Jo hona tha... ho gaya

Abhi warns Alia

Beach side penthouse

After a long pause he said, "well... aur bhi kuch hai" and continued as she looked at him. "Woh teen cheezein... jo mujhe woh gutter me mile."

She nodded and looked on curiously. 

"Pehla... ek chotta guitar ka stud tha... doosra pearl ka ek ear ring, jaise Dadi pehenti hai... aur teesra ... kuch design wala pendant jaisa tha." he said, "Aur jab Dadi ne tumhare liye mangalsutra khareeda ... I was shocked ... par ab sochoon toh its not surprising for me anymore."

She looked at him curiously. "Uska design" he said as he pointed out the centre pendant of her mangalsutra, "yahi tha".

"Kya?" she asked as she smiled with a surprise.

"Yeah" he said.

After a long pause he continued "and I actually believed woh hoga... jaise they say woh 'vision' jo baadme sachch ho jaata hai... I believed in it." 

"Wont blame you at all" she said, "in fact agar aap ye mujhe shaadi se pehle bol dete toh mein ... I would've asked you to find her, aur shayad aapki help bhi karti." 

"Actually I had given up... kuch ek saal pehle." he said, "Jaise usme kaha tha ki mein kya kar raha hoon, sab apni apni jindagi jee rahein hein aur mein... So I had given up... and in a way, jo ehsaas chahiye tha ya phir jo sun na tha woh toh mil gaya... us se na sahi, tum se."

She smiled. 

"So whether I like it or not, whether...you or we like it or not... jo hona tha wahi hua hai ... ab hum donon ko hi ek doosre ko jhelna padega".

She smiled along with him. 

"Ek aur cheez hai tum donon me common... tum donon se Alia nafrat karti hai" Abhi said and laughed. 

Pragya smiled and asked, "Us se kyu?"

"Kya pata..." he said, "pehle se bohot jhagadte the donon... Purab Alia ko manata tha, aur mein isse... and there were times when we would just let them fight. She is a South Indian. Toh Alia usko woh sterotypes use karke and yeh Punjabiyon aur Sardar ke streotypes use karke Alia ko chiddati thi. It was fun watching them fight actually. Purab aur mera to mast timepass hota tha... kabhi kabhi to hum log jaan boochke unhe ladvate they." 

"South Indian?" she asked. 

"Hmm... Tamizh Nadd" he said. 

"Tamil Nadu?" she said. 

He smiled. "Haan..." he said, "by the way... I even learnt how to say that 'zh' they use." 

She smiled. "So Tamil aati hogi aapko." 

"No..." he said, "just thoda". 

"Kab se jaante they use?" Pragya asked. 

"Bachchpan se. Purab aur Alia ki classmate thi. Humare hi chawl me rehte the woh log. Around 9th std. they moved to a better place. Phir bhi hum milte rehte the." he said, "But uske Georgia jaane ke baad hi mujhe realise hua ki mujhe us se pyar hai. And same from her side too. Ek do baar mila bhi hoon us se wahan jaake." 

She nodded. He looked at the sunset. He felt relaxed... better than before. 

He looked at Pragya and was relieved she seemed to have taken it quite well. That was something he was scared of... learning from her husband on the second day of her marriage that he hasn't been able to move on... he hadn't expected her to take it the way she did. 

'And she is right. I didn't get a closure... kya hua ye maloom padta to shayad I would have been able to move on' he thought. 

"Woh kya effect bola tha tumne?" Abhi asked Pragya, "woh closure wala."