ff sabki baaratein aayi (shud i restart)

Part 1

It was early morning. A group of young frnds aged 22 n 23had gathered together n were whispering excitedly.

Seemed they were planning something exciting. A beautiful girl dressed in her white nightdress was saying "bt wt will we do abt gia di?" A young handsome guy puts his arm abt her shoulders n said "relax kim sweethrt n leave it to our geek". "oh hello!!! nitesh who is d geek? im a hunk. right sweetheart? karan turned to a cute girl with freckles. sahara rolled her eyes and hit him playfully. ofcoz u r a geek" (karan pulled a face) "a hunky geek ,and most importantly my hunky geek"'' the group laughed''

Kim got serious "enuf yaar'. Think abt the problem. Wt do we do abt gia di.u knw na how she is. I want to surprise her today. god knws y she doesn't celebrate much. ok lets think. Hmmm. Lets all go to the kanha temple b4 gia di . get out all our instruments and greet her with our version of the aarti she sings daily."

Karan:" She'll b happy that finally we hv learned at least sth religious which she continuously drills into our minds apart 4m our funky music n den'''"

"n den kidnap her n ask her to spend d entire day wid us 'no excuses dis tym'.. hmmm? " nitesh butted in.

Sahara" ew kidnap yay n fnally d surprise party dat our parents will hv arranged by then. Oh yes today nobody can save gia di ' today she has to spend the entire day wid us doing wt we like as her punishment for being away from us for so long.she has come after full 1 yr in theUS getting her recordings done "

Kim: Chup sahara. I know. we all miss her bt we hv to share at least a part of her wid the world.dat gift of hers shud reach all or it will be an injustice.

Karan:Oh yes her voice that raises goosebumps on skin, makes u traverse the unknown depths of one's soul'. God! I wish she sings her song for us today'. D emotions, d pain her voice carries just fills up some void in the soul doesnt it?

Nitesh:"oh shut up geek. Its her b'day today so no philosophy only party today' I wish we cud tell the world that the worldwide famous g.a. krishna is our gia di "

Sahara : hmmm gia di is the bestest bt she is right or the world will intrude on every aspect of our lives.n none of us wants that 4 di.

Everyone fell silent.

Nitesh"wt yaar bas lets go nahin to di will reach b4 us n poora din we hv to njoy right".

Everone gets ready in traditional clothes. kim and sahara wear salwar kameez in gia di's fav colors

pink n green respectively while nitesh and karan tried to match their girls colors in their kurta pajamas. Karan took his flute sahara her sitar. nitesh had taken his tabla n kim took her harmonium. Today they were going to make sure their gia di was pleasantly surprised as in the yr apart these 4 brats had trained in classical music to add to their repertoire of music'..of which gia di was their inspiration...

All get seated in their open black jeep. kim says "here we go. gia di just wait n njoy today" they high five each other and yell 1 2 hey you 3 4 lets go" n leave for the krishna temple.

Part 2

In another part of the same city delhi stood a house looking as glum and lifeless as the morning looked beautiful and fresh. Two cars approached the house and stopped. Two middle aged women and men and a young couple with a 2 year old girl stepped out of them. The elders looked at the house and sighed."mummy ji ,kaki ji you were right even today ahem''"spoke the young woman carrying the child."haan rashi dikri yes even today he has not been able to forget her"spoke the cuter and spectacled hetal.

The other woman looked on helplessly "mota bhabhi mera ahem why ? why is he doing this?all of us havent been able to forget the tragedy bt ahem when will he escape from his self made prison of guilt. You see even today after five years of her death he wants to be alone on her death anniversary. He doesn't want us to comfort him. Anyways I'll go get him and then we can leave for the krishna temple I have arranged for a puja b4 the langar to the orphans. ".

." theek che kokila saaru.abhi tum ahem ke paas jaao."

Kokila modi went up the stairs and opened a room. It was dark, the curtains pulled close to not let a single ray of hope enter but she could make out a lone figure sitting there. She went n drew the curtains back. Even with the immediate light entering and filling the room the lone figure did nothing but stare continuously at the wall. Kokila's eyes teared up and she sent a silent prayer'hey krishna bhagwan give him some hope ' . she silently walked out of the room she knew ahem would never forgive her for seeing him in this devastated state. She composed herself and called loudly "ahem ahem' just to give him a warning counted to five and again called loudly ahem ahem dikra n opened the door once again.

