Is love blind? .......Oh yes it is!! - Episode 31

[Anjali too leaves with tears in her eyes…..Sheetal goes behind her……Sam is worried about Sid and Anjali now]
Sam rushes to Sid..
Sam: Dude , I was searching for you…..i need to tell something important….
Sid: [lost in his thoughts, snaps out] not now…….later!
Sam: its about Anjali Sid…
Sid: [turns to him instantly] what about her??
[Sam explains the whole thing….Sid is quite angry with Shweta…..]
Sid: uski himmat toh dekho….abi jaake usse uski aukaad dhikaatha hoom…..
[Sam holds him back]
Sam: Sid, abi nahi…..ab Anjali ke paas jaao….she needs you near her now….
Sid: [nods after a thought] hmmm….woh kahaan hai??
Sam: shayad canteen mein…….
Sid: teek hai….main chaltha hoom….
[Aashu sees Sheetal on her way and holds her back…..Sid reaches the canteen first…..Anjali isn’t seen anywhere…….He knows where she would be when she is upset and goes behind the canteen building…….He sees Anjali leaning to the wall…..She looks sad and her eyes brimming with tears….The canteen is fairly empty as classes have already started…….He goes towards her and calls her]
Sid: Anjali…..
[For a second, Anjali forgets all that she has against Sid, for the moment, Sid is just the close friend she had before….She turns back and hugs him tightly…..as if she needed his shoulder to console herself….she doesn’t utter a single word but her gestures conveyed a lot of meanings….Sid is a bit surprised by her hug….He slowly hugs her back and holds her close to himself, close to his heart……]

Sid: [slowly gliding his fingers on her hair and then her back] Its ok Anjali….dont feel so much for what she said…..She is an idiot….. She has no sense at all…….dont take it to your heart…….forget it…..
Anjali: [realizing what she is doing…breaks away from him and wipes her tears] Forget!!! What all should I forget??? Forget what she said or forget that I am married to Sid the great!!!...You are the reason for all that has happened………I regret the day I became your friend……Its all because of you
Sid: [irritated by her talk…..her accusation seems baseless to him] Shut up…..come with me….
[Though she resists, he pulls her and takes her along with him……He takes her to Shweta…..She is standing amidst her gang of girls and a few guys….. Anjali is not very happy with what he did but comes with him as she has no other option…..Shweta sees them coming hand in hand and is bit frustrated but hides her feeling and shouts out….]

Shweta: HEAR HEAR HEAR………LETS ALL GIVE A STANDING WELCOME TO OUR NEWLY WEDDED COUPLE……[all start clapping when Sid and Anjali comes near her]

Sid: STOP IT……. Shweta, apologize to Anjali…..
Shweta: APOLOGIZE!! Why should i???
Sid: don’t act smart……just do what I said……else…
Shweta: else what Sid???? [Smiling] how did you agree to marry such a down market girl??? You rejected me, “SHWETA” for this girl!!!! How sad!!! [As if pitying him] I know, it must have been forced on you…poor you!!.....I never thought that she can go to this extend…..[turning to Anjali] par Anjali, itni jaldi kya thi??? Shaadi ki bina hi…..[stops and sarcastically] Kuch gadbad hogayi kya??? [winks and smiles]

Sid: [angrily in loud voice] shut up……mind your tongue….She is my wife and I married her because I love her….Do you understand that????

[Anjali, who was already burning in anger, is out of control hearing what Shweta said…..she forces her hand out from his and screams at him……Sid’s friends, Sheetal, Aashu , Deepak also reach the place by then…….]

Anjali: bas yahi sunna baaki tha…..bohat accha kiya ke tumne mujhe yahaan le aaye aur yeh sab bhi sunaa diya….[with tears and anger beaming her eyes…..She goes away from there]

Sid: ladki hokhar kisi aur ladki ke feelings ke saath khel rahe ho……oh yeah….I know I can’t expect anything good from you…..
[Glaring at her, Sid storms away ……All the others expect Anjali’s friends, Sam and Tushar leave the place]

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Their friends are worried about them and meet up to discuss something....

Sam: guys, I think we should plan something to bring the two together
Tushar: hmmmm I also feel that the problem is much more than what it seems….
Sheetal: [nodding] yes, I too felt that from Anjali’s talk…..
[Aashu already had this doubt when she heard Anjali telling about her wedding and Sid…..So she also thinks that they have a problem to solve…..So she gives a silent consent to their plan…..]
[Days pass by….Anjali still behaves indifferently to Sid……
Meanwhile, their friends plan a surprise for both……Sam and Sheetal take the responsibility of coordinating it….In the process, they grow to become good friends……Aashu, Deepak and Kripa are into it too…..Tushar is the master mind behind it…..They are planning a rocking party……and surprise them by bringing them to the party independently….Its planned for the Saturday night]

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[Saturday evening…….In Sid’s room….. Anjali wants to settle down quickly with a book to forget her worries….All her books are in cardboard boxes…..She is unpacking them and arranging it on the shelf and desk…..She is not aware of the party till now….While arranging, some dust goes into her eyes……She closes her eyes in irritation and starts rubbing it……She is not able to open her eyes…..]

