I am back - so quick and with a new season. Yes, if you keep up the encouragement and motivation coming, I will be able to update sooner than later.
So, enjoy.
The song featured in this one is : Khwaabon ke parindey - from Zindagi na milegi dobara
Aankhon ki Gustaakhiyaan - Season VI - In Italy
Part 1
Gauri was in a reflective mood. It was very early, around 5:30am; she sat in her hotel window, wrapped in a white satin bedsheet, admiring the view of the majestic Duomo. Yes, she was in Florence.
Life had been more of a roller-coaster for her since she had met her Jatadhari. After he had celebrated her birthday with so much passion and given her the best memories of her life, she was trying to assess what her life summed up to in the past 21 years. And the more she thought about it, the more she agreed that her life was pretty much stagnant until she met him. Before turning 18, she just worked hard, selling mataji's chunri at the shop, making them at home, trying to look after her mother and household chores. After she turned 18, it got worse, as Kaali had started pursuing her and forcing her relatives to marry her to him. And then, in the middle of all this, she met Omkara, who rescued her from Kaali and their lives got entangled in a way she never thought possible. It all seemed like a fairy tale to her now, at least the last one and half years.
She tried to remember her last birthday, and smiled to herself, perhaps it was a coincidence or perhaps he remembered? She thought to herself. It was the day she spent outside Oberoi mansion in a tent due to her allergy to paint. Of course at the time, she told no one it was her birthday and no one asked. She made a trip to the temple that morning without any body suspecting anything. But, things were different then. Omkara had not accepted her because of the misunderstanding. In fact, Anika Bhaujai and Shivaay bhaiya had actually conspired so she could spend the night in a hotel with Omkara , but she went in a tent instead. Little did she realise that he was looking out for her even then, he was outside the tent the whole time, which she only found out that morning.
And how life had changed once she confessed her love to him, and he realised her love for her and accepted her! They were so in love. She blushed slightly thinking about the night in the tent in Chillon castle, just yesterday. He had made love to her under the stars, it was one of those sophisticated camping tent with a huge skylight. The starts shone bright in that beautiful natural landscape, bursting through the clear sky, looking down at them. She felt shy but at the same time, she felt this thirst inside her to be close to him, very close. If she had ever imagined what pleasure can be when people in love show it to each other, every time they made love, it reached another level.
The sky had started turning pink by now, with twilight bursting at the silhouette of the architectural marvel she was looking at and the sun just a tiny yellow light on the horizon. It was all very ethereal and she was losing herself in it, when she felt two hands engulf her from behind and she was lifted only to find herself sitting on his lap. The windowsill was now occupied by him. She bunched up her bedsheet closer to her chest holding it with one hand and leaned back into him, resting her head against his chest. He was naked above the waistline, his hair swaying in the gentle cool breeze of an early September morning. She could smell his perfume, feel the sensation engulfing her and she realised in that moment. That she will never be the same Gauri again. The person she knew in Bareilly. She was his Gauri now, a changed person who had absorbed so much of life, got an education, made numerous new friends, seen and experienced so many new things with him, felt so many new emotions for him, she had grown, really grown. She smiled to herself, content.
He leaned down and gave her a kiss on her left cheek, their eyes smiling at each other. He was curious about what she was thinking but didn't want to spoil this beautiful moment with words. So he just felt her exposed back on his chest, her hair soft as silk tickling his ribs, her smell, her beauty that shone bright with the dawn, the rays of the rising sun now hitting them, but soft, still dissolving in the twilight. The bells started tolling in the bell tower of the Duomo indicating it was 6 am, but also filling their ears with divine sound. He relaxed, this was their moment.
He was satisfied with his achievements in the past few days/weeks of making Gauri happy. He was slowly fulfilling all the promises he made to her and himself back then in Goa and during their wedding. Although relaxed, he was also tired, yesterday had been a long day. They had woken up on the camping grounds next to Chillon in Montreux, got ready in the nearby hotel which he had reserved, bid farewell to their friends who had come to celebrate Gauri's birthday with them over the weekend. They had started their next journey soon after breakfast.
He was driving his open-top Lamborghini and she sat beside him taking in the beautiful weather that Europe has to offer in late August, early September. She was happy, ecstatic even and she conveyed it to him by swinging around in the car, standing up, sitting down, waving her hat to passers-by, swinging her hands about in the air. And he was enjoying every moment of his pagal chiraiyya's antics. She was like a fresh breath of air and a gush of rivulet for him, full of life and yet so young.
She had screamed out his name many times on this journey to the landscape to the mountains, rivers and sheep they passed by Omkara'!!!!! His heart had swelled with love and pride. With her beside him, with all this love and energy, he felt invincible. He loved her he told himself and gave her another kiss on the right cheek.
Ude khule aasaman mein
Khaabon ke parindey
Kya pata Jayenge kahan
Khule hai jo pur
Kahe yeh nazar Lagta hai
Ab hai jaage hum
Fikrein jo thi Peeche reh gayi
Nikle unse aage hum
Hawa mein beh rahi Hai zindagi
Yeh hum se keh rahi Hai zindagi
Oho..ab toh Jo bhi ho so ho
Ude khule aasaman mein
Khaabon ke parindey
Koode dil ki joh haan mein
Khaabon ke parindey...
It had taken them 3 hours to get to Milan where they stopped for lunch in the main square of the Gothic Duomo di Milano Cathedral. He ordered spaghetti for both of them, and she played with it, whist admiring the beautiful white architecture, so majestic. She was even more awed when they went inside, beautiful murals in all colours. Now she understood why her Jatadhari was so taken by art, but she was herself an artist, wasn't she? Able to appreciate beauty in everything but she was getting even more inspired to take this further. They spent a nice afternoon in Milan, strolling through the lanes of the old city. He even bought her some new very fashionable shoes and clothes; after all, Milan was the fashion capital of Italy. After a few hours there, they had started the drive to Bologna, stopping only for coffee and to admire the Etruscan city with its beautiful arcades fronting Piazza Maggiore. The coffee was different and the cakes and pastries were to die for, Gauri made a note of telling Anika bhaujai about this for her future visits.
The drive to Florence didn't take long, it was only an hour's drive, but they went slowly, taking in the Tuscan landscape and admiring its bounty. If Gauri was in love with the Swiss mountains and lakes, she was also very quickly falling for the Italian cities and landscape. She especially loved the rolling green hills interjected with tall cypresses. He knew she would love Italy and he will make sure of it. They crossed the Arno river, just around dusk when the sun had started throwing beautiful warm colours into the sky. They had checked into Hotel Brunelleschi, named after the famous architect known for many Italian marvels. The hotel itself was housed inside an old Byzantine tower structure, Omkara's style indeed. It was all old stones and marble inside. Their suite offered majestic views to the city of Florence with windows and terrace facing the Duomo.
The windowsill, previously occupied by two souls lost in each other was now empty. The curtains fluttered in the wind, and the only other noise was of two lovers getting once again acquainted with each other, it was too much time in between their previous tryst last night only.
END
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