CHAPTER 51 (A). AN ADVENTUROUS SATURDAY!
Place - Geet's Room at Khurana Mansion
Geet woke up from deep sleep on Saturday with a smiling face which soon turned into frown as she remembered that Maan was out of town. She huffed irritatedly. Yeh kya Babaji! Pyaar toh aapne banaa diya par aapne yeh dard kyun banaayi; woh dard jo mujhe mehsoos ho raha hai apne Maan se door rehne par! Her mood was plummeting down but suddenly her phone rang. As she answered the phone and spoke in it, soon her sad mood turned into happiness and by the time she kept the phone she was smiling happily. She ran off to Dadima's room. Dadima smiled at seeing her cheerful face. Geet spoke to her, "Dadima, Khushi ka phone tha. Uski Jiji Paayal, woh bade waale mandir jaana chaahti hai aur Khushi chaahti hai ki undono ke saath main bhi jaaun. Main jaaun dadima?" Dadima wanted to refuse; what with someone attacking Geet whenever she stepped out of the house but looking at Geet's pouting expression Dadima, against her better judgment, allowed Geet to go. Geet happily hugged Dadima but Dadima made Geet promise to directly go to Mandir and come back; no stopping anywhere else. Geet happily agreed and sauntered off to get ready.
Place - Anjali's Room at Shantivan
Anjali smiled as her husband Shyam kept on repeating the rules she had to follow while going out; rules like keeping phone on, calling him the moment she felt even a sliver of pain etc etc. Anjali rolled her eyes; she was pregnant not handicapped but who will explain this to her overprotective family members who insist on acting like typical bodyguards. Poor Anjali! It was a tradition for Anjali to go to Mandir every Saturday and from the time she was pregnant one or the other family member went with her as company. But as I said, Poor Anjali! Today, no one was available to give her company! Maami and Maama had gone to Maami's relative's house to invite them and Naani had gone to some old friend's house to do the same thing. Aakash and Arnav had gone for some early conference and Shyam had a meeting with his clients. This left Anjali with no one but the driver and one of the Prakash Brothers. She did not mind going alone and she knew that many ladies, who regularly came there and were her friends, would help her to the hospital if the need came; Par koi yeh baat Shyamji koi samjhaaye! Anjali sighed as she listened to Shyamji prattle about how to deliver in car! In car! Seriously! Yeh Shyamji bhi na! Anjali shook her head.
Place - At the Temple
Geet rolled down the windows of the car and looked out trying to spot Khushi. When Geet spotted her, she waved to Khushi who waved back. Geet also noticed a simple girl dressed in Chudidaar smiling shyly standing by Khushi. This must be Paayal, Geet mused. Both the girls held their pooja ki thaali in their hands. The car reached the parking spot and Geet got out with her pooja ki Thaali. Before she could move she was hugged by Khushi who was talking mile a minute while Geet gave Paayal a knowing look, as if saying Yeh Ladki Bhi Na! Paayal shook her head in dismay indicating to Geet that she had already lost any hope of improvement in Khushi. In few minutes, both Geet and Paayal were introduced and all three girls marched towards the Mandir. The Mandir was built on a bit of height and they had to climb few stairs to reach it. Once they reached the top they walked towards the temple.
Soon after, Anjali's car reached the Mandir and Anjali stepped out. She reached the steps and started to climb it. Anjali climbed the stairs one at a time holding her pooja ki thaali in one hand and her purse in other. Her limp and her pregnancy were tiring her and she was climbing very slowly. As she looked up, she noticed Khushi and Paayal with another girl on the top. The girl was facing away from Anjali so she could not recognize her. Anjali was about to shout for Khushi when she saw the girl turn and she froze; the girl looked just like her Baby. What was Baby doing here? And that also with Khushiji? She looked at the girl carefully but soon the girls walked away towards the Mandir. Anjali frowned, pulled out her mobile from her purse and dialed Khushi's mobile number.
