Dear All,
Here is my entry for the OS competition under the theme of Sunrise. That night in Mt Abu with Samaina bonding under that night sky and the following sunrise has been my all-time favourite in the show. It was truly magical and trying to recreate something like that is a huge challenge. Would love to hear your feedback and know if I have been able to get anywhere close 😉
Lots of love,
May.
Samaina OS - Tequila Sunrise
"Sameer, Aur kitni der aaise pose karna hoga?! Naina complained half laughing and half pouting. But, Sameer was a man on a mission and continued his quest for the perfect photos, well the second version of the perfect photos.
Last month while going through some of their old photos, the idea to recreate those perfect moments had entered his mind and left him excited. Since then he had set about planning this trip.
He could not plan the whole trip as a surprise, as his Naina has a nose for telling when he was up to something! Still, he had managed to hide this part of his plan till this morning. Bursting with anticipation, he had woken her a little before 5 in the morning murmuring something in her ear. Naina slowly woke up in his arms and whispered the same words back with a beautiful smile adorning her face. Sameer asked her to get dressed holding out an outfit she had never seen before, but which vaguely reminded her of something... It was a very pretty yellow pinafore style dress, with a cream coloured blouse to wear inside. As Naina looked at him in confusion, Sameer impishly announced "Style toh tumhare Bhaloo dress wali hai, par usse bohoot acha hai, right? Aab jaldi se change karke ready ho jao hume sunrise se pehele Toad Rock pohochna hai. Aur ha aapne baal bhi pony mein bandh do jaise iss mein bandhe hai! He handed her one of the photos clicked during their first sunrise together in Mt Abu. Before Naina could ask him any further questioned he rushed her towards the bathroom stressing that they had to leave in 15 minutes maximum.
Naina got ready in a bit of a daze. The dress made of lovey chiffon like material fitted her perfectly with the skirt falling around her enveloping her in yards of the delicate fabric. She looked fresh as a daisy! Naina quickly applied some lip gloss and kohl, a habit that had become second nature to her over the years. She looked at Sameer in confusion as he was still dressed in his pyjamas. He finally shared his idea that they were going to recreate some photos from their trip years ago. The look of pure joy on Naina's face in that instant was enough for Sameer to know that his idea was already a super hit irrespective of how the photos turned out! Equipped with Sameer's latest camera, a tripod and an envelope with the old photos they headed to the location that held a very special place in their hearts.
"Naina, tumhare right hand ka angle kuch sahi nahi lag raha hai... iss photo se match nahi ho raha hai. Sameer had spread out a number of the old photos around him and was instructing Naina how to pose for all her single shots. While waiting for the sun to make an appearance, they had gathered some pebbles lying around and used them as weights to stop the photos from flying away. It was a little breezy that morning with a slight chill in the air, but it wasn't too cold. Naina observed that the place was fairly unchanged, apart from a few trees that had grown and few that had withered away, well they had grown too she thought.
"Sameer, please aab itna time mat lo. Warna Suraj bilkul uppar aa jayega aur hume time nahi milega tumhare aur humare photos nikalne ka. Bar bar photos kaise aaye hai check mat karo... isse toh tumhara wo purana camera hi acha tha... bus ek click aur ho gaya! Naina couldn't stop herself from nagging him, though she knew how he enjoyed taking his time trying to make the most of all the advanced features this camera provided.
Though Sameer would have ignored her advice any other time quipping how art couldn't be rushed, he knew the Sun would rise at its pace and that meant he had to rush. But he wanted to take a moment to marvel at his personal miracle. A girl with dove shaped eyes, lips always ready to curve into a smile, a large heart and an iron resolve to find a way through their hardest of times. After all this time, he still found himself experiencing some moments where he wondered if it was just a dream, an extremely beautiful dream! Had he really turned out to be so lucky?
As the breeze flew harder, Naina struggled to hold down her chiffon dress. "Sameer, jaldi karo na... Yeh dress sambhalna mushkil hai... dekho na kitna udd raha hai! Sameer chuckled "Lagta hai maine wrong colour select kiya. White hota toh tum bilkul Marilyn Monroe lagti! Naina just gave him a look clearly indicating that at the moment his wife wasn't in the mood for any of his humorous comebacks.
After a couple of more shots, the camera exchanged hands and Naina started clicking his single shots. Naina observed that the years had not taken his boyish charm away, in fact she always insisted that he had turned out to be a bigger kid than expected! His smile had always had the ability to lit up her world. She smiled watching him pose full of confidence of his own good looks. She realised that the girl who had stood there with him years ago, though in love, had no idea just how much she would really come to love him over the years.
