---------------------------------------Part 1-------------------------------------------
Diary Entry: -
2nd june 2009
Dear Mom,
Many many happy returns of the day.. As always, I celebrated your birthday with Aishu, as Dad was busy with work. We went to Temple, prayed for you.. We attempted to bake a cake, which turned out to be so horrible that .. neways, so we ordered a cake from Rita's bakery and celebrated. Now that results and out and its vacation time, Aishu will be constantly sticking to me. Oh n by the way I got my FY's results today, and you'll be proud of me.. I am still rocking my college. Hasn't told Dad yet, as I wanted to tell you. And as it is , he will be late today. As every other birthday of yours.. I am sure he misses you much much more than how I miss you. Still he won't tell me..
Anyways, I have been telling him about this post graduation course I wanted to do for so long and he's not allowing me.. I can't put up with him anymore. I mean I'm not complaining..! He loves me so much and never denies anything. Probably that's why I feel weird when he doesn't approve the idea of me going to Mumbai. But I also have his blood running in my system.. I will convince him one day..
Enough for today.. Gotta go sleep now. Lots of love … and miss you so much.. Things could have been easier if you were with me.. Good night Mom.
Two months Later…
It was a perfect morning. Sky was clear, the birds were happily chirping, flowers were blooming, and for a change his driver - Hari was on time today.
Still something was bothering Rajat very much. After all his princess, his darling daughter was going away from him. And he couldn't say no to her. He remembered the conversation he had with Gunjan about it a couple of weeks back..
----
"Dad! this is so bad!! I always listen to you , never even questioning the reason. Cant you just say yes to me this one time ?" Gunjan pouted, as she ran her fingures nervously in her long traces.
"Its not about that , Sweetu. You also know that you don't have to ask for anything.. Even if you just think about something , I make sure that thing's your's! ", Rajat said.
"Well, that is my point dad. If you know me that much better, then why cant you see how bad I want THIS THING?" She popped the 'G' for an added effect and paused for a brief moment to see her father's reaction. She knew her dad very well and one thing was for sure, he just loved her too much to deny her anything. It will take time to convince him.. but I'll do it.. she thought, while bringing as much desperation in her eyes as she could.
"You're not used live without me and ..you've spent whole life here in Jamnagar and then Mumbai is big city beta… and how will you survive there…? " Rajat tried to reason, but as he saw gunjan frowning, he shook his head at his own lame reasons."Alright!! I am not used to live without you honey and I don't want to be alone in the last few years of my life."
"Dad!! No emotional blackmailing… We had agreed on that earlier..!!" Gunjan said accusingly, "And besides, I am not going to be gone forever. I just want to go find out what I want in my life and what I can do out of it… Is it that difficult to understand?" Her voice had become softer as she looked in her father's eyes, hoping that he , for once stop protecting her and let her persue her dreams.
"I can understand…" he said after a pause "But I still... "
"Do you love me dad? " gunjan asked making a puppy face.
"Yes i do, But..."
" Pleeease dad..." she literally pleaded him and he let out a loud sigh.
"How long will you be gone?" Rajat shook his head smiling at her as she screamed a high pitch "YeSSS!!".
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"Saaarr! The Car is ready ."
Hari's voice brought Rajat back to present. Hari was Rajat's tamil driver, who never came on time, well at least on important occasions. Everything about him seemed to irritate Rajat , as he always used to make some mess when Rajat was involved. But he knew Hari was Loyal, and he could trust him when Gunjan was concerned. Remarkably Hari not only was extra efficient when Gunjan was around, but he also was protective about her , just like his "Rajat Saar" .
"Ofcourse Hari. Today the car WILL be ready..!"
"Saar.. Gunjan Madam had warned me to come on time saar.. Warna wo merekho Jaan se Marne kha dhamki diya tha.. How could I not follow her…"
"ok . ok. just keep quiet now." Hari's thick tamilian accent irked an already irritated Rajat Rajat wondered who was Hari's boss, him or gunjan.
