KHURANA HOUSE; Chandigarh
A 24-year old young girl was sleeping with a peaceful smile on her face. "Tring"..."Tring"...."Tring".... The alarm rang thrice at 5 AM and there was a frown on that smiling face. She hastily snoozed the alarm and threw the phone on the bedside table. After 15 minutes the alarm rang again and this time she covered both her ears with the pillow and the irritability in her body movements was quite visible. She was twisting and twirling on the bed and boom. Her hand had hit her husband straight on his face and he instantly woke up screaming; "What are you doing yaar Shehnaaz? Is this the way a person sleeps?" She reverted back to him in a sleepy and irritated yet soft voice, "There is no way to define how a person should sleep in your classy diaries Abhijeet. Sleeping means sleeping and I want to sleep for the rest of the day." Abhijeet was scratching his head at the kind of answer he had got from his wife and suddenly screamed, "Aaaaaaahhhhh...." Shehnaaz instantly woke up to the scream, looked at the whole room and then at Abhijeet who was softly rubbing the area affected by her punch. She shook her head in disbelief and said, "Kya yaar Abhi... Din mein tera parivaar mainu chainn nahi lene deta tey ae subah subah de tere drame. Matlab shaanti se nafrat hai na tainu..." Abhijeet widened his eyes in utter shock and replied, "Apna moh bhang kijiye Shehnaaz ji... Mujhe toh shaanti bohot pasand hai par aap hai ke neend mein haath pair chalana band hi nahi karti. Roz toh chalte phirte ghar ka samaan todti phorti thi... Ab toh neend mein bhi apna favourite kaam kar rahi ho lekin mere iss pyare se chehre ke saath. Look I am very possessive about my body okay Ms. Punjaban." Shehnaaz was hearing everything silently all this while with a blank face. It seemed as if she was completely disappointed by what Abhijeet said. She replied, "Tumhe sirf ye dikhta hai ke main chalte phirte tumhare ghar ka samaan tod deti hun aur tumhe ye nazar nahi aata ke main pura din tumhare iss bade se ghar mein saara kaam akele manage karti hun bina koi bhi shikayat kiye. Tumhe ye nahi dikhta ke main sabke aas paas hote hue bhi akeli pad jaati hun and nobody talks to me the way they should. Tumhe ye nahi dikhta that nobody has accepted me till date. Tumhe ye nahi dikhta that I am the one taking care of our kids alone jab ki vo bache mere akele ke nahi hum dono ke hain. You know what that they are scared of your anger Abhijeet." Abhijeet shouted, "Shut up!! Just shut up!! Kaam karti ho toh kya jatati rahogi zindagi bhar. Ye sab karna tumhari responsibility hai aur agar ye sab nahi hota hai tumse, bojh lagta hai toh mujhse shaadi kiun ki thi tumne at the first place. Secondly, bacche mere gusse se nahi darte, tumne unke mann mein mere liye ye sab bhara hai because you don't like me. Aur kiun karega tumse koi baat... Ho kon tum. What's your identity in this house without me? Kya kiya hai tumne aisa ke koi tumse baat kare? You are just Mrs. Shehnaaz Abhijeet Khurana and nothing else." A lone tear escaped Shehnaaz's eye which she immediately wiped away and ran out of the room. Abhijeet murmured with an evil winning smile on his face, "Huhh!! Ab iska vahi ladkiyon vala drama shuru! What else can she even do? I don't know when will she understand her responsibilities."