Sameer then setup the camera on the tripod and selected some settings to ensure that it would keep clicking at certain intervals. Re-enacting the poses together proved more challenging than expected. Naina kept giggling at the some of the poses that she now felt were so silly. She wondered, what were they thinking when they posed as if they were flying? Were they meant to be birds or expecting to grow wings? But that is the magic of innocence and youth, everything is possible!
Once they had covered all the original poses, Sameer hugged her from behind. When Naina pointed out that this was not a part of the original sequence, he winked at her "Maan toh uss waqt bhi hua tha... bus maine control kiya tha! Naina looked away muttering "Chodo, mera muh maat khulwao... kuch bhi bhuli nahi hu main. Main jab hug karti thi tab bhi tum nahi karte thay! Sameer smirked "Tum na, ek baar thik se decide karlo... aab toh har waqt bus control karo control karo ki rat lagaye rehti ho! Naina blushed acknowledging the truth behind his words, while Sameer mentally congratulated himself on his ability to still turn her into a blushing bride at the drop of a hat. The camera continued capturing the magic of the old and the new.
Naina pulled the hairband out of her hair letting it free to fly. "Maine khaas uss Pablo ke sath appointment lekar trip me liye katwaye... tumhe khule ache lagte hai iss liye. Kitna mushkil hai uska appointment milna... aura aab toh usne rates bhi badha liye hai... aur tumne baal bandhne ko bol diya! Aab kuch aur photos aaise nikalenge. Sameer indulgently smiled at her.
Just then, her mobile rang with the ringtone playing the tune of tere naina mere naino se, meethi meethi baate karte hai... They both instantly looked in the direction of her phone lying on the ground nearby with a warm smile spreading across their faces, which was luckily caught by the camera. Sameer quickly moved towards the phone which was flashing the caller Id Samaina. Naina had set this as her ringtone as she used to sing this song very frequently to the little cherub with eyes like her and lips like her father, that had completed their family few years after they got married. Before the baby started talking, Naina used to insist that she very clearly communicated with her through her eyes all the time and hence the song. The name had been decided by Preeti, who had always been the strongest supporter of their relationship. Also, being the Mausi cum Chachi it had only felt right to give her the honour of naming their daughter! Sameer answered the phone "Uth gayi? Good... achaa hum log bus yahi Toad Rock pe hai. Jaldi se aa jao! Aur jacket pehen lo, thodi thand hai.
By the time Sameer finished the call, Naina had made herself comfortable on a little rock and was watching the pink, orange, blue hues changing across the sky. Sameer continued clicking some photos of just the landscape for a bit. Photography was a passion he had started focussing on more and more during the recent years. He still wrote a little every now and then, but music had been his constant companion. Naina sat there contemplating on the innumerable sunrises that had gone by between their first sunrise together and today. Every morning as she lit the diya in front of her little mandir at home she gave thanks to the almighty for blessing her with a home filled with love. Of course, life had also brought with it a lot of sunsets too, some of which were followed by nights fragrant with jasmine and few when the darkness had seemed overwhelming. But, they had persevered and waited patiently and sometimes impatiently for the sunrise to follow.
As Sameer sat down next to her, his phone beeped, and he started messaging someone back with a determined gleam in his eyes. Naina shook her head "Yeha aake bhi tumhara kaam khatam nahi hota. Teen-char din ki hi toh baat hai. Kabhi toh break liya karo. Sameer continued typing "Aare baba, aaj udhar bada delivery hai client ka. Aur tumhe toh pata hai kitne problems aaye thay iss bar. Bar bar electricity aur Paani ki katoti ne toh jaan nikal di thi! Thank God bus maal time pe Singapore poohunch gaya. Waha ke clients ko humare problems bilkul samajh nahi aate. Munna bol raha hai sab thik se ho gaya. Client ne unke quality check bhi complete kar liye hai. He turned to her grinning widely. Naina pulled his checks and in a tone as if talking to a small child "Awww... mera baby kitna responsible ho gaya hai! Sameer tried to look annoyed with her behaviour but smiled within thinking how she managed to fulfil so many different roles in his life so effortlessly.
The journey from Sameer Maheshwari to Sameer Jayaprakash Maheshwari had brought a huge sense of accomplishment but had come with more than a few challenges. In the initial days especially, it had left him second guessing himself a lot. There had been a lot of learning, some good some bad. He has discovered over some time that he had a natural flair for business development and a nose for upcoming trends in his industry. Maheshwari Textiles was now a well-established and respected name in the industry. Sameer had truly proved that his Nanu's expectations and hopes from him were not unfounded.
