Rang De Basanti Drabbles

Photography

"Haan, haan, mujhe bhi shaayad abba aur ammi se daant milegi isi wajah se... but I think they will be proud of us right? Tumhara baap aa rahe hai kya?" "Nahi, the minute I chose to do photography... he nearly disowned me. Mere friends hi mujhe support kiye the iske liye. Your idiots are also coming right?" Karan asked.

"Ek toh aayega par... doosre ki koi atha patha nahi hai... so patha nahi woh aayega ya nahi." Faran said sadly. "Mera bhi ek dost hai... bhai ki tarah hai woh... even I don't think he'll be there tomorrow." Karan disclosed.

"Kya hua usko?" "Accident tha... Just on the day I got the letter from sir... Aana nahi chahtha tha par... they all forced me to go and not miss the opportunity... The last I heard, woh abhi bhi coma mein hai." Karan said and Faran hugged him tight.

"And I am glad they did so. Nahi toh tum mujhe nahi milgaya hota na? When do we break it to them?" Faran asked. "Exhibition ke baad, probably will be the best..." 

That morning was quite a busy morning for the duo as they set up all the pictures and checked whether everything was ready for the final showdown. The exhibition was set to start in an hour and the two were going through the last minute details when Faran's parents and Ajay's mother arrived.

"Arey Karan beta, do hafte ho chuki hai waapas aakar aur ek baar bhi milne nahi aaya tune? Phone bhi nahi kiya." Mrs. Rathod said in mock disappointment. "Sorry ma, thoda busy tha yeh exhibition set up karne mein... Ajay kaisa hai? Baaki sab kahaan hai?" he asked in concern.

"Sab Ajay ke saath hai. Thodi improvements hai thabiat mein toh... jaldi theek ho jaayega." she said with a smile. "Achcha, tumhara yeh dost kaun hai? I wanted to meet him before the exhibition starts" she asked and Karan smiled as he led her to the other side where Faran was talking with his parents.

"Oi Faran, intro nahi karwayega kya? This is Mrs. Rathod, my friend Ajay's mother and she's like my second mother. Maa, yeh Faran hai, mere saath in do saalon mein photography assistant tha" Karan said with a smile and she stood there staring at Faran in shock before regaining her senses.

"Nice to meet you beta. Karan tumhare baare mein bohot baath kartha hai" she said with a smile. "Nice to meet you too aunty. Yeh mere Ammi aur Abba hai aur woh Karan hai." Faran said with a smile and dragged Karan to a corner as he let the adults talk.

"Mann kar raha hai ki tumhe abhi khaa jaaun" Faran said as he trapped Karan between his hands. "Exhibit ke baad. We don't want them to confront us now... do we?" Karan asked as he gave him a small peck before pushing him away playfully.

"Friends aa rahe hai kya?" Faran asked hopefully. "Shaayad nahi. At least, abhi tak nahi aaye hai. Tumhara?" "Best friends ke baath karen toh they are not responding..." Faran said with a frown. Before they could talk any further though, there seemed to be a commotion outside and Faran sighed before going to look at what's happening.

"Bilkul Ajay ki tarah dikh raha hai... well, with glasses par woh abhi ke liye chhod do. Kab bathane wale the iske baare mein" she asked with a teasing nudge as she approached Karan again. "Kiske baare mein?" Karan asked in confusion. "Arey, tum dono ke baare mein, aur kya?" she asked as if it was obvious.

"Maa, hum bas friends hai. Humare beech mein koi chakkar nahi chal rahi hai" Karan stammered as he looked around nervously. "Arey yaar, front mein toh jagda hi jagda ho rahi hai yaar and probably thodi milan bhi. Kuch dekkar batha na" Laxman said as he walked into the place from the back door.

"Haan haan, woh toh hai... place toh achcha set up kardiya hai par... its just missing something... why have you covered these photographs?" Aslam asked.

"Laxman? Aslam? Baaki sab kahaan hai? Kuch nahi, those are surprise pictures... exhibition shuru hone ke baad reveal karenge hum." Karan said as he hugged them both tightly. "Aa rahe hai. Did you think they'll miss this?" Laxman asked as if it was the most obvious thing... which it was.