Aryan found himself lying in a hospital bed, when he woke up again. His head was bandaged tightly and there were small bandages across his right hand and both elbows. But a more pleasant sight met him as he turned his head slowly. His "Munni" was sitting on a chair next to the bed, busily squeezing an orange onto a juicer.
His heart filled with inexplicable joy just as he looked at her, and he completely forgot why and how he got there in the first place.
"Hello! I thought our first date was going to be somewhere more pleasant and involved coffee... not OJ" He smiled at her.
She looked at him furiously and opened her mouth to reply back but then controlled herself for some reason, and continued to squeeze the juice, with much more gusto.
"Are you not even going to ta
"Why? Why can't he be my father? How do you know he is Shantanu Dubey by the way?" Chandni asked him with narrowed eyes. "I know because....Forget about how I know. How are you related to him? If he is not your father, then who is he? How are you associated with SV Enterprises?" Aryan asked anxiously. "You know something? For someone who is not a local person, you seem to know an awful lot about my... I mean this company SV Enterprises!! I should be the one asking you as to who you are!!" For the first time, Chandni was looking at him with suspicious eyes. "I think you guys have thoroughly researched who I am already. All my things from the backpack, my wallet look like they have been taken apart." It was Aryan's turn to accuse her. "Hello Mr. Kapoor or whoever you a
Before she could respond, "Give a chance for what exactly?" Interjected Shantanu, who just finished his phone call. Both Aryan and Chandni looked at him nervously, not sure how much of their conversation he had actually heard. Meera came to their rescue. "Nothing uncle, Aryan was asking if he will get a chance to work at your factory!!" She quickly blurted out whatever came to her mind as a plausible excuse. "Is that so? Anything else you want? Shares in the company?" Shantanu sneered as Aryan looked at Meera in exasperation, shaking his head. The moment Shantanu turned back, Meera looked apologetically at Aryan. They arrived at the factory, putting an end to all their conve
Sanjay chuckled slowly and noticed Aryan move slowly towards Chandni and the sudden transformation in his face. Aryan's eyes became playful, filled with joy, and his whole body relaxed as if Chandni was the sole source of his happiness. Chandni too looked at him with a mixture of shyness and joy. Sanjay looked at both of them curiously. He knew his daughter, she wouldn't lie to him. She never knew Aryan before the bus journey, so how come..... Noticing her father's scrutinizing gaze, Chandni quickly recovered and moved away from Aryan. "How do you know about Munni?" Both Aryan and Sanjay asked each other simultaneously. Chandni thought she had to cook up some story so as not to get her father involved in her drama. "I wo
"I am not allowed to put in my personal observations in the project report Sir. This is purely for my studies." He hoped he had dodged the question and Sanjay wouldn't press him further. But Sanjay wasn't the type to give up so easily. "Hmm forget about the report Aryan. I can easily see that you are a clever young man. What did you observe here, actually? Be candid." Is this some kind of trap that Sanjay is laying for him, Aryan wondered? But now that he was asked about it he decided he would speak frankly and face the consequences rather than lie to him. Both Chandni and Aryan looked apprehensively at Sanjay, who was sitting in his chair, relaxed, still waiting for his answer. Slowly and methodically, Aryan explained everything that he observed on the floor which e
For everyone in Allahabad, especially the Malhothra family, the Bharadwaj family had died ten years ago, and he very much suspected that they wouldn't like it if they knew that he, Dev Bharadwaj, was still alive! Perhaps even his little Chandni! He knew Chandni had nothing to do with what happened ten years ago but he could never exclude her or separate her identity with her Parents!! He wondered how she would feel if she knew his true identity!! But that situation would never arise of course because he would make sure that it wouldn't. Once he reached that decision, he wiped his tears and went about his tasks meticulously. ***** Chandni showered and took extra care in getting ready. She wore her favourite Kurti with jeans and let her hair out in soft
When he arrived back at home in Mumbai, Aryan was glad to know that his Nani was still in Varanasi and was arriving in a few days. He needed this solitude to deal with the turmoil in his heart. He busied himself in the menial tasks of cleaning up the apartment and stocking up groceries in preparation for his Nani's arrival. He spent long hours at his local gym, returning home exhausted...he did anything and everything which he thought would help keep his mind off Chandni, but they were all in vain. More than her face, her innocent remarks and sweet gestures left such an imprint on his heart that it was impossible to shake them off. How he wished things were simple between them, now he wished he never knew thatMunniwas Chandni!
Chandni forcefully gulped down some milk and left the table, wondering what she must do now to set her mother's mood right again. As always, her warring parents were too busy bickering with each other and were least bothered with what she wanted, how she felt about anything! Nargis approached Sanjay with a worried face. "Sahib, Chandnibitiyahasn't eaten anything properly for the past three days. You do know, right? I have asked her several times, but she refuses to tell me anything. I can hear her sobbing in the nights and even having nightmares. Has something happened at the factory or maybe at Banaras? Do you know anything?" She turned to her husband Rashid who just joined them at the table. Sanjay stayed silent f
And so, it was decided to go to Allahabad but Aryan still refused to immerse his parents' ashes and Nani didn't pressurise him any further. She just asked him to complete all the rituals as per tradition and give himself a few more days' time as she wanted to visit her ancestral village along with her relatives. The moment they arrived in Allahabad, all of Nani's relatives received them warmly and they settled in one of the relative's house temporarily. Aryan hardly knew anyone but tried to be as courteous as possible. But neither his mind nor heart was among them. All he wanted to do was disappear from there and see Chandni, but he controlled himself with a lot of difficulty. All of his mother's side relatives were more than sympathetic towards him and made sure he and Nani were well looked after. Over the next few days, as they completed various rituals, hi