The sight that greeted her now was entirely different but she wasn't surprised. Her ahem was back to his worldly facade of a dedicated, occupied, successful and hard hearted businessman. Although whom he thought he was fooling apart from the world he only knew. His entire family was aware of his grief beneath his mask but seldom spoke to him about it.Her ahem hated any kind of weakness. The thought of showing the world what he felt was anathema to him .but he even included his family in the figure of 'others' not letting anyone into his grief. She sighed silently."ahem"."ji mom"ahem looked up from the files on his working table.

Her son. She remembered his lean muscular frame which was now still strong but his face oh krishna his facial features had become angular lending harshness to his worldly persona. "ahem get ready we have to go to the krishna temple today for the puja ".ahem averted his eyes looked at the wall secretly and back to kokila not looking in her eyes."yes mom I'll come within ten minutes". Kokila shook her head internally walked upto ahem and hugged him tightly giving him strength . ahem hugged her back . mother and son each in their own silent way expressed their grief and comforted each other. Kokila kissed his cheek and blessed him looked at the wall sent a silent prayer and walked out.

Ahem went next to the wall and looked at her picture. He remembered her beauty, her innocence, her exuberance,her love for the simple things in life. He traced his fingers over her head, her eyes, her face her cheeks, her lips and closed his eyes.A lone tear escaped his eyes "I love you. I'm sorry I was too late I love you n forever will love you. Forgive me gopi"''''''''''''''''.

Part 3

At the krishna temple at around 6 am a small crowd had gathered in the mandap. People were looking at the four youngsters who had made a makeshift mehfil in front of the radha krishna idol. The tabla, harmonium flute and sitar lay on the small stage made with matresses and decorated with flowers pink and white roses spread on a light green bedsheet. The 4 youngsters were running around left right and centre shouting instructions at each other. They were arranging n rearranging, decorating and redecoratingthe temple's mandap.

The crowd looked on amused at the antics of the young ,and at the sheer joy emanating from them. They wondered what was going on and were talking to each other. The elders loved them and some joined them in their joy. One said " Good kids. Sanskari bache hain. They are here in the temple early in the morning with traditional instruments". Another said "ofcoz they are. Otherwise most of the children of this age are sleeping at this hour''.". "or partying, drinking and discothequing still and here these kids are going to sing the aarti today. Some parents have all the luck."sighed a middle aged woman. "what?????" asked some shocked"these bratz are going to sing the aarti????".they looked at them joking around and shouting at each other.

"Oh yes!!!",said the Pandit. "They have taken the permission from the temple committee. And trust me they are really good'." He grinned. " Today's aarti is going to be beautiful and brilliant, as brilliant as the gem they are doing it for " "for whom are they doing it?"asked someone. "Oh their elder sister Gia". "Gia beta!!!! Kahan hai? who aagayi waapis?asked a frail old woman."ji maaji kal hi aayi hai"replied the pandit aap idher baithkar wait karen. Gia beti will be coming soon its almost tym.she is goin to be very happy with their lovely surprise"

Nitesh: "Kim when will she come? We are waiting n almost ready"

Kim :"have some patience.soon.acha u all know na when she enters the temple we will start with our classical music, creating an environment anddd "

" and when she is greeting some elders we will start her fav krishna aarti.and when she reaches the idols and prays we will continue and...'''."interrupts karan

"anddd as soon as she takes the aarti flame and pandit's blessings amma will bring her b4 us .she'll be shocked when she sees us.we will finish playing the music go to her say happy birthday gia di and hug her altogether"interrupts sahara

They look at each other and laugh and give each other a high five. The crowd smiles at their excited behaviour. Suddenly kim gets a call.

Kim"hello''''...she's here????'. Hmm '''.ji aap thodi der unko phool mala stall par rokiye..ji'. ok 5-7 min thankyou"(cuts the call). Hey u guyz lets move it she's here"(turns to the crowd )aap log bhi plz help aur njoy karen this kanha aarti from us for our sweet di. "

The four run to their places on the stage."1 2 hey you 3 4 lets go". Immediately they start n d sweet powerful soothing music with an ethereal mix of the timbres of the flute sitar harmonica and tabla fills up the pandal and wows the crowd.

Down below on the steps a beautiful young girl with purity radiating through her sweet 'doe' eyes and her infectious smile dressed in a beautiful white and green and pink sari looks up in amazement. As she hears the classical strains she closes her eyes and her smile expands and spreads enveloping everyone in its warmth.she hurries up the steps wanting to be closer to this amazing music.

"Wow!! Just wow. Its beautiful. I wonder whats going on in the temple." She looks around and sighs. 'the usually hustling bustling temple is quiet today. There is a hush filled with that heavenly music. everyone and everything else is quiet. Its almost as if its full of anticipation,a sense of waiting for something or someone'a sense of something happening' "oh quiet gia! u always imagine lots of stuff. U and ur imagination.ufff wteva this music is out of this world.kanha is waiting. Move it."

