CHAPTER
1. A TALE OF THREE CITIES
Hoshiarpur
A young girl sat on the floor with her
face on her knees. She clutched her knees tightly while drops of tears flowed
out of her eyes non stop. She slowly raised her face and glanced around. The
room was totally dark except some light coming from the window high up in the
wall. She looked down and stared at her hands in despair. Her hands were marred
with scars, some old and some new. She knew that if someone looked properly they
would find such scars all over her body. She sighed sadly. These scars will
fade away but what about the scars on her soul? Will they ever go away? Will
she always be stuck in this four walled prison? Will anybody help her, save
her? Will she never be free? At this thought her tears started flowing again.
She stared at her hands for few more
minutes when she noticed a scar on her wrist. She received it by accident when
she was small while playing with her cousins. Suddenly a thought stuck her. Her
Cousin! He would help her. All she has to do is contact them. She suddenly felt
happy and her shoulders straightened up. She will be saved! Then another
thought stuck her and her shoulders slumped in defeat. But to be saved, she
would have to contact them! And to contact them she has to get out of this
prison! How will she do that?
But then she realized that she has to
fight, fight for justice, fight for her freedom. She again straightened up her
shoulders and determined looked up. "Hey Babaji! Mujhe raasta dikhaao ke main
yahaan se nikal sakoon.", she mumbled. She looked at the scar on her wrist and
said out loud, "Veere, Geet Handa aa rahi hain tere paas. Geet ka intezaar
karna."
Delhi
Maan Singh Khurana walked down the steps of Khurana Mansion towards the
dining table but slowed down as he noticed the three occupants smiling at him
politely. Maan Bete! Daal mein kuch kaala hai, Dadima toh har waqt muskurati
hain par Dev aur Naintara ka smile karna... kuch toh gadbad hain! Maan thought. As
he sat down on his seat, his Dadima started serving him his breakfast. Maan's
eyebrows rose on their own accord as he noticed this new development. Mujhe
parosa jaa raha hain; Ab toh such mein kuch gadbad hain, Maan realized.
As if on cue, Naintara opened her
mouth, "Dadima, kal aapke dost, woh Priya Sanyal, ke ghar mein kuch function
haina?", she asked very sweetly. And Maan realized the plan. Someway or other
he was going to be dragged to the function where he will be introduced to some
girls for the sake of his marriage. He realized that he has to something and
that also fast. Before Dadima could reply back, he started speaking, "Dadima,
kal se yaad aaya, kal mera urgent meeting hain Office mein toh main shayad kal
raat ko 11 se pehle ghar nahi pahunchoonga." He delivered his blow while
smiling at his sister-in-law as if saying I know what you are planning and I
won't let you succeed. His Dadima visibly deflated. Maan shook his head. Inke
reaction se toh koi yahi sochega ki maine
sanyaasi banne ka faisla liya hai! His Dadima should have been a theatre
actress!
Just when Maan had thought that he had won the round, his younger
brother, Dev, decided to open his mouth. "But Bro, us meeting ke liye to main
bhi jaa sakta hoon". Maan glared at his brother. Traitor! He thought while
Dadima and Naintara beamed at Dev as if Dev had handed them a Kohinoor Heera.
But Maan smirked, he was not known as one of the best businessman of Delhi just like that. He
very well knew how to counter such tactics. He replied, "Lekin tum meeting main
gaye toh site pe kaun jayega? Main chaahta hoon ki tum site par ek nazar ghooma
do, just to be on safer side." Dev meekly nodded while Naintara and Dadima
huffed at another plan being flopped. Maan wished them all goodbye and walked
out to his car. As he sat in his car, he got a call. He smiled and picked it
up. "Haan Arnav, bolo." Arnav as in Arnav Singh Raizada, at Shantivan, smiled
at his reflection on the mirror while talking on Bluetooth and righting his tie
with his hands.
Arnav raised an eyebrow, "Bus, Haan
bolo. Na Good Morning, na Hello. Is everything alright?"
Maan sighed tiredly, "Kuch nahi
yaar! 3 Musketeers ne phirse meri shadi ka plan banaaya. Unse bachke aa raha
hoon."
Arnav smirked at that and decided
to tease Maan, "Toh shaadi karlona! Problem kya hai?"
Maan narrowed his eyes at Arnav's
teasing tone and retorted in annoyance, "Itna bol rahe ho? Tum kyon nahi
karlete?"
Arnav rolled his eyes, "Meri shaadi
toh tum bhool jaao! Mujhe na Shaadi pe vishwas hai na Pyaar pe. Par tumhe toh
vishwas hai. Toh problem kya hai?"
Maan smiled sadly, "Shaadi se
problem nahi hai par ladkiyon se hai. Sab mere paise se shaadi karna chaahti
hain, mujhse nahi. Koi Maan se shaadi kare, Maan Singh Khurana se nahi!"
Arnav huffed, "Aisi ladki milna mushkil
hai."
