"Hai ye nasha, ya hai zehar
Iss pyar ko hum kya naam dein."
[Is it intoxication or poison
What should we call this love?]
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••| Chapter 31 |••
Playlist: Har Zulm - Sajjad Ali.
Aryan:
I plugged my ear phones and pressed the play button on the screen. The love of my life was sitting just in front of me yet she had become so distant. I loved her with all my heart, with all my soul but I knew that she hated me now. I had hurt her a lot, mentally and physically. The red wrists again came into my view for a split second. I winced in pain.
Chahe jo tumhain pure dil se,
Milta hai wo Mushkil se,
Aisa jo koi kaheen hai,
Bas wohi sab se haseen hai,
Us hath ko, yun thaam lo,
Wo mehrbaan kal ho na ho,
Har Pal Yahan Jee bhar jeeyo,
Jo hai sama kal ho na ho,
[The one who loves you whole-heartedly is difficult to find.
If you find someone like that, then she is the most beautiful.
Hold her hand tightly, who knows if she is there tomorrow or not.
Live every moment here to the fullest.
Who knows if there will be a tomorrow?]
"Abey oye Devdas, ye tootiyan nikal apne kaano se, we're having a competition." [Hey broken angel, take off your headphones. We are having a competition here.] Varun nudged my shoulder and pulled out my headphones.
"I am not interested." I plugged it in again.
"Aryan Chachu please na. It will be so much fun." Annie pouted. I couldn't say no to her.
"Only if you say so." I smiled weakly at her. And she screamed an excited "Yayyy"
So we started playing antakshri. [A song game] The first two rows that consisted of Naina, Shraddha, Maya, Alia and Khirad were team A and last two rows were team B that were Varun, Kabir, Ashar, Obi, Ricky, Eleana and I. We had to start first. Eleana started singing first. Her voice was as enchanting as a nightingale but then I noticed the lyrics.
Jaanay wafa ho k bekarar..
Jaanay wafa ho k bekarar..
Barson kiya mene intezar..
Per tune kabhi ye tak kaha..
Jo ab kaha...
Dil bebasi main chupke se rota hai..
Kya karun Haye, Kuch Kuch hota hai.
[I had faith in You, my lover, still I was restless
I had faith in You, my lover, still I was restless
I have waited for You for years.
But still You have never...
Said what You have said just now
My heart in helpless state, cries silently
What do I do, oh, something strange is happening.]
"Wohoooo!" Our team cheered loudly. "We have the best singer here."
"Still an SRKian?" Shraddha teased her.
"Yup! SRKian till death!" She spoke cheerfully as she moved her fingers to her eyes, trying to pretend that she was trying to take something out but I knew she was wiping her tears.
"H H. The letter H!" Obi shouted at the girls team.
Hua hai aj pehli bar jo aise muskraya hun, tumhain Dekha to jana ye k kyun dunya main aya hun.
[It’s happened for the first time,
that I have smiled like this.
when I saw you I learnt
why I have come to the world.]
Varun joined in, doing his overacting with Shraddha.
Ye jaan le kar k ja meri
Tumhain jeene main aya hun
Main tumse ishq karne ki ijazat Rab se laya hun.
[With this life, O my life,
I have come to live you.
I have brought the permission to love you from God.]
"P" The girls shouted back after completing their song. Eleana sang again.
Pas aye, dooriyan phir b kam na hui.
[We came close, yet the distances never reduced.]
Obi and Ricky stood up. Ricky became the hero and Obi the heroine which made everyone laugh as they acted along the song.
Pas aye, dooriyan phir b kam na hui. [We came close, yet the distances never reduced.]
Ashar nudged me to join along. Unwillingly I joined, the lyrics were so relatable.
Ik adhoori si humari Kahani rahi.
Asman ko zameen ye zaruri nahi ja mile, ja mile.
Ishq Sacha wohi jis ko milti nahi manzilain.
Rang they noor tha jab kareeb tu tha.
Ik jannat sa tha ye jahaan.
[Our story remained incomplete.
It is not necessary that the earth always goes to meet sky.
The true love is the one that
does not get a destination.]
Unfortunately we made eye contact and then everything else disappeared. It seemed as if she were complaining to me and I to her through the song.
Waqt ki Rait pe kuch mere naam sa
Likh k chor gaya tu Kahan.
Humari adhoori Kahani
Humari adhoori Kahani
Humari adhoori Kahani.
[On the sand of time, you left
something like my name written.
Our incomplete love story, our incomplete love story, our incomplete love story.]