She reaches the pandal. At her first step into the pandal the music changes slightly and she hears the melodious strains of aarti kunj bihari ki shri girdhar krishna murari ki. She looks around in amazement and finds a crowd surrounding the singers. She smiles "obviously the crowd is as attracted to the melodious singers as I am. good. i'll offer my prayers quietly n without any squeezing and pulling. Wow"

she goes towards the idols n offers her thaali to the pandit who smiles at her . she then closes her eyes and listens to the aarti . she takes the aarti from the pandit and does aarti of the magnificent idol of radhakrishna. The eternal symbolic icon of a pure love in all its magnificence and power.. she hands back the aarti closes her eyes n prays quietly for her family and for all those she loved for all who love her n those who don't. a single tear runs down her eyes which she quickly wipes off.kanha ji give them love and all the happiness of the world".

She turns back sees the old lady n smiles. "Jai sri krishna amma." "jai shri krishna gia beta.how are you and when did you come back? You don't miss us na? ofcoz hum to budhe hain kise hamari zaroorat?" gia smiles and pulls her ears and says "sorry.itni der se aane ke liye bt work kept me busy n ofcoz I missed you. See I got something for you."gia takes out a small gold idol of bal krishna n says"for you when im not there"they hug. "amma who is doin the aarti today?its beautiful." Amma smiles "haan ur fav tabhi to beautiful."they laugh."some kids are singing this aarti.""really?"."hmm lets go aage. Le chal mujhe". "ji".

She takes amma towards the crowd that parted for her .lost in the music she did not notice that the aarti was coming to an end and she was next to the stage. What she saw next made her stop suddenly and amma almost fall. she could not believe that her own 4 bratz were smiling at her, playing the tabla, harmonium,sitar and flute instead of their usual bassinet drums,piano,electric guitar and saxophone,singing the aarti instead of sexy back,belly dancer, tonight im lovin u n even dirty dancer and my god wearing traditional attire instead of tees n torn jeans, skirts or shorts'."oh my god oh my god oh my god . i'm dreaming this cant be happening. amma pinch me".amma did as she asked and she shrieked in pain but saw the same thing.

The bratz were grinning at her and each other knowing that they had successfully flummoxed gia di.

The aarti music finally stopped.the bratz ran immediately n together surrounded gia di on four corners. Gia did not notice she was still shocked.they grinned thumbs up at each other n together hugged gia di from the four sides and yelled 'SURPRISE'!!!!!.n finally a reaction she screamed "youuu bratzzz when? how ?what? where? and why? they laughed n hugged her again n said "for u di, only for u. HAPPY BIRTHDAY DI.we love u di 4eva "they sang in a singsong chorus.

Gia looked at them with tears in her eyes. She looked at each of them n hugged them one by one with love shining in her eyes n said "I love u too 4eva". All five had tears rolling down their eyes n all five tried to wipe each others tears. The crowd looked at them n d love that each felt for the other was so bright n beautiful that they had tears in their eyes as they smiled n blessed them 4eva.----

Part 4

Amma blessed the four young kids and then turned to gia"janamdin mubarak ho gia beti. Your brats have given you your gift and now we need ours'.". gia looked at her with a question on her face while the four grinned. "haan gia beta you will have to sing my krishna bhajan for me. Please!!! ", Amma pleaded. The familiar crowd who like gia visited the temple without fail n had grown to love her chimed in with the same request and nodded encouragement at her. Gia looked at their expectant and encouraging faces and sighed."ok." she turned to the brats and smirked."come brats now that u r exceptional classics maybe you can complement me.. what say?".

Fully expecting them to groan she was shocked once again as they went to their instruments.. 'so they really have learnt this for me!!!'.She smiled while her eyes shone with a suspicious moisture at the thought of their love for her, an unconditional love , a love that accepted her for what she was n what she had been,a love she had yearned for all her existence and a love which she had been enjoying and healing in for quite some time. She felt cherished in this love even though subconsciously she couldn't stop herself of thinking of her one lost love, a love that was never meant for her''.

.She was brought out of her thoughts by her brats as they placed a mic in front of her. She shoved the dismal thought back into the deep recesses of her mind where it belonged. It had no place in her life now, her life was what was in front of her. Her brats, their family n her songs. She thanked kanha for his grace n love'. Even as she started singing of her yearning''..

Once again the pandal was filled with the beautiful harmony made more heavenly and soulful by her poignant vocals.

