Is love blind? .......Oh yes it is!! - Episode 29

Anjali goes back to her mom’s place just because she doesn’t want to go back so soon to Sid’s place…..Her mom is happy and also doubtful seeing her there…..

Mom: kya hua??? kyun akele aaye ho??
Anjali: [wishes to hug her mom and cry but doesn’t want to hurt them] kuch nahi maa……aise hi…
Mom: [breaks in] aise hi??? Matlab???
[Sid comes in]
Sid: She didn’t come alone aunty….I am with her…..[saves her from the situation]
Mom: ohh..Sid beta…..yeh ladki kabhi kuch teek se nahi bataathi hai…..ab dekho, tum log aa rahe ho, ek phone karke bathaa sakthi thi na???….[seeing that he is still leaning against the door, hits on her head] arre main bhi na……aavo andhar aavo na….
[She welcomes him….Anjali’s dad also joins in…..]
Anjali: [hugs her dad] dekhiye na papa Maa kya bol rahi hai….ab kya main apne ghar mein aane keliye pehle se permission lena padega…..main kya itni paraayi hogayi???
Dad: [gliding her hair and hugging her back] aisi koyi baat nahi…. Beta, yeh tumaara ghar hai ……tum jab chaavo yahaan aa sakthe ho…..par…..
Anjali: [looking up to him and suspicously]par kya papa??
Dad: [smiling] par akele nahi……Sidharth ke saath…..
[Anjali frowns at this but then hides it and smiles falsely]
[They exchange pleasantries and no stone is left unturned in making Sid and Anjali’s first visit after wedding the most special one……They have a grand dinner and its time to leave…..
Anjali picks few of her belongings which are dear to her…..the teddy bear being the first one…..Sid smiles at her child like nature when he sees her packing her dolls and few other such things….Sid and Anjali take her parents blessings and come out…..]
Anjali: I will take my scooty along…..I need it to go to college….
Sid: but I brought my bike…
Anjali: so what??? I will come in my scooty….
Mom: [sensing the tense situation] kyun??? Tumme scooty ki zaroorat kya hai?? Sidharth bhi tumaari college mein hi hai na?? tum dono saath college jaa sakthe ho na??
Anjali: par maa…..[her mom interrupts]
Mom: waise bhi, agar tumme scooty chahiye, tumaare papa kisi se kehke bijwaa dehnge…..abi tum Sidharth ke saath jao……raath ko akele jaana teek nahi….
Dad: [nodding] haan Anjali….tumaari Maa teek keh rahi hai…..
[Anjali unwillingly sits on Sid’s bike…..They bid bye and leave……Anjali sits at the far end doubly careful not to touch him…..She holds the bar behind the bike instead of holding him…..He feels a little strange when he sees her doing such things…..but then also finds it amusing and decides to tackle it in his own naughty way….]
[Anjali is in an awkward position….She has to do several things to ensure that she doesn’t fall down…She has to balance herself and also control her saree…especially the saree pallu.....]
Sid: Anjali darling….Sit properly…….dont lose your balance….hold me if you want…..[grins]
Anjali: [looking at him and seriously] no need….i am ok……
[Anjali doesn’t want to obey anything that he says….at the same time, she is tensed about falling down too.….They turn to the main road and he drives pretty fast but safely…..But he had to apply sudden brakes at times….once, a person crosses the road suddenly and an other time, to avoid a puddle……Anjali comes forward and dashes on him each time a sudden brake is applied…….he smiles to himself…but he didn’t do it intentionally…..He keeps admiring her reactions through the mirror……She seemed quite irritated and angry…..]
Sid: [lowvoice: tum gussey mein bhi bohat khubsoorat lagti ho jaanu]
[But after a couple of such brakes…..]
Anjali: bike rokho….
Sid: why??? We haven’t reached yet….
Anjali: I know that…..but stop the bike….
[Sid stops the bike and turns to her……His head slightly bangs on hers…..She looks up and are eyes are forced to look at his…She snaps out quickly…..She moves back her head and gets down…..]
Sid: [concerned for her] what happened???? Are you ok???Do you need something??
Anjali: [sternly] you leave….i will come by myself….
Sid: [puzzled] WHAT???? But why??
Anjali: mujhe tumaare saath nahi aana….as simple as that…..
Sid: Anjali, don’t joke….its not safe to stand here for long…..come….lets go home….
Anjali: I said I will come by myself….
Sid: main aakhri baar pooch raha hoom….tum aarahe ho ya nahi??
Anjali: [sternly] NAHI….. [She starts looking around for an auto….]
Sid: [irritated] OK....then bye….[he drives off]
[Anjali is very impulsive and at times jumps into conclusions….many times, they might not be the right ones…..In her anger, she herself doesn’t realize the mistakes she commits…….So far, Aashu was there to handle and manage her carefully…….Lets see if Sid can do the same!!! Afterall its the same girl he loved and longed to make her his.....Did marriage change his attitude??]