She paused but I continued.
Khushbuon se teri yunhi takra gaye.
Chalte Chalte dekho na hum kahan aa gye.
Jannatein gar yaheen, tu dikhay kyun nahi.
Chand sooraj sabhi hai yahan
Intezar tera sadiyon se kar raha.
Pyasi bethi hai tu kab se yahan.
Humari adhoori Kahani
Hamari adhoori Kahani.
[ I ran into your fragrances like that only. See, walking, where have we come.
If there are heavens here only,
why can’t I see you here.
The moon and the sun, everything is here only.
I have been waiting for you for centuries.
Why is our incomplete story sitting here, thirsty.]
Kabir and the rest of the members joined in.
Pyas ka ye safar khatam ho jaye ga.
Kuch adhoora sa jo tha poora ho jaye ga.
Ruk gaya Asman.
Mil gye do jahan.
Har taraf hai Milan ka sama.
Doliyan hain saji.
Khushbuain har kaheen.
Parhne aya khuda khud Yahan.
Humari adhoori Kahani
Humari adhoori Kahani.
[This journey of thirst will get over,
that which seemed incomplete will be completed,
The sky has bowed,
and the two worlds have met.
Everywhere there is season of meeting.
There are palanquins ready, there are fragrances everywhere,
even God himself came here to read our incomplete love story.]
After we ended, everybody just became silent, silently mourning over the broken ties. Obi spoke first. "Yaar, [Dude] turn into some rock pop party. Seems like we all just had a break up! Although break up is no more a depressing topic.
"Tere Saiyan jee se kahay tu ne break up kar liya. " [You broke up with your boyfriend today.] Obi swayed his body as he sang the new song.
"I agree!" Alia and Maya spoke giggling and secretly crushing over Ranbir Kapoor.
Then it changed to romantic and party songs. But when our turn came, Eleana began her song again.
Obi glared at her and she pouted
"Last one! Last one!" She spoke.
Obi huffed.
"Obi Chachu, let her sing. She sings better than you." Annie spoke making everybody giggle.
Eleana's voice was something that I had missed listening to because she was great at singing. We had our recorded duets in my mobile. I still had them with me. And our performance with Varun and Shraddha too.
Mere sung tu Chal Zara
Kyun dikhay dara dara
Chal tujh ko Aa tujh ko aa chupa lun
Apni main bahon main.
Chal khwab kuch saja dun
Teri in nigahon main
Main jo sang hun
Tere rang hon
Rahon se Teri chun lun main khwab
Har lamha yun guzre k gehra ta jaye Pyar.
[Come, walk with me, why do You look afraid?
Come, let me hide You in my arms.
Come, let me decorate some dreams in Your eyes
As I am with You, I'm colored In Your colors
I will pick up dreams (for You) from Your roads.
May every moment pass in such a way that our love keeps on getting deeper.]
Then it was the girls turn.
Main jaan ye war dun
Har jeet b har dun
Keemat ho koi tuje
Be inteha PYAR dun
Kya khoob Rab ne kiya
Bin mange itna diya
Warna hai milta Kahan
Hum kafiron ko khuda.
Sari sarhaden ab mene tor Di tum dua ab meri akhri ban gye
Haan hasi ban gye
Haan nami ban gye
Tum mere Asman
Meri zameen ban gye.
[Let me sacrifice my life,
Let me sacrifice all my wins.
Let me give you Limitless and priceless love.
How well God did. He gave me so much without asking.
Otherwise, We sinners can never find God.
I have broken all the borders now.
You have become my last prayer.
You've become my laughter and my tears.
You have become my sky and my earth.]
Then it was our turn. Varun, Obi and Ricky together began and Eleana joined in
Tere Ami
Meri mummy
Tere abbu
Mere daddy
Teri mausi
Meri khala
Tera brother, mera Sala.
Ishq main sare ilzam hain sache
Do saal main hon ge Tere bache mere bache
Jane man Aah
Jane man Aah, Gale lag ja.
[Your mom is my mummy.
Your dad is my daddy.
Your aunt is my aunt.
Your brother is my brother in law
All the accusations in love are true.
We will have our babies in two years.
Come my sweetheart and embrace me.]
Everybody laughed like idiots when Kabir got up and danced on "do sal main hon ge Tere bache mere bache."
[We'll have babies in two years.] while pointing towards Naina. I felt like I had returned to the old college days. Then the girls sang,
Lag ja Gale k phir haseen Raat ho na ho
Shayad phir is janam main mulakaat ho na ho.
