Scene 27
Shiv went up to his room and packed his things. He was pondering on his brother's words.
'hmm aggressive? am I capable of that?' he thought to himself. When ever he was around Anandi, his mouth would go dry and words somehow could not make their way past his throat.
'But his brother was right. He could not just sit there and take things lightly and hope for matters to fall in its place. It was time for action.'
Thought Shiv as he punched the air
'amm where do I start?' he said to himself now ruffling his hair
He then mustered his strength and opened the door to head towards Anandi's room.
'Anandi thum na meray salwar kameez pehen lo' suggested Naina
'Main aur salwar?' Asked Anandi. As she said that she remembered the Mumbai sequence
where Jagya had first asked her to wear Salwar kameez. A sad pain shot through her heart.
'Teekh hai' she said regaining herself. The only way to move away from the past was if she did those things that brought her sadness and replaced them with happy memories.
Naina handed couple of her Salwar Kameez
'I think ithna kaafi hoga...hai na?' asked Naina
Anandi just shrugged.
'Main kuch madad ker dun?' came the voice of shiv from the door
Anandi and Naina turned around and they saw shiv standing at the door looking directly at Anandi.
'Han, shiv. Mujhe na uper walay shelf sey water cooler nikalna tha. hum na usmay ice bhar lengay aur pani ki bottles rakh lengay. Kya khayal hai ?' asked Naina
Shiv looked at her and nodded
'kahan per hai?' he asked
'Store room main' replied Naina
'Ok..Anandi ji aap chaliye meray saath. Bhabi aapko lunch ki tayyari kerni hai na' asked Shiv
Naina gave a slight smile and immediately took off towards the door without waiting for Anandi to say much
Anandi stood at the bedside with a confused look
'chaliye' said shiv
Anandi followed him. They reached the lower level of the mansion which pretty much had a huge empty room with doors carved into its walls leading to other rooms.
They reached the south end of the room and opened the door which led to a gloomy looking room due to its lack of light. Shiv turned on the lights
'abh ye cooler kahan hai' he muttered to himself
'aap bhi dekhiye na' he said turning to Anandi
Anandi started searching the place with her eyes. The place was filled with furniture which seemed from another century. It had an old piano lying in the corner, an old bike, huge cupboards with dishes stacked up.
'hmm...' said shiv
He then moved forward towards the piano trying to look for the cooler there.
Anandi then saw shiv smiling.
Shiv moved forward towards his bike and placed his hand fondly over its seat.
'Papa nay mujhe ye bike class main first anay ki wajay sey dee thi. Mujhe yaad hai! Bohot kush tha main. Us waqt ye sabsey latest model thi. Papa ko maine kaha tha ki main kudh isey khareedh ker launga. Unhonay mujhe 2000 RS/- diye thay' He said reminiscing the past
'Main wapis ghar is bicycle per aaya tha. Main bohot gussa hui thi...' laughed shiv
'kyun? asked Anandi
'actually store na kaafi door tha. Mujhe puray 4 ghantay lagay wapis ghar aanay main. Mom papa per bohot gussa hui ki unhonay mujhe akele kiyun janay diya.' said Shiv
'Kithnay be fikri kay din hua kerthay thay na?' asked Shiv
Anandi's smile faltered. Only if she had a normal childhood. Alas! no. Though she had sweet memories of her childhood, they were now tainted with the brush of pain and loneliness.
Shiv who had turned his back on Anandi now looked back and saw Anandi lost in thoughts. He bit his tongue in anger. He understood that, Anandi probably did not have a pleasant childhood.
'Sorry Anandi. Mera matlab aapko dukh pahunchanay ka nahi tha' said Shiv coming closer to her
Anandi looked at him and with a sigh turned her face away and started looking for the cooler.
'are.. kahin voh tho nahin' asked Anandi pointing towards a medium sized red box
Shiv looked at the direction where Anandi was pointing and headed towards it. The box was lying on top of one of the cupboards. He pulled it down.
'meray khayal main do-teen aur honay chahiye' he said
Anandi went towards another cupboard and tried looking but she was too short to see the things that were on the top.
She then stepped back few steps in order to get a clearer view.
Shiv was looking at the opposite direction and he did not see Anandi moving backwards.
Anandi walked backward few more steps and her leg slipped on a piece of wood that was lying on the floor making her fall.
Shiv caught Anandi's fall and helped her to her feet.
'aap teekh hai na' he asked with concern
Anandi who was clearly embarrassed nodded
'voh rahe' said shiv as he headed towards another cupboard and pulled out two more coolers.
'bohot dhool jami hui hai inper' said Annadi as she dusted the handle some of the dust flew into her eyes. She immediately started rubbing her eyes.
Shiv came running towards her
'aap teekh hai na? main... main madad ker dun?' he asked as Anandi continued to rub her eyes frantically
'nahi main teekh hun' she replied
Anandi continued to rub her eyes and shiv looked on to her helplessly then suddenly took hold of her hands
'ek min' he said
Then he took out a handkerchief and started blowing into it.
'idhar dikhayiye' he said
'nahi ..koi zaroorat..' said Anandi resisting but shiv cut in
'chup karo ek min ke liye Anandi. Har waqt zid teekh nahi hothi' he said Angrily as he pulled her hands once again away from her face
He then placed the warm handkerchief in her eyes
'ouch' said Anandi
' kya hua... idhar dikhao' said Shiv taking a step closer towards her
He then placed his two fingers on her eyes and opened them slowly and started blowing into them slowly. Followed with blowing into the kerchief and placing it on her eyes. He repeated this three times.
'Abh teekh hai' he asked
Anandi nodded but then took her hand towards her eyes. Shiv stopped her hands in the mid air
'Anandi , is tarah baar baar rub nahi karo ankhon ko' he said with concern and then he blew into the kerchief and placed it on her eyes again.
'Abh?' he asked
Anandi nodded and this time she did not bring her hands back to her eyes. The irritation had lessened.
She then moved her hand towards the cooler and once again shiv pulled her hands away.
'main ker lunga' he said
He then started moving the dust slowly from the cooler but also stealing glances of her. Anandi was standing holding the kerchief in her eyes and he could sense that she was feeling uneasy.
'Ah!' said shiv indicating pain
Anandi noticed that Shiv was rubbing his eyes. It had seemed that the dust had gone in his eyes as well. She wanted to step in and help him but hesitated.
Shiv was frantically rubbing his eyes and Anandi who could not hesitate any longer moved towards him.
'aap .. teheriye... rukhiye.. nahi ithni zor sey nahi '' words were coming out of her mouth as she saw Shiv rub his eyes
Then she stopped his hands. Shiv immediately stopped and paused.
With the other eye he saw Anandi indicate to him to bend a bit as she could not reach him'
Shiv bent down and Anandi brought his face closer to hers and with her two fingers she opened his left eye and started blowing slowly into it.
It was the best feeling. The warm air from her was as if entering directly into his heart and pumping it.
Then Shiv slowly held Anandi's hand and moved it from his face. He opened his eyes and a big grin formed in his face.
Anandi looked at shiv confused and then she realized that shiv had been pretending that something had gone in his eyes.
Edited by Suchi-Virmanian - 13 years ago
Cricket
