Chapter One
Moon. Chandrama. Chandamama. Chaand. Kitne saare naam hain na? Sab mere papa ke hai! Nahi samjhe? Mera naam! Chandrayee hain! Matlab Chand ki beti! Waise toh internet par kehte hain ki iska meaning chand ke jaisi sundar hota hain, lekin ghar mein toh yahi bataaya hain! Waise bhi, mere naam ka matlab kuchh bhi ho, sunne mein bahut sunder lagta hain!
"Main abhi Mammi Papa ko batata hoon!"
Mere thoughts mein Abhijit ki awaaz kahan se aayi?
"Ab window se bahar ghoorna band karogi? Tumhe koi dar nahi lagta ki mein Mammi Papa ko yahaan le aaonga?"
Ek second... "Abhijit! Tum mere kamre mein kya kar rahe!" Chandrayee finally turned, blinking as she realized that her younger brother was in her room.
"Wohi jo tum pataana nahi kitne time se chaand ko ghoor ke kar rahi ho! Tumhe pata bhi hain ki time kya ho raha hain?" Abhijit asked his clearly out-of-it sister, while pointing towards the wall clock hanging on the wall behind him.
Uh-oh! Chandrayee thought as her eyes flicked up to where her brother was pointing. 12:25, pata hi nahi time kahan chala gayye! Aaj toh main gayyi! Aur yeh bhi yahan pe pohanch gaya hain!She thought miserably as she glanced back at her brother's smirking face. "Waise tum is time pe yahan kya kar rahe hon? Tumhaare liye thodha late nahi ho gaya hain?"
"Main? Main toh bas raat ko paani peene aaya tha, jab maine tumhe yahan pe dekha." He answered innocently, smiling at his sister.
Chandrayee rolled her eyes, she was pretty sure that her brother was NOT just getting water. Scowling slightly, she asked him, "Kya lega?"
"Kya matlab?
"Natak bandkar! Mujhe ache se pata hain, aur tujhe bhi ache se pata hain! Chup rehene ka kya lega!"
"A favour to be called later."
"Nahi!"
'Toh theek hain. Main Papa ko bulaata hoon, aur phir tum unhe samjhaana kit um yahan, is samay, kya kar rahi thi." He replied, shrugging and blinking his eyes innocently.
Chandrayee's expression, meanwhile, turned into one of horror as she imagined her parents reaction. Mamma toh phir se shuru ho jaayengi ki ab meri shaadi karma zaroori ho gaya hain! Aur Papa bhi! Pakka boyfriend samjhenge! Jaise meri zindagi mein aur kuchh hai hi nahi!
"Kya soch rahi hon? Bulaoon?" He asked her, waving a hand in front of his sister's blank face.
"Theek hain! A favour to be called later! Ab ja yahan se!" She finally conceded, her expression sour.
"Itne ajeeb moon mat banao! Jar aha hoon main! Yaad rakhna!" He replied with smirk as he quickly retreated from the room, before his sister could react.
Chandrayee blinked in shock as she realized what he was saying. "Kya bola? Tum rook! Dekhloongi main tumhe subha!"
Then shaking her head, she turned back to look at the moon. It was so pretty.
____________________________________________________________________________________
"Pahoonch jaongi na!" Aliya replied in irritation as she hit the steering wheel, before realizing what she had done and quickly soothing the place where she hit it, with her hand. She made an apologetic expression towards the wheel, and then winced as her sisters voice screamed at her through the phone.
"Toh ab tak kyun nahi pahoonchi?"
"Kyunki main tumse baat kar rahi hoon! Aur drive karte karte phone par baat nahi karni chaahiye! Accident ho sakta hain! Waise bhi, tumhe kya pharak padhta hain, tum toh lagi raho party karma. Aaj thodhi jaldi nahi bahar nikal rahi? Kya huah?"
She could practically feel her sister rolling her eyes. "Mujhe toh pata bhi nahi main tumse samajhne ki umeed bhi kyun rakhti hoon. Phar party, thodhe time ke liye cool rehti hain, uske baad, uske log, aur uska environment, lame hojata hain! Tumhe toh pata nahi chalta hoga, kyunki tum toh hamesha lame logon ke saath lame parties karti hon, lekin mujhe farak padhta hain."
"Dhang se baat karo, main hi aa rahi hoon, tumhe pick up karne." Aliya replied with an irritated expression. She hated playing chauffeur to her sister. It was such a thankless job. Never, ever, could Tia just tell her, 'Thank you Di for taking out the time to get me home safe and sound!' All she actually got was insults.
"Would you leave your sister in the middle of the night in some strange city in a country where she doesn't live? Really?"