Anjali: Smriti….Smriti…..[Smriti doesn’t turn up…..but Sid come out after his bath…..He sees her state and rushes to her……he tries to open her eye and blows air gently into it…..Anjali, in her plight doesn’t realize that its Sid and not Smriti……Smriti passes by and stops seeing this scene…..]
Smriti: [grins] yeh sab romance door bandh karke kiya karo Sid…..iss ghar mein tum dono ke seva bhi log hai……[she closes the door]
[Anjali now realizes that its not Smriti who is helping her……she pushes Sid to the bed and tries to move away but in the hurry she stumbles and falls over him……He holds her in a sudden reflex action……]
Smriti: [naughtily comes back and opens the door slightly] kya main andhar aa sakthi hoom???…..[she sees this scene and is surprised again] Oh no not again!!! [she turns to the opposite direction]
[It is an embarrassing situation for both Sid and Anjali…… Anjali manages to struggle and get up from there….Sid stands up too…….He smiles sheepishly……while Smriti is not able to control her laugh seeing their faces]

Sid: [hiding the embarrassment] what do you want???
Smriti: [turns to face Sid] filaal kuch nahi….I just came to pass on a message….Your friend called up to remind you about the party…..He said that your mobile phone is switched off…..
Sid: [picks up his phone and switches it on…..2 reminder messages from Sam and Tushar beep in] hmmm…….uss keliye hi thayaar ho rahaa tha…..[holding his wet towel around his neck…..looks at Anjali…she just silently hears what they said…..then continues doing her work] 

Smriti: [grins and looks at Anjali] hmmmmm woh tho dhik raha hai!! [She leaves smiling]
[Sid looks at what Anjali is doing but she appears to ignore him….He doesn’t bother to explain anything to her…..he just gets ready…..Just before leaving, he talks to Anjali]

Sid: I know you dont care about where I go….but still….. [Turning towards her] I am going for a party….want to join?
Anjali: [sarcastically] your party!!!! How did you even think that I will join???
Sid: ok fine….poochna mera farz thaa aur aana ya na aana tumaari marzi!!!
[As Sid is leaving the room…..Anjali gets a call from Aashu…..She picks it up immediately……]

Anjali: [after hearing out what Aashu said] no yaar…not today….i am not in a mood for an outing…..waise bhi Sid nahi hai…..ghar mein kya bolungi….[Sid stops just outside hearing his name being mentioned…][Aashu is continuously trying to convince her….so Anjali checks if Sid has left……but she sees him near the stairs and calls out to him…..Sid comes back to her……

She checks with Sid if he could drop her at Aashu’s place and he agrees to it….She then comes back to the phone call and agrees to what Aashu said] Ok dear…Sid will drop me at your place…..[She cuts the call and starts getting ready…….little does she know that Aashu is planning to take her to the same party]

[Sid comes back and waits for her…..Anjali selects a dress for herself and looks at Sid…..He understands that her look means that he has to go out of the room]
Sid: I will wait downstairs…Get ready and come soon…..
[Sid leaves and Anjali is a little relieved at the fact that he understood what she has in her mind without her having to say that out to him….
Anjali dresses up and comes down…….]

Sid usse dekhta hi rahe tha hai…..He says dreamily to himself “party cancel 

karna padega….dil chahtha hai ke usse dekhta rahoom”]
[They leave together from Sid’s place…….]
mere maula maula mere maula, man matwala kyun hua hua re
man maula maula mere maula, mere maula
kis taraf hai aaasmaan, kis taraf zaameen khabar nahi khabar nahi
o o jab se aaya hai sanam, mujhko khud ki bhi khabar nahi khabar nahi
ho o o hosh gul sapno ki mein bandhu pull
aankh kab khuli khabar nahi khabar nahi
hoo hoo kis taraf hai aaasmaan
kis taraf zaameen khabar nahi khabar nahi
mere maula maula mere maula, man matwala kyun hua hua re
man maula maula mere maula, mere maula

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[At about the same time…..Sheetal’s home….She gets a call from Sam….]
Sheetal: hi hello sam….yeah tell me…kaise phone kiya?? Everything ready na??? Do I need to do anything else???
Sam: no no….sab arrangements hogayi hai….
Sheetal: [confused as to why he called] hmmm….[pauses and waits for him to say why he called…but she doesn’t want to ask him the reason explicitly….so she talks in broken sentences] then…..what else
Sam: [hesitantly] ummmmm… actually,[hesitates] I wanted to check if you want me to pick you up……. I mean Aashu will be coming with Anjali, na???...and you will be left alone….
Sheetal: [smiling] oh thanks…actually, Deepak would be coming to pick me up…..
Sam: [in a disappointed tone] oh…..ok….[Sheetal continues]
Sheetal: but……I can ask him to pick Kripa….
Sam: [brightening up] hey that’s cool yaar…..I will be there in 10 minutes…..see ya
Sheetal: hmmm……bye [smiles]

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[Sheetal calls up Deepak and tells him to pick Kripa…..]
Deepak: ok ok….i will do that……[He feels happy for the reasons unknown to him]
Deepak: [mind voice: Sheetal refused my lift…..and asked me to pick Kripa….. why am I feeling so happy for this???? Strange!!!!]
[he gets dressed for the party and starts off to Kripa’s place……Kripa was in fact reluctant to join the party……She feared to tell her parents about going to the party…..Her amma would agree after some resistance but her baba…..he would definitely not allow her……..but when her friends, especially Deepak wished that she comes, she couldn’t refuse it……She agrees after some persuation……]

jaane kab kahan kaise tere ho gaye kaise
hum to sochte hi reh gaye aur pyaar ho gaya
mere khawaab dil saaansein, mil ke kho gaye aise
tujko dekh ke aisa to kai baar ho gaya

[To be continued]