As Khushi, Paayal and Geet entered the temple, Khushi's phone rang. "Hello?", Khushi mumbled into the phone. Geet and Paayal looked at Khushi curiously. After speaking into the phone for few minutes, Khushi smiled at the girls, "Anjaliji ka phone tha." Paayal smiled but Geet looked at her curiously. Khushi seeing Geet's confusion explained, "Anjaliji Jiji ki nanad hai. Aur woh bhi yahaan aayi hai, mandir mein. Baahar seediyaan chad rahi hai. Aap dono apni pooja karlo tab tak hum unhein lekar aate hain. Woh pregnant hai toh unhein chadne mein madad bhi lagegi na!" Geet and Paayal nodded. Khushi gave her thaali to Paayal and wandered off while Geet and Paayal went into the temple. Soon, Geet and Paayal had their pooja done. "Geetji jab tak Khushi aa jaati hai tab tak hum pradakshina kar lete hain.", Paayal spoke. Geet nodded and both the girls turn to outer part of temple to do their pradikshina.
Anjali was feeling breathless and she had barely climbed four steps of the temple. She looked at all the steps she had yet to climb and yet out a huff. 'Hey Devi Maiyya! Humein chadne mein takleef ho rahi hain. Please humein shakti do ki hum aap tak pahunch sakein!' Suddenly, as if Devi Maiyya had listened to her wish, Khushi appeared at the top of the stairs waving at her excitedly. 'Hey Devi Maiyya! Aapne meri sun li! Thank you! Thank you so much!' She joined her hands and looked up thanking her Devi Maiyya. Soon, Khushi was beside her taking her thaali from her hand and holding her hand, helping her up the stairs. Still it took them a lot of time to reach even midway. As Anjali was tired, she leaned by the wall of the temple while Khushi went to the stalls on the top to get some water for Anjali. Soon, Khushi was back and Anjali drank some water. As they stood there, Anjali asked a question which was simmering in her head for a while, "Woh ladki kaun hai jo aap dono ke saath aayi hai?" Khushi, who was drinking water, paused and answered, "Arre woh! Wahi toh hai humaare Boss Maan Sir ki Soni!" Anjali looked at her in shock. Her best friend Maan's fianc was here! She could not believe it! Arre Waah! Lagta hai hum Maan ki Soni se aaj hi milenge! Aur hum unhein close up mein dekhenge! Dekhein toh kaun hai woh jisne humaare Maan Saab ka dil churaaya hai! As she got excited about meeting Soni, she forgot the main reason behind her question; what was Baby doing here? And if Baby was Soni then why had she not come to meet her Veere's family? Soon, the ladies started their upward climb again when suddenly, there was a huge commotion in the temple and people started running down the stairs in panic. Khushi and Anjali looked at each other in worry. As people ran down, many pushed Anjali aside and seeing this, Khushi dragged Anjali closer to the wall. As more people ran below, Khushi caught hold of a lady and asked her the matter. "Arre! Upar koi chaaku dikhaakar kuch ladkiyon ko dhamka raha hai. Bhaago yahaan se! Pata nahi kyun yahaa aaya hai!" As the lady wandered off, Anjali's face turned pale. Hey Devi Maiyya! Kahin yeh log humein nuksaan pahunchaane toh nahi aaye! She swallowed as she remembered her brothers' worries and her husband's warnings. Woh log aise hi humaare liye fikar nahi karte! Hum Arnav Singh Raizada ki behen hai aur Chote tak pahunchne ke liye woh log humaara bhi istemaal kar sakte hain! Aur yeh baat Chote achchi tarah jaante the. Isliye humein kahin akele jaane nahi dete the. Aur humhum bewakoofon ki tarah yahaan aa gaye aur woh bhi akele! Kisiki baat suni nahi! Shyamji toh