Posted:
Entry # 10
OS: Everything I do, I do it for you.
"I'm so excited about this trip to Mussoorie!" said Piya, as she got into the bus that was to take them there. She limped slowly to a seat in the front. She was still recuperating from her accident.
"Whatever. I'm tired of the yearly excursion to Mussoorie. Can't the college authorities think of a better place for a picnic?" scowled Misha. "I've been there a gazillion times."
"Well, Piya hasn't. So don't spoil it for her." Said Panchi, smacking Misha on the head.
"Besides, its not any old picnic. This year, it's a Valentines' day picnic." Said Tracker.
"Who knows? Maybe I'll find my Valentine on this picnic!" she sighed, trooping in to the bus.
"Tracker! Do you have boys on your brains' every minute of every day?" scolded Misha.
"No. I concentrate when I'm putting on my make-up." Said Tracker seriously. Everyone burst into laughter, and Tracker still looked flummoxed. Like she had no clue she'd said something funny. Angad sighed at her innocence. For the 100th time, he wondered when she would recognize his love for her as genuine. He had resolved to quit trying and just enjoy the trip, for now.
Madhu and Arnav got in to the bus as well. They were the adult chaperones for this trip, along with the Raichands, Chaand and Haseena. But of course, the Raichands would never do anything as plebeian as traveling by bus. They had chosen to drive there in their car. Abhay however, was supposed to ride the bus with them. He was late, as usual.
"Make way, make way, her highness "T" is here!" said Kabir, sketching a little mock bow at T. T just turned nose up at him. "Kabir. You are so 2010. 2011 is here baby. And you are out. Abhay is in. Wake up and smell the roses." She teetered into the bus on her 4 inch heels. T and Tracker were the only 2 girls who'd chosen fashion over comfort for a picnic, and worn mini-skirts and pencil heels.
At that moment, Abhay sauntered in to the bus. He looked forbidding, but rakishly handsome, as usual, in his black avatar with his dark shades. He went and parked himself in the empty seat next to Piya. "Sorry I'm late love." He said, putting a casual arm around her shoulders.
"Smell? The only thing I smell is something burning! Oh, that's just T, burning with jealousy!" said Misha naughtily. "Also, there's this sickly sweet, excessively jasminey scent…your perfume T! What did you do? Bathe in it?" asked Misha. By now, the bus was well on its way to Mussoorie, thus drowning out all of T's furious responses.
Madhu and Arnav were chatting quietly, while the children around them talked, laughed, and bickered boisterously. It had been an eventful 20 days or so. After Piya's dreadful accident they had all been through so much. Her recovery was a miracle that they were thankful for. The doctors had all but given up hope. But somehow, she'd made it. That the upswing in her health had coincided with Abhay's arrival had not gone unnoticed or unremarked. Piya and Abhay had been inseparable since that day. He had not left her side for a minute at the hospital. He'd even insisted on staying with her at the Dobriyal's home, while she recovered. He stayed with her all day, only leaving at night to go home and sleep. Finally his parents had given in and moved back to Dehradun. An uneasy truce had been struck between the Raichands and Dobriyals. They were civil to each other. Arnav and Madhu felt compelled to be polite to the parents of a boy who had done so much for Piya, a girl who had become part of their family.
"Oh, Misha, Panchi. I forgot to tell you girls. Shaurya called. He and Sid are meeting us at Mussoorie." Said Madhu. The reactions to this statement were comical. Misha turned pale, and Panchi purple. That Panchi hated her new boss was a fact well known to everyone. Why Misha disliked Shaurya, no one knew, except Piya. And since Abhay could read Piya's mind, he knew too.
"Why?" asked Misha.
"Why what?" asked Madhu
"Why are they joining us? Who invited them? They are too old to be in college and too young to be chaperones. Why are they coming?" she asked.
