It had been 3 months since ishita and raman had been married and although their relation had been far away from love or even a proper friendship but they had developed a bond of trust and respect with each other. They both knew that although they had married for ruhi's sake and had hated each other before the wedding but now after these 3 months , they surely did not hate each other ,infact away from hate , they respected each other for whatever they were.
Once it was a normal afternoon in both their lives when raman was forced by a friend of his to attend a small bonfire party wid his wife at night and although he was a bit apprehensive abt going there but as he cud not say no to his friend, he called ishita up in the afternoon to be ready by 8 in the evening.
Ishita who was not used to attending such parties very often was hesitant at first but then she agreed to get ready as she knew it was the least she cud do for raman as well as to improve their formal relationship which was turning into informal and personal one since last few days. Yup their close by chance encounters did make her feel something for him and although not love , she hoped that they wud become friends sooner or later. So when raman asked her for this party , she agreed and felt a bit happy too abt attending it . she started preparing to get ready for the party.
Meanwhile raman kumar bhalla was in confusion all the while these days. Since few days whenever he was in proximity of his wife, he cud feel something inside him growing for her and he was scared that these feelings wud ruin it again , this time for both him and her and so he tried to maintain a safe distance from her.
But this was not meant to be as this party spoiled it for him , he knew it becoz the moment he saw ishita in simple pink saaree wid open hair and minimal makeup moving towards him, he felt as if his breath hitched, his heart almost started beating wildly for a moment and he cud not move away his eyes from looking at her. Finally after minutes of silence , ishita finally snapped his out of his trance and he smiled awkwardly and they start for the party.
At the party the atmosphere was a very cozy one as it was a small bonfire night wid limited people and in a garden wid less of loud music or glitz-glamour. Everybody was warm and welcoming and for once both raman and ishita were thankful that there was no sign of shagun, ashok or any monsters from their clan and so ishra relaxed feeling that maybe they wud enjoy this party better than others. Raman's friends welcomed ishita well and she was complimented on everything abt her, whether it was her looks , her eyes, her hair, her profession or her smiled and she for once felt that she cud belong to this grp and society which she previously felt was out of her league.
Raman on the other hand was happy too seeing that genuine, hearty smile on ishita's face after a long time in party of his. He knew ishita was a simple middle class girl who did not party like he did and so lately he always felt apprehensive of taking her to his business parties after a series of fiascos which had occurred in previous parties wid ishita ( in the form of shagun insulting ishita or some of high society butterflies giving demeaning looks 2 ishita). He knew their relation was not of a husband and wife but he cud not let any stupid person to disrespect ishita as this was one thing she deserved the utmost according to him.
Party was in full swing and everybody was at ease wid each other. Raman was busy wid his grp of friends while ishita had found some good friends in some of raman's friend's wives as well as his girl- friends and so she was also enjoying herself . after a while ishita excused herself and moved towards the counter to get a glass of water and as she was returning back to her grp of friends , she overheard her name being mentioned between raman and his few friends and she cud nt help but listen to their conversation. 2 of raman's friends rahul and karan were talking to raman abt ishita
Rahul- "so raman , ur wife's a southie?"
Raman-" what? Southie? As in?"
Karan-" arey he meant, she is a south Indian na?"
Raman nodded his head saying-" yup she is , so?"
Rahul-" so she must be knowing how 2 sing yaar?"
Raman was confused so karan and rahul explained
Karan-" he means ishita wud know how 2 sing na?"
Raman-" how does her being south Indian means she knows how 2 sing?"
Rahul-" dude , u know nothing or dnt want us 2 hear ur wife's melodious voice? Huh?" he winked at raman who was confused and wary of what was coming next.
Raman-" na yaar, she does nt know how to sing and her voice is not really that good. I know it dude. believe me she can't sing."
Rahul and karan still cud not believe that piece of info and so karan butted in-" dude south Indians have a natural talent for singing and their voice is melodious by birth so we were thinking if bhabhi cud sing for us, we have never heard an iyer woman singing though have heard a lot abt it so we asked."
As raman was abt to say no again , rahul excitedly piped in-" arre haan bhabhi must be knowing how 2 sing , its raman u who don't knw anything, chal na bhabhi se pooch, arre pooch kya unhe bol gaane ke liye , come one."
