Part 8 Telugu Friend
{In this chapter, conversations in BOLD letters would be in Telugu. Non- Telugu people please skip it.
For Telugu readers: Please forgive me if I made any mistake in your mother tongue}
Khushi was sitting all sad in her section because she was not with Arnav on the first floor but on the second floor.
That was when the girl on the next desk got a call on her mobile. The ringtone was in Telugu.
*Inkem Inkem Inkem Kavale... Chale Idhi Chale...(What more is needed? This is enough)
Neekai nuvve vacchi vaalave ikapai thiranaalley ( you have come into my life. This is a time of celebration)*
Khushi's eyes sparkled. The girl attended it.
"Cheppandi...(Tell me)"
Khushi looked at her excitedly.
"Meeru Teluguvara? Are you Telugu?" Khushi asked.
The girl looked at Khushi with the same excitement and nodded yes. She gestured to Khushi to give her two minutes to finish the call. Khushi nodded okay and waited. After talking, she cut the call and smiled at Khushi.
"Meeru kooda Teluguvara? Are you also Telugu?"
Khushi nodded yes.
"I'm Lavanya"
"I'm Khushi Gupta"
"Gupta? Kani, meru Teluguvaru annaru? (Gupta? But you said you are Telugu?" Lavanya asked with confusion.
Khushi was silent.
"Evvayindhi? (What happened?)"
"Nenu ela Telugu ammai ani chepthe, meeru nammaru...(You won't believe it if I say how I'm a Telugu)"
"Endhukku nammanu?(Why won't I believe?)"
"Nenu naa mundho jenmamlo Telugu ammai. (I was a Telugu girl in my previous birth)"
Lavanya frowned.
"Mundho jenmamlona? (Previous Birth?)"
Khushi nodded yes.
"Nannu evaru namma ledhu, Maa Amma, Nana kooda...! meeku thelusa, Delhi ochche varaku nenu eppudu Allahabad ninchi baitta adagu petta ledhu. Ante, nenu ela Telugu matlada Kalanu? (No one trusts me, even my parents. You know until I came to Delhi I never stepped out of Allahabad. Then how could I speak Telugu?)"
Lavanya was thoughtful as well as confused.
"Nenu Telugu Baga matlada Ledha? ( Am I not talking Telugu well?)"
"Arpudham (Excellent)"
{This conversation between Khushi and Lavanya is important for Lavanya to understand Khushi's Telugu knowledge. That's why I wrote it in Telugu.}
"Tell me, how could I talk Telugu fluently if I'm not a Telugu girl?"
Lavanya was silent as she didn't know whether she should believe Khushi or not.
"How do you know about your previous birth?" Lavanya asked.
Khushi told her about what happened in her engagement. Lavanya was stunned because it happened during her engagement and it stopped.
"Could you remember everything about your previous birth?"
"Not everything but about my husband and our love"
"Husband?"
"Yes. We are married. His name is Arjun Simha Rayudu. And my name is Indhu Kumari Devi"
"Where did your story happen?"
"Hyderabad"
"Oh... My uncle is there and I visit Hyderabad ever year" Lavanya said.
"Is it?"
"Yes... which year your love story happened?"
"It started in 1995, ended in 1996"
"How it ended?"
"We were burnt alive on our first night. We became ashes together," Khushi choked.
"Have you gone to Hyderabad in this birth?" Lavanya changed the topic.
"No... I won't go there. HE will kill us again if he gets to know WE took REBIRTH again"
"US? Whom you are talking about?"
"I and Arnav"
"Arnav? Which Arnav?"
"Our Senior Programmer Arnav"
"Whaaaat?" Lavanya was shocked.
"Yes, he is Arjun in the previous birth. I joined this company only for him"
Lavanya was staring at her unbelievably.
"But, I'm on the second floor and he is at first..." Khushi said disappointedly.
Lavanya didn't know whether she should believe Khushi or not. At the same time, she could not leave it. She thought for a while and excused herself from Khushi. She came a little aloof and dialed her cousin, her uncle's daughter who was in Hyderabad.
"Hi, Lavi..."
"Hi, Ooha..."
"How are you?"
"I'm fine... listen, I want you to do something very urgent"
"What do you want?"
"Do you remember, there is a photo in your old album in which my mother and your father posing in Birla Mandhir?"
"Yeah... I do..."
"Capture the photo on your mobile and send it to me immediately"
"But why?"
"I will tell you later"
"Ok..."
"Quick" Lavanya disconnected the call.
She waited for the photo. She saw the message. She opened it and smiled. She came to Khushi.
"Khushi, look at this photo..."
She didn't show the old photo but the NEW photo of Hyderabad Birla Mandhir.
"We captured the photo when we went to Hyderabad last year. She is my cousin Ooha" Lavanya said observing her expression.
Khushi smiled.