"Don't be rude Misha. It'll be fun. Don't worry aunty. I'll take good care of Shaurya." Said Tracker, tossing her hair back over her shoulders. Mish made a face at her. Panchi merely muttered rude things under her breath about Casanova bosses. They spent the rest of the trip trying to figure out how they would avoid their respective men. Tracker thought about how to impress Shaurya. Angad thought about how to impress Tracker. T thought about, well, herself. Kabir thought about his missed chance with Piya. And Piya. She slept, cheek nestled on Abhay's shoulder as he held her close. She still tired easily, and was not fully recovered from her terrible accident. Abhay had only allowed her to come on this picnic because he would be there to keep an eye on her.
They got to Mussoorie in time for lunch. After lunch at a local dhaba that the Dobriyal family loved, they went sight-seeing. Piya couldn't walk too far, so she and Abhay hung back, walking slowly, and making frequent stops. He had offered to carry her, but she thought it would be a bit much to have him carry her around the streets of Mussorrie, so she'd refused. Instead, she leaned heavily on his arm, as she hobbled around. She fell in love with a pair of long, chunky bronze earrings in one of the local shops and bought it. The shopkeeper showed her the matching necklace, in shades of bronze and white gold. She thought it looked divine, but refused to buy it as it was out of her budget. Abhay offered to buy it for her, but she wouldn't let him, saying it was too expensive for a gift. After quarrelling a little, they stopped to sit down and have ice-cream at a cozy little ice-cream store. Well, Piya ate coconut ice-cream, and Abhay watched her eat it. He, as usual, ate nothing. Piya had never been happier. As for Abhay, he had never known such a joyous, carefree day in his 200 odd years. He soaked it all up happily. Soon it was time to meet up with the others at the lake.
Most of the class was already there when they got there. Misha and Panchi looked very unhappy. Reason being that Shaurya and Sid had shown up and were annoying them quite thoroughly just by being there. They sat around in a large circle by the lake, drinking steaming hot cups of chai. Even Chaand and Haseena looked relaxed, sitting there, chatting with Madhu and Arnav.
All of a sudden a small plane came into view. It was flying pretty low and had a large banner hanging from it.
"Flying solo is no fun. Come, soar with me. Will you be mine, this Valentine-Panchi?"
"What the hell!" said Panchi. She turned pink as everyone else laughed.
"Birdie! You have a secret admirer!" said Misha.
"Shut up Misha."
"Who is it Panch? This man of yours?" asked Kabir.
"I don't know. Not the slightest clue!" said Panchi, bewildered.
"It was me!" said Sid, striding up to her and handing her a bouquet of roses. "So, will you?" he asked.
"Will I what?"
"Be my valentine?" asked Sid.
"Not in this lifetime!" she said. "The last one I picked also had an iffy moral code and that didn't work out too well. I'm not interested in being one of your women..thanks!"
Sid didn't look at all upset. "OK. But remember, I asked. Offer's always valid." He winked.
Now that Sid had asked, and been rejected, Angad felt a little better. He thought he would try his luck with Tracker again. It couldn't possibly be worse than what Panchi had just said to Sid, he thought. He went up to Tracker.
"Roses are Red
Violets are blue
To me, you'll always be Ruhi
And I'll always love you."
"I love you Ruhi. Will you be my valentine?" he asked. He couldn't hear her response in the din that followed. She threw herself into his arms, shrieking. Everybody started to clap, and even the parents looked amused.
Shaurya nudged Misha. "Isn't that sweet." He said.
"Too sweet. I need an insulin shot, I'm feeling diabetic." Said Misha.
"Sweet? You? You're anything but!" said Shaurya.
"Excuse me! Are you saying I'm not a nice person?" asked Misha.
"No. I'm saying you're not sweet." Said Shaurya. "You are badass, honest, funny, upfront, in-your-face, loyal and brave. But you are not sweet. What you are, is, what's the word.."Shaurya paused as he thought about the right word to describe Misha.
"You're spunky!" he said, relieved he'd found the right word. Apparently it wasn't the right word, because Misha strode away looking disgusted.