[Come and embrace me, who knows if this beautiful night will come again.
Maybe we meet in this life again or not.]
Then we sang,
Dekh Tera rang saanwla hua bawla
Larki nahi hai tu hai garam mamla
Dekh k tuje bolti band meri
Kahun kya bhala kuch b kaha nahi jaye
Jab naache hai tu dilli hille hai London
Matak Matak jese raveena tandon
Aag lagane ayi hai bun thun
Goli Chal gyi dhayen
Nakhre vilayiti ego main reti
Tashan dikhati full
Are larki beautiful kar gyi chull.
[Seeing your wheatish complexion, I've gone mad.
You're not an ordinary girl but something really hot.
My tongue is tied after seeing you.
What should I say? I can't say anything.
You dance in Delhi and London shakes a leg.
You sway like Raveena Tandon.
You've come to set everything on fire with your beauty.
The guns have been fired.
Your tantrums and ego are very high.
You show too much attitude.
You beautiful girl, have taken my heart away.]
The last song we sang was "Kala Chashma" after which came our first stop of the day. The journey was a long and tiring one and we had decided to go by road to Jodhpur. We paused at a lake side. There was a McDonald's take away there too and a general shop.
"Obi, can you ask for a bandage or something like that for sprained parts?" Eleana asked him. He nodded and jumped off the bus. He came back and handed her the packet. The whole bus was empty. I was sitting at the corner. She carefully removed her muffler and took out a gel from her bag. She rubbed and absorbed it on her wrist and then tied the bandage around that. My eyes became glassy seeing her like that. We were alone still I wasn't able to talk to her. I had become such a coward or was I just afraid and ashamed to face her?
She placed her stuff back and then jumped off the bus to join rest of the gang. I looked at them through the window. All of them looked so happy and cheerful. I got off and went to the rest room. I looked at myself in the mirror and I wanted to punch myself as I remembered those marks on her wrist. My Eleana was hurt and that too because of me. I wiped my face and went out. All of us sat by the lake for some time. Everybody was sitting in couples. I was sitting on one of the broken log at one corner. Annie came and sat beside me.
"Uncle? Why don't you go and sit with Ena Aunty?" She asked. I was surprised.
"Who's Ena Aunty?"
"The one sitting there with the tree." She pointed towards her who was busy in staring at the lake and beautiful sunset in front of her. The sun and the sea were kissing each other. The sun had spread all its colour over the lake and the sky presented a canvas of hundreds of different colours.
"Ain't she Elly Aunty?" I asked.
"Yeah. But I like Ena more. I made it up." She smiled while gesturing vaguely with her hands.
"We're so much alike, Annie!" I said and she grinned. "C'mon let's go and play in the lake."
She grinned but then her face turned into a frown.
"What happened baby?"
"Mama will scold me if I get my clothes wet!" She looked down.
"Oh, I will handle Mama. Come come." I stood up and leaned my hand to her. She took my hand and we ran to the shore. She let go of my hand.
"Wait, let me call Ena Aunty!"
She ran to the other corner. They both talked for a while as Annie convinced her to join her. She agreed reluctantly and pulled up her jeans. I had already folded mine. Annie jumped in the water and we followed her. She splashed water on both of us and giggled cutely. I picked her up and spun her around. She enjoyed quite a lot. After that, I strictly warned Khirad not to scold her because it was my idea. She changed her clothes. We spotted a truck coming our way. All of us stood in the middle of the road and waved our hands to stop the truck. The truck stopped. Kabir negotiated with the driver to take us to some local places of that city or some local market. We settled at the back of the truck. The floor was covered with hay and stuff like that. We all climbed to the back and Eleana's turn was at the end. Obi leaned her hand down and she took it. She climbed up easily. I sprawled out my legs in front of me. Obi threw a guitar at me. I looked at them questioningly.
"It's been so long. Just one jam won't do any harm!" Ricky encouraged.
"But I think I've even forgotten how to play it!" I lied. I played it every night.
"Aryan yar, don't be a mood spoiler and insan ban ja!" [Behave yourself] Ashar said and joined the group against me.
"Yaar sad song bhi chale ga!" [Sad song will do the work too.] Obi smirked.
"Here's presenting you our very own..................Devdas!" [Broken soul] Kabir and Varun spoke in unison.
"I thought you were going to say 'Rockstar'." I popped out my tongue
"Self Obsessed Insan. [Human]" Obi smirked.
"Aryan. Aryan. Aryan." The girls said in unison.
