chapter 23
with heavy heart she got ready and climbed down the stairs quietly
revji was sitting with dushyant and his parents
gulaal greeted the guest and sat quietly
revji said "gulaal hum sab ne milkar tumhara aur dushyant ka rishta tay kar diya hai"
gulaal was shocked to hear it…dushyant looked at gulaal with fondness
his mother stood up and hugged her gulaal rolled her eyes in amusement
dushyant's father said "bhaisahab hum to teen saal se intzaar kar rahe the..kab gulaal traning finish kar le aur hum use apne ghar le laaye"
gulaal was dumbfounded she couldn't react
she replied nervously papa…itni jaldi kya hai
revji said beta hum teen saal se wait kar rahe hain
gulaal said par abhi to mera case bhi solve nahi hua..abhi
revji interrpted "arey cases to zindagi bhar aayenge…shaadi se is baat ka koi lena dena nahi hai"
waise bhi tumhe to pata hi hai ek na ek din dushyant se tumahri shadi hona hai humne socha ab sahi waqt aa gaya hai
gulaal remained silent for the moment
she remembered the day wen it was her 21 st birthday and revji gave her..her birthday present…he fixed her marriage with dushyant a brilliant and sharp police officer like him….without asking her….she was asked to spend rest of her life with dushyant whom she hardly knew…and she like obedient girl gave her consent as it was her father's wish
since then she is struggling herself to accept dushyant as her life partner but her heart always refused to accept him and now the refusal was more profound as now her heart was preoccupied by someones heartbeat
gulaal was silent like her fate
then dushyant father said "bhaisahab chaliye hum bahar garden mein chalte hain in bacho ko bhi kuch der aapas mein baat karne dete hai"
revji said thek hai and then revji and dushyant parents left them alone in the room
dushyant looked at her and smiled and said to madam aap bahoot jald humare ghar mein aane waali hain
gulaal looked at him and replied pursuing her lips sir yeh
dushyant said sir…ab bhi sir tum shaadi k baad bhi mujhe sir bologi kya"
gulaal hung her head down she was uneasy and shaking in fear….she said "aap to jaante hai mein thodha weird feel karti hun"
dushyant looked at her and said "haan pata hai tum thodha awkward feel karti ho….tumhe todha time chahiye…sach puchu to mujhe bhi uncomfortable lagta hai arrange marriage mein aise fears to aate rehte hai mujhe bhi dar lag raha hai par koi baat nahi hum dheere dheere saare daar nikal jayenge aur phir hum strangers to nahi haina"
and he put his arm around her shoulder
gulaal trembled ….her heart immediately reacted with rejection "no gulaal he is not for u"…She wanted to ran away from the cruel doom that confronted her
She brushed off his hand and stood in the far distance with her face towards wall looking blankly with moist tears
Dushyant looked at her and then saw revji and his parents coming inside
Dushyant father said "chalte hai revji abhi pandit se milkar sagai k date bhi nikaal dete hain"
Revji smiled and then they left
While dushyant turned and glanced at her he said to himself "gulaal ek baat tumse chupaayi hai jabse tumhe dekha sirf tumhe chaha hai….haan humara rishta ghar waalo ne tay kiya par yeh rishta meine bahoot pehle sweekar kar liya tha…bas thodhe dino mein tum bhi ise sweekar kar logi"
Revji looked at his daughter and said "gulaal aaj mein bahoot khush hun tumhare liye"
Gulaal turned her face and said "papa woo dushyantji"
Revji "haan beta dushyant se jyada acha jeevansaathi tujhe nahi mil sakta woo ekdum sahi hai tere liye….padha likha well educated khandan bhi acha hai aur itni honorable job mein hai…sach mein I m so happy for u"
He looked genuinely happy for her as per his thought he has done best for his daughter
And he hugged gulaal
Gulaal was speechless only tears rolled down her cheeks she was chocked her destiny was decided three years back and she had to follow her destiny but y she was feeling pain in her soul..y she was so distress….y her soul was so restless
Gulaal decided to take day off from her office she was sitting in her bedroom squeezing the angry bird cushion toy in her arm tightly….
she was shivering and shuddering for the fear that might compel her to marry him she was blank at the moment she looked at the door and saw bulbul was standing outside with a wide smile on her face
she came near and immediately hugged her in exitement and said "congrats gulaal finally tere aur dushyant k shaadi hone waali hai its so exciting mein kitni khush hun tere liye"
gulaal got up n said "par bulbul yeh sab itni jadli ho raha hai"
bulbul said "jaldi kanha gulaal tujhe to pata hai teen saal se sab teri training complete hone ka wait kar rahe hain"
taaki tumhari aur dushyant ji k shadi ho sake"
gulaal said "wahi to bulbul mujhe teen se pata hai dushyantji se meri shaadi hone waali hai mein teen saal se dushyant ko apna jeevansathi manane k koshish kar rahi hun par nahi kar paa rahi"
bulbul said "tu paagal hai kya…kya tujhe koi aur pasand hai"
gulaal looked at her and kesar's face flashed in her mind …….she immediately said"nahi"
bulbul "to phir kya baat hai gulaal dekh mein tujhe bahcpan se jaanti hun
tu hamesha se apne papa k beti rahi hai tune hi to kaha tha tere papa janha kahenge wanha shaadi kar legi to phir uncle ne dushyant ji se teri shaadi tay kar di hai to ab problem kya hai…kya tujhe uncle k pasand se shaadi nahi karni"
gulaal said "nahi mein papa k pasand se hi shaadi karungi…..mein bas thodha waqt aur chahiti hun..taaki mein dushyant jo ko apna saku"
bulbul "dekh gulaal apnayegi tab jab saath rahegi saath rehte rehte pyaar ho hi jaata hai"
gulaal looked at her she was vunerable
while kesar was sitting in his room he was looking at gulaal pics fondly…kunal arrived at his room and said "arey tujhe pata hai woo……gulaal..dushyant" and he saw kesar was holding her pics
kesar looked at him in confusion and asked "gulaal dushyant kya hua"
kunal avoided him he said "kuch nahi yaar"
kesar asked restlessly "kya hua"
kunal said "bola naa kuch nahi"
kesar was angry he hold his collar and asked furiosuly "kunal seedhe seedhe batata kyu nahi kya hua hai gulaal thek haina"
kunal hung his head down and replied in low voice "gulaal thek hai woo dushyant se shaadi karne jaa rahi hai"
it was major blow for kesar…he was shocked to hear it
kesar couldn't belive his ears he trembled and took a step back he was feeling betrayed
kunal looked at him and said "kesar"
he throw a angry glance at him and left the room in anger