Hi All!I owe u all a big fat apology for disappearing for more than 2 weeks without notice.
Post quitting the show I decided to quit writing too as the show and its characters don't excite me anymore.
I was at the mission of writing an apology regarding the same. It was on Pankhuri's insistence and her encouragement that I am back in form and the forum.
Thanks Behna😳
Once again sorry for keeping u all waiting...
Now here goes the next part...
The Musical journey is on...
This part brings back some special childhood memories. So this piece is dedicated to all my friends who made my childhood memorable. I know none of them is reading this yet it goes from my heart to them😳
Part 13: Din Guzre Woh...
I involuntarily slipped down the memory lane.
The 4 little devils of Goregaon had gathered in Abhi's house and were confined to the space owing to the bin mausam barsaat.
The shower of mercy was a punishment for us as we could not step out to play.
We waited impatiently for the rain to stop but it didn't look like it would stop any sooner.
So we decided to entertain ourself with some indoor game.
"Chalo carrom khelte hain" Raman squeeled.
"Carrom? No no...Kuch aur khelte hain. Snakes & Ladders?" I suggested.
"Ewww...Snakes & LAdders! Wo to bachhon wali game hai" Raman mocked and Abhi laughed out loud.
Urghhh...
"For your kind information boys...Hum bacche hi hain" I said emphasising each word.
"Itne bhi chote bacche nahi hain ke ye game khelein. Wo to Simmi jaise bacchon ke games hain" Abhi defended.
"Mai bachhi nahi hoon" screamed the youngest of us.
"Dekha? Simmi bhi ye bachhonwali games nahi khelna chahti" Raman laughed.
I was pissed that no one was siding me.
I sulked "To theek hai. Tum log khelo. Mai ghar ja rahi hun" and started to leave.
"Ishita...ruko na...hua kya hai?" Raman came behind me.
"Kuch nahi. I just want to go" I began to cry.
"Ishitaaa" he said lovingly and wiped my tears "Batao na kya hua hai?" his voice expressed concern.
And I melted completely and was out with the truth
"Mujhe carrom khelna nahi atha" I admitted and looked down fearing his reaction. If he laughed I would have cried.
"Itni si baat hai? Pehle kyon nahi bataya?" he asked.
"Mujhe laga tum log mujhpe hasoge"
"Mere hote hue koi tum pe hase aisa kabhi ho sakta hai" he shrugged.
"Abhi thodi der pehle to tum aur Abhi milke mujhpe has rahe the" I complained.
"Ooops..." he bit his tongue on goofing up
"Sorry" he said holding his ears
"It's alright" I said with a weak smile
"To chalo ab khelte hain" he said
"But mujhe khelna nahi atha" I sulked
"Why to fear when Raman is here. Tum mujhe janti nahi ho Ishita. Is game ko jeetne keliye mai akela hi kafi hoon"
"To phir tum akele hi khelo na. Mai baithke tumhe cheer karungi" I said genuinely
"Cheer karne se achha hai tum meri partner ban jao. Tumhe kuch nahi karna hoga bas follow my instructions. Aise tum bhi khelna seekh jaogi. What say?" he suggested
"Idea to achha hai...par..."
"Par war kuch nahi. Bas we are playing and that's final" he gave the verdict and I obeyed with a smile.
I was excited at the idea of learning a new game and I trusted Raman completely that he could win this game on his own.
The game began and I was amazed to see Raman hitting the coins like a pro.
All I did was cheer & clap everytime he hit the coin straight into the hole, pile them up neatly in rows of black & white, counting them after every coin gained and obediently follow Raman's instruction when it was my turn.
No wonder that I missed almost all my aims.
But when one of my hits went exactly in the direction I aimed at and I earned a coin, I screamed and celebrated like I was crowned Miss Universe of the year.
I kissed that coin and did what not.
Raman congratulated me while the other two stared at me like was insane.
After that point, the game got even more exciting for me.
Then came the moment where it was a DO OR DIE situation for both the teams.
Now the board had only two coins left: the queen and a black coin.
Abhi tried his best to chase the queen but unfortunately for him, it travelled across the board and stayed in the corner opposite to Raman's side.
"Oh shit!" Abhi let out an exasperated sigh as now the queen and the black coin both were easily accessible to Raman.
I and Simmi had our turns left before the striker goes into Raman's skillful fingers but it was a known fact that our hits did not matter in the game. We were there only for namesake while the actual game was between Raman and Abhi.
I looked at Raman waiting for his instructions.
He signalled me to leave the coins at its place and gently push the striker in any other direction.
I nodded obediently.
