Part-1
"Badi Malkin! Pani khatam ho gaya hai ab kya karenge?'' The tent owner asked Taiji as the water supply halted because of electricity failure.
"O Bai!Tum log koun ho?Pani khatam ho gaya hai to main kya karun?'' Taiji asked in her usual style.
"Hum tent wale hein.Aap pani ka intezaam kijiye nahin to aaj ka dawat to hone se raha''The tent owner clarified as he instructed his boys to chop the vegetables.
"Newah!Sab kaam hum hi kare.Jiski beti ki shaadi wo dekho use koi fikr hi nahin.Maje me gappe lagayi baithi hai.''Taiji crunched her nose in disgust as her eyes fell on Chachiji chatting away happily with her relatives.
"Bela! Idhar aa'' Taiji called as she could no longer stand the scene of Chachiji happily whiling away time.
"Ji Bhabiji!Kuch kaam tha?Bhagwan jhooth na bulaye!Tent walon ne to sara intezaam karke rakha hai''.Chachiji exclaimed happily seeing all arrangements up to date and on point.
"Newah! Koi intezaam nahin kiya hai.Sab sirf paisa lootne pe ade hein.Pani khatam ho gaya hai.Mehendi khatam bhi hojayegi aur logon ko khali pet lautna padega.Humari izzat to mitti mein mil jaaye sabki yehi mannat hai''.Taiji loathed as Bela Chachi looked shocked.
"KYA?Pani khatam ho gaya.Bhagban jhooth na bulaye!Meri bachi ki shaadi mein aise apshakun,itne rukawat kyun?'' Chachiji cursed her stars as she decided upon something.
"Naina! Preeti!'' Chachiji called seeing both sisters sitting choosing mehendi designs from magazines.
"Ji Chachiji! Kuch kaam tha? ''Naina asked seeing the worried lines on her beloved Chachiji's forehead.
"Kuch nahin bahut kaam hai.Pani khatam ho gaya hai.Ab tum log jyada halaa mat machao.Tum aur Preeti abhi jaake kuvaa(well) jo yahin pichwade mein hai ussi se paani nikal do.Current an eke baad dekhenge.Jaldi karo.'' Chachiji instructed while both girls looked in shock at each other.
"Mummy bhi na!Kuch bhi kehti rehti hai.Pani nikale wo bhi kuvaa se upar se itne kum time mein.Main to pani nikalte nikalte hi kuvaa mein kud jaungi.Roz roz tinde to nahin khane padenge.'' Preeti sulked at the idea of drawing water from well and filling in large drums.
"Par karna to padega.Humari Pooja Di ki shaadi hai.Aur kise kahenge? ''Naina consoled Preeti and both set away to draw the water.
"Tum?Yahan kya kar rahe ho?''Naina exclaimed in shock seeing Sameer,Munna and Pandit already at the well.
"Wohi jo tum karne aye ho''.Sameer said as he readied himself to draw the water.
"Tumhe kuvaa se pani nikalna nahin aata.Chodo yeh sab natak aur jao yahan se''. Naina voiced angrily and tied her duppatta on her waist to avoid getting the duppatta wet.
"Naina!Tum jao yahan se.Munna Pandit aur mein kar lenge yeh sab.Tum apna Mehendi dekho.'' Sameer voiced as he lowered the bucket inside the well.
"Naina! Ab yeh log itna keh rahe hein to chalte hein na..Thank you Sameer.''Preeti said as she pulled Naina to leave.
"Preeti!Tu jaa.Main yahin rahungi aur kaam karungi.Meri apne Didi ki shaadi hai aur isme baharwale saare kaam kare mujhe nahin pasand.''Naina spitted as she successfully drew a bucket of water out of the well.
"Aur main wahan rahungi to aaj bhi Mummy mujhe tinde hi khilayegi.Pandit!Wo balti do'' Preeti asked as she too tied her dupatta around the waist.
"Tum nahin kar paoge.Jao yahan se. ''Naina winced yet voiced in anger seeing Sameer's palm getting bruised due to his lack of experience with these sorts of chores.
"Kar paunga.Tum pehle khudko sambhalo.'' He said as he filled a drum to half.
"Mujhe yeh sab karne ki thodi aadat hai jo tumhare paas nahin hai.''Naina voiced as she tried to lift the water filled bucket from inside the well.
"Dheere dheere sab sikh jaunga.'' He voiced as he helped her draw the bucket out of the well.
"Bhai sahib!Pani bhara ki nahin?'' One of the tent boys asked as he came to fetch the water filled drums.
"Haan haan bhar raha hai.Itne saare log mile huyen hein tujhe dikh nahin raha hai?'' Munna angrily voiced as he was hell tired by then pulling the buckets out.