All through this Naina had been his rock, always by his side, sometimes pushing him and at times insisting that he slow down. She had not held a specific position in his business but had got involved in keeping an eye on the accounts to understanding what small changes and initiatives would help them retain their labourers in the factory. Early on Sameer had learned to trust her instincts. Though once he had felt more grounded and when Samaina turned about three, she had decided to pursue her dream of becoming a professional writer. She had published five novels, seven children's books and wrote the monthly columns for a few magazines. Her books had been very well received and had been translated into few other regional languages too. She was also actively involved as the trustee for their school PVKM and volunteered there as a part-time counsellor for the students.
Sameer was very proud of her accomplishments, but deep down he knew he admired her more for the amazing mother that she was to the apple of their eye. The satisfaction that he felt seeing Samaina absolutely flourishing under the love and attention that Naina constantly bestowed on her was an unending source of joy and relief. They had embarked on the journey of parenthood with a lot of apprehension considering neither had grown up with ideal parents as their role models. Naina had learned through her own experiences, that just having the best of intentions for your child and helping them dream was not enough as a parent. Becoming a parent is very easy but becoming a really good parent is very hard, unless you have it in yourself to fight for your child's wellbeing and dreams, to fight for what is right.
Sameer wrapped one of his arms around her and pulled her closer to him "Khush ho na? Mujhe laga aaj ke liye yeh perfect hai!. Naina contentedly leaned closer resting her head near his shoulder as he kissed the top of her head. Two imperfect individuals coming perfectly together. Neither had always been right or wrong, but together they had made a life that was just right for them. And as they built this life together they discovered the key was to let go of old grudges, to forgive the other and oneself their imperfections and mistakes.
Naina believed that loving him had helped her become the best version of herself. Not because she had showered him with endless deep love and care through the years, but because she had learned to fight in order to stand by him and them. Loving him had helped her grow as a person by learning to let go of social prejudices. The nave sixteen-year-old had not thought about the difference in castes as she allowed herself to flow with the cool breeze that he brought into her life. But withstanding the storm that bellowed through their life few years later defined her as a person. It is easy to take the path of least resistance, but it is unlikely to take you to your desired destination.
The morning calm suddenly ended as a very energetic sixteen-year-old came scampering up the hill and screamed "Happy 20th Anniversary!!! hugging them both from behind. Sameer and Naina both half turned and kissed her one on one cheek simultaneously. She held out a bunch of wild flowers that she had gathered on her way up, which Naina accepted believing them to be the best bouquet in the world. Samaina whom they both lovingly called Sammi most of the time pouted "Mujhe kyu nahi jagaya pehele? Oh... toh aap ko private time chahiye tha... she added cheekily. Naina immediately started "Aare nahi beta aaisi koi baat nahi thi... when Sammi interrupted "Mumma main aap se thodi keh rahi hu... mujhe bohoot ache se pata hai ke sirf mere Papa hi romantic hai... aap toh rehene hi do! Sameer laughed at this wholeheartedly, while Naina poked out her tongue and then muttered "Sirf romance se kya hota hai... practical bhi hona jaruri hai... Sammi smirked "Aare Mumma kum se kum Anniversary ke din toh thoda romantic hona chahiye na... Naina smiled "Tum na bilkul aapne Papa pe gayi ho. Bus dono milke mujhe pareshan karte rehete ho! Sammi then looking around complained "Papa aapne mujhe photos mein include nahi kiya..." Sameer pacified her "Aare baba tumhare bina humara photo session kaise pura hota? Chalo aab thode family photos nikalte hai.
As they posed for their family shots, Sameer kept trying to keep his hair in place and complained that it was getting too windy. Naina and Samaina exchanged looks and giggled. Sameer's obsession with his hair had only marginally reduced over the years. Naina recollected how few years back when he first noticed some greys appearing, he had mopped around for over a week. Naina had finally gone out and brought him some hair dye which he religiously used since! Luckily some things never change she thought with a little prayer of thanks in her heart.
Sameer revelled in the warmth of the golden morning sun and the two gorgeous girls in his life. It was the perfect sunrise. The name of the cocktail Tequila Sunrise' came to his mind out of the blue, leaving him a little confused as he wasn't a big drinker. But looking at Naina he thought it was apt! She was like a shot of Tequila... small... could appear deceptively simple at times... but extremely potent... completely capable of knocking him off his feet time and again, as had been proved since their first sunrise together almost 25 years ago.
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
Bade Achhe Lagte Hain
CID