'Oh well! she's the princess, the apple of my eyes, and sometimes she boss'es me also' Rajat thought smilingly as Gunjan came downstairs with her baggage.
Hari promptly took the baggage from gunjan and went outside When gunjan looked at her dad, who was smiling fondly at her. But there was something more to his face... his eyes! They were wet. She regretted at her decision . For a while she forgot about all her dreams about mumbai and felt bad that she was leaving his father alone.
'I will miss you badly dad!!' she thought..
But then she came to her usual self and thought of teasing him.
"Dad, Why are you so sad..? Trying to remember your first crush , whom you didn't have the guts to propose?"
Rajat knew she was trying to lighten up the mood so he also joined her.
"Absolutely not my dear... I'm trying to imagine how badly your Special friend Jiggy will miss you ..." As gunjan glared at him he added…"aren't you two have a thing for each other…?"
"Eww! Dad!! ..Jignesh and me? Did you seriously imagined that..?" gunjan said , visibly irritated. "Don't even think about any such things when I go to Mumbai"
"Haha... Point noted! Anyways , Jokes apart, I have a few things to tell you. I have talked to Jatin about you and He is more than happy to let you stay with them. You know what, he is my .."
"Bestest of the best friend , He n his wife will just adore me, he won't be able to receive me at the airport as he has some meetings, seriously why would you ask for that dad, I mean he must be such a busy man. And I assure you, I can manage on my own..!"
"Ya but still you are new and I don't want you to get lost in the City" Rajat added, ignoring gunjan as she rolled her eyes" So his driver will pick you up from the airpost and you…"
"Call me ASAP when you land in Mumbai" She completed his sentence, once a gain dramatically rolling her eyes ,"you have repeated it so many times. Shall we start now? I don't want to miss the flight..."
"Sure.. " Rajat moved towards the Car door, before pausing for a moment.
" you have all the documents.. right?" Gunjan nodded at that.
"And the tickets?"..
"Check..!"
"Money..?"
"You gave me…"
"Okay.. and the medicines.."
"I am not going on moon dad… !! I'm sure they have those tiny things called Medicines in Mumbai"
"So why are you wasting so much time.. I am ready since ages.." Gunjan gaped at her father at this , who fought with a smile watching her expressions, before giving in as they both broke in laughter.
'Well this is it. Bye bye Jamnagar. I'm going to Mumbai... the dream city...!"
Gunjan had no idea what or rather who was in store for her.
The cell phone rang again as gunjan was about to get into her seat.
"hello dad? now what?... Ya I know I have to.. yes ... ya I'll call you ... ok! ... hmmm... Nahi!" Gunjan sighed with displeasure, totally unaware of the fact that someone was eavesdropping on her conversation ,though not by choice.
"Dad it's the 8th time you are calling me since you dropped me to the airport!! " This time the person had a hard time controlling his chuckle, and gunjan became aware of the existence of the passenger in next seat. He was a handsome boy in his early 20's, dressed in casuals.
'People have no manners... gunjan thought
"ummm.. yes I will.. Promise... Dad the plane's going to take off now.. " she tried to keep her voice as low as possible..
"Ma'am, may i request you to keep your cell switched off..?" The air hostess said in a sweet voice and Gunjan hurriedly ended her conversation with her father.
She turned on her right to find her co-passenger, who looked rather amused. He smiled at her and gunjan just shrugged. she looked away and looked at him again only to find him staring at her.
'Irritating...
"Femily colling?" he said smiling cheekily.
"What?"
"Apke baapu ka hi col tha na" this time he pointed at her cell phone.
"Oh yaa.. of course. 'Family' ka hi 'Call' tha." she said , disinterestedly.
"Meri femily bhi bohot col karti he... wo kya he na , me hu hi eesa. Muze bahar rehne ki aadat nai he na"
"..."
"Wese aap ja kaha rehi he?"
"Jhumritallaiya!!"Gunjan said sarcastically. This was far more than irritating for her.
"Ohh.. tab to aap galat plane me beth gayi ne... ye to mumbai jata he.." he said innocently.
