Is love blind? .......Oh yes it is!! - Episode 43

[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….]

Sid: [after listening to all what Aashu said] tum fikhar math karo….I will bring her back home safely….usse milthe hi, tumme phone karke bathaa doonga…..and haaan haan, tumse bhi baath karvaavunga…..
[Sid drives towards Aashu’s place….He checks each and every corner where she could be waiting for getting an auto or some mode of transport…..He spots her at the bus stand near Aashu’s house]
Sid: thank god she is there……[Sid stops the car and runs to her]
Sid: have you gone crazy Anjali????? What are you doing here at this time???
[She just looks at him but doesn’t say anything]
Sid: [tensing up] agar tumme ghar wapas aana thaa tho tum mujhe call karthi…main tumme pick kartha…....iss thara akele jaane ka kya matlab hai???? Idiot!!!
[Anjali silently gets into the car leaving behind a shouting angry Sid]
Sid: yeh ladki paagal hai aur mujhe bhi paagal kardegi…..filaal ghar le jaatha hoom….
[Sid gets into the car and drives her home….in between Aashu calls….He just tells her that Anjali is with him and there is no need to worry and then cuts the call…..]

Once in their private space……Sid tries to talk to Anjali…..
Sid: [caring voice]Anjali, itna gussa teek nahi hai….agar tumme kuch ho jaatha tho???
Anjali: [for the first time, speaks up] tho kya???? Kisi ko koyi farq nahi padtha!!!!
Sid: padtha hai…sab ko tumaare chintha hai…..jaanthi ho main aur Aashu kitne tense hogaye teh?? Sach toh yeh hai ki tumme humaari koyi fikhar nahi…..warna tum aise jaathi nahi…..
Anjali: shut up……..do you even know why I came like this???
Sid: I know…You are angry because of your brother and Aashu….right???
Anjali: ohh so she told you all about it….
Sid: hmmmm……kuch kuch bathaaya…..They love each other….
Anjali: and I didn’t even know about it……
Sid: tumme har baath bathaana zaroori hai kya?
Anjali: She is my best friend dammit…..i thought we never had secrets in between us…..and Abhi, mere bhai….he also hid it from me……..main unke dushman hoom kya?????
Sid: pyar aisa hi hota hai…..it makes us do weirdest of things…..uska koyi justification nahi hota!!!
Anjali: Enough…badaa aaya pyar ka testimony dhene…..oh yeah I know…..tum bhi unke side hi loge….You never understand what I feel…..
Sid: I know Anjali…..you must be feeling deceived….but….
Anjali: [with tears rolling down profusely]but what Sid, hiding it from me means that they don’t trust me…..Aashu doesn’t trust me……God, I still can’t believe that she did this….. She doesn’t trust my friendship……or maybe she thought I wouldn’t support her in this…..mere pheet peeche yeh sab chal raha tha aur mujhe khabar tak nahi……meri dhosti aur dhoston ko lekhar main garv mehsoos karthi thi…..ab mujhe sab fake lag raha hai……[rolling her eyes and doubtfully] kya tum bhi aise hi ho?????
Sid: [holding her shoulders and making her face him] kabhi nahi……kabhi bhi nahi Anjali……tum rona bandh karo…..i cant see you crying dear……[he wipes off her tears and hugs her tightly to console her……once her sobbing subsides, he speaks up] ab aaraam se socho……tum unke position mein hote toh tum bhi shayad aisa kuch karthi…..its not our fault…..nobody does it consciously……The thought of losing our love makes us commit mistakes which we never intended ……..
[Anjali though not fully forgiven Aashu and her brother but she understands that Sid has a point…..]
Anjali: [looking up to him but still clinging on to him unlike always] may be you are right…….
Sid: [relieved to hear her speak calm and also happy that she is finding solace in him] Good…..and I think you should hear their part of the story too…..[after a pause] You should talk to Aashu and Abi……
Anjali: [resting her head against his chest and holding him tightly] hmmmmm….par abhi nahi…..
Sid: [grinning and caressing her hair] no problem!!! jab bhi tumme mujhe hug karne se fursat miley tab call kardena……

[Anjali blushes and buries her face further making him grin again]