"Don't tempt me." Aliya replied shortly, cutting the call and throwing her mobile on the seat. Closing her eyes, she sighed. Atleast she sounded sober, which was definitely a good thing. If Tia was drunk, well that was just a giant complication.
Leaning into the seat, eyes still closed, Aliya thought about her car. She loved it, more than her sister, but then, she didn't actually like her sister...much. But Tia was family, and you must always help family. Sighing, Aliya opened her eyes and was just about to start the car when a giant crash's momentum forced her body forward with a jerk.
Someone's car had crashed into her own.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________-
The crashing of the waves on the beach always calmed him. It made him feel so much freer. It felt so much easier, to live like this. In a place where he didn't always have to keep everyone happy.
Tomorrow he would be starting his internship, and he was determined not to let his past and present mix again, it just hurts too much, and then the aftermaths...They are never good. A sudden tune shattered the silence of his surrounding. Silence apart from the crashing of the waves that is.
Frowning slightly, he shifted his attention from the waves and turned it towards his phone. The screen flashed new message, and as soon as he saw the sender's number, he scowled and replaced the phone in his pocket.
"Peaceful hain na?"
Confusion flashed through his face and he tried to place where the voice had come from.
"Idhar udhar kya dekh rahe ho? Main iss side hoon." The voice continued, and he duly followed, looking towards his right.
"Udhar nahi! Idhar!" The voice sounded irritated now, and this time he tried his left.
"Oh forget it, main tumhaare pichhe thi! But look, ab main tumhaare saamne hoon!" The voice finally got identification, as a girl stepped up in front of him, her heels in her hand.
"Beach ke liye thodhi over dressed nahi hon." He stated, raising an eyebrow at the girl.
The girl tutted in reply and made a slight face before replying. "Beach pe nahi, date ke liye gayyi thi." She clarified, sitting down beside him.
"Date achhi nahi gayyi." He asked curiously, though it seemed more like statement, looking out towards the silver blue color of the sea.
"Tumhe kaise pata chala?" She asked, confused, as her eyes narrowed in suspicion.
"Kyunki normally dtae ke baad, ladka ladki ko ghar chodta hain, aur ladki apne kamre mein ek dopey si smile lekar who rose, yah apna dupatta, ya apna purse, aise ghumti hain." He paused as he made circles in the air using his finger, mildly disgusted. "Tumhaari tara aise beach par aake random strangers se baat nahi karti."
"Tumhe bahot pata hain ladkiyon ke bare mein." She stated sourly, slightly miffed at the way he indirectly made fun of her; after all, that was what she tended to, generally.
For a while, there was a companiable silence, as they both stared at the sea.
"Tumhe ghar anhi jaana?" he asked curiously, wondering what the girl's parents must be thinking. "Tumhaare parents worried nahi hain?"
The girl's eyes widened, like that possibility had slipped her mind, and she hurriedly got up and dusted herself off.
"Main tumhe kahin chhodhu?"
"Meri date kharab gayi thi, par main itni bhi desperate nahi hoon. Mera ghar paas hain, mein khud manage kar loongi." She replied with a sligt smile as she shrugged, and began to walk away.
"Waise tumhaara naam kya hain?" He called out to her. She paused for a moment, and then seemed to debate with herself on whether she should tell him or not. Then finally, turning she replied, "Adrita Kapoor. Aur tumhaara?"
"Aditya Sharma."
_________________________________________________________________________________________-
"Itna drink karke bhi aap car drive karma chaahte hain? Aapka dimaag toh theek hain na? Kal aapki internship ke wajaaye, aapko mental hospital bhejde?" Mannvijay asked his older brother in slight irritation as he led him out to where he had parked the car.
"Arre han! Kal to hum dono ki internship shuru ho rahi hain! Party toh banti hain! Maine party kyun nahi di?" Rannvijay asked his younger brother as he was led out towards the car and unceremoniously dumped in the passenger seat.
"Abhi wohi toh attend kar ke aarahe hain, Bhai." Mannvijay replied in a tired voice as he started the car, carefully checking to see if there were any drunks passed out in front of the car. They were in the parking lot of Mumbai's most famous pub, and it wasn't uncommon to find rich, spoilt drunks hanging at almost corner.
"Achha! Arre han!" Rannvijay grinned happily as he shifted to make himself more comfortable, glad that he hadn't missed this chance to party. "Aur yeh tum mujhe 'bhai' mat bulaya karon! Main gunda nahi hoon, bhai toh gundoon ko bolte hain. Tum mujhe gunda samajhte hoon?" He asked indignantly.