Manmohan kanha binti karun din rain 2

Raah takein mere naiiinnn'.. raah takein mere nain''''''''..

Ab toh daras de do'. kunj bihari''''''''''. manva hai bechain''''''''.

manmohan kanha binti karun din rain.

On the steps of the temple the Modi family stopped suddenly as they heard an eerily familiar voice, one that haunted their days and nights."gopi!!!!!!!!!!"whispered a dazed kokila and then shook her head in negation.They looked at each other and shut their eyes in pain as they remembered a voice that never would be heard again, as they remembered cremating their gopi five years back. They held onto each other on the steps while realising that their gopi was dead."this couldn't be gopi"the men rationalised even as they were drawn to that voice n its soulful words. they listened silently.

Janam janam se panth niharun'''.

Bolo kis vidh tum'''.ko pukarun

Hey natnaagar hey girdhaariii

Aah na paave bain''''

Raah takein mere nain''.

ab to daras de do kunj bihari''' manva hai bechain

Manmohan kanha binti karun din rain

"Maa?kaki?rashi?". they came out of their trance as they heard jigar's frantic voice."maa , rashi where is priya?" They all looked around worriedly wondering where their little imp had escaped to? "priya priya!!"they began searching for her. However the little imp had reached the pandal of the temple.

Attracted to the music the little girl had squeezed among the crowd, reached the makeshift stage and sat there gazing at gia admiringly. Kim pointed her out to the others who smilingly noticed the little kid sitting and watching gia di mesmerised. 'their gia di was the best'they thought. 'Her voice could enchant everyone from the cradle to those one step away from their graves especially when she sang songs that laid her soul open to everyone' mused kim as she smiled at the kid. Gia di's eyes were closed as she was singing. kim uderstood the longing in her song for her unattainable and distant kanha. 'gia di' she realised 'was singing for HER kanha'. kim sighed not understanding such a yearning but loving gia di just the same.

Meanwhile ahem had rushed to the temple after the others as he wanted to be alone for some time, alone with the thoughts of his gopi.Her eyes, her smile, her love ,her innocence and her voice when she sang her krishna aarti. Lost in her thoughts he walked up the stairs n realised that even as he remembered his gopi's aarti he could hear another voice a voice singing as sweetly for krishna as his gopi sang for him.

Sneha ki dori''''. tum sang jodi''''''''.

Hum se toh naahi''""""""" jaayegi' todi

Entranced he was pulled towards the voice with images of gopi flashing through his mind. as he reached the pandal and looked at the crowd surrounding the singer he remembered that his gopi was dead.

Hey murli dhar krishna muraari''''''''.

"gopi, gopi"he closed his eyes and savoured her name"GOPI my love my life".

As she sang she felt someone calling her ,she felt him calling her.

Tanik na aaveee chain''''

Raah takein mere nain'

She opened her eyes and looked at him . NO it couldn't be Him ,not in delhi. She was imagining it like always. She closed her eyes n opened them again to check . He was not there. Tears filled her eyes she kept them back not wanting to upset those that loved her.

ab toh daras de do kunj bihari''' manva hai bechain''

Manmohan kanha binti karun din rain

Manmohan kanha binnntiii karun din rain''

She finished the song and was immediately engulfed by loving applause from amma, from the relations she had made in the temple and her brats (the brothers and sisters she had never had). kim held a beautiful girl in her arms. Even as gia could see something familiar in her face she was smothered by hugs from her brats and surprisingly the little girl who clung to gia and kissed her . gia laughed and kissed her back "whats your name sweetheart?" "pl pli plia''''.."the lil girl lisped. Gia n the brats smiled "gopi " the girl continued. Gia froze. Kim saw gia n asked the girl "what?" the lil girl lisped again "mela naam pliyagopi hai "

Ahem had been about to go nearer to the stage to catch a glimpse of the singer when his mother kokila had tugged him away and frantically told him that priyagopi was nowhere to be found.

They were looking for priyagopi. Though she was rashi and jigar's daughter she was closest to ahem. It was ahem who had given her the name as she had given some life to him. She had brought him some hope to live for. She had brought to him, who had lost everything in his life something that reminded him of his gopi. Her eyes were as doe like as gopi's , her smile as innocent and heartwarming as gopi's. how in his sheer stupidity had he failed to realise that the innocence that shone on his neice was the same innocence that shone on gopi. The innocence which he had butchered out of gopi. He remembered when he had held her for the first time.