"Okay okay. Wait!" I gave in.
I struck the first two three cords randomly as I observed her standing by the side with her hair flying in front of her face. A melody came in my mind and I started jamming
Jaaniye heeriye..
Jaaniye heeriye
Mere mann ye bata de tu
Kis or chala hai tu
Kya paya nahi hai tu ne.
Kya dhundh raha hai tu.
Jo hai ankahee jo hai ansuni
Woh baat kya hai bata
Mitwa kahein dharkanein tujhse kya.
Mitwa yeh khudse toh na tu chhupa.
Mere mann ye bata de tu
Kis or chala hai tu
Kya paya nahi tune
Kya dhundh raha hai tu
Jo hai ankahee jo hai ansuni
Woh baat kya hai bata
Mitwa kahein dharkanein tujhse kya
Mitwa yeh khudse toh na tu chhupa
Jeevan daggar mein prem naggar mein.
aaya nazar mein jab se koi hain
tu sochta hain tu puchata hain
jiski kami thi kya yeh wohi hain?
Haan yeh wohi hain.
Tu ek pyasa aur yeh nadi hain
Kaahe nahi isko tu khulke bataye
Jo hai ankahee jo hai ansuni
Woh baat kya hai bata
Mitwa kahein dharkanein tujhse kya
Mitwa yeh khudse toh na tu chupa.
[O beautiful, o sweetheart.
My heart tell me where are you going?
What haven't you had? What are you finding?
What is unsaid, what is unheard?
What is that talk. O beloved, what do the heartbeats say to you?
O beloved, don't hide it from yourself.
In the journey of life, in the town of love, I have seen someone.
You ask if she's the one. Yes she's the one.
You are thirsty and she is the river.
Why don't you tell her openly?
What is unsaid, what is unheard?
What is that talk. O beloved, what do the heartbeats say to you?
O beloved, don't hide it from yourself.]
Eleana:
We had travelled half way to our destination. I was not feeling well in the morning but now I was better. In fact I was feeling good with all the happiness and jittery vibe around. Everyone cared for me a lot. I was really thankful for them in my life. We were travelling to a local market in a truck. I was enjoying the wind blowing past me when Aryan began his jamming. He sang beautifully, his voice was laced with emotions. After about 15 minutes, we reached a local bazaar. The streets were very narrow and filled with different vendors, stalls and beautiful tiny shops on both sides. We went to different shops together. First I went to the ornamental shop. There were exquisite stone work and ruby bracelets, pendants and many more jewellery items. I bought them for my girl friends. I found a cute little frock there. It was a multi coloured traditional frock with mirror work just like the clothes that the women wore there. I bought that for Annie.
There was nothing related to men there so I left it for later on. After a lot of shopping and stuff. We stopped by a Gol Gappa [snack] stall but the sad thing was that Doctor Varun didn't let me eat. He suggested me to wait for some days so that my stomach got better and then he would bring me as much as I wanted. But seeing all of them eat, brought water to my mouth. I made my best possible puppy face and he let me eat 3 of them. They were so delicious that I would've regretted later if I had missed the chance. We went back to the lake side and ordered the lunch from McDonald's Take Away. We bought some snacks from the shop nearby for the rest of our journey. The rest of the journey started soon and it was lunch time by then. Many seats were empty so we settled in such a way that we were sitting around the empty seats in a circle. The seats were foldable so that was an advantage. We shared our food. Obi after finishing his fries tried to sneak into mine like a thief but I caught his hand midway.
"Not so fast. Mr Obi!" I smirked proudly at him.
"Not so fast. Ms Eleana! Look at your back." He smirked back.
As I looked back, I saw Ricky eating from my packet as if it was his own. I continued to stare at him to make him realise but he couldn't see or hear anything while eating. He ate like he was praying.
"Ricky that's not fair!" I pouted.
"Everything is fair in love and war baby. And this is the world war 3." He gave out a throaty chuckle that caused me to smile.
"Tu mere le le!" [You can take mine.] Varun spoke offering me his.
"Tu bhi kya yaAd kare ga. Kha le. Ja jee le apni zindagi Simran!" [Never mind, eat them. Go and live your life, Simran.] I spoke dramatically.
"Ena Aunty, we can share. I can't eat a lot of them." Annie spoke.
"Baby, it's fine. You eat yours. When your tummy gets full, you can always give them to me." I smiled at her, caressing her cheeks.
"Ashar, where did you find this cute little princess. I want to take her with me. She's so cute." I spoke endearingly pinching her cheeks.