Gunjan couldn't help but smile at this. "koi baat nahi. main via mumbai chali jaungi." she said playfully.
"hehe... good. Wese lagta he aap bhi peli bar bahar ja rahi he ghar se.."
"Nahi , ghar se to kai baar bahar ja chuki hu. mera school aur college ghar ke bahar hi tha. Aap nahi gaye kabhi?" gunjan said.
Sirf tum hi nahi ho jo paka sakte ho... she thought. But to her surprise he was not irritated at her remark, instead he was smiling wholeheartedly.
"Good . I like your sense of humor . By the way, i am mayank, mayank sharma." and he held out his hand.
"Gunjan Bhushan." As she shaked hand with him , she noticed that his gujju accent was gone. " umm, Mayank ... sharma? Sharma is not a gujrati surname right?"
A small smile formed on his face as he said in a regretful voice "Hey, sorry. i was just faking it. Actually I'm from mumbai. I was here to attend a wedding, well precisely a "Gujju' friend's Wedding. For last 5 days I have been surrounded with them so picked the accent." He said smiling sheepishly," And then I needed some ice breaker to talk to you, after all its nice to make friends and chit chat, rather than eavesdropping on my co-passenger's Phone conversations, right ? I hope you don't mind it."
She liked his honest explanation.
"No, not at all." gunjan said , mocking his fake gujju accent. "And I must say your mimicry skills are so good..Why don't you try in Comedy express?" and she let out a chuckle..
"And I must say, your voice is very melodious .. why don't you try in Indian idol? ..." mayank said with a grin as she studied him with curiosity. He was a match for her own wits.
"I bet you have more to offer", gunjan grinned as she saw smile forming on his face.
"Well, I can say, at least your journey's going to interesting" He said, now smiling broadly.
And they chatted for rest of the time about random topics, with mayank's witty comments and one liners.
Gunjan enjoyed the flight, thanks to 'Mayank Sharma'.
Nice Start, gunjan! Agar mumbai ka trailer hi aisa hain , to picture kaisa hoga... she thought as they landed on Santacruz airport.
********************************************************************************
'I worry, I weigh three times my body
I worry, I throw my fear around
But this morning, there's a calm I can't explain
The rock candy's melted, only diamonds now remain
Ooh ooh ooh ooh…..
As John Mayor's clarity was being played on the stereo, benji also joined him in his Oooh. But Samrat chose to concentrate on the road ahead with a sullen face.
Benji knew his best friend is in no mood to enjoy the song.
Obviously, this morning was not calm for Samrat. Firstly, it was Sunday and still he had to get up very early in the morning (10 AM is way too early, right?). Then he had been informed that as their driver didn't show up, so he was expected to be at santacruz airport at sharp12PM to receive his dad's best friend's daughter. So he had to rush to the airport at the earliest so he didn't even have his breakfast.
"I'll eat something on the way maa. I'll tell benji to pick something up for me" He told his Mother.
And if this was not enough, a stupid naive 'L' driver hit the left side of his car on the signal. It was not a big damage; rather a sort of scratch, there was a small dent which could be easily fixed. But samrat's blood boiled because of that. He stepped out of the car thinking of giving nice driving lessons to the driver with a piece of his mind, but later changed the plan as he was running late. As he was about to get into the car, a taxi splashed some muddy water on his blue denim and tee. And as this was not enough, they were stuck in the traffic from the past 30 minutes.
Such a heavy traffic on a Sunday?? Are you kidding me!!… samrat cursed his luck.
And as Benji did the 'Oohh.' thing again, samrat gave him a cold stare.
Benji shifted a little in his seat, tried to look outside, then again at samrat, pressed random stereo buttons, in order to highlight his existence and got no reaction from samrat.
"Don't you dare to glare at me like that ok? I have wasted my perfectly lazy Sunday morning for receiving god-knows-who's-who , that's too just for you, so it's your duty to entertain me and you…"
Samrat threw a you-are-dead look at benji.