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Flashback

After gopi had died ahem had been left a heartbroken shell who's soul had shattered due to his own stupidity. The guilt played heavily on him.he had tortured her. (Oh yes how he had tortured her blaming her for everything that had gone wrong in his life. He loved anita he had reiterated to gopi again n again Had blamed her for ruining his chances for a life with anita. Anita'. He thought he had loved anita but the pain after gopi had left him was unsurpassable. With anita's loss he had felt a momentary grief for the loss ofsomething that had the potential of being great but it was not the heart wrenching gloom that had surrouded him after gopi left the modi mansion.

Days, weeks and months had gone by but the grief did not shake away.he missed her. Oh! How he had missed her when he had searched subconsciously for Work had ceased to be a distraction from her memories. He had fought this love for gopi with everything in him,refusing to believe that it was true love this time. 4months had passed before he had let his love for gopi n gopi flood his existence. B4 he had surrendered his self completely to her.

it had taken two months then to find her and he had been ecstatic that he would finally confess his love, apologise and remarry her.He would reunite with his gopi and nothing could stop him. Nothing? He asked himself now in black humour. Oh yes nothing but he had not counted on death''. He remembered reaching her place n being told of the accident and death. He had rushed to the hospital not beleiving the cruel punishment fate had meted out to him. He had looked at a badly burned body while the doctors handed him all his gopi's documents and possessions n declaring gopi dead.

The pain that had been there ever since gopi had left him had now shattered him completely, ripped him to pieces as he gathered his dead gopi in his arms n screaming "u cannot die.not Now. Atleast not b4 I telll u I love you. I love u gopi. U shud have punished me in any other way but not this' not dying before I confessed my love to you. U cant leave me this way.i love you gopi I love you. Can you hear me gopi I love you.plz accept my love .hear me gopi plz hear me I love u. "

"its too late son she is dead"said a crying kokila' ahem hugged her and cried, "I was too late .too late to say I love you gopi.mom how will I live without telling her of my love.i love u gopi plz hear me"no response and he fainted. ) It was what had finally convinced him that he loved gopi. That he never had loved anita. Anita had been an infatuation gopi had been his life, a life so ruthlessly snatched away leaving him to remain an empty shell.

The pain of not telling gopi that he loved her had left him hollow even two years after the cremation . Even though he said these words to her daily, it was not the same . He could not see the happiness his words wud have brought to gopi's face.All he could remember was a shattered gopi.. a gopi he had callously shattered.

Thinking about gopi as always he had walked down as his mother called him for the naming ceremony of his neice. He went to the their temple to oblige his family not really interested in anything anymore. As he closed his eyes he heard a gurgling laughter that reminded him of his childlike gopi. He asked rashi to let him hold the baby for a while. The family sighed happily "finally ahem is thinking of something beyond gopi".they thought as rashi handed him the baby.

Ahem gathered her in his arms and in wonderment and amazement saw his gopi's eyes as they shone at him with trust, the same trust gopi would have in her eyes. the family asked him to name her. He murmured 'gopi'. Kokila n the others gave a watery smile as they too had seen gopi in the baby. The pandit interrupted saying her name should start with 'p' and ahem said "priyagopi" (beloved gopi). The family smiled n so rashi's daughter was named priyagopi (their beloved gopi)''''''

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PRESENT

Ahem had lost his gopi. He couldn't lose his last hope of living too. He couldn't lose priyagopi too. Not ever and definitely not on the same day that had shattered his life five years ago. He prayed to kanhaji "Don't take her away from me. Haven't you punished me enough?" "priyagopi!" he called even as he frantically joined his family in their search .

"Priya! Priya!Priyagopi!" called Rashi and rushed in relief to the woman who was walking upto them with priyagopi. She thanked the woman. Kim smiled and said "lovely daughter. lovely name". Rashi smiled "thankyou". "Can I ask you something?" kim said. "Sure", replied rashi. "priyagopi is a pretty unusual name. What does it mean?"kim asked. "Oh!", chirped rashi, "it means 'our beloved gopi'. As kim looked on confused ,rashi continued ,"Actually gopi was a sweetheart of a person who brought me and my husband together n so we named our daughter priyagopi." Hmm kim smiled nice name."bye take care". She was about to turn back when she saw a man coming up behind . priyagopi saw ahem and hugged him saying 'dada'. Ahem laughed and saying "beta don't scare your dada like this again." He turned to kim saying 'thankyou' only to be confused by her eyes that glared at him with anger n then filled with pain as she looked over her shoulder as if searching for someone. Kim made an effort to smile at him and said "'bye. It was nice meeting you. Take care of your wife and child in future "' n she rushed off before ahem could correct her.