Re-cap : On the terrace, Rajbeer realises Preeto's surprise for him – his birthday celebration. He is lost amongst overwhelming emotions of the sweetness of her gesture, his love for her, her radiating beauty and the darkness of the painful memories from his childhood..Amongst a roller coaster of his emotions, they cut his birthday cake…
{As his heart goes through the emotional upheaval, his eyes, focused on her face, get misty with tears of overwhelming emotions. He keeps following her instructions absent mindedly - she prompts him to blow out the candles and then to cut the cake; she offers him a piece of the cake and he responds by offering her a piece…But, somehow… he is not aware of his actions…..
Ignorant of the tornado of emotions swelling up in Rajbeer's heart, Preeto continues to feed him the cake…She had spent days planning this evening and had spent nights thinking about it…finally the evening was here…she had been so tensed since the morning! A number of things could have gone wrong…but so far, the evening was progressing just as she had wanted it to…. Her heart swelled with the love she had for him…
While being lost in his emotions arising from the contrast between memories of his past and the flury of his present; Rajbeer is mesmerised by the sight of this wonderfull and beautiful woman he loves so much, sitting so close to him, illuminating every corner of his heart with her warm smile and loving eyes… He just couldn't stop looking at her face…She was love and joy personified for him…her sight was home-coming for him…
Unable to contain his emotions any more, tears swell up in Rajbeer's eyes…and a big tear drop forms on the corner of his eye, waiting to slip off his lashes…
As she offers him another spoonful of cake, she notices the tears…}
Preeto : Kya hua…? { such loving concernin her soft voice…..her hand stops in mid-air}
{Overwhelmed, Rajbeer just hugs her…and the tear drop rolls down, tracing the contour of his cheeks…}
Preeto : Rajbeer….? {She whispers – part question, part worry}
{She instantly knows what he is going through…. she realises that his heart had wandered back to the unhappy memories of his childhood…God knows what darkness lied there? how can she ever stop his pain…as she struggles to contain her own tears…She brings her arms around him.. If only a loving touch could eliminate the hurt; if only the circle of her arms could suck this pain out….Her eyes search the air for answers, seeking help from her God…. She cannot see his face but she can feel his silent tears… She felt so helpless…Those wounds had cast their shadow on the present…yet again….
...but, today she did not want him to go even remotely close to that darkness…it was like a bottomless pit…and she desperately wanted to pull him out of it and bring him back to the brightness of today…a today that was full of love and laughter…
Rajbeer wanted to just breath in the warmth and comfort of her embrace forever, but he also felt the need to talk…to tell her….sometimes, silent suffering seeks words…
He disengaged himself from the embrace, his eyes instantly reach out to her….the love and concern he saw brimming in her eyes was the salve he had craved for…she understands, she knows .….}
RB : Preeto tumhe pata hai…maine pichle 18 saalon se apna birthday nahi manaya hai…? {he holds her hands in a tight clench in her lap, she could feel the cold tips of his fingers, and the slight tremble of his palms. She fights an urge to pull him back into the haven of her arms…
There is a time for silence, and then there is the time for words…there is a time to let things lie dormant and then there is the time to dig them out and release them forever…}
Preeto : To kya hua….? hum agle 18 saal tak aise hi aapka birthday manayenge…isse bhi zyada achche se…
{Though she kept her voice calm and placid, the awreness of the pain he must be feeling pierced her heart….On this evening full of magic and love, somehow his angst had re-surfaced…their togetherness had pushed it to the back corner of his heart for long; but today it had come forth…how cruel…how could the shadows of a yesterday so long gone by, still manage to affect a moment of the present?}
RB : Aaj shayad pehli baar kisi ne meri paida hone ki, 'mere' hone ki khushi manayi hai…varna mere ghar…
Preeto : Nahi, Rajbeer please…aaj nahi…aaj apne ateet ki kisi bhi kaali yaad ko yaad nahi karoge…please….khushi ka din hai…hum khushi manayenge…
{She quickly pulls him back into an embrace and he bursts into sobs…. but the tears are not of pain alone, this was his gratitude that was flowing out of his eyes, and with these saline tears, bit by bit the pain, the angst, the hurt was all flowing out and freeing his being of the burden he had carried for so long…once again….
Once before, the wall of the dam he had built and guarded for years had burst, and he had been cured and transformed. But, some residue of it had still remained, resting in some conspicuous corners…waiting for an opportunity to sneak out at the prompting of an innocent trigger…and whenever that would happen darkness would shadow any brightness, however strong….Like it had done tonight…And that residue will keep trickling out bit by bit….now and then….unannounced… But, she had been with him the first time when the dam burst, and she was here today…and he knew that every time some of that bitter residue would seek an outlet, she would be there…and that was enough….Her presence, her soothing words and touch was the cocoon in which he could face the pinch of those shrapnel and then bid them adieu forever…
His sobs had flustered Preeto…she had wanted the evening to bring joy to him, yet it had brought back the monster that had been hiding for so long…had she been wrong to do this…she hadn't realized what this day meant for him…she was angry with herself… but, no! she couldn't let such emotions affect her…this evening will be the joyous evening that it was meant to be…She is quick to gather control over her emotions}
Preeto : ….kya kaha tha maine…pyaar karne wale rote nahi hain, muskurate hain…aur aap apne birthday wale din aankhon mein aansun le kar baithe hain…{ she pulls him away…and wipes his tears as she tries to change the mood with some humor}…chaliye…hanske dikhayiye…maine itni mehanat kari hai, aap uspe aansu bahake pani pherenge kya…?
RB : Maine…kisi ne…aaj ka din kabhi celebrate nahi kara hai….
Pre-cap : An evening that Preeto had planned to perfection had brought back the hurt and angst from the past..but the out pour was also healing…sometimes healing does come from the experience of pain. Preeto struggles to fight her own emotions in an attempt to turn the evening back to its original plan of being the most joyous celebration for him…Will she?