"What did I say? Why are you mad?" asked Shaurya.
"Spunky! Loyal! Brave! What am I? Your pet dog?" asked Misha furiously.
"No. No. My pet dog is a spaniel, not an Alsatian." deadpanned Shaurya.
"Oh! Go away." Said Misha.
"OK. OK. Sorry. I was kidding." Said Shaurya. "Can I try again?"
"Try what?" asked Misha.
"Try to tell you what I truly think about you." said Shaurya, looking at Misha in a way that made a blush creep up her cheeks. "You are Misha Dobriyal. A wonderful, caring friend, a loving sister, a scary enemy and most importantly, a beautiful girl, inside and out. You are quite lovely, Misha and you have done quite the number on me." Said Shaurya.
"Number? Me? What are you talking about?" said Misha trying to brazen it out. He pulled her close and held her hands in his. "This. This is what I'm talking about. This attraction between us. I feel it. And so do you. Lets give it a chance. Go out with me to dinner. Tomorrow work for you?" he asked looking deep into her eyes.
"Yes. OK. Dinner tomorrow. Fine." Said Misha, finally. She was pink-cheeked and couldn't look him in the eyes. But she had decided it was high time she gave him a chance. Them a chance. Enough with the games. She was ready for a relationship. She felt surprisingly excited at the thought of their dinner date. Misha Dobriyal had a date. "Has a nice ring to it!" she thought, releasing her hands from his and walking away, a big, silly grin on her face. Shaurya watched her walk away, not realizing how much his face mirrored hers. Same silly grin. Tomorrow night was going to be fun.
Unlike Tracker and Angad, Misha and Shaurya's conversation had been conducted quietly. And except Piya, no one had even noticed that Misha was blushing and grinning like an idiot. She nudged Abhay. "Isn't that sweet?"
"Yeah. Very. Misha has a crush. Don't really care." Growled Abhay. "I'm more interested in you." he said, wrapping his arms around her waist from behind.
Piya turned to face Abhay. "I have something for you" she said. She pulled out a package from her purse and handed it to him. He opened it like an eager kid. It was a gold keychain on a heavy key ring. The letters A and P were entwined together in the keychain. And there was a little key in the ring too. "What's this? The key to your heart?" joked Abhay.
"Actually, it's the key to a safety deposit box. If anything happens to me, you should be the one to open it. It has my Mom's old jewelry and some important papers, and I left you a letter in it too." Said Piya.
"But nothing will ever happen to you, so if you want to open it, you and I can do it together." Said Abhay gently.
"I know Abhay. I know. But accidents happen. And you won't always be there." Said Piya quietly.
"Have I ever not been there when you needed me? Asked Abhay.
"No." said Piya.
"I rest my case. Now, my turn. I have something for you too." Said Abhay. He handed her a little red velvet pouch. She opened it and exclaimed. "Oh Abhay! You bought it after all. You shouldn't have!" It was the necklace she had refused to let him buy. Her face suddenly fell.
"You don't like it?" he queried.
"No. Its not that. I love it." Its just!"
"Just what?" he pressed.
"Nothing. I love it." She said.
"My little liar. Here you go." He said handing her another package. She opened it and burst into tears.
"How did you know?" she cried.
"Same as usual. Read your mind. Its awfully convenient." He said, winking at her. Inside the second package lay the earrings. The ones she had returned after buying, so she could buy him the keychain. It had been hard to do it without him knowing, and she was proud she had managed. She had also suffered a tiny pang when she gave them back, because she really did love them.
"Don't ever make sacrifices for me Piya. I don't deserve them" he said, clasping the necklace around her neck. She reached up on her toes and kissed him lightly on the cheek, tears still running down her cheeks.
"Its not a sacrifice when you love someone the way I love you." she said. She threaded the earrings through her ears. "How do I look?" she asked.
"To me, you are always perfect." He said, smiling at her. "Happy Valentine's day Piya. I love you."