Here Shehnaaz was standing in the corner of the huge garden outside the Khurana House with her hands folded against her chest and eyes fixed at the view in front of her. Her hair were slowly swirling with the soothing wind. The amazing perfume of the nature was doing its magic. The extreme silence at that one corner of the house was refreshing as the only sounds that reached Shehnaaz's ears was of the birds, insects and leaves. Shehnaaz closed her eyes for a while, took a deep breath and opened them again. She looked at the view and said to herself, "Mere paas aaj sab kuch hai. Ghar, family, bacche, paise, luxury, branded cars, branded accessories, kapde; sab kuch. Par main sab kuch hote hue bhi iss bade se ghar mein sabse akeli hun. Itni akeli ke shayad inn itne saare family members ki awaaz milkar bhi mere andar ki shaanti ko nahi kaat payegi. Kya nahi kiya aaj tak inn sab ke rang mein rangne ke liye maine. I was like any other simple girl next door with ambitions and dreams to fulfil but I changed myself to the core to become like the crowd around me which is called society. Puri zindagi maine sirf ek cheez pe focus kiya and that is 'vo chaar log kya kahenge.' But, I never gave a moment to myself and asked, 'kaun hai vo chaar log?' Aur ,main khud se ye sawaal puchti bhi kiun... Mere sawaal aur soch toh meri kabhi thi hi nahi kiunki maine toh ek pal bhi khud ke liye jiya hi nahi. Maine toh sirf unn logon ki parwah ki aaj tak jo mere aas paas thee, mere saath thee... I agree that family is the most important part of anyone's life. They stay with you throughout. Your parents raise you, do everything for you but do they give you the right upbringing. Maine aaj tak sirf society ka ek hissa banne ke liye khud ko badalna seekha, sacrifice karna seekha, mom-dad ki izzat bachane ke liye uss har ek norm ko accept karna seekha jisne meri self-esteem se leke puri life ki dhajjiyan uda di. Aaj apne saamne vale cafe ki uss owner ko dekhti hun toh lagta hai itne saal se jaise meri zindagi ruki hui hai. The lady in front of me with a cafe is 24 years old, married, has two kids just like me but she is still not like me because she is a young entrepreneur and has set that open cafe up in the garden in front of her house. Usne society ke sirf utne hi norms accept kiye jitne shayad uski life ke liye theek thee. What did I do? I silently let my true self die a slow death. This marriage was fixed on the condition that I would quit my career forever and I accepted it in a fear that my family would lose pride in the society. Dance was my whole life and I let 'chaar log' snatch it from me. I was a coward and will be called one forever now because I have no hope of a fresh start left within me."
SINGHANIA HOUSE, UDAIPUR
The sound of guitar and a soulful manly voice captured the whole house early in the morning. This sound and voice played a different role for everyone. But, this role was a significant one as it gave a sense of completeness.
~~"Kiun khuda ne di lakiren jisme zaahir naam nahi tera... Likh raha hun dard saare... Yun toh shayar naam nahi mera... Itna bhi kya bewafa koi hota hai... Ye sochkar raat bhar dil ye rota hai... Asal mein, tum nahi ho mere... Tum nahi ho mere... Tum nahi ho mere... Tum nahi ho mere..."~~
This soothing voice was a wake up call for Pallavi. The sun rays were falling on the face of a young 18 year old girl. She woke up spreading her arms, slowly opened her eyes and said, "Good Morning to my elder brother and me. Ye gaana aur meri subah dono ek saath hi shuru hote hain. Hey bhagwan.... Mere bhai ki iss black and white life mein love dubara pohoncha de varna mujhe thode romantic songs kaise sunne milenge... Kuch toh daya karo iss bacche pe...." Sameer entered with two cups of coffee and said while handing her one, "Tujh jaise shaitaan balakon par toh daya karne se pehle bhagwan bhi sharma jayen... Tu bhagwan pe daya kar thodi. Pakka apni college life ki romantic fantasy ko sach karane ke liye maska laga rahi hogi. Sidharth bhai ka song finish hone se pehle apna raat ka hangover utaar ke ready hoja varna tujhe iss duniya ki koi shakti nahi bacha sakti baalak." She threw a cushion on Sameer and said, "Mere bhai ke baare mein aisa vaisa kuch mat bol.... Varnaaaaa...." And Sameer ran outside while saying, "Tu kuch nahi karne valiiii..."