"But I can't live without Mama and Baba." She pouted.
"We will have lots of fun together, Annie. Think twice!" I challenged her and she began to think.
"I would love to come but you know na I am a child and I can't even do my own tasks." She spoke with a grim expression.
"Aw. It's okay. But as long as we are here. We will have lots of fun. Say what?" She nodded enthusiastically and hi-fived. After having lunch, we called the girls over to join us and squeezed in our places to adjust them. Varun connected his i-pod to the speakers and played the songs. Obi took out the cards. We all sat in a big circle, not a proper one though. Ricky mixed them and distributed them. We began playing 'Bluff Your Cards'. It was a kind of game in which you had to fake your cards and let them pass. The one who finished first would be the winner. I was facing Varun, Kabir, Ashar and Aryan. Aryan was sitting in the corner. As we began playing, my cards were about to finish. I just needed to wait for my turn to come. Ashar was beside Aryan. He threw his cards in the middle facing downwards. I was in a dilemma whether to check them or not. I looked at Ashar and he was smiling all the while. I suddenly noticed Aryan telling me something through his eyes. At first I thought that I was hallucinating. Why would he be helping me? But nevertheless, I checked the cards and it turned out that Ashar had indeed bluffed. I smirked at him proudly and he frowned.
"Elly, tune meri baari main hi check karne they." [Elly, you had to check only at my turn.]
"Ahaaan." I squealed and threw my cards. I was the winner.
After playing cards, we were all a bit lazy and tired. So we preferred to sit in our seats. I exchanged the window seat with Obi and sprawled out my sore legs. I took out my phone and hands free and entered into another world of imagination. I opened my gallery and went through our old pictures when Aryan and I were together. Everything was going so perfect and then one day changed everything. It was all my fault. Maybe I should have told him and broken up at that time, thinking rationally. Breaking up without giving any valid or logical reason and going away like a coward was the main reason of all the problems that we were facing.
I wanted to enjoy with Aryan the same way I was doing with others. I wanted to talk to him about anything and everything. I just wanted to hear him talk. He had become so quiet and introvert, always involved in his own self and not interested about anything particularly. He would just do it for the sake of his friends. I scrolled through our school pictures, our midnight pizza dates, Ashar and Khirad's wedding pictures. That was one of the most amazing phase of my life and I wouldn't exchange it for even 100 billion dollars. I went through our videos. I was facing Obi and Ricky so they couldn't see what I was doing. Ricky was involved in his own work, pretending to be a DJ with his head phones in his ears. Obi was looking at me weirdly. I opened the video which Obi had gifted to both of us and played that. As I relished our lost memories, some tears trickled down my cheeks. I wanted to be with him for the days I was left with. But he just won't understand.
"Hey hey Elly, why are you crying?" Obi asked worriedly as he noticed my wet cheeks. I quickly switched off my mobile.
"No yaar, it just something fell into my eyes." I lied.
"Don't lie!" Varun scolded who was now hovering above my seat from the back row.
"Okay, fine. I am. Thankyou for your concern. Now please go back to your seats. A person can have some personal problems." I spoke rudely. I knew I was being mean but I was frustrated like anything. I just wanted to die right away. They looked at me weirdly and sat back. Obi squeezed my hand and comforted me. "It will be alright!"
No it won't.
After a long and tiring journey of 15 hours, we reached Jodhpur at midnight. It was almost 3 in the morning. We reached Kabir's ancestral home in another 10 minutes. By then, everybody was so dead tired and sleepy. Obi nudged my shoulder to wake me up. I had been sleeping for almost three hours. I woke up and grabbed my hand carry. I jumped down and my eyes widened in awe and surprise. It was not a house. It was a God damn palace that could be seen easily on the other side of the lake. Some of the lights were on, making the palace stand in its full glory. There was a boat at the river. First, they sent the girls with Varun. And then the boys joined us on the other side of the lake facing the majestic and splendid piece of art and architecture.
It was a huge and magnificent house with a garden at the front and two more gardens at either side of the path. There were fountains in the middle of each garden. It had four minarets at each corner and a big dome shape at the centre. I was in love with this place. I had never been to Rajhastan ever and it was a scene of awe and wonder. I was amazed by the delicacy of the architectural work. Soon, some servants came out wearing their turbans over their dresses and carried our stuff inside. Kabir guided us to our rooms. I went to my room. I was not sharing it with anyone and took out my stuff. Somebody knocked on the door and I opened it. I was shocked to see him standing there.
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