PEHLI MOHABBAT

# 21

{  T W E N T Y  O N E  }

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Armaan walked through the corridor, his head sulking down. He hadn't even completed one year of his college and he already started missing the school days. The golden days of school. Woh din bhi kya din thhe .
Armaan kicked a pebble with his foot watching it skid down the pavement. Wearing that school uniforms and rushing around the corridors freely was something he missed the most. Not that there were any restrictions here, it's just that breaking those school rules was much more adventurous that breaking college norms. Moreover he missed his friends. Haan even a padhaku can have friends. In these past seven months he barely had time to meet them, they all were at different states some  even went abroad. 
He was thinking about all this when Armaan heard his name being called out.

Armaan turned around to find Mrs.Shashi. With a genuine smile he walked towards her and greated the old lady.

"Child, can you keep these registers in my room?" She said not asking actually but ordering her.

Having no other choice, Armaan took the bundle of registers from Mrs.Shashi and carefully walked away making sure not to trip over his undone shoelaces.

The Dean - Armaan stood in front of Mrs.Shashi's room. It was the first time he was visiting that room. He never considered it to be of any use. Firstly he never felt he was in need of counseling and secondly he never liked Mrs.Shashi. Armaan wondered how a skinny old lady with such an expressionless face was given the degree of a psychologist. Like when a pumpkin had better expression skills than the old counselor of St.Maria College.

Armaan placed the registers on her desk and turned around when his eyes fell on the pin board on the wall. The board had all sizes of pictures pinned on it.  On a closure look he found that they were the pictures of Mrs.Shashi's  patients she had counselled in these past 30 years of her job at St.Maria. Armaan noticed the physical change in her past these years. Damn she was beautiful in one era. Armaan chuckled.
It was then when his shifted on a letter lying on the small cupboard surface , starting at him. Out of mere curiosity Armaan picked the letter and opened it . For the first initial seconds he just started at the page in his hands. Then swiftly without wasting a second he took out his phone and clicked a picture of the letter and tapped the sent button.

Armaan walked out of the Dean's room with a mental not to himself that it wasn't worth visiting her.

- - ✉️ - -

Heer was sitting on the stoned wall fencing the old tomb. With earphones plugged in, her mini sketchbook resting on her lap and her pencil dug under her chin. Her hand moved over the sketchbook , it was almost like her mind was directing her fingers without her, odd perhaps, but that's the way it always was . All her worries were foregone . Her hand moved instinctively to the right spot, building a new picture, often one she never had seen before.
No it wasn't just a leisure activity for her. It wasn't just a childhood hobby. It was her way to let our her stress. It was her way to shout when no one was listening, it was her way to hear when no one was speaking, it her way to express.

In these fantastical worlds she could see reflections of her own mind, the way she thought, there was no one to judge her, to pinpoint the odds in her. She was being herself the way she wasbut there was something else there too. Heer could never understand what, perhaps she just imagined it, but when she painted she felt closest to our creator and it gave her a peace she knew she couldn't find another way.
There so one to judge her, to pinpoint the odds in her. She was being herself. The way she was. Imperfect yet artistically beautiful.

" BOO!" 

Heer startled ,  she was about to fall back on the stoned surface when a have caught her arm firmly.

"It would have been so much better if you really had vanished like a ghost." She commented, composing herself back.

"You want me to invade your too? " Darshan shot back.

Heer rolled her eyes. Darshan handed his DSLR camera to her and said,
" Choose four from these."

"What's the deal with this sudden faith in me ? " Heer asked going through the pictures. There were many were of the migratory birds, of the nearby children. Ordinary, yet beautiful. Heer was never fond of photography herself, but when it came to visual arts, Darshan knew she certainly had the best perspective.

"Couldn't find Armaan ." He said teasingly, munching the jim-jam biscuit.

Heer handed him his camera and started packing her stuff. Darshan pouted. A smile crept on Heer's face.

"Say those magical words."

In return Darshan have her a flying kiss which made Heer pinch her nose. She got up but Darshan held her wrist.

"Jim - Jam ? "
He asked forwarding the packet towards her. Heer tried to suppress her smile. She took a biscuit sat down next to him.

"So what's the deal with these pictures? " She argued softly.

"I have applied for KM Big Shot. Fifty shortlisted students will be given scholarship to join the KM  University of photography in Canada. "

Heer who was playing with her shirt's sleeve stopped abruptly. She was if something was stuck in her throat which made it hard for her to swallow.

" A part of me says that I can do. But then there's a side which says that itne saalon mein maine joh khuch achieve Kiya woh dad ke paison  se kiya. This time I'm all alone. What if I won't get the scholarship."

"You will." Heer said slowly. Her eyes were a bit watery. Perhaps because of the winds blowing.

Darshan turned towards her.
"You trust me? "

"No I trust my artistic skills." She smiled, taking his camera in her hand.

Darshan chuckled. He took another Jim-jam .

"So that means you won't continue here ?" Although she knew the answer, still Heer asked him.

" This place was never meant for me , Heer. Yahan aana mere dad ka Sapna thha , mera nahin."

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Hey guys !!!
Aaj toh update krna hi thha!
Hope you like the chapter.
Thankyou so much for reading.
Btw any guesses what Armaan found so interesting in the letter ?
Next update mein mein pta hi chl jayega. ( Hope so)
Till then,
Spread love!

Spread happiness !

And this gem down 👇 is so beautiful. I'm speechless. Like first Darshan's voice, his new avatar, Shreya Ghoshal's voice ne chaar chaand lga diye. And to be honest I never liked Surbhi Jyoti that much but after seeing this , I have to admit she did a commendable job. Or Mr. Raval toh hai hi Kadak :-P . Damn he's turned 26 .