humaare liye meeting bhi choddne ke liye tayyaar the! Lekin humne unki ek bhi nahi suni! Ek din Mandir nahi aate toh kya ho jaata! Kyun aaye hum akele yahaan? Hum bhi na ek number ke bewakoof hain. Kahin yeh log sach mein humaare liye toh nahi aaye hain. Kahin in logon ne humaare bachche ko kuch Anjali shook her head wildly and she gripped her abdomen tightly. Khushi kept her eyes trained on the top of the stairs, worry lurking in her eyes for her sister and future sister-in-law. Kahaan ho aap Jiji? Parjaayiji? As both the ladies stood attached to the wall, people kept on running down in groups. Khushi turned to look at Anjali and her eyes widened as she noticed Anjali's hands around her stomach. Hey Devi Maiyya! Hum toh Jiji aur Parjaayiji ke fikar mein yeh bhool hi gaye ki Anjaliji pregnant hai! Agar is bhaag daud mein kisika haath ya koni unhein lag gayi toh! Unhein ya unke bacche ko kuch hogaya toh! Nahi! Nahi! Humein unhein yahaan se nikaalna hoga! She nodded her head determinedly, grabbed Anjali's hand and dragged her down carefully. Both the ladies walked downstairs while staying close to the wall. As soon as they reached the last step, Khushi dragged Anjali to the car park. She made her sit in the car and told her to go home. "Lekin Khushiji humaari pooja", Anjali whispered. "Anjaliji pooja toh hoti rahegi. Lekin is waqt pooja se jyaada important aapki jaan hain. Apna nahi toh apne baby ke baare mein sochiye!", Khushi replied and Anjali nodded. As Khushi turned to get away, Anjali caught her hand, "Lekin aap Khushiji." "Hum theek hai Anjaliji! Ek baar Jiji aur Soniji mil jaaye, phir hum bhi ghar chale jaayenge.", Khushi replied. Anjali spoke back, "Ghar pahunchte hi humein phone kar dijiye!" and drove away.
Geet and Paayal started their pradakshina with closed eyes and prayers for the loved ones in their heart. As they completed their first round, Geet felt something poking her in the back. As she stopped walking, she felt a pointed thing digging deeper in her back and a voice whispering in her ear, "Chup chaap mere saath chalo warna yeh chaakusamjhi na!" Geet swallowed as her mind went blank in panic. She felt her eyes tearing and her heart beat rise. She swallowed again while her mind screamed, "Maan!"
Paayal was right behind Geet while they wandered by the temple but her mind was in La - La land or in Khushi's words 'Aakash World'! As they almost ended their pradakshina, Paayal scolded herself in her mind, 'Sharam kar Paayal, kuch toh sharam kar!! Bhagwaan ke darshan par aayi hai par mann mein khayaal kisi aur ke! Bhagwaan kya sochenge! Devi Maiyya kitni naaraaz hogi humse! Maaf karna Devi Maiyya! Woh kya haina, kuch dino mein sagaai haina isliye hum aise hain! Aap samajh sakti haina! Par hum waada karte hain ki aage se aisi galti phir nahi karenge! As she ended her prayer, she looked around only to freeze in shock. A man dressed in black from head to toe with a mask covering his face had pressed a knife into Geet's back. Paayal's eyes widened. Hey Devi Maiyya! Ab hum kya karein? She looked around in panic. No one had noticed them. Everyone was going around in their own way. No one had noticed the man or the knife. Hey Devi Maiyya! Kuch toh raasta bataayiye! She looked at Geet's face and realized that Geet was in shock. Geetji toh hil bhi nahi rahi hai! Ab toh humein hi kuch karna padega! Suddenly, she looked at the thaal in her hand and she was struck with an idea. All these thoughts ran through her head in few seconds while the masked man whispered into Geet's ear.