"I'm so excited about this trip to Mussoorie!" said Piya, as she got into the bus that was to take them there. She limped slowly to a seat in the front. She was still recuperating from her accident.
"Whatever. I'm tired of the yearly excursion to Mussoorie. Can't the college authorities think of a better place for a picnic?" scowled Misha. "I've been there a gazillion times."
"Well, Piya hasn't. So don't spoil it for her." Said Panchi, smacking Misha on the head.
"Besides, its not any old picnic. This year, it's a Valentines' day picnic." Said Tracker.
"Who knows? Maybe I'll find my Valentine on this picnic!" she sighed, trooping in to the bus.
"Tracker! Do you have boys on your brains' every minute of every day?" scolded Misha.
"No. I concentrate when I'm putting on my make-up." Said Tracker seriously. Everyone burst into laughter, and Tracker still looked flummoxed. Like she had no clue she'd said something funny. Angad sighed at her innocence. For the 100th time, he wondered when she would recognize his love for her as genuine. He had resolved to quit trying and just enjoy the trip, for now.
Madhu and Arnav got in to the bus as well. They were the adult chaperones for this trip, along with the Raichands, Chaand and Haseena. But of course, the Raichands would never do anything as plebeian as traveling by bus. They had chosen to drive there in their car. Abhay however, was supposed to ride the bus with them. He was late, as usual.
"Make way, make way, her highness "T" is here!" said Kabir, sketching a little mock bow at T. T just turned nose up at him. "Kabir. You are so 2010. 2011 is here baby. And you are out. Abhay is in. Wake up and smell the roses." She teetered into the bus on her 4 inch heels. T and Tracker were the only 2 girls who'd chosen fashion over comfort for a picnic, and worn mini-skirts and pencil heels.
At that moment, Abhay sauntered in to the bus. He looked forbidding, but rakishly handsome, as usual, in his black avatar with his dark shades. He went and parked himself in the empty seat next to Piya. "Sorry I'm late love." He said, putting a casual arm around her shoulders.
"Smell? The only thing I smell is something burning! Oh, that's just T, burning with jealousy!" said Misha naughtily. "Also, there's this sickly sweet, excessively jasminey scent…your perfume T! What did you do? Bathe in it?" asked Misha. By now, the bus was well on its way to Mussoorie, thus drowning out all of T's furious responses.
Madhu and Arnav were chatting quietly, while the children around them talked, laughed, and bickered boisterously. It had been an eventful 20 days or so. After Piya's dreadful accident they had all been through so much. Her recovery was a miracle that they were thankful for. The doctors had all but given up hope. But somehow, she'd made it. That the upswing in her health had coincided with Abhay's arrival had not gone unnoticed or unremarked. Piya and Abhay had been inseparable since that day. He had not left her side for a minute at the hospital. He'd even insisted on staying with her at the Dobriyal's home, while she recovered. He stayed with her all day, only leaving at night to go home and sleep. Finally his parents had given in and moved back to Dehradun. An uneasy truce had been struck between the Raichands and Dobriyals. They were civil to each other. Arnav and Madhu felt compelled to be polite to the parents of a boy who had done so much for Piya, a girl who had become part of their family.
"Oh, Misha, Panchi. I forgot to tell you girls. Shaurya called. He and Sid are meeting us at Mussoorie." Said Madhu. The reactions to this statement were comical. Misha turned pale, and Panchi purple. That Panchi hated her new boss was a fact well known to everyone. Why Misha disliked Shaurya, no one knew, except Piya. And since Abhay could read Piya's mind, he knew too.
"Why?" asked Misha.
"Why what?" asked Madhu
"Why are they joining us? Who invited them? They are too old to be in college and too young to be chaperones. Why are they coming?" she asked.
