'arjun lekin' arohi tried to stop him, he looked at her and felt a deep pain seeing tears in her eyes and her shaking hands 'arohi tumhe humare pyar par yakeen hai na' 'hai' 'agar tum nai chahti ho toh hum mana kar denge' arohi looked into his eyes and saw the confidence that they can live through this, she smiled 'nai yeh shart nahi hai, humare liye intehaan hai, main tayyar hoon' 'mere liye ek saal tak intezaar kar sakti ho na' 'ek saal kya dus saal, chahe toh saare umr kar sakti hoon' 'hume manjoor hai' they said together this time. Her dad who saw them both talking with eyes filled with love, felt for a moment not to put them through this , but then he wanted them to, so they can be completely ready before making the lifelong commitment.
He got up to go away.
'sir' arjun stopped him 'sapne mein toh ek dusre ko dekh sakte hai na aur khalayon mein baat kar sakte hai, milne ke liye toh bichadna zaroori hota hai aur hum mann mein hamesha ek sath hai toh hardum milte rahenge' he spoke for both of them, arohi squeezed his hand in agreement. Her dad said 'aaj raat 12 baje se shuru hoti hai yeh shart, aur theek ek saal baad khatam hogi, tab aake milna' saying he left from there. Arohi's mom had tears in her eyes seeing the young lovers in front of her lost in each other's eyes. She too left from there.
It was getting dark outside, arjun did not want to leave, but he had to. They both knew , if he went now they will be seeing each other only after a year. As seconds passed by, the feeling of staying away from each other grew stronger and the grip on each other's hand grew tighter. With heavy heart he came out the door followed by arohi. She stopped him again 'abhi time nahi hua hai' he smiled . It was a lonely street, sky was dark , street lights were out for some reason, there was a small stone bench along the side of the wall. He sat there making her sit next to him. 'tumhare papa kuch bolenge toh nai agar hum thodi der yaha baat karenge toh' 'woh abhi bahar nai ayenge, maa bhi nai ayegi'. Arohi's mother had seen them sit there, she silently walked away from the window.
'reh logi ek saal mere bina?' 'nai' 'main bhi nahi' 'toh phir haan kyun bola papa ko' he took her hand again, 'isko paane ke liye yeh kya koi bhi shart ke liye haan bol sakta hoon' 'main bhi' 'kya karogi akele?' 'yaad hai maine interview diya tha,ek company mein, accounts department mein, woh shayad ho sakta hai' 'agar job karogi toh busy ho jaogi aur pata bhi nai chalega ki ek saal kaise nikal gaya' 'haan... aur tum' 'pata nahi, ghar jaake sochunga ki kaise apne aap ko rok sakta hoon tumse milne aur dekhne se'. she leaned her head on his shoulder. 'ek baat bolu' he said , 'haan' 'jabbhi koi aise important baat huyi humare beech , tumne yahi pink dress pehna hua hai' 'sach?' 'haan -- pehli baar jab dekha tha, aur pehli baar jab tumne roya tha, pehli baar jab baatein ki thi, phri jab tum log apartments chodne wale the, last week jab hum mile the aur gusaa huyi thi tab, aur aaj bhi' he said lovingly. She lifted her head and said 'aur tumne yahi white shirt pehna tha' 'really?' 'haan, lekin pehli baar jab dekha tha tab yeh button dala hua tha. office jaa raha tha na' she buttoned up his collar button. He caught her hand when she was done buttoning and kissed it. Today they were getting closer than they had ever been before.
How can they forget the day they had seen each other for the first time. They remembered the initial days when they had met, the attraction, then the bond forming, then how they had become inseperable.
First time arjun had seen her when he was coming down from his apartment. He had seen some new people move into the building but did not know who they were, He had just started his new job, and was hurrying to work. As he came down he heard a sweet voice humming and stopped on the stairs and slowly got down to see who it was. He saw a girl making a small rangoli (a design with white powder) and stood there watching her which was against his general nature. He saw her move her hands, perfectly forming the lines and curves of the design and then she gave a satisfied smile and got up. She was wearing pink cotton dresss, which incidentally was a colour he liked. As she stood up he saw her face, she was pretty, he could not take his eyes off her, especially from her bright eyes. She felt someone was staring at her and she saw a handsome tall guy in white shirt and brown trousers looking at her like he had seen a girl for the first time. She frowned and went in closing the door making noise. It made him come out of his daze, he scolded himself for behaving that way and walked past her apartment and then he saw she was looking out the window at him, he smiled as a greeeting and she moved away from there. They were instantly attracted to each other.