"Mere samajhne se kya hota hain, aap toh wohi rahoge na." Came the muttered reply, which caused Rannvijay to straighten up indignantly and glare at his brother, who tried his best not to burst out laughing. If he did, then his already angry brother would be livid, fortunately he was saved by the ringing of his phone, and mentally thanking his stars he smiled at his brother and brightly took the call.
"Hello."
"Kahan ho tum dono?"
Shocked, Mannvijay mentally cursed himself for not checking the caller id before taking the call and tried to come up with a plausible lie while trying to ignore his sniggering, drunk brother.
That was the moment when it happened, when he turned to glare at this brother, that slight moment when his eyes were not on the road, and bam. He had crashed into someone's car. Not fatally, sensibly, he was driving the car at a slow speed which he was reducing steadily as soon as the call came. But it still wasn't slow enough and it had caused a dent, a gigantic dent on the car with whom he had crashed, and judging by the angry expression, of the girl who had slammed the driver's door, the owner was NOT happy.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Neelakshi was NOT happy. In fact, she was absolutely the opposite of happy. All that she had wanted to do was to get something to eat, what she got was an assault by the dirty kitchen. Her fingers were itching to start cleaning the stack of dirty dishes thrown haphazardly in the sink, but she turned her back on them determinedly. She couldn't afford to clean up again, because, as was explicitly stated to her by her Mausi, in whose house she was living, her Mausi did not appreciate her 'help'. Something about 'not needing help to manage her own house' or something equally petty. As if the slight question of the ownership of the house actually mattered against the higher cause of maintaining a clean household.
When she had touched upon this point, her Mausi had told her in a 'not-really-nice-but-trying-to-be-nice' kind of voice, that the dirty dishes were left in the night so that the 'naukar' could do them in the morning. And when she had continued, arguing that leaving the dishes dirty the entire night inspired germ build-up, and that not all of the said germs could be eliminated by plain washing, her Mausi had snapped at her, telling her that even though her insights were appreciated, they weren't needed and that could she take a moment away from pointing out that the house was dirty and pass the sugar.
"Kissi ko apni life ki phikar hi nahi hain. Jitne germs mein yeh log rahte hain, un sab ki wajah se, almost 10% apne saal ka yeh bimaar bitaate hain! Thodhi si zyaada mehenat, aur inki life mein inhe kitna extra time mil sakta hain." She muttered, randomly opening and closing cupboards searching for something to eat. "Par nahi, agar Neelakshi kuchh bol rahi hain, toh woh galat hain."
After looking through about five cupboards, she reluctantly came to the conclusion that she would have to remain hungry, or eat the leftover food form the dinner, and that would mean putting up with her Mausi's questions the next morning, so going hungry, was definitely a better option. "Kitne un-organized hain yeh sab! Yeh mere relatives hain, yeh baat mujhe bilkul sach nahi lagti. Aise logon ke saath mera door-door ka relation bhi nahi ho sakta!" She muttered, wishing that tomorrow would come early, She was sure the hospital had to be clean and organized, it was after all, a hospital. This also was one of the reasons she became a doctor.
_______________________________________________________________________________________
Aliya took one deep breath before angrily marching towards the car that was the cause of the glaring dent in her car. "Tum andhe ho? Pagal ho? Dimaag nahi hain tumhaara? Ya aankhein nahi hain? Ya phir dimaag itna chhota hain, ki aankhain hone ke bawajood, tum kuchh samjh hi nahi aata! Car nahi dikhi tumhe? Aise kaise gadhi ko thokkar maardi?"
Mannvijay first blinked in shock, then raised in eyebrows in confusion and tried to decipher what the girl was saying. Finally, he noticed what she was wearing, and that was it, upon seeing it, he couldn't help but burst out laughing.
"Tumhe hassi aarahi hain! Kitna achha joke hain na? Kissi ki brand new car par ekbada sa dent karte hain, jisne sabse bada dent kiya, woh winner." Aliya said sarcastically, and when she got no response, she glared angrily and started beating her hand at the window. "Bahar aao tum! Abhi dekhte hain tumhe kitni hassi aati hain!"
Mannvijay held up his hands in a placating gesture, even though he still found it hard to stop laughing. It was clear that the girl was getting angrier by the second, but it was hard to be intimidated by someone wearing blue pyjamas with flying monkeys on them.
"Tum apne aap ko smajhti kya ho? Tumhaari galti nahi hain jaise!"
Uh-oh, at the moment when Mannvijay was lost in his own thought, and he had failed to notice that his brother had walked out of the car and was now arguing with the girl.
"Oh! Toh tum yeh kehrahe ho, ki maine apni car road par park ki, aur main to yeh chahati thi, ki koi meri gadhi ko thokkar mare! Thank you so much ki tumne mere dil ki yeh wish puri kar di!"