"Don't be rude Misha. It'll be fun. Don't worry aunty. I'll take good care of Shaurya." Said Tracker, tossing her hair back over her shoulders. Mish made a face at her. Panchi merely muttered rude things under her breath about Casanova bosses. They spent the rest of the trip trying to figure out how they would avoid their respective men. Tracker thought about how to impress Shaurya. Angad thought about how to impress Tracker. T thought about, well, herself. Kabir thought about his missed chance with Piya. And Piya. She slept, cheek nestled on Abhay's shoulder as he held her close. She still tired easily, and was not fully recovered from her terrible accident. Abhay had only allowed her to come on this picnic because he would be there to keep an eye on her.
They got to Mussoorie in time for lunch. After lunch at a local dhaba that the Dobriyal family loved, they went sight-seeing. Piya couldn't walk too far, so she and Abhay hung back, walking slowly, and making frequent stops. He had offered to carry her, but she thought it would be a bit much to have him carry her around the streets of Mussorrie, so she'd refused. Instead, she leaned heavily on his arm, as she hobbled around. She fell in love with a pair of long, chunky bronze earrings in one of the local shops and bought it. The shopkeeper showed her the matching necklace, in shades of bronze and white gold. She thought it looked divine, but refused to buy it as it was out of her budget. Abhay offered to buy it for her, but she wouldn't let him, saying it was too expensive for a gift. After quarrelling a little, they stopped to sit down and have ice-cream at a cozy little ice-cream store. Well, Piya ate coconut ice-cream, and Abhay watched her eat it. He, as usual, ate nothing. Piya had never been happier. As for Abhay, he had never known such a joyous, carefree day in his 200 odd years. He soaked it all up happily. Soon it was time to meet up with the others at the lake.
Most of the class was already there when they got there. Misha and Panchi looked very unhappy. Reason being that Shaurya and Sid had shown up and were annoying them quite thoroughly just by being there. They sat around in a large circle by the lake, drinking steaming hot cups of chai. Even Chaand and Haseena looked relaxed, sitting there, chatting with Madhu and Arnav.
All of a sudden a small plane came into view. It was flying pretty low and had a large banner hanging from it.
"Flying solo is no fun. Come, soar with me. Will you be mine, this Valentine-Panchi?"
"What the hell!" said Panchi. She turned pink as everyone else laughed.
"Birdie! You have a secret admirer!" said Misha.
"Shut up Misha."
"Who is it Panch? This man of yours?" asked Kabir.
"I don't know. Not the slightest clue!" said Panchi, bewildered.
"It was me!" said Sid, striding up to her and handing her a bouquet of roses. "So, will you?" he asked.
"Will I what?"
"Be my valentine?" asked Sid.
"Not in this lifetime!" she said. "The last one I picked also had an iffy moral code and that didn't work out too well. I'm not interested in being one of your women..thanks!"
Sid didn't look at all upset. "OK. But remember, I asked. Offer's always valid." He winked.
Now that Sid had asked, and been rejected, Angad felt a little better. He thought he would try his luck with Tracker again. It couldn't possibly be worse than what Panchi had just said to Sid, he thought. He went up to Tracker.
"Roses are Red
Violets are blue
To me, you'll always be Ruhi
And I'll always love you."
"I love you Ruhi. Will you be my valentine?" he asked. He couldn't hear her response in the din that followed. She threw herself into his arms, shrieking. Everybody started to clap, and even the parents looked amused.
Shaurya nudged Misha. "Isn't that sweet." He said.
"Too sweet. I need an insulin shot, I'm feeling diabetic." Said Misha.
"Sweet? You? You're anything but!" said Shaurya.
"Excuse me! Are you saying I'm not a nice person?" asked Misha.
"No. I'm saying you're not sweet." Said Shaurya. "You are badass, honest, funny, upfront, in-your-face, loyal and brave. But you are not sweet. What you are, is, what's the word.."Shaurya paused as he thought about the right word to describe Misha.
"You're spunky!" he said, relieved he'd found the right word. Apparently it wasn't the right word, because Misha strode away looking disgusted.