Paayal took a deep breath and screamed as loud as possible. As she screamed all people around her turned around. As ladies and young girls around noticed the man with the knife, they scrambled to get away. Many ladies screamed while kids started crying. As people ran around in confusion and fear, Paayal threw the thaali in her hand at the attacker. The attacker got hit on his face and fell down. Paayal smiled victoriously, 'Ab bas humein is afra-tafri ka faayda uthaana hai aur Geetji ko yahaan se le jaana hai!' She caught a shocked Geet's hand and dragged her towards the steps of the temple. 'Hey Devi Maiyya! Humne toh shor machaakar logon ko hadbadi machaane par majboor kar diya! Ab baaki sab aapke upar hai! Ab aap hi us chaakuwaale ko Geetji se door rakhiye!' Both the ladies ran down the stairs and towards the parking lot only to come across a worried Khushi. Paayal took Khushi's hand into her other hand and dragged both Geet and Khushi towards the Khurana car. "Kya hua Jiji?", Khushi questioned only to get a reply, "Pehle tum gaadi mein baitho hum tumhein sab kuch bataayenge!" As soon as they got into the car, Paayal screamed at the driver to start driving.
Place - Khurana Mansion
It was a shocked Geet, crying Paayal and a worried Khushi that met Daadi and NT in the living room of the house. "Kya Hua, Beta? Tum sab itne dare hue kyun ho?", spoke Daadima as she hugged a shocked Geet. Geet, feeling such a loving hug, burst out crying as sobs racked through her body. Daadima was getting scared. What went wrong? It took an half an hour for Khushi and Paayal to narrate the whole story in between their crying. Geet's tears had dried off but she still seemed in sorrow. The whole time the story was narrated, Geet had laid her head on Dadima's shoulder and stared in a distance. Khushi, in-between had called upon Anjali and told her that they were home. She did not specify which home though. Waise bhi yeh bhi humaare ghar jaisa hi hai!
NT meanwhile had called upon the police and soon Police was at the house talking with the three girls while Daadima looked on worriedly. As NT heard Paayal narrate the story sobbingly, NT realized that it was Paayal's presence of mind which saved Geet today. Agar aaj Paayal wahaan nahi hoti toh? Phir Geet ka kya hota? NT could not bear the thought of something happening to her sweet Jethani. Hey Babaji! Aise hi Geet par apni meher rakhna!
Soon, the police left and Khushi and Paayal decided to take their leave. "Betaji, aaj aapne jo kiya hai humaare parivaar ke liye, jis saahas se us darinde ka saamna kiya hai, waise toh shaayad hi koi aur kar sakta tha! Hum aapke bahut shukr guzaar hai!", mumbled Daadi and she placed her hand on Paayal's head. Paayal smiled tearfully. She still could not believe that she faced the attacker with such a bravery! When had she become so brave? Paayal did not know that Khushi was thinking the same thing. "Haan Paayal! Aaj aapne humaare liye jo kiya, Maan Veerji ke liye jo kiya uska karz hum kaise chukaayein humein nahi pata! Thank you! Thank you so much!", NT spoke.
As Daadima, NT, Paayal and Khushi stood by the main door, they looked at Geet who was sitting on the sofa, still staring at a distance. Paayal smiled at NT and replied, "Thank you kaisa, NTji, Maanji toh Khushi ke bhai hain. Aur Geet uski Bhaabhi! Toh dekha jaaye toh humne apni hi kisi parivaar waale ki jaan bachaayi hai. Aur ismein karz ki baat kaisi!" Daadima smiled at the answer. It seemed that Gupta sisters were gem in their own. She pulled Paayal close and kissed her forehead. "Jeeti raho beta! Aapke jawaab ne humaara dil jeet liya hai! Hum aapko ek achcha tohfa dena chaahte hain par kya dein?", As Daadima wondered, NT whispered something in Daadi's ear. Daadima smiled happily and cupped Paayal's cheek. "Aapki sagaai ho rahi haina?", Paayal nodded. "Toh bas! Aap apni sagaai ki fikar hum par chod dijiye! Sagaai ki subah hi Geet and Naintara ko aapke ghar bhej doongi! Hum aapke liye sheher ke sabse best beautician ko bulvaayenge. Aap toh poori party mein sabse jyaada chamkengi dekhiyega! Hum Geet aur NT se bhi kehdenge ki kuch bhi cheez ki kami lage toh turant order kar dijiye. Apni nanad ki sagaai mein koi bhi kami na rakhein. Aisi shaan se aapki sagaai hogi ki ladke waale dekhte hi reh jaayenge!", Daadima announced. Khushi grinned in excitement and thanked Daadima while Paayal's feeble protests were ignored.
