"Happy New Year Anju! Kaise hain sab ghar me?" Rita Ma was talking to Sheena's mother the other day.
After returning home that day, everybody was having tea in the living room together. Since the mother was on a call, the rest of them had paused their conversation to focus on hers. Preeti was scrolling through her social media feed while her brother was reading newspaper in pretense.
"Acha! Kab aa rahe ho tum sab?" Rita ji further asked, excitedly.
"Oh, arey ye kya baat hui? Teri nanad bhi na! Shopping ke liye bacche hi toh sabse zyada excited hote hain." She frowned and it made Sidharth and Preeti look at their mother curiously. The siblings exchanged a questionable look and then waited for her to finish her call.
"Ha thik hai, aao tumlog. Chai, nashta aur khana sab mere pe chhod do. Bas apne kaam pe dhyan do. Hum haina yaha." She added.
"Acha thik hai, rakhti hu." With that she hung up.
"Kya hua Ma?" Preeti asked.
"Anju and family aayenge Mumbai, Mickey ki shaadi ki shopping karne. Keh rahi thi, usi dukan se legi jaha se humne Neetu ki shaadi ke time kapde liye the." Rita Ma answered.
"Aise bhi wo dukaan humare pehchan ki hai, lene dene ke liya kafi kapde chahiye. Maine bola tha Anju ko, bhaisahab se mai paise ki baat kar lungi, tu bas aa jana." She added. Indeed she got two of her daughters married and bought all the clothes from that one particular store of her husband's acquaintance.
"Hm, thik kiya aap ne." Sidharth told his mother, sipping his tea.
"Par Ma, aap kya keh rahe? Aunty ki nanad?" Preeti asked.
"Sari baatein sun rahe the na tumlog, kaan laga ke!" Rita Ma rolled her eyes at her kids, such gossip mongers they were.
"Ab toh sun liya, batao na Aunty kya bol rahi thi?" Sidharth insisted with a grin.
"Shaadi ki shopping me madad karne ke liye Anju ki jethani aur nanad bhi aa rahe hain, aaj Delhi aaye aur kal sab niklenge Mumbai ke liye. Mickey ki ek dost rehti hai unke sath, wo bacchi bhi shopping ke liye sath aane wali thi lekin Anju ki nanad, ne us bacchi ko mana kar diya." Their mother further informed them.
Sidharth understood that she was talking about Shehnaaz, the girl had told him that she'd come with Sheena for the shopping. He felt bad for her, she seemed pretty excited about this shopping thing.
"Arey!? Kyu bhai?" Preeti wasn't happy about it.
"Haina?! Mickey ki dost 2 saal se unke sath rehti hai. Bichari ka mann kyu na ho apni dost ke sath jane ka?" Rita Ma agreed.
"Vaise Montu, tu aur mai chalenge sabko station se pick karne. Thik hai? Raat ki train hai unki, kaha bichare cab book karte rahenge." She asked her son.
"Ok Mom." He nodded, shifting his gaze back to the newspaper.
Meanwhile in Delhi, Anju and her sister in law had an argument whether Shehnaaz should tag along in their trip to Mumbai or not. Anju told everybody that she had always treated Shehnaaz like her daughter and wanted her to be there with them in Mumbai. However her sister in law, didn't counter back but was quite displeased to know that she'd have to travel with the girl who was living off her brother's expenses.
"Mumma, bua kon hoti hai ye bolne wali! Ke Sana ko leke jana extra kharcha hoga? Wo Bareilly se Delhi aayi, ab Mumbai jayengi humare sath.. in sab kharcha toh jaise wo khud de rahi hai? Papa ne hi unki tickets karayi hai na!?" Sheena was mad at everybody because they just let her aunt disrespect her best friend.
"Sana jayegi humare sath, maine bol diya. Baat khatam kar na, dimag thanda rakh. Ja, ja ke packing karwa apne Papa ki." Anju tried to handle her daughter.
"Aap ke bolne se kya hota hai? Andar Sana Chandigarh jane ki packing kar rahi hai." Sheena informed her mother.