[Anjali doesn’t look to his side as if she doesn’t care a damn about it and starts looking at the opposite side……Sid leaves….He is out of vicinity….And there are no autos coming too….Anjali starts walking forward…..]

Anjali: its better to walk…..I may get an auto in the junction……
[Just as she starts turning the corner, a car comes behind her and slows down by her side…..The road is empty except for her and the car…..]
Guy1 (from the car): kahaan jaa rahe ho??
[Anjali looks at them once and immediately starts walking….she takes quicker steps…..but the car follows her….]
Guy1: arre kaho na…..We will give you a lift…..
Guy2: [peeping out from the back seat window haan jaaneman……akele kaise jaavoge……yahaan tumme koyi auto voto nahi milne waala…
Anjali: [gives them an angry stare] mind your own business….I don’t need your lift
Guy1: dekho yaar…..isse gussa bhi aaraha hai, yahi toh humaare business hai darling…..
Guy2: itni khoobsurat ladki...haaye aise akele jaana teek nahi....chalo....
Guy1: ab dher matth karo…..chalo humaare saath…..[catches her hand firmly….She tries to struggle but the guy doesn’t leave her…He pulls her towards the car's door]
[Suddenly the guy feels a strong hand on his shoulder…..he turns back…Its Sid…..Anjali also looks at Sid….She is relieved that he is back to help her…..]
Sid: ladki ko chod dho….usse lift dhene keliye main hoom…..
Guy1: Who are you??? Go away if you don’t want a punch from me??
Sid: Who am I???? usi se pooch lo…bolo Anjali….tera bhaiya kuch pooch rahe hai!! [winks at her]
Guy1: [looks confused and turns back to Anjali]
Anjali: [hesitantly and in a low voice] He is my husband…..
Sid: [smiling at what she said] So saale saab, if you will excuse us….
Guy1: [moving away from her] haan haan…humne kab manaa kiya hai…….magar….itne beautiful wife ko koyi iss thara beech raaste akele chodtha hai kya???
Guy2: [sarcastically…closing the car door] sambaalke rakhna apne wife ko…..koyi udaake na le jaaye.....
[The car zooms away before Sid could reply to that…..Sid looks at Anjali and has a sarcastic smile…Anjali tries to hide her embarrassment and bends down]
Sid: [sternly] agar tumaari aaj ka drama khatam hua toh chale???? Ya phir tumme uttaake le chalum, huh?

[When Anjali hesitantly moves…..he just drags her to his bike and forces her to sit quickly…..They reach home without further events….]
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Scene at Sheetal home:
Sheetal’s POV:
Jeeth could do this to me…..i cant believe it….If not for sam and tushar, what would have happened??? I cant even think about it…..The feeling for being deceived was killing me….Though I momentarily forgot it because of Sam, it was still in me….Deep in my heart, I was cursing myself for falling into his traps…I was accusing myself for falling in love with such a cheat…..did I get only a fraud to love??? Am I soo foolish?? My friends were right…I am foolish and don’t understand people…..I don’t understand anything….

[Now she was self analyzing and was realizing how big her blunder was……she was playing with her life…..she believed a person whom she never knew, never met….She had shut herself within her room and not allowing her sorrow and disappointment known to her parents….She didn’t
want to go to college too…She was feeling self conscious….….]