Place - Somewhere in Kolkata
Maan sighed as he listened to the boring conference. There was a time when he enjoyed such conferences but right now all he wanted was to be home, with his dearest Soni. He wondered how Soni would look in the red and white Saari. He forced his mind out of daydreaming and focused on the lecture. Some lady was discussing about the latest trends in eco friendly constructions. As he focused on the lady, the lady's face blurred and was replaced by Geet's face. Maan sat up straight in excitement only for his illusion to break and he hunched back in his seat. Sirf ek din Soni, phir tumhaara yeh Shaitaan tumhaare paas! I promise! He sighed and prepared himself to listen to long hours of boring lecture when his phone rang. He walked out of the conference hall and picked up the phone only to get most shocking news. As he listened to the phone intently and asked some questions, his entire mind was overwhelmed with emotions such as anger, guilt, anguish and relief; anger at Geet's attacker, guilt for not being there to protect Geet, anguish that he could not be there to comfort his Soni and relief that she was safe. "Theek hai Naintara! Tum Soni ka khayaal rakho aur main jald se jald wahaan pahunchta hoon!", Maan replied and kept the phone. Mujhe Soni ke paas jaana, jitni jaldi ho sake utne jaldi! Main aa raha hoon, Soni! Your Maan is coming!
Place - Geet's Room at Khurana Mansion
It was late evening and Geet was sleeping on the bed and having a nice dream. In the dream sequence, Maan was home and was sitting beside her. She could even almost feel his fingers carding through her hair. "Maan?", she whispered slowly in half sleep while raising her hand in front of her hoping against hope that the dream was real but knowing that Maan was not there. "Haan Geet!", she heard him whisper and she opened her eyes sleepily in confusion only to see Maan sitting in front of her. He took hold of her hand she was holding out. She smiled sleepily, "Arre Waah! Aapka haath toh ek dum real lag raha hai jaise aap mere saamne hi ho. Par aap nahi ho na! Aap toh Kolkata mein ho, right! Yeh toh sapna hai right!" Maan let out a chuckle and replied, "Nahi Soni! Yeh koi sapna nahi hai! Tumhaara Maan tumhaare saamne hai!" He kissed the hand he was holding and Geet shyly averted her eyes. Suddenly, she looked at him in shock, "Aap yahaan kya kar rahe hain?" She looked at the clock - it was 5 o'clock in the evening - and back at him, "Aapko toh abhi Kolkata mein hona chaahiye! Aur agar aap flight se aaye hain toh aapne toh aadha conference miss kiya hoga na?" Maan kissed her forehead and murmured, "Soni, tum us conference se jyaada important ho!" Geet frowned in confusion, "Par mujhe kya hua hai?" Then her eyes widened as she remembered what had happened earlier. Her eyes filled with tears and she lunged forward, hugging her Maan for comfort. Maan hugged her tightly as she sobbed on his shoulder. He carded his fingers through her hair all the while muttering comforting words. Why? Why these things happen to his Soni? Why? Maan's heart cried in anguish. Soon, Soni fell into deep sleep exhausted by the emotional turmoil. Maan made her lie back and was about to get up when he felt a tug on his shirt. He looked down only to see Soni holding his shirt in a death grip. He tried to pry the hand away but Geet held it too strong. He sighed and mumbled, "Theek hai baba! Agar tum yahi chaahti ho toh yahi sahi. Main tumhaare paas hi baithunga!" He sat beside her and smiled at her. He was content to sit there and stare at her all day.
