“Raavi, mujhe pyaar ho gaya hai.”
Raavi looked at her friend who was literally jumping with joy. Sneha hugged Raavi from behind. Raavi knew what it was like to be in love so she was really happy for Sneha. Raavi dragged her to their college canteen so they could sit and talk in peace. Finally, her friend would understand her obsession with Dev, now that she too, was in love.
“Chal bata kaun hai woh.”
“Bataungi. Par tu promise kar tu meri help karegi.”
“Of course help karungi. Tu bata. Kaun hai woh insaan jisse tujhe itna pyaar ho gaya hai?” Raavi teased.
“Shiva.” Sneha blushed.
Raavi was dumbstruck. Did she just say Shiva? Her Shiva? No. This just couldn’t be. Shiva and Sneha. No way. Sneha was so boring. Shiva deserved much better. But no. Shiva and Sneha, even the thought of them made her sick.
“Tu pagal ho gayi hai!” Raavi shouted. “Shiva ko na tu bhul ja. Woh... woh pagal hai aur tum dono ka koi mel nahi hai.”
“Raavi, yeh kya baat hui. Tu meri help karne wali thi na!” Sneha was upset.
“Par mujhe kya pata tha tujhe Shiva pasand aa jayega. Dekh, Shiva ko tujh me koi interest nahi hai. In fact use kisi me bhi koi interest nahi hai. Woh bohot rude hai, tu usse baat bhi karne jayega toh woh tujhe kaatne aayega.”
Saying this, Raavi went to her next lecture. Normally she bunked every lecture but today, she wanted to avoid Sneha for the rest of the day. She was angry, very, very angry. How could Sneha like her Shiva? He was going to be her devar and she had every right to select her own devrani. Also, how could anyone fall in love with Shiva? He was the rudest, meanest guy in Somnath.
When two of her lectures got over, Raavi decided to go home. All this stress had worn her out and she needed her beauty sleep. But as she stepped out of her college, she found Shiva and Sneha together. Shiva was on his bike and Sneha was standing and talking to him. Raavi saw red. She looked at Shiva and realised he was not angry. In fact, he was talking to her normally, like a human being. Shiva never spoke to her like that. Raavi was both angry and hurt. She thought she was the only girl he spoke to.
She marched right where they were standing. They stopped talking and turned towards her. Sneha took a step back seeing the anger on her face. “Shiva, tu yaha kya kar raha hai?” Her eyes didn’t match her happy tone.
“Dhara bhabhi ne halwa bheja hai tere liye.”
Raavi’s anger almost disappeared. She loved Dhara Di’s halwa. But then she looked at Sneha who couldn’t keep her eyes off of Shiva and her anger came back. She went and sat behind Shiva on his bike.
“Ae mami ki behen ki beti, kya kar rahi hai?” Shiva asked.
Leave it to Shiva to spoil everything, Raavi thought. “Mere saare lectures khatam ho gaye. Tu mujhe ghar leke chal, main Dhara di ko thank you bolungi.”
“Koi zaroorat nahi hai. Ghar mein chipkali nahi chahiye mujhe.” Shiva said. “Utar.”
Raavi got off. She saw Sneha laughing from the corner of her eyes. Suddenly, she felt like crying. Why did Shiva have to behave this way in front of Sneha? She was trying to save him from this chudail. As Shiva kick started his bike, Sneha touched his hand.
“Shiva, main shaam ko milungi tumse dukan pe.”
“Haa thik hai.” Shiva said and drove away.
Raavi couldn’t believe this flirt, chipku Sneha. She felt like ruining Sneha’s makeup and breaking her leg. Sneha went away chuckling, but Raavi only saw red. She had to go and knock some sense into Shiva.
She took an auto to Pandya store. Shiva was inside doing inventory. Raavi took all the receipts from his hands and stood in front of him. He tried to snatch them back from her but she wouldn’t give them back.
“Ae gadheri, dimaag kharab ho gaya hai kya?”
“Dimaag tera kharab hua hai. Kya zaroorat thi uss Sneha se baat karne ki? Aur yeh kya shaam ko milne ka program bana rahe the tum dono?”
Now Shiva was confused. Why was this chipkali acting this way? “Tujhe kya matlab?”
“Mujhe matlab hai. Tu promise kar tu usse nahi milega phir kabhi.” Raavi said.
“Tere dimaag ka ilaaj karana parega.” He tried to get back to work. But Raavi again came in front of him, and this time held his collar and pulled him closer.
Shiva was now uncomfortable with how close they were standing but Raavi seemed oblivious. “Tujhe kya matlab main usse milu ya nahi.”
“Matlab hai. Woh ek number ki chipku chudail hai. Tu bass usse dur rahega.” Raavi said. “Aur tujhe kya zaroorat thi usse itne achhe se baat karne ki?
“Woh customer hai hamari. Toh achhe se baat toh karna parega.”
Now Raavi understood. Shiva was just like other men. She always thought he was different but alas, he turned out to be the same. Perhaps he deserved a dayan like Sneha only. She couldn’t believe he used the customer excuse. Raavi had seen Shiva being his usual rude self to customers.
“Ab pata chala tu bhi baaki ladko jaisa hai. Ek ladki ne thoda bhav kya diya, tu toh uske piche hi par gaya. Sharam kar. Main tujhe sharif insaan samajhti thi.”
“Ae, kya ulta seedha bak rahi hai. Mujhe uss mein koi interest nahi hai.”
Raavi’s mood took a u-turn all of a sudden and she smiled. “Sachhi? Mujhe pata tha mera Shiva uss jaisi chudail ki taraf dekhega bhi nahi. Par sunn le, uske iraade bilkul thik nahi hai toh zyada achhe se baat karne ki zaroorat nahi. Jitna kaam hai bas utna. Aur usne tujhe wapas touch kiya na toh main uska haath tod dungi.”
Shiva had completely zoned out after she said Mera Shiva. His little chipkali was jealous, his plan worked. He purposely asked Dhara bhabi to make her special halwa and went to her college. There he found Sneha, who he knew was head over heels for him. And he knew talking to her nicely would drive this Mami ki behen ki beti crazy. He smiled. Now she felt what he felt every time he saw her with Dev. Maybe someday she would realise that he was the one for her, not Dev. A few more encounters like this, and Raavi would say I Love You to him.
comment:
p_commentcount