Is love blind? .......Oh yes it is!! - Episode 42

Anjali comes out really wishing to tell Sid about her new mind state towards him…..but in her hesitant state, she does some random things….like checking the mobile…..she finds her mobile in silent mode and changes it back…..Sid is annoyed and disappointed about her action……He sits back holding his mobile with a pillow on his lap…He pretends to be uninterested in what she does……Anjali wonders who turned it to silent mode but doesn’t worry much about clarifying it……

Sid: [gets a bit furious seeing that][mind voice: tumaare pati tumaare liye apna tour chod ke yahaan aaya hai aur tumme apni mobile ki padi hai……cant you even thank me for that Anjali???]
She slowly comes and sits near Sid….Sid doesn’t look up to her
Anjali: I want to tell you something Sid….
Sid: [slowly looking up but his heart beating fastly] yeah Anjali….tell me…
Anjali: woh…..woh….main tumme [hesitantly] thanks kehna tha…..
Sid: [little taken aback by her sudden change….][mind voice: kahi isne sun toh na liya???] thanks??? Kyun??
Anjali: [slowly]tumne mere b’day keliye apna tour chodke yahaan aaye aur mujhe surprise kiya…..usikiliye….
Sid: ohhh…..[stops and decides to tease her] actually maine anjaane me aaya….Smriti ne kahaa ke tumaari b’day hai…..so just decided to wish you…..thats all……waise wahaan bore ho rahe the……so Sam, Tushar and me came back….
Anjali: [looks at him sarcastically][mind voice: Sid, I know that you are lying….Smriti told me about your surprise party and other plans for me] ohhh…is it??? Then I take back my thanks…..[smiles…..Sid smiles too seeing her smile..]
[In between their smiles, Sid glances at her romantically……]
Sid: aur….
Anjali: [stops smiling] aur kya??
Sid: tumme kuch aur bhi kehna hai kya?
Anjali: ummmm…..[hesitantly]nahi….kuch bhi nahi….
Sid: [mind voice: ab keh bhi dho Anjali…..itna kyun sathaa rahi ho….]
Anjali: [noticing his glance]tum aise kyun dekh rahe ho??
Sid: kya hua??? mere dekhne se tumme koyi farq padtha hai
Anjali: [turning away] nahi toh…..mujhe kyun farq padega???
Sid: [turning her face back to him and in a caring voice] idhar dekho Anjali……hum kitne din aise ladthe rahenge???kuch bhi ho, hum dono husband and wife hi rahenge na??
Anjali: [tears in her eyes and relieved that he told whatever she had in her mind] hmmmm…..
Sid holds her hands and draws her nearer…..As she comes nearer, Sid is shocked by a snap……He was in a trance and Anjali snaps him out from it…
Anjali: SID…..tum kahaan ho?kya soch rahe ho???? Maine poocha, tum aise kyun dekh rahe ho???
Sid: [out of his romantic dream….][low voice: kaash main waise hi keh paatha…..] oh…..actually….[pauses when Anjali’s phone rings]
Anjali: its Aashu….ek minute Sid, abi aathi hoom….

[Anjali goes into the balcony to answer the call]

Sid: shit……Aashu ko bhi abhi phone karna tha……
At the balcony……
Anjali: Hello Aashu…..why did you call at this time???
Aashu: ohhh yeah, I forgot…..tumaare pati dev ko boora lagaa hoga na??sorry dear
Anjali: Aashuuuuu……[stops and continues].accha teek hai….kaho kya baat hai??
Aashu: [sarcastically]Anjali madam…main yeh pooch rhi thi ke agar tumaare honeymoon aur romance khatam hogaya tho, hum thoda padaayi bhi karlen??? Exams are going to start in a month’s time……..aur tumne kuch bhi padaa nahi hai….
Anjali: [freaking out]EXAMS!!!! Kab kahaan???
Aashu: dekhaa…..tumme yeh bhi nahi pathaa……hum kalse padaayi shuru karthe hai…..tum mere ghar aajaana…..combined study karenge….
Anjali: [thinking] hmmmm…..
Aashu: ok then…bye dear….good night….
Anjali: bye

Anjali comes back to the room and starts to talk when Sid’s phone rings…..Sid excuses himself from her and goes to the balcony now

Sid: bolo Sam….kya hai??
Sam: kuch nahi yaar…..ek idea chahiye….
Sid: IDEA???? Iss waqt…..kya?
Sam: mujhe Sheetal ko kuch dhena hai….
Sid: toh???? Main kya karoom??? Should I act as a post man??
Sam: no dude…..i want some choices for gifts……
Sid: hmmmm….kya tum pehle baar kuch dhena jaa rahe ho???
Sam: haan….sort of….
Sid: tum usse pyar karthe ho na??? aur proposal karne waale ho na??
Sam: nahi nahi…..
Sid: so tum pyar nahi karthe, right???
Sam: no yaar…..pyar hai bhi….aur nahi bhi….i mean I am not fully sure…..
Sid: toh gift kyun dhene chahthe ho???
Sam: ek simple gift….jiska koyi meaning na ho…..aise kuch kaho na??
Sid: [thinks and speaks after few minutes of silence]Simple gift……hmmmm….Flowers…..usse accha aur koyi gift ho hi nahi saktha….par red roses nahi….ok?? Red roses pyar ki nishaani hai….
Sam: hmmmm….then how about yellow???
Sid: yellow means friendship……is it just plain friendship??
Sam: NOOOOO……yellow cancelled…..Pink????
Sid: nahi yaar…..pink ko kuch meaning nahi hai…..i think roses nahi….kuch aur flower dho…
Sam: hey…roses nahi tho kya dhoom???? Don’t tell me to give jasmine and all…
Sid: do you think I am sooo silly????? [Thinks for a while and suddenly pops out with some idea] ORCHIDS……give her orchids……purple orchids……it indicates care, concern and respect for the person!!Sam: WOW yaar…..thats what I call an excellent idea……I loved it…
Sid: thank u thank u…..
Sam: waise ek baat poochum……
Sid: haan poocho poocho….
Sam: [sarcastically]tumne kab flowerology mein PHD kiya???
Sid: [little annoyed] is that important now??? Jaao jaao apna kaam karo…..Go and impress your girl and don’t disturb me…..
Sam: tumme bohat jaldi hai……busy ho kya???
Sid: haan……oh actually Anjali meri intezaar kar rahi hai….
Sam: [giving a shocked expresssion] WHAT???? Waiting for you!!!
Sid: Haan…..isme itni surprise hone kya baat hai??
Sam: [sarcastically] Nothing……but if she is waiting, let her wait for some more time……don’t go so quickly…..make her realize your worth….
Sid: tum meri zindagi ke saath khelne ki idea dey rahe ho kya??? Ab rakho…..
At the same time……
Anjali: yeh Sid kitna time le raha hai……lagtha hai ke he wont come now……[Anjali lazily rests her head on the pillow and cuddles around….]


[But Sam doesn’t allow him to keep the phone….they keep talking for another 20 minutes……At the end of which, Sid manages to escape from him……Sid comes back to find Anjali sleeping peacefully……He is disappointed and is angry with Sam for holding him there for long…….He pulls up the blanket for her and sits near her]

Anjali’s POV:
Aashu ne teek kahaa tha…..padaayi ke seva baaki sab kuch back seat pe rakh kar aa tho gayi par concentrate nahi kar paarahi hoom……..Books spread all over Aashu’s bed…..Aashu was reading it loud for me…..everything sounding like greek and latin to me not because I didn’t understand the subjects but because I wasn’t concentrating one bit……I wasn’t listening to what she read…….i was feeling guilty but couldn’t help it……I was recalling about what happened before I came here……Sid didn’t tell anything against me spending the night at Aashu’s place……..Usually, he disliked me going out of his sight……but today he never seemed bothered about it…He instantly nodded to what I said and also offered me a lift happily…..What could be the reason????Why didn’t he try stopping me???? …but why was that affecting me??? I also wished that he stopped bothering me na???? but that was a old story…..now it was….[I stopped thinking further…..i shifted my thoughts and looked at Aashu…..She had stopped reading and was glaring at me…….]
Aashu: [angrily] Anjali, whats your problem dear???? Where are you????
Anjali: I don’t know yaar….i am not able to focus on anything…..
Aashu: [angrily] Why??? What happened???
Anjali: samajhi nahi aa raha….
Aashu: lo…..itni si baat……chalo, main phir se samjaathi hoom….
Anjali: [stopping Aashu in between] nahi re…..i said I cant understand Sid’s change in behavior….
Aashu: for god’s sake Anjali…..concentrate on this……no other talks….ok??
Anjali: [shuddering away all other thoughts] OK……shuru karo…..
Aashu: ek minute….i will bring 2 hot coffees……that will drive away the sleep and laziness……
Anjali: hmmmmm………

Aashu went down to get coffee…..time is almost 11:30…….I was thinking about what Sid would be doing at that time….”would he be sleeping??? Or would he be thinking about me???
Aashu’s cell buzzed…….It was ringing continuously and Aashu wasn’t anywhere seen…..I tilted my head to see who it was…..The name flashing was “ABI”…….i was tempted to know who it was because the only Abi I knew was my…..[pauses] no no…..He can’t call my friend at this odd time……Aashu getting a call from a stranger at this time was also next to impossible…..Who is this then???? I took the call……I froze when I heard the voice…….

Voice over the phone: sweetu….what took you so long?? Koyi paas tha kya?? Or are you angry with me????

[I put the phone down as soon as I understood who it was……I was angry, upset….sad, disappointed….on the whole I was feeling horrible…..i couldn’t stand there one minute more…..nor could I act normally to Aashu…….I didn’t think anything further….I walked out without waiting any further]

Aashu hears a sound at the door when she is climbing up the stairs but she ignores it as her imagination and goes to her room….
Aashu: where is Anjali??? [looking at the rest room] may be she is there……
[Her phone rings again…..Aashu picks it up happily]
Aashu: listen, I cant talk for long now….Anjali is here…..
Abi: ok ok……but tell me why didn’t you speak the first time I called you….
Aashu: When?????[Both suddenly understand what would have happened…….Aashu rushes towards the rest room] Anjali…..Anjali….suno….let me explain……..[back into the phone] Abi, lets talk later……I need to talk to her now…….
Abi: hmmmm…. …..i will talk to her also….but later….right now, she must be angry, damn angry with me……[deep sigh]anyways, you take care….bye
Aashu: bye…
[Aashu bangs on the door but is shocked to see the door open and Anjali missing there…..She rushes to the front door……She realizes that Anjali has left……She is very scared………]

Sid’s POV:
I wasn’t getting sleep anywhere near me…..i was still engrossed in her thoughts……I managed to study something…..then decided to forcefully sleep……I had just closed my eyes when my phone rang……Anjali…..it must be her…though she fights with me, she cant be without me……she needs me for everything…..…..i thought…..i smiled to myself and took the phone……It was Aashu…..Her voice was shivering or may be breaking in between
Aashu: Hello….. Sid
Sid: haan…..tell me Aashu……Did she ask you to call me??? [grins]
Aashu: nahi Sid……Anjali kahi chali gayi…..mujhe bathaaya bhi nahi……come here quickly
Sid: zaroor uski idea hai na?? mujhe wahaan bulaane ki….maan na padega…..tum bhi kuch kuch acting aur voice modulation kar lethi ho…….agar main tum dono ko jaantha nahi toh zaroor fool ho jaatha….
Aashu: [loudly] Plzz Sid…..this is not a joke……I am serious……Anjali is not in my place…..
Sid: What?????But why????
[Aashu narrates what happened to Sid…..and Sid understands the reason for Anjali’s sudden disappearance…….Anjali’s best friend and her only loving caring brother were in love and she didn’t have a clue about it……Anjali’s anger and ego would have soared up naturally….]

 [To be continued]