Maan bristled and announced loudly,
"Maan Singh Khurana ke liye kuch bhi mushkil nahi. Accha! Phone rakhta hoon. We
will talk later! Say Namaste and Hi to your family!"
"Ya, Okay! Bye Take care.", Arnav
replied as he shut the phone.
Maan smiled and wished that there
was someone who would teach Arnav what love truly was. And hoped there was
someone who would love him as Maan.
Arnav smirked at his reflection and walked down to have his breakfast.
As soon as he sat on his seat, he noticed his Nani showing her thumbs up to
Anjali Di and realized what Maan meant by "Unse bachke aa raha hoon" It seemed
that just like Maan's family attacked him for getting married, now it was his
turn to get the same treatment from his family. He schooled his features as he
got ready for the battle.
Arnav never wanted to get married but not wanting to hurt his sister's
feelings whose only wish was to see her brothers married, he did not inform his
family of his wish and continued to see every girl they showed to him while
behaving as if he was interested in getting married. Of course, he rejected
every girl harshly, his reason varying from some silly problem to some
imaginary fault. And now he readied himself to do the same again. Come on
Arnav! Get ready to be bombarded with the details of yet another girl and to
detect some fault in her as early as possible!
Arnav waited for the drama to begin and he did not have to wait long. Anjali
smiled at Shyam and turned towards her Chote. "Chote, hum soch rahe the ke
tumhein toh Shaadi nahi karni toh kyun na hum Akash ki Shaadi karaade." Mami
straightened her back the moment her son's marriage was mentioned. Everyone sitting
around the table very well knew how much Mami wanted a bahu for her son. But
Nani had refused getting him married stating that Arnav was the eldest in line
to get married.
Arnav was surprised but only for a moment. What the! How did she know I
don't want to get married! I never told anyone. But then he paused. Wait! If
she came to know that truth she would have cried buckets by now. But as she is
not doing that, this means...
Arnav glanced from his Nani to his Di and realized their plan. Afterall
he was Maan's best friend. Their plan, it seemed, was simple; after hearing
such a dialogue, they expected him to explode because they thought he wanted to
get married but was just not happy with their choice of brides. And once he
panicked enough at the thought of not getting married, he would stop being picky
about the girls and lower his expectations for the next girl they spring on
him.
Arnav shook his head at their
poorly, according to him, constituted plan. They didn't know that if it was
upto him he would remain bachelor his whole life. Arnav finished his juice and
delivered his blow. "Aapne sahi socha hain Di. Akash ke liye aap ladki dekhna
shuru kijiye." While saying this he got up from his place and shouting "Chalo
Akash" he walked towards his SUV.
On the breakfast table, as Aakash scurried
after Arnav, Arnav's family stared at him in shock. Their plan backfired, just
like that. What the!
After few minutes, Shyam tried to cheer up
his pregnant wife. Keyword here is tried'. "Rani sahiba, aap toh saale sahib
ko jaanti hain na, woh aise hi hain. Aap fikar mat kijiye, sab theek hojayega."
But Anjali was not in mood of cheering up. Her Chote was not at all ready to
get married.
Mama piped up, "Par
u ladki ka kaa jon humne Arnav bitwa ke liye Lucknow ma Dhoond rakhi hai?" Mami, worried
for her son, cut in "Hello Hi Bye Bye! Woh Girl hum Akash ko dikhai denge, What
you say, Sasuma?"
Nani thought for a while and then nodded her
head, "Manorama Sahi keh rahi hain. Waise bhi hum kitna bhi koshish karlein ki
Chote ko ladki dikhaa dein, uu toh bas baat ko taalne laagat hai. Lagta hai ki
iss baar humka Aakash bitwa ke baare mein sochna chaahiye! Theek hai! Hum aaj
hi Lucknow ki
Kothi tayyar karwa det hain. Anjali Bitiya, tum uu ladki waalon ko bataado ki
Akash ke rishte ke liye hum sabhai aawat hain."
Anjali nodded her head solemnly, still
miffed that her plan to sprung another girl on Chote had backfired so
spectacularly. She closed her eyes and prayed to Devi Ma, "Hey Devi Ma, humaari
toh ek hi kaamna hai aapse ki humaare Chote ko apna jeevan saathi mil jaaye! Unhein
bhi koi saathi mil jaaye! Hamare Chote ke zindagi mein ek aisi ladki bhejo jise
dekhte hi woh unka ho jaaye! Ladki ko parakhne mein jo shart lagaate hain woh
Chote un saari sharton ko bhool jaaye aur bina kuch kahe us ladki ka haath
thaam lein! Hum bas unhein khush dekhna chaahte hain! Humaare Chote ki zindagi
badi khaali aur sooni hai! Ma, Mere Chote ki black and white zindagi ko
colourful kardo. Usmein Khushi bhar do."
Lucknow
"Arrey, Oh Sanka Devi!", a voice roared
throughout the house of Mr. Shashi Gupta, who fortunately was not in the house.
