I started writing this inspired by some old chapters i had written for a ff on Avni-neil Jodi of naamkaran show and ended up with this long and very random OS. but ab likh diya hai toh post bhi kar diya hai.lol😆
When Virat came home in the evening, he stopped short at the door. There she was, sprawled on the floor with books around her but her focus was on various pens placed at interesting angles and she was focusing on them intently. She had a white pen which she was aiming to hit the blue one and it looked like she was trying to guide it into the empty tumbler that she had placed on its side. He watched as she stuck a tongue out in concentration and flicked the blue pen into the tumbler and as soon as it landed in, her hands went up in celebration!
Yess! She exclaimed to herself! And then did a little jig. Sai joshi- good job and she patted herself on the back. Virat controlled himself from laughing out loud seeing her talk to herself and simply shook his head at her antics.
And then she looked at her aaba's frame and said- dekha aabaa! Agar aaj aap hotein toh mein aaj bhi humaare sunday special carrom match mein aapko hara deti! And then suddenly her smile turned into a frown and she grabbed all the stationery and put it back in place and mumbled- but ab toh carrom kahan khelne milega she said sadly and went back to her books.
Suddenly Sai's phone rang. She put it on speaker and continued underlining something in her book
It was her friends call
Kriti- Sai, hi! How are you? Kya kar rahi hai?
Sai- Hi! Mein toh padhai kar rahin hoon. Bol kaise phone kiya?
K- Sai, kal ka tera kya plan hai
Sai- matlab? Kaunsa plan? Kal kya special hai
K- sunday hai. Chhuti day. Toh maine socha ki kal parlour jaoongi - haircut aur pedicure karaane. Tu chalegi mere saath?
Sai- no chance!
K- kyun? Dont tell me ki tumhaara Sunday ko bhi same routine hai.
Sai- nahi same kahaan hai. Fark hai na.
K- kaisa fark?
Sai- 5 ke bajah 630 baje uthungi aur kal college bhi toh nahi jaana!
K- kya?! sai yaar, tu itni boring kyun hai...humesha padhai aur ghar ke kaam. mujhe laga ki tera joh timetable hai voh sirf weekdays ko hai but tum toh sunday ko bhi....
Sai- looked up and noticed Virat at the door way- immediately she switched her phone to handset mode abd said- K, listen na. I'm sorry but I have to go. Mein tumhe thodi der baad message karti hoon.
Ok bye she finished and hung up.
Virat felt bad as he had unknowingly eavesdropped on the conversation but he learnt something which made him even more guilty- Sai was not getting to enjoy her life at all. Her college friends were going out and watching movies, shopping or going to the parlor and Sai was stuck just being a bahu. She had no outlet. When he wasnt around she talked to devi and aai but he knew that neither of them could be her "friends" .
He realized this was one more thing Sai had lost because of their marriage- the opportunity to just be a regular college going youngster. But how could he help. Some Sundays he had off like tomm but on many other Sundays he had work.
Sai- virat sir, aap chai lenge?
Virat- haan, please! Voh tumhaari special adrak vaali. He smiled at her
Sai smiled back and went to get tea.
Meanwhile virat decided he needed to give Sai a break this Sunday but he was wondering what to do.
Suddenly he had a brainwave! He looked at Sai's aabas photo and said - Kamal sir, i hope Sai ko mera plan accha lage and she enjoys her sunday.
Next day when Sai woke up he told her he had some very important work and he needed to take her along. When Sai attempted to argue about ghar ke kaam and padhai, he told her that he will handle it and that she should just get ready and come.he told her to wear some comfortable clothes. Sai also gave in because she also wanted a break from the CM and her routine. Sai had got dressed in her jeans and a top. When she came out, Virat caught himself from staring too blatantly but he couldn't help but notice how fresh and chirpy the outfit made her look. She looked a little bit like the old Sai- the GC one.
Virat and Sai snuck out of the house before anyone could notice and Virat started driving.