~~Aasmaan se kya khata hui, taara uska tuta kiun.... Log mujhse puchte hain saath apna chhuta kiun... Kya majbooriyan, kaisi ye dooriyan, dil ye samjhe na... Hote hain pyaar mein aise bhi imtehaan, maine ab jaana... Khwaab hi bas reh gaye hain, jinme ho tum humsafar mere... Asal mein, tum nahi ho mere... Tum nahi ho mere... Tum nahi ho mere.... Tum nahi ho mere..."~~
Dadi said while offerring water to Tulsi plant, "Lo ho gayi hamari aaj ki puja samapt. Iss ghar ki raunak hain hamare bacche ke gaane par pata nahi kab iski zindagi mein raunak vapas aayegi..." Suhasini (Sidharth's mom) was coming downstairs with a file in her hand and said, "Zaroor aayegi maa. Kehte hain agar aapke saath ummeed ka ek katra bhi ho toh samjho kuch acha zaroor hoga..." Sudhir (Sidharth's father) continued the sentence, "Aur phir hamara Sidharth toh khud hi ummeed ka dusra naam hai. Dusron ki zindagi mein roshni failata hai, life mein har choti-badi cheez ko celebration bana deta hai toh bhala aage badhne se kaise peeche hat jayega mera beta... I trust him." Sudhir turned towards Suhasini, took his file and left for his office saying, "Chalo maa, Suhasini main office ke liye nikalta hun, vahan Shailesh clients ke saath mera wait kar raha hoga..."
~~"Mannde ni bandesha ae pyaar nahio jhukde... Raah teri takde eh nain nahio rukde... Isey hain aaiyan vey udeekan teriyan jo kivein lukaawa mere hanju nahio mukde... Hove khair sajna vey, bhaavein kehar sajna vey... Kade saade vi dil tur aa... Haaye... Hove khair sajna vey, bhaavein kehar sajna vey... Bas mannde haan dil ton dua.... Kaash tum phir laut aao... Mit jaayen saare gham ye jo mere... Asal mein, tum nahi ho mere... Tum nahi ho mere... Tum nahi ho mere... Tum nahi ho mere..."~~
As the song ended, the only sound in the room was of clapping and the only light entering was the rays of the sun through the window. Sunny (Sidharth's childhood friend) said while clapping, "The depth and emotions you put into your song make it worth it bro. Your voice is magic. Tujhe pata hai tere gaane ki sabse khaas baat kya hai, jiski vajah se audience teri deewani hai? Teri awaaz mein dard hai jise duniya tere saath kuch minutes ke liye hi sahi par mehsoos karti hai..." Hearing this the well built, 28 year old, tall and extremely handsome guy who was sitting silently facing his back to Sunny; stood up and turned around flipping his hair in style. Beads of sweat were visible on his chest muscles which were visible through the open buttons of his shirt. He tapped Sunny's shoulder and said in a deep and husky voice, "Mera dard koi nahi samajh sakta kiunki kabhi kisine ishq ke asal maayino ko hi nahi samjha. Log sirf mere gaane sun sakte hain, unse relate kar sakte hain, unme kho sakte hain... Par kya koi mujhe unka asal matlab samjha sakta hai...? Kya koi inn gaanon mein doob sakta hai...? Kya kisine aaj tak zindagi ko apne ghar bulaya hai...? Kya aaj tak kabhi kisine apna dil khol kar har situation ko apne gale se lagakar kaha hai, 'Welcome to my world dear.... I am ready...' Kya kabhi kisine choti choti khushi ko jeeya hai, celebrate kiya hai...? Agar hai koi aisa, toh vo meri deewangi banega..." Sunny laughed and said, "Tu na eklauta piece manufacture hua hai iss duniya mein... Tere liye jo bana hoga na vo iss duniya ka hi nahi hoga..." Sidharth smirked and said, "Haan toh sahi hai na yaar... Main unique hun, toh mujhe chahne vala bhi toh sabse alag hi hona chahiye na... Aaj tak toh logon ne mujhe samjha hi nahi hai, par ab koi mujhe samajhne vala bhi mile..." Sidharth went to freshen up and Sunny said to himself while moving out of the room, "Millions of people love the singing sensation Sidharth Singhania... Ladkiyan deewani hain iski par koi iske jaisi nahi banayi kya aapne upparwale...."
To be continued....
Two Destinations... Two broken souls... One is healed, one is in pieces.... Two destinies.... How will they come together to write the most beautiful and practical fairytale of hope and dreams? Stay tuned to know... Don't forget to VOTE, COMMENT and FOLLOW. Would love to read your views below.
PROMO: "Tera career...? Konse career ki baat kar rahi hai tu... You were a mere dancer... Hamari society ek dancer ko nachaniya bulati hai"................................."Hey!!! Want some water?"........"Vaise rote hue tum cute bohot lagti ho Ms. Red Nose?"