"I like actress Ooha very much. She looks chubby. I liked her movie Aame. Her pair with Srikanth looks good"
Lavanya was stunned. Ooha was an actress who acted in the Nineties. She got settled down marrying actor Srikanth. 2K kids rarely knew about her and people who belonged to other states could not know about her but Khushi talked about her.
"My uncle was Ooha's fan. That's why he named my cousin Ooha" Lavanya smiled.
"Really?" Khushi chuckled and again looked at the photo.
"Which place is this?" Khushi asked.
That was what Lavanya expected because Birla Mandhir had changed a lot in the past years. Lavanya had seen it in the old photos.
"It's a temple in Hyderabad. I will show you another photo"
Lavanya showed her the old photo that Ooha sent her. Khushi became excited seeing the photo.
"It's Birla Mandhir," she said confidently as well as excitedly.
Lavanya was stunned. She nodded yes with a surprise. Khushi was twenty-four years old girl. She could not recognize the new generation Birla Mandhir but the old one. Was the REBIRTH story told by her true?
"I and Arjun often met here. He knew I would visit the temple every Saturday. He follows me to the temple and takes place next to me. We always worship together. But God didn't save us" She became sadder.
Lavanya gulped down. She touched Khushi's shoulder and she managed herself.
"The Pandit of the temple is my friend. He talks nicely. His name is Venkatachalapathy" Khushi smiled.
Lavanya also smiled.
"Could you send this photo to me?"
"This photo?"
"Yeah... it brings me old memories"
Lavanya nodded ok.
"Tell me your number"
Khushi told. Lavanya saved it on her mobile and sent the photo to Khushi.
.......
Taking a file from the drawer, Arnav called someone.
"Priyanka..."
"Yeah?"
"Give this file to the newcomer girl. She is on the second floor" Arnav said.
Before Priyanka took it from him, NK snatched it.
"If you have any work on the second floor, I will do it... don't forget that" he said.
Arnav rolled his eyes whereas Priyanka chuckled.
"She doesn't even look at you. Then why are you roaming behind her?" Arnav questioned.
"She will look at me only if I roam behind her... what say Priyanka?"
Priyanka nodded yes smiling.
"By the way, what's the girl's name?" NK asked.
"Indhu... I mean Khushi" Arnav said.
"Indhu or Khushi?" NK frowned.
"Both... I mean, Khushi"
"Are you alright? Why are you stumbling?" NK touched his forehead.
"Go, Man... ask her to go through it"
"Yes, my Lord" NK left the place.
Arnav nodded his head from left to right.
NK was undoubtedly behind Lavanya. To see her only he would like to go to the second floor often. He came to the second floor and saw a new girl, next to Lavanya's desk. He came to her.
"Miss Indhu?" He asked.
More than Khushi, Lavanya was surprised, to hear INDHU from NK. Khushi smiled as she understood WHO would have addressed her as INDHU. Khushi nodded yes.
"You are asked to go through this file" he kept the file on her table.
"Who asked me to go through it?" Khushi asked.
"Our senior Programmer..."
"You mean Arnav?"
"Exactly"
"Oh...ok..." She smiled.
"By the way, I'm Nandkishor... you can call me NK"
"Shall I call you Nanne?"
"Mmmmm... okaaayyy..."
"I have a childhood friend. His name is also Nandkishor. I call him Nanne" Khushi said.
"So sweet... go on..." Though he was talking to Khushi his eyes were on Lavanya.
Khushi opened the file and gave it a look. The program structure seemed easy to understand. She huffed in relief. If this was what she was going to do, she would do that with no tension.
"If you have any doubt, you can ask our Senior Programmer" NK said.
Khushi's face brightened.
"Yeah, this program structure seems tough," She said making a face. Of course, it was a PURE lie. How could she miss the chance to interact with Arnav? More than proving her intelligence, was not getting close to him important?
"Don't worry, he is an expert in explaining programs. He will explain it to you"
Khushi nodded ok delightfully.
NK was about to go,
"One minute..." said Lavanya.
NK looked at her with LOVE overflowing eyes.
"Meee???" he asked unbelievably.
"Who said her name is Indhu?"
"Nannav... I mean Arnav"
Lavanya looked at Khushi stunningly who smiled at her.
"We already met... he knows who I am. I think he should be confused seeing me here" Khushi smiled.
"Does he believe?"
Khushi nodded no.
"But, I will make him believe," She said confidently.
"What are you guys talking about?" NK asked with confusion.
"Her name is not Indhu but Khushi," Lavanya said.
"Oh... yeah, Arnav also stumbled with the names... Indhu... Khushi... why?"
"Arnav is my husband in the previous birth," Khushi said without hesitation.
"Whaaat?" NK shouted in shock.
"Yeah, his name was Arjun and my name was Indhu. I told him about it. That's why he would have confused"
NK looked at Lavanya who was silent.
Without waiting there, NK came to Arnav who was discussing something with Aman.
"Are you Khushi's previous birth husband?" NK asked making Aman stuck whereas Arnav rolled his eyes.
To be continued...