He drove her to the clubhouse where Virat usually went to play football. The clubhouse was one of his favorite places. He told her to explore the place while he quickly joined some of the guys for a game of football. From the corner of his eye he saw Sai walking around and looking relaxed- just soaking in the sun and cool breeze.
Soon he got absorbed in his game and about 30 mins later when he took a break, he noticed Sai on the other side of the large playground with a group of kids who were playing cricket. One of the kids threw the ball and it got stuck in the branches of a nearby tree. He saw from a distance as they were attempting to shake the branch and throw stones to get the ball but it was too high. He started walking towards them to help but as he was walking he saw Sai take off her shoes. Next thing he knew, he watched as she nimbly climbed up the tree. The kids were cheering for her from down below. She finally got the ball and as she was climbing down she slipped and fell. Immediately Virat went running to her aid.
Virat- Sai, dhyaan se. Dikhao mujhe kahaan lagi hai chot?
Sai- virat sir, chill. Kuch nahi. Zara si kharoch hai.
Virat- nahi tum chalo mere saath. He took her to the first aid room and made sure she had all her wounds cleaned and bandaged.
Virat- accha chalo ab kuch indoor game khelte hai varna tum phirse apne haath pair tudwaogi.
Sai- virat sir, mujhe bhook lagi hai. She told him like a child
Virat- smiled- haan, chalo breakfaat bhi unke indoor lounge area mein milta hai.
Virat asked her sit while he ordered coffee, poha amd sandwiches and when he came back bearing the food in a tray he found her standing lost in her thoughts looking at a carrom board.
Virat- Sai, kya hua? Kya dekh rahi ho
Sai- huh? Nahin kuch nahi...
Virat- vaise, tum carrom khelna jaanti ho - he asked her slyly
Sai- jaanti ho? Aapki GK ke liye bata doon, mein bahut accha carrom khelti hoon.
Virat- chalo phir, dekhte hai.
They quickly ate breakfast and sat at the board ready to play.
Sai- so, ACP saab, haarne ke liye ready?
Virat- raised an eyebrow- Sai Joshi, overconfidence mein opposition ko underestimate karna thik nahi hai.
Sai- smiled- thik hai, toh acp saab, why dont we make this interesting and place bets on this
Virat grinned at her competitive streak. Ok, lets bet. Lekin kya?
Sai- hmmm. Jo jeetega, voh doosre se koi bhi ek cheez karva sakta hai and the other person cant refuse
Virat- ok, done.
Sai put her hand out as if it was a very serious deal and virat just smiled and shook it.
And then they started playing.
Virat was enjoying watching Sai's childlike glee everytime she pocketed a coin. And sometimes she was concentrating like yesterday night she'd stick her tongue out. It was adorable. Her long nimble fingers moved with a flair as she played. Virat was not bad himself and they had played 2 rounds with the scores drawn and in the final decider game, it was down to the wire. Both of them had 1 coin left along with the queen.After multiple attempts at failing to hit the cover afer the queen at last Sai had the last laugh and won the game!
Sai- Yes! Dekha, I finally got my queen!
Virat- Yes, me too! He said without realizing what he blurted out
Sai- huh ?Matlab? Queen toh mujhe mili.
Virat- rehne doh, tum nahi samjhogi. He smiled as he watched her face shining with joy. And he realized that he felt happy and light himself.
If anyone told him that he would be enjoying his sunday morning playing carom with Sai, his wife a few months back, he would never have believed it. Yet here he was, and suddenly it seemed to him like this was exactly how it was meant to be. As he sat there lost in his thoughts Sai snapped her fingers in front of him.
Sai- ACP saab, dekha! Sai joshi mein dam hai, aur baaki cheeni kam hai
Virat- chuckled- ok!
Sai- toh ab baari bet ki!
Virat- boliye madam! Kya kar sakta hoon aapke liye....
Sai- hmm. Gimme a second. She picked up her phone and quickly looked something up and then a few seconds later she said- ok, aapko maine address whatsapp kiya hai. Aap mujhe abhi vahaan lekar jayenge. She ordered him cutely.
