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Part 5 - Special Plan
Since the class was over, the gang was contemplating to go in search of Swati Munna. Naina was very worried for her best friend as she felt that Swati might be very upset, hurt, & angry over the humiliation. She might have used harsh words for Munna which might have upset him too as she understood his love for her best friend.
As the next class was free, they thought it would give them time to pacify both & get them to reconcile. As they were planning to head out, Swati & Munna walked in. They seemed happy & much to Naina's surprise & relief, Swati seemed very happy & was smiling. But what she noticed was something different in the way both looked at each other. Sammer & Pandit noticed the same joy reflecting on Munna's face & the twinkle in his eyes while he looked at Swati that he felt whenever Sameer looked at Naina.
Sameer & Naina looked at each other at the same time & questioned each other with raised eyebrows.
"Swati...? Naina looked at Swati & asked in a teasing tone & dancing eyebrows. Swati blushed profusely & looked shyly at Munna & gazed down. Both Naina & Preeti rounded their eyes wide.
Sameer also patted Munna's back.
"Abe Chenu, aisa kya kiya tune? Gaye the rote hue aur muh latkake aur aaye ho tou itna sharma rahe ho? Teased Pandit.
Munna blushed, stole a glance in Swati's direction causing her to blush more, ruffled his hair & smiled shyly.
Naina turned Swati's face towards, saw it turn a deep shade of beet & was surprised all over again.
"Baap re, kya hua aisa ki Swati bhi sharm se laal ho rahi hai pointed out Preeti.
After all, after prodding a bit more, Munna confessed " Wo...aaj meine Swati ko apne dil ki baat bol di aur usne haan kar di.
Pandit almost lost balance "kya...frockwali Pandat se Swati? Yeh kab hua?
"Matlab ILU ILU ho gaya? Asked Sameer.
Munna & Swati couldn't stop blushing & glancing at each other. All the four were extremely happy, they hugged in their trios & cheered the new lovebirds.
Other students started filing in for the next class along with Kartik & Priyank.
"Arre dekh Priyank, pajama chaap proxy master. Lagta hai Sameer ke group ne tou VJN mein Aashiqui ka adda khol rakha hai wo bhi bandar aur gadhon ki toli leke!
Munna was angry but he kept quiet let some his remarks would embarrass Swati & if Kartik directed any comment towards her, he knew a brawl might break out.
But Swati couldn't stand it. She was irked & already angry coz of his previous incident with Preeti.
She slammed her bag on the desk & walked up to Kartik, snapped her fingers in his face "himmat hai tou jo bolna hai muh par bolo na. Kya keh rahe the? Pajama chaap? Kyon? Kyon ki uski angrezi kamzor hai ya hum Hindi medium se hai. Haan, hai hum Hindi medium se, hai angrezi mein haath tang, tou? Lekin dosti aur pyar ke liye jo hum kar sakte hai tum sapne mein bhi nahi soch sakte! Aur aashiqui ka adda, hmmm adde ka tou pataa nahi par hum sab bachpan se ek saath hai, hum ek dusre ke liye kya hai wo tumhe samajh nahi aayega, tum pehle apni dost ko sambhalo...agar mein galat nahi hoon tou tum Sunaina ko pasand karte ho na...par wo tou Sameer ko dekhti rehti hai. Kahi aisa na ho ki tum humse badla lene mein uljhe raho aur wo tumhare haath se nikal jaaye. She snapped her fingers again & went back to her group & sat on her usual bench.
Five pairs of eyes were rounded in shock & surprise & mouths were hanging open.
Seeing their reactions Swati shrugged as if nothing new had happened & it was an everyday thing for her "kya? Tum log aise kyon dekh rahe ho Jaise mere seeng ug aaye ho?
Naina shook her head sightly to bring her back to reality as if it was indeed a dream. She went to sit next to Swati but Swati stopped her "Naina tu kahi aur baith na please, yahan Munna ko baithne de na.
Naina & Preeti were amused, looked at each other & decided to sit behind her. Just then Sameer grabbed the opportunity & immediately came close to her & whispered in her ear "Naina, tum mere saath baitho na please! He pleaded with his eyes making a cute puppy face. How could she deny him.
"Pandit, tu peeche baith ja na.
Thus, the two pairs sat together first time with each other. Pandit lamented "yeh achcha hai, Romeo ko Juliet mil gayi aur Majnu ko Laila, tou ab hume peeche baithna padega.
Both Munna & Sameer glared at him & he relented.
"Ab inn sabki wajah se mujhe tumhare saath baithna padega complained Preeti.
"Tou mujhme mein kya kaatein lage hai? Countered Pandit.
She made a face but sat next to him placing her bag in between them. He couldn't help but smirk slightly. Thanks to his friends love stories, he could at least sit next to a girl. Would he be this happy to sit near any girl or was it particularly Preeti? He didn't know & before he could ponder more, JBR entered to start the next class.
