Part 1
No one else must see the contents of this letter, Rajji! Give it only to Maan.
Her older sister's words echoed through her head as Rajji ran through the woods on the outskirts of Hoshiarpur, her long dark hair trailing behind her. Geet would be cross if she knew Rajji had peeked at the sheets of the scrawled, tear-strained writing, but one corner of the envelope flap had been a little loose and it had been too tempting.
Before she went to the Dhaba to find Maan and give it to him, she had to show Pinky, her friend and partner in crime. This was way too big a secret to keep to herself. Although she and Pinky were both of the same age, Pinky was the eldest in her family and always seemed to know what to do, how to take charge when anyone needed her.
It was totally different in Rajji's family. She was the youngest of the three sisters, the one who was always left out of important discussions because she wouldn't understand. She was fed up with it. Just because Geet was four years older than her she thought it was ok to boss Rajji around and make her do errands, which wasn't fair. So just this once Rajji was going to do things her way, to make it fair.
There were too many hushed voices and whispered insults in her family already, and no one would tell her why.
She was heading for a small clearing with a stream running through it at the bottom of the hill. No one else knew about this spot. It was her and Pinky's secret spot they would come here and discuss girly stuff.
They would swing on the swing that hung from the tree branches which stretched across the water. They would play dolls and would build camps out of branches and leaves and make up secret codes and write in their diaries- which they would always let each other, read. Sometimes they would whisper about Maan, the best looking boy in the whole of Hoshiarpur or tease the other with some boy or the other.
That was another thing that wasn't fair!
Rajji had always thought him to be her friend, had always thought him to be her boyfriend but Geet had been seeing Maan for weeks and weeks! That too behind Taiji's back as well. Just wait until Pinky found out.
Rajji had been running so fast wanting to reach the secret place before Pinky that she was breathless and her breaths were coming in short little gasps but she was too angry at Maan. Nowadays Maan had eyes only for that bossy Geet. Rajji hated her for that or atleast she did when she remembered to.
Flash of color told Rajji that Pinky had already reached the spot and was waiting for her, sitting on the swing which hung low branch on that old tree. At lunch break they had made plans to meet after school at their secret spot.
As Rajji reached the spot, Pinky looked up. Her eyebrows raised, she asked "Kya Rajji, itni ghabrayi hui kyun hai?"
Rajji just slowed to a walk and held the letter out to Pinky, her arm rigid.
Pinky shrugged as she took the letter and pulled three sheets of paper out of it. But she wasn't sitting and shrugging at Rajji for long. As she read the first sheet she also joined Rajji in her agitation. Standing up, the exclamation "hey babaji, hey babaji" were the only words she could utter once she had read the first page of the letter.
After the exclamation, they stood and stared at each other, guilty smiles on their lips.
"Oh my goodness!" Pinky finally whispered, "Geet and Maan! Really?"
This was the reaction Rajji was hoping for. She nodded. She hardly believed herself when she had read all the mushy stuff Geet had written to Maan in the letter. Okay, some of it hadn't exactly made sense to her but she had got the general gist of it.
"Chupchap agae padh" Rajji prodded to Pinky, to keep reading.
Pinky did not need much more encouragement after that and she continued with reading the letter, stopping every now and then to ask Rajji to read out Geet's illegible handwriting and to make sense of the words which Geet had written.
Finishing up the letter she looked up. This time there were no guilty smiles. There was no flapping or agitation. The look on Pinky's face wiped out the happiness Rajji had been feeling and was replaced by a spinning feeling combined with feeling of butterflies swiftly moving in her stomach.
"Ab tu kya karegi, Rajji" Pinky asked with a frown on her face.
"Kya karongi, Maan ko yeh letter de doongi, aur kya" Rajji replied nonchalantly.
"Par tu aisa nahi kar sakti Rajji, tujhe yeh letter taiji ko dikhana chahiye"
"Tu pagal ho gayi hai kya, Pinky, yeh letter aur taiji ko dikhaun, do you even know what will she do if she finds out? Geet will be in so much trouble!
Pinky looked at the letter she was holding in her hand which had crumpled in her fist, "Rajji, this is too big a secret." The thin sheets of paper fluttered in the wind as she tightened her fist.
Rajji looked at Pinky and saw the determined look on her face and she understood Pinky was thinking of taking the letter to taiji. Rajji knew if she tried to stop her Pinky won't listen to her and would take the letter herself to Taiji.
If that happened, not only would Geet suffer their taiji's wrath, but Rajji would be in big trouble herself. Geet had a temper which scared Rajji. Rajji snatched for the letter.
Precap: Both girls froze and watched the sheets flutter slowly the water.
Edited by crystal-rose - 13 years ago
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
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