Would Sam or Tushar tell anyone about what they saw???What if my friends know it??? No, I don’t have the courage to face anyone now at this point……
[But her mom knew that something was certainly wrong with her….thus she called up Aashu….…..Meanwhile Sheetal deletes all the virtual gifts and emails from Jeeth…..She erased all that reminded her about him…..She cleaned up her PC…..]
Aashu came home…She had a talk with my mom…..May be my mom wanted her to speak to me……Aashu had no clue as to what had happened to me…..But she spoke to me……I was adamant that I wouldn’t disclose it to anyone…..but she made me open up….I had to tell her everything about Jeeth and our meeting……everything…..She tried to console me….
Aashu: You were foolish…but whats the point in cursing yourself now? Ok just forget it….Think that it was a nightmare….wash everything away from your mind…..forget jeeth…
Sheetal: maine bohat badi galthi ki hai Aashu…..I didn’t obey you people…..thats why god gave me this!!
Aashu: its ok dear…thank god that Sam saved you at the right time…...aage se aise galthiyan kabhi na karna…
Sheetal: hmmm……[sobbing] I cant face anybody….i cant come to college….I will change my college…
Aashu: [placing her hands on sheetal’s shoulder] plzzzz Sheetal….dont do anything foolish….just because a fraud crossed your life, will you stop living?? [Pauses for a second] nothing has happened….do you understand??? And don’t tell this to anyone else….I will handle it when the need comes…..You just close this chapter here itself……
Sheetal hugs her tightly, places her head on Aashu’s shoulder and cries…Aashu caresses her hair and tries to console her….
Aashu: aur ek baat….kal se college aana….no need to put up this emotional scene before your mom….poor she, she is confused about what happened to her daughter…..you will, right??
Sheetal: [after some thinking] hmmmm…..
Aashu: that’s like my friend…..now, wipe off your tears and drink this juice……Your mom said that you didn’t eat anything from morning…..phir saath chalke lunch kaayenge….What say???
Sheetal: [a light smile] hmmm

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Sid’s home…..Anjali is hurrying to her room when Smriti holds her back…..
Smriti: I am angry with you bhabi….so I wont call you Anjali….
Anjali: why?? What happened??
Smriti: [shows the gift boxes she gave her the previous night] you never opened your gifts….maine kitne pyar se diya tha….[grinning and showing Sid’s gift] aap dono ko yeh gift dekhne ka time bhi na milaa…
Anjali: woh….actually….[Sid comes between their talks]
Sid: woh kya hai na…..[pauses for a moment and changes the dialog] chalo chodo, koyi badi baat nahi….abhi kolkar dekh lethe hai…..
[Gets the gifts to open up but Smriti interrupts]
Smriti: aise aasaani se nahi maanungi…..
Anjali: phir???
Smriti: aur bhi shartein hai….pehle kolo….phir batavungi..
Sid: [doubtfully] okie….
[Opens the gift……Smriti’s gift for Sid is a beautiful watch and for Anjali, it’s a stone studded bracelet]
Sid: [though he already knew it, he gives a compliment] its beautiful smrit…..
Anjali: [without delay……looking at the bracelet] WOW that’s soo pretty….i love it….
Smriti: hmmmmm….ab mere saamne dono pehenlo…..
[When they start wearing it…..Smriti holds their hands and says]
Smriti: not like this…..ek doosre ko pehenaavo…..
Sid: [mind voice: smart girl Smriti….acchi technique hai….]
Anjali: [unwillingly smiles and tries to blush] No yaar…ab jaane dho….hum room mein jaake pehen lenge….pukka promise…
Sid: [mind voice: Smriti, yeh jhoot bol rahi hai….matth jaane dho]
Smriti: no way…..else i won’t let you go
[When smriti is adamant, Anjali and Sid have no choice but obey her]
Anjali: [as she holds out her hand to Sid] ajeeb si condition hai…..chalo teek hai….
[Then she puts the watch in Sid’s hand too]
[Sid romantically looks at her while she ties it and also while he puts the bracelet around her wrist….She sees him too but sends cold vibes across to him…She notices that the bracelet has a letter “S” on it…..She is reminded of the day when Sid had snatched and thrown the chain which Rohit had gifted…..]
Smriti: ab yeh gift…but I wont trespass this area……its Sid’s gift to you…..he will give it to you…..[hands it to Sid]
[Smriti leaves them….Anjali rushes to her room….Sid follows her….but she quickly closes the door behind her]

[To be continued]