hand while still keeping his finger on lips.
"Munna! Present to bolo.'' Shanti Ma'am said feeling amused with Munna's behaviour.
"Ma'am uska gala baith gaya hai.Wo bol nahin sakta''. Pandit clarified to Ma'am.
"Acha! Gala baith gaya hai? To trip ke shuruat mein Chandni ka gana koun gaa raha tha?'' Shanti Ma'am asked with a teasing tone.
"Chandni ki wajah se baith gaya ! ''Pandit answered with teasing laced in his tone.
"Thik hai ! Thik hai.Ab ladke ek group hain aur ladkiyan aur ek group hai.Ladke Lochan Sir ke saath rahenge aur Ladkiyan mere saath.Samajh gaye na.'' She cleared while the boys and girls split into two.
"Munna! Tu ab to mounvrat' bhang karle.Wo to ab nahin dikhegi ki tu baat kar raha hai ki nahin.'' Pandit prodded him to break the self-imposed' silence.
Munna nodded his head in negation while Pandit stamped his foot in frustration.
"Thik hai.Ab mein tere liye voicebox nahin banunga''.Pandit said in annoyance and left.
After a while
They went up to see the Devi Mandir at the hill top. While most of the students left the idea to reach the top few decided to continue.
"Swati! Munna bol raha hai uss rashte se mandir nehin hai.'' Pandit called Swati as Munna saw Swati heading opposite the temple route.
"Mujhe pata hai ki mein kahan jaa raha hoon.Tum apne rashte se jao.''Swati scowled and left on her taken route.
"Munna! Tu kahaan jaa raha hai? " Pandit asked shocked as he found Munna taking Swati's route.
Munna signalled that he was going after Swati and left without thinking of the consequences.
The labyrinth of jungle seemed never ending for Swati as she tried to return to the place where she had neglected Munna's words of advice.The maze of reality seemed more darker than the dungeons of villians shown in Hindi films.
As she took another route she got confirmed "She was lost.''
"Koi hai yahan?Please mujhe wapas jaane ka rashta bata do.Please help.'' Swati called as she was slowly losing confidence in self of finding the route on her own.
"Please mujhe wapas lelo. She called and cried ...cried harder.
As she was slowly losing the faith and remaining hope of getting back to the right track,she felt someone's hand on her shoulder.Jerked she shouted with fright only to find her mouth shut by someone's palm.
"Tum! ''Swati exclaimed and for the first time in her entire school career felt happy on seeing Munna.
He signalled to follow her while Swati was still thanking her stars for Munna's timely help. Midway she realised Munna had drawn landmarks on trees. So he had followed her.
"Munna!'' She called to which Munna looked back in worriedness.He signalled if there was any problem.
"Bol nahin sakte kya?E kya naya drama hai?'' Though she was thankful to him but still his antics annoyed her.
He signalled that he was keeping "MOUNVRAT ''as per the challenge.
"Ab ye sab chodo aur baat karo'' She said surprised with his dedication for the challenge.
Munna nodded his head in negation and tightened his finger over his lips, so as not to speak a syllable in absent mindedness.
"Acha .Thik hai.Tum jeet gaye.Main haar gayi.'' Swati said smilingly and that she saw Munna do a victory jig.
"Sach bol rahi ho Pandit? Main jeet gaya?'' Munna still could n't believe it.
"Haan jeet gaye.'' Swati confirmed.''Ab chalo.''
Munna led her the way when Swati called him.
"Munna! Thank You''He looked at her shocked still trying to comprehend if he heard her right.
"Tumne mujhe Thank You' bola?Pandit. ''He asked her.She nodded.
"Meri naam Swati hai,Pandit nahin.'' She scolded but with a smile on her lips.
"Swati! Main ek baat puchun?'' Munna asked seeing Swati lost somewhere.
"Kya main Sameer se bura hoon? Haan mein dekhne main uske jaisa hero nahin hun.Par kya itna bura ki tum mere saath dosti bhi nahin kar sakta? ''Munna was serious for the first time and Swati halted to hear such a question.
"Esa kyun puch rahe ho?'' Swati tried to avoid his question.''Nahin Swati! Batao.''
"Tum bure nahin ho bas mujhe pasand nahin the. ''Swati said while remembering the treachery of Sameer and Naina.
"Matlab ab pasand hun? ''Munna asked suddenly filled with excitement.
"Dosti to mein kar sakthi hun par pyar keliye ab bhi waqt hai.'' Swati cleared because she didn't want to cheat Munna like Naina.
As they reached the stairs, they were surrounded by Sameer, Naina and Pandit.''Kahaan the tum log? ''Sameer asked with irritation.
"Swati! Tu kahan chali gayi thi? ''Naina asked as she was worried for her best friend and that she had not found her since an hour.
"Main thik hoon na.Munna! Thank you once again. ''Swati said and left them to gauge what transpired between both friends.
"Chalo! Chalo! Aaj to main mithayi baatunga!'' Munna exclaimed as he saw everyone lost in their worlds.
"Kyun? Kya hua?Swati ne tujhe thappad mara isliye?'' Pandit mocked.
"Wo kya hai na Pandit,kuch chizein personal hote hain pyar karnewalon ke beech.'' Munna shied and walked away to find his Swati.
As Pandit was confused between the mention of private,personal,pyar karne wale,; Sameer and Naina smiled remembering their personal and private moments.The telephone conversations.
---------------------------------------------------------The End---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
P.S.: Thank you for reading.😃
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