"Finally! Tumhe kuchh samajh aaraha hain! Maybe tum itni bh badhi gadhi hon nahi, jitni lagti hoon."
"Main gadhi lagti hoon? Toh tum kya ho? Oh wait! Maine tumhe agar kisi bhi janwar ka naam diya, toh bechaare janwar toh suicide hi commit kar denge."
"Woh... Ya phir tumhaara non-existent dimaag kaam nahi kar raha." Rannvijay challenged, ignoring the futile attempts of his brother to break the fight between the two of them.
Aliya rolled her eyes and then noticing the reduced distance between the stranger and her; she awkwardly stepped back and turned to Mannvijay, obviously recognizing that he was by far more sensible of the two of them, even if he had laughed at her. "Tum isse samjhalo! Mujhse door rahe! Agar isne ek aur step bhi age liya toh main..."
"Toh? Toh tum kya kar logi! Lo, liya ek aur step, ab kya karogi?" He asked, taking few steps towards the girl, still ignoring the renewed efforts of his brother. He watched in slight amusement as the girl took a deep breath, obviously, she wasn't going to do anything. She was a girl, and she was wearing pyjamas. Maine dekhe hain aise bohot. They never actually do anything, just make a lot of empty threats, like may-...
"Shit!" He exclaimed loudly as he tenderly clutched his nose. He had been rudely brought back from his thoughts by a well aimed punch by the girl, who was now smirking in victory. "Tumhe bohot hassi aa rahi hain?" He asked in a slightly nasal voice to is brother, who was now laughing unashamedly.
"Tum dono kitne bakwaas! Mere paas puri raat nahi hain tum dono ke saath behens karne ke liye! Mere paas aur bhi kaam hain. Mujhe bas mere paise de do, aur yahan se jao!" Aliya said, ignoring the continued string of curses, courtesy of Rannvijay, holding out her hand in front of Mannvijay.
He gasped a little and took a few deep breaths before he said anything, during which time an irritated Aliya tapped her foot. "Mere paas itne paise nahi hain iss moment pe, main tumhaare ghar baad mein pohancha doonga. Is that alright?"
"No its not! Tum mujhe baad mein paise na do toh? Meri gadhi ka toh baj gaya na band!"
"Toh jaise humaari gahdi koh kuchh nahi hua!" Rannvijay cut in, still clutching his nose.
"Tumse kaun baat kar raha hain?" Aliya asked rudely, before turning to Mannvijay, who was silently watching their exchange. "Give me your driving license." She ordered, a dangerous glint in her eyes, daring him to disagree.
Although clearly confused, he quietly handed her his driving license, finding it a better option than arguing and possibly ending up like Rannvijay.
Aliya quickly brought a notepad and a pen from the dashboard and noted the address that was written on the license, with a snort of laughter, she threw the license back at its owner. Calling out in a mocking voice as she walked back to her car, "Achha naam hain, Mannvijay."
The guy in question smiled slightly and dragging his brother back, he walked back up to the car. This time driving with full concentration on the road, which was far easier, seeing that Rannvijay seemed pre-occupied with coming up with ways to kill the girl.
________________________________________________________________________________
Kal meri zindaggi ki nayyi shuruvaat ahin, aap mere aath rahenge na? Chandrayee asked as she closed her eyes for praying, just before she settled down on her bed to sleep.
Kal mein pakka Tia ko vaapis Paris bhejdoongi! Aakhir uski holidays kitni lambi hain! Aliya thought as she tried to call her sister to inform her of the change of events.
Kal mein aapka sapna pura karoonga, Ma. Aditya resolved with a smile as he looked back towards the sea for the last time, before getting up and dusting himself off.
Kal mein uss ladki ke muh par uske stupid se paise phenkoonga! How dare she! Rannvijay thought bitterly, holding a tissue to his bleeding nose, and trying to ignore the continuous laughter of his brother.
Kal mein Priya ko chodhungi nahi! Usne mujhe kitni bakwaas date par bheja tha! Adrita thought angrily, as she tuned out the verbal bashing her mother was giving her.
Kal mein uss ladki se maafi mangooga, galti merit hi, aura b pata nahi woh ghar kaise pahoonchegi. Mannvijay thought with a slight smile, as he glanced at his sulking brother. She had spirit.
Kal mein apna ghar dhoondogi! Mein is germ house mein aur time ke liye nahi reh sakti. Neelakshi thought in disgust as she turned on her bed, trying to find a comfortable position.
Precap: Plans toh hain sabke grand, lekin hoga kya jab yeh sab ek dusre se milenge?
Was that long or what! Anyways, tell me how it was? Good, bad, pathetic?
Comments and criticism are welcome!
Edited by storybooksgd - 13 years ago
55