Next couple of days they saw each other couple more times. Each time catching each other's eye and then looking away. For next few days it became a routine that they would come in front of each other accidentally or purposefully. He came to know her name was Arohi when her mom called her and thought it was a pretty name just like her. She knew his name through some kids, it was on the day of diwali, when they were preparing for the function organised by the society . When she came to know he was a Muslim, she fell in thoughts for the rest of the day mechanically doing the chores given to her, she had not realised yet that she was falling for him, but she was thinking that her parents will never allow her to love a guy from other religion. She was startled at her own trail of thoughts of like and love for him in the first place, her heart had grown warm at this thought, she became aware that she had been thinking about him ever since she had seen him and that it was a special feeling.
The same evening , as she got all decked up for the festival and was coming down fast on the stairs. she heard familiar footsteps climbing up and her pace slowed down. It was him, probably coming back from the Mosque after offering his Namaaz. He had the white net cap on, and was in white long kurta and paijama. He stopped seeing her, and without their knowledge their eyes got locked in an intense gaze. Her innocent wide eyes and his sharp pure eyes had found their mates. The eye lock had sent a chill down their spines. It felt right. That night both could not sleep. Arohi who usually slept on her back could not do so that night as she felt his eyes were looking down at her. Arjun could hardly remove her face from appearing time and again in front of him. Them belonging to different religions never became a hurdle for their growing feelings. Soon they started greeting each other with a nod or hi or hello. Day by day they were silently and strongly getting attracted to each other. He thought of talking to her several times but it was hard to find her alone. She would just smile if someone was with her and it would keep him awake all night, until he saw her again, this continued for another week, without them actually talking.
Only when he had to go for a project abroad they realized how much they meant to each other. He could not tell her as it was all quickly decided and he did not know how and when to tell her, when he was leaving to the airport she saw him getting in a cab. 'suna hai US mein bahut thand aur barf hoti hai, theek theek khayal rakhna apna' she heard his mom say and had stood there numb until the cab left while he looked out at her, his eyes full of pain, raising his hand slightly to wave her bye. She did not say bye to him. She cried silently that night. At the usual timings they used to see or come in front of each other she would become dull, she thought of going and talking to his parents so she can get some info about how he is doing, but she felt awkward to do that. She did not even have a picture of him, she had no idea when he was going to come back, she had no interest in making the rangoli in front of the door nor to go to college or to eat or sleep. When her mom reminded her everyday she got fed up and painted a permanent design with white paint, so that she does not have to sit there near the door knowing that he was not going to come. His condition was no different, he saw the snow fall and imagined her in the middle of it, he drove his car and imagined her next to him, he saw the moon at night and imagined her face in it.
3 months seemed like 3years, he did not have her phone number neither did she. When he came back, he saw her coming down while he carried his luggage upstairs and they both stopped. He saw her eyes fill up at the sight of him and felt like someone twisted his heart. She turned to go down he stopped her by catching her wrist , 'sorry' he said , she looked away not accepting his apology even though he had not done anything wrong. 'maine bhi miss kiya' he said 'bahut' he added. 'sach?' she asked with her eyes blinking away the tears , 'sach' he said, he was still holding her hand. That was their first love conversation, infact first proper conversation. They had to let go when they heard footsteps and then there was no stopping. She was wearing the same pink dress, it was a soothing sight to his eyes. That evening he was waiting on his bike at the busstop she normally got down from her college. She was happy to see him there but was not sure if he came for her. 'hello Arohi' 'hi' 'mujhe kuch baat karni hai aapse' Her heart had beat faster 'ji boliye' 'aap please mere sath ayengi thode der ke liye?'. She sat on his bike without asking where they were going and he had brought her to the lake
Fan Fictions
Current Affairs
Anupamaa