"Kya?!" Anju was taken aback, she immediately went to her daughter's bedroom to talk to Shehnaaz.
"Beta, tu kaha ja rahi hai?" Anju asked.
"Aunty, Bua ko acha nahi lagega. Rehne do na. Mai bhi Mummy Papa se mil aungi isi bahane." Shehnaaz replied in a consoling manner.
The bad aunt, had only questioned why they were tagging her along because there were already so many people, it would only increase Rajiv's expenses. Not that Shehnaaz was hurt about it, the bad aunt didn't really matter to her but she did realise that Rajiv's expenses would ultimately increase because he was going to make arrangements for so many people. She thought if she wouldn't go then she could help them save a little amount of money.
"Lekin tujhe toh Mumbai se lehenga lena hai na?" Anju asked.
That was another thing Shehnaaz had realized, even if she protested, Rajiv wouldn't let her pay for her dress. That man had always considered her as his own and was definitely going to pay for her lehenga and everything she was planning to buy for her best friend's wedding.
"Aunty- wo- rehne do na. Kyu mere liye aap Bua ki baat nahi maan rahe ho? Wo rishtedar hai aapki, aapne sari zindagi unke sath bana ke chalna hai." Shehnaaz tried to justify her actions.
"Badi aayi, dadi Amma! Tere dimag me kya chal raha hai, sab samajhti hu mai. Tere liye 2-4 kapde lene se hume koi financial crisis nahi hogi!" Anju replied as she walked closer and held the girl's hand.
"Aunty-" Shehnaaz tried to speak.
"Sana, tujhe aise hi beti nahi mante hum. Kabhi tere aur Mickey me farak kiya hai humne?" Anju asked. It was clear that this woman wasn't going to back off.
"Nahi aunty, aap aise mat bolo. Chalungi mai Mumbai." Shehnaaz sighed.
"Meherbani!" Anju sarcastically thanked her for agreeing, the ladies chuckled and shared a group hug before they got back to their final packing.
"Sare bags count karti hu mai, tu laptop nikal rakh. Netflix dekhte dekhte jayenge." Sheena suggested her friend as soon as they boarded their train the other day.
Since it was going to be a good 22 hour or so journey, the girls had planned how they were going to just stay up in their berths and binge watch some series.
"Anju, ye sabzi toh badi achi banai hai! Kafi time ke baad tumhare hath ka bana khaya." The bad aunt complimented while they were having dinner from their tiffin.
"Thank you didi, lekin sabzi Sana ne banai hai." Anju replied proudly, pointing at the girl sitting right above Sarita's berth.
"Hm." The bad aunt nodded dismissively, focusing on her food. While the others silently shared smiles.
It was so cold at night, the constantly moving train, AC coach and the lack of space was a little not comfortable. They stacked themselves up with tea, chips and biscuits the salesmen brought every now and then. That's the train journey for you!
"Hello? Babu mai train me hu, awaz clear nahi aayegi." Sheena was talking to Gurjot late at night.
"Abe, yaha toh baat na karo." Shehnaaz rolled her eyes at her friends who wouldn't leave behind any chance to talk over the phone. She climbed out of her berth and walked towards the gate, to spend some time with herself because she didn't feel like sleeping that night. Sheena and Gurjot were so madly in love! She was starting to feel like she should date someone just to keep herself busy!
But then she didn't want to date anybody just like that. For her the dating criteria were so easy yet so complicated. Sometimes she wanted to be in a romantic relationship just because her best friend was in one while sometimes she didn't want a relationship because she feared it might make her suffer like their parents'.
Her parents had a whole another kind of relationship, it had made them go through so much individually as well as together in the society they lived in. That was one of the reasons she had to move out of her house early, her father didn't want her to live in such a toxic environment and had sent her off to a school outside their city.
"Station aane wala hai." Rajiv informed everybody and they began to carry their bags towards the gates.
"Montu aur Rita didi ayenge, pahuch gaye hai station." Anju was talking to her husband when Shehnaaz heard them. She had a small smile on her face, she was going to meet him again!
"Aunty!" Sheena almost upon Rita Ma as soon as she met the lady in the station.
