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||Sameer-Naina OS: Sorry||
The house was unusually silent today. So silent that even silence felt alien being there. The home was the temple of chatters, laughter and total chaos so when The Lady of the House Maheshwari decided to lock herself up in their room banging the door in seething anger, every object in that house if could speak would have agreed that they knew it has hit rock bottom and the Man of the House Maheshwari was in for some big trouble.
"Naina! Come On! Open the door! Please!" Sameer knocked on the door for the umpteenth time.
Silence.
That's all he got in return. He had been trying to get his wife to talk to him since the last three hours but Naina Maheshwari seemed to have picked on some of his own traits over the years with him- one being the stubbornness.
They were doing totally well till three hours before. It was Munna and Swati's anniversary party and they all were having fun till Munna decided to go all Munna-ing and started blabbering about the last night-out they had secretly been on over the past weekend, what he didn't realise was that girls were standing in a earshot distance. From there it all escalated quickly to say it in the most dignified manner.
"Sameer, you lied to me about the night out?" Naina asked with her widened eyes and that was it.She stormed off the party with a nervous-all over the place Sameer chasing behind.
"You broke our promise and you lied!" She yelled at him and pulled the car out of the driveway leaving Sameer stranded.
"Stupid Munna!" Sameer cursed his best friend in the silence of his home.
The fact that Sameer lied to Naina wasn't enough that Naina also had to come to know that this whole plan was his idea too. In all this his promise to her of never lying ever, the first promise he ever made to her in all honesty, the promise he had stayed true to since then broke and that clearly wasn't helping much and Sameer knew in his stupidity of a boys weekend he had hurt Naina.
"I am sorry Naina! I thought you wouldn't let me go for it and I know it was stupid and wrong but I swear it was just three of us there. Me, Munna and Pandit! Come on Naina! Open the door!" Sameer made another attempt but in vain.
Tired of her silent treatment Sameer slumped his body on the couch and sat down in exhaustion and guilt. After few moments he got up with a twinkle in his eyes,
"Enough is enough! It's time to rock and roll some Sameer Maheshwari charm." Sameer smiled and let out a smirk.
Sameer knew no flowers and chocolates could lessen her anger as of now and he knew exactly what would work. He ran into the other room and opened the box that had his belongings. . .the pen his Nanu had gifted him when he got admission in his dream college, the present his mom had gave him when he lost the head boy race, few other things that he didn't have time to reminisce right now because they came from the person whom he had hurt. Below all the stuff kept against the right corner was the red and black device he was searching for- his tape recorder.
For others, its winds and moon who all other stuff poets talk about which acts as their messenger of love. In their love story- it was this. The tape recorder.
He can't even remember how many times they have used it to tell their feelings to each other. Love, Hate, Anger, Warmth it had passed all and they have went through all.
He smiled thinking about the old days. So much has changed since then. But some things are meant to be a constant, like them, like their love and unfortunately Sameer's stupidity too.
Sameer huffed at himself.
"Lesson from this fight: I should never trust my ideas. I should be banned from having ideas altogether. But its okay, Naina had never been able to resist Sameer's charms and today was he had to prove that her man still got it." Sameer smiled thinking to himself.
******
Naina was sitting at the corner of her bed and she was mad with a capital M. Sameer lied to her and for what, a stupid night out with his friends. She tried not to be but it hurt. He broke their first promise, others would say it wasn't a big deal, it wasjust stupid and Naina felt that too. But her anger was too much to even think about letting it go. It was like being back in eleventh, it was like being told that all of Sameer's gestures that she had taken in to be his love were all just for a bet. She had felt exactly like this, cheated and hurt. She tried to dismiss those thoughts and got up to have glass of water. As she kept the glass back on the table after drinking it her landline started ringing.
It was weird. Not many people really called on her landline. She and Sameer had kept it for their love for landlines. It was like having a piece of their laid back, good old days.
She absent mindedly picked up the phone.
"Hello!"
No answer.
"Hello?"
No answer again. She was about to cut the line when something clicked on the other side and the music came on.
"acha kaho chahe bura kaho jhutha kaho chahe sacha kaho
acha kaho bura kaho jhutha kaho sacha kaho hamko sab kabul
hamse bhul ho gayi hamka mafi dai do
hamse bhul ho gayi hamka mafi dai do
hanji bhul ho gayi hamka mafi dai do
acha kaho chahe bura kaho jhutha kaho chahe sacha kaho
hamko sab kabul, hamse bhul ho gayi hamka mafi dai do
hanji bhul ho gayi hamka mafi dai do"
The music stopped and her heart beats raced just like they used to all those years ago and Naina's face broke into a smile.
"I am sorry Naina!" Sameer's earnest voice filled her ears.
She kept the receiver on the side and opened her cassette case and pulled out her thirty year old walkman and put the cassette in. She forwarded the song which Sameer had so sweetly made her listen and clicked play keeping the receiver beside.
"kuch karlo nahi manu tum kaya ho mai janu
mai surat na dekhu mai dil ko pahchanu
aise ho waise ho kaise kahu kaise ho"
And stopped. Sameer huffed on the other side and Naina smirked.
Did he really think it wss going to be this easy?
Sameer knew his Song A had failed. It was time to move to Song B!
While Naina awaited his next action with a kind of excitement she would never tell him he had made her feel, Sameer changed the casstte hurriedly and played another song.
"Mere Saamne Waali Khidki Mein
Ek Chaand Ka Tukda Rehta Hai
Afsos Ye Hai Ke Vo Hamse
Kuchh Ukhda Ukhda Rehta Hai"
Naina had almost laughed at that but controlled herself and changed her own casette to Side B and played the song in answer.
"Tum to dhokebaaz ho
Waada karke bhool jaate ho
Roz roz tum jo sanam aisa karoge
Roz roz tum jo sanam aisa karoge
Hum jo rooth jaayenge to haath maloge"
Sameer smiled at that. He knew she was telling him that she wasn't mad at him because he went out with his friends, she was mad because he lied to her.
He played the next song coaxing her to just come to him.
"Na Jaa Kahin Ab Na Jaa Dil Ke Siva
Hai Yahi Dil Kucha Tera
Aye Mere Hamdam Mere Dost
Naa Jaa Kahiin Ab Na Jaa"
But her answer broke his heart.
Tujhe yaad na meri aayi kisi se ab kya kehna
Dil roya ki ankh bhar aayi kisi se ab kya kehna
Sameer hadn't felt so guilty in a long time. This was the same song she had played to him in one of those blank calls after she got to know about the bet in school. It made him feel the amount of her hurt then, it did the same now.He understood she was badly hurt by the fact that he broke the promise and lied. . .it probably reminded her of what he had done all those years ago.
They both stayed quiet for a long time holding the receiver just listening to each other's silence.
A tear trickled down Naina's face knowing that he has got her message. Sometimes, some painful memories seems so dead that you think it wouldn't ever trouble you now but sometimes its just one touch is all that is needed to bring them back to life, no matter how many years have passed and that is what Sameer had done to Naina with his 'silly' lie.
Sameer took a heavy breath and played the song his heart asked him. . .
Jab koi baat bigad jaye
jab koi mushkil pad jaye
Tum dena sath mera, o humnava
Na koi hai, na koi tha
zindagi mein tumhare siva
Tum dena sath mera, o humnava
Ho chandani jab tak raat
deta hai har koi sath
Tum magar andheron mein
na chhodna mera haath"
Sameer pressed stop and breathed his voice over the receiver,
"I am sorry Naina. I really am. But you know I love you."
There was silence on the other side. Sameer was going to keep the phone down in defeat when music started playing om the other side.
"Vafadari ki woh rasmein
nibhaenge hum tum kasamein,
Ek bhi saans zindagi ki
jab tak ho apane bas mein"
Sameer smiled brightly listening to it and thanked God when Naina spoke from the door
"I love you too. But if you do it next time. . .I will cut your hairs myself."
Sameer turned and saw her standing in front of him, he smiled and walked upto her. . .she was so beautiful even with her smudged mascara and the wet eyes. . .
"No you won't. You love my Prem wala Salman Khan style hairs!" Sameer teased her.
"That means you will lie. . .Again!" Naina started to go but Sameer was quick this time.
"What? No! I know if I do it again you will go back to your khadoos pitashree!"
Sameer dared to say and Naina's mouth fell open and just like that chaos was back to rule as the two grown up lovebirds were back to giving the live telecast of the 90s Tom and Jerry chase fights again.
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