The excitement on winning the game was so much that when I careslessly hit the striker with no aim, I did not realise that unintentionally I had put so much force that the striker went straight ahead hitting the opposite end and coming back in reverse gently pushing the only black coin on the board into the hole.
"Ayyyooo" I shouted and clamped my mouth in shock.
"Yayyy" screamed Abhi & Simmi excitedly as opposite to my shocked scream.
And in the very next moment the carrom board came crashing down a few millimetres away from my toes.
If I had not been quick to react by jerking away my feet, then I would live with amputed toes all my life.
The shocked trio, which included me, gasped audibly in fear.
"Ye kya kiya tune?" Abhi yelled lifing his carrom board off the ground. "Agar koi crack aya na to mai Mummy se bol doonga ke ye tune kiya hai" he warned.
"Bhaad me gaya carrom board. Mujhe nahi khelna" Raman shouted back.
"Ye kya baat hui Raman. Haar gaye iska matlab ye nahi ke tum aise react karo" I tried to make him understand.
"You just keep quiet. Ye sab tumhari wajah se hua hai. Kya zarurat thi tumhe stunt dikhane ki jab maine kaha tha ki kisi coin ko hit mat karo" he spat angrily.
"To ab saari galti meri hai? Maine to pehle hi kaha tha ke mujhe carrom khelna nahi atha. Tum hi ne mujhe force kiya tha" I put all the blame back on him.
"Haan galti to sari meri hai. Pata nahi kis manhoos ghadi me maine tumhe apna partner banaya tha" he scoffed.
I was disheartened with this statement. I was totally upset and I expressed the same "Aisi bhi kya galti hogayi mujhse ke tum itni badi baat bol rahe ho?"
"Aur nahi to kya. Aaj tak ke har vacation ke har game me mai hi jeet ta hua aya hoon. Lekin jab se tumhe partner banaya har game me haarta hoon. Tumhe dhang se koi game khelna nahi atha. Tumhara mere team me hona na hone ke barabar hai"
"To theek hai. Khelo akele hi. Mujhe nahi banna tumhara partner"
"Mujhe bhi koi shouk nahi hai. Nahi chahye mujhe ab se koi partner"
Now this was too much to handle.
"Katti" I said showing him my pinkie and ran to my house crying.
"Arey Ishu! Baarish me bheegti hui kyun aayi?" Appa asked while opening the door for me.
"All boys are mean. Jab unhe hamari zarurat padti hai tab hamare peeche peeche aa jate hain. Aur jab zarurat na ho to saari mean mean batein bolke humein bhaga dete hain" I blabbered.
Appa chuckled listening to my rant which irked me more
"Aap bhi to boy hi ho na. Isiliye apko ye sab sunke maza araha hai. Mai aap se bhi katti" I said and fled to my room.
I lied on my stomach with the support of a pillow and vented out all my frustration by going on and on about how rude Raman was.
Ding dong...
I could hear the door bell ring. I was often excited to open the door for the visitors but I was too upset to do that. So I went back on my stomach and lay idly.
"Uncle..Mai Ishita se mil sakta hoon?"
It was him I recognised and raised myself from the bed happily.
Then I remembered I was Katti with him and with the same force fell back on the bed yet my ears stood erect eavesdropping the conversation going on in the adjacent room.
"Are you sure tum usse milna chahte ho? Wo bahut gusse me hai" Appa said.
"I know. But don't worry. Mai use mana loonga" he replied.
Itna confidence? I thought and Appa voiced it for me "Itna confidence?"
"Haan. Wo meri best friend hai na. Meri baat zarur maanegi" he replied in a confident tone.
"Best friend? Kahe ki best friend. Abhi thodi der pehle kya kya bola tha mujhe. Mai nahi anewali iski baton me ab" I told myself and shut my eyes tightly hearing his footsteps getting closer.
"Ishita" he said gently tapping my shoulder.
I shut my eyes tighter.
"Mujhe pata hai ke tum jaag rahi ho" he said.
My breath hitched on being caught yet I continued with my act of sleeping.
"Mujhse baat nahi karna chahti isiliye aisa kar rahi ho na. Theek hai mai jaa raha hun. But jane se pehle ek advice deta hun. Agli baar jab bhi sone ki acting karni ho na to apni ankhein itna tight mat band karna. Warna pakdi jaogi"
"Ayyyo" I said audibly biting my tongue on realising my mistake.
"Pakdi gayi na" he said snapping his fingers and giggling.
That angered me.
"Kyun aye ho tum yahan?"
"Barish ruk gayi hai" he said.