"Wow sam ! main dar gaya. Look dude, don't give me those killer looks again ok? You know how angry Diya will be if I tell her I went to airport with you. You know I even refused to go to beach with her last Sunday morning.." Benji said sighing.
samrat caught the disappointment in benji's tone, and he gave in. Afterall, Benji was his best friend and as he said he did sacrificed his Sunday morning for samrat.
"Dude! Yaha tera dost itni mushkilon ka saamna kar raha hain, aur tu hain ke use support karne ke jagah Date pe jaane ke plans bana raha hain? Tumne mera hriday tod diya mitra!!" Samrat exaggerated, with fake anger.
Benji chukled as sam tried his best to make an angry face.
"Mere Param Mitra Samrat, Tumhare Jeevan me aaye hue har kathin samay me mera anmol sath tumhe hamesha prapt hua hai. Kintu iska ye arth kadapee nahi hota ke tum apne is mirta ki issi taraha… ummm… Sh*t!! I forgot the word man!!"
"Isi taraha upeksha karo? Tere liye 'Ignore' word hi sahi hai, after all shukla sir ki acting karna har kisike bas ki baat nahi. " Sam said proudly as they entered the airport premises.
"Ya right! Its your territory ..." samrat smirked at his remark, "So.. this new girl.. 'Gunjan.. How does she looks? " Benji said in a matter-of-fact tone.
Sam raised his eyebrow and said "Dude, If I tell Diya that you were making enquiries about some random girls then I don't even have to tell you what will she think about you …."
"No way!!" benji shouted instantly "why are you so determined to sabotage my relationship even before it starts…"
Samrat was grinning and only then benji realized what he blurted out . Diya was samrat and benji's classmate since school time. Now they were in the same college and benji had a huge crush on her. And Sam knew all about benji's dil-ka-aalam, though benji never told samrat about this.
"You know everything about my feelings, buddy. Whenever I search for a chance to tell her what I feel, I always find myself in a messy situation.."
"Thats the reason I tell you to give all this thing a break, benji!. Let her come behind you.. " Samrat gave him a piece of gyan while parking the car. They moved out of the car and started walking towards the terminal.
"Accha Guru Samrat! I'll try. And by the way, you still haven't answered me."
Samrat gave him a confused look "about what?"
"How does this 'Gunjan' girl look?" and before samrat could add anything more, benji completed hurriedly "And I am asking this 'Without any intentions' "
And he made a gesture of quoting the words "without any intentions" with his fingers.
"Sure I will tell you, but let me see her first.. and now move fast. We are already Late. I guess she has already landed." Samrat said as they entered the terminal building.
There were many people moving around in the building, People who work at the airport, people who were being received, people who didn't have anyone to receive them, and people who were there to receive someone. Just like us- Benji thought and looked around, trying to figure out whom they are supposed to receive, something hit a little cell of his brain.
"Ohh freeze!! If you haven't seen her, not a single time, then how are we supposed to find her?"
"Benji, There is something called 'Sign board' in this tiny little world" Samrat was still in a relaxed state.
"And that's what we don't have with us right now." -Benji
Now it was samrat's turn. He looked at benji in disbelief.
"Dude? Did I not hand you a sign board in car?"
"Maybe I left it in car".. Benji said apologetically.
"Go!! Get it quickly…!"
"Obviously!! " – benji made a small face and started walking out.
Samrat looked at the direction and shook his head, Bas yehi baki tha, dude are you kidding with me? – he said looking at the sky.
Just then he bumped on a girl who was busy talking on her cell phone. The girl lost her balance, samrat impulsively pulled her hand and she landed in his arms, his hands around her slim waist. Her eyes were closed; she was very fair, with soft features, brown eyes, specs on them and really long silky hairs. He brushed a strand of hair fallen on her face with his hand when she looked up, into his eyes, completely flabbergasted. Samrat was also dumbstruck, but when he saw her eyes, he was amused.
What is it in her eyes? Is it surprise? Confusion? Fear? Or… Anger! Dude you are still holding her by her waist. Leave her!! – samrat ended his trail of thought and let her go.
She looked at him in disgust and started scanning the floor. Samrat immediately spotted her cell, which was lying dead on the floor in two pieces with the battery out of it. He picked up the pieces and moved towards her. She snatched it from his hand and immediately started walking towards the exit.
Weird girl! Didn't even say thank you. Well maybe because you didn't say sorry… but why should I…? Well because normal people don't just walk looking at sky and bump on random people and then... hold them in arms. – samrat finally decided to be polite.
"Hey miss!... Hey you!!... Hellooo……"
………………………………………………
Gunjan was dying of boredom. It was quarter to 1 and still she was on the airport. Her flight landed in mumbai at 12.07 PM. she came out of the plane at 12.10PM. She bid goodbye to Mayank at 12.28PM. And since then she was waiting for Jatin uncle's driver, who was supposed to pick her up.
I guess I'll have to work on this driver's Punctuality issues, just like Hari.. She thought
She looked at the watch once again – 12.51. 'I should have left on my own.. now god knows how long this driver will take to show up… as she was thinking all this her cell phone rang for the nth time.
"Hello, gunjan? Where are you dear?" Rajat's voice was overconcerned..
"Hi dad.. nobody showed up till now. I'm leaving from here now."
"Why , wait! He will be there in some time. Why don't you call Jatin and ask."
"Dad? You know I don't like to wait for so long…" she grabbed the handle of her trolly bag and started walking out of the building, " Besides, I'm waiting for half an hour already. And I know the address, so I can manage.. really…"
"Ma'm , your purse!" a voice called out from behind.
She turned and found the waiter at the cafe holding her bag. She thanked him with a smile and took her bag and was about to turn when someone bumped into her. She lost the grip on mobile and it fell on ground, her purse fell on other side. She knew that just like these two things, she will also fall soon and closed her eyes tightly in anticipation. But instead of hitting the ground, she had landed in someone's arms. She could smell the masculine perfume and tight grip of his hands on her waist. 'Great.. this is so much more embarrassing than falling on the floor.. she thought. She could sense his fingers on her face.. wait! why was he touching her face…She opened her eyes and looked up, only to find a pair of chocolate brown eyes looking at her.
He was looking at her with an amused smile, hmmm.. nice smile, He's good-looking. but why is he looking at me like that? Oh freak! I'm still in his arms… and that too in a public place… and this pervert!! He's not even moving…
She wondered if he read her last thoughts, because he immediately released her. She looked at him in disgust and started looking for her belongings, picked the purse from the floor, while he picked her broken cell phone and handed it to her.
'Ohh dad was on the line!! – she grabbed the phone and immediately started walking out of the building. As she put the battery into the cell and was closing the cover , she heard a voice.
"Hey miss!" … it must be him
"Hey you!!" … Ya… it is him!
"Hello………….!!!" … I better ignore him!
But the person was not ready to let go. He caught with her pace in just 3-4 leaps and stood in front of her blocking her way.
"Now what??"
"Look that was not intentional, and I'm really sorry for that" he said pointing at her mobile in a genuinely regretful voice.
"Fine. Now give me way…"
"Does that mean you forgive me?"
"Does that really matter to you?"
"Ya because once you forgive me, I can ask you to say thank you!" samrat said grinning.
"What?" gunjan shook her head in disbelief. "And why should I say thanks to you?"
"because I saved you from the fall, remember?" Samrat said proudly, raising one eyebrow.
"Well, you know what? I just thought of giving voice to my thoughts. You are a PERVERT! Now go get a life…" gunjan pushed him and stormed towards the exit While samrat stood there, shocked.
It took a moment for him to realize what she has said.
"Pervert?? Whoaa...! Hey you!! How dare you?" he shouted as she walked away , angrily.
She had to find a taxi, before the guy follows her further. And that's when she spotted a guy with a sign board spotting her name.
"Great! Lets get going , Gunjan!" She muttered under her breath as she approached him, prepared to give him a piece of her mind.
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