Shaan stills'his stomach does a plop, he is sure everyone has heard it..except his heart..because his dream prolongs
----
Part II
Shaan wakes up with a headache the following morning. He can hear the sounds of laughter from the adjoining bedroom, where he can hear Daadi's voice talking and cracking some jokes with his father. The splitting headache does not stop him from smiling, but stops him from getting up and going to meet his Daadi who has arrived from Poona this morning-- only to see her walking into his room. She smiles and comes towards him and gives him a kiss on the forhead
Shaan: Hi, Daadi..aap kab aayee? Savere..Sabere..?
Daadi: Tum abhi uth rahe ho Shaan, din ke gyarah baj rahe hai..
Shaan: Daadi, aaj Saturday hai.. aur kal kahan thi aap, agar kal aatee, you could have come for the grand party..
Daadi: Isiliye tho nahin aayeee..yeh parties vaghera..
Shaan: (smiling adoringly at her) ..Daaadi..I know..
Daadi: Acha suno, jaldi se utho, aur mujhe mandir leke jao
Shaan: WHAT? Mandir..please daadi..you cannot be serious..
Daadi: Main bilkul serious hoon..
Shaan: (lazily getting out of bed): Come on daadi.. I am sure Dharam aapko leke ja sakta hai..main bahut thak gaya hoon aaj.. (watches her disappointed face) ..kal..kal'I promise..main aapko kal leke jaoonga..(putting one hand on his heart and the other on her shoulder..being the petulant grandchild)
Daadi: promise??
Shaan: Haan..pakka promise..(with a childish twinkle)
Daadi: Theek hai, ab neeche ajao..breakfast kha lo..
Shaan climbs down the stairs and before he reaches the breakfast table, Dharam approaches him'
Dharam: Shaan baba, kal raat yeh phone party mei reh gaya tha..
Shaan: Mera phone nahi hai..office mei de do..
Dharam: Haan Shaan baba..lekin phone ice cream counter ka table pe mila tha..to server ko laga ki aapka hai..main office mei de doonga..
Shaan: (suddenly something strikes): Actually..mujhe de do.. (and grabs it from Dharam like a child recieving a gift)
His hand shivers while he holds it..his heart smiles.. breaks into a jig..that does not stop..Becuase he is holding his dream..his senses suddenly shut down..He switches on the phone..presses the redial button..and there is a list of names and numbers..two names appearing more frequently than others..
"Mehtajee" and "gopi".. should he? ....Shaan beta..kya kar raha hai tu?? ..are you sure..he switches his brain off to a silence mode..and retrieves his dream with a .. chalo yaar..kya harz hai??..Saturday ka din hai..thoda time pass kar lete hai..
He mouths 'mehtajee' with a disgust on his face and presses call for 'gopi'..it rings..and before he can say anything..
Gopi: Hey Ram!! Mil gayee..Khanak'tum bhi na..mujhe tho pata tha..ki wahee kahee hogee..chalo bye!
All he hears is a dial tone..he pulls the phone away from the ear..stares at it.."ajeeb hai yaar..na hello..na kuch"..and dials 'gopi' again..and yet again..a dial tone is preceeded by..
Shaan: hello..suniye..main..
Gopi: Arrey baba..jo bhi hai..baad mei baat karte hain.. meri train aa gayee hai..main rakh rahee hoon..bye..!
Shaan: WHAT THE? yeh Gopi tho mujhe topi lagake gayee hai..Ab.. Iss Mehtajee ko phone karna padega..usse tho main chodungaa nahin..hadh hai yaar!..
Shaan in his frustration and slight anger presses dial on "mehtajee"..all set to yell a hello and give a sounding to mehtajee..but is silenced by..
Khanak: Hello?!!
Shaan: ummm'. (voice slowing going into silence mode too..and the heart in vibrate)
Khanak: Kya hua? Ab bolti band? Main keh rahee thee ki phone tumhare paas hi hogee..tumhari gaadi mein mil gayee kya? ..Acha hua maine tumhara phone leke chali aayee..tumhe pata bhi hai ki Siddhi Vinayak mein aaj kitni bheed hone wali hai..gudi padwa hai na..hello? hello'
Shaan: hello.. (he is static..) main..
Khanak: Kya? Mujhe kuch sunayee nahee de raha..yeh auto mein music bahut loud hai..ek minute..(and turns her face forward to the auto driver..) suno bhaiya.. thoda volume low karna..jyaada low nahin haan!?.. mujhe yeh gaana bahut pasand hai.. (and puts the phone back to her ear).. suno ..tumhe sunayee de raha hai..
Shaan: Haan..(there is no disturbance because the sound waves from his brain to his ears have been cut off)
Khanak: Ok! acha..Main Siddhi Vinayak mein hoon, matlab pandhra minute (15) mein pohchungee..phone ko charge pe laga dena..chaviyan wohee darwaje ke samne walle gamle mein..(softly so that the auto driver cannot hear)..aur charger wahan table ke upar. (back on her usual decibal level)..tum apni office jaane se pehle exchange kar lenge..theek hai? Hello? Theek hai na..
Shaan: Theek hai..(how can he refuse her??)
Khanak: Hello??
Shaan immediately hangs up..and looks at the phone..realises he needs to do something..he hurriedly messages 'mehtajee's" phone number to his phone.. and sprints to the breakfast table, lifts his confused Daadi from her chair..
Shaan: daadi'chalo..chalo..aapko mandir jaana tha..chaliye chaliye..come on..
Daadi: Arrey..Shaan.. (stumbling and smiling)..tum tho mujhe kal leke jaane wale the..
Shaan: Come on Daadi..Aap aaj jana chahtee ho ..right?
Daadi: Right.. Kya baat hai? (a knowing smile to Shaan)
Shaan: Kuch nahin daadi (a shy smile back)..chaliye na..phir Siddhi Vinayak mei bheed ho jayegee..woh aaj .. (scratching his forehead)..gudi pad'
Daadi: Gudi Padwa aaj nahin..do din mei hain..lekin phir bhi bheed tho hogee..
Shaan: Isiliye tho..chaliye abhi..chaliye
Daadi: (smiles a slow smile): theek hai baba chalo.. Tum aise aaoge..?..(pointing to his T-shirt and jeans)
Shaan: Kyun is mei kya hai?
Daadi: Mandir mei pooja..kurta tho pehenlo..mera pota kurta mein bahut acha dikhta hai (lovingly pulls his cheeks)..
Shaan: Come on Daadi..
Daadi: Kurta nahin pehenoge..tho main nahin aaoongee..soch lo!
Shaan: Okay'main abhi aaya..
Shaan in white kurta and jeans with two phones in his pocket..his and hers.. and his Daadi with a smile and curiosity bubbling in her heart reach the crowded Siddhi Vinayak temple..Shaan gets out of the car..and so does Daadi..she wants to buy some flowers and coconut for an offering. He suggests she wait by the car while he gets them for her.
Removes his chappals, places them in the car and walks down the lane that is wet from the constant sprinkling of water over the baskets of colourful multitudes of strings of flowers and leaves ..
..He walks slowly not caring that the edge of his jeans is dragging on the wet ground..his clean feet splashing drops of water onto another's feet..and drops from another splash onto his feet..while his shoulders are constantly nudged by several nobodys..how can he find her in this mela he thinks..and right then.. through the yellow, orange, pink , white and green'is his vision in a red saree .. stopping him..alerting him..and yet his senses have gone into a sleep mode..his dream is now his need..
Mej par phool sajaate hue
Dekha hai kayee bar
Ek hi Khwab kayee bar
Dekha hai maine..