Geet had slept only for few minutes when she was drawn into a flashback. She was sitting on someone's lap and giggling. Her giggles sounded like a child's. It seemed she was back being five again and back at the big mansion. She looked up from her position to see a mome year old getting down from the stairs. Suddenly, someone whispered in her ear, "Dekho aapke Veere aaye!" Geet looked up behind with a smile to see the same twelve year old girl she saw in her last dream. Well, that solved the mystery of whose lap I am sitting on, Geet mused. She looked back at the nine year old boy only to giggle loudly. The boy was coming towards her with mischief in his eyes and fingers wriggling towards her. Her eyes widened as she realized he was planning to tickle. The boy noticed her reaction and laughed like a Bollywood villain, "Haan! Aakash, the tickle monster aaya! Baby ko gudgudi karne!" As he inched closer to her, she squealed and ran off. The boy, who was nicknamed Veere and named Aakash, ran behind her. She kept on running while looking back occasionally hoping to loose her trail but unfortunately the boy still followed her. She turned back to look in the front only for her eyes to widen. There was nothing but jungle all around her. Jungle! Yeh Jungle kahaan se aa gaya? She looked back desperately hoping to see the boy, only to see her attackers, the same attackers who followed her just before her accident. Hey Babaji! Yeh kahaan se aa gaye? She looked ahead and ran as fast as possible only to stop in shock at the sight in front of her. There right in front of her stood Maan, smiling at her, extending his hand as if asking her to place her hand on his. She smiled in relief. Maan aap aa gaye! She raised her hand to place on his when suddenly he was hit by the attackers from behind on his head with a stick. Geet watched helplessly as Maan crumpled to ground. "MAAANNN!", she screamed as loud as possible.
Maan smiled as Geet went to sleep. He was about to get up when he noticed her smiling as if she was having a pleasant dream. He sat back and looked at her. If anyone had seen him right then, they would have seen a tender smile on his face. Suddenly, Geet shifted and started struggling under the blanket. "Geet", Maan whispered in confusion as Geet's face crumpled. Suddenly, Geet sat up with a jerk screaming his name loudly. Her eyes were wild seeing somewhere into the distance. Maan was shocked but only for a moment as he realized that Geet's mind was still trapped in the nightmare. He composed himself and started calling Geet's name. It took a while for Geet to respond as she was still draped in the remnants of her nightmare. She looked at Maan slowly and stared at him for a moment. And then she hugged him as tightly as possible. Maan whispered comforting words to her while hugging her back. She looked up at him after a while and whispered, "Maan! Aap mujhe chodke kahin jaaoge nahin na?" Maan understood that she needed assurance and he nodded wordlessly. She smiled at him tenderly and he pushed her back onto the bed, "Ab tum so jaao and don't worry, I am not going anywhere." Geet nodded quietly and soon she was asleep. Maan smiled and settled beside her for nighttime vigil.
P.S. If you want to imagine the temple scene more properly then think about the temple used regularly in each and every serial. It was used in IPKKND also. And recently it was used in Ek Thi Nayika Teleseries and also in Uttaran Serial.
AUTHOR NOTES
Next update will not be soon coz I am totally out of sync with the story due to the Almost four months gap. Infact, writing this chapter was tough too. So, typing next chapter will take some time as I will have to read the older chapters and all my notes before I can write properly. But I will try to update in a fortnight.
I want to promise that I will not abandon this story even if it takes me eons to complete it. Abandoning a story is the worst thing a writer could do to its readers and I have faced this abandonment enough times that I will not subject it to you guys! (I have been reading HP fanfics on another site from 2004 and I hate it when writers abandon well written stories.) So this story will be completed either by hook or by crook!
So, this is one of the upcoming writers singing off!
With lots of love and care,
Kalpana
P.S Please review to your hearts' content!
Edited by Kalpana_Writer - 11 years ago
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