"Jaldi karo.Wahan chula jalne ko ready hai.''The boy informed and called another boy to help him in drawing waters.
"Naina! Abhi bhi keh raha hun tum chale jao.Main sambhal lunga.'' Sameer voiced as he saw the boys throwing lecherous glances at his girl.
"Main kyun javun?Aur tum kitna sambhal sakte hoy eh mujhe samjhane ki koi zaroorat nahin hai.Ache se samjh chuki hoon tumhe aur tumhare sambhalne ki kabiliyat ko''. Naina said and stood on her tiptoes to pull the water filled bucket.
"Naina!Kya kar rahi hai?Gir jayegi. ''Preeti voiced seeing Naina pulling the bucket with much pressure on her toes and she feared Naina would definitely stumble.
"Tu apna kaam kar aur mujhe apna kaam ... ''Naina could not mouth the next words.The bucket lurched forward and the gush of water splashed upon her.
Sameer stepped back as he saw the water splash so hard.As he stepped away from the footing,his gaze ran over her face.The face which had a playful smile. With the beautiful smile she is addictive. The water specks on her eye lashes stirs a tornado in his mind.She is beautiful mess and he is in a delightful chaos.Loving her is a splendid and sensuous adventure. He could see how the wet delicate fabric hugged her curves as she inhaled and exhaled with deep breaths.His eyes twinkled as he took in her beauty and all he could think about was how he wanted to pull her into his arms and kiss her senseless.He also knew that wouldn't be possible-at least not right now.
As his devouring eyes left her to concentrate on the work at hand he found the tent boys ogling at her.He looked at her and found her all engrossed in trying to pull out another bucket of water oblivious of the gazes and stares she is receiving.His eyes dilated in anger and his fist balled to beat the crap out of those boys but his logical mind took over his mad self.He had learnt from Nanu that best fighter never gets angry.
He yanked the tied duppata from her waist and turned her around.She looked shocked at his sudden movements.He unfurled the duppatta and put it on her upper body contented that his possession was safe from lewd eyes.
"Kya kar.. rahe ho?'' She finally found her voice back after initial shock due to his actions.
"Wohi jo karna chahiye.'' He voiced meeting her eyes with the rage of possessiveness.
"Kisne tumhe haq diya yeh sab karne ki? ''She tried masking her fear of slipping away to his care and protectiveness once again.Perhaps her anger could dissipate the few feelings that were flickering inside her.
"Tumne! ''He whispered and inched away to fill the drums.
"Samjhta kya hai khudko?'' She asked herself in disgust and again tied the duppatta on her waist much to disappointment of Sameer.How would he make his girl understand?Why this behenji is so stubborn?
"Maal hai!'' One of the boys whispered to the other one while the words fell into Sameer's ears.The boys were surely testing his patience.If Naina and Preeti would not have been present there he would have straight forwardly murdered them.
"Tum logon ka kaam dhanda nahin hai?Yahan kya kar rahe ho?Jao yahan se.''He uttered with fury laced in his voice.The boys could definitely see anger in his eyes while Munna,Pandit,Preeti and Naina looked up to see the sudden outburst from him.
"Kyun jaayen?Hum to madad kar rahe hein.'' One of the boys voiced realizing the probable reason behind the outburst.
"Bahut ho gayi madad.AB JAO YAHAN SE.''His voice got more stronger with every syllable he spoke.Munna and Pandit were quick to realize that something was amiss.
"Ye bhai jao na..Hum pahuncha denge paani.Tum jaake sabzi kato.E Pandit! Bhaga inko yahan se.'' Munna said as he consoled Sameer's angry self.
"Haan haan jaa rahen hein.Socha tha hum bhi thoda picture dekh lete " One of them voiced while Munna had a hard time controlling Sameer and keeping him in grip after words reached them.
"Munna! Chod mujhe..Abhi isko poora picture dikhadunga.''Sameer uttered as he tried vainly to free himself from Munna's tight hold.
"Sameer shant ho jaa.Wo log chale gaye na.Ab paani nikalte hein.Yeh time ladne jhagdne ka nahin.'' Munna consoled Sameer and tried to made him see sense.
"Arey! Tum gussa kyun ho rahe ho?Aur yeh kis picture ki baat kar raha tha?''Preeti asked completely surprised by the dialogues exchanged and looked at Naina to see if she could fathom the dialogues and reason of Sameer's sudden outburst.
"Awaron ka kya hai?Humesha to ladai jhagda aur shart jaise gandi chizon mein hi dimag hota hai.Chal Preeti!Jaldi kaam khatam karte hein''. Naina uttered while Preeti nodded not entirely convinced of Naina's explanation.
As all got back to work,Preeti remained un mindful about the events that happened few minutes ago.As she tried joining the dots she failed to realise that she has not properly tied the rope to the bucket which she was lowering to fill.
