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
For the first time the confident smile on Dev's face faltered. "Hmm Yes I think so Mrs. Bharadwaj. But if there is anything he does that you don't like, and you are too shy to tell him directly, maybe I can help you?" He looked hopefully at her. The waiter hovered around them, hoping they would order. "It's your choice!!" Dev handed over the menu to her. Chandni didn't bother to open it. She looked sweetly at the waiter and asked, "What are your signature dishes for entrees and mains here?" The waiter went through a long list of delectable dishes, which as per his recommendation were most sought after. Chandni randomly picked a few and asked them to be served as quickly as p
"Everything is about you is it? What you want to do, what you don't want to do? What If I am not in the mood to talk right now? What if I am finding my husband too..."? She didn't finish her sentence and Dev grabbed her waist and pulled her towards him. "Your command is my wish... my majesty." He smiled in relief. "This is what I want sweetheart!! That you tell me everything openly. I didn't tell you how you look in this dress because I was afraid I will get too carried away even without...forget it!! When I saw this dress in a catalogue, I knew you would look damn good in this, but when the time comes, I was hoping I could do this too...." His ran his fingers lazily in a feathery touch along her open back, making her shudder involuntarily and wrap her arms around him. She nuzzled his neck, kissing him slowly al
It was almost Seven pm and Dev had booked their dinner at Eight. Chandni opened the suitcase that Dev brought along with him, which was supposed to have all her clothes that she packed in Mumbai. But to her horror, it was practically empty except for some new underwear and casual clothes. As she made a thorough search to see if any of her clothes were in other suitcases, She recalled all the events of the afternoon After dumping their luggage at the hotel, they had a leisurely lunch, and strolled around the streets of shopping markets. Dev insisted on going back to the same shop where she bought the shorts she wore to the airport, and buy every combination of shorts and casual tops there, as he said "it made you look like a local and the 18-year-old I married." But Chandni suspected otherwise, the way his hungry
A war-like atmosphere had descended upon the marble island counter in the kitchen, which also served as Dining table in the Bharadwaj household. "I want to come to Goa too.. I have never been there! Mummy! Mummy!! Tell Daddy I want to come too.. I don't want to go and stay with Miku Chacha!! I am not going to eat this breakfast anymore till you agree to take me along." Atharv crossed his arms and looked at his parents furiously, after making sure that he finished all but a few spoons of the huge second serve of his favorite Kheer! "Hey Buddy!! Why are you saying you don't want to come and stay with me? I am hurt... deeply hurt! We are friends, remember!! Goa is seriously boring! All you do is sit in front of the beach and stare at waves! And trust me, there too your Mum and Dad would be telling you don't do this, don't do that.... But you and me, we are going
A few months later. -------------------------- "Atharv... tell your mummy to hurry up otherwise we both are going to the function without her!" Aryan said in irritation, as he looked at his watch for the umpteenth time. "Daddy you can tell her whatever you want in person, because she is right behind you. Haha" Atharv pointed to his father with a jerk of his head, and went back to playing the video game on his phone. "Don't you start anything now!! As it is, I am in such a bad mood for spending so much time wearing this saree." Chandni didn't even let her husband open his mouth. Aryan groaned loudly. "Well, who asked you to wear this? And if you knew
A flushed and pained Vikram slowly made his way out of the washroom towards his bed and sat down exhausted. He should have gone to the living room and joined others at Breakfast but he felt totally drained. Maybe he could rest for a few more moments. He sat upright against the propped up soft pillows on the head board and took some deep breaths. Just then he heard soft footsteps followed by a knock and his face broke into a smile. "Come in!" Chandni and Aryan entered with breakfast tray. "Aaah!! Mr. and Mrs. Bharadwaj! And with breakfast for me! I should thank my lucky stars huh!!" He cheered them jovially. Chandni gave the juice to Vikram with a smile and sat next to him on the bed. Vikram scooted over and tapped on the other side of the bed, inviting Ar
Her heart rejoiced at the thought itself, even though she was still depressed thinking about her Didi and the drastic step she took. Committing suicide is such a stupid cowardly thing. It is not a solution to any problem. In fact, you leave so much trauma and grief for all the people you leave behind, who loved you all your life, and they get sometimes permanently scarred from it. Vikram ji had been through so much trauma after Didi died. If only she knew how much he loved her!! He went out of the way to help everyone from his wife's family and fulfilled the last wish of his wife. She and everyone in the family was sure that if only Didi had reached out to her Daddy, Vikram would have been so happy to meet them all in normal circumstances, and they would have been one big happy family! Now she understood the meaning behind each and every word Vikram ji said to her at the top of that hill cliff after he saved her..... Her thoughts wandered to that fate
"Chandni, after I saw your father at Renu's Anniversary, I went through her things and found this letter addressed to me. And everything that I did afterwards was because of this. Please read it, it is nothing personal. And I have read it so many times that I know the contents of that letter by heart now." Chandni took the letter with trembling hands and began to read. ============================ Hi Vikram, By the time you read this letter, I am probably gone from your life, and this world. I know what I am going to do is a cowardly act, and something I will just add to the list of regrets that I now have in my life. I wish I was as brave as my mother who loved my father wholeheartedly and fought a
"I know Sanjayji, what wonders women can do, to turn our family life into a bliss. But I also knew what kind of people my relatives were, Renu didn't!” Vikram rubbed his eyes and sighed. “ They would pass snide remarks about her to my father and other relatives or bring up the topic of her family just to unsettle her. Her nervousness only made things worse, as it made all of us suspect that she was hiding something from us. She began to have trouble sleeping and I took her to the doctors who ordered her to do some lifestyle changes, exercises and also prescribed some sleeping pills, but requested her to use them as a last resort. She became fidgety and moody as time went on. I asked her plainly one day, was there anything I needed to know? She flatly denied that she was hiding anything from me but was hurt that I am not trusting her word. She accused me that I was trying to spy on her, which made me