"Meri bachi kaisi hai!?" Rita Ma hugged her and caressed her back and head.
"Bohot achi, aap mil gaye na ab." Sheena replied happily and slowly everybody greeted each other.
"Happy New Year." Shehnaaz walked ahead and tapped on Sidharth's shoulder while everybody was busy talking.
"Hi! Happy New Year." He was surprised to see her, he was under the impression that she wasn't coming.
"Aapne toh mujhe dekha hi nahi." She pouted.
"Mujhe laga tum nahi aogi?" He replied, still surprised.
"Maine toh bola tha, mai milne aungi." She gave him her cheeky little grin.
"Right. Right." He nodded with a smile.
"Bags? Need a little help?" She asked and he shook his head, carrying three suitcases at once.
"Isliye toh aaya hai Montu, bags uthane ke liye bhi koi hona chahiye na?" Sheena joined them, sticking her tongue out at him.
"Kyuki tujhse toh umeed nahi hai na kisi ko!" Sidharth shrugged and Shehnaaz bit her lips to hold back the laugh.
"Chal chal." Sheena made faces at him.
"Chal chal." He mimicked her.
"Adi ghar pe hai?" She asked him.
"Ha. Weekend pe ghar rehta hai." He replied.
"Pata Sana, Adi, Preeti didi ka beta hai. Humse kuch 10 saal chhota. Wo hua tha na, toh I was like.. iske sath mai wo injustice nahi hone dungi jo mere sath hui. Mai iske sath khelungi, he'll be my side kick." Sheena laughed as she told her best friend about Advait and her bond.
"School se aate hi Adi ke pass aa jati thi ye. They ganged up." Sidharth added, chuckling.
"Gimme that." He asked Shehnaaz for her backpack as they began to load suitcases into his Innova car.
"Mai ye leke baith jaungi, already itna luggage hai." She replied, carrying her bag and getting into the car.
Sidharth and Rajiv sat in the front, Anju, Rita Ma and two more ladies adjusted themselves in the middle seat. Good thing, they weren't very healthy and managed to fit in. While Shehnaaz and Sheena were squeezed at the back along with their luggage.
"Yaha toh saans bhi nahi aa rahi hai." Shehnaaz mumbled, she was carrying her friend on her lap on top of everything.
"Jaldi chal Montu!" Sheena asked the one who was driving.
They checked into their hotel, freshened up and stayed the night, they were going to go as per their plan from the next day. Rita Ma was supposed to take them to the cloth store, after they had breakfast from her place.
Shehnaaz felt slightly overwhelmed once the families were together the next day. They had known each other for so long that half of their conversation was out of her syllabus, they talked about all of their long lost days.
"Hi, Advait. You can call me Adi." Advait introduced himself as he forwarded his hand.
"Hi! Shehnaaz." She introduced herself and shook hands with him.
"You're prettier than your pictures." He complimented and she gaped at him, she wasn't expecting this from a..? What? 20 year old?
"Thank you!" She laughed and shook his hand better, making space for him to sit next to her.
"Adi!" Sidharth was a little embarrassed and a little outraged, as he sat on the arm rest of the furniture she had taken. His nephew bit his tongue and slowly slipped out of the scene.
"Adi!" She called out for him but he was gone and turned back to his uncle.
"Yaha sab apne apne me baat kar rahe hai. Mai bore hi hone lagi thi!" She defended Advait.
"Aur Adi ko dekh ke lagta hai, apne Mama pe gaya hai. He's just like you." She added as she teased him.
"Excuse me. I'm better than him." He replied and both of them laughed off with a high five.
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Hello there! Happy New Year people!
Siblings who listen to their mother gossip? Show up! Me and my brother are there in the list as well. lol!
It's rare how we come across people like Sheena's parents who love her best friend like their own? Isn't it?
How do you think it's going to be with Sidharth and Shehnaaz in Mumbai now!? Flirting toh aate hi chalu ho gayi hai, aage kya hoga?!
Also, thoda aur patience rakho. Sidnaaz moments aayenge.. bohot sare ayenge. We need to have that build up to create such moments ahead.. right?