Raman was getting exasperated now by this continous banter of his friends and he knew he cud not ask ishita to sing in front of these strangers becoz of several reasons- firstly he did'nt knew if she really sang and it made him wonder if he shld ask abt it later ; secondly even if she did sing , he did not want her 2 get embarrassed infront of these people if they started pointing out flaws in her song and he knew he had no right to get her shamefaced in front of his friends who were still strangers to her so he he did what came to him best, he angrily told them-"kya gaana gaana gaana, told u once na ki she can't sing , arre yaar biwi hai meri I know her and she can't sing so plz stop this childish behavious of urs . uss se performance dilwa ke Mujhe apni aur uski beizzati nahi karwani hai so plz let it go."he had said it silence his annoying friends and he never meant that ishita's being wid him or her being his wife embarrassed him and but ishita who heard him saying this was broken and teary eyed as she understood it to be that way and was angry on him now.
She walked away from their and thought abt what to do next when some of her friends came to her and kept the same request in front of her to sing. Although not at all in mood to sing, she felt this was the best way to answer raman back and show him that maybe she will not be embarrassing for him always. Raman was standing beside the drinks counter and his back to the bonfire when he heard a beautiful voice coming from behind him.
Hmmm ha aa ha haaan hmmm
Ishita was standing near the bonfire and singing
Yahin doobe din mere, yahin hote hain savere
Yahin marna aur jeena , yahin mandir aur madina mera
Raman cud not believe his ears or his eyes and was suddenly guilty as he never knew she had that talent but all this while, his eyes cud not leave looking at her face in a mesmerized state, mesmerized by her song.
Teri galliyan galliyan teri galliyan
Mujhko bhave galliyan teri galliyan
Teri galliyan galliyan teri galliyan
Yun hi tadpave galliyan teri galliyan
As his friend rahul started playing his guitar to match wid ishita's song , he saw her smiling meekly at all his friends and then walking towards him wid slow steps singing
Tu meri neendon mein sota hai
Tu mere ashkon mein rota hai
Sargoshi si hai khayalon mein
Tu na ho phir bhi tu hota hai
She was almost near him but still few feet away when she sang
Hai sila tu mere...dard ka
Mere dil ki duaaein hain
Teri galliyan galliyan teri galliyan
Mujhko bhave galliyan teri galliyan
Teri galliyan galliyan teri galliyan
Yun hi tadpavein galliyan teri galliyan
As the music continued to flow in , ishita silently came near raman who was in a dazed state and ignoring the look in his eyes for her , she just slowly said to him-" I know raman apko mera aapke saath hona shayad sabke saamne sharminda karta hai but believe me main har baar har cheez mein aapko sharminda nahi karungi, jo nahin aata hoga who nahi karungi but aapko meri wajah se kabhi embarrassment nahi hone doongi , I promise, hope u feel relaxed after this." Saying this she looked at him wid hurt and teary eyes and ignoring his shocked reaction, she moved back towards the bonfire.
Raman on the other hand understood at once that she had heard his conversation wid his friends and he cursed himself for his stupid mouth as well as timing of words but now he cud do nothing as he knew he had hurt her though unintentionally but he knew he was wrong in judging her like that and not even asking her to sing. He felt bad that he knew so less abt the lady who was his wife and also felt how horrible she must have felt when she heard his words abt her 2 his friends. After few minutes , he decided to do what came to him in spur of the moment and started singing
Kaisa hai rishta tera mera
Bechehra phir bhi kitna gehra
Yeh lamhe , lamhe yeh resham se
Kho jaayein kho na jaayein humse
He started moving towards where ishita was sitting beside the bonfire and went and sat beside her leaving almost no space between them as she continued to sing
Kaafila , waqt ka rok dein
Ab dil se juda nah on
Teri galliyan galliyan teri galliyan
Mujhko bhave galliyan teri galliyan
Teri galliyan galliyan teri galiyan
Yun hi tadpavein galliyan teri galliyan
Singing this he silently and sneakily held ishita's hand and she jerked back to see him in his eyes. Although she cud find guilty as well as understanding looks in his eyes but she did not give away and just turned away and removed her hand from his grasp lightly and smiled at everyone as the song ended and crowd roared into a round of applause.
Rest of the time went in both ishita and raman smiling through all compliments being given to them on their performance and soon it was time to head back home. All this while raman had seen ishita getting aloof from him and it pained him and he knew no words of his are going to soothe her hurting heart and make her believe he did not meant what he said.
As they started going back home in the car, it started raining and suddenly an idea hit raman which he felt cud make ishita regain her lost trust in him.
so whats raman gonna do now??
part 2 will be up 2moro if u guys like this one and want me 2 continue it.
jootas, chappals, eggs, tomatoes all are most welcome.
Love❤️
Shivangi
P.S- Besides this i have written a TS and also have an ongoing SS whose links are below
TS- Understanding each other and moving ahead Link
SS- Love doesn't lessen infact it deepens Link
Mangal Lakshmi
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