Virat- curiosly looked at his phone- ye kaunsa address hai Sai- it looks like outskirts mein hai- tum yeh kahaan jaana chahti ho?
Sai- pouted- kitne sawaal karte hai aap. Vaise bhi aap vahaan drive karenge toh aapko khud samajh mein ajayega.
Virat- accha thik hai, ab gussa mat hojao.
Chalo, chalte hai.
Sai excitedly got up and they were on their way.
On the way Sai was fiddling with the radio and humming along to some tunes.
Virat also joined her and both of them at one point were merrily singing along.
Sai- virat sir, aap toh sach mein bahut accha gaate hai! Aniket se bhi zyaada acchi hai apki awaaz.
Virat blushed and was overjoyed to hear that Sai liked his voice more than Aniket's now.
Finally they reached their destination.
It was past the outskirts of the city where the airport and IAF base was. They were in a secluded spot with an empty field in front of them. Sai asked him to park the car and started walking. Virat just followed her and finally she stopped and sat down on the ground looking up at the sky. Virat stared at her confusedly. She turned to him and patted the spot beside her. When he didnt sit, she pulled his hand forcing him to sit next to her.
Virat- hum yahaan iss field ke beechonbeech kyun baithe hai?
Sai- iss liye- she said and pointed- in the distance was the airport runway and they could see flights taking off. They saw some commercial flights and sometimes Sai would excitedly point to an indian airforce flight too.
Sai- pata hai virat sir, jab se mein chhoti thi mujhe planes ko udta dekhna bahut accha lagta hai. Us humans- we cant fly, we made a beautiful machine that can fly ....she trailed off.
And she laid back on the grass just staring at the sky.
Virat too laid back and watched with her. The clear blue sky, the arc of the planes and the trail of white smoke as they disappeared into the horizon.
Virat- pata hai Sai, jab mohit, samrat aur mein chote the, toh hum bhi paperplanes banake udate the aur competition karte the.
Sai smiled listening to his memory.
Sai- aapne last time paperplane kab udayi?
Virat- laughed- yaad bhi nahi
Sai- aisa kyun hai virat sir, ki jo cheezein hum bachpan mein itne shauk se karte the voh sab hum badein hote hote bhul jaate hain
Virat- kyunki voh sab toh bachpana hai.
Sai- toh? Bachpana galat hai kya? Arent those our best and most innocent memories...so whats wrong with reliving it in adulthood?
Virat had no answer for Sai. He just smiled and said- aisa toh maine kabhi socha hi nahi.
They just lay in silence both just soaking in the feeling of sukoon.
Finally after about half an hour Sai said- chalein virat Sir?
He watched as she got up and dusted herself off.
He put out a hand to her asking her wordlessly to pull him up
Sai smiled and did so.
She yanked with such force that he landed on her. He held on to her shoulders to steady himself and then stepped back.
He was lost in her eyes.
Sai- thank you for bringing me out Virat Sir. I know ye kaafi silly saa wish tha but phir bhi aapne poora kiya....
Virat- nahi Sai, silly nahi tha. Wish bhale hi tumhaari thi, but enjoy toh maine bhi bahut kiya. Pata hai Sai, jab main school main tha I was very happy go lucky and I had lot of friends...but kaku aur baaba humesha kahte rahte the ki career par dhyaan do. Toh college aate aate mein apne career pe itna focused tha ki i lost touch with my friends and hobbies. Police join karna mera sapna tha. And I love my job. But i think that i have become so consumed with work and the harsh realities of life that I havent had a chance to just sit back and enjoy the little things until you came into my life... tum joh yeh choti choti cheezon mein khushi dhundhti ho- its a very special quality. Aur tumhaare saath i also get to experience these joys. So thank you Sai.
Eventually as they were driving back, Sai rummaged in his car dashboard and found 2 scrap pieces of paper.
He watched as she folded it and then handed one to him. It was 2 paper planes.
Virat smiled and lowered the windows.
Sai- on the count of 3?
Virst just nodded.
1,2 3 she said and both of them let go of their planes and watched them fly away in the wind....
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