Whenever JBR turned his back to write something on the blackboard, Sameer would be busy flirting with Naina, giving her intense looks & trying to hold her hand under the table. She would give shy looks back. Initially she even tried to free her hand from his grip, but then surrendered knowing that he wasn't going to relent and let go off her. He stared at her continuously while she tried to focus on the lecture.
On the other side, Munna & Swati were also lost in their own world.
"Meine pehle kabhi tujhe aise nahi dekha complemented an amazed Munna.
"Tumhe bandar ya gadha bulane ka haq sirf Mera hai, aur kisika nahi...kisi baharwale ka nahi aur uss bigdail Kartik ka tou bilkul nahi affirmed Swati.
Munna was elated & grinned ear to ear at Swati's possessiveness! All these years he had thought that she didn't have a high opinion about him, and so she tagged him with names equating his character to that of a foolish boy, but now he realized that she had always shown her haq on him & would not allow anyone to encroach on it.
Looking at the four & least interested in the class, Preeti mumbled under the breath "Yaar, inn charon ka tou pyar se hi pet bhar jaayega, par Mujhe tou bhookh lagi hai.
"Fir Chal, hum donon red rose chalte hai, inko prem puja karne de, hum pet puja karte hai...pav bhaji khate hai! Cheered Pandit at the name of hunger & food.
When Preeti agreed with facial expression, he gestured to run out of the class from the back door as soon as JBR turned.
Since Naina- Sameer were sitting in front, they noticed them leave & rolled their eyes behind the foodie duo.
The romance continued away from the prying eyes of the world. Now Sameer had Munna to openly give him company even at home, both boys dreaming abut their girls all the time when not with them & staring & gazing at them with love-filled eyes in college. More often the couples would find chance to sit with each other, forcing even Preeti-Pandit to sit together. Both hardly interested in the ongoings of the class would whisper talk about foods, movies, style, & fashion, realizing that although Pandit didn't have much of fashion sense, he was very much interested in tying out different styles in clothes & hair. During one such conversations, when Preeti casually mentioned that she wished to become a famous fashion stylist, especially hair, he willingly offered himself for her experiments with hair designs.
One day after class, Naina, got up to go to library as 2 classes were free. She wanted to drag Preeti with her as she knew that if not pushed & pressurized, her sister wouldn't study until the last day & then panic & ultimately score lowest enduring the family wrath.
"Preeti, har waqt khane aur fashion mein uljhi rehti hai, aaj mere saath library mein chal aur Thodi padhayee kar le, warna exam ke waqt pareshan ghumti rahegi.
"Behen, mujhe pataa hai mein Teri tarah padhaku nahi hoon par 40-50% marks mein apne dum par hi laati hoon Preeti pulled her imaginary collar praising her proud achievement.
"Naina, in sabko chodo, mein chalta hoon, Sameer grabbed the opportunity to romance his girl in the quiet of the library without even friends gawking at them.
Naina gathered her belongings & while Sameer got up to follow her, he noticed something fell from her bag, he squinted & his eyes fell on something & he halted in his tracks.
"Kya hua Sameer, ruk kyon gaye? Chalo!
"Naina, tum chalo, mein thodi der mein aata hoon. Naina was confused but she let him be thinking that he might want to use the restroom or talk to Munna Pandit. She nodded in agreement & left.
Sameer bent down & picked up Naina's college ID card & recollected how in school, she had obtained his number from his ID card & later had confessed how she had tried all numbers to find the last digit of his phone number.
He knew all the details by heart on her ID card, her full name, address, phone number, but what he wasn't sure until now was her birth date. He had never asked & she had never mentioned.
He continued to stare at it before it dawned on him that the said date was indeed in the next week.
"Itne dhyaan se kya dekh rahe ho Jijaji? Naina tou abhi yahi thi, aur aap chaho tou library mein jaake apna romance continue kar sakte ho. Photo ko ghurne ki kya zaroorat hai! Teased Preeti openly.
"Saaliji, mein photo nahi, date dekh raha tha. Replied Sameer.
When Preeti looked more closely at what he meant by date, she realized it was Naina's birthdate he was talking about & her face fell.
Sameer didn't notice it and continued "kamaal ki baat hai. Naina aur mein dou saal se saath hai, par aaj tak na kabhi usne bataya, an meine pucha aur na hi janne ki koshish ki, apni Naina ke janamdin ke baare mein. Pehle saal mein tou mei theek se use jaanta bhi nahi tha aur shart ke chakkar mein pyar ko daav pe laga diya tha, par tab bhi Naina itna bada risk lekar sirf mere liye meri birthday party mein aayi thi. Aur pichle saal tou mein apne mein hi itna uljha hua tha ki dimaag par taale pad gaye the. Lekin meri Naina tabhi mujhe nahi bhooli. Usne janamdin ke liye ek anmol tohfa bheja tha, ek radiowala keychain, yeh jatane ke liye ki use Pataa hai ki radio ka Prem mein hi hoon.