All of a sudden, she breaks apart from him and steps away…..He is startled and stands with his arms held out for a while…..then speaks up
Sid: kya hua????
Anjali: kuch nahi….mujhe sonaa hai…..
Sid: [completely clueless of what she has in her mind but yet doesn’t want to ask her anything] hmmmm
[Once settled down in their respective sides of the bed, Sid starts talking sarcastically]
Sid: dekho, maine kahaa na….pyar hai hi ajeeb…..saamne waale ke dil mein kya hai, pathaa hi nahi chaltha……par ek baath hai……kitni bhi chupaane ki khoshish karo, pyar nahi chuptha……kabhi na kabhi kisi na kisi tarah se baahar aa hi jaatha hai……..[grins and starts playing with the table lamp]
Anjali: [irritated with his love psychology and the continuous on and off of the light, gets up] Sid, now stop it haan…kaunsa pyar kiska pyar???? [not allowing him to speak] yahaan koyi pyar vyar nahi hai….samjhe tum??……I was slightly disturbed and upset by Aashu…..and you tried to calm me down……uskeliye bohat bohat shukriya…..nothing more to it……ok???
Sid: [smiling cheekily and in a casual manner] ok…tum itne hyper kyun ho rahi ho???? I was saying about Aashu’s love……uski secret love baahar aa gayi na…..i was talking about that yaar…..par tumne kya sochaa???
Anjali: [closing her eyes realizing her mistake….then quickly falling back to the bed] kuch nahi…..Gud night!!
[Sid gives her a flying kiss and coming close to her ears…she feels his warmth but shuts her eyes tightly…..He talks in a soft romantic manner]
Sid: [softly] Gudnight honey, sweet dreams…….
Anjali has a hard time resisting herself from her emotions….she tries to shut all her senses and pretends to have slept already…….

Aashu’s POV:
Abi, my best friend’s brother…that was the only connection between us…….Anjali used to talk a lot about her bhai……..Even before seeing him in person, I knew a lot about him from Anjali’s chats….
After we met too, we shared just a casual friendship...I used to visit Anjali’s place almost daily……. As kids, me, Anjali and abi used to play and have fun…. Nearly 5 years elder to us, Abi always had this caring, protective bhaiya image…….
After school, Abi stayed in hostel for his college…..He came home only during holidays……It was only when I started missing his presence in Anjali’s home, did I realize that I felt something more for him….Even then, I was scared of my thoughts…….i felt I was thinking stupid…..How can I do it?? He is like my brother!! What will Anjali think????What will Abi think??? They will laugh at me….they will scold me……I tried to burry it within my mind………I forced myself to believe that it was not love…I am too young, so it can never be love….….It was just bullshit!!!
Two years passed by with such conflicting thoughts and not knowing what was in store for me………
Our 11th standard holidays began…..Abi came back for holidays too……..I felt a sudden distance created between us…..He wasn’t mingling with me like he used to……I cursed myself thinking that he would have sensed my stupidity and so he is staying away…….I tried my best to keep away too….
Me and Anjali had planned a day out…….I was supposed to meet her at home……When I reached her place, her mom and dad were leaving for some function……..They said Anjali was getting ready and Abi had gone out somewhere….
I walked to her room…….Abi’s room was just before hers……..The door was slightly open and my eyes casually fell on his table……..His books were all scattered on it……..I felt a sudden urge to arrange it properly…….Anyways, Anjali was still getting ready…..
I went in slowly and started putting them back in order when his personal diary caught my attention…..I was tempted to open it on one side but again, I knew it wasn’t right to read somebody’s personal diary………but I wanted to know badly if he had written anything about me….If so, then what that was??
I apologized in advance and opened it…….He had written many things about me…..but nothing specific to his feelings for me……I just flipped the diary quickly when a page turned up…..It had a specific date…..a year ago….i think it must be one of the days during the last long vacation…..It had my name written in bold letters and he had placed a rose on that page…….
I was confused……Was he indirectly saying something?..i stood there holding that dried up crushed rose for a while…..I heard a voice taking over from there……”So finally, it has reached the right hands…”
I closed the diary quickly and put it down and turned back….the rose was still in my hands, I tried to hide it behind me……..Abi was standing right in front of me…..I was shocked, apologetic and didn’t know what else to say or do…..I was wondering what he would be thinking seeing me trespassing his personal space.……After a few silent moments, he stepped forward…….Not able to look at his face, i was looking down
He caught hold of my hand which was behind and brought it to the front……the rose, obviously came along……..”I was saying about this” he spoke up slowly pointing to the rose……”It took a year, but finally it came to you”
I looked up to him and our eyes met……We never said anything to each other at that time………From his eyes, I realized that he too had been living with the same conflicting mind state……..now he sported a relieved, relaxed look……I blushed and freed my hands from his and ran out of his room…..
We never spoke about this or for that matter about our love for a long time after that……….It was only before he left for his masters that we spoke again…….
The truth is that we weren’t sure of what we wanted……then how could we speak to others about it??? Initially, there was a kind of uncertainty and also an unknown fear…..”how will our parents react? How will our friends react??”