"To?" I asked crossing my arms across the chest.
"Sab swing me khelne park me jaa rahe hain. To tumhe lene aya hun"
"Mai kyun aaun tumhare sath? Tum to mere sath koi game nahi khelna chahte na?"
"Sorry yaar. Gusse me bol diya tha. Ab itni si baat pe itna zyada gussa mat karo please"
"Itni si baat? Aur bhi bahut kuch kaha tha tumne"
"Are chodo na woh sab" he said casually
"Nahi chod sakti. Tumne mujhe bahut hurt kiya hai"
"Mai har us baat keliye sorry hoon jisne tumhe hurt kiya hai. Ab to maan jao"
"Sorry to tumne keh diya. Par iski kya guarantee hai ke tum phir se wahi sab nahi karoge? Kal ko phir koi game me haar gaye to tum phir se mujhe hi blame karoge. Isliye mujhe koi game nahi khelna"
"To kya tum hamesha keliye khelna band kar dogi?" he demanded
"Nahi. Mai kyun khelna band karun? Jo bhi hua usme meri galti thodi na hai. Mai khelungi par tumhare sath nahi. Mai aisi koi game nahi khelungi jo tum khel rahe ho"
"Ok Ishita. Jaisi tumhari marzi. Mai bhi tab tak koi game nahi khelunga jab tak tum mujhe maaf na kar do" he said and left.
I could not help but draw similarities between the occurences in the past and the present.
Din guzre woh kyun aaj
Yaad ane lage hain
Had he not me given space then when I was miffed at him and now again when I asked him to leave me alone he had obliged and backed off?
Doesn't that mean that he is the same Raman I wanted to be around me all the time?
My heart went on and on speaking of the similarities in the gestures of Raman and RKB while the mind gave warning signals every now and then.
I was back to self-talk mode which I realised I was doing a lot these days.
Baat karne laga hoon
Har waqt ab mai khud se
What have you done to me? I thought as I glanced back at him only to find him looking at me helplessly which again took me back to that day.
I had refused to go with him but the aftermaths of the monsoon were inviting me.
The fragrance of the moist soil, the shivers sent down by the chilly wind, the freshly washed plants adorning the tiny symbols of rain in their leaves all seemed to join hands in conspiring against me.
I gave up in front of them and sneakily stepped out of my house and walked right into the park where Simmi, Abhi and Raman had gathered. They were oblivious of my presence.
Simmi as always ran and secured herself on the swing and demanded her partner Abhi to push her. He did it without arguing as we all knew messing with Simmi meant terror.
That is why I call her cute but annoying.
I waited to see what Raman was going to do.
He was getting himself seated when his eyes caught me.
I was reminded of my decision of not playing the game he was playing.
I was going to withdraw but before that Raman backed off.
He knew how much I loved playing on the swing.
I went ahead and sat on the swing.
Raman smiled an incomplete smile.
His smile spoke volumes.
It expressed the satisfaction he got on seeing me ascend the swing but at the same time screamed of his pain on not being able to join me in the fun.
He then walked silently towards the see-saw and sat on one of it's end.
There he was trying to lift himself off the ground while I was struggling to reach the ground.
Which meant we both needed help rather it meant we both needed each other.
He was incomplete without me and I was incomplete without him.
Tanhayi goonjne lagi hai
Our eyes met and silently conveyed the same to each other.
Khamoshi ab saath de rahi hai
I melted in a puddle of emotions and extended my hand in his direction.
He gave me a puzzled look.
I slightly nodded my head and signalled him to come join me.
He looked apprehensive probably because of the statements I had made back at home.
I smiled and blinked my eyes assuring him.
With huge smile he jumped off the see saw and rushed to me.
"Dosti?" I asked showing him my thumb.
"Dosti" he said hitting my thumb with his.
We both laughed overjoyed and played together till our Mom's came looking for us.
Unknown to me a smile appeared on my lips at the memory.
I realised it only when I saw him reciprocating the smile.
I quickly turned away not wanting to give him wrong signals.
Yes I had begun to recognise him as my Raman but I hadn't yet reached to that point where I could accept him completely.
I still needed a little more time and I knew if he is the same Raman I loved he would wait for me.
"Tumse judi har baat mujhe yaad hai Raman. Kya tumhe bhi wo sab yaad hai? Kya mai bhi us tarah tumhare yaadon ka aur khwabon ka hissa hoon jis tarah...
Tum Mere Khwabon Se Jaa Na Sake"
----------------To be continued------------------- hufff...too tired to write a note...
Leave ur cmnts plz...
Edited by maanvir - 10 years ago
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