"What did I say? Why are you mad?" asked Shaurya.
"Spunky! Loyal! Brave! What am I? Your pet dog?" asked Misha furiously.
"No. No. My pet dog is a spaniel, not an Alsatian." deadpanned Shaurya.
"Oh! Go away." Said Misha.
"OK. OK. Sorry. I was kidding." Said Shaurya. "Can I try again?"
"Try what?" asked Misha.
"Try to tell you what I truly think about you." said Shaurya, looking at Misha in a way that made a blush creep up her cheeks. "You are Misha Dobriyal. A wonderful, caring friend, a loving sister, a scary enemy and most importantly, a beautiful girl, inside and out. You are quite lovely, Misha and you have done quite the number on me." Said Shaurya.
"Number? Me? What are you talking about?" said Misha trying to brazen it out. He pulled her close and held her hands in his. "This. This is what I'm talking about. This attraction between us. I feel it. And so do you. Lets give it a chance. Go out with me to dinner. Tomorrow work for you?" he asked looking deep into her eyes.
"Yes. OK. Dinner tomorrow. Fine." Said Misha, finally. She was pink-cheeked and couldn't look him in the eyes. But she had decided it was high time she gave him a chance. Them a chance. Enough with the games. She was ready for a relationship. She felt surprisingly excited at the thought of their dinner date. Misha Dobriyal had a date. "Has a nice ring to it!" she thought, releasing her hands from his and walking away, a big, silly grin on her face. Shaurya watched her walk away, not realizing how much his face mirrored hers. Same silly grin. Tomorrow night was going to be fun.
Unlike Tracker and Angad, Misha and Shaurya's conversation had been conducted quietly. And except Piya, no one had even noticed that Misha was blushing and grinning like an idiot. She nudged Abhay. "Isn't that sweet?"
"Yeah. Very. Misha has a crush. Don't really care." Growled Abhay. "I'm more interested in you." he said, wrapping his arms around her waist from behind.
Piya turned to face Abhay. "I have something for you" she said. She pulled out a package from her purse and handed it to him. He opened it like an eager kid. It was a gold keychain on a heavy key ring. The letters A and P were entwined together in the keychain. And there was a little key in the ring too. "What's this? The key to your heart?" joked Abhay.
"Actually, it's the key to a safety deposit box. If anything happens to me, you should be the one to open it. It has my Mom's old jewelry and some important papers, and I left you a letter in it too." Said Piya.
"But nothing will ever happen to you, so if you want to open it, you and I can do it together." Said Abhay gently.
"I know Abhay. I know. But accidents happen. And you won't always be there." Said Piya quietly.
"Have I ever not been there when you needed me? Asked Abhay.
"No." said Piya.
"I rest my case. Now, my turn. I have something for you too." Said Abhay. He handed her a little red velvet pouch. She opened it and exclaimed. "Oh Abhay! You bought it after all. You shouldn't have!" It was the necklace she had refused to let him buy. Her face suddenly fell.
"You don't like it?" he queried.
"No. Its not that. I love it." Its just!"
"Just what?" he pressed.
"Nothing. I love it." She said.
"My little liar. Here you go." He said handing her another package. She opened it and burst into tears.
"How did you know?" she cried.
"Same as usual. Read your mind. Its awfully convenient." He said, winking at her. Inside the second package lay the earrings. The ones she had returned after buying, so she could buy him the keychain. It had been hard to do it without him knowing, and she was proud she had managed. She had also suffered a tiny pang when she gave them back, because she really did love them.
"Don't ever make sacrifices for me Piya. I don't deserve them" he said, clasping the necklace around her neck. She reached up on her toes and kissed him lightly on the cheek, tears still running down her cheeks.
"Its not a sacrifice when you love someone the way I love you." she said. She threaded the earrings through her ears. "How do I look?" she asked.
"To me, you are always perfect." He said, smiling at her. "Happy Valentine's day Piya. I love you."
Cricket
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