"Haan, mujhe pataa hai. Uss radio ko dhoondhne ke liye, Ahmedabad ke galiyon ki khaak chaani thi humne aur Naina ne apni puri pocket money kharch kar di thi. Kyon ki radio tou mil gaya, par usme keychain nahi thi, tou Naina ne thaan liya tha, ki tofha yaad bhi dilaye aur kaam bhi aaye Aisa hona chahiye. Aap apni bike ki chaabi usme latka sako. Kitni mushkil se ek aisi dukaan dhoondhi jisme aise keychains banvayi ja sake. Waqt se pehle pocket money khatm ho gayi tou Taiji se thappad bhi pade the Naina ko. Explained Preeti.
Sameer was amazed all over again with the depth of her love. He could still feel the pain she might have gone through in his absence and coz of all those thappads, which she willingly took for him.
"Iss baar aisa kuch nahi hoga. Naina iss saal atharha saal ki hogi tou kuch special tou banta hai. Iss baar hum sab milkar Naina ka birthday bahut special tareeke se celebrate karenge, Decided Sameer.
"Haan haan, kyon nahi bhai, aakhir bhabhi kanoonan shaadi layak jo ho jaayegi. Pandit teased Sameer.
"Chup kar Pandit! Naina tou tayyar ho gayi, magar abhi mujhe tayyar hone mein, kanoonan, dou saal hai. Tab tak galati se bhi uske gharwalon ke dimaag mein uski shaadi ki baat nahi aani chahiye. Abhi sirf party pe focus karo! Warned Sameer.
"Koi party nahi hogi Jijaji. When everyone looked at Preeti with a confused expression, she continued to explain "shayad aapko pata nahi kyonki iss barein mein Naina kabhi baat nahi karti. Par Naina ka janamdin uski Mummy ka marandin hai. Naina ke paida hote hi, Taiji guzar gayi. Mummy be bataya tha ek baar ki Naina ke waqt Taiji ki Tabiyat bahut kharab thi, jaan ka jhokhim tha, fir bhi unhone Naina ko janam diya aur iss duniya se chali gayi. Iss liye tou bachpan se hamesha taiji Naina ko taane marti rehti hai ki paida hote hi ma ko kha gayi, jali hui kundali lekar paida hui hai. Aur iss wajah se aajtak ghar mein kabhi Naina ka janamdin nahi manaya gaya. Jab taiji ke pair chune jaati hai tou aashirwad mein sirf taane milte hai. Aur Rakesh Tauji, waise tou sirf daantte rehte hai par yeh ek din aisa hai, jab pura din woh Naina ko apne samne bardasht bhi nahi kar sakte! Agar galati se bhi dikh gayi tou aisi nazron se dekhenge jaise Naina ne khud apni Mummy ka khoon kar diya ho. Preeti explained the nuances associated with Naina's birthday.
"Haan yaar Sameer, baat tou sahi hai. Hum me bhi bachpan se kabhi Naina ka janamdin mante nahi dekha. Sab apne birthday par party dress mein aate the par Naina ka janamdin kab aya, kab gaya, kabhi pataa hi nahi laga. Confirmed Munna.
"Mein, Preeti aur Arjun bhaiya apni pocket money bachakar Naina ke liye koi gift le aate the aur school mein hi dete the aur agar paise kam ho tou sirf chaat khilane le jate hai Continued Swati.
"Haan, papa bhi naina ke liye kuch laate hai aur agar taiji na ho tou Mummy uska manpasand khana bana deti hai! Naina sabke janamdin ki taiyyari karti hai par hum Sab chahkar bhi uske liye jyaada kuch nahi kar paate. Completed Preeti with a heavy heart & disappointment in the voice.
Sameer could see the regret and sadness on Preeti & Swati's face for not being able to make their sister & friend's day special for her. How many years Naina had suffered alone in silence. She always gave herself selflessly to all those she loved, even to her dad & taiji who cared 2 hoots about her & in return she didn't even get a word of praise or a wish or blessing on her birthday. But this time, he was gona make it very special for her. If her family didn't care for her enough, it was their loss as they didn't value the gem born in their house, he had also acted stupid long enough committing the same errors, but now, he would make sure that henceforth all her birthdays & each day would be very special for her just like she made him feel special all the time with her unconditional love, care & concern showering on him always. His every scar, every frown, every smile mattered to her. She was very stubborn when it came to him & never let go even in the toughest times, her faith in him was unshakeable & she had moved mountains and walked the hells of fire for him. Now he was going to do everything in his power & beyond to ensure the smile on her face remained always.
P.S. The part got too long to type on phone... but promise to upload he next one today.
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