Chapter 3
Previously : Roshni meets Arjun and Neha on their train journey to Kolkata and bond well.
Two days later,
Kolkata,
Victoria Memorial Museum
Arjun and Neha reached the museum and bought the tickets. They were about to go in when they heard a familiar voice.
"Mere bina hi ja rahe ho?" Roshni asked, "Sorry, thoda late ho gaya."
"Roshni? What a pleasant surprise!" Arjun tried to hide his happiness.
"You guys continue, I'm going to see the museum." Neha left the two alone.
"Arjun, you don't seem happy to see me."
"No, just surprised, I didn't know you were coming."
"Your sister invited me and you didn't know?" Roshni raised a brow.
"She talks about everything unimportant all the time. Let's go in?"
"Yahan pehli baar aaye ho?" Roshni asked.
"Nahi. Kaafi baar. Iss baar nahi aana tha lekin babysitting karni padti hai na."
Roshni chuckled at his stupid response. "Mujhe yahan ki paintings dekhna bahot pasand hai."
"Are you an artist?"
"Nahi, bas shaukh hai, thoda bahot painting kar leti hu."
"Achha hai. Jo bhi achha lage wo karte rehna chahiye."
"Tumhari hobbies kya hai?"
"I love reading-"
She interrupted, "Wo to train mein dekh liya. Bahot padhaku ho. Padhai ke alawa bhi kuch karte ho?"
"Haan, I play guitar, football, badminton and umm.. a few other things. What about you?"
"I love drawing, listening to music, reading novels, and playing with animals, even rescuing them."
"Interesting!"
"OMG! You're still here?" Neha interrupted their conversation, "Can we hurry up and go to the other section?"
Arjun raised a brow, "You want to leave early, you?"
"Are you coming?" She snapped.
"What happened Neha?" Roshni sensed something off.
"Nothing. I'm bored. Let's go." She held Arjun's hand and started walking, they followed.
The trio visited other places and returned to their places later that night.
Neha finished her dinner quickly and rushed to her room. She penned down something in her diary and put it away. She pulled the comforter over her head and closed her eyes, silently sobbing. She heard familiar footsteps approaching and stifled her cry.
"Dollie?" Arjun tried to pull the comforter away from her face. "Kya hua? Itni jaldi upar kyu aa gayi?"
"I'm tired, I wanna sleep." She said looking at the wall on other side.
"Tum ro rahi ho? Kya hua? Maa ki yaad aa rahi hai?"
"Nahi. Thak gayi hu, bas."
Arjun tried to look at her face but couldn't. His gut feeling said something was amiss. "Nehu, aye nehuli, batao kya hua hai?"
"Kal bataungi bhaiya, abhi sone do." She turned around and pulled comforter over.
Arjun saw her diary lying on the bedside table. He picked it up, turned off the lights and sat near the window reading the page she had kept her pen in.
Arjun flipped the page and read another poem and then re-read the three poems several times. He felt a punch in his gut and his blood was boiling in rage. He found it difficult to believe his little sister had been through all this hell.
"Arjun beta!" Yashwant sat beside him, "Yahan kya kar rahe ho? Soye nahi abhi tak?"
Arjun shook himself out of his thoughts, "Kuch nahi mama, bas padh raha tha, sone jaa raha hu."
"Hamari Radha beti naraz hai kya?"
"Nahi to," Arjun smiled, "aaj bahot ghoome na to thoda thak gayi hai."
"Hmm.." Yashwant nodded, "Tum mujhse jhoot bolo itne bade nahi huye ho beta, itte se the tab se inn hathon mein khele ho. Tumhari rag rag se wakif hun."
"Aisi baat nahi hai mama, wo to bas-"
"Koi baat nahi beta, ab tum bade ho gaye ho, zimmedar bhi ho gaye ho, bas ek baat yaad rakhna, kuch bhi problem ho, kahin bhi, kabhi bhi, mujhe bata sakte ho. Thik hai?" Yashwant patted his back.
"Ji mama. Goodnight."
"Goodnight beta."
~
Next Morning,
"Bhaiya!" Neha woke him up, "Utho, kuch baat karni hai."
Arjun rubbed his eyes, "kya hua?"
"How serious are you?"
"About?" Arjun sat upright.
"Roshni."
Arjun frowned, "Be resepctful, she's a lot older than you."
"That's her name. Unless you want me to call her bhabhi already."
Arjun smacked her head, "Shut up."
"Are you really serious about her or is this going to be another casual hookup?"
"I don't know. I-"
"Don't you dare play with her feelings bhaiya, I've seen you do that a lot of times. She's just too innocent and simple. Don't break her heart."
"It's just too soon to say anything."
"Soon? I saw you two yesterday. It was not too soon. I saw what you were doing."
"What did I do?"
"The way you kept looking at her, even in train. Don't think I didn't notice why you were on top berth all the time check her out."
"Excuse me. I didn't do any of that."
"Bhaiya, I've seen enough creeps to know-"
"What?"
She gulped, "I mean..."
"What happened yesterday? Did someone-"
"A few randos said some dirty things and creeped me out. I don't wanna talk about it."
"Why didn't you tell me then?"
"What difference does it make? You'll say something today, they'll stop for few days and be back to their bullshit again."
"That's not how it works."
"That is how it works bhaiya. I know. I've had enough experiences to know it happens all the time to almost every girl."
Arjun looked at her, he felt helpless for probably the first time. He couldn't protect her from something so mundane and she had already experienced it, she was not even sixteen yet.
"Bhaiya, please tell me you are different. You don't make other girls feel the way-" she teared up.
"Hey!" Arjun wiped her tears, "You know I would never."
"Thanks. Also, she's just too good, so be honest about your feelings."
"As you wish."
"You're the best, bhaiya!" She hugged him.
~*~
To be continued...
Hope you liked it!
If the images of poems don't load, you can find them here.😳
comment:
p_commentcount