But unfortunate were the members of the house, a certain Mrs. Garima Gupta and
a beautiful Miss. Payal Kumari Gupta who visibly reacted by closing their ears
with their hands while praying to Devi Maiyya to save the so called Sanka Devi.
And the Sanka Devi in question, a certain Miss. Khushi Kumari Gupta reacted by turning
around in the kitchen, huffing a bit and questioning her Devi Maiyya silently why
had this darling Bua decided to visit her Shashi Babua now, and went back to
her work. The mother - daughter duo, Garima and Payal slowly poked their heads
into kitchen, had a look around, shook their head and turned back to their
work, while a confused Bua looked around the kitchen counter which was littered
with nothing but Jalebis and noticed that the Parmeshwari had actually gone on
to make more Jalebis.
"Haiyye Re, Nand Kisore! Arrey, Oh Titaliya,
Ee Sab Jalebian kaahe banaawat ho? Ka Hua? Ab kisne tori sanak khiska di?"
questioned Bua to which Khushi huffed and replied, "Arrey Buaji! Hum kya
hamesha ghusse mein hi Jalebi banaayen kya? Khushi mein nahi bana sakti?"
Bua looked confused, "Khushi, Kauno khushi
ki baat kar rahi ho Titaliya?", enquired Bua. Khushi turned around, hugged her
Bua and spoke, "Jiji ko dekhne ladkewale aa rahe hain, is khushi mein hum
jalebi bana rahe hain." Bua shook her head and told her, "Par bitiya rishta toh
ho jaane do. Abhi toh sirf uu dekhne aa rahe hain!"
Bua turned around and walked towards the
living room and Khushi followed her. Khushi directly went to her sister, pulled
her up and made her stand in front of Bua and said, "Kyon rishta nahi hoga?
Hamaari jiji mein kya kami hai jo woh unhe manaa karde? Dekhna jiji ko dekhte
hi woh jhat se haan kardenge." Saying this, Khushi hugged her sister and sang,
"Meri pyari beheniya banegi dulhaniya" to which Payal blushed and ran away to
her room and Garima laughed softly.
This was the scene to which Shashi Gupta
returned, his sister holding her head, his wife laughing softly, his elder
daughter Payal blushing and his younger daughter Khushi giggling and fooling
around. He still remembered the day Khushi had come into his house. Khushi's parents
had died in a car accident when she was 8 years old and Khushi was to go to Allahabad to her mother's
sister's house. But her maternal Aunt already had a daughter - Lavanya and were
also facing money problems. And that is when Khushi's mother's best friend
Garima had stepped in. As Garima and Shashi Gupta also had a daughter but no
money problems, they decided to adopt Khushi. Shashi fell in love with sweet
little Khushi after meeting her first time. Even though Bua took time to adjust
with her, later on she also fell in love in Khushi too. After two three years, Khushi's
maternal Aunt, sister to her real mother, died due to cancer, and left Lavanya
motherless. Again Garima stepped in and gave the girl a mother's love. Pretty
soon Garima became Amma to three daughters - Eldest in line simple and mature Payal,
Second in line Chatpati and Dreamy Lavanya and Youngest of all Full of fun and
crazy ideas Khushi.
Shashi was stopped from reminicising by
Khushi who went came running towards holding the Jalebis. "Bauji, hum yeh sab
Jalebian Mohalle mein baant aate hain. Waisi bhi sabko pata chalna chahiye ki hamaari
jiji ke liye Dilli se Rajkumar ka rishta aa raha hain." Khushi practically
shouted. Shashi smiled and replied, "Woh sab toh theek hain bitiya par kya
tumne apni behen ko ee baat batayi hain? Lavanya aur uske Babuji ka bhi haq banta
hain yeh khabar jaanneka." Khushi slapped her forehead and replied, "Hey Devi
Maiyya! Humein laga tha ki hum kuch bhool rahe hain! Hum abhi unse baat karte
hain." Khushi did an about turn and ran towards the phone. She picked it up and
dialed the number. After two rings the phone was picked up. Khushi spoke,
"Hello, hum Khushi bol rahe hain." To which she got the reply, "Haan Chamkeeli,
mein Lavanya bol rahi hoon. Bolo kaisi ho? Ghar mein sab theek to hain na? Amma,
Buaji aur Mausaji theek to hai na?"
Soon both the girls were chattering loudly
and after a while, Khushi put down the phone and went on to do her work
happily. She prayed to her Devi Maiyya, "Hey Devi Maiyya! Meri Payal
Jiji Aur Lavanya Di ko khush rakhna aur unhein apne sapnon ka raajkumar dena.
Aur rahi baat hamaari toh, humein toh koi aisa bhejna jo apne parivar se bahut
pyar kare aur hamesha unhein khush rakhein, jaise hum sabko rakhte hain."
Edited by Kalpana_KaCy - 8 years ago
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