After hearing Aashu’s part of the story, Anjali speaks up suddenly
Anjali: par tum mujhe keh sakthi thi na??? did you think that I will be against your love??
Aashu: aisi nahi hai Anjali……I was scared of how you will react….main bohat gabraa gayi thi……sorry…….[tears flood her eyes]
Anjali: [wiping it and comforting her] tum meri best friend ho yaar……mujhse kaisa darr?? I am just angry that you hid from me for such a long time……..[seeing Aashu’s dull face] Accha chodo…..actually i am happy now…..i always used to think that our friendship would get affected if you get married to some stranger and go off somewhere…….par ab koyi tension nahi…….hum dono hamesha best friends rahenge……hai na?? [smiles like a small kid]
Aashu: [hugging her] thanks dear….thanks for understanding……..[kisses her cheek] tum nahi jaanthi ke tumne kitni badi tension dhoor kardi……thanks
Anjali: another thanks and I will slap you…..[smiles and after a moment’s thinking] par ek baat hai….i wont call you bhabhi and all……samjhi??
Aashu: samajh gayi…….We are best friends and will remain like that forever!!
Anjali: [thinking] mmmmmmm……ab main bhi samji……kaise har baat bhai tak paunchtha tha……[smiles]
Aashu: hmmmm…..kehna toh padega na…..aakhir tumaari bhabhi jo hoom……[grins]
[They laugh out and hug each other……]
Anjali: waise mera bhai bhi chupa rustam nikhla…….abhi poochti hoom…..
Aashu: ab wahaan bohat raat hogi na??? He would have slept….
Anjali: oh ohhhh……bohat fikhar ho rahi hai……koyi baat nahi…..ek din neend karaab hone dho….
[She calls up Abi and he picks up after a long time]
Abi: hello Anjali…..
Anjali: hmmmm…..kaise ho bhai???? Teek ho na??aap mujhse bohat baatein chupaane lage na…..
Abi: tumme sab pathaa chal hi gaya hoga na???
Anjali: hmmmm….Aashu ne kuch kuch bathaaya……main aapke mooh se sunna chahthi hoom….
Abi: aur kya sun na hai…..jo bhi usne kahaa wahi sach hai……We are in love sis…..
Anjali: ohhhh…..aur agar main uss love keliye No kahoom toh…..
Abi: tum aisi kar hi nahi sakthi……meri choti si pyari si behna ho na??
Anjali: [shuddering off the pampering and pretending anger] jaao jaao…mujhe nahi sunna…….pyari behen hoti toh itni badi baat mujhse nahi chupaatha…….
Abi: plzzzzz sweet heart……..humne kuch bhi jaan boochke nahi chupaaya…..bas ek bhool hogayi…….Sorry…..
Anjali: teek hai teek hai……maaf kiya……sirf Aashu ke wajeh se……meri best friend ko kabhi hurt math karna…..uske aankhon se ek aasu nikhli toh main tumme nahi chodungi….
Abi: ab bas karo drama queen….bohat hogayi…..
[They talk for a while more and then cut the call……]

[Sid had left Anjali at Aashu’s place the next morning so that they can talk and sort out the differences……..They are on their way back home……..Anjali is happy that Sid made the right move at the right time and set things right between them……..]
Anjali: [looking at Sid] Thanks…….tumaare wajeh se sab teek hogaya….
Sid: hmmm…..maine wahi kiya jo mujhe sahi lagaa…..good that you understood and sorted out the problem……I am happy for Aashu and Abi…
Anjali: main bhi bohat khush hoom…..[smiling] next time, when bhai is here, I will get them engaged….[grins]
Sid: hmmm….
Anjali: [noticing that he sounds a bit upset] kya hua???? aren’t you feeling well??? [touches his forehead]
Sid: [removes her hand] kuch nahi hua……I am alright……
[Anjali feels that Sid is behaving differently…..]

[Few days pass by…….Anjali and Aashu are studying at Anjali’s place when Aashu gets a call from Deepak]
Aashu: WHAT???? Yeh tum kya keh rahe ho??? Oh oh Deepak, why did you go there???? Accha teek hai….hum abhi aathe hai….dont worry….

[To be continued]