"NAINA! ''Preeti shouted shocked while everybody looked at her in surprise.
"Kya hua? ''Naina asked worried seeing worriedness written all over Preeti's face.
"Balti gir gayi kuvaa mein.Rassi nikal gayi uski.Ab kya karein?'' Preeti asked worried with the prospects of being scolded.
"Koi kaam tujhse dhang se nahin hota.Kis film ke bare mein soch rahi thi? Jaa aur wo lohe ki chain leke aa Meghaben ke ghar se.Ab yeh balti humein hi nikalni padegi.''Naina instructed while Preeti ran obliging to her topper sister's words.
"Yeh le! Par paani ka level to kam hai..Humari haath nahin pahunchega.Main wo tent walon ko bulake laati hun.Wo madad kar denge.''Preeti said excited about her idea only to hear-
"Koi zaroorat nahin hai.Hum kar lenge.'' From Sameer.
"Tumhari problem kya hai unn ladko se?'' Preeti voiced pissed with Sameer's attitude.
"Tum nahin samjhoge.Yeh balti hum nikal lenge''.Sameer spoke not wanting to divulge the secrets.
"Thik hai .Nikalo.'' Preeti uttered as she threw the chain with hook at his feet.
"Koi kaam nahin karne walon ko kya pata hoga ki kuvaa se balti kaise nikalte hein. ''Naina smirked as she saw Sameer's confused face.
"Tu iss chain ko seedha karke pakad.Main nikalti hun balti.Akhir yeh log bhi dekhen Naina Agarwal itni bhi bholi nahin hai aur sirf padhaku nahin hai''.Naina spoke with attitude and Sameer knew the words were meant for him.
"Thoda aur khinch to ...chain ko.''. Naina voiced as she balanced herself on her toes on the footing.Sameer badly wanted to hold her steady for he feared that she might lose her balance any moment. He could see her perched on the cement casing of well putting pressure on her spine.
"Haan haan ho raha hai...Bas thoda...''Naina's words got stuck in her mouth as the back buttons of her salwar's kameez went flying due to the excessive pressure exerted on the fabric due to her perching.The kameez's stitch ripped open exposing her back midriff much to embarrassment of Naina and shock of Sameer and Preeti.
"NAINA! ''Preeti put her hands on mouth realising three stranger boys were around them.Naina instinctively put her fingers on the ripped part trying vainly to cover herself while Preeti was clueless of the possible solution.
He looked into her eyes and read the shyness and embarrassment etched in them.He assured her that everything is fine with an assuring nod.He gestured Preeti to cover her back with her duppatta since Naina was too numb to think of something.
"Munna!Pandit! Thodi der ke liye jao yahan se.'' He spoke while Munna and Pandit left without a further question.
"Tum yahan ruk ke kya karoge? ''Preeti asked seeing Sameer staying back and in such an embarrassing situation.
"Jo mujhe karna chahiye.'' He said as he thought of a plan.
"Preeti! Ab aise wapas to nahin jaa sakti.Yeh duppatta to net wali hai.Sab dikhta hai''.Naina asked teary eyed while Preeti looked worried at messed up situation.
"Hey Bhagwan! Tumhe sharam nahin aa rahi hai to ladkiyon ke aage shirt utarte huye?'' Preeti voiced shocked seeing Sameer unbuttoning his shirt.
"Tumhe sharam aa rahi hai to apna aankhe band kar lo.'' Sameer spoke straight as he removed his shirt.
"Naina!'' He called her with all his love and she looked at him with tears in eyes and hints of embarrassment.
"Yeh lo!Yeh shirt pehen lo.'' He said as he extended his shirt with a nod that promised her that he was the guard of her honour.In times of prosperity or peril he would always stand by her and save her from prying eyes no matter what.
"Thank you.'' She whispered and quickly donned on the shirt much to surprise of Preeti.
"Ab tum dono jao yahan se aur Preeti! Munna ,Pandit ko bhej dena yahan.Ab bhi bahut kaam baaki hai.''Sameer asked Preeti while Preeti's mind was jammed with numerous questions.
"Haan bhej rahi hun. ''Preeti uttered as they both were leaving.
"Naina! Sameer aur tere bich koi chakkar hai kya?'' Preeti asked straight not beating the bush.
"Kyun?Tujhe aisa kyun laga?'' Naina asked horrified.
"Nahin bas laga isliye puch rahi hoon.Khair chod.Ab jaldi chal aur kapde badal.'' Preeti pulled Naina while Naina was still in daze from the loving gesture of Sameer and intense oak muss and musk fragrance of his shirt.
(To be Continued)
P.S.:Thank you for reading